S'mores Halloween Treats ~ Ghastly Ghost Peeps®

Frighteningly simple to make ~ when Mary @ Home is Where the Boat is

first featured these, I knew I wanted to add them my repertoire too.  

So a friendly shout out and a big thank you to Mary.
Please go visit her blog, you're in for a treat!

The ingredient list is as follows: A box of Ghost Peeps®, you'll need

12 'ghosts' to make enough for an 8 x 8-inch baking dish. Butter, sugar,
pinch of salt, your favorite brownie recipe or boxed mix. About 1/2 cup chocolate

morsels, and 36 chocolate mini-morsels.

I hope you can see the layers here, on the bottom of the baking dish;

Graham cracker crumb crust, the brownie layer, chocolate morsels,

and topped off with the golden 'ghosts'.

Apparently ghosts are frightened of spiders.

Cutting between the 'ghosts' you have a perfect serving size for dessert.

They are quite RICH tasting, so maybe you'll want to share,

half, as I did.  (But probably not with any sort of Araneae.)

Happy Haunting!!

I hope you receive treats, no tricks this Halloween. :)

If you would like a printable copy of the instructions, you'll find it on
my recipe blog HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today~


Happy Halloween!!

Smoky Cheddar Spritz Crackers

As we were growing up our mother would make Spritz Butter Cookies  almost every year during the holidays, and also cheese 'straws' throughout the year.  Maybe your mom or grandmother did as well?

My sister and I followed the same tradition as we started our own families, we would decorate the cookies in all sorts of pretty ways  and sometimes with colored cookie dough ~  They are a perpetual favorite and always look so festive on the cookie tray.



Sadly, my cookie press finally went kaput after many years of use, so when I saw good reviews about this set made by OXO I was compelled to replace my old Mirro metal version.  Plus, I fell for the pumpkin disk in the Autumn set. :)
OXO's great reputation and all of the unique disk motifs,  its' ease of use and care sold me. 

The press comes with 12 decorative disks; all of the traditional ones I remember -
snowflake, heart, wreath, tree, buttercup, daisy, etc. as well as some, new to me (all really cute!) :
shell, sunflower, fleur de lis, bear (little teddy bear!), leaf, butterfly
See more about the press and other disks below.


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Of course you can use any cookie press or disk to make these delicious cheese straw crackers, follow your favorite recipe or choose the one I favor (it's over on my recipe blog, link below.)
This is my favorite recipe for a savory cracker using the cookie press.

Like most all Spritz-type cookies the recipe is really simple,  just a bit more involved than a shortbread dough.  
But for the cheese crackers I jazz mine up a little by adding 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder and 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric (it adds a very subtle warm flavor and nice color.)
Sometimes I mix it up by using Smoked Paprika (as I did this time) instead of plain sweet paprika.  If you like them spicier, increase the amount of cayenne pepper, or hot paprika.



Tip for crispy crackers:
I like these crackers to be crisp, but not brown, so after baking and cooling all of the batches,  I place them in a single layer on the baking sheets and place in a 175ºF oven for a several minutes until they dry out a little, they will crisp even further after cooling. Keep an eye on them while they're in the oven so they don't turn dark. 
Alternately you can place in your oven set to 'warm',  or the lowest temperature available and do the same.  
Either way you choose, do watch them as ovens vary.
When the crackers are crisp, I turn off the oven and leave the oven door open just a bit until the crackers are completely cool, then store in airtight containers for up to a week or so.
These are really good served on the cheese/fruit tray or along with soup or a salad. They make a nice gift from the kitchen, too.
If you give them a try, I hope you enjoy!
A printable version of the recipe and tips can be found on my recipe blog by clicking this link.





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Additional Disks for the OXO Cookie Press
Also available separately are two sets of additional seasonal disks, (six disks in each set):  
OXO Good Grips Cookie Press ~ Autumn or Springtime ~ Disk Sets
The Autumn set includes:  Spider, Web, Owl, Turkey, Leaf and Pumpkin
The Springtime set includes: Cherry Blossom, Rose, Love, Double Heart, Shamrock, Bouquet

(You can click the link above to learn more)

Thanks for coming by today, friends.
Bon Appetit!
~m.


