Apple-Snickers Salad Again

I've actually posted this recipe on my blog before.  You can see it here.

But at Camp Steiner, along with an abundance of bananas, we were sent an abundance of apples.  So I had to make Apple-Snickers Salad.  The difference is that at Steiner I had to make it for about fifty people.  I really think the recipe for fifty is better than the small recipe, but I'm not going to the trouble of reducing the recipe by five. If you want to divide each ingredient by five and make it smaller, more power to you. ;-)

APPLE-SNICKERS SALAD

(serves about 50)

25 of your favorite apples, cored and diced
28 regular-sized Snickers candy bars, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
3 cups milk
2 pkg. (3 oz. each) white-chocolate flavored instant pudding
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip (I like the extra creamy kind)

1.  Toss diced apples and sliced Snickers together in a huge bowl.
2.  In a smaller bowl, mix the pudding and milk together.
3.  Pour the pudding mixture and Cool Whip into the huge bowl with the apples and candy.
4.  Mix well to coat everything with the yummy sauce stuff.
5.  Refrigerate until ready to serve—but not longer than an hour or two.


Oh, all right! Try this to serve 6 to 10:

5 apples, cored and diced
5-6 regular-sized Snickers bars, sliced
about 2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 oz. instant white-chocolate pudding (You'll need a food scale for this one! Or you could measure how many tablespoons of pudding mix are in a box, divide that by 2.5 and put that measurement in. Good luck.)
1/2 cup Cool Whip

See if that works. :-)

Loralee's Banana Cream Goodness

While we were at Camp Steiner we were plagued with an abundance of bananas—about two to three cases of them every week. I'm not sure why commissary thought 50 people could, or would, eat 150 bananas a week, but it was driving me crazy.  And then they brought us so much milk one day that I didn't have room for it in my miniscule refrigerators.  I was very irritated.

In my cranky state, and having just had a scoutmaster give me a couple dozen real eggs, I came up with an idea, and here it is (whittled down to normal porportions, rather than the 50-person dessert I made at camp):

LORALEE'S BANANA CREAM GOODNESS

one small pie tin (about 8 inches)

CRUST:
Lorna Doone cookies (I have no idea how many you'll need—enough to crush and line a small pie tin)
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. melted butter

FILLING:
3/4 cup sugar
3-4 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. rum extract

sliced bananas (I have no idea how many—I'd guess two or three would do for one pie)

whipped cream

CRUST:
1.  Crush the Lorna Doone cookies and put them in the pie tin.
2.  Add the 2 Tbsp. sugar and 3 Tbsp. melted butter to the crushed cookies and mix them together.
3.  Press the cookie mixture onto the bottom of the pan and up the sides.
4.  Bake it at 350 for about 10 minutes.
5.  Remove from oven and let it cool.

FILLING:
1.  Mix the sugar and cornstarch together in a medium saucepan.
2.  Add the milk and egg yolks; whisk to blend.
3.  Cook over medium heat, whisking until thick and bubbly.  Cook another two minutes or so.
4.  Remove from heat and blend in the butter, vanilla, and rum extracts.
5.  Place plastic wrap (actually, I use a grocery bag) directly on top of the pudding and let cool to room temperature.
6.  Spread half of the pudding over the crust in the pie tin.
7.  Top with the bananas.
8.  Spread remaining pudding over the bananas.
9.  Place plastic directly on top of the pie and refrigerate until ready to serve—at least an hour.
10.  Top with whipped cream and eat it up!  Yum!

Rice Pudding

For Stephanie. :-)

I'm not a big fan of rice pudding, and don't have my own recipe. But this is the recipe from my new Cooks Illustrated cookbook, The New Best Recipe. So try it out and let me know if you like it.

RICE PUDDING

2 cups water

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup medium-grain rice (they say you can use long-grain rice)

2 1/2 cups whole milk

2 1/2 cups half & half

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Bring water to boil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the salt and rice; cover and simmer over low heat, stirring once or twice, until the water is almost fully absorbed—15 to 20 minutes.

Add the milk, half & half, and sugar. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, uncovered and stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to thicken, about 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, stirring every couple of minutes to prevent sticking and scorching, until a spoon is just able to stand up in the

pudding—about 15 minutes longer.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool and serve at room temperature or chilled.

If you like raisins, or cinnamon, add them to taste when you add the vanilla.

To store, press plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Apple-Snickers Salad

Hi Tami! I believe you are the only die-hard who still reads my cookbook blog—a belief that stems from Melanie telling me that you do read it regularly. So, this recipe is for you, and it is to die for!

