Peppery Chili

November 4th, 2009

I’ve always loved making chili. I’ve never bothered to put together an actual recipe for it, it’s always been a matter of “put stuff in the pot till it’s awesome”. It’s definitely been an interesting exercise to start paying attention to what I’m doing and keeping track of everything, to be able to produce actual recipes!

This chili isn’t my normal “recipe”. This one was actually designed especially for my husband, who has weird issues with tomatoes. He loves ketchup, but doesn’t like tomatoes. Yeah. I don’t get him sometimes, but whatever – he’s worth tweaking a few recipes for :) . This chili recipe gains the vast majority of it’s flavor from the peppers involved – and there are so many peppers involved, this is a GREAT recipe for using up the bounty from your most recent Farmer’s Market raid!

The interesting thing about this recipe is that it does gain SO much flavor from the main ingredients, it really doesn’t need any additional seasoning. Feel free to add a little chili powder or bay leaves if you like, but be sure to try it without, first. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

As with most of my more involved recipes, this makes a LARGE pot, and is great for leftovers! on a per-serving basis, this is a very, very thrifty meal to make, as well.

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Homemade “Jolly Rancher” Candies

November 3rd, 2009

So, this recipe is essentially the same as the one for Candy Apples.. well, aside for the apples, anyway!

The ingredients and technique for making the candy syrup are the same – it’s what you do with it afterwards that makes the difference. The techniques described here can also be used to make “Jolly Ranchers” from leftover candy syrup when making candy apples.

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Bananas Foster Pralines

October 30th, 2009

This recipe combines 2 of New Orleans’ most popular desserts – The flavors of Bananas Foster, in the form of a praline! Highly addictive.

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Pistachio Brittle

October 29th, 2009

Another version of a more traditional standby! My husband ADORES pistachios – this brittle is a holiday favorite at our house! Makes a great gift, also.

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Ginger-Molasses Sponge Toffee

October 28th, 2009

This is a unique take on an earlier recipe I posted, Sponge Toffee. While traditional sponge toffee was always a favorite as a kid, I developed this recipe to satisfy my more mature tastes as an adult.

This sponge toffee was inspired by one of my favorite goodies, my grandmother’s ginger-molasses cookies. (Recipe coming in December!)

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Candy Apples

October 27th, 2009

Candy Apples are a fun activity for the family, are cheap and easy to make, inspire nostalgia, and are a tasty way to use some of the bountiful apples this season. What’s not to love?

Well.. aside from sugar burns, anyway. While this is an easy recipe, I recommend keeping little hands away from the cooking sugar, and ideally away from the dipping process as well. Kids can have just as much fin picking out the apples, the flavors, etc… without the risk!

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Banana Walnut Brittle

October 26th, 2009

While Peanut Brittle is always nice, I do like to get crazy with things every once in awhile. This is one of my favorite variations on an old standard! This is also particularly nice for gift giving at the holidays!

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Decorated Sugar Cookies

October 23rd, 2009

Well, Halloween is just around the corner, so now’s a great time to post our recipe for decorated sugar cookies!

These are great to serve guests at your halloween party, or as a weekend activity for kids, or even to hand out to your favorite Treat or Treaters. Very easy to make, and can be a lot of fun!

Cookie Ingredients

2 cups butter, softened
2 1/3 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
4 egg yolks – Reserve egg whites for icing!
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract*
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
7 cups all purpose flour

Icing Ingredients

4 egg whites
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4-6 cups powdered/confectioner’s sugar

In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add in eggs and egg whites, a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Add vanilla extract, and mix until well incorporated and smooth.

Mix remaining 3 ingredients together, carefully stir into wet ingredients until fully incorporated.

Wrap dough in plastic film, chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, grease cookie sheets.

On a floured counter, roll cookie dough out to about 1/4″ thick (can be up to 1/2″ thick if you prefer a thicker cookie). Use cookie cutters to cut out whatever shapes you’d like, place cookies 2″ apart on greased cookie sheets.

Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until bottoms look lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets for at least 5 minutes before moving. Cookies need to cool completely before decorating.

In clean stand mixer, whip egg whites until foamy. Add lemon juice, whip for another minute. Slowly add powdered sugar until cookie icing reaches desired consistency. You will want a thicker frosting for piping details and borders. If you’re wanting to “flow” the icing within piped borders, icing can be thinned with a little lemon juice or water.

* 2 tsp Anise extract can be substituted for a fun variation. I especially like using anise (black licorice flavor) for doing cookies that will be shaped/decorated like black cats or bats.

Sponge Toffee

October 22nd, 2009

Sponge Toffee was one of my favorite treats as a kid. We used to get it at corner stores, farmer’s markets, and gas stations… or make it at home. I loved the contrast between the appearance (bubbles!), and the crispy texture. Whether I’d let it melt in my mouth slowly, or chomp through (and pick the sugar off my teeth for a long time afterwards!), it was just a fun food to enjoy.

As I got older, I realized that gas station sponge toffee is just *no* match for homemade. This is really easy to make, and a lot of fun for kids to watch (From a distance! Hot sugar can be dangerous!). It makes a unique holiday or hostess gift – especially when you dip the finished nuggets of toffee in melted chocolate!

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Lynchburg Lemonade Cupcakes

October 21st, 2009

As promised, here is much more “guy friendly” cupcake recipe – a great counterpart to our Pink Grapefruit Daiquiri Cakes!.

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