Note:  The folks at OXO don't know who I am, (no compensation from them.) I'm just sharing a product I like... I hope you like it, too.  :o)

Spooky Eye-Popping Soup for Halloween

I saw this presentation on Home is Where the Boat is,  a wonderfully creative blog by my friend Mary.   If you're not familiar with Mary's blog I urge you to go visit, you're in for a treat!

For the Spooky Eye-Popping Soup I made a recipe similar to this one;  I used half lean ground beef and half Italian sausage,  fusilli instead of tortellini, omitted basil leaves ~  I used a couple of pinches of dried oregano instead,  and chopped the vegetables into small dice just so the 'eyes'  would get most of the attention.  




If you would like an even simpler soup you may like this one,  directions for making the eyeballs can be found here as well.  I simply used bite size mozzarella (bocconcini) and placed  thin slices of stuffed green olives on them to resemble  pupils and irises. 

It's a fun and flavorful soup to help get everyone in the mood for Halloween.


Thank you for stopping by today friends ~ Have a BOO-tiful week!  :)
~mari xo

Korean-Style Minced Beef Bowl

Oh my, this is a MUST share!
I found the recipe on my long-time friend's  (gorgeous) blog; La Table de Nana, by Monique. She shared with us that she had discovered it on  The English Kitchen blog by Marie.
Both Marie and Monique are blogging cooks that I admire,  it helps that our tastes in food are quite similar.  If either of these two ladies give a recipe high marks, I know it will be popular at my house too. 



This recipe is very flavorful and it goes together in just minutes (a quick meal, especially if you steam some rice just before you begin to cook the beef.) The bonus is ~ it's budget friendly!
I just tweaked the original recipe a little bit:
- I increased the amount of fresh ginger, -Added a little very dry sherry (not cooking sherry) just before adding the soy sauce -Added a teaspoon of white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar) with the soy sauce (it piques the flavor just a bit.)

Click image to learn more. Option to purchase if you cannot find it locally.
I used Sambal Oelek (fresh ground chili paste) instead of the chili flakes
The original recipe suggests serving it with sticky rice (which would be perfect, and would make it easier to eat with chopsticks)  I had Jasmine rice, so that's what I chose.



For garnish I added some julienned carrots, a sprig of cilantro and a wedge of fresh lime,  along with the sliced scallion in the original recipe.
If you like food with an Asian flavors, I am quite certain you will love this one.



If you would like the recipe, please hop over to Marie's blog, and say hello ... Here is the link. or 
(http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/korean-beef.html)
Many thanks to Marie and Monique for sharing this KEEPER! I'll make this one again and again ~ (it would make a wonderful filling for lettuce wraps too.)

I hope you'll give it a try. Thank you for coming by today ~ Cheers!

Crispy Herbed Chevre with Heirloom Tomatoes ~ PLUS Easy Herb Batter Bread

We're getting down to the nitty gritty; the very last of the tomato season here. After this it will be the hothouse variety until next season.

I like to treasure these last few colorful remnants of summer in the most simple way, to let their natural sweetness shine.



This presentation is similar to what Chef Jonathan Waxman introduced way, way back at the beginning of California Cuisine, in the 1970's.   Long before PCs were a household commodity I remember  clipping newspaper and magazine recipes which featured  this exciting nouveau style of preparing food ~  I think most of us "of a certain age" did the same. 



Practically unheard of here prior to that time,  fresh goat cheese became all the rage, thanks to  Laura Chenel in Sebastopol, CA.  She was  America's first commercial producer  of goat cheese in the US.     I remember meeting Laura around 1980 as she introduced her  newly published cookbook (featuring, of course, goat cheese)  at one of the first Williams-Sonoma stores to branch off from the  original store in nearby Sonoma, California.
Those were exciting times ~ though we now take the  concept of California Cuisine rather casually, it is important to  remember that it was the start of a food revolution,  heavily influencing the way we eat today.