We had this the other night at our Cub Scout Blue-and-Gold Banquet. From a distance I thought it was potato salad; then, as I got closer to it I thought it looked more like apples. But what were the darker colored chunks? Ham? Bacon? Maybe grapes?
I was standing in the line, and had just determined to try it out, when the chef of this salad said, "It's really good. I know, it sounds weird, but it is so good." And so I found out that it was, indeed, apples, and the darker bits were chunks of Snickers bars. She didn't have to convince me that it would be good. It sounded excellent!

Just imagine getting one of those great-big, gourmet candy-apples—the ones that are double-dipped in caramel, and then coated in chocolate, and then possibly more chocolate, and then dipped in nuts. Well, take one of those, slice it up, and then dip it in dunk it into a sweet, creamy dip before taking a bite. Heavenly!

Now, I don't know if you can rightfully call this "salad" since it has candy-bars in it. But Michelle Moon, who gave me the recipe, says it is healthy because there's apples in it. So you can decide for yourself. Here is the recipe:

APPLE-SNICKERS SALAD

1 large pkg. instant vanilla pudding

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 tub Cool Whip
8 regular-sized Snickers bars
6 medium-size tart apples [I think Granny Smiths are too tart. Try Jonathons, or Pink Ladies.]

In a large bowl, mix together the pudding, milk and Cool Whip.
Cut the Snickers bars into bite-size pieces. [You could use the bite-size bars, but I think the regular ones are better because you get more caramel and a tiny bit less chocolate.]
Add the Snickers to the pudding stuff; mix in.

Core and cut the apples into bite-size pieces. (Peeling them is optional.)

Hurry and mix the apples in with the rest of the stuff before they turn brown!
If it seems too thick, mix in about 1/4 cup more milk.
Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Enjoy it with other people. It's not that healthy!

Tami's Really Cool, Tasty and Delicious Pretzel-Jello Stuff

I've eaten this jello salad that Tami, my niece-in-law (niece-in-law?), makes; and it is really yummy! I know, pretzels with jello might make you think twice, but you should think a third time and just try it.

I missed out when she took it to Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house, because I spent Turkey Day at my in-laws. But Tami graciously gave me the recipe, and now I am going to propel her to culinary fame by posting it here, on my cookbook blog. ;-)

TAMI'S PRETZEL-JELLO SALAD

CRUST:
2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cubes melted butter
FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
8 oz cool whip
JELLO:
6 oz jello pkg.
water
2 cups cold orange juice (optional)


CRUST:
Mix the crushed pretzels, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and butter together.
Flatten the mixture into a 9x13 inch pan; bake at 400* for 10 minutes, then cool completely.
FILLING:
Mix the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar together until smooth; blend in the Cool Whip.
Spread over the cooled pretzels, making sure to seal the edges so the Jello mixture won't leak through.
JELLO:
Make the jello according to package directions, substituting the 2 cups juice INSTEAD of the 2 cups cold water, if desired.
Slowly pour the jello over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Do this slowly and carefully so you don't pour a hole into the cream cheese. [Refrigerating the cream cheese stuff first might help; it might harden it up a little. Maybe also letting the jello cool to room temperature before you pour it—Loralee].
Refrigerate until jello is completely set.
EAT:
Serve to your family and friends at the next big gathering (like New Year's Eve).
It's yummy, but don't eat it all by yourself!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day

Every year I use a few special recipes for Thanksgiving, and I was actually going to post these recipes before Thanksgiving so that you could try them if you wanted to. But it's too late now. Still, you could use them for Christmas. :-)

These are the specials of the house:
1. A yummy stuffing bread that makes great stuffing. Make sense? Probably not, but you'll see. And the bread also makes great turkey sandwiches on the day after.
2. A delicious veggie dip--a family recipe I inherited by marrying Bruce.
3. Chip dips. Actually, we only have chips and dip when we Thanksgiving with the North side of the family. (I know; you're thinking, "What about the South side?" We don't talk to them.)
4. Egg-nog cream pie. Actually, I don't make this every year. But my kids ask for it every year.

So to make up for never posting new recipes, I'll post all of these holiday recipes here, today. And, as a bonus, I'll include a new cranberry recipe that I tried out this year. (What good is a family dinner if you can't experiment on the family?)


