Viennese Cookies With Three Looks

Viennese Cookies

These can be eaten plain or as I have here … Dipped in chocolate, dusted with powdered sugar and dipped in chocolate, or sandwiched with your favorite jam and dipped in chocolate. Just anyway you try them they’re buttery delicious.

And as if these choices are not enough … I have two other posted recipes very similar to this one. I just like these ingredients in a buttery cookie dessert.

Almond Wedding Cake Cookies

Mexican Wedding Cakes

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Portuguese Salt Cod, Eggs, Potatoes, Onions

Portuguese Salt Cod

What does lox have to do with this recipe? My recipe for lox and eggs with a few changes has become this! By the way, if you haven’t tried your hand at my easy bagels recipe … It’s amazing!

As with lox and eggs holding the salt until the cooking is done is important. My first try at lox and eggs was inedible.

This recipe is amazing. Give it try.

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Country Beans and Cornbread

My children never understood just how lean those years were. A single mom making ends meet … And the most economical meal I made (and actually loved) was this one.

These recipes have few ingredients and are simple with little preparation time. I still love this meal not only because of the memories it evokes … It just tastes good!

When I say country I’m speaking about the hills of Arkansas where Granny and Grampa had a farm with just the right amount of livestock to keep the plates full. Granny wasn’t particularly a good cook but she could can and pickle like no one else.

These recipes were hers with this exception … Her cornbread had only five ingredients; cornmeal, buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and salt. The cornbread I taste in restaurants today is more of a cake texture and very sweet. With this in mind I put together a recipe I felt would give the texture of my granny’s without being too gritty and added just a bit of sugar. Bacon was a big thing in those hills … So, there is bacon in all of this. Yikes! But don’t fear … I’ve precooked the bacon and only 2 teaspoons of bacon grease are used in the beans.

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Quick Box Mix Spicy Pumpkin Cupcakes

Not what you think!

Spicy Pumpkin Cupcakes

Or maybe it is what you think.  This is one of those recipes you keep just in case. Just in case you need a quick dessert for company … Yes, it is that good … Or just in case you are selected to bring dessert for the workplace potluck. You might find after you try it … it’s a family favorite.

If you like pumpkin and spices you will like these Spicy Pumpkin Cupcakes.

Are you going to be disappointed if you find this is a cake mix makeover? Don’t be. Here is a scratch Spicy Pumpkin Cake Recipe as an alternative.

Spicy Pumpkin

Favorite Pumpkin Spice Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sauce Béarnaise …

Has always been a little intimidating but not this recipe. I moved past the perfectionist part and put it together like a country gravy, not exactly, but you get the idea.

Bearnaise Sauce

If you get caught up in the perfection of a sauce béarnaise you may never try your hand at it. Give this simple no fuss recipe a try, and see if it passes your family’s taste test. It adds an amazing touch to a delicious steak.

My father was known for his delicious barbecued steaks in the day of charcoal. Another family member had mastered pan-searing. Steak was a pretty common entree on our table. And we were pretty critical of the cooking.

Here are a few hints I was taught along the way that may be useful.
-Use a seasoned cast iron skillet or a heavy bottom skillet.
-The skillet must be hot.
-Use the fat you have trimmed off the steak to grease the bottom of the skillet. Use a fork to run the fat around the bottom of the heated pan and then remove it.
-I often use a skillet so well seasoned no grease or oil is needed to avoid sticking. If you try this be aware the meat will stick until it is seared. Wait a minute or two, then turn it over.
-You may need to turn the heat down slightly after you add the steak to avoid too much browning. Adjusting the heat as you go may be necessary.
-Turning the steak more than once or twice will not dry out the steak.
-I was taught to salt the heated skillet rather than oil to prevent sticking. This method may no longer be in vogue.

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Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins

Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins

This is what you make when you’ve an unexpected guest for breakfast! Quick, easy and nutritious oatmeal muffins. Doug had to have more than one giant muffin … And I’d even over-baked them. Yikes!

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Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

Chicken TetrazziniThe only thing we know for sure is this dish, further, any Tetrazzini dish, is named after Luisa Tetrazzini, an Italian opera star popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. What seems to be in question is what hotel chef put this together for her and gave it her name. This is my own version of the dish. And it’s simmering.

Baking this a few minutes after the initial cooking gives a truly different twist to this pasta dish.

 

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Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

A cookie recipe I made last year around this time. I might use licorice this year or black and orange yogurt raisins to decorate the faces. Not into faces? This cookie is good without them too.

Try these Pumpkin Cookies!


Gluten Free Raisin Biscuits

A Throwback

Raisin Biscuit

Over the last days I’ve been visiting with my daughter and her family in Southern California. My daughter is always mindful of healthy eating. Her pantry is low sugar, primarily organic and whole grain everything. She is into cookies and muffins if the nutritional value outweighs the calories. I’m for that! So, while driving home I was thinking dessert … after all, it had been three days without one. My thoughts went to a raisin biscuit, not gluten free, I ate as a kid. I’ve searched for this cookie in recent years … no longer available at my grocer’s.

I started this recipe late in the day when the natural light was disappearing from my kitchen … Working quickly to get a post together by the end of the day. The step to refrigerate the dough was skipped … saving time, but the recipe suffered a bit. I worked half the dough … So, tomorrow look for instruction photos showing the rolling out process when I work the second half. The typical all purpose flour has been replaced by a gluten free all purpose. This was an easy transition for this cookie since the texture of the original raisin biscuit is unlike a ‘cookie.’ I’ve done a taste test and this definitely passes. I think my daughter would approve!

Try this with any number of dried fruit. I tweaked this a little and added a few dried cranberries too.

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There is nothing like a simple pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin PiePumpkin Pie is one of the easiest and quickest pies to put together. Well, if you’re not making your own puree. I mentioned I’ve cooked raw pumpkin for my pies in the past. Once! When I found the taste was not different from the Libby’s canned puree I quickly eliminated the step. I’m a researcher from way back, cancer research that is … So, I have to add my taste test was not particularly scientific. I was the only taste tester before I added the spices. And I had a prejudice but in favor of my cooked pumpkin. I wanted my cooked pumpkin to taste differently … better. It just didn’t. Maybe others have had a different outcome. What do you think?

You may have noticed I’ve made the pie crust from scratch. In our family we have always made the pie crusts for any pies we’ve made. And after years of eating pie this way it’s hard to change. In fact, to me homemade pie crust makes this pie whether you eat the crust or simply eat the filling off it. Yes, that’s a bit strange. And I’m trying to think of an analogy but I can’t.

When I mention the importance of pie crust I’m referring to the taste and texture. In the last years I’ve used these little cutters just for fun. Adults and children just like the festive look. Me too.

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