Cappuccino Chip Muffins and Spread

This recipe is from a book on muffins which I bought for my daughter-in-law in 1982.  I copied a lot of interesting recipes before I sent the book on to her and have just gotten around to baking this one.  I should have done it earlier – they’re really good.

CAPPUCCINO CHIP MUFFINS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. instant espresso coffee powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven @ 375 degrees F

Grease or place paper cups or silicone liners in  a 12-cup muffin tin

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso coffee powder, salt and cinnamon.

In another bowl, whisk together milk, butter, egg and vanilla until blended.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; bake approximately 20 minutes @ 375 degrees F or until a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffin tin to wire rack.  Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups.  If using silicone liners, remove the muffins in the liners to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from liners.  Continue cooling muffins on the rack.

These muffins freeze well.

They are delicious plain or extra-delicious served with an Espresso Spread:

ESPRESSO SPREAD

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tblsp. chocolate chips (Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips)
• 1 Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mixing can be done by hand, but a small food processor makes quick work of it.  Place the chocolate chips in the food processor and grind into small pieces.  Add sugar and espresso powder and process to blend.  Add cream cheese and vanilla and process until smooth

Remove spread to a small bowl.  Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.  To serve, let stand 10 minutes at room temperature to soften.

Makes approximately 1-1/2 cups.

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Easy Beef, Rice and Beans

This is an easy, satisfying dish that I first put together a few years ago, using a package of flavored rice mix.  This time I used Knorr Cajun Sides Garlic Butter Rice mix, but any kind would do.

EASY BEEF, RICE AND BEANS

• 5-6 oz package of flavored rice mix
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 lb. round or chuck steak, baked, cut into cubes*
• 1/2 cup hominy, drained
• 1/2 cup black beans, drained
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes with juice
• Grating of black pepper
• 1-1/2 tsp ground cumin

In a large skillet, cook the rice mix and water, bringing to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer from 5-7 minutes according to package directions until rice is tender.

*I had baked the chuck/round steak earlier in the day, covered, for about 2 hours in a 300 degree oven. I used half of the cooked beef in this dish and put the remainder in the freezer for another night’s supper.

Add remaining ingredients, mixing well, and let simmer for 20 minutes until everything is piping hot.

Yield:  4 servings

I have a note in my recipe binder:  “2/18/03 – very good – David (my husband) took seconds.”

For dessert, I fixed an old favorite - Grandma Martha’s Banana Pudding.

It was a nice weekday supper.

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The Horse Quilt

About a month ago, my youngest daughter and I were picking out fabric for me to make her an anniversary quilt with wild animal prints.

My granddaughter (known here as Dolphin) said she wanted a new quilt, too, so she picked out a pink and lavendar butterfly fabric for her quilt.

Then, my grandson (known here as Jellyfish) said he’d also like a new quilt – so back to the fabric store we went.  We share a love of horses and I was thrilled to see that he had picked out three fabrics with a horse theme plus coordinating colors for the sashing and border.  Today, he got his new quilt.

Jellyfish loves to wrap up completely in a quilt, so I made this one a very roomy 60×72 inches.  It was a simple block design taking advantage of the beautiful material.

I used one-inch sashing and cornerstones plus I fussy-cut four horses to use in the corners of the 4-inch borders.

Like his mother and sister, Jellyfish wanted a soft cuddly backing and chose fleece in a green plaid design with large horse heads.

I scanned a recent picture of him on a horse to print on fabric and make a label.  I also included a small photo of myself so he’ll remember how we both looked when this quilt was made.

The only trouble with having a big, roomy quilt is that you might have to share it with your sister.

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Gingerbread with Caramelized Apples

About 10 years ago, I copied this recipe from an old 1976 Bicentennial Heritage cookbook before the book was donated to Goodwill.  Recently, as I was updating my computer files, the recipe turned up and looked interesting.  It was way too high in calories and fat, though, so I adjusted the recipe considerably.  My youngest daughter and I enjoyed it for dessert – and it’s just right for these nice autumn days.

GINGERBREAD WITH CARAMELIZED APPLES

For the Caramelized Apples

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 4 cups thinly sliced tart apples (Golden Delicious or Granny Smith)

For the Gingerbread

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup oil (Canola)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tblsp. light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup boiling water

To make the caramelized apples: In a large skillet, melt the butter and add 1 cup brown sugar.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Add apple slices and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is as thick as syrup and apples are tender.

To make the gingerbread: Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, molasses and oil.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, soda, salt, baking powder, 2 Tblsp. brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture alternately with the boiling water, stirring just until blended.

Spread the apple mixture in the bottom of a 9-inch ungreased baking dish.  Pour the batter over the apples.

Bake in a 325 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Increase heat to 350 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes longer or until cake tests done when a tester is inserted in the center.

Remove pan to wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes…

…then invert the pan onto a large platter, apple-side-up, to continue cooling.

This cake is delicious slightly warm and keeps its soft texture for several days.

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Busy Quilt Room Wall Hanging

About a year ago, my oldest daughter gave me a birthday gift of some beautiful redwork panels she had embroidered from patterns by Quilting Bee Designs.  I’ve been working on turning them into wall hangings throughout the year and just completed the largest one of the group – a scene that shows a sunbonnet lady working on her design wall.

I love all the details in the piece – the shelves with the fabric stash, the slightly messy appearance with snippets of material on the floor ….

….and the award ribbons on the wall – two first place and one second (not every quilt is a blue ribbon winner!).

I like the idea that the 1880s-dressed lady is making her quilt with modern conveniences like a sewing machine and an iron, a rotary cutter and the latest rulers.

