Spicy Mandarin Orange Muffins

The recipe for these muffins is adapted from one in the cookbook, Seasoned with Sunshine.  In 1988, my son babysat their two young children and my daughter-in-law came to work in my office one day a week to make a little extra cash.  We had a one-hour commute each way and she never ate breakfast before she left, so I made these muffins to take along for a quick snack after we arrived.  They are extra-tasty and freeze well.  These also won a ribbon in the 1988 Hamilton County (Cincinnati) Fair.

SPICY MANDARIN ORANGE MUFFINS

• 11 oz. can of mandarin oranges
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 tsp. salt
• 1/3 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup Canola oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg

Topping:

• 3 Tblsp.  butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Drain oranges well and spread out on paper towel while mixing batter.

Place flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, allspice and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk together.  Combine oil, milk and egg in a shaker or small bowl and mix well.  Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

Dough will be quite stiff at this point.  Add drained oranges and mix lightly.

Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake @ 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.  Immediately remove muffins from pans.  While hot, dip tops of muffins in melted butter, then in sugar mixed with cinnamon.

Yield:  12 small muffins – just the right size to have with a nice cup of coffee.

A Linus Quilt with a Vintage Look

I like to make quilts to donate to the Linus Project which distributes blankets and quilts to hospitalized children in the Cincinnati area.  I’m always on the lookout for cute, kid-oriented fabric and found a remnant while shopping in Holmes County (Ohio) Amish Country last fall.  I thought the 1930s era panels would work out well with some type of filler block.  I tried out several patterns but wanted to avoid taking attention away from the cute pictures.  Since I always have scraps, I tried making a block with 3/4″ finished postage stamp squares and this seemed to be the perfect block to accompany the puppies, kittens, bunnies and kids in the panels.  Each postage stamp square block took about two hours to make but I used up a lot of small scraps and liked the vintage look.

I used some pink, blue and yellow fabric to complete the borders….

…and used a fleece backing, as recommended by the Linus Project.

All of the sewing was done on my Bernina and the quilting was very simple and minimal since I wasn’t working with batting.  For the binding, I sewed together strips alternating in pink, yellow, white  and blue.

I’m not usually tempted to keep the quilts I make for the Linus Project because they’re designed to appeal to kids, but I wouldn’t have minded keeping this quilt with its vintage images from my childhood.  My granddaughter and her friend, George, liked the quilt, so I’m hoping some little girl in the hospital will like it, too.

Bailey’s Marbled Cheesecake

Happy St. Patrick’s Day with a view of an old-fashioned Irish kitchen.  This picture was snapped on a visit to a Folk Farm cottage in Ireland.

I was looking for a recipe for something extra-special for St. Patrick’s Day and found it on Razzledazzle Recipes.

I love Bailey’s Irish Cream and when I saw a cheesecake that included 3/4 cup of this lucious drink, I knew I had a good choice for a St. Paddy’s Day dessert.  The cake is large, thick, rich and can feed a big group, depending on the size of the slices.  The only change I made from the original was to use unsweetened chocolate squares because I didn’t have any semi-sweet on hand.  The cake turned out wonderful.

BAILEY’S MARBLED CHEESECAKE

Preparation time:  About 30 minutes

Total baking time for cheesecake:  1 hour, 5 minutes

Cooling time:  2 hours, 45 minutes

Butter bottom of 9″ springform pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Chocolate Graham Base

• 4 Tblsp. butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 9 full graham crackers, crushed

Combine butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl.  Stir in graham cracker crumbs.  Press evenly over bottom of buttered 9″ springform pan and bake @ 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Remove pan to rack to cool for a few minutes, then butter the sides of the pan.

Turn oven heat up to 450 degrees F

Filling:

• 24 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 2 one-oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Blend in Bailey’s Irish Cream.

Pour one cup of the filling into a small bowl and stir in the melted chocolate.

Pour half of the plain filling mixture into the prepared pan on top of the baked crust.  Dot with half of the chocolate mixture.  Repeat with the remaining half of filling and half of chocolate mixture.  Make a marbled design by gently swirling the batter with a knife.

Bake @ 450 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Lower heat to 250 degrees F and continue baking for 55 minutes.

Remove pan to rack and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the cake and loosen the sides of the pan.  Allow to cool an additional 30 minutes in pan with sides loosened.  Remove from pan and cool about 2 more hours before serving.

Delicious at room temperature or chilled.  Refrigerate leftovers.

