Kolaches

Both of my in-laws were great cooks.  My mother-in-law made the world's best potato salad and chocolate chip cookies. My father-in-law made pork chops that were out of this world. He told me his recipe one time and I really wish I would have wrote it down!!  Kolaches, potica (nut roll), pierogi and Slovenian sausages were almost always on the "menu" when we went to Cleveland to visit.  I have tried to make both potica and pierogi and the end results have not been pretty.  I'm not even going to attempt to make the Slovenian sausage :)  Kolaches, on the other hand, are more up my baking "alley." Back a handful of Christmases ago, I was turning my house upside down looking for a kolache recipe because my mother-in-law was coming over to visit from her assisted living facility where she lived and we had promised her we would make kolaches.  She didn't know her recipe off the top of her head, so I was really scrambling to find a recipe that didn't use yeast! I finally found one in a Christmas cookbook and the hubby, Lauren and my mother-in-law had a good time baking together.  Good memories for sure:

My mother-in-law cut the dough into squares, but I found a 2-inch round biscuit cutter works just as well. My father-in-law will be gone nine years in April and we just passed the three-year anniversary of my mother-in-law's passing in January.  Even though my hubby doesn't talk about it much, I know that he misses them.  I'm going to surprise him when he comes home from work tonight with these kolaches.  Maybe it's time to try again to make potica and pierogi!!! I'll let you know how it turns out :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups white flour

Strawberry preserves

1 tablespoon powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray two cookie sheets with non-stick spray.  Set aside. In medium bowl, put the butter and cream cheese and mix well with electric mixer or by hand until smooth.  Add the flour and combine well.  On a lightly floured counter or board, knead the dough about 10 times and then roll out to about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out 24 circles with the round cutter and put 12 on each cookie sheet.  Put 1/4 teaspoon of strawberry preserves in the middle of each circle and fold the opposite sides together, pressing gently. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms of the kolache are starting to brown. Remove immediately to wire rack.  When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.  Makes 24 cookies.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

One of my favorite things to do is to post a picture on Facebook of something I have baked or cooked and then have my family and friends try to guess the "mystery" ingredient.  Last week, I put a picture of these biscuits on and while there were many good guesses, no one was able to figure out they were made with sweet potatoes!!!!  FINALLY, I stumped them :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed
1 1/2 cups white flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
3/4 cup milk


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and set aside. In a large bowl, put the sweet potato, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.  Mix well with a large spoon and then "cut" in the cold butter with two knives.  When the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, add the milk.  Combine well with the spoon and then put on a lightly floured board or counter.  With lightly floured hands, knead the dough about 10 times and then press out dough to about 1/4 inch.  With a biscuit cutter make 12-14 biscuits. Put on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the biscuits are starting to turn lightly brown. Remove from oven and put on wire rack to slightly cool. 

No Bake S'mores Bark

Well, once again we have snow today where we live.

My husband was telling me this morning that behind the storm we are getting today, there are two more heading this way in the next week. Wonderful. Since I wanted to make s'mores and our snow depth outdoors makes that impossible, I did the next best thing and made them indoors yesterday evening! I put two of these on a plate on the kitchen counter for myself shortly after lunchtime and then went into the living room. When I came back into the kitchen a little while later, the plate was empty.  I asked the hubby if he had eaten both and he said yes!! He's a sneaky one :)

Ingredients

24 squares or 12 rectangles of graham crackers
2 cups mini marshmallows 
24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray, set aside.  In large bowl, break the graham crackers into small pieces.  Add the marshmallows and mix together with a large spoon.  In a saucepan or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips.  Pour the melted chocolate chips over the graham crackers and marshmallows and mix well with the large spoon.  Spread evenly into the prepared pan and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour.  When ready to eat, break off into pieces with your hands and enjoy! Keep stored in the fridge in a covered container.