STUFFING BREAD
Bread that tastes like stuffing. Bake this a few days before turkey day, dry it, and use it to make extra-yummy stuffing. See? Or use it for sandwiches.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/3 cups chicken broth, warmed up (think bath-water, not boiling)
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. yeast
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. celery seed
5 - 5 1/2 cups flour

Melt butter in a frying pan, add the onions and saute until onions are soft. Set aside to cool.
While the onions & butter are cooling, mix the warm broth, sugar and yeast in a large bowl to proof (wait about 5 minutes, until it's bubbly and/or foamy).
After your yeast is proofed, whisk in the eggs and the butter/onion mixture.
Add salt, poultry seasoning, pepper and celery seed.
Mix in 3 cups of the flour. Then add more flour, to make a soft dough.
Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a clean, covered bowl; cover and let rise until doubled--about an hour.
Punch dough; knead for about 30 seconds and shape into two loaves. Place loaves in greased pans, cover with a towel and let rise until about doubled--about an hour.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (until it looks, smells and feels done).
Remove from oven.
Slice it and dry it or just eat it. Yummy!

BRUCE'S MOM'S VEGGIE DIP
Well, actually I think it was around before Bruce's mom got it. But I got it from her. :-)

3/4 cup Miracle Whip (I use light, but never fat-free)
3/4 cup sour cream (light is good, fat-free is yuck)
1 1/2 tsp. dill weed
1 1/2 tsp. Bon Apetit seasoning
3 Tbsp. dry minced onion (I like to use onion powder because it makes the dip smoother)

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Dip your veggies in (no double-dipping!) and enjoy!


CLAM DIP (for chips)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 (6.5 oz.) can minced clams, drained, but reserve the broth
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (optional)
dash Bon Apetit seasoning (optional)

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, clams and 2 Tbsp. of the reserved broth; mix with electric beaters until smooth. If it's too thick, add more reserved broth, 1-2 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.


GREEN ONION CHIP DIP

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
2-6* green onions, finely chopped (*how oniony do you like it?)
milk, to taste

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, onions (to taste), and 2 Tbsp. milk; mix with electric beaters until smooth. If it's too thick, add more milk, 1-2 tsp. at a time until desired consistency.


EGG-NOG CREAM PIE

1 baked pie crust
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups egg-nog
3/4 cup milk
nutmeg, to taste
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. rum extract
2 Tbsp. butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch, egg-nog and milk together.
Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it thickens and boils.
Remove 1 cup hot mixture and quickly whisk into egg yolks. Return to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla, rum extract and butter. Stir until butter is melted and completely combined.
Cover closely with plastic (put the plastic right on the surface of the pudding) and let cool completely to room temperature.
Pour egg-nog pudding into the pie shell. Refrigerate. When it's cold, make the whipped cream:
In a medium bowl, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla with a mixer at high speed. Stop when cream forms peaks, or you'll be making butter! Spread cream on pie and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg. Slice and serve!


CRANBERRY JELLY
All right. It's still really tart. But not bad . . . for cranberries.

zest from 2 oranges
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. water
2 cups cranberries
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves

Process orange zest and sugar in a food processor until the sugar turns orange and the zest is chopped fine. (If you don't have a food-processor, a blender works. If you don't have either, you can skip this step.)
Put zest, sugar, lemon juice and water into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add cranberries to pot and cook until they begin to pop. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cinnamon and cloves.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.


So, there you have them. SIX new recipes! Enjoy.

Guests and Brownies

Last night Ben and Tami and their cute little girls came over for dinner. Did we think to take pictures of them (or at least the cute little girls)? Well, no. But here is the brownie recipe Ben asked for.

The first time I made these they were yummy and gooey; the second time not so much. But I think the difference was this: The first time I made them was for a big party, and the recipe didn't make enough. So I mixed up a cheap (and I mean probably the cheapest one available) brownie mix and added it to the home-made recipe—but I didn't use a bigger pan. So they were thicker, which probably added to the gooeyness factor. Well, try it out either way—it's a yummy recipe.

BROWNIES

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. warm water
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder [I am not about to pay for espresso powder just to make brownies with! Instead, I borrowed some Pero powder from my mom—which I'm sure coffee-people would say is NOT the same at all, but I don't know the difference.]
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter [I never remember to buy unsalted butter, but if I have it I use it.]
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine [buy baking squares, don't use chocolate chips]
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk flour and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa, water, vanilla and espresso powder together; set aside.
MIcrowave the butter and chocolate together at 50% power until melted, about 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in sugar and salt until completely incorporated. Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then whisk in the egg. [whisk, whisk, whisk!] Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated (do not overmix).
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (like PAM). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes.
Cool for as long as you can stand to wait. Eat them up!

