Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

I have told at least three people recently that I had made a trifle. All three said, "oh, that's the same thing as a truffle, right?" Well, not exactly.  I had to go into great detail about what a trifle was. All three were men, so I don't know if that was why or not! LOL. Anyways, to make a trifle, you kind of need a trifle "bowl." Since I didn't own one, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond, because who doesn't get their coupons in the mail?!?!?!?! Instead of taking the usual pumpkin pie to a Thanksgiving dinner, how about taking this dessert? Your family and friends will think you took hours to make it!

Ingredients 

13-16 ounce package gingersnap cookies

14-ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

15-ounce can packed pumpkin

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 pint whipping cream

1 cup powdered sugar

In a plastic gallon size zippered plastic bag, put in the gingersnaps. Using a meat mallet, 

crush into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. In a large bowl, put the cream cheese and beat 

with an electric mixer until smooth, then add the vanilla extract, pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon

and nutmeg. Combine well until all ingredients are well incorporated. Set aside. In a small 

bowl, put the whipping cream and powdered sugar. Mix with an electric mixer on high 

speed until stiff peaks form (it will take at least five minutes). Set aside. In a trifle bowl, 

put one third of the crushed cookies, then a third of the cream cheese mixture and 

then a third of the whipped cream. Second layer - one third of the crushed cookies, 

one third of the cream cheese mixture, one third of the whipped cream. Next 

layer - one third of the cream cheese mixture, one third of the whipped cream and 

end with the crushed cookies. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Serves

at least 8!

Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's hard to believe that my mom has been gone almost six months already. Yesterday, for some reason, I was having trouble managing the grief. I read an article recently on HuffPost.com that said there are many psychological benefits to baking for others - one of them is "stress management." If you are interested in reading the article, here is the link:  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/culinary-arts-therapy_n_58ee79c1e4b0bb9638e0e02b . My mom and I spent tons of time in the kitchen and we definitely had a lot of fun!

 

This particular recipe card was written in my mom's handwriting, and on the back side of the card, was written "doubled from Thomas Pullen Home Economics (Patti). " Thomas Pullen was the Junior High my sister attended. "Patti" is my sister.

She lives down in Georgia and I sent her a message asking if she remembered these cookies. She said, "I still use that recipe, it's really good!" I don't remember eating these cookies, so I was really curious about how they would taste and more importantly, if Dominic would eat one. Only in the past few months has he begun to eat cookies with chocolate chips in them (I think he realized what he was missing)!!! I told him the recipe was written in "Grandma Martha's" handwriting. Well, I whipped some up yesterday afternoon and they WERE really good!! Dominic and my husband LOVED them. I made a few small changes to the recipe here and there, but nothing major was added or deleted.  I know I'll be making these again real soon!!  

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup white flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups old-fashioned oats

12-ounce bag milk chocolate chips (2 cups)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, light brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract with a mixer or large spoon until well combined. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix well. Stir in the oats and milk chocolate chips until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Roll into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball on the cookie sheet (12 cookies at a time). Bake for 14-16 minutes or until slightly brown. Remove from oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for five minutes and then move to rack to continue to cool. Makes 3 1/2  dozen. Store covered at room temperature. 

Martha's Own "Spanish" Rice

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I was the world's pickiest eater growing up. Recently, I was looking through one of my mom's old recipe boxes and found a recipe for Martha's Own Spanish Rice. It was written in my mom's handwriting on an index card. I know I didn't eat this growing up because of my extreme aversion to onions (I still can't eat raw onions). I asked my dad if he remembered mom making this and he said yes. Cool.  My dad was and still is kind of a picky eater.  He likes his food more plain with virtually no spices, but salt. My husband is kind of the opposite, he'll eat just about ANYTHING.  I had told my hubby earlier in the day, I was hoping to make my mom's recipe. The day ended up being really busy and it started to get towards dinner time. My husband goes, "so, are you still making your mom's recipe?" I told him that I was.  As I started to brown the meat, I perused the rest of the ingredients. My mom had written "salt and pepper," but no measurements. Hmm. I took a shot with the salt, but I think I put in a little too much.  Uh, oh. After I put in the pepper it balanced it out, but then it actually tasted kind of bland. I decided to add 1/2 teaspoon of my new favorite spice, "Thai Inspired Red Curry Powder." Yummy!!! As my husband starting digging into his dinner, I said, "so, do you think it's spicy enough?" He said, "well, it does have a bit of "kick!" When I talked to my dad later in the evening, I told him I had made mom's "Spanish" rice for dinner. I said, "dad, when mom made this, was it a little bland?" He was like, "yes!" If you are like my dad and like your food not spicy, feel free to leave out the curry powder. You can find regular curry powder at the Target or pretty much any grocery store. My "fancy" curry powder is Kroger's "specialty" line of spices. I think I originally bought it because it was on sale! Now, I'm wondering since I added the curry powder,  I've now switched continents, going from Spain to India! Should I call this Martha and Cathy's Spanish/Indian Rice? My mom has been gone almost five months now, how I wish I could have told her I made her recipe! She would have been so surprised I used curry powder!! When I was younger I didn't even know what curry powder was! I knew two spices - salt and pepper. LOL.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped green pepper, seeds and membrane removed
1/2 cup chopped onion
15-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups cooked white rice
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry powder, if desired

