November Cocktail: Chocolate Covered Cherry Martini

This month's cocktail is based on my husband's favorite candy, the chocolate covered cherry. I love chocolate covered cherries too, but when I was little I didn't like them. I thought they were just way too sweet. I tried them again in high school and decided that I did love them. We buy several boxes now during the holiday season. They are our after-dinner treat. Brach's makes the best chocolate covered cherries, but we can't find them anywhere. (Although I did just Google them and it turns out you can order them online). So we settle for the second-best, Queen Anne, especially the dark chocolate version.

Chocolate martinis are fabulous, and this recipe is one I came up with myself. The Amaretto gives it the cherry flavor and the Irish Cream gives it a creaminess. I hope you enjoy this drink as much as we do. It's the perfect drink to usher in the holiday season. If you want a really special drink, use Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and Bailey's Irish Cream!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Martinis
serves 2

2 1/2 oz. Chocolate Liqueur (Creme de Cacao)
1 1/2 oz. Amaretto Liqueur
1 oz. Vanilla-Flavored Vodka
1 oz. Irish Cream Liqueur
Ice
4 Maraschino Cherries

Combine the liqueurs in an ice-filled coctail shaker. Shake and drain into two martini glasses. Garnish with cherries.

Tips for the Perfect Pumpkin Pie

While I don't have to prepare Thanksgiving dinner this year, I am making the pies. This year my sister-in-law is hosting Turkey Day, and I was given the assignment of making the pies. I had to make pumpkin pie, of course, and I also made Caramel Apple Pie. While I was making the pumpkin pie, I thought of some tips that I would like to share with you. I'm no pie-baking expert, but pumpkin pie is really a very easy pie to make and these tips will help you produce a pie to be proud of.

1. Choose your recipe and your pumpkin. Honestly, I think the best pumpkin pie recipe is from Libby's. Further more, I recommend using Libby's pumpkin. I have tried store-brand canned pumpkin and was not impressed. I thought it had an "earthy" flavor, and not in a good way, more like "it tastes like dirt" way. But that's just my opinion. I like Libby's Pumpkin and Farmer's Market Organic Pumpkin.

2. Protect your crust. Pumpkin pie has to bake a long time, usually more than an hour. As a result, the crust can get over done. I recommend using pie crust protectors, like I have shown in my photo. You can also fashion your own crust protectors out of strips of aluminum foil. Start baking your pie with the protectors on and then take them off, when there is about 30 minutes left of baking time. The result is a perfectly browned crust!

Another note about the crust: Bake your pie on the bottom shelf of your oven. This ensures that the bottom crust gets cooked through and is not soggy. It also helps prevent the top from getting too brown.  I like to use a clear glass pie pan too.

Happy Baking and Happy Thanksgiving! I would also like to say how thankful I am to all who read my blog!  :)

This year's Caramel Apple Pie

Clipped Recipe: Creamy Wild Rice Soup

Continuing with my Clipped Recipes Project, this week's recipe comes from the grocery store that I work for, Coborn's. They printed this in the weekly ad flyer that comes in the paper. I was immediately drawn to it, mostly because it had bacon and cream cheese as ingredients. Of course, I had my own additions and modifications to make, but it came out wonderful. I added more veggies, some diced chicken and cream cheese flavored with chive and onion (instead of plain). I will share the final recipe with you below.

I've also been wanting to make a recipe I found in my Cook's Country (Nov. 2011 issue) magazine for Honey-Wheat Dinner Rolls. They seemed to be the perfect accompaniment to the wild rice soup. I can't believe that just a few years ago I was afraid of making yeast breads! The only yeast bread I made was using the bread machine. Well, I made these rolls by hand (except I let my KitchenAid mixer do all of the kneading) and they came out exceptionally delicious and beautiful. I was really proud of myself! I highly recommend this recipe if you get Cook's Country magazine. This recipe is only available for viewing to paid members, so I can't share it with you, but here is a link to a very comparable recipe: Honey Wheat Rolls.

