My 2008 Wish for You

 

Teriyaki Almonds — New Year’s Snack

These almonds are really good and addictive.  They are quick and easy to make and since they’re baked and have a small amount of sweetener and oil, they make a nice snack, especially for New Year’s Eve.

TERIYAKI ALMONDS

• 2 cups whole natural almonds
• 1 Tblsp. teriyaki sauce
• 1 Tblsp. Lyle’s Golden Syrup or honey
• 1 tsp. sesame oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  On an ungreased sheet, spread almonds.  Toast in oven for 15 minutes without stirring.  Remove sheet from oven and let almonds cool.  Reduce oven heat to 250 degrees F.

In a medium sized saucepan over medium low heat, bring the teriyaki sauce and Lyle’s syrup/honey to a boil.  Stir in almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until the almonds absorb the sauce, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and add oil.  Toss until almonds are well coated. 

Turn onto baking sheet, separating almonds.  Bake for 5 minutes, stir, then turn almonds and bake 6 minutes longer.

Cool on wire rack, stirring frequently.  Store in a plastic bag or covered container.  Makes about 2 cups.

According to my DietPower software, a 1/4 cup serving would be:  122 calories, 10 gr. fat, 0 gr. cholesterol, 6.04 gr. carbohydrates, 3.72 gr. protein.

 

 

CHRISTMAS GREETING

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Christmas Handiwork

 

Thanks to two talented daughters, I have a lot of Christmas handiwork to enjoy.  Over the past couple of years the oldest daughter has made primitive Santas….

…an embroidered picture and a handpainted apron….

 

…a kitchen wreath with vintage cookie cutters and decorations.

The youngest daughter made some craft decorations when she was a teenager …..

…and later, an embroidered picture ….

…and just this year, an afghan that looks like rows of Christmas tinsel and snowflakes.

It’s so nice to look around the house and see all these beautiful things that the girls have spent so many hours making.

Christmas Wall Hangings

 

I have 3 Christmas wall hangings that I’ve made since I started quilting 5 years ago.  Two of the earlier ones were made incorporating colorful primitive panels.

One of the wall hangings has a primitive Santa panel along with Bear Paw blocks from the Quilter’s Cache. 

This hanging is in the guest bedroom which has a lodge motif year-around.  Two Christmas stocking panels are combined with blocks made from flannel scraps and borders made from wonderful flannel with a village motif which was purchased at one of my favorite shops in southwest Ohio, Fabric Shack in Waynesville.

The third hanging is from a pattern called “A Scottish Christmas”, Mad Dog Marketing, PO Box 5608, Evanston IL 60204-5608.  The pattern was sized for a 37-1/2×54″ piece, much bigger than I wanted, and I sized it down to 17×22 and made a few changes/additions.  Since scotties are among my favorite designs, I love this wall hanging and it also won a blue ribbon at the Warren County (Ohio) fair.

The little crow picture above the scotties was made by my oldest daughter.

Cranberry Date Bars

 

About 20 years ago, I subscribed to a small newspaper called The Blue Ribbon Gazette, a publication devoted to county and state fair cooking winners.  Sadly, it’s no longer in publication but I got some wonderful recipes while it was around.  One recipe that I include every year for St. Nick and Christmas is the one for  Cranberry Date Bars.  It was the favorite treat for my youngest daughter to take to work to share.

CRANBERRY DATE BARS

• 6 oz. fresh cranberries (frozen don’t work as well)
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• Glaze:  1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar mixed with fresh orange juice to make a drizzling consistency.

In a small saucepan, combine cranberries and dates, cook covered over very low heat for 10 minutes until the cranberries pop, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, brown sugar, soda, salt, and flour.  Stir in the butter with a fork.  Put half of the mixture in the bottom of an ungreased 9×9 baking pan.  Spread the cranberry/date filling over the bottom layer.  Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture on top, patting gently.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes until top is golden brown.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

While the cake is still warm, drizzle the Glaze over the top and cut into bars.

This wreath complete with vintage cookie cutters was made by my oldest daughter and hangs in my kitchen to inspire me while I’m baking cookies.

