RASPBERRY WALNUT LINZER BARS

Classic linzer cookies are a real delight, but this easier rendition has all the basic elements in a pan that you can bake, cut into bars and serve! 

A cookie winner for sure, so tasty delicious!

This is an adaptation of Claudia’s Linzer Bars over at What’s Cookin’ Italian Style Cuisine.  She used pistachios, I had a plethora of walnuts on hand and incorporated them.  

Delicious Bars ~ Coconut Chews!

I love coconut—

the more,

the better!

A sweet coconut filling layered on a buttery shortbread crust, spread over all, a tangy orange-lemon frosting…

This is a simple bar to make for any coconut lover, and is one of the best treats for this time of year that I can think of.

They're simple, easy to make, chewy, nice and sweet, and loaded with coconut.

If you have a yen for coconut, you can’t go wrong making these!



Coconut Chews

Ingredients:

¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup shortening (half butter, softened)*
1½ cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup flaked coconut

Method:

Heat oven to 350°.
Mix powdered sugar and shortening.
Stir in 1½ cups flour.
Press in ungreased oblong 13” x 9” pan.
Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
Mix remaining ingredients.
Spread over baked layer.
Bake 20 minutes, cool.
Frost with Orange-Lemon Frosting, recipe below.
Cut into bars, about 3” x 1”.
Makes 32 cookies

*Use 6 tablespoons shortening, and 6 tablespoons of butter.  
That's 12 tablespoons total to equal 3/4 cup.


Orange-Lemon Frosting

1½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix all ingredients until smooth and spread over cooled bars.
Printable recipe

Enjoy!

Mushroom Casserole and Rocco’s Penne with White Pesto

I’ve liked mustard from the very beginning, when I watched my grandfather slather a hunk of bread with mustard at most meals.  I’m a full-fledged mustard addict now and understand perfectly his love for it.  

My refrigerator has one whole shelf devoted to various mustards, and proudly taking up space there are the 3 bottles I won recently from Debbi, @DebbiDoes Dinner… Healthy and Low Calorie.  If you haven’t visited Debbi’s blog, you’re in for some great recipes!  The majority of them are low calorie, packed with good flavors, and easy to make. 

Debbi participated in the “Skinny Mama Mustard Contest” with her Spaghetti Squash Vegetable Gratin with Tarragon Lemon Mustard Sauce.  The kind folks at Saucy Mama gave Debbi 3 bottles of mustard for her own giveaway and I was the lucky recipient!  

I knew Saucy Mama’s Garlic Mustard would be perfect in a mushroom casserole I make and have posted.   This is a delicious mushroom recipe for anyone who is wild about mushrooms.  It is a saucy baked dish that combines mushrooms with sour cream and mustard.  It’s a simple side dish that will have your family and guests taking a second helping. It’s just as good (better?) left over!

This is way at the top, on my list of favorite side dishes!!!

Blurry but GOOD!

You can see the 3 varieties of mustard in this photo:

Here’s the recipe:

Tangy Mushroom Casserole

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh button mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup butter, softened

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons Saucy Mama’s Garlic Mustard

¼ teaspoon McCormick’s Seasoned Pepper

1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream

¼ cup chopped parsley

¼ cup chopped onion

Method:

Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice.   Cream butter, flour, salt, pepper, and mustard.  Add sour cream, parsley and onion. Stir well.

Place half the mushrooms in greased 2 qt. dish.  Top with half of the sour cream mixture, spread evenly.  Repeat layers.

Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour or till well heated and golden.

Allow it to set for 5-10 minutes before serving.

6-8 servings

And…

Not only did I win the mustard; Debbi also gave away a copy of Rocco’s Italian American cookbook.  I’ve always like Rocco Dipirito’s recipes.  He is an American chef in New York City, a cookbook author, celebrity chef and owns a couple of restaurants there.  His mother, Nicolina, is with him along the way, cooking and advising.  I follow Rocco’s recipes weekly in the Chicago Tribune.

Rocco & Mama

Rocco’s Italian American cookbook is packed with recipes there were passed on through the generations in his family, in versions specially adapted for today’s home kitchen.  All the recipes in the cookbook have fewer than 10 ingredients and the first one I made was Penne with White Pesto.  I love penne pasta and the white pesto intrigued me because it is packed with walnuts.  It’s delicious and easy too!

Penne with White Pesto

Ingredients:

½ cup walnuts

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound penne pasta

¼ cup ricotta cheese

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Put a big pot of water over high flame.

