When it comes to pumpkin pie, I’m a pretty traditional girl.  If I’m not making my recipe using fresh pumpkin, then I tend to rely on the trusty recipe on the back of every can of Libby’s Pumpkin.  It’s reliable, easy, and delicious.  From time to time, I’ll amp up the spices in this recipe to make a deliciously zesty pie with an extra special zing!

Spicy Pumpkin Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
1 12-ounce can of evaporated milk (NOT condensed)
Whipped cream for garnish

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a deep pie dish with the pastry shell, crimping the edges, if desired.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and eggs until frothy.  Add the pumpkin and stir to combine.  Gradually add the evaporoated milk, whisking until smooth.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared pie shell.  I like to use foil to cover the exposed edges of the pie crust so that they don’t burn.

Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then turn your oven down to 350 and continue to bake for 40-50 minutes.  You can test to see when the pie is set by inserting a knife into the center of the filling.  If it comes out clean, then  your pie is done!

Serve warm or chilled, topped with whipped cream.  Enjoy!

What better way to ring in the new year, dear readers, than to share one of my very favorite family traditions with you.  Every Christmas, Nanny makes her famous tarts!  They are really a unique little treat: flaky pastry filled with jam and topped with buttery yellow cake.  We usually serve them along side our usual pies for dessert at our big Christmas dinner.  But they are also excellent with a cup of coffee for breakfast, or – my personal favorite – in the afternoon with a cup of Earl Grey tea!

Nanny’s Raspberry Tarts

Batter:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups milk

Pastry:
2 cups flour
1 cup shortening
about 3/4 cup ice water

Filling:
Seedless raspberry jam

First, make the batter.  In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and the flour and the baking powder.

Next, add the flour and the milk alternately to the creamed mixture, starting and ending with the flour.  It usually takes about 3 additions of each.  Beat the batter until very light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Set the batter aside, and make the pastry.

Sift the flour into a bowl.  Add the shortening, and cut it into the flour using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles course crumbs.

Next, add the ice water.  Sprinkle it all over the mixture and use your hands to work it in until it all comes together in a ball.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll the crust out very thin, to about 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut the dough into about 3-inch rounds, and fit the dough into your tin the same way you would fit a pie crust into a pie dish!

These are Nanny’s tart tins.  They came from her mother (my great-grandmother) in England.  They really resemble sort of a slightly deeper-than-usual mini muffin tin.  Nanny has always used this old tea cup to cut the crust, as it is the perfect size to fit her tart tins!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

To assemble the tarts, place about a tablespoon of raspberry jam into the bottom of each crust.  Then top the jam with a spoonful of cake batter, sealing to the crust around the top.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops turn golden brown.  Enjoy!!!

The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer’s day;
The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.
The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore
The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he’d steal no more.

-Lewis Carroll

I’ve made this nice cozy breakfast bread several times this season.  A slice of this bread is absolutely perfect with a cup of coffee or tea on a chilly morning.  It is packed full of tart apples, juicy cranberries, and toasty walnuts – with barely enough spiced batter to hold it all together!

Apple-Cranberry Bread
adapted from AllRecipes.com

3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup spiced rum or apple juice
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom (substitute with cinnamon if you don’t have this)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup walnuts

In  a small bowl, cover the cranberries with the spiced rum.  Cover and allow to sit for at least 1 hour (overnight is best).  Drain and discard the liquid.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a large loaf pan (or 4 mini loaf pans).  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, and oil.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, stirring just until combined.

Gently fold in the drained cranberries, the apples, and the walnuts.  Spread the batter into the prepared loaf pan(s).  Bake for 55-60 minutes for one large loaf; 40-45 minutes for four smaller loaves.