We had our first major snowfall on Saturday, so this was the perfect warm and comforting dinner to enjoy this weekend. I served this with a nice Pinot Noir. Enjoy!

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

adapted from Coborn's

1/2 cup wild rice
2 cups water
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
4 oz. chive & onion flavored cream cheese

1.    Thoroughly rinse wild rice. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a small sauce pan, stir in wild rice. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, about 45 minutes (or until rice pops open). Drain off any extra water.

2.    Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside on paper towels, leaving 1 Tbsp. drippings in pot.

3.    Add diced chicken, onion, carrots and celery to pot and cook and stir over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Add flour and pepper and stir and cook 1 minute. Add broth, while stirring, and then bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

4.    Stir in the wild rice, cream cheese and bacon. Cook and stir 3 minutes, or until cream cheese is melted and soup is thickened. Serve. Garnish with chives, if desired.

A Custom Pumpkin Cheesecake

My parents called last week and announced they were coming up to visit for the weekend. I didn't have enough time or energy to cook an entire meal, so we opted to go out to eat one night and order pizza the next night. I did decide that I needed to bake something special for dessert though. This time of year, pumpkin cheesecake immediately comes to mind. I don't really like cheesecake that much because it's so heavy. But pumpkin cheesecake is different, lighter, because of the added pumpkin. We love the pumpkin cheesecake at Olive Garden, but haven't made it there yet this fall to enjoy it. Yep, pumpkin cheesecake was the dessert for the weekend.

I did a Google search and finally decided on Paula Deen's recipe. I liked the cream cheese to pumpkin ratio. However, I wanted a gingersnap crust because I had a leftover bag of gingersnaps in my pantry to use up. One thing I've learned about cooking is that nothing is set in stone. You can improvise, combine and make up recipes to suit your tastes and ingredients available. So I found a recipe for a gingersnap crust from Martha Stewart that looked perfect. Paula's filling and Martha's crust turned out to be a great combination. My cheesecake did crack on the top, but I don't really care. Isn't that what whipped cream is for?

me (right) with my sister and niece

I won't bother typing up the recipes again, so here's the links for the recipes I used:
Paula Deen's Pumpkin Cheesecake
Gingersnap Crust from Martha Stewart's website

Everyone loved the cheesecake (even my 2-year-old niece, who we just learned is kind of a cream cheese fanatic) and we had a great time together as a family!

Brownie Kick

Best Brownies from allrecipes.com

I've been on a brownie kick lately. It started a few weeks ago when I had a major craving for chocolate. Halloween candy would not suffice. I needed something rich, fudgy and homemade. Brownies were the answer. I decided to try one of the top-rated brownie recipes on allrecipes.com. Surprisingly, despite making and reviewing well over 600 recipes on that site, I hadn't made Best Brownies yet. I've been missing out all this time! They are great brownies. My all-time favorite brownies are still Fudge Brownies from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. However, there are times when I don't have squares of unsweetened chocolate on hand. I always have cocoa powder in my pantry, so Best Brownies will be my go-to in case all I have is the powder.

Glazed Mint Brownies with too much mint filling

I was so sad when all the brownies were gone, I decided I must make more. Glazed Mint Brownies sounded like just the thing to make next. I still had a package of Nestle Mint & Chocolate Chips from last Christmas. They looked a litte over the hill, but tasted fine, so I threw them in. I doubled the mint filling, but I think that was a mistake. It messed with the chocolate-mint balance - too much mint. I think these would be fun to make during the holidays. I would make the mint filling pink and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top.

So the mint brownies were gone and I was sad yet again. I had half a package of butterscotch chips in the pantry, why, I don't know, but I wanted to use them because I was tired of seeing them sitting all dejected next to the shiny, new, unopened packages of chips. The result was a new recipe inspiration: Butterscotch Chip Brownies with Cocoa Caramel Frosting. I'm a little obsessed with caramel coffee creamer (if you couldn't tell) and just keep coming up with new uses for it! I took inspiration from the Best Brownies recipe. I reduced the sugar (I've found that you can reduce the sugar by a quarter in most recipes and still have it taste great) and tweaked the frosting. Here is my new recipe.

