Monday, June 27, 2011

Ginger Cookies!



Finally, I had a chance to try a recipe from Sugar Baby Cookbook before I had to return the book back to the library.
Definitively will be rechecking this book out many more times! Since this is such a new copy-written book I can't put the recipe on, so check the book out from your library, or buy it! A must have if you like sugar and love to bake!
Nice size cookies!

The recipe is called, 'Best Ginger Cookies Ever' by Gesine Bullock-Prado. I like ginger cookies and have try a few, but I wanted a more softer ginger cookie. This one is pretty good, but there is another that I like better. I just need to see if the person will share the recipe with me. I tasted them this past Christmas and boy they were good! I think if I would have used the crystallized ginger these would have been close to what I tasted. So next time I will use the crystallized ginger instead of fresh grated ginger. They still tasted great, just not as much zip and zang.
Also didn't have on hand some white sanding sugar, so I used yellow as you will be able to tell from the pictures!
They dough was nice and light, I really enjoyed working with it.
Aren't the swirls pretty?

That day I also made sugar cookies for my other blog: http://mymomsfilebox.blogspot.com/2011/06/sugar-cookies.html

Ginger and sugar cookies!
Another view of them stacked! Sometimes, I just go crazy with the camera!

Picnic Time Celebration


This is the place for the picnic of the summer of recipes!!! I ran across this web site and thought I would like to participate, so I sent it in to Louise. It is interesting that I just went to the library and checked out this cookbook and found a recipe and then this web site, pretty cool!


This summer I have been reading cookbooks instead of novels and have had some fun in doing so. The 1950's cookbook has been fun to not only look at the cool pictures but to read the recipes and image the days I grew up in. Yep, I was one who grew up in the 50's and 60's! So some of these recipes brings back memories to me. How interesting as we get older that we try and go back to our childhood days of sweet innocence. Fun times!
Back to the picnic!
Lousie from Months of Edible Celebrations is and has hosted this for the last few years. What good recipes have come from it and shows us what good things we can bring to picnics! Thanks Louise! This is the web site to go to and see what's there along with many of her other recipes.  http://monthsofediblecelebrations.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-international-picnic-day-time-to.html
Here are the letters before the letter 'H' in which I chose and their sites:

A-Apricot Cobbler (Mae)



C-Cherry Bars in a Jar (Barbara)




F-Fingerling Potato Salad w/ Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette (Heather)


G-Gugelhopf Twister (Kristy)


Dont' they all look great, thus far!
Ok, for the letter 'H', drum roll......
Honey Graham Roll-up!
 This recipe sounded so good, that I just had to try. Well, I have decided that yes, I would make it again but that I wouldn't put in as much lemon juice or better yet, try it with apple juice.


 Recipe:
Honey Graham Roll-up
Serves 6
1/2 pound honey grahams crackers (could buy and use graham cracker crumbs)
1/2 pound dates, pitted and chopped (could buy and use already chopped dates)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 pound chopped marshmallows (could use small marshmallow and not have to chop them) 
3 tablespoons lemon juice I think next time I will try apple juice.)
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Roll crackers with a rolling pin until crumbled fine.
Combine ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Add cream if too dry. (As you see the recipe doesn't call for cream, so I guess they mean if you have cream on hand.) Form in roll. Wrap in wax paper. Let stand overnight. Slice. Served with whip cream.

Alrighty, this is the recipe from the book. To me the lemon juice was over powering, so maybe use less if you want to taste lemon. That is why I am suggesting apple juice, I want to taste the dates, nuts and marshmallows more than lemon juice.   Also I should of cut the marshmallows much smaller, but that is what I had on hand. I could see bringing this to a picnic as you could slice thinner and add a scoop of home-made vanilla ice cream!!! I tried chocolate ice cream to see if it would taste like a-smore, but it didn't. Definitively, vanilla ice cream or whipped cream would set this recipe off just right! Yes, I will make this again, I did like it!!!
Next to the recipe it does have a recipe for making marshmallow cream, so instead of making I did try a spoonful already made, not bad, but too sweet for me.
Here's the two recipes from the book.

With marshmallow creme.

Can't wait to see what letters 'I through Z' are! Have fun picnicking this summer!


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Blueberry Whole-Wheat Coffeecake



A good friend gave me some fresh blueberries and strawberries last evening, so I wanted to make a different kind of coffee cake with it. Well, probably not different but something I haven't made. So I looked in my cookbooks and found one that sounded something like I wanted. It is in the New Choices Cookbook by Betty Crocker.
Here is my version of: Blueberry-Whole Wheat Coffee Cake
Whisk together:
1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
I just love freshly ground whole-wheat flour!
Stir in: 1/2 cup milk and put into 9" cake pan.

Sprinkle 3/4 cup fresh blueberries and 1/4 cup chopped pecans. I grated a fresh nutmeg, (about 1/2 teaspoon) and sprinkled 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon on top of the batter.  I forgot to put in the butter, so I cubed 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) and put it on top and pressed some of them down into the batter. (Also I didn't put the egg in, but it wasn't missed. This is what I get for talking while preparing a dish.)

Next I took a handful of all-purpose flour (about1/4 cup) and sprinkled that on top. Then a handful of dark brown sugar (about 1/3 cup) and sprinkled that on top. I then put it into a toaster/convection oven set at 350 degrees F and baked for 25 minutes. You can use a regular oven at 350 degrees for about 30minutes. (I didn't want to heat up the house as the outside temp. was already 75 degrees.) To test if done put a toothpick in and if it comes out clean it's done, if not baked a little longer, maybe 3-5 minutes. I did not drizzle a glaze over it, as the brown sugar and flour did a great job on it's own.
Took this to quilt group and we all loved it!!! We had lots of ladies there today, working on quilts for Joplin. That was a nice surprised for me, as I didn't know we were going to be doing a service project today. Had a great time! If I would have known I would have made a bigger coffeecake, oops. Still there was plenty to share, yea!
Enjoy!