Buttercream Frosting

My brother-in-law, Rick, turned 50 this week. So Melanie (my sister) came over and we spent the day making goodies for a surprise party tonight. (Rick thought she went to work this morning. But no, we were right here, playing in my kitchen.)

Well, it just wasn't enough that I built the birthday cake. NO, she had to go and tell everyone that the frosting recipe was here, on my blog. So, to make an honest woman of her, I will post it. ;-)

But first I have to tell any and all party-goers that I actually made it wrong. Which, in this case, I think was good, because it is a really buttery recipe. Well, anyway, I'll try to explain where the mistakes came in, and maybe you can duplicate the whole mess.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
The mistake way:

2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 sticks of butter, each one cut into 4 pieces, and softened
* this was part of the mistake: about 2 cups powdered sugar *

In a large, heat-proof mixing bowl, combine the 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Put the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water [I just put it right into the simmering water—just make sure it's simmering, not boiling]. Whisk the stuff until it's thin and frothy and reaches a temperature of 160 degrees.
[OK. Here was my first mistake: I only let it heat to 140 degrees; although, really, I don't know if that would cause a big problem.]
Remove from heat and beat at medium-high speed until it reaches room temperature, 5-8 minutes. [Here was my second mistake—I got impatient and didn't let it cool enough—it was still warm to touch.]
Add the butter, one piece at a time and beat at high speed until thick and fluffy.
[OK. Next mistake. Because the egg and sugar stuff was too warm, the butter just melted—also, I got impatient again—and it never did get thick and fluffy. So I added powdered sugar until it seemed to be the right consistency.]


So, that was the first batch of frosting, which wasn't enough for the great-big cake. And since I had to make another batch, I thought I'd try to do it right the second time.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
The right way: (mostly):

2 large eggs
2 large egg whites [actually, the recipe calls for 3 whole eggs, but I opted to use 2 eggs, and 2 egg whites]
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 sticks butter, each one cut into 4 pieces, and softened

In a large, heat-proof mixing bowl, combine the 2 large eggs, 2 egg whites, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla.
Put the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water [I just put it right into the simmering water—just make sure it's simmering, not boiling]. Whisk the stuff until it's thin and frothy and reaches a temperature of 160 degrees. [I used the whisk attachment of my magic wand—it kept my shoulder and arm from wearing out during several minutes of steady whisking.]
Remove from heat and beat at medium-high speed until it reaches room temperature, 5-8 minutes.
Add the butter, one piece at a time and beat at high speed until thick and fluffy. [Just go away and let your stand-mixer do its thing. Or, if you have to use a hand-mixer—bummer for you! You'll have to babysit it until it's done.]
At the thick and fluffy point, the frosting can be covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days. But it will get hard, like a stick of butter, so you have to let it warm to room temperature before you can spread it on a cake. Mmmmm!

Now, here's what Melanie doesn't know:
She saw me put the first batch of frosting onto the cake. Then, after she left, I started on the second batch of frosting. Well, the second batch was smooth and silky and delightful; in comparison, the first batch was sugary—and pretty much like what you'd get in a can from the store. So I scraped most of the first batch of frosting off of the cake and mixed it in with the yummy second batch. Voila! Delicious buttercream frosting. And, it was just enough to spread the outside of a half-sheet cake.

So, after all of those convoluted instructions, do you think you can make a good batch of buttercream frosting?

Double Chocolate Cheesecake

A lot of people think cheesecake must be really difficult to make. I think this is because it is so rich, and because it costs so much to buy just a single slice of cheesecake. But, actually, cheesecake is a very easy dessert to make. (I should quit telling people how easy it is to make my recipes, and just open up shop somewhere!)

When I first made this double chocolate cheesecake, I wondered if the white chocolate would make a difference—there's so much more cream cheese than chocolate. But you really can taste the white chocolate and it's delightful.

Perhaps in tribute to my absolute favorite part of this recipe, it should be called Triple Chocolate Cheesecake. Because the chocolate-hazelnut crust is a different chocolate flavor from the cake itself, or the ganache topping. And this crust is to - die - for! Seriously, I could just spoon it up and eat it by itself. (Or it could make a really nice ice-cream topping.)