My oldest daughter brought me three gifts for St. Patrick’s Day – one of her hand-crocheted doilies, a tiny needle felting Irish cottage and a vintage Scottie planter in my favorite shade of green.  What a nice St. Patrick’s Day!

Irish Apple Scone Cake

I first saw this recipe on Joy of Baking last summer and bookmarked it as a nice St. Patrick’s Day breakfast item.  The original recipe is here.  The only changes I made were to use thinly sliced apples and to omit an egg used to brush the top of the cake.  Please note that this is a quick bread, not a cake.  It is best when served warm from the oven.  Leftovers can be reheated in the oven.

APPLE SCONE CAKE

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Filling:

• 1 lb. Granny Smith apples (about 3-1/2 cups of peeled, thinly sliced apples
• 3 Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Topping:

• Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Butter a 9″ pie pan

From the 1/2 cup of milk, remove 1 Tblsp. for brushing cake.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Blend the butter into the flour mixture until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, the remaining milk and the vanilla.  Add to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork just until the dough comes together.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently four or five times and then divide dough in half.  Pat one half of the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.

In a separate bowl, toss together the apple slices, sugar and cinnamon.  Spread the apples evenly over the bottom  of the dough in the pie pan.

Roll the remaining dough into a 9″ circle on a lightly floured surface and gently place the dough over the apples.  Seal the edges of the top and bottom crusts with your fingers.

Brush the top of the dough with the reserved 1 Tblsp. of milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Cut a slit in the center of the dough to allow the steam to escape.

 

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes until pastry is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Place the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve warm – clotted cream would be nice with this.

When my daughter and I were in Ireland in 1995, we visited a Folk Farm where two ladies were demonstrating making a huge apple dish and now I wonder if it might have been a large version of the Apple Scone Cake.

Chicken Puffs with Mushroom Sauce

These Chicken Puffs are my take on a recipe for Hot Chicken Salad Stuffed Puff Pastry on A Fridge Full of Food.  I made a few  changes, including making the chicken salad filled puff pastry into individual portions.  The filling is really delicious, however you want to form the pastry.

CHICKEN PUFFS

• 2 cups cooked chicken, cut into cubes
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 Tblsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. salt*
• A few grinds of black pepper
• 2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed (Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 Tblsp. milk

*Salt amount will depend on how salty your chicken broth is – taste test before seasoning.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a large bowl, place the chicken, onion, pine nuts and peas/carrots.  Mix together and set aside.

With a hand mixer or small food processor, mix together the mayonnaise, cream cheese, chicken broth, lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper.  Combine the chicken mixture with the mayonnaise mixture.

Cut the 2 sheets of puff pastry into 9 sections each.  Place one section on a floured board and roll thin (like pie crust).  Place 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of the pastry.

Bring up the edges of the pastry to cover the filling and pinch to seal.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining sections of pastry and chicken mixture.

Brush the tops of the puffs with milk and bake @ 350 degrees F. for 40 minutes.  Serve immediately with Creamy Mushroom Sauce.

Makes 18 small puffs.

The recipe for the mushroom sauce is adapted from one on Recipezaar by Kittencal.

CREAMY MUSHROOM SAUCE

• 8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Tblsp. butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups chicken broth, divided
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 tsp. salt*
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

*Salt amount will depend on how salty your chicken broth is – taste test before seasoning.

In a small skillet, saute the mushrooms in butter until they are beginning to brown.  Set aside.

In a small cup, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup of cold chicken broth.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, place remaining one cup of chicken broth, wine, salt, and pepper.  When mixture is hot, whisk in the flour/broth mixture.  Bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes longer, whisking smooth.  Stir in mushrooms.  Serve with Chicken Puffs.

For Sunday dinner, I served the Chicken Puffs and Mushroom Sauce with mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus with Mock Hollandaise Sauce. My two daughters and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and there were plenty of leftover puffs which heat well in a 350 degree F oven – to preserve crispness, don’t microwave.

A Valentine Memory Wall Hanging

One of my favorite Valentine surprises was a small wall hanging that my oldest daughter made.  It incorporated a snapshot of my mother and me on my wedding day in 1952.  My daughter started with some felting from some old sweaters and the snapshot and created a beautiful, meaningful hanging.  The details of how she put the piece together is here.

Her work is always creative, imaginative and usually includes a beloved picture or keepsake.  What a wonderful treasure!