Popcorn Bark

3-4 cups of lightly salted popcorn
4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup lightly salted mixed nuts

Spread the popcorn out in an even layer on a large piece of parchment paper.  Melt your semi-sweet chocolate using a double boiler or the microwave.  Use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate evenly over the popcorn.  Finally, sprinkle the nuts, trying to get them into the areas where the drizzled chocolate is heaviest so that they will stick.  Allow the chocolate to harden for approximately 2 hours.  When the chocolate is set, break pieces apart and store in an air-tight container for up to a week.

Pretzel Bark

3-4 cups of lightly salted pretzels
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 cup lightly salted mixed nuts

Spread the pretzels out in an even layer on a large piece of parchment paper.  Melt your semi-sweet chocolate and your white chocolate separately, using a double boiler or the microwave.  Use a spoon to drizzle the white chocolate evenly over the pretzels.  Next, sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, trying to get them into the areas where the drizzled chocolate is heaviest so that they will stick.  Finally, drizzle the semi-sweet chocolate over the top.  Allow the chocolate to harden for approximately 2 hours.  When the chocolate is set, break pieces apart and store in an air-tight container for up to a week.

We’re all suffering from a bit of that Thanksgiving hangover this weekend, I think.  Are we a few pounds heavier than this time last Sunday?  Probably.  Are we sleepy from the tryptophan or from sleeping on Aunt Gwendolyn’s couch?  Who knows.  One thing is for sure – leftovers abound, and we can’t let those go to waste.  So here are three great ideas for using up some of your leftover turkey!

Tired of all things Thanksgiving? Craving flavors other than rosemary and sage?  Then my Southwestern White Chili is the perfect match for you and your leftover turkey.

Looking for a good way to jazz up those same-old turkey sandwiches? Then boy are you in for a treat when you make Hot Browns with your leftovers.  These babies are a Kentucky classic, so comforting and absolutely delicious.

Thanksgiving is over but you’re still trying to embrace that holiday spirit?  Then you need to try this Turkey Pot Pie with Cranberry-Thyme Crust.  It is all of the best flavors of the season, in a new and tasty form.

Now get to cooking, dear readers, before those leftovers go to waste!!

In my family, we have a sort of strange New Year’s Day tradition. Of course, we have our black eyed peas for luck and our collards for money . . .

But we also have a dessert called Money Cake.

It has sort of developed from the tradition of the King Cake – which is made in France to celebrate the Epiphany, which falls on Jan. 6 every year, and marks the day when the Wise Men arrived to visit baby Jesus. With the King Cake, a trinket (usually a figurine of the baby Jesus) is baked in a cake, and whoever gets the trinket in their piece is King for the day.

Well, there’s also an English tradition of baking a bean and a pea in a pie, and the man and woman who get these are the king and queen for the day.

Somehow in my mom’s English-Canadian family this has morphed into our Money Cake. We sanitize 2 quarters, 4 dimes, 6 nickels, and 8 pennies and wrap each one in wax paper. Then we drop the coins randomly into the cake batter before the cake goes in the oven. The coins bake inside the cake, and pretty much each person’s piece of cake ends up having a coin inside. The two quarters are for the king and queen, if you get a dime you are a prince or princess, if you get a nickel, you are a duke or duchess, and if you get a penny? You are a lowly peasant!

The best way to sanitize the coins is to wash them in soapy water and then boil them in a shallow pot of water.

Over the years, we have made the Money Cake with a chocolate pound cake recipe, a regular chocolate cake recipe, but most frequently it’s a Cinnamon Chocolate Cake. This cake is moist, fluffy, mild, delicious, and festive. Not too sweet, not too rich, not to spicy – just perfect. Even if you decide to make it without the money!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large bundt pan with cooking spray. Put butter, water, oil, and cocoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well. Then, add the buttermilk and baking soda. Mix together the eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla in a small bowl, and add to the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Drop wrapped coins into the batter.

Bake 25 minutes. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan.

Then, turn onto a plate, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Disclaimer: Do be sure to tell your guests about the surprise in each piece so that they don’t break a tooth!

