by jphilo | Nov 21, 2012 | Recipes
Today’s mincemeat pie continues the week’s Thanksgiving theme that stared with Monday’s list of Thanksgiving faves. But don’t misunderstand. Mincemeat pie is not my fave–actually I hate the stuff. But because we’re hosting the extended family Thanksgiving feast on Saturday, I’m making a mincemeat pie for the misguided members of our family who love the disgusting traditional dessert.
Please forgive the lack of a picture of a completed dessert. Our big meal is Saturday, so the pies get made on Friday. That’s why you get a picture of the filling, which I purchase at the meat counter of our grocery store. Not that this mincemeat is the traditional filling which used to have meat in it. This filling is comprised of raisins, chopped apples, currents, sugar, corn starch, molasses, orange peel, undisclosed spices, and salt.
Mincemeat Pie
3 – 4 cups purchased mincemeat
2 apples, peeled and chopped
pie crust for a two crust, 9 inch pie
2 tablespoons butter
cinnamon sugar
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place purchased mincemeat (I get it from the meat market at our grocery store) in saucepan along with chopped apples. Heat over low to medium heat, stirring often, until the apples are getting soft.
Line bottom of pie pan with rolled crust. Pour in mincemeat/apple mixture. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Flute and seal edges. With a knife, cut off extra crust and cut slits into top crust. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Turn it down to 375 and bake for 30-45 more minutes, until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbly.
by jphilo | Nov 14, 2012 | Recipes
The time for Thanksgiving baking is here. So is the recipe for Mom’s fabulous Chex Mix. Last year, the recipe didn’t post until the day before Thanksgiving. This year, it’s up in plenty of time for you to add the ingredients to your shopping list…and to fry up bacon so you can collect the secret ingredient, bacon grease.
Remember, the recipe title is a misnomer since it uses Crispex instead of Chex cereal. The original recipe came from one of Mom’s co-workers at Franklin School, Zoe Hemmingson. Mrs. Hemmingson was also my fourth grade teacher and my sister’s, an unforgettable woman and one of the best teachers ever.
Franklin Teachers’ Chex Mix
Mix together in a large bowl:
1 box Crispex (17 ounce)
5 cups Cheerios
4 – 5 cups pretzels and mixed nuts (proportion as you like)
Mix together in a small bowl:
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup melted bacon grease
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Divide mixed, dry ingredients amongst three or four large cake pans. Pour wet ingredients over cereal mix and stir well. Bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours. Stir and turn off the oven. Leave mix in oven until the oven cools. Cool Chex Mix. Store in airtight containers.
by jphilo | Nov 7, 2012 | Recipes
For the most part, I avoid cross-pollination between this blog and DifferentDream.com, my blog for parents of kids with special needs. But when Rebekah Benimoff, a guest blogger at Different Dream (scroll down about halfway to find Rebekah’s picture and bio), shared her recipe for dairy free, gluten free pancakes with me, an exception was in order.
Below is the recipe for monkey surprise pancakes, along with a few cooking hints from Rebekah. To learn more about Rebekah’s cooking adventures and everything that’s on her plate visit her blog, Just Me Mama.
Monkey Surprise Pancakes
1 cup of Hodgson Mill multipurpose flour
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup ground gluten free oats
2 tablespoon ground flax seed
2 tablespoon sugar in the raw
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 beaten egg
1 1/2 cup almond milk
1 cup pumpkin puree (Make incrock pot the day before. See easy instructions here. (Add a tablespoon or 2 of ground flax seed to thicken it, if necessary.)
Optional: 1 banana (to make a smiley face for the monkeys)
Grind raw almonds with coffee maker to make “almond flour” or almond meal. Then grind gluten free oats with the grinder. Do the same with flax seed.
Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix until batter is lumpy.
