Figgy Pudding, Stollen, and Tamales

Knowledge Quest generously has shared a free, 30+ page, recipe booklet, download with Christmas recipes from around the world to augment your holiday table next week.  Here's the link.  Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding, Stollen, and Tamales: Gathering the World Around Your Christmas Table

Recipes Link-Up

Our pie for "Happy Pi Day!" on 3.14!

For any of you who are itching to try a new recipe, here's a treasure trove in this link-up from a fellow homeschooler's lovely blog:


http://our4kiddos.blogspot.com/2013/04/try-new-recipe-tuesday-april-16.html

Lisa hosts, "Try a New Recipe Tuesday" and generously is giving away a chocolate cookbook to one lucky winner this week.  Enjoy!

Recipe: Crab!

With spring upon us and summertime coming, I wanted to share with you two great crab recipes!  The crabmeat can make them a little expensive, but both are *VERY* quick and easy to prepare for a special occasion.
 
CREAM OF CRAB SOUP

Ingredients:3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
2 cubes crushed chicken bouillon cubes
Dash of pepper
2 qt. milk
Salt to taste
Old Bay to taste
1 lb. lump or backfin crabmeat

Instructions:- Melt butter on stovetop.  Blend in flour and pepper.  Stir and simmer about one minute.
- Add milk and crushed bouillon.  Simmer and stir until bouillon dissolves and mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Salt and Old Bay to taste.  Add crab meat (remove cartilage if not lump crabmeat).
- Heat, but do not boil.  Serves 8-10.

N.B. - I prefer lump crabmeat and do not add any salt.

CRAB PIE

Ingredients:1/2 c. mayonnaise
2 tsp. Old Bay
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
2 tbl. flour
6-8 oz. diced or shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 c. spring or sweet onions
2 tbl. parsley (fresh recommended)
1 lb. crabmeat (lump or backfin)
1 nine inch unbaked pie crust shell

Instructions:- Combine mayo, Old Bay, eggs, milk, and flour.  Mix well.
- Add Swiss cheese, onions, parsley, and crabmeat (remove cartilage if not lump).  Stir gently and pour into pie shell.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Lower temp to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.  When you lower temp, cover pie with foil, open up the center,  and continue baking so crust edges don't burn.

N.B. - I never put in the onions and I've used either fresh or dried parsley.  For the Swiss cheese, you can buy a package of slices and chop up the pile.  Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tomorrow marks the feast of this great Irish saint and to celebrate here's my favorite recipe for good ole fashioned "Irish Soda Bread" (of which there would be no "soda" without the visit to Ireland of two Americans, Mr. Arm and Mr. Hammer!).  It's my favorite because it's won out over many other failures through the years!

I cut this recipe out of a magazine years ago, but unfortunately did not cut out the magazine's name.  So, if anyone recognizes this exact recipe, please let me know so I may ascribe proper credit.  Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

Prep: 10 minutes
Bake: 1 hour

Ingredients:
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbl. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tbl. cold butter
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 c. golden or dark seedless raisins (optional - not authentic to original Irish soda breads, the addition of expensive dried fruits was a later American indulgence)

Instructions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Grease large cookie sheet.
2.  In large bowl, combine sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and flour.  With pastry blender or forks, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3.  Add buttermilk just until evenly moistened.  With floured hand, gently knead dough minimally into ball.  Do not over mix or bread will be tough.
4.  Place dough on cookie sheet and shape into roughly 7" round loaf.  With sharp knife, cut 4" long cross 1/4" deep in top and sprinkle loaf lightly with flour.
5.  Bake one hour.  Cool on wire rack.

This recipe yields a lightly buttery, moist bread with a rough, crunchy, crusty outside.  MMMmmmm!

Finding Peace with the Prince of Peace

 A friend recently posted a request for prayers, as her homeschool responsibilities and Christmas preparations had been cast aside by her son's unexpected admission to the hospital.  As a faithful Catholic, she immediately rejoiced in having time for her and her son to be together in Advent prayer and reading Jotham's Journey.  But, understandably, she nevertheless was a little disappointed that certain school and holiday tasks at home just would have to be left undone this year.

As a compulsive list-maker and cookie-baker myself, I completely understood her frustration with not being able to "accomplish" or "do" the things she wanted to achieve, in order to prepare her family for Christmas.

But, let's also be practical here:

Schoolwork always will be there, whether you do it today or tomorrow or ten months from now.  Your child's good health might not be.  See to him, see to your souls, and see to the internal preparations that God wants you to make this Advent.  Remember, the Bible doesn't say that Mary baked the shepherds some cookies and sent out The First Christmas Cards (that would be Jesus's Shutterfly, photocard, birth announcement).

But it DOES say that she treasured all these things in her heart.

We all should do the same.

I've often found that when God allows all my plans to go completely awry, it's because I was facing in the wrong direction.  Turn your face toward Him, trust in His guidance and Will, and know the inner peace of the Christ Child, the Prince of Peace!

Hostess Gift: Fudge!

Heading out to Thanksgiving or a holiday party and need a quick hostess gift?

Well, a friend graciously shared the following recipe and I couldn't resist sharing it with you!  Give it ten minutes to make, then 20 minutes to cool in the freezer while you run upstairs and change, and *voila!*   You're off to your party with a delicious, festive, homemade, hostess gift in hand!

