Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread CookiesFun and Spicy Delicious! This recipe goes way back. During our family’s lean years we decorated our tree with Gingerbread Men, popcorn garland and candy canes. The children loved adding character to these guys but would grow weary after the first two or three … This recipe makes two dozen 4-inch cookies. Dad would get into the decorating too but had to be watched just like the children or we’d come up short. You might imagine the house smelled wonderful!

We haven’t always used icing alone to decorate Gingerbread Men & Women. On occasion we’d use raisins, red hots, and little decorative candies. Helpful Hint: Choose your decorating icing carefully. Make your own thick butter cream if you have the time and decorating tools. It’s just easier to handle. Many pre-made decorating gels and icings have corn syrup and this makes them sticky and stringy. You may need to test different brands to find the one that works for you.

This recipe makes a great sandwich cookie with buttercream filling too. Enjoy!

Decorated Cookie Cakes

You might also like to try these Decorated Cookie Cakes 

 

 

 

 

 

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Simple Desserts To Make

Family Favorite Baking

Simple Baked Desserts

Time intensive? There are only two recipes here that can’t be whipped up in minutes. Nothing like a fresh dessert in minutes. You might be able to tell just by looking which two require a bit more time … soo worth it.

I’m reintroducing family favorite recipes to have on hand during this busy season. So Delicious! Bottom Left: Best Coffee Cake, one of my popular recipes, can’t be beat for ease of preparation, satisfying texture and delicious flavor. Bottom Center: Don’t let the apple shape throw you. Use a baking dish if you’d like instead of this apple mold for this Apple Dessert or Apple Coffee Cake. Bottom Right: One bowl mix for this rich and moist Banana Spice Cake. Center Left: Caramel glaze makes this Banana Nut Cake amazing. Center Right: Pecan Pie Tartlets with a butterscotch surprise. Top Left: Provide a little more time for this Kolacky, a delicious pastry recipe. Top Center: Simple with ingredients and preparation, Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies. Top Right: A very popular cookie recipe, chewy and moist Coconut Cookies.

All are very delicious! Give them a try!


Chicken & Dumpling Noodles

Looks like a noodle but don’t let it fool you. Positively a dumpling. A different take on Chicken with Dumplings worth trying. Herb, parsley-sage-rosemary-thyme, rich ‘gravy,’ with loads of chicken and dumpling noodles in every bite. A winter-time dinner to warm you.

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Easy Cinnamon Toast

Holiday Style

Company Cinnamon ToastOne of Will’s favorites for breakfast! My oldest son is a little more particular now that he’s decades older. This doesn’t mean the taste of this favorite has changed. BUT the presentation has. The white bread has been replaced with any number of breads depending on our mood or availability. Cranberry Nut and Raisin Bread are favorites. Really dress this up with sanding sugar or pearlized sugar crystals (not too many) for that special brunch or breakfast. This is really simple and on the table in about 15 minutes. That’s pretty important especially for those Holiday breakfasts when you need to get family out of the kitchen fast, and move on to dressing the turkey. Enjoy!

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Portuguese Sopas Recipes

Portuguese Sopas RecipesWhat do you do on a gloomy day? I make sopas! Usually my brother’s recipe, here. But today I’m trying a new recipe. I like the idea of this one … It’s full of red wine, my favorite flavor. And it’s a manageable recipe for 12 or so. Both recipes are delicious and revolve around fond family memories. You really can’t get better than that! Thank you Julie for sharing your Great-Grandmother’s Recipe. I love it! Here’s where Julie & I met, right on my Portuguese Sopas Pin. Thank you again Cardoza Family.

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Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookie

Brown Butter Sea Salt CookieThis is a great cookie treat for the Holidays! Yes, they can be shipped! Let me tell you why I believe these are a great treat and Holiday gift. If I’m going to invest (calories) in a homemade cookie it’s got to be fresh! And it goes without saying, taste delicious. You might have noticed most of my cookie recipes are of small batches … to be eaten immediately. There’s nothing better than a hot from the oven cookie, or at least hours within baking. There are few exceptions to this but here’s a delicious surprise. First, I’m not saying these aren’t fresh! And you certainly can get these fresh from the oven at two Central California Coastal Locations, the Acorn Building in Paso Robles and at a “humble cookie factory in the beach town, Cayucos.” But what I am saying is this: These homemade-style cookies are always, the company gives a four week shelf life, fresh in texture and taste! How can that be? Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t tasted anything like them. The lighter appearing of the two pictured here is the Original Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookie. The flavors are many now, not just the original and the chocolate version. Give this family owned cookie company a try, www.brownbuttercookies.com You’ll be hooked.