Coat the pan or griddle with coconut oil. Cook pancakes over medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side. Makes about 12 pancakes.
by jphilo | Oct 31, 2012 | Recipes
Since today is Halloween, I wanted to feature a treat that won’t play tricks on people who are lactose intolerance or have dairy allergies. With a few modifications, this recipe for Salted Nut Roll Bars from the Shadow Valley Family Camp Cookbook does the trick. (Okay, I promise, no more puns.) All you have to do is swap the butter for margarine or coconut oil and they’re good to go. To cut down on the sweetness, eliminate half or all of the brown sugar in the crust and decrease the amount of marshmallows.
Salted Nut Rolls
Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup butter, margarine or coconut oil, softened
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all crust ingredients until crumbly. Press into ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle 3 cups of miniature marshmallows over crust and return to oven for about 2 minutes. Marshmallows should puff. Remove from oven and cool.
Topping:
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, margarine, or coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
12 oz. package peanut butter chips*
2 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups salted peanuts
Heat syrup, shortening, vanilla, and chips in a sauce pan until smooth, stirring constantly. Stir in cereal and peanuts. Spoon over marshmallows and use knife or spatula to spread until marshmallows are evenly covered. Chill and cut into squares before serving.
*The peanut butter chips ingredient list includes whey powder and whey powder concentrate in third and fourth place out of ten items. The small amount doesn’t bother me (in moderation, of course), but it could be a problem for someone with a severe dairy allergy:(
by jphilo | Oct 24, 2012 | Recipes
While compiling the top ten chilly weather meals posted a few weeks ago on Down the Gravel Road, I was surprised to discover bean soup was nowhere to be found. Today’s recipe corrects that omission. Here’s a favorite crock pot recipe that makes a perfect fall or winter supper.
Crock Pot Bean Soup
8 ounces dried bean soup mix 1 ham shank
2 cups water 1 10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes
1 cup diced carrots 1 cup chopped onion
6 cups water
Soak bean soup mix in two cups of water overnight. In the morning, drain off water and rinse the beans. In the crock pot combine the beans and other ingredients. Cover with 6 cups of water. Stir and turn the crock pot to low for 10 – 12 hours or on high for 6 – 8 hours. Stir occasionally. About an hour before serving, lift the ham shank out with a slotted spoon and set on a plate. When the shank is cool, pick the meat off the bone. Discard the bone and put the meat back in the pot. Stir well. Makes 4 – 6 large servings.
by jphilo | Oct 17, 2012 | Recipes
About six months ago, the man of steel decided to quit eating sweets to lower his blood sugar. Around the same time, my dairy allergy was diagnosed. Those events explain the dearth of dessert recipes posted on this blog for the last half year.
But once in a while, the hankering for something sweet hits, so I was delighted to find this cookie recipe that uses lard for shortening rather than butter. The original recipe called for Nutella, and I was eager to give it a whirl. But after discovering milk is a major ingredient in the chocolate and hazelnut spread, I decided to use almond butter instead.
The baked cookies were a beautiful thing to behold, every one round with a delicately cracked surface resembling a molasses crinkle. I named the finished product Almond Crinkles and proceeded to eat more than a few, but the man of steel’s steely resolve served him well. He declined to taste even one, and I considered the remaining cookies too deliciously dangerous to remain in the house. So some went home with a friend, some went to our small church bonfire last weekend, and the rest went to the coffee bar at church Sunday morning. They received rave reviews from everyone. Here’s the recipe so you can see what you think.
Almond Crinkles
1 cup lard
2 cups packed brown sugar (Next time, I’ll drop this to 1 1/4 cups. They were too sweet)
3/4 cup almond butter
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using baking stones, place them in the oven to heat.
- Cream together lard and sugar. Add almond butter, almond flavoring and eggs. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Add dry ingredients and mix well.
- Form dough into balls about the size of walnuts. Roll balls in granulated sugar and place on ungreased baking sheets or on heated baking stones.
- Bake for 12 – 15 minutes.
After you’ve had a chance to play with the recipe, leave a comment about any variations you made.
