FESTIVE KISSES CANDY CANE BLOSSOMS

 

Woo hoo!

I’m in full-blown 

Christmas cookie mode now!

 

This is another fabulous cookie for peppermint lovers!

 

Celebration Time ~ Classic Yellow Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Frosting

 

From the rich, creamy, sweet frosting to the delectable moist cake, it’s hard to be in a funk when devouring a cupcake!

The gems first appeared back in 1828 when an ingenious young woman, Eliza Leslie, published her cookbook, Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes and Sweetmeats, which included the recipe for the first cupcake.

Classic Homemade White Bread Recipe

Evidently, the COVID-19 lockdown
 has created the perfect time
for baking bread.

That is,
 if you can find yeast and bread flour...

Fried Cabbage w/Crumbled Bacon and Onion

You’re probably saying, “Really, fried cabbage?"  

I know I did!

We really like cabbage and bacon too ~ just like magic ~ I saw recipes for it everywhere, and knew immediately it was a "must try," with the operative word being bacon!  

CLASSIC PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS

Soft, chewy peanut-buttery cookies, rolled in sugar and topped with a Hershey kiss ~ a cookie both sweet and salty.  In other words, Peanut Butter Blossoms!

Blossom cookies debuted at the ninth Pillsbury Bake-Off and have been a classic Christmas cookie since then. In my way of thinking, they’re a good thing to bake any time of the year!

Spicy Cardamom and Molasses Ginger Cookies

Tis’ the holly jolly
cookie baking season again!

It’s the molasses here that keeps these cookies fresh and chewy for days, with the generous amount of peppery ginger giving them their tang, and the nice compliment of cardamom adding its zesty, spicy herbal flavor to the cookies.

A Bourbon Good Luck Charm for the New Year

Celebration of New Years 

would be incomplete without 

a good luck charm of a cocktail like this!

Master Mixologist, Bobby G. Gleason, created this cocktail and I applauded the combination of Jim Beam and lemon from the first sip. 

I'm Back with this Perfect Pineapple Butter Cake

 

Ok, so I know I said I was done with my blog, but evidently it was something I truly looked forward to doing, and apparently just needed a little break from it to recharge ~   after doing it for almost 9 years ~ I missed the whole process.  In other words, I missed being a part of the community. 

I thought about you all more than once, and wondered what great travel adventure or tip I missed.  And, what if I missed your fabulous recipe…

Homemade Banana Crumb Muffins

Use up your ripe bananas with this

banana muffin recipe!

Speaking of muffins ~ remember the Seinfeld episode, “The Muffin Tops?"

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls for a Comfy Winter Meal!

We are paying for last winters’ mild weather! 

There’s no avoiding winter here since we’re just 40 miles northwest of Chicago.  Winter barely started when Mother Nature wasted no time in putting us in the deep freeze and keeping us there for 2 weeks with highs in the single digits, not counting bone-chilling wind chills way below zero ~ it's about unbearable!  A warm-up is on the way today ~ that translates, SNOW!

All of this cold weather leads me to dishes like this stuffed cabbage leaves, a great comforting winter dish!

I have a ton of food memories from when I was growing up, but stuffed cabbage rolls isn't one of them.  I don’t recall ever eating them back then, and Bill says the same.     

While the direct origin of cabbage rolls cannot be certain, its lineage can be traced back some 2,000 years ago to Jewish cooking, according to Gil Marks, author of the 2010 Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.  Cabbage is not mentioned in the Bible, but it is referred to in the Talmud, he says where the rabbis praise the cabbage for “sustenance.”  Though no one knows where the tradition of filling leaves originates, it appears in cultures around the world stretching from Europe and the Middle East to the jungles of the Amazon.

For example, the following names and some of the differences in their recipes…

Jewish “holishkls” is served during the fall harvest festival.  The dish is made with raisins, brown sugar, lemon and tomato for a sweet and sour taste.

Lithuanians call it “balandeliai,” translating to “little doves.”

Ukrainian “holubtsi” is made with sauerkraut, and usually no meat, served with perogie.

The Polish version is “golabki,” meaning “little pigeon feet” and served with sauerkraut and sweet paprika.

Finland’s version is “kaalikaaryle,” and the cabbage rolls are browned before brazing.  

But today in America, it is just simply stuffed cabbage, the exemplary comfort food that makes a complete meal.

Here’s the version we eat:  a savory meat and rice filling wrapped up in tender cabbage leaves that’s slow-baked in a sweet-sour tomato sauce.

While these cabbage rolls are pretty tasty straight out of the oven, there even better the next day, so here’s hoping you’ll be lucky enough to enjoy the leftovers, should you try this recipe!

Yield: 6 servingsAuthor: Pam

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

These cabbage rolls are stuffed with lean ground beef and lean ground pork and rice. It's a comforting winter dish!

prep time: 30 MINScook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 head cabbage
• For the Filling:
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound lean ground pork
• 3/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon seasoned pepper
• 1/4 cup milk
• For the Sauce:
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Instructions:

For the Cabbage:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove 10 to 12 whole outer leaves from the cabbage by cutting them off the core. (Reserve the remaining cabbage for another use.) Add the leaves to the boiling water and blanch until wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer the leaves to a colander to drain.