In the photo, my cake is topped with white chocolate curls, which made it look very elegant. I'm not telling you how to make them though, because it would be a very lengthy explanation. I'll bet you could find directions online somewhere if you tried.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

CRUST:
2 cups Nabisco Famous Wafer crumbs
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

FILLING:
10 oz. white chocolate

4 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. sugar
5 large eggs
5 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
5 Tbsp. sour cream
2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

GANACHE TOPPING:
12 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped (no pieces bigger than 1/4-inch)
1 cup heavy cream

Line the bottom of a 9 to 10-inch springform pan with foil; tuck foil underneath pan bottom, assemble pan, then tighten the foil up the sides of the pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper, the size of the pan bottom, and place in the bottom of the pan. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

For the crust: In food processor, blend crumbs, nuts and sugar until hazelnuts are ground fine. Add butter and combine well. Press into bottom and halfway up sides of prepared pan. Bake at 325-degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

For the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the flour and the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, melt the white chocolate; stir until smooth. In a slow stream, add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mixture, beating, until filling is well combined.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into the crust. Place the cheesecake into a roasting pan [actually I use my deep-dish pizza pan]. Set the roasting pan in the oven and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the outside of the springform pan. Bake for about one hour--until a thin knife comes out pretty darn clean. Turn off the heat and keep the oven door ajar, leaving the cake in the oven for one more hour.
Remove the pan from the water bath and fold the foil down away from the sides of the pan. Place on a cooling rack and let cake cool to room temperature.
Now you can put it into the fridge.

For the topping: Place the chocolate pieces in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat, but do not let it boil. Immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces. Tap the bowl on the counter to settle the cream into the chocolate, then let it sit for 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, slowly stir, being careful not to incorporate a lot of air into the ganache. Stir until all the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes.
Let the ganache cool--so it's cool to touch, but not set-up.
Do not remove the sides from the springform pan until the cake is topped, and the ganache has a chance to set up!
Pour ganache over the top of the cooled cheesecake; spread evenly.
Refrigerate until the topping is set (give it a couple of hours), then remove the springform sides. Return to refrigerator until 1/2 to 1-hour before serving.

Thoroughly decadent!

Raspberry Trifle

OK. You could probably make this with a cake mix and instant pudding. But that’s just not as cool.

So this recipe actually involves a series of recipes (see below). And you really could use any kind of fruit—I think pineapple would be great, or strawberries, or blueberries, bananas, blackberries . . . But the raspberries were really delicious, and they made it look very pretty, too.

RASPBERRY TRIFLE

1 recipe Sour Cream-Vanilla Pudding
1 recipe Raspberry Puree
1 recipe Sponge Sheet Cake
3 cups fresh raspberries
lightly sweetened, freshly whipped cream

To assemble the trifle: Cut cake into approximately 2-inch squares. Cover bottom of trifle bowl with cake pieces. Tuck 2-3 fresh raspberries between outer cake squares; scatter some more berries over center (use about 1 cup berries). Spread 1/3 of raspberry puree over center. Cover all with 1/3 of Sour Cream-Vanilla Pudding. Repeat two more times. Before serving, top with whipped cream.


SOUR CREAM-VANILLA PUDDING

5½ Tbsp. cornstarch
1⅛ cup sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
6-7 large egg yolks
4¼ cups whole milk
vanilla, to taste (1-2 tsp.)
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 stick)
1½ cups sour cream

Mix cornstarch, sugar and salt together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in egg yolks and in milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. [Do not let it boil.] Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter; stir until butter is melted and completely incorporated. Cover closely with plastic, and let cool to room temperature. Mix in sour cream. Refrigerate, closely covered, until ready to use.



SPONGE SHEET CAKE

6 large eggs, separated and brought to room temperature
½ tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract (optional; but if you don’t use it, increase the vanilla to 1 tsp.)
2 Tbsp. hot water
1 cup cake flour

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a jelly-roll pan; line pan bottom with waxed paper, allowing 1-inch overhang on each end. Do not grease paper.
In a large bowl, whip egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt, increase mixer speed to medium-high, and beat to soft peaks. Slowly sprinkle on 3 Tbsp. sugar; continue to beat until whites are shiny and thick, 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks, vanilla and hot water; beat at high speed 1 minute. Slowly add ½ cup sugar; beat until mixture is pale, shiny and almost as thick as marshmallow cream—4-5 minutes longer.
Scrape yolk mixture over egg whites; gently fold with rubber spatula until about 2/3 mixed. Sift flour over egg mixture; gently fold until flour is completely incorporated. Spread batter in prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Bake until lightly browned and center springs back when gently pressed, about 12-15 minutes.
Immediately after baking, free the cake edges from the pan sides with a knife and smooth a sheet of waxed paper over the cake top. Place another sheet pan or cookie sheet on top of the cake. Flip over as shown, then lift off the baking pan. Let the cake cool completely, then gently peel the waxed paper off the cake bottom, removing the bottom crust. Flip the cake top side up, then peel off the second sheet of waxed paper, removing the top crust. (Can be wrapped in plastic, then in foil and refrigerated for 1 day).

