Candied Roasted Nuts

Alex bought some roasted nuts recently and he ate all of them before I even got a chance to get my hands on them. So I decided to make some homemade candied nuts for him since he loves them so much. The recipe is really easy and it makes a lot so you can keep some and give some away as a gift.

Recipe:
1/3 c brown sugar
2/3 c white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lb nuts (I had cashews and pecans)
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water



Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix sugars, salt, and cinnamon.


In a separate bowl beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff.


Add nuts and coat evenly. Pour in sugar mixture and stir until all nuts are covered in sugar.


Spread onto a cookie sheet (you may need two cookie sheets-also lining them with parchment paper would be a good idea) and bake for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.


When they are cooling, give them a toss so they don't all stick together.


I put some in a mason jar with a red ribbon to give to Alex.

Thanksgiving

I had a Thanksgiving with my family in my hometown of Chilton, but I wanted to have a little Thanksgiving of my own with just myself and my boyfriend. I couldn't have a Thanksgiving without cooking anything. Plus it meant more leftovers!

I won't post recipes here because mostly everything I made is pretty traditional Thanksgiving food. So just enjoy the photos.

Alex is a vegetarian, and it was just the two of us so I didn't make turkey, instead I made a Cornish Hen, it was adorable.


I made these red potatoes with onion, garlic, and butter instead of mashed potatoes, they were delicious.


Cornbread stuffing


Baked cheese and vegetable twist


Green bean casserole


Cranberry sauce (yes, out of the can! Alex insisted on it.)


And of course pumpkin pie

Butterscotch Apple Cake

I found this recipe at Noblepig.com

Ingredients:
1 c vegetable oil
2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 c chopped pecans
3 c chopped peeled apples
1 c butterscotch chips
caramel sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First mix oil and sugar together, and then add the eggs beating after each one.

Add flour, baking soda, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix together. Stir in vanilla, the chopped apples, and the chopped pecans.



Spread in a 13x9 in. pan. the batter will be thick.



Sprinkle with butterscotch chips.


Bake for 55 minutes. The center will seem a little wobbly, but it needs to cool completely in the pan.


Garnish with caramel sauce.

Caramel Apples

Ingredients:
1 bag of caramel squares
Granny smith apples
wooden sticks
Optional: milk chocolate and toffee bits for dipping



It's super easy to make caramel apples. All you have to do is heat up the caramel squares with 2 tablespoons of water until they're all melted.


I didn't use the whole bag because I only wanted to make a few small apples.

Dip your apples into the melted caramel, and make sure it gets fully coated.

Then I dipped them in chocolate and Heath bits!
Put them on wax paper or aluminum foil to cool, and maybe even put them in the refrigerator if you dipped them in chocolate otherwise the chocolate will melt from the hot caramel.

Rhubarb Cheesecake

This cheesecake is a delicious combination of sweet and tart, and it's easy to make. I got the recipe from my aunt Pat and it seemed like rhubarb would be an unlikely fruit to use in a cheesecake, but if you like the two separately, then you'll love them together. The rhubarb baked in sugar makes a juicy tart filling in creamy sweet cream cheese all on top of a sugar cookie like crust.


Recipe:

For crust:
2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 c cold butter

For filling and cheesecake:
4 c frozen rhubarb
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp flour
2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese
3/4 c sugar
3 eggs

Cut butter into flour until you get a crumbly mixture (similar to pie dough). Dump the mixture into a 9 x 13 in. pan and press down and slightly up the sides.


Toss the rhubarb sugar and flour together and pour over crust. Bake for 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven.


Turn down the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the cream cheese sugar and eggs and pour over the top of the rhubarb. Bake for 30 minutes.

Let cool for four hours or overnight.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

Recipe:

Crust:
30 Oreos, crushed
5 Tbsp butter, melted
small pinch of salt

Filling:
1 1/4 c salted peanuts, finely chopped and divided. (1/2 c for topping 3/4 c for filling)
1/2 c chocolate chips, chopped
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of allspice or nutmeg
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1 c powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 c peanut butter
2 Tbsp milk

Topping:
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 c chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt together and press in the bottom and sides of a springform pan (a measuring cup works well to press up the sides). Freeze for 10 minutes and then bake for 10 minutes.


Mix 3/4 c chopped peanuts, chocolate chips (the original recipe called for mini choc. chips, but I just got regular and chopped them up), sugar, cinnamon, and allspice.


In a separate bowl whip 1 1/2 c of the cream until medium peaks form, then beat in 1/4 c powdered sugar. Refrigerate until needed.


Beat cream cheese with the remaining 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Beat in peanut butter and 2 Tbsp milk. Mix well.
Stir in 1/4 of the whipped cream to lighten up the cream cheese mixture then stir in the crunchy peanut mix. Mix the remaining whipped cream and pour over the crust. Refrigerate for 4 hrs or overnight.


For the topping, boil 1/2 c cream and pour over 1/2 c chocolate chips, stir until smooth. Pour over torte and top with remaining peanuts. Chill for an hour.

Rhubarb Pie

I've been wanting to make something with rhubarb for some time. In the past, I would never have to buy rhubarb because I'd always get it from someone's garden, but that's harder to come by in Milwaukee. I found some fresh rhubarb at the grocery store and got enough to make a pie and a cheesecake (rhubarb cheesecake recipe coming in the future!).
This pie has a sweet almost custard like filling.

Recipe:
3 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
1/4 c sour cream (I didn't have sour cream on hand and found that 1 Tbsp soft butter with 2 Tbsp milk works just as well)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 c flour
2 1/2-3 c fresh chopped rhubarb


Mix eggs and sugar, add sour cream. Mix in flour and nutmeg. Lastly mix in rhubarb.
Pour into a deep dish pie crust (crust recipe in last post).


I made a lattice top.


Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.


Remember to put aluminum foil around edges so they don't burn. I got my foil on a little too late, but it still tasted delicious.



A la mode...

Easy Pie Crust

No more buying pre-made pie shells. I make this crust for every pie I make because it's so easy. It's also really flaky and almost melts in your mouth. It makes enough for a top and bottom so cut the recipe in half if you just need a bottom crust.

Recipe:
2 1/4 c flour
1 c shortening
1 tsp salt
up to 5 Tbsp water



Mix flour and salt.
Add 1 c. shortening and cut in using a pastry blender or a fork until it looks crumbly.


Add water (could take up to 5 Tbsp, I used about 3) until you can mush it into a ball. Pull the dough apart to form two balls (top and bottom).


Refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Take out and roll with a floured rolling pin. I like to roll the dough around the pin to transfer it to the pie plate.
Pour in whatever filling you desire, put the top crust over it any way you choose (just make sure there are holes for steam to escape by scoring a few times or have a lattice top), flute edges with thumb and finger. Bake for about 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
Tip: Put foil around the edges of your crust about halfway through baking so it doesn't burn.