 

I love the colors of a mix of tomatoes! But any kind of fresh, ripe tomatoes you have will do, slice the larger ones and just half the cherry or pear tomatoes.



Fresh and vibrant, this salad exemplifies the roots of California Cuisine.  Chef Jonathan's method is very simple; get the ripest, most flavorful tomatoes adorn them simply with salt and pepper, lemon juice and your favorite nut oil, such as walnut, hazelnut, etc.
Blend a couple of teaspoons or more of freshly minced herbs into the goat cheese very well,  then form the herb cheese into patties  (about 2 ounces each), one per each serving.   Dip in beaten egg and then in plain breadcrumbs which have been seasoned with salt and pepper.  (You can use Panko crumbs if you like.)
Chill the patties or at least 1/2 hour in the refrigerator,  (they will hold together during cooking a little  better if you chill  them even longer.)    When thoroughly chilled bake them on a buttered baking sheet  @ 375ºF for about 8 minutes, or brown them in a little oil  in a frying pan over medium high heat for a few minutes  on each side, turning once, until they are nicely golden brown.
Place on plates or a platter, arrange the tomatoes around the patties, sprinkle with herbs of your choice, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Squeeze lemon juice or a little of your favorite vinegar over and drizzle with nut oil sparingly.
Serve and enjoy while the cheese is still warm.

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Fast and Easy Herb Batter Bread
As an accompaniment I baked up some Herb Batter Bread, it's from Sunset Magazine from about the same era.
It's a really easy yeast bread, so if you've ever felt intimidated by yeast breads ~ try this one, it's practically fail proof!
 It goes really well with soups or salads, and any other simple meal. 



 I cannot count the number of times I've made this bread,  but you can probably guess by the condition of my 1971 edition of the Sunset book. (It cost a whopping $1.95 then.)
Back then fresh artisan bread wasn't readily available as it is today and homemade bread like this was a treat.
  You can mix it all up in your stand mixer, or by hand it is not difficult and there is no kneading required.




I usually would bake the bread batter in a round cake pan, but this time  I baked it off in a little rectangular pan. (About 6.5-inches x 10-inches)
I substituted about 80% of the all-purpose white flour with whole wheat flour.
It goes together quickly and is a fantastic recipe to have baking when your loved ones or guests arrive at your home. The aroma is so enticing!
Although we didn't know it then,  the batter is very similar to a foccacia dough  (which I didn't even know about years later.)
When it comes out of the oven the top is brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with a little coarse salt to heighten the flavor of the herbs.



You can use any herbs you like, fresh or dried. In addition to the herbs I usually always add some minced dehydrated onion to the batter.
A little butter melting on the baked, warm bread, and you just about have heaven on a plate!  




It makes a really good little luncheon dish, or light supper, and brings back a flood of memories of my early cooking days.

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If you try either or both of these, I hope you'll love them!
If you would like a printable copy of the Herb Batter Bread, hop on over to my recipe blog ~ HERE.

Thank you for coming by today, I really appreciate your comments. 
See you next time~  ~Mari  :)

Postcard ~ Near Home

A Glorious Autumn Afternoon along the river.
Wishing you a very good week ahead, friends!

~mari   :)

No Trick ~ Healthy Treats!

Elise, over at Simply Recipes recently shared a Cinnamon-Sugar version of these baked sweet potato jack-o-lantern treats,  and I knew I wanted to try them right away.
They are fairly easy to do, but just a bit time consuming ~ 

First of all, try to find uniformly cylindrical shaped sweet potatoes that are of a good sized diameter.


Photo: Columbia University


Peel the potatoes and slice crossways into  1/4-inch thick slices. You can cut the pumpkin shapes out with a pumpkin cookie cutter, but my pumpkin cookie cutter was too large so I used an exact-o craft knife  (a very sharp paring knife would work, too.)