RASPBERRY PUREE
Sounds kind of like “Raspberry Beret.” But I don’t really know that song.

2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
3-4 Tbsp. sugar

Puree berries and sugar in blender or food processor. Strain through fine sieve, pressing on solids to release juice; discard seeds. (Can be covered and refrigerated 1 day.)

Now that all the ingredients are made, you can assemble the trifle, as described at the very beginning of this post. :-)

Chocolate Mousse Pie

I have a friend who swears chocolate mousse pie will induce labor. It’s never worked for me;
but it’s still delicious anyway. And this recipe is to-die-for heavenly!

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE

1 Oreo pie crust
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
6 Tbsp. water
2 large eggs, separated
4 Tbsp. sugar
⅛ tsp. salt
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. heavy cream, chilled
whipped cream, for topping

Combine chocolate and water in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with 1-inch of barely simmering water; melt, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat.
Whisk egg yolks, 2 Tbsp. of the sugar, and the salt in a medium bowl about 30 seconds. Pour melted chocolate into the egg mixture and whisk until combined. Let cool about 3-5 minutes.
In a clean bowl, beat egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy (1-2 minutes). Add remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar, increase speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Whisk a few strokes by hand, making sure to scrape any unbeaten whites from the bottom of the bowl.
Using a whisk, stir about ¼ of beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it; gently fold in remaining egg whites with rubber spatula until a few white streaks remain.
In the original egg-white bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. With a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the chocolate stuff until no white streaks remain. Spoon mousse into the pie shell. [Or you could skip the pie shell and spoon it into individual serving dishes. But then it wouldn't be Chocolate Mousse Pie.] Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. (May be refrigerated up to 24 hours.)

Serve topped with whipped cream.

Strawberries

The Strawberry Bouquet the other night was truly spectacular. I even had one friend who said she thought it was made of real roses. I grant you, she forgot her glasses that night; but still . . .
The roses were made of chocolate-dipped strawberries and strawberry candies, which were all skewered and set into a styrofoam block. The greens really are just silk plants (you can't eat those!)—to make the whole thing look nice.

I think that if I had some good marketing skills a basket of these roses could easily sell for $75 (which works out to be about $1 per "flower"). But you, you lucky readers, can make your own for substantially less. [Although, if you don't want to take the trouble, I will happily make you one for $75—if you live in Salt Lake
County. ;-) ]

And not only is it beautiful, it is really tasty, too!

STRAWBERRIES

a handful of slivered almonds

green food coloring
1 cup finely chopped nuts (I use blanched almonds)

1 cup shredded coconut

2 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry jello

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

red sugar (cookie/cake sprinkles)

green sugar

In a sandwich baggie, toss the slivered almonds with green food coloring until they are green all over. Let them dry on paper towels.

In a small bowl, combine nuts, coconut, jello, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Mix thoroughly [I find it easiest to knead it by hand.] Pinch off a little of the dough and mash, roll and pinch it into a strawberry shape. Roll it in the red sugar, then dip the top end in a little of the green sugar. Insert a green almond into the top for a stem. Voila! Strawberries!

Very cute, and tasty! [Sounds like what Bruce says about me. ;-) ]

Chocolate

Some of the upcoming recipes will require you to melt chocolate. Chocolate is very fussy; if you don't do it right it will "lose it's temper." (And yes, that really is what chocolatiers call it—losing it's temper.) Basically, this means the chocolate will look ugly and won't be smooth-textured when you're done. You don't want to make chocolate lose it's temper!

I've found all kinds of worky instructions for melting/tempering chocolate, and I'm sure they give you the true and correct way to do it every time. But it involves buying a special chocolate thermometer, and heating and cooling and heating and cooling several times until it is just right. So this is the easy way to get it right most of the time:

This is for real chocolate--not chocolate chips (or Hershey bars, etc.) I'm talking about something like a Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking bar (I also like the semi-sweet). Or the really nice, expensive chocolate you can buy at nicer baking supply stores, like Peter's chocolate.

But for our purposes, we'll use two Ghirardelli bars, which you can find at the grocery store.