Butterscotch Chip Brownies with Cocoa Caramel Frosting

Brownies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Frosting:

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. caramel coffee creamer

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over low heat. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Stir in butterscotch chips. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake.
4. To Make Frosting: Melt 3 Tbsp. butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder, honey, coffee creamer, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. Frost brownies while still warm.

Giving Thanks

The Rosemary Roasted Turkey I made Thanksgiving 2009

It may seem a little early to be writing about Thanksgiving already, but with the "Christmas Creep" occurring, I thought I'd better get a head start. You may have noticed my "Respect the Bird" badge on the right side of my blog. This is a campaign started by allrecipes.com, in an attempt to help people not overlook Thanksgiving. As a foodie, I fully support this effort. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, mainly because it's all about food. In recent years, it has become more and more overlooked because of retail businesses pushing up the Christmas season to start earlier and earlier to make more money, i.e. "Christmas Creep." While I understand that in this economy stores have to do what they have to do to stay afloat, that doesn't mean that I like it!

I don't like going into stores and hearing holiday music the day after Halloween. Or seeing Christmas commercials on TV even before Halloween. Yes, this year the honor of the first Christmas commercial to be seen by me goes to Glade candles on October 22. I remember this date because I commented on it on Facebook. I don't like flipping through the channels and seeing that Hallmark channel is playing holiday movies back to back already. Needless to say, I am not thankful for these things.

Caramel Apple Pie

Now, on to what I am thankful for. This year I am thankful that I don't have to host Thanksgiving dinner. That task goes to my lovely sister-in-law this year. I know she will make a wonderful dinner with all of the usual family favorites. My assignment is to make the pies! I'm making pumpkin pie and the Caramel Apple Pie that I perfected last year.

I am also thankful for a clean bill of health. For both me and my husband. This was a big year for me, marking 5 years cancer-free. Ten years ago, I never thought I'd see the day! My hubby has MS and this was a good year for him, with no new flare-ups. My mom was diagnosed with bladder cancer a couple of years ago and she keeps receiving clean bills of health too. Yes, I would say that our health is what I am most thankful for this year, and just about every year.

I'm thankful that we are all gainfully employed. My brother-in-law was unemployed for a majority of the year and he finally landed a great job last month. My sister sighed a huge sigh of relief, and I'm sure that is what they are most thankful for this year.

A friend of mine just shared this quote on Facebook:

"Consistent happiness is found through living in a state of constant gratitude."
~Jonathan Lockwood

It's true. Whenever I'm feeling grateful, it's hard to get upset about anything. Things could be worse. I feel quite lucky actually. Thanksgiving is all about feeling gratitude for all that we have. When you have your health, a job and are surrounded by family (and great food), it doesn't get any better.

Clipped Recipe: Caramel Apple Cake

I already talked about my hubby's birthday cake, the Turtle Dove Cake, but I haven't talked about the other cake I baked for his birthday. The one he took to work to share with his coworkers. This year I decided to make Caramel Apple Cake. I've had this recipe for a number of years, but I don't remember the name of the magazine it came from. It was one of those magazines that come as in insert in the local newspaper.

I've made some changes to it over the years, mainly reducing the sugar and increasing the cinnamon. I like to use tart, firm apples, like Jonathan or Jonagold. My mom always used Jonathan apples to make apple pie. I discovered how wonderful they are to eat just out of hand. You don't hear about Jonathan apples much and it's difficult to find them anymore, but I was thrilled to find out my store carries organic Jonagold apples. I love their sweet-tartness. Granny Smith apples would work great too. I tend to get passionate about apples. They are one of my favorite fruits, even though they don't love me back (you don't even want to know what they do to me....). Honeycrisp are another one of my favorites. Anyways, this cake is fresh, moist and delicious. Perfect with a nice cup of coffee.