Make the Filling:
Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl.  Scoop out approximately 1/3 cup of meat mixture and form into a log shape.
Place filling in a cabbage leaf close to the core. Fold once, then grab both side and fold in, like a burrito.  If the leaves are too small, overlap 2 leaves.
Arrange cabbage rolls snugly next to each other in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Make the Sauce:
Combine sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour evenly over the cabbage roll.

Cover with foil and bake in 350° oven for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until meat is cooked through.

Enjoy!

The Only Cornbread Recipe You'll Need: Dragonwagon's Skillet-Sizzled Corn Bread!

She, Crescent Dragonwagon, that is, came to understand, cornbread “not only is hot, just baked cornbread delicious, it evokes ~ powerfully ~ the heart, soul, and taste of home.”

Amen!  CORNBREAD, I love cornbread!

After making this cornbread, I know why it was the single most requested recipe at the Dairy Hollow House in Eureka Springs, Arkansas!

I’ve tried what seems like a ton of cornbread recipes and I’ve made more than one from this great cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon.  I’m just trying to figure out what took me so darn long to make this one!

Crescent Dragonwagon is her real name ~ read here ~ or buy her great cookbook, if you want to know more about it.

Dragonwagon’s cookbook, The Cornbread Gospels, is a surprising eccentric read, filled with curious antidotes and tales along the cornbread trail from the Appalachians to the Rockies to the Green Mountains.  I was hooked from the beginning to the end ~ this is just not a recipe book to take up space on your kitchen counter, it’s at home in any room.

Here’s a sample of what Crescent Dragonwagon has to say about this cornbread:

"This is the cornbread I served when I owned and ran Dairy Hollow House; it was its single most requested recipe.  It is the first Southern food I ever learned to fix and the one that started me on my cornbread journey.  I learned how to make it in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York, in 1969, when I was very young and living in a brownstone with 7 other people.  Viola, the soft-spoken lady friend of a kind neighbor, taught it to me.  Viola was from Georgia, and it was she who initiated me into baking cornbread in an already-hot skillet.”

Cornbread batter over sizzling butter-oven ready!

To me, the secret of this recipe may just be the already-hot skillet that’s filled with melting butter that’s brought to a sizzle.  And stone-ground cornmeal only makes the bread even better.  If you’ve been around my blog a while, you know it’s stone-ground cornmeal and grits in my kitchen.

This cornbread truly surprised me, and Bill too.  It is simply delicious!

Thank you, Crescent Dragonwagon for the great recipe, great cookbook!

Author: Pam

Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread

This cornbread recipe, courtesy of Crescent Dragonwagon, is the best you will ever make! Use stone-ground cornmeal for a crispy crust, made in a sizzling iron skillet. It is my "go-to" cornbread recipe!

prep time: 15 MINScook time: 20 MINStotal time: 35 mins

INGREDIENTS

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt (I added ½ teaspoon)
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1¼ cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup mild vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, or mild vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Spray a 10-inch cast iron skillet with oil and set aside.
3. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
4. In a smaller bowl, stir baking soda into the buttermilk.
5. Whisk in the sugar, egg and the ¼ cup oil.
6. Put the prepared skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until butter melts and is just starting to sizzle.
7. Tilt the pan to coat sides and bottom.
8. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and combine them quickly, using as few strokes as possible.
9. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake the cornbread until it is golden brown, about 20 minutes.
10. Let cool for a few moments, and slice into wedges to serve.

This cornbread is the créme de la créme of cornbread! 

Enjoy!

Summery Peach Loaf Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

We all really like peaches here, some more than others, but we all are hooked on this cake!

This is a scrumptious summer dessert starring fresh peaches!

Peaches have been “iffy” here this summer.  Most of them not ripe, and when they do ripen up, they’re rotten.  Thankfully, our favorite farmers’ market had a huge supply of Michigan peaches.  They looked near perfect ~ I couldn’t resist them ~  fragrant, ripe and drip-down-your-chin juicy.  Just what this cake called for!

The simple streusel topping is spiced with fragrant cinnamon and cardamom.  It’s equally good for breakfast, brunch, a snack or dessert.  Finish it off with a scoop of ice cream or a swirl of whipped cream, or just eat it plain, like we do.

It’s a moist cake filled with little chunks of sweet peaches!


Enjoy!

Yield: 1 large or 3 mini loavesAuthor: Pam

Peach Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

This is a delicious, moist and sweet cake!

prep time: 20 MINScook time: 30 MINStotal time: 50 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2-3/4 cups flour
• 1 -1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1-1/2 cups diced fresh peaches

Streusel Topping

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon water

INSTRUCTIONS

For the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   Grease and flour three - 3x5x2-inch or one - 9x5-inc loaf pan(s).
2. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the sugar and oil. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat until well combined. Stir in diced peaches. Spread the batter into prepared loaf pans.
4. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean; about 25-30 minutes for small loaves and about 55-60 minutes for large pan. Allow to set for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before slicing.

For Cinnamon Streusel Topping:

1. Cream softened butter well, add remaining ingredients. With a fork or pastry blender, combine until crumbly.
2. Scatter over cake before baking.