• Chop your chocolate into small pieces, no larger than 1/2-inch.
• Put about half of the chocolate pieces in a heat-proof bowl (I use a soup bowl).
• Bring 2 inches of water to simmer in a small saucepan, over medium heat.
• Set the bowl of chocolate over the pan, reduce heat to low. Do not let the water boil under your chocolate. It just needs to be hot.
• DO NOT LET ANY WATER GET INTO THE CHOCOLATE!
• Let chocolate sit until the pieces are glossy, have lost definition, and are fully melted around the edges.
• Remove bowl from heat and gently stir the chocolate until it is completely liquid (you don't want to incorporate a lot of air into it).
• It should just barely feel warm to touch--not hot at all.
• Now it is ready for dipping or molding.
• When the chocolate cools off too much to be used, add a little more chocolate to the bowl and repeat the process.
  
  

Simple. :-)

Tangy Whipped Cream

I made this to go with my Valentine's Day cake. It was pretty good with chocolate cake, but it is fabulous with fresh raspberries.

TANGY WHIPPED CREAM

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sour cream (not the lite kind)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla

Beat all ingredients together, at high speed, until soft peaks form. Serve immediately. (With fresh raspberries!)

The Best Pie Crust Ever!

Anyone will tell you that I make a really good pie crust. Truly! I'm not just bragging on myself again. That's because pie crust really is easy. You've heard, "easy as pie," right? Well, it's true. The biggest "secret" to a great pie crust is to make it fast and make it cold. There, you've got it. And make this recipe--it really is fantastic.

FABULOUS, FLAKY PIE CRUST

1 large egg yolk

1/2 tsp. lemon juice (fresh-squeezed is nice, but not necessary)

2 1/2 Tbsp. cold water

2 1/2 Tbsp. cold milk

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups shortening

In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk, lemon juice, water and milk. Put in refrigerator until you need it later.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt together. Drop pieces of shortening into the flour mixture [use all the shortening, but cut it into chunks before you drop it in. Probably not really necessary, but that's how I do it because it spreads the shortening around kind of evenly. Whatever.] Using a pastry blender [for my kids, this is what I call the "pie cutter"], cut the shortening into the flour until it's all crumbly. Pour the refrigerated mixture over the flour mixture and cut it in, using the pastry blender. The mixture should adhere, you shouldn't see any really wet spots, but it shouldn't be in one big mass of dough either. This makes enough dough for two single-crust pies, or one double-crusted pie.

To roll: Get a plastic grocery bag and cut it across the bottom, up the sides and cut the handles off. Now you have two pieces of plastic just the right size for rolling a pie crust in.

Spread one sheet of plastic on the counter and place 1/2 of the dough in the center of it. Flatten the dough slightly and place the second sheet of plastic on top of it. Roll the dough into a circle, pretty close to the size you'll need it to be.

Peel the top sheet of plastic off, replace it, and then flip the whole thing over [now the bottom sheet is the top sheet, right?]. Peel off the new top sheet and replace it. Roll again, until the dough is the right size--it should fit into your pan with a little overhang.

Peel off the top sheet of plastic, replace it, flip it over and peel off the other sheet of plastic. Slide your hand, fingers spread out, under the plastic (the piece with the dough on it). Invert the whole thing into the pie pan, fitting it into the edges, and peel the plastic off.

Flute the edges of the crust.

> Refrigerate your pie crust for 30 minutes before you bake it! <

For a pre-baked crust (usually for cream pies): Using a fork, poke holes in the bottom and sides of the crust; refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or until it's browned the way you like it. [If you're really worried about the crust shrinking or bubbling you can line it with foil and fill it with dry beans before you bake it. This works, but I think it also makes the crust just a little tough.] Let the crust cool to room temperature before you fill it.

If you cook the filling at the same time as the crust, in a single crust (pumpkin pie, pecan pie), still refrigerate the crust for 30 minutes before you fill it. Fill crust and bake according to recipe instructions.

For a double crust pie (apple pie, fruit pies), fill the pie, put the top crust on and flute it. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake according to recipe directions.

Easy as pie. (And fabulously flaky too!)

Popcorn Balls

These are soooo easy to make and the kids LOVE them! And, since they are made with Jello, you can make different colors to suit the seasons: Tonight we made orange for Halloween, but you could make red and green for Christmas, pink, purple or yellow for spring--Oh! The possibilities are just endless! :-)

JELLO POPCORN BALLS

9 cups popped popcorn [I prefer air-popped, with no butter, but microwave popcorn will work.]

1 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 (3 oz.) package jello, any flavor

Put the popcorn into a bowl large enough to hold all of it.

In a heavy saucepan, bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Add the Jello and stir until dissolved. Pour over the popcorn and stir in well. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. [I learned the hard way that the balls just won't stick together if you try to make them while it's still hot. Besides that, you will burn your hands!] Lightly butter your hands--just like putting on lotion. Now scoop up handfuls of the popcorn goo and make it into balls.