I wanted to highlight my daughter’s beautiful hand embroidery and kept the border simple.  From my Electric Quilt 6 software, I chose Clay’s Choice as the corner blocks and arranged Hour Glass blocks for the border.

The piece would have been better with my daughter’s hand quilting, but she had other projects she was working on, so I did some very simple machine quilting.

The center section measures 16×12 inches and the complete wall hanging is 28x 24 inches.  After photos in the backyard, I brought it in to hang on my computer/sewing room door.

Here are other projects I posted earlier, using some of the panels:

Back to School Wall Hanging

Sunbonnet Quilters Wall Hanging

Airing the Quilts Wall Hanging

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A 15th Anniversary Quilt

My youngest daughter and her husband celebrated their 15th anniversary on October 14.  As a gift from me, my daughter requested an animal print quilt to use in their family room.  She loves all things animal-print.

She went to the store with me to pick out as many different prints as possible – many of them fat quarters – plus some wild pink zebra fleece for the backing and some equally wild pink for the borders.

Because I was using so many fat quarters, I made the blocks 8-1/2 inches square with black sashing.  Pink was used for cornerstones, the border and as part of four border corner blocks.

Since the piecing was so easy, the quilt was very quick to put together.  The fleece as backing/batting required only minimal machine quilting.  My daughter asked for a special size so the quilt would fit well on their futon – it measures 54×74 inches.

The label includes a picture of my daughter and one of her favorite animal-print purses.

I like the idea of labels showing what the maker and/or recipient looked like at the time the quilt was made.  It should be fun for her kids to look at many years from now – if it lasts that long!  With two kids, two cats and a dog sharing the quilt in the family room, I may need to make another one for the 16th anniversary.

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Tasty Gingerbread Muffins

Just in time for cool autumn mornings, I came across this recipe from over 25 years ago.  I had copied it from a book devoted to muffins that I had sent to my daughter-in-law in St. Louis.  This is my version.

TASTY GINGERBREAD MUFFINS

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (Canola)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Grease or line 12 muffin cups

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In another bowl, stir together buttermilk, oil, eggs and molasses until blended.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add buttermilk mixture and stir just to combine.  Stir in raisins.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center of one of the muffins comes out clean.

Cool muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Remove muffins from cups and from silicone liners if using; finish cooling on wire rack.

Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.  These muffins freeze well.

Makes 12 muffins

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Dolphin’s Butterfly Quilt

When my 7-year-old granddaughter (known here as Dolphin) saw us picking out fabric for an anniversary quilt I was making for her mother, she said she wanted to choose some fabric for a new quilt for herself.  Actually, I started learning to quilt 8 years ago so I could make a baby quilt for this little girl.  She has long ago outgrown the baby quilt and I was happy to take her shopping for just the right fabric.  It took her a short time to pick out butterfly fabric in pink and lavendar and the border in pale pink.  We thought maybe a brighter pink would work better, but she wanted it to be all pastel.

Since this quilt will be drug around the house and probably wind up as a tent, a theater curtain or anything else a first-grader can imagine, I wanted to make it sturdy and without my favorite intricate piecing.  It was a very fast quilt to put together with 12-inch blocks, 1-1/2 inch sashing and borders which became a rather wide 6 inches because of the length and width that Dolphin requested.

For the backing/batting, she chose a flowered fleece which she liked because it was so snuggly-soft.

Her mother also loved the soft fleece backing (and she loves large bright-colored flowers).

The only place I used a bright pink color was in the binding.  I scanned a picture of Dolphin and me and printed it on fabric to make a label so she would always remember how we looked when she received the quilt.

Because of the fleece backing, I could use minimum quilting and just did some very simple straight line and in-the-ditch machine quilting.  The finished quilt measures 50×63 inches.

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Concord Grape Upside-down Cake

I have a large collection of vintage cookbooks and enjoy just leafing through one now and then – looking at the old pictures and glancing at recipes as I go.  Occasionally,  a recipe will jump out at me and that was the case with one in a 1942 Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book.  This wasn’t one of the recipes published in the book, but rather one that had been chosen by the magazine from readers’ entries.  It was from a lady in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1948.  I love Concord grapes but have only made pie or jam with them.  Here was a chance to use some in a cake and I was eager to try.

I knew from previous experience that it takes a little time to prepare the grapes, but only one pound isn’t  that much to work with.  Removing the skins is simple – just make a little tear in the skin near the stem end and press the pulp out.

Having a food mill is a real time saver, but it’s also possible to put the cooked pulp through any kind of sieve or strainer.  The flavor of the grapes makes it all worthwhile.

This is my adaptation of a great old recipe.

CONCORD GRAPE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Grape Topping:

• 1 lb. Concord grapes
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tblsp. granulated sugar

Cake Batter:

• 1 cup plus 2 Tblsp. cake flour
• 1-1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

To make the grape topping:

Separate the grape skins from the pulp and set the skins aside.  Place the pulp in a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the pulp to a boil.  Then lower the heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pulp is soft and juicy.

Sieve or run through a food mill to remove seeds.

Return the pulp to the saucepan and add the skins.  Stir in 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.  Cook until the skins are tender, about 15 minutes.

There should be approximately 1 cup of pulp.

At this point the pulp can be used to make the cake, can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or can be frozen and then thawed for later baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 8×8 inch baking pan.

To make the cake batter:

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar.  Mix well, then add the shortening, milk, egg and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour into a well-greased 8×8 baking pan.  Spread the grape pulp mixture over the top of the batter – it will start to sink.

Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 45 minutes until top is golden brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes,

then invert onto a large plate.  Scrape any topping left in the bottom of the pan and spread over the top of the cake.

Serve warm and add whipped cream or topping if desired.

This is a very good cake and not as rich and sweet as most upside-down cakes.

Servings:  6 to 8

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