Add a handful of salt when it begins to simmer.

Toss the walnuts in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Spread them out on a baking sheet and toast in oven for about 10 minutes.

Remove pan and set walnuts aside to cool.

Cook the penne till al dente.

Drain well, retaining ½ cup or so of the cooking water.

Chop the nuts and mix them with the ricotta, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and a pinch of salt.

Toss the pasta with the pesto, adding a splash of water if it seems too thick.

It should be thick and creamy.

It is thick and creamy and delicious!

Thanks so much Debbi ~ I’ll enjoy it all!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes.

Russian Teacakes

Whether you call them Mexican Wedding Cakes or Russian Teacakes, they’re all the same delicate nut-based cookie!

I love the delicate buttery flavor of these cookies.  I don’t recall Mom ever making them but, my mother-in-law baked them every Christmas without fail and so do I.  I’ve made them with walnuts in place of pecans for a little different flavor.  

This recipe makes a lot of cookies, it can easily be halved!

This recipe comes from my well-used 1979 edition of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook.  I have made so many notes in this poor cookbook over the years that it is a little pathetic looking now.  I have a huge cookbook collection and when Bill asked what I would like for Christmas, naturally I said, “A cookbook!”  He just shakes his head and doesn’t get it!  I might add that not a one of my other cookbooks is in the horrible condition that this cookbook is in, thank goodness!

Do you make notes in your cookbooks or are they nice and neat?

RUSSIAN TEACAKES
Printable recipe
 
Ingredients: 
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cup finely chopped pecans
Confectioners sugar for rolling

Method: 
Heat oven to 400°.
Mix butter, ½ cup confectioners sugar,  and vanilla in large bowl.
Stir in flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together.
Shape dough into 1” inch balls.
Place about 1” apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown.
Roll warm cookies in confectioners sugar.
Cool on wire racks.
Roll in sugar again.
Makes 8 dozen

ENJOY!

Be sure to enter my CSN Giveaway for a $35 gift certificate that I posted on December 17^th!

Also, check out my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway!

Lindsay’s Chocolate Café Chocolate Chip Cookies

Midwest Living magazine published a wonderful recipe for chocolate chip cookies and I would like to share it with you.  These cookies are made at Lindsay’s Chocolate Café and Coffee House in O’Fallon, Missouri, in the St. Louis area.  I will definitely be visiting this café the next time I am headed that way!

The cookies have a “flavor-packed lineup” of ingredients that make for a great treat.  They are filled with rolled oats, grated milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate pieces and nuts to make each bite delectable.  The double chocolate adds color and flavor and the oats and nuts add a great chewy texture.

The unique thing about this recipe is that the cookies can be baked on a preheated stone as well as cookie sheets.  The article states that the baking stone makes slightly crisper edges.  I have never heard of cookies being baked on a baking stone.  Are you familiar with that?

Lindsay’s Chocolate Café Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2½ cups regular rolled oats
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 12-oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate pieces (2 cups)
1½ cups chopped walnuts or pecans
4 ounces milk chocolate bar, grated

Method:

In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.

Add sugars; beat on medium speed until mixture is combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.

Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer.

Stir in any remaining flour mixture with a wooden spoon until combined.

Stir in chocolate pieces, nuts and grated chocolate.
Drop dough from a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) 4 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets or a preheated baking stone.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 9 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown.

Cool on cookie sheets or baking stone for 1 minute.

Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Makes 30 cookies.

This cookie is a star!

Mom’s Waldorf Salad

There are many variations of Waldorf Salad and I loved it when Mom prepared it with its fresh fruity taste for dinner. 

Waldorf salad was created in the 1890’s at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City and became an instant success. The maitre d’hôtel (not the chef), Oscar Tschirky, was the man who created this and many other dishes at the hotel.  The salad is traditionally based on apples with walnuts and celery added, dressed in mayonnaise, served on a bed of lettuce.  Nuts were not in the original salad until the early 1900’s.  To this day, it remains one of the most requested dishes at the hotel's restaurant.  And, due to the popularity of the salad, Cole Porter even incorporated it into a song of his, “You’re the Top.” 

Like I said, there are many versions of this salad with an array of ingredients, some of which are:  dried cherries or cranberries, raisins, dates, chicken, turkey and grapes.  Any of these combinations are fine and will serve you up with a great Waldorf Salad!

