Spritz cookies

This is my favorite tried-and-true recipe for pressed cookies. I grew up with this recipe.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup shortening (I usually use margarine instead)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract*
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional: a few drops of food coloring can be added as desired.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Mix up everything but the flour, then stir in the flour**.

Follow the directions on your cookie press, using it to put the cookies on the sheets about an inch apart from one another. If you just want the flavor without the cookie press, you can drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.

Decorate the cookies with sprinkles, colored sugar, or other candies before baking, if desired. Rainbow nonpareils look awesome on tree-shaped cookies!

Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Allow these to cool thoroughly on a wire rack for the best texture

* A half teaspoon of almond extract can be substituted for half a teaspoon of the vanilla, if you want. I love almond extract.

**If using a stand mixer, do not overmix the flour--only mix until it is combined. If you mix it too long, the gluten in the flour will change its quality and make chewy cookies. These are supposed to be crispy, not chewy.

Pecanless pecan pie

The challenge: To find or create the best-tasting pecanless pecan pie recipe for a friend, who revealed that he liked the "goo" of pecan pie, but didn't like pecans.

Basics of pecan pie: Pecan pie is a type of custard pie made mostly with corn syrup, pecans, and most of the other typical custard pie ingredients (eggs, vanilla, butter). Some people (including me) prefer to use brown sugar and a little water instead of the corn syrup; if you use white sugar, a dab of molasses can give it the brown sugar flavor.

Experimentation: I tried out several variations, including one that replaced the pecans with oatmeal, before I finally settled on this recipe. I actually didn't like it at first, but after it had set for a day, it was exactly right.

Let me FIRST give you my favorite pecan pie recipe:
3 eggs
2 cups brown sugar mixed with 1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
tiniest little dash of nutmeg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup pecans, broken or halved (whatever you've got)
1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Mix everything but the nuts (and pie crust) together until it's smooth; stir in the nuts; pour into pie shell; bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least twenty minutes before serving.

*************************************

NOW! For the pecanless version!

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
3 eggs, well-beaten
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (do NOT add more; it will overpower the pie even in small quantities!)
1 pie crust

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Cream together the sugar and butter, then blend in the eggs, cream, and nutmeg. Beat this mixture until it's well-blended and slightly fluffed (this will take about 45 seconds with a silicone spatula). Pour into the pie crust and bake for 55 minutes. At the 40 minute mark, check the pie and cover the crust with foil or a pie guard if it seems pretty dark.

Allow the pie to cool for a minimum of an hour. Baking it the day before it is to be eaten is ideal; it can take a while to set. If you prefer it to be very liquidy, though, pull it out of the oven at 45 minutes and eat it the same day. It depends on your preference!

Yummy squash stew

My guests really liked this. I did too! I recommend some kind of bread or biscuit to go with this.

You'll need:
To start:
1 spaghetti or butternut squash, peeled*, scooped out, and chopped into chunks
2 parsnips chopped into chunks
2 large carrots chopped into chunks OR a couple handfuls of baby carrots (use what you've got)
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 15.5 ounce can chick peas, drained and rinsed (or use dried ones you've cooked, whatever)
1 chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons fresh or jar ginger
2 teaspoons garlic (or 2 cloves)
freshly ground pepper (as much as you like)
1 or more teaspoons sea salt (as much as you like--taste and adjust before serving!)
2 cups vegetable stock (I use "Better than Bouillion" to make mine)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Put all of the above into a crock pot. Let it cook for about 5 or 6 hours.

About half an hour before serving, put in the following:
1/2 cup green beans (frozen or fresh)
1/2 cup peas (frozen, NOT canned)
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots and golden raisins (proportions up to you)

Stir it up before serving; there's a LOT of stuff in this to mix together. If you use spaghetti squash, it will disintegrate slightly. That's normal and okay.

If you don't have a HUGE crock pot, by the way, you may want to halve this recipe!

* I've found a regular vegetable peeler works well for these two squashes. It's harder to use it on an acorn squash because of the ridges, but smooth-skinned squashes are no trouble

Spiced cider or cranberry juice

A favorite hot drink to warm up a cold day.

You'll need:
Half a gallon of cider or cranberry juice (or some of each)
1 orange
3 whole cloves*
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice (optional)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon or 2 cinnamon sticks
a mesh tea infuser, preferably a big one
one coffee filter

Pour the cider and/or juice into a saucepan or slow cooker, put the lid on, and heat it on a low setting.