In a large frying pan, start browning the meat with a large spoon together with the green pepper and onion. When the meat is finished cooking, carefully drain off the grease. Add the tomato sauce, rice, water, salt, pepper and curry powder (if you want). Stir well and then cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the green pepper and onion are soft, stirring gently every five minutes. Remove from heat and serve!!

"Supreme" Chocolate Chip Cookies

*Photo courtesy of Mary Gajda 

Capital Area Women's Lifestyle Magazine

Anyone that knows me even a little, knows that I love to BAKE! It's in my "genes" - my great-grandfather on my mom's side owned a bakery in Missouri.

One cookie that I have tried many times to make and failed just as many times are chocolate chip cookies!! That's just about one of the easiest cookies to make, right!?!?! Mine have turned out under-baked, over-baked, stuck to the cookie sheet - you name it and it's happened to me and chocolate chip cookies.  I make chocolate chip "bars" instead and follow the recipe on the Nestle Toll House Morsels bag! Well, I bit the "bullet" and made some chocolate chip cookies yesterday afternoon. I looked through cookbooks, on the Internet and in my mom's old recipe boxes. The basic recipe seemed to be the same ingredients, though a few had baking powder in addition to baking soda. I associate baking power with biscuits. A lot of the recipes just said "brown sugar." There is dark and light; butter is salted and unsalted. If you are already putting in additional salt, why would you want salted butter?!?! I like crispy cookies, so I used shortening, instead of all butter. How many of you remember back in the day, when we didn't have non-stick cooking spray and used shortening to "grease" pans?!?!?! Okay, enough about all that stuff! Semi-sweet morsels are wonderful, but I've always thought they are a little bitter. I prefer milk chocolate chips now. I had part of a bag kicking around of peanut butter chips, so I used those too! Pecans were in my freezer, so they got tossed in also. I really had to restrain myself from putting anything else in!!! I took no chances with baking on the cookie sheet, I put parchment paper covering the total cookie sheet. You are supposed to make these "drop" cookies, but I rolled them up the size of a golf ball and plopped a dozen on a sheet. I set the timer for 8 minutes and they looked raw, I added three more minutes and they were just starting to turn a little brown. I gave them yet another 3 minutes and they were perfect. After spending five minutes on the sheet, I easily removed them to a wire rack. Nothing was stuck!! Yahoo! Dominic has been branching out and trying new things lately. Anytime in the past that I have tried to give him a chocolate chip cookie, he has flat out refused. I offered him one that was slightly warm and he came over, took it and started walking back towards me. I thought he was going to give it back. Instead, he waved and walked back into the family room! He totally LOVES these cookies now. He even had two for breakfast. Yes, in our house, sometimes you eat cookies for breakfast!!!!

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups white flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, unsalted

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup milk chocolate chips

2/3 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and set aside. In a large bowl, put all the ingredients in the order given, except the milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and the pecans. Mix with a large spoon until combined well. "Fold" in the remaining ingredients. Roll the batter into about the size of a golf ball. Place a dozen at a time on the cookie sheet and bake 11-13 minutes or until brown. Let them hang out on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to continue to cool. Makes 3 1/2 dozen. 

*If you want to get "fancy," my new favorite thing to do is "drizzle" chocolate on baked items, I did it recently on pumpkin and oatmeal scones AND for the first time, I did it on these cookies!!  You just need to wait for the cookies to completely cool first! I used the four-ounce Baker's Premium Baking Bars, they make a bunch of different flavors. So far, I have used the "German's Sweet Chocolate" and the "Semi-Sweet Chocolate." Just melt them in a bowl in the microwave and take a spoon and drizzle! There is no wrong way to do it!!!!