The Grandkids Bake Christmas Cookies

 

When my children were growing up, I don’t recall their ever being interested in helping with the cookie baking and I didn’t have the time or ingredients to waste, so I just made the cookies myself without any help from them.  When my grandchildren started arriving in the 1980s, though, I thought it would be nice to have them come to the house, starting when they were about 3 years old, to make Christmas cookies.  Granddaughter #1 loved mixing the dough, using all the different cutters, and decorating with sugar.

She is now married with two children and her husband is in Iraq this Christmas.

 

Grandson #1 joined his sister when he turned 3, and his specialty was piling lots of sugar on the cookies and cracking the eggs to mix in the batter.

Granddaughter #2 made it a threesome and her favorite cookies are still the cutout Butter Crisps.  She has two children who are too young to help her with baking, but the 2-1/2 year old likes the cookies, too.

There was a hiatus of a few years between when the older grandchildren grew up and before the youngest came along.  This year, Dolphin and Jellyfish came to do their best  and Jellyfish takes it all very seriously.

Dolphin is also serious about her baking but takes a more fun approach.

All of the kids have enjoyed the baking but most of all, enjoyed taking home plates of their own creations.

Here is a gingerbread cookie that the older grandchildren liked to make.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)

• 1/2 cup molasses

• 1 egg

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. ginger

• 1/4 tsp. cloves

• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Cream sugar, shortening and molasses until smooth.  Blend in egg.  Mix together dry ingredients.  Add to creamed mixture and blend well.  Form into a flat circle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate dough at least one hour.

Roll out dough on floured board 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.  Cut out with floured cutters.  Place cookies 1/2″ apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. 

 

Christmas Card for 2007

Each year, I try to come up with an original card to send to select friends and family members.  This year, my inspiration was a vintage card that we had found in an antique store. The original had a 1930-40s era graphic of county fair scenes and I remembered some pen & ink sketches I had made from photographs taken at the 1992 Hamilton County Fair (Ohio).  I scanned my sketches of some kids with sheep and a ferris wheel, the Agricultural Building, some ponies, and a horse barn that my father had used for his harness horses dating back to the early 1950s.

I found some beige card stock that closely matched the original and ordered blue ribbons with the imprint, Have a Blue Ribbon Year.  I filled in the name of the recipient in the “Awarded to” section and on the left inside of the card there was room for a personal holiday greeting.  Since I only needed cards for 11 special people, I printed them out on my home printer. 

My passion for county fairs is well known among friends and family, so I felt this was an appropriate card for me to send.

A Snowy Saturday Lunch

 

Normally on Saturdays, my two daughters, grandchildren and I go to a nice restaurant for lunch and then on to shopping or some kid-friendly event.  This Saturday morning, though, it was snowing heavily with the promise/threat of rain, sleet, and more snow.  So, the older daughter and I are here alone today and I made my traditional snowy-day potato soup for lunch.  This soup is quite thick – more like a chowder.   I tend to make it when I’m snowed in for its comfort food quality and because the recipe calls for ingredients that I normally have on hand.

Snowy-Day Potato Soup

• 3 cups of diced potatoes
• 1 cup of chopped onion
• 1 cup grated cheese (I’ve used cheddar, colby and swiss – whatever you have on hand)
• 1 cup of milk
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• A dash of nutmeg

Cover the potatoes and onions with water and cook until tender.  Drain off the water, leaving the vegetables in the pan.  Mash, leaving some of the potatoes in chunks.  Add grated cheese, milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste).  Heat until hot but not boiling.  Pour into bowls and grate a little fresh nutmeg on top of the soup. 

Serve with a nice homemade roll.

 

For dessert I made Nutty Nutmeg Bars (see recipe here).

 

Everything tasted good and almost made up for not getting to go out for lunch.

Nutty Nutmeg Bars

 

These are great bar cookies if you like nutmeg.  They are easy to make, chewy and delicious – if you like nutmeg!  Then again, anything with macadamia nuts is good.

Nutty Nutmeg Bars

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray or oil a 9×9 inch pan.

In a medium saucepan, stir sugar and butter over medium heat until butter and sugar are melted and blended.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.  Add egg and vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking powder and nutmeg.  Stir to combine, then add chopped nuts.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes.

Cool slightly in the pan set on a rack.  Drizzle Glaze over the top of the bars while they are still warm.

Glaze:   1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar plus 1/16 tsp nutmeg mixed with about 1 Tblsp. cream or milk, enough to make a drizzling consistency. 

Cut into bars.