Cuban Sweet Potato and Black Bean Soup

I was the world's pickiest eater when I was little.  We would go to the same Chinese restaurant when I was growing up and would order a hamburger!! Little did I know, that type of food would become my favorite as an adult :)  So glad I finally started trying different types of foods as I've gotten older. When I was at the store a week or so ago, I saw the biggest sweet potato I've ever seen!  I bought it thinking I would probably only need half.  I was right!  Half of it yielded two cups!  I'm planning on using the other half to "test" out a new recipe for sweet potato biscuits.  After doing a little bit of research about Cuban cuisine, I found that cumin, peppers, black beans, garlic, sweet potatoes and oregano is found in a lot of the recipes.  I incorporated all of those yummy Cuban flavors into this soup.  When I made this for dinner, the hubby had at least two bowls (maybe three) - I lost track! I always love when a regular "customer" enjoys his meal so much :)

Ingredients

1 cup onion, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups uncooked sweet potato, peeled and cubed
15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
10-ounce can Original Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes
  and Green Chilies, undrained
1 cup green peppers, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
8 cups water
2 cups cooked white rice, any brand

In small saucepan, make the white rice and set aside.  In large stockpot, melt the butter slowly and then add the onion.  Saute until the onion is just starting to get tender.  Add the rest of the ingredients in the order given except the white rice.  Stir well, bring to a boil and then turn to a simmer and cover for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the white rice, stir well and then cook 5-10 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Pigs in a Blanket

Lauren hosted a New Year's Eve party this year at our house and one of her friends brought over a plate of pigs in a blanket. They were really yummy (I sampled a few) and it got me to thinking, have I ever made them in my life? I don't think I have. I figured since there were only two ingredients, it couldn't be too hard to make.  I bought the house brand of both the hot dogs and the crescent rolls.  I could have bought the fancy cocktail weiners, but I figured regular hot dogs would be fine if I just cut them in half.  The grand total came to $2.25 :) I challenge you to find an appetizer at the store that is that inexpensive!  I taste tested a few of these early in the afternoon on Friday and then put the rest back in the fridge. When Lauren came home from school, she put four on a plate and popped them into the microwave for about 30 seconds for a snack. She said they tasted fine, even reheated! The next time you get invited to a party last minute and aren't sure what kind of appetizer to bring, try making these - I made them in less than 30 minutes!

Ingredients

8-ounce package crescent rolls (8 count), any brand
16-ounce package hot dogs (8 count), any brand

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet. Set aside.  Cut the eight hot dogs in half for a total of 16 halves.  Separate the eight crescent rolls from each other.  Cut each roll in half lengthwise for a total of 16 triangles.  Wrap each hot dog tightly in the crescent roll.  Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 11-13 minutes or until they are beginning to get lightly brown.  Remove to wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve immediately.  Makes 16 servings.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Crackers

Now is the time of year that the Girl Scouts are selling their cookies.  Have you ever eaten the Tagalongs?   How about if you could make a version of those yourself that doesn't require baking?  These are actually round butter crackers (like a Ritz) with peanut butter in between and dipped in milk chocolate!  So easy and quick to make too :)  Lauren (who is not a fan of butter crackers at all), ate a few of these last night and proclaimed them, "addictive." They kind of are!!  Since I had just a little of the melted chips left, I dipped a plastic spoon in and also some candy canes.  This morning, I put that spoon in my coffee because I needed an extra zap of sugar - busy day planned for today!!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 sleeve round butter crackers, any brand
11.5 ounces milk chocolate chips, any brand
Smooth peanut butter, any brand

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and set aside. Take two crackers and put a 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter in between and press gently. I had 31 crackers in my "sleeve," so I made 15 peanut butter "sandwiches." It's good I had one extra, because one cracker accidentally landed on the floor!  After you have them all assembled, melt the milk chocolate chips either slowly on the stove in a saucepan or do what I did and melt them in a small bowl in the microwave.  Start with 30 seconds and then keep adding 15 seconds until the chips are smooth, stirring with a spoon after each increment of time.  Take each peanut butter sandwich and dip it in the melted chocolate.  I used a fork to turn it over in the bowl. No fuss, no muss! Place each chocolate covered cracker sandwich on the wax paper and if desired, sprinkle crushed candy canes on top. Put in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. Keep these stored in a covered container in the fridge.

Banana-Orange and Walnut Bread

 

With the overabundance of clementines that have been in our house lately, somehow a few bananas managed to get lost in the shuffle and got a bit overly ripe. So, that only means one thing - time to make banana bread! Yesterday was the first time in about three weeks that I had the kitchen all to myself during the day, so I was able to do some "experimenting" by using orange juice in this recipe.  It adds just the right amount of sweetness to make this bread totally delicious!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
2/3 cup bananas, mashed
2/3 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 1 1/2 quart loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.  In a large bowl,  put all the ingredients in the order given except the walnuts and mix well with large spoon.  When well combined, "fold" the walnuts gently into the batter.  Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let pan cool about 15 minutes on a wire rack.  Invert pan and remove loaf to wire rack to continue cooling.