Cookies for Santa

I love Christmas! Its been several years since "santa" came to our house but I always leave cookies out! And lets face it I probably always will!

This year I decided to try a really cute recipe I found on Pinterest! Its a christmasy play on an old favorite!  They were absolutely delicious and I'm pretty sure they are going to become a Santa tradition in our house!

This is also a really good sugar cookie recipe that you could use for many other recipes too!


Ingredients

• Hersheys Candy Cane Kisses
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• red and green sugar crystals

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Remove wrappers from candies

3.Beat butter, granulated sugar, egg and vanilla until well blended.

4. Stir together salt, flour and baking soda.  Then add to butter, sugar, egg and vanilla mixture.

5. Add milk to mixture then beat until well blended 

6. Combine colored sugar with granulated sugar in bowls

7. Roll 1 inch balls of dough in sugar until covered and place on cookie sheet

8. Bake 8-10 minutes

9. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes

10. Press a kiss into the center of each cookie

11. Wait for Santa

SANTA I KNOW HIM!!!

Santa Hat Brownines
These are great to give as gifts or serve at a dinner party! I of course got the idea from Pinterest (heres the recipe from sweet tooth).


Ingredients

• brownie mix (Ghiradelli is always my go to!)
• Strawberries
• White icing
• White chocolate chips

1. Mix and bake brownie batter as instructed on box

2. Let cool

3. Cut brownies with circle cookie cutter

4. Wash strawberries and cut tops off

My mom has these really amazing piping tools which made this super easy!

You can order them from pamperedchef.com

5. Ice the top of the brownies

6. Place a strawberry on top of each brownie

7. Add a small dot of icing on top of each strawberry

8. Top each with a white chocolate chip to make it look even more like a santa hat

Merry Christmas!

Bacon Literally Makes the World Go Round!

One of my sorority sisters served these at a dinner party over thanksgiving break and I knew I had to try  to make them ASAP! shout out to Katie Hardaway...best dinner party ever (esp the dare portion!)

I found this recipe on one of my fave blogs How Sweet It Is.

Green Bean Bacon Bundles

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh green beans (I bought mine at our local farmers market but whole foods works too!)
• 10-12 slices of thick cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (love being home and having my mothers garlic mincer!)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven 400 and spray non stick pan

2. Snap the ends of the beans and wash them (such a mindless activity but always fun! I used to always do this as a child for my mom and grandmother)

3.  Wrap bacon around bundles of 5 or 6 beans.  Lay the bundle bacon seam side down to hold it together.

4. In a sauce pan over low heat combine butter brown sugar and garlic (this was never a combo I thought I would experience but it may have been one of the best smelling things I have ever experienced)

5. Using a brush, brush the mixture over the top of each bundle

6. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes

7. Remove foil  and bake for 10-15 minutes more until bacon gets crispy

I served them with crab cakes with spicy mayo (here's my recipe) and mashed potatoes and gravy (I'll link my recipe soon)

 yuuummmm!!!

Crab Cakes

I have a total love for seafood, that love started with shellfish, mainly crab and shrimp.  Crab cakes have always been a favorite.  I have seen my mom make them from scratch a handful of times but usually she buys them premade at whole foods.  Crab cakes are yet another thing that I thought would be way too difficult for me to cook but turns out they were pretty easy.

If you have even been served a bad crab cake you would know.  They arent bad in the sense that they have spoiled but they are bad because they consist of mainly breadcrumbs and very little crab.  One of the most important thing about making crab cakes is getting quality lump crab meat and making sure your crab cakes consist of mainly crab not breadcrumbs.

The original recipe I used from once upon a chef (http://www.onceuponachef.com/2010/07/maryland-crab-cakes-with-quick-tartar-sauce.html) said to cook the crab cakes in a skillet in oil but my mom said that it would be easier and healthier to bake them so I ended up following the baking instructions from  this recipe (http://www.phillipsfoods.com/recipes-cooking-tips/RecipesDetails.aspx?recipeId=39&categoryId=7) 

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery (1 stalk)
• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

• this recipe also calls for 2 teaspoons of finely chopped parsely but Im not a fan so I skipped it

 1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Line baking sheet with foil

3. Combine egg, mayonaise, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay, salt, and celery (and parsley if you chose to include it) in a large mixing bowl.

4. Using a strainer, strain crab meat to remove excess water.

5.  Add the bread crumbs

6. Add crab and mix, but be sure not to shred crab

7. Shape 

8. Place on baking sheet

9. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown

10. I combined mayo with siriacha hot sauce to top them off with!

sauce

They were absolutely delicious! I served them with bacon wrapped green beans (here's my recipe) and mashed potatoes and gravy (I'll link my recipe soon)

 yuuummmm!!!

The Ultimate Pinterest Post

If you have a Pinterest then I guarantee that you have seen this post.  It is something that every good pinterester has to make at some point and now its my turn.  Im usually not a big sweets/baking person but I have to admit these were pretty delicious! The recipe I found used homemade cookie dough and boxed brownie mix.  I was hesitant to make my own cookie dough at first but I will def be using it again just for chocolate chip cookies!

Gooey Deliciousness...Brownies, Oreos and Chocolate Chip Cookies all in one!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounces) milk chocolate chips
• 1 package Oreos
• 1 package of brownie mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. cream the butter and both sugars with electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes

3.  add the eggs and vanilla and mix well

4. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt then add to the mixer slowly until just combined

5. stir in chocolate chips

6. spread the cookie dough in pan that has been lined with wax paper

7. add a layer of oreos

8. prepare brownie mix according to the box instructions

9. pour batter over the cookie dough and oreos until covered

10. bake for 45-55 minutes then let cool

like I said...gooey deliciousness!

My First Attempt at a Copy Cat Recipe= a Semi-Disappointment...

Now that its colder I really wanted to try and make a soup.  I was looking for what to make on Pinterest (shocker I know!) and I came across a recipe for one of my favorites: Panera's broccoli cheddar soup.  I am usually very hesitant to make copy cat recipes because they very rarely live up to the real thing, which definately happened with this one but more on that later.

Panera's Broccoli Cheddar Soup
original recipe


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/2 medium chopped onion
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups half and half cream
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 lb fresh broccoli
• 1 cup carrot, julienned (dont worry I had to look this up too! heres a youtube to help you out!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYtlIH-YZL4)
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper

1. saute onion in butter.  set aside

2.  chop your broccoli and carrots.  set aside (I just added them to the pan of onions already set aside but I didnt cook them!)

3. Cook melted butter and flour using whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly.

4. Stir in the Half and Half

5. Add the chicken stock.

6. Simmer for 20 minutes

 7.  Add the broccoli, carrots and onions.  Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes.

9.  Add salt and pepper for flavor.

10. Return to medium heat and add cheese and nutmeg.  Stir until cheese is melted.

In the end I would have added a little less flour and a little more chicken broth so it wouldnt have been so thick.  Also I would have either skipped the nutmeg or only added a pinch and gone with the suggestions of some of the other broccoli cheddar recipes I found and added a little bit of cayenne pepper for a little kick.  

But portion wise this was great it made enough for my dad and I to eat for lunch plus about a bowl and a half of leftovers.  I know would have made some changes but this was still pretty good but I think I'll just let Panera do what they do best and enjoy broccoli cheddar from them in the future.