Next you can cut shapes out to represent eyes, nose and mouth*...  make the expressions spooky and scary if you dare. 
I wanted gentle faces to please the youngest among us. :D
*You can skip this step if you want to, because it is fiddly work ~ and definitely best left to adults to do.



Lay the pumpkin cut-outs on a parchment (or silicone-mat) lined baking sheet. Elise instructs to bake them (as is, no oil or butter) in a very hot oven for about 35 minutes until they are golden brown.

I did not want them to discolor much, so I brushed them lightly on both sides with melted butter*, baked, uncovered for approximately 5 to 10 minutes (until the bottom edges begin to bubble and become a little crisp.)   Then I loosely tented the pan with aluminum and baked  them in a 375ºF oven, for about 10 minutes until the sweet potato  cut-outs were tender, but still holding their shape.  Remove the aluminum foil and bake an additional 5 minutes if you would like the texture  to be a bit firmer. The baking time will depend upon your oven, the moisture content and thickness of the sweet potatoes, so watch and adjust accordingly.
*(you can use your favorite oil if you prefer)





I would be perfectly happy serving them just like this ~ but maybe your young ones would like them a little sweeter. In Elise's version, she instructs to dip them into melted butter and then cinnamon sugar to coat.


 

  This version is  moist  and tender, easy for young ones to eat.  I simply sprinkled cinnamon sugar over and placed them on a rack and allowed them to set up a bit.  These are best served the day they are made.
If you want them drier and a little chewy, I suggest you bake them in a hot 425ºF oven for longer, until they take on some color and dry out a little, then dip them in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar, the way Elise suggested.

An 'almost' guilt free snack ~ I hope you enjoy !


Have a wonderful weekend, friends.
xo~mari

Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Maple Frosting

There are still some tomatoes on the vine, but our first frost is just around the corner . . . might as well face it, we're feeling the nip of Fall in the air. We've already been lighting up the wood stove to take the chill off of the mornings and evenings.
And as much as I detest the shorter days and less sunlight, there are some things I do love about Fall. Baking is one of them.



It is a welcome excuse to crank up the oven and bake at this time  of year and the payoffs are plentiful:
Warm kitchen...  delightful aromas...  comforting, cozy atmosphere... good food to look forward to... satisfied tummies... Happy memories...
All of the above make for warm fuzzies and a happy family. :)

In summer we have all kinds of fresh fruit to keep a sweet tooth satisfied, in the cooler months we must become a little more creative.  Apples, pumpkins, pears and preserved fruit to the rescue, and soon the citrus will become more abundant.  I've been baking some apple sweets which I'll share soon, but in the meantime . . . 




This is a simple little sheet cake, you can use canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling), or cook your own pumpkin or squash. Since I had a can of pumpkin open for another recipe, I decided to make this little cake. It doesn't take many ingredients and it goes together quickly.



The original recipe yields a 9x13-inch cake pan, but we don't need that much cake at once so I made a half recipe and baked it in a 9x9-inch pan. If a 9x9-inch cake is still too much for you, you can bake it, then divide it in half, wrap well and freeze the half and enjoy the other half immediately. When you want to serve the remainder, thaw and spread the frosting on  when it's completely thawed, or just sprinkle with powdered sugar.




The frosting is made with pure maple syrup, cream cheese butter and powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract.   The maple flavor is very mild, if you like it more pronounced  you could add some maple flavor extract . . . but I try to avoid the artificially flavored stuff, so I don't. 
I reduce the sugar amount by a bit, because I don't care for overly  sweet things, and if you reduce the cream cheese by a tablespoon or so,  the maple will be a bit more prominent.

I serve the toasted chopped pecans in a little dish with a spoon, on the side since many people have trouble digesting them. This way it makes everybody happy.
Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee, and it makes a fine little dessert.    If you would like a printable copy of the recipe, it's over on my recipe blog . . .
Click here.
Thank you for stopping by ~ I would love if you would leave a comment so I know you've visited!
Blessings!
~mari  :)