Cardamom and Lemon Cookies

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I was the world's pickiest eater growing up! Never in a million years would I have ever thought of making a cookie using cardamom. Up until a few years ago, I didn't even know what cardamom was!!!  Cardamom is a spice that I think tastes like cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg rolled into one.  This is what the spice area looks like at my local Kroger, quite a selection, huh?

Yikes, thank goodness, a large portion of it is alphabetized or else I would be at a total loss!! I have really "branched" out in the past five years or so using different spices, especially when I make chicken, beef or veggie chili. A few nights ago, when I made chicken chili,  I put in cumin, turmeric and "Thai" inspired red curry powder. I also have been known to sneak in some marjoram into chicken soup. I was so excited the first time I made these cookies that I had a bit of a "heavy hand" with the cardamom. The second go round I used less. At the store, cardamom might be a little more expensive than some of the other spices, but trust me, a little goes a long way! Take a look sometime at how much saffron is, that one is super duper pricey!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup pink powdered lemonade
  (I used Country Time)
1 large egg, beaten
2 1/2 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
*one tablespoon sanding sugar or sprinkles, optional
   (I used the Kroger brand "coral" sanding sugar)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter, white sugar and the pink powdered lemonade together with a large spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients in the order given (except the sanding sugar or sprinkles) and mix well with a large spoon. Roll batter into balls with the palms of your hands - you should be able to get 2 1/2 dozen balls if you make them a little smaller than a golf ball.  Place a dozen at a time on the lined cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for five minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool. Store covered at room temperature. Makes 2 1/2 dozen yummy cookies!

* For a delicious and quick dessert idea, take a scoop of vanilla ice cream and put in between two cookies and squeeze gently. 

Jeannette's Chocolate Covered "Grasshoppers"

In less than a week, it will be two months since my mom's passing. It has been a difficult time, but I think my dad phrased it the best - you learn to "adapt." He and my mom were married for over 55 years.

While looking through two of my mom's recipe boxes today, I came across a recipe for Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers. The name certainly sounds intriguing, doesn't it?!?!?! I always thought Chocolate Covered Grasshoppers had some form of mint in it. A quick Internet search though, brought up "real" grasshoppers covered in chocolate. Um, no, I don't think so! The recipe is from my mom's friend Jeannette, who I always remember living near Miami, Florida. She has five children, all relatively close in age. I met most, if not all of her children at one time or another. I think the youngest was my age. Anyways, I can just imagine Jeannette in her hot kitchen in Florida with her children making these. They are no-bake/drop cookies, so you don't need to heat up the oven! These cookies are really yummy!!

Thanks mom for saving this recipe and for instilling my love for baking and cooking, which I have had for a really, really long time!

Ingredients

6 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup milk
4 cups "quick" oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan, put the cocoa, white sugar, butter and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a large spoon until it becomes a smooth consistency. When it hits a "rolling" boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the oatmeal and vanilla extract. Stir until all of the oatmeal is covered with the chocolate mixture. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment paper. I was able to get 32 "grasshoppers" making them that size, if you prefer teaspoonfuls, then it will make more! Chill in the fridge for a minimum of one hour. Store covered in the fridge. *I'm still trying to figure out why they are called "grasshoppers." They certainly don't look or taste like a "grasshopper" to me, not that I know what a grasshopper tastes like!!!

Strawberry and Watermelon Popsicles

Have you ever heard of a cookbook called, "The Sneaky Chef?" It is written by a gal that likes to "sneak" healthy foods into meals. A "white puree" consists of cauliflower and zucchini and it is incorporated into things like mac and cheese and lasagna. A "purple puree" is spinach and blueberries mixed together and put into brownies, pancakes and tacos. You kind of get the idea..... I have a much easier way to get someone to eat something they are not interested in eating - put it into a blender and make it into a popsicle!!! Lauren LOVES watermelon and strawberries, so she ate these willingly. Dominic on the other hand, turned his nose up at the watermelon. He flat out refused to eat it. This "sneaky" mom put some watermelon and strawberries into the blender yesterday afternoon, poured them into the popsicle mold and they were frozen and ready to eat after dinner. Dominic had no clue that I had "snuck" the watermelon into the popsicle when he ate it last night. Sometimes a mom has to do what a mom has to do!!!

2 cups strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced
2 cups seedless watermelon, cubed

In a blender, put the strawberries and watermelon and puree until you get the consistency you want (I put a 1/2 cup of each fruit at a time into the blender). When I tried to put it ALL in the blender, it was too much and the blender clogged up! Pour into a popsicle mold (made for four)  and freeze for a minimum of eight hours.

There will be just enough leftover mixture to put into a glass and drink (the hubby was the happy recipient of that yesterday). Enjoy!