So I’ve been hearing so much buzz about how amazing oreo truffles are – I thought I’d try them, but with a peppermint twist. Instead of using Oreos, I used Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe-Joe cookies. They are basically just like oreos, with a peppermint-cream filling.

Oreo Truffles with a Peppermint Twist
Adapted from Beantown Baker’s recipe

24 peppermint oreo cookies
1/2 cup (4 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 teaspoon canola oil
3 peppermint candy canes, crushed into small pieces

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or wax paper and clear some space in your fridge.

Crush cookies using a food processor or a blender. The cookies should be crumbly, but not totally pulverized.

In a measuring cup, combine condensed milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract, stirring until incorporated. Pour this mixture over the crushed Oreos, and stir until ingredients come together. Working quickly, form the mixture into 1″ balls by rolling between your hands, and place them on cookie sheet. Even if the mimxture feels sticky at first, it will roll into balls well if you use your palms. Put the balls into refrigerator to chill (for easy dipping).
Sidenote: at this point in the process, my cute hubby says, “I don’t know WHAT to caal THOSE balls . . .” – in reference to his funny name for Hayley’s Nutella Cookies that I make.

Melt the chocolate using your favorite method. I like to use my double boiler, but you can use your microwave in 10-15 second increments as well.

Dip chocolate balls into melted chocolate and put back on cookie sheet.

Sprinkle with crushed peppermint, and return to fridge until chocolate hardens.

Then I placed ours in mini-cupcake liners for no-mess scarfing.

We took a tin of these with us on our trip to the mountains for New Year’s Eve and they were a BIG hit! There were only 4 of us, and we polished this batch off with ease. Oops! Guess it’s time for New Year’s Resolutions . . .

Merry Christmas Eve, dear readers! I am happily spending my day doing some last minute baking and wrapping.

Here is the recipe for my Auntie Gladys’s Chocolate Yule Log. She is Nanny’s sister, and whenever she would come to visit us in Georgia, we would have so much fun baking together. Here is an old shot of Nanny, me, and Auntie Gladys in my parents’ kitchen.

This is a beautiful, delicious, delicate dessert that is just perfect to serve around the holidays. It is light and airy, but satisfying with its soft sweetness. It’s also much simpler to make than it sounds like, so don’t be intimidated! Your family and guests will be truly impressed.

Auntie Gladys’s Chocolate Yule Log
Cake:
5 egg whites
5 egg yolks
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1/4 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar (optional)
Cocoa powder

Grease a jelly roll pan. Line with wax paper and grease again. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks until they turn a creamy lemon color, about 5 minutes. Sift in icing sugar, flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Add vanilla and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in egg whites, being sure not to deflate the mixture.

Spread the batter in the prepared jelly roll pan, smoothing into as even a layer as possible.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cake springs back when gently touched with your finger.

While cake is baking, lay a linen tea towel flat on your counter and sprinkle generously with confectioner’s sugar.

When cake comes out of the oven, turn it out onto the prepared towel and remove wax paper.

Starting at one of the short ends, roll the cake up in the towel. Do this gently, but remember that the eggs in the cake make it spongy and pliable, so it’s really not as hard to do this as you might anticipate. Allow cake to cool completely.

Meanwhile, beat 2 cups whipping cream until stiff but spreadable. Gradually add 2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, if desired. (My family is a non-sweet whipped cream family, but I know that some people prefer to have it sweetened.)

Unroll the cooled cake. Spread half of the whipped cream on the cake; then gently roll the cake back up in the same direction as before. If you’d like, you can simply sprinkle the cake with some powdered sugar and serve as it is. If you’d like to decorate the log more, then continue!

Slice a 1″ piece off of one end and set aside. Transfer log to serving plate. Prop the removed slice against the side of the roll, like a branch. Cover the “bark” of the log with the rest of the whipped cream.

Run the tines of a fork across the whipped cream to create a random pattern. Then sift a small amount of cocoa powder on the “bark” to create a wood-like effect.