Mom’s Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:

4 large tart red apples, cored and diced (do not peel)

¾ cup celery, finely chopped

1/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

¼ cup raisins

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2/3 cup-1 cup mayonnaise (I use low-fat mayo)

1 tablespoon sugar (I use Splenda)

2 tablespoons half and half

Method:

Combine first four ingredients and sprinkle lemon juice over it, toss lightly.
Mix mayonnaise with sugar and half and half.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Dress the salad and chill before serving.

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, NYC

Hotel Lobby

Waldorf salad is  almost as good as being at the Waldorf Hotel!  It is good eating!

Mom’s Penuche

Say it with me, “Peh-noo-chee.” Or, do you call it brown sugar fudge? Mom always called it penuche but, some people call it brown sugar fudge and that describes it spot on. It is either a New England or a Southern delicacy and the origin of it is unclear.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

This is an old recipe that Mom used during the holidays when I was young and it is undoubtedly one of the sweetest confections you will ever put in your mouth!  Penuche is a form of fudge, except that it does not include chocolate and is lighter in color than fudge while being extremely sweet.  Penuche tastes like a very rich caramel.  

You make it by heating sugar and milk to the soft ball stage, letting it cool briefly, and then beating it until it is smooth and creamy.  Mom usually added chopped nuts walnuts but, that is optional.

Then, you get to the “workout” segment of it when you have to beat it!  It has to be beaten vigorously and it will make your arm feel like it is going to disintegrate but, you have to persevere!  Better yet, have someone handy to be your back-up and take turns at it.  It will definitely build those biceps up!

Penuche has an intense brown sugar buttery taste that is very dangerously addicting!  It would make a great home-made Christmas gift if you and your family don’t devour it first!  There is nothing else quite like it!

Mom’s Penuche

Ingredients:

3 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

¼ cup light corn syrup

¾ cup milk

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup walnuts or pecans chopped, optional

Method:

Mix all of the above together in a deep heavy sauce pan.  Using a candy thermometer, cook to 238 degrees.

Cool to 110 degrees.

Add vanilla.

Beat until stiff and mixture begins to gloss, about 10 minutes or more.

Very quickly stir in the nuts.

Pour into buttered 9” pan.

Cut into squares when firm.

Penuche is the perfect remedy for your sweet tooth! 

It will make you drool!!!

Have a Wonderful Christmas!!!

Grandma’s Nut Bread

English Walnut Tree

I adored my grandmother, Maude!  We lived on our farm outside of Columbus, Ohio until I was 11 and moved to Louisville, KY. In Pickerington, Ohio, Grandma and Grandpa lived on the farm across the road, just down a little ways from us.  I was on my bike every day pedaling to her house to see what was going on.  She never scolded me, was always kind and loving.  I could do no wrong in her eyes and I loved her dearly and tried to live up to her expectations. 

Grandma was a good seamstress, sewing a lot of my clothing when I was young.  She loved her family and friends and also loved doing crossword puzzles, a slice of bread soaked in a glass of milk, reading scripture, watching the Ruth Lyons 50/50 Club every week-day on TV,  peanut cluster candy, aprons, watching Midwestern Hayride on Saturday nights, playing the piano, clipping recipes, Pepsi Cola, doilies, the foods she canned, their big black cat, “Mugs,” and especially Elvis Presley.  But, I’m sure, most of all, she loved giving all of her grandchildren a round of worm medicine each and every summer; she insisted upon it and to her credit, not one of us ever had worms!!!          
         

Grandma was a short small lady who always seemed to have her apron on, whether she was in the kitchen or not.  She was the mother of 7 kids and cooked for family and friends; actually, for anyone who showed up at the door.  I’ve got many happy memories of her and the best ones are of just talking to her while she was cooking or baking.  Grandma could cook some mean fried potatoes and I loved her cookies and this nutritious, delicious moist nut bread, which she baked every Thanksgiving.

Grandma’s Nut Bread

Ingredients:

2 well-beaten eggs

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups buttermilk

4 cups flour, sifted

½ t. salt

1 t. baking powder

2 t. baking soda

1 cup walnuts – whole

Method:

Beat eggs and sugar thoroughly with beater.

Add buttermilk, beat well.

Add sifted flour with salt, baking powder and soda.  Stir well.

Stir in whole walnuts.

Pour into 9x5 loaf pans.

Let stand for 10 minutes before baking.

Shake out air bubbles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes-1 hours, until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves

YUM!!!