Borscht

This is the recipe I made for book club, which I loved!  I found it on a blog called Natasha's Kitchen.  I think she might live out west near some of you.  This is the soup we discussed that is very deep red because of the beets - looks like a crime scene!

I didn't add the dill because I didn't have any, and sometimes I am iffy on dill.  I made it again this weekend because I was sick.  It is packed with vegetables and very hydrating, also delicious.  Great soup!

Ingredients:

• 3 medium beets, peeled and grated (use gloves to avoid staining your hands)
• 4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 8 cups chicken broth + 2 cups water
• 3 medium yukon potatoes, peeled and sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 celery ribs, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 Tbsp ketchup or 3 Tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 can white cannelini beans
• 2-3 Tbsp white vinegar, or to taste
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 large garlic clove, pressed
• 3 Tbsp chopped dill

Instructions:

1. Peel and grate the beets.  Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add 2 Tbsp olive oil.  Add grates beets and saute 10 minutes, stirrling occasionally until beets are softened.
2. While beets saute, peel and chop potatoes and carrots.  Finely dice celery, onion, and red pepper.
3. Add 8 cups broth and 2 cups water.  Add potatoes, carrots, and bay leaves to pot.  Cook for 10-15 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
4. While potatoes and carrots are boiling, heat a large skilled over medium heat and add 2 Tbsp olive oil.  Add chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper.  Saute, stirring occasionally until softened and lightly golden, 7-8 minutes.  Add 4 Tb ketchup and stir fry for 30 seconds, then transfer to pot with beets and potatoes.
5. Add 1 can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed, 2-3 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1 pressed garlic clove, and 3 Tbsp chopped dill.  Simmer at least 2-3 minutes, or until ready to serve.  Serve with sour cream.

Cranberry Pecan Baked Brie

This has become my go-to appetizer to bring in December.  It is so easy and so delicious!  I get complements every time.  I found it on a website called Damn Delicious.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 8-ounce wheel brie cheese, rind trimmed
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

FOR THE MAPLE HONEY DRIZZLE

AD
• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Zest of 1 orange
• ½ cup chopped pecans 
• ¼ cup dried cranberries

INSTRUCTIONS

AD
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place brie on a rimmed baking sheet or a 5-inch cast iron skillet; sprinkle with brown sugar. Place into oven and bake until softened, about 12-15 minutes; let cool 5 minutes.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and orange zest. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until foamy, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in pecans and cranberries.
• Serve brie warm topped with pecan mixture; serve with crackers or baguette.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

 Hey family! Ginny asked me for a strawberry cake for her birthday again this year. As I was looking for recipes I combined ideas from a few recipes and created a strawberry frosting recipe that I can't ever imagine straying from. It tastes like a fresh homemade strawberry ice cream! I wanted to remember it for future reference, so here it will go on the blog. :)

Ingredients:

10 oz. bag frozen strawberries

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, slightly chilled

4 oz cream cheese slightly chilled

6 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp. heavy whipping cream (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

Thaw the strawberries, then drain and reserve the juice for the frosting.

Use half of the strawberries in the cake batter (or save for some other use). Puree the other half (5 oz) of strawberries. 

Beat the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 1 minute.

With the mixer on low, gradually add in the powdered sugar until incorporated.

Keeping the mixer on low, add the strawberry puree, vanilla, and salt. 

Slowly add in the reserved strawberry juice, watching the consistency to make sure it does not become too runny. 

Add in whipping cream little by little if needed to get to a good spreading consistency (the original recipe did not have the strawberry puree or juice and only had the 3 tbsp. whipping cream, so you can watch and see if you think it needs it or not). 

Turn the mixer to medium and beat for 3-5 minutes, which will help it reach a lighter pink color and a lighter texture.

To remove air bubbles, use a wooden spoon to stir and push out air bubbles.

Enjoy!!

And thank you Cakes by Courtney for the base recipe!

THANKS, Jessica!

I can't wait to try this!

PS.  I couldn't figure out how to make this a "comment!"  So, I just attached it to this post!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Somehow pineapple upside down cake got stuck in Skylar's head and she wanted to make it.  We found the recipe on SugarSpunRun.  Wow, this was delicious!!!  We served it with vanilla ice cream.  Irresistible.

Ingredients

Topping

• ▢¼ cup butter salted or unsalted melted (60g)
• ▢½ cup brown sugar light or dark (I usually use light) tightly packed (100g)
• ▢10 pineapple rings/slices patted dry (we used fresh pineapple rather than canned)
• ▢maraschino cherries (or not - we used raspberries)

Vanilla Cake

• ▢½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (115g)
• ▢¾ cup sugar (150g)
• ▢2 eggs room temperature preferred
• ▢1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (195g)
• ▢1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢½ cup milk room temperature preferred (120ml)
• 1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
• 2. Pour melted butter into 9.5-10" pie plate or deep cake pan, make sure it entirely covers the bottom of the pan and use a spoon or spatula to grease the sides of the pan.
• 3. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter mixture.  Arrange pineapple slices over the bottom of the pan, slice leftover slices in half and arrange up the sides of the pan, as seen in photo.
• 4. Place cherries in center of pineapple rings and as desired in empty spaces.  Set aside.
• 5. To prepare vanilla cake, beat butter and sugar in medium-sized bowl until creamy and well-combined. 
• 6. Add eggs, beating one at a time until combined. 
• 7. Stir in vanilla extract.
• 8. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  
• 9. Alternate adding flour and milk to the wet ingredients, starting and ending with flour and mixing until just combined after each addition (I prefer to do this part by hand with a spatula to be sure not to overmix).
• 10. Pour batter evenly over prepared cake pan and pineapple/cherry layer.  
• 11.  Bake on 350F (175C) for 30 minutes.  At the 30 minute mark, loosely cover with foil and continue to bake (still on 350F/175C) for another 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with few crumbs (total cook time for cake will be 45 minutes).
• 12.  Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes and then carefully invert cake onto serving platter (careful, it will still be very hot!).
• 13.  Allow to cool before cutting and enjoying, but don't wait too long as this cake tastes wonderful (best!) warm from the oven!