Caramel Apple Cake

Cake:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 apples, peeled and diced
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil (I use organic canola oil)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Glaze:
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. milk

1.  Preheat oven to 350º F. In a small bowl combine the 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Grease a bundt pan and coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
2.  Mix apples, eggs and oil with an electric mixer. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and 2 tsp. cinnamon; mix well. Pour into bundt pan and bake about 1 hour or until cake tests clean with a toothpick. Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cake plate.
3.  To prepare glaze, combine butter, brown sugar and milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Pour over cake. Cool cake before serving.

Make Your Own Caramel Spice Latte

So you made The Apple Crisps Martinis and are wondering what to do with the leftover cinnamon simple syrup. I found the perfect thing: use it to sweeten your coffee! We recently got a new coffee maker and have been enjoying the taste of pure, delicious coffee. I had my old coffee pot forever and it was actually starting to disintegrate. While I regularly cleaned it, over time my coffee just wasn't tasting up to par. It was time for a new maker.

I decided to try the cinnamon syrup in my coffee along with my new favorite creamer: Nestle's Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss in Caramel Flavor. It was heavenly! In fact, I think it was a lot like Starbuck's Cinnamon Dolce Latte. The best part is I'm sure it is A LOT less calories than Starbuck's. Now, I like to drink huge mugs of coffee, a la Gilmore Girls (fans of the show will understand). I have several mugs that hold 4 (5 oz.) cups of coffee. That's 20 oz. of coffee. Mmmmmmm.......So my recipe is based on that fact and has around only 100 calories. By the way, why aren't "coffee cups" the same amount as "regular cups" (i.e. 8 oz.)? Typically "coffee cups" are 6 oz., but my coffee pot has 5 oz. in each "cup." Why????

Caramel Spice Latte

1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon simple syrup
1 Tbsp. caramel flavored coffee creamer
1 splash skim milk
4 (5 oz.) cups of coffee

In the bottom of a really large mug (almost the size of your head), pour the cinnamon syrup, creamer and milk. Add the coffee, letting the pour of the coffee mix it all together. Top with whipped cream if feeling indulgent and not minding the extra calories. You can also adjust the syrup and creamer measurements to your liking.

Spooky Reading

image from Barnes & Noble.com

One of my favorite literary genres is Victorian Gothic. I love the gloom, the brooding, and the mystery. It just seems to be the perfect reading for this time of year. Cuddle up with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea and a deliciously spooky book. I think one of the first classic novels that I read on my own time (and not for school) was Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. It is considered a Gothic novel and it remains one of my favorite books to date.

I recently finished reading Grange House by Sarah Blake. It is a modern Gothic novel set in the late 1800's and written in Victorian prose, giving it an authentic feel. It's a wonderfully brooding story about a house and the ghosts and stories that inhabit it (the cover of the book says it all). It immediately reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - tragedy at a grand house by the water and a mysterious past for the heroine to piece together. It also goes without saying that it reminded me very much of Jane Eyre. In fact, the characters in Grange House like to read Jane Eyre themselves.

As soon as I finished reading Grange House, I wanted to read Jane Eyre again. Luckily, I had the most recent movie of Jane Eyre from Netflix just waiting to be watched. It is a sensational adaptation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought Mia Wasikowska was perfect as Jane. Very plain-looking in some shots, but becoming more beautiful as she fell in love with Mr. Rochester. The look and feel of the movie was very atmospheric, with low lighting and a beautiful musical score. Most people watch slasher-type horror movies the weekend before Halloween. Me, I watched a Gothic Horror movie. Both the movie and Grange House inspired me and I've found myself delving into the book again (and it's free for download on Kindle!).

If you need to find me in the next few days, I'll be curled up somewhere with a blanket and my Kindle......