I've used this several times already, with great success (and my skill level in the kitchen ranks, "Inept").  Enjoy!

MACKINAC ISLAND FUDGE
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. confectioners' sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. nuts (optional)

- Mix milk, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt in heavy saucepan.
- Cook at medium heat until boiling.  Boil exactly six minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla, cocoa, and confectioners' sugar.
- Beat with mixer until smooth and thick.  Add nuts, if desired.
- Pour into a buttered 9x9 pan and freeze just 20 minutes (otherwise it's too hard to cut).
- Cut into pieces and enjoy!

May Our Lady be your Joy this Advent as she leads you through the Rosary to the Manger, ever closer to the Sacred Heart of her Infant Son, the Prince of Peace, Jesus!  Vive Jesu!

Kitchen Tip #1 for the Inept

Here's hoping I'm not the only person out there who sometimes has to dust off her stove or wasn't quite sure what all those numbers were for on those dials above the, um, thingy.

I'm sure that far more competent cooks than I (and probably even lesser ones, as hard to imagine as that might be) already know this quick 'n dirty trick for shredding chicken, but I can tell you it was a most welcome revelation to me!  Drop boiled, cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces into your kitchen mixer (yes, normally the bastion of all baked goods), spin it up and *voila!*  Shredded chicken ready literally in 10 seconds or less for BBQ sandwiches, soft shell burritos, omelettes, and more!

Thank you, Jen Schmidt, at http://10MinuteDinners.com for this amazing tip!  You also can visit her blog at
http://beautyandbedlam.com/how-to-shred-chicken/

Yum!  Enjoy!

Recipe: French Bread

Ingredients:

2 packages active dry yeast (or 2 tsp. regular yeast)
2 1/2 c. warm water
1 tbl. salt
1 tbl. butter melted
7 cups flour (all-purpose or bread)
2 tbl. cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tbl. cold water

Instructions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixer bowl.  Add salt, butter, and flour.  Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer.  Knead on Speed 2 for about two minutes (N.B. - speeds vary by mixer; this was for the Kitchen Aid Professional Six Quart, but I use a 20-year-old Sunbeam Mixmaster with the dough corkscrews on Speed 2 Stir-Knead and it works just fine) until it forms into a ball.
2. Place dough ball in greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Cover.  Let rise in warm place about one hour or until doubled.
3. Punch dough down and divide in half.  Roll each half into12x15 rectangle.  Roll dough tightly from longest side into two loaves.  Place on greased baking sheets dusted with the cornmeal.  Cover.  Let rise in warm place about one hour or until doubled.
4. With sharp knife, make four diagonal cuts on top of each loaf.  Beat egg white and water together and brush each loaf with mixture.  Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown (N.B. - we only bake ours 15 minutes, which is more than plenty).
5. Remove from oven, let cool, slice and serve.  Enjoy!

(source:  Kitchen Aid mixer cookbook)

St. Patrick's Day - Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients (bread):

3 c. flour

¾ tsp. salt

½ c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

1/3 c. butter

1½ c. buttermilk

½ box raisins (optional)

Ingredients (glaze):

¼ c. 10x confectioners sugar

2-3 tbl. milk

Instructions:

§      Mix dry ingredients.  Cut in butter.  Add raisins and buttermilk.  Batter will be sticky.  Flour your hands and shape into a ball.  Knead 15 seconds on lightly floured surface.

§      Place on lightly greased baking sheet to flatten into  a 10” diameter disc.  Cut a deep cross in the top with a serated knife, saying, “God bless this family, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”

§      Bake at 350o for 40-50 minutes.

§      Brush on glaze while warm.  Serve!

(from the “Building the Family Cookbook”, by Suzanne Fowler)

Christmas Cookies

Here you go, folks!  My favorite roll out sugar cookie recipe, just in time for Christmas!  The beauty of this dough is that you and the kids can roll out, bake, and decorate them immediately.  I like to bake a bunch, ice them in white, let them dry on the table overnight, then let the kids paint details on the next morning.

For Easter, you can make eggs and go to town decorating them in fancy colors and sugar crystals.  For autumn, you can swirl orange/red/yellow paint on leaf shapes.  For Christmas, the easiest thing to make is white snowmen with a hat, and features and buttons dotted on.  Green Christmas trees also work well, because you can use mini-M&Ms, nonpariels, or mini-red-hots as ornaments.

Enjoy!   :-b

SUGAR COOKIES
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour

Cream butter, sugar, and egg.  Add baking powder and vanilla.  Gradually add flour.  Mix well.  Form dough into ball and roll out approximately a 1/4 portion onto floured surface.  Cut into shapes w/ cookie cutters.  Place on non-stick baking sheet or parchment paper on sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

SUGAR COOKIE ICING
2 c. confectioners sugar
1 tbl. meringue powder
2-6 tbl. water

Beat confectioners sugar and meringue powder at low speed.  Add water slowly, 1 tbl. at a time, mixing well after each one until desired consistency is achieved (thick, but slightly runny).  Tint with PASTE food coloring (liquid food color will alter the texture).  Cover with plastic wrap or a wet paper towel to prevent drying out while using.  Apply with small spatula or artist's paint brushes.  Thin with warm water, if needed.