When you're all finished making the popcorn balls, give your kids some spoons and let them clean up the bowl for you.

This recipe makes about 18 balls the size of tennis balls.

Applesauce Cookies

I see that I've gotten lazy about posting recipes. Mostly because I don't know what to post. But this is a good one. Bruce and I discovered this recipe for Applesauce Cookies before we were married, and it was a favorite of Bruce's for a long time. Of course, now that he's turned into a total chocolate fiend, chocolate chip cookies may be his favorite. I still prefer these. (But Bruce really did enjoy these a lot when we made them last night.)

APPLESAUCE COOKIES

1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix applesauce with baking soda. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar and egg. Add cinnamon, cloves and salt to butter mixture. Add applesauce to the butter mixture; mix thoroughly. Stir in flour; add raisins, if using.

Drop by tablespoonsful onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes.

Very tasty! And you can pretend like they are more healthy than your average cookie! ;-)

Quick & Easy Fruit Smoothies

This tasty treat is actually pretty healthy, and relatively low-fat. And did I mention it's very tasty? Can't beat that!
I don't actually measure the stuff I put into these, so this is an approximation:

QUICK & EASY FRUIT SMOOTHIES
Makes enough for 2

Freeze some milk in an ice tray
---about 6-8 milk-cubes
3/4 to 1 cup frozen fruit (or 1 large banana, sliced and frozen---peel it first!)
1-2 Tbsp. sugar
vanilla (optional) to taste
additional, non-frozen milk

Put frozen milk cubes, frozen fruit, sugar, vanilla and a little non-frozen milk into the blender. (How much milk? A dribble. The kind of dribble your four-year-old makes when she's pouring her own cup of milk.) Blend until smooth. If it's too thick, add a little more of that non-frozen milk.
Cool, easy and delicious---healthy too!

I Scream, You Scream...

Well, if you're going to make home-made rootbeer, you might as well make vanilla ice cream too. This is the best home-made ice cream I've ever had. It's smooth and rich and creamy and tastes sooooo decadent! Yes, even vanilla ice cream can be decadent--chocolate is not the only flavor in the world. (In fact, you could skip the rootbeer and serve this with those yummy molasses-spice cookies! They don't have chocolate in them either.)

HOME-MADE VANILLA ICE CREAM

2 1/2 cups sugar
3/8 cup flour (that's 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp.)
1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups milk (whole milk makes it really decadent!)
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, flour and salt. Stir in the 5 cups milk and heat over medium heat until it thickens--about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove 1 cup hot mixture and gradually beat it into the beaten eggs. Return egg mixture to the saucepan and cook for 1 minute more. Remove from heat and refrigerate until completely cool.

Add heavy cream and vanilla to the mixture; beat well. Pour into your ice-cream freezer and freeze according to directions. (If you don't have an ice-cream freezer, that's really a bummer. Maybe you could borrow someone's. Invite them over for home-made ice cream.)
Totally delicious!

For a tasty variation, make CINNAMON ICE-CREAM. Follow the recipe and directions above, but add 1 tsp. ground cinnamon to the sugar and flour mixture before adding the milk. Omit the vanilla flavoring or add only 1/2 to 1 tsp. when you mix in the cream. Mmmmm--mmm!

Molasses-Spice Cookies

Well, I had to put in my cookie recipe after all. But I didn't have to bake my pitas, so you won't mind baking some cookies.
Huh?
Pepperidge Farms Orange Milano Cookies are the best factory-made, store-bought cookies on the planet! But this recipe is not a copy-cat for those. This is the recipe for the best home-made cookies on the planet! I know some people think chocolate chip cookies are the only cookies that a person can eat, but they are dead wrong. These are the best cookies on the planet!

MOLASSES-SPICE COOKIES

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
3/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
3/4 cup unsalted real butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
additional white sugar

Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Whisk together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice in a medium bowl; set aside.
In a large bowl cream butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and molasses. Beat until combined; scrape sides of bowl. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture until just combined. [Mixing by hand works great!]
Roll dough into about 2-inch balls [about the size of a golf ball]; roll balls in additional white sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets----about 2-inches apart. Put one cookie sheet on each oven rack. Bake for about 6 minutes, then switch the cookie sheets' places (bottom to top, top to bottom) and rotate them (front to back). Continue baking 6 to 7 minutes longer (bake a total of 11-13 minutes) or until the edges begin to set and centers are soft and puffy.

So way, way yummy you'll hardly believe it!