You might want to try making these yourself. But I warn you the duplication isn’t that easy. It’s the texture with the delicious taste that makes this recipe exceptional. Those that have tried have fallen a bit short in the smooth appearance. Here’s one such recipe and I admit I haven’t done a taste test. The recipe looks worth a try, Yummy Mummy Kitchen.



Rustic Anise Soup Portuguese Style

Rustic Anise SoupSpicy Portuguese Style with few ingredients. A smart choice … healthy, tasty and economical. This is a great fall and winter soup … Hearty but not calorie heavy. Well, that’s if you share the linguica! And it really gets better the next day. Choose a large anise bulb with stalks and fresh looking fronds. You’ll be using it all. For a little bite add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Serve this with my Rustic Yeast Cornbread. Perfect!

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Rustic Yeast Cornbread Portuguese Style

The Perfect Accompaniment For Fall Soups

Rustic Yeast Cornbread Portuguese StylePerfect bread for soup! This deliciously dense flavorful bread has just the texture I love for a soup accompaniment. You can adjust the recipe to provide more or less cornmeal crunch. It’s up to you. So versatile. I love spooning beans or soup right over a slice. But I love it with butter too. If you want the true rustic crust spray the top of the loaf lightly with water just before baking … and the sides of the oven too every 15 minutes during baking. My recipe will truly become your own.

The prep time is minimal and the 2 rises are fast. Bakes in approximately 45-50 minutes. Allow 2-2 1/2 hours for the complete process. It’s worth it!

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Depression Era Soup
Worth Revisiting

Funny how conversations change to food when you least expect it. And even more so to the Great Depression and food. Julie and I were conducting some minor business when we fell into such a conversation. I was interested in her four ingredient Depression Soup realizing many of our Comfort Foods today were the economical dishes created back then. Meat was a premium and often eaten only once a week with most meals predominately vegetarian. Butter & bread were often made at home and sliced bread was a luxury. Now we think of homemade bread as luxurious. Recipes with lots of ingredients weren’t practical. Sometimes it was the cost and others it was lack of availability. If you’re a Baby Boomer you might relate. Our grandparents and parents were hit hard and their food habits were heavily influenced. If you’ve ever heard clean your plate … Or have eaten SPAM or hot dogs as a meat substitute … or have eaten Kraft Macaroni and Cheese or Mock Apple Pie with Ritz Crackers you’ve experienced a bit of that history.

As with many old recipes measurements are often missing. Sometimes it just doesn’t matter and this is just one of those times. The main ingredients are white potatoes, fresh green beans, whole milk and butter. I couldn’t help but add a little onion but you don’t need to. This soup thickens nicely without any addition of flour. Read on for the recipe. And enjoy over and over this winter.

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Sunday Breakfast Andolini Style

Brunch Pizza

Sunny Breakfast Andolini Style

Naples, Italy to Manhattan through San Francisco, and now Oklahoma, Andolini’s present destination. If you’ve been as lucky as I you’ve stumbled upon Andolini’s restaurant. My first taste experience at Andolini’s Pizzeria was many years ago while visiting winter cold Owasso, Oklahoma. (Yep, road warrior days.) It was so unexpected. But my affection quickly took hold for Owasso and this little restaurant. Both have grown exponentially … many others caught on. I, too, became a homeowner there. A couple of weeks ago I came across this video of Mike Bausch, one of Andolini’s owners, making what he called a Santino Colazione. It looked so delicious I couldn’t resist. You’ve got to try this! He didn’t give the recipe for his perfect pizza dough but if you’re close enough to one of his restaurants I heard he sells it.

Are you like me? Do you feel a pizza crust can make or break a pizza? If you live near Andolini’s that’s easy. Or try contacting your favorite local pizzeria. But if this is not practical here are some good options for pizza crust among my recipes: Linguica Prosciutto Pizza, Italian Flat Bread, Stromboli It isn’t just the dough though, is it? It’s the way it’s cooked. I prefer a pizza stone but transferring on and off can be a bit of a nightmare. Try placing your pizza pan right on the pre-heated stone if you have trouble with the transfer. Another option is Mario Batali’s Pizza Pan and Griddle … baking the pizza to perfection. But let’s get onto the recipe!

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