Since I had already made my usual Gingerbread Men recipe earlier this season, I decided that I would branch out and try a new one for my second round of cookies this year.

This post also brings up a fun story about my Betty Crocker cookbook.

When I was growing up, mom had her 1970s bright-orange edition of the Betty Crocker cookbook, and that was practically all we would ever use when it came to baking. In fact, my favorite chocolate cake recipe comes from this book.

One of the first times I went over to my hubby’s house, I saw the exact same bright orange cookbook on his bookshelf! It was then, at that very moment, that I knew he was the one. . .

So back to the cookies! I thought this was an interesting recipe because it uses shortening instead of butter, and it uses no eggs. I tweaked the spices to my tastes and here is what I came up with!

Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook (1976)

1/2 cup shortening (ex. Crisco)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in molasses, water, flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Cover; chill 2 to 3 hours.

Heat oven to 375F. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with cookie cutter; place on ungreased baking sheet.

Decorate with raisins, red hots, or other candies (make sure you pick candies that won’t melt!).

Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet. Cool on racks.

Decorate with icing as desired, and enjoy!

Comparison to my regular recipe for gingies:
I was amazed at how different these cookies turned out than my usual recipe. I served these at a Christmas caroling party over the weekend, and people could not stop eating these. They are slightly crispier and chewier than my other recipe, which is usually more cake-like and fluffy. These tasted like the freshest ginger snaps you’ve ever had. I’m pretty much sold on them as my new yearly recipe! I wish I had a picture to show, but we sort of decorated these AT the party, and they were eaten up too fast for me to have a photo session. We are making another batch for Christmas Eve, so hopefully I’ll snap a few photos then!

What could be more festive and full of holiday cheer than
beautifully swirled peppermint bark!?!

When I was in 6th grade, I did my science fair project on the science behind the art of paper marbling. It involved chaos theory, density of liquids, and a lot of other super nerdy stuff. It was so much fun! There are lots of different techniques and tools that you can use to create different patterns. Here is what paper marbling looks like:

Well, I had a flashback to that science fair project last night when my mom and I made some Marvelous Marbled Peppermint Bark. This was so much fun to make, and it turned out looking so beautiful. Most importantly, it is a delicious little holiday treat. And it was super easy and quick – the directions are just a little long here because I got so picture-happy!

Marvelous Marbled Peppermint Bark

10.5 ounces high-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped or grated
(I used Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa intense dark chocolate)
3 ounces high-quality white chocolate , finely chopped or grated
(I used Ghirardelli Sublime White Vanilla Dream squares)
4 candy canes or equivalent peppermint candies

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. Place the candy canes in a plastic bag, seal, and whack with something really hard, like a meat pounder, until they are crushed into small pieces.

Heat dark chocolate in a double boiler. I have a fancy one that my mom gave me (it even makes a little train whistle sound!), but you can also use a pot of simmering water with a glass bowl that fits over the top. Just make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. When chocolate is completely melted, spread it evenly over the prepared paper-lined pan.

In a clean and dry double boiler, melt the white chocolate until smooth.

Spoon the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate. Then, drag the tip of a toothpick through the chocolate, snaking back and forth from the left side of the pan to the right side of the pan. Next, drag the tip of a toothpick, snaking back and forth from the far side of the pan to the near side of the pan. The resulting pattern will look pretty and marbled! Sprinkle the pieces of candy cane over the top, and push them lightly into the chocolate.

You can also swirl the chocolates in a random pattern, as I did with this batch. Either way ends up looking beautiful.

Place the tray of candy flat in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes, until very firm. Break into randomly-shaped pieces with your hands and enjoy! Keeps well in an air-tight container in the fridge for several days – if you can wait to eat it for that long!

I just love how it looks packed up in this Santa tin! This is the batch I made for my mom.

I also packaged a second batch for my co-workers as a little Christmas treat on our last day together before the holidays. They turned out pretty cute!

Sorry, I had waaayyy too much fun with the photos on this one!!!