Tag: recipe

Wordless Wednesday – Favorite Christmas Cookies

CarolynCares Peanut Blossoms Cookies

 

Peanut Blossom Cookies

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup shortening

½ cup peanut butter

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 ¾ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Sugar for rolling

48 milk chocolate candy kisses

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, shortening, peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Mix until fluffy. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Blend at low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with a candy kiss, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Meaty Monday – Pumpkin Chili

Need a fast, easy chili recipe? This pumpkin chili can be taken from the frozen meat, to the table in about 35 – 40 minutes.

I am horrible at making menus for the week. I tend to decide at the last minute what we should eat that meal. I know life would be easier if I could plan and shop ahead, but old habits are hard to break!

I love this recipe, because it is healthy, and fast. There is no shame in using canned or frozen ingredients! Keeping extra canned and frozen ingredients on hand works well when you live in areas where the winters make running to the grocery store impossible at times.

We are pig farmers, and have a lot of pork on hand, so I use ground pork for this recipe. Feel free to use whatever ground meat you have on hand. Since I am usually a last minute cook, I thaw my ground pork in the microwave. While I’m thawing the meat, I start to cook the onions in olive oil. My eyes run like a river when I cut onions, so I use Ore-Ida frozen chopped onions. I measure out the correct amount, and toss them in the pot frozen. No need to thaw before use! To make things easier, I measure out the spices and bouillon into a small ramekin or bowl while the onions are cooking.

After the onions are cooked down, add the ground meat, and brown it until it is cooked thoroughly. Add the diced tomatoes, pumpkin, black beans, and vegetable stock, stirring to combine. Sprinkle the chili powder, cumin, pepper and beef bouillon over the top, then stir in until the chili is mixed well. At this point, give the chili a taste and see if you need to add salt. I typically leave the salt out, and it is just fine.

Bring the chili to a simmer, and let it cook for 20 minutes. If you are thinking ahead, you can put this in a slow cooker on low for a few hours.  To serve, ladle the chili into bowls, and top with a bit of shredded cheese. If I have a mix on hand, I’ll whip up some honey cornbread to go with it.

Here’s the recipe:

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I like to use garlic powder, adding it with the other spices)

1 pound ground pork

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 can pumpkin puree

1 ½ Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated beef bouillon

Salt to taste

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 cup vegetable stock (can use more if you like your chili more soupy)

Heat oil in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, and sauté the onion and garlic until tender.

Stir in the pork, and cook until evenly brown.

Mix in tomatoes, pumpkin and black beans.

Stir in beef bouillon and vegetable stock.

Season with chili powder, cumin, pepper, and salt.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or put in slow cooker.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese over top if desired.

Serves 6

Carolyn Cares Pumpkin Chili

An Answer to my Rhetorical Question?

I asked in my last post if I would ever catch up things, especially in the house. The answer came in an e-mail not long after I posed that question.

We will be hosting a few people from the advertising agency, mono. Tomorrow. Almost exactly 24 hours from now. They want to meet a farm family that raises some of the organic corn that goes into the Prairie Grains Organic Vodka. They are rolling out a new ad campaign, I guess.

This is the time where I would love if my house had a self cleaning setting, like my oven does. Just a flick of a switch and all the dust and grime would simply vanish. Sigh. I can dream, right?

Confession. I hate cleaning. A lot. Don’t get me wrong. I love it when the house is spotless. I just don’t love getting it there. To me it is about as appealing as a trip to the dentist.

In the past, I have bought books on how to clean your house with little effort that turns it into a joy. I am pretty sure the ladies who write these books are not vacuuming up corn, soybeans, wheat, field peas, or the copious amounts of soil that get transported in on work boots. I am guessing they haven’t dealt with hydraulic oil or engine grease on door handles or light switch plates and the walls that surround them.  Then there are the various items that come into the house in the pockets of jackets and jeans. Nails, screws, cotter pins, hitch pin clips,  papers from the bulk fuel guy or elevator weigh slips. I now use a little shop vac to clean the tile floors.  That is my cleaning tip of the week!

The time spent doing the mundane does give me time to plan out what to serve for the “little lunch” that we like to have for our guests. Jonathan and Laura wouldn’t mind Lemon Bundt Cake, but I’m looking for something a little different. Pumpkin Scones maybe?

The good thing about entertaining the folks from mono, is that I will be able to enjoy my clean house. Until harvest starts at the end of the week.

This is my favorite Pumpkin Scone recipe. I actually make them about 1/2 size to make it friendlier to those like me who are watching calories.

TOP SECRET RECIPES® VERSION OF
Starbucks® Pumpkin Scones
By Todd Wilbur

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg
6 tablespoons cold butter

Plain Glaze
1 cup plus 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Icing
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground cloves

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ginger in a large bowl.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half-and-half, and eggs.
4. Cut butter into cubes then add it to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry knife or a fork to combine butter with dry ingredients. Continue mixing until no chunks of butter are visible. You can also use a food processor: Pulse butter into dry ingredients until it is the texture of cornmeal or coarse sand.
5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1 -inch thick rectangle that is about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza wheel to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough.
6. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes on a baking sheet that has been lightly oiled or lined with parchment paper. Scones should begin to turn light brown.
7. While scones cool, prepare plain glaze by combining ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Mx until smooth.
8 When scones are cool, use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.
9. As that white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by combining ingredients in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.Makes 6 scones.