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!

Jacob's Favorite Peanut Butter Pie

Jacob always orders a peanut butter pie from a local restaurant.  After a few tries, he says this version is better than the restaurant's.

Oreo Crust

25 Oreos

4 TB melted butter

Peanut Butter Pie Filling

2 C Jif or Skippy PB

2 8oz package cream cheese, softened

2 1/2 C powdered sugar

16 oz package Cool Whip topping, softened

Peanut butter chips

Chocolate chips

Crumbled peanut butter candies, such as Reeses Cups or Butterfinger

Blend Oreos until they are smooth crumbs.  Mix with melted butter, and press into a pie pan.  Let the crust rest in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Beat the peanut butter and the cream cheese together until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.  Add the Cool Whip and beat until smooth.  Add peanut butter chips (to taste, maybe about 1 C), and mix into the filling.  Put filling inside the pie crust.  

Once pie filling is chilled, melt chocolate chips in the microwave and drizzle the melted chocolate over the pie.  Top with crushed candies.

Biscuits

1 ¾ cup sifted flour

½ tsp. salt

3 tsp. double acting baking powder

 

Add:

 

4 -6 TBSP. chilled butter or shortening or a combo of both

 

Preheat oven to 450F.

Cut solid shortening or butter into dry ingredients. Then make a well in the center. Add all at once:

¾ cup milk.

 

Stir dough until it is fairly free from the sides of the bowl, Turn the dough once on a  lightly floured surface. Knead gently and quickly, making about 8-10 folds. Roll with a lightly floured rolling pin, until the dough has the desired thickness.  Cut with a biscuit cutter dipped in a very little flour. Brush the tops with milk or melted butter.

 

Place on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake until lightly browned. 12-15 minutes.

 

Christina does :

5 ¼ flour

1 ½ tsp. salt

9 tsp. baking powder

12-18 TBSP. butter

2 ¼ cup milk

Levain Oatmeal Raisin (or Chocolate Chip) Cookies

These are show-stoppers when you swap the raisins for chocolate chips.  That pinch of cinnamon is a bright addition to the chocolate chip version.  They are huge.  I usually can only eat half of one max. Thanks you, A Bountiful Kitchen.

Ingredients

·       1 cup butter unsalted, cut into tablespoons*

·       1 1/4 cup light brown sugar

·       1/2 cup granulated sugar

·       2 large eggs

·       2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

·       1/4 cup cornstarch

·       1 1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats

·       1 teaspoon baking soda

·       1/2 teaspoon sea salt I like to use 1 teaspoon

·       1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

·       1 3/4 cup raisins (OR CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!)

Instructions

1.    Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees or 400 convection with rack in center of oven.

2.    In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, place cut butter. Mix on low until butter is broken up.

3.    With the mixer on low, add sugars. Blend until there are no visible chunks of butter, about 1 minute on low or medium low.

4.    Add eggs and mix until smooth on low or medium low.

5.    Stop mixer and add flour, cornstarch, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

6.    Pulse the mixer until the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated. This will take about 10 pulses of the mixer (quick on -off motion) . Then mix on low until the flour disappears.

7.    Mix the raisins in using the pulse motion again.

8.    Using a kitchen scale, measure out 6 oz portions, do not compact the dough or use a cookie scoop, the cookie is meant to have a rough shape! Stack the cookie high so it will still be thick after baking.

9.    Place the cookies on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan 4-5 per sheet.

10. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until the cookie is barely set and golden on top. C's note: It usually takes me longer.  I look at the crevices of the cookie and wait until they are not wet looking anymore-they've lost the shine-and then pull them out.  It is a very careful process to get it just right because it is such a large cookie.

11. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 30-60 minutes to allow the cookie to set up.

Recipe Notes

-The butter should be barely soft.I can see an indentation when I push my finger into the side of the butter, but the butter will not totally collapse. Either leave the butter on the kitchen counter for about 30 minutes before using or microwave the butter. I remove my butter straight from the refrigerator and microwave it for 18-20 seconds, My microwave is not very powerful, most microwaves will probably need about 10-12 seconds to achieve the right result!
-The size of the eggs will determine the amount of moisture in the cookie to some degree. I recommend using large or extra large eggs. The extra large eggs from Costco are HUGE, so you may need to add a bit of flour 1-2 tablespoons if the dough is wet and sticky after mixing all ingredients together. Fold in the extra flour with a large spoon or spatula.
-sea salt is recommended but not absolutely necessary. I like the flavor of sea salt as opposed to table salt. The next time you have both sided by side, pour a little in your hand and taste the difference!
-You may substitute 2 cups of chocolate chips ( I recommend dark of semi sweet chocolate) for the raisins. C's note:  I only use 1 3/4 cups and they turn out great.