December 21, 2017 - Good afternoon, yesterday was a beautiful day after a rainy night. The rain was needed. I can’t believe Christmas is almost here. Actually, my family celebrated Christmas Monday night as I had family coming in from North Carolina. I had everyone here except two and all 5 of the great grandchildren. The oldest is 3 ½ and the youngest is 1 year. They were on toy overload, but it was a blessing to see them enjoying their new toys. Boy, oh, boy could I use some of their energy. It is a shame we can’t bottle some of that energy and they take a little sip as we get older to give us old folks a much-needed boost.
Since Christmas is nearly here I wanted to share some holiday recipes and take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2018 is nearly here.
Recipes:
Peanut Butter Ball Candy
¾ cup margarine
3 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups peanut butter
1 box powdered sugar
Mash all together very well (I use my hand, you need to get the Rice Krispies crushed but not powdered.)
Form into balls and place in freezer until hard, about 30 minutes. In a double boiler, place ½ bar of wax, 6 oz pkg milk chocolate and 5 regular Hershey candy bars and melt together being careful not to get any water into mixture or it will clump making a mess. Dip frozen peanut butter balls into chocolate to coat.
Tip: To make it easier to dip balls into chocolate, insert toothpicks into balls before freezing.
Maple Cream Pie (easy recipe to double) My family’s favorite new recipe
1 deep dish frozen pie crust
2 cups heavy cream
¾ cup of sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Topping:
4 tablespoons salted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt 4 tablespoons butter and heavy cream together until butter is melted; then whisk in cornstarch and sugar, stirring continuously until thickened (6-7 minutes).
Stir in maple syrup, maple extract, vanilla extract and salt, if using, and whisk until incorporated. Pour into pie crust, then drizzle remaining (melted) butter over top. Whisk together remaining topping ingredients, sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over filling.
Place baking dish in oven and bake 25-30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filing is bubbly. Center should be set, but still a little wobbly. Remove from oven and let cool, then refrigerate until set 2-3 hours.
Moist Old-Fashioned Pound Cake
3 ½ cups cake flour (sifted)
3 cups sugar
2 sticks butter or margarine
1 cup Crisco (shortening)
1 cup milk
5 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
Blend sugar, butter and Crisco together with mixer. Add flour and milk alternately blending mixture well. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix thoroughly. Add vanilla and lemon extract and mix again.
Grease and flour 9 inch tube pan, add batter and bake at 325 degrees for 1 ½ hours. DO NOT OPEN OVEN.
Chocolate Explosion Cake
nonstick cooking spray
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 package German chocolate cake mix
10 bite-size coconut candy bars, chopped, such as Almond Joy
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick butter), at room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan with nonstick spray.
Mix the coconut and nuts and spread them evenly in the pan. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box, but use 4 eggs instead of 3...and use MILK in place of water, and add 1 tsp. vanilla. Stir in the chopped candy bars. Pour the batter over the coconut and nuts. Combine the cream cheese, butter and sugar. Randomly drop tablespoons of this mixture on top of the batter; do not spread them.
Bake until the sides of the cake pull away from the pan, 40 to 50 minutes. Pour the warm Chocolate Pecan Glaze over the cake. Slice and enjoy.
Chocolate Pecan Glaze:
1/2 cup (1 stick butter)
1/4 cup milk (more if a thinner consistency is desired)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the butter, milk, cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Once the butter is melted, remove from the heat. Add the sugar and stir until smooth. Stir in the pecans.