Put all the ground spices in the middle of the coffee filter. Gather up the edges of the filter and twist to form a sachet. Roll the sachet up and stuff it into the tea infuser, then drop the infuser into the cider.

Slice the orange into 1/4 inch slices. Stick the whole cloves into one of them (do NOT be tempted to overdo it on the cloves, it will be very nasty if you do) and float the oranges in the cider.

Float the cinnamon sticks in the cider as well, if you have them. Alternatively, use ground cinnamon in the filter and serve the mugs with a cinnamon stick stuck in each one.

Let this simmer for about 15 minutes minimum. Ladle into mugs. You can top off the cider with more as it is used up; this is especially useful if you're having a party and are using the slow cooker.

Hint: If your cider isn't very good (which it might not be if it was heat pasteurized; if you want cold-pasteurized cider in the Albany area, try Indian Ladder farms. If you're in the Quincy, IL area, I STRONGLY recommend Edgewood Orchards cider), add a tablespoon of honey to make it better.

Play with this recipe! Drop in whole cranberries, apple slices, crystallized ginger, whatever you can think of. Tweak the spices. Add some rum. Try a teaspoon of spiced rum butter on top. The possibilities are endless.

* if you don't have whole cloves, use 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and put it in the filter with the other ground spices.

Illinois Pie

I have renamed my pie due to the wackos who have made their money by suing people who use the original name. I'd never have heard of them if they hadn't sent me a nastygram, and they've ensured that I won't be purchasing their products (or recommending them) ever. I also noted that their "trademarked" pie contains walnuts, which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole southern theme. Therefore, I have named MY recipe after the state in which I grew up, because the pecan's scientific name is Carya illinoinensis. :)

A word of warning: If you try to leave out the bourbon, the recipe just won't work properly; the ingredients do not stratify into the layers like they should.

You need:
1 pie shell (there is no top crust)*
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 tablespoons bourbon
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips (half a bag, generally)
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Mix all but the pie crust together (this is easier if you stir in the pecans and chocolate chips last) and pour the mixture into the crust. Bake for 45 minutes. Allow the pie to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Goes great with vanilla ice cream.

*About the Lady's pie crust issues: There are some things in this world that are harder for some people than others. Pie crust is an ancient nemesis of mine, and I have spent many an afternoon weeping because of it. No, don't offer to teach me. I've had at least four people try and fail. I know my limitations, and using a pre-made crust saves me the frustration as well as the time and cleanup of making it from scratch. For this particular recipe, I use a frozen crust that comes in the pie pan. Check ingredients carefully! Generic or store brands often use animal fat or lard. Non-generics generally use vegetable shortening, and the difference in price is minimal. If you are good at making pie crust, of course, have at it! :)

Almost *too* easy cornbread

Ingredients:
1 package corn bread mix*
1 egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup milk
1 11 oz can sweet corn**
1 tablespoon ground rosemary***
2 tablespoons chopped scallions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Mix the stuff together and pour into a small baking dish (I use my Pyrex 8.5x6.5" dish from this set, but an 8x8 would work too) and bake for approximately 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Allow the bread to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. This is a very tender, moist bread, so it would't work well for muffins.

Serve plain or with butter. Goes GREAT with barbecue sauce, especially Gardenburger Riblets.


* I used the Betty Crocker one. Jiffy's is not vegetarian. These mixes are about 75 cents apiece, so they're super easy and cheap.

** I used the "super sweet" from Green Giant. Very, very tasty!

*** If you have dried whole rosemary, you can grind it in a mortar and pestle. If you have fresh stuff, chop it until it is fairly fine. Whole rosemary is pointy and painful.

This is the cute little mortar and pestle I have; it is small and easy to use:

Ultimate blueberry cobbler

Ingredients for dough:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons margarine or shortening
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract

Ingredients for fruit filling:
1 lb blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons Chambord
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Additional ingredients:
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon sugar (brown, raw, or white)

Stir together the filling ingredients and set aside.

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Add the shortening and blend with a fork or pastry blender until mixture is in marble-sized chunks. Stir in milk just until dough forms a ball. Divide the dough in half, and spread one half over the bottom of a greased square baking pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned, then remove from oven and spread fruit mixture on top of the cooked dough, using a rubber scraper to get all the juice into the pan. Drop remaining dough in spoonfuls over the top of the blueberries until it is fairly evenly spread without touching the sides of the pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup almonds and teaspoon of sugar evenly over the dough. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Serve warm.