Mincemeat Pie

Ingredients:

1 pkg. of None Such condensed mincemeat 

1 cup of cinnamon applesauce

1 tsp. of grated orange peel

1/2 cup of fresh raisins

Pie crust for one nine inch pie

Put all these ingredients in a small slo.w cooker.  Allow to simmer for several hours.  Cool before covering and placing in refrigerator.  

Preheat oven to 400F

Roll out pie dough.  Fill pie plate with one crust.  Add filling.  Add one pat of butter, cut into little pieces scattered over pie.  Cover with crust.

Bake for 30 minutes or until pie crust is golden.

Stress Free Entertaining

Stress Free Entertaining

One of the most valuable things I ever learned from my grandmother was to relax when having a gathering.  She used to say "if you are relaxed, everything will be fine".  She taught me how to make successes out of disasters and magic out of everyday staples.  Her style was simple:  nothing fancy, use items from your pantry and fridge and enjoy yourself.  Here are some holiday planning tips.  Remember:  for any gathering over 6 people, serve buffet style.  Six or less is a perfect sit-down meal.  If guests offer to bring something, write each item down and keep that list handy.  Delegate desserts and time-consuming recipes.

Plan your menu:  Antipasto or a charcuterie board is a terrific beginning.  This can be done well ahead and refrigerated (do not put any bread item on the tray/board until just before serving).  Sliced deli meats; a delicious dip or spread; fresh fruit; melba toasts; nuts and dried apricots make a lovely platter.  You can serve on top of fresh grape leaves or purchase some seasonal decorative leaves to dress up your board.

Print out recipes:  Print out your menu and recipes well ahead of time.  This will allow you to plan your food items; prepare your grocery list and order whatever special items are necessary.  

Order special items:    If you are ordering a special roast or item from your market or supermarket, place the order two or three weeks in advance.  Confirm the order the week of your gathering so there are no miscommunications with your butcher/market.  Delegate picking up special items like food and wine to anyone who volunteers.

Make a To-Do List:  You don't need to go overboard planning.  Make a simple list and stick to it.  A minute-by-minute plan will stress you ... keep it simple.  Refer to it as necessary.

Cooking:  Make and bake whatever you can ahead of time.  The day of yout gathering, have your warming plates and so forth heated up before filling and use your microwave and/or toaster oven to reheat prepared dishes.  That leaves your oven/ovens available for the main dishes.  If you have a really delicious gravy recipe and/or sauce that can be made ahead, do so and refrigerate.  Cranberry/orange sauce can be done ahead and simply allowed to warm up at room temperature.  Clean-up as you go.   

Table:    Again, keep this simple.   Set your table before hand (again, another task to delegate).  Use disposable fancy plates and surround with good crystal and silverware.  This will simplify your cleanup.  For large gatherings, place two butter dishes at opposite ends of the table for a crowd, as well as multiple salt and pepper shakers.  Your centerpiece should be simple and low to the table.  If serving anything that requires grated cheese, place two dishes at opposite ends of  table.  Gravy and condiments can be placed either at the table or with the buffet dishes (or both).

Serving:   If serving buffet style, set your dishes out where the flow of people goes easily from food to table.  If serving family style, gather your delegates to help bring the food to the table.  

Dessert:    Coffee and dessert should be served well after the meal, allowing your guests time for rest and conversation.  Have ice cream and whipped cream on hand for special occasions.  (In my household growing up, this followed just about every meal since my father loved dessert.)

Clean-up:    It is up to your host/hostess if they want you to clean up.  Offer to help out.  If your host/hostess prefers to leave clean-up until later, enjoy the gathering with after-dinner refreshments and leave at an appropriate time.  If you are an overnight guest, offer to help clean-up after guests have departed.  The task of consolidating food after the gathering requires input from the host or hostess and this is a perfect time to offer help.  Moving food from serving dishes to refrigeration containers is quite helpful and appreciated.  

Disaster Control:  Be prepared for disasters.   You can delegate someone whose specific job is to clean-up and manage any spilled food, burns, accidents, etc.  Have one vehicle free for any trips to the emergency room (this is not as far-fetched as it sounds) and have a first aid kit handy; a fire extinguisher close by and flashlights.  Always be prepared is a pretty good motto for everyone.

Enjoy yourself!

Lentil Soup

Hearty Lentil Soup

This warm and gentle dinner is perfect on a cool autumnal or winter day.  Basic pantry ingredients combined with fresh vegetables, it is a perfect slow-cooker meal.  Vegetarians simply substitute protein and use vegetable stock instead of chicken broth.  

Ingredients:

Dried lentils soaked in broth (equal portions of dried beans to stock e.g. one cup and one cup)

1 large red onion

2/3 stalks of celery with leaves

2/3 carrots

1 lb. of fresh mushrooms

2 additional cups of broth

garlic powder (1 tsp.)

salt and pepper

2 tbl. of tomato paste

1 bay leaf

Remove skin from onion.  Halve the onion and cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces.  Put everything in a slow cooker.   Add protein an hour before serving time or at the beginning of cooking time if cooking with slowest temperature setting.  If adding vegetables such as zucchini  or spinach, add last half hour of cooking time.  During lent, my grandmother did not add any meat.  When it was not a meatless meal, my grandmother added Italian sausage.  Simply remember the longer this simmers, the better it tastes.  This delicious soup is tied with pasta y fagioli as my favorite comfort food.

At serving time, sprinkle with imported Italian cheese (peccarino romano or parmigiana reggiano)

and a loaf of crusty bread.  

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

Fresh Fruit Cobbler

No matter where you live, fresh fruit lends itself beautifully to cobbler.  My mother favored Apple Cobbler.  This is a great choice in the fall, when apples are locally picked.  During the other seasons, make use of the fresh fruit available at the market.

Preheat Oven to 400F

Ingredients:

2 to 4 cups of fresh fruit (above picture shows blueberries and peaches)

1/4 cup of cinnamon sugar (sugar mixed with cinnamon and a smidge of ginger and pinch of nutmeg)

1 tsp. of fresh lemon juice

1 generous teaspoon of corn starch

If necessary, cube fruit (peaches; nectarines; pears, etc.).  Mixing berries with any fruit is a wonderful combination.  Allow the above ingredients to macerate (mixed together in a bowl and allowed to sit for an hour or so).  Place this mixture in an 8 x 8 square pan.  Add the following topping which you mix separately in a different bowl.

Topping

1 3/4 cups of buttermilk baking mix*

1 tbl. of cinnamon sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup of butter (cold, cut into cubes)

Mix topping in a bowl with a fork.  Just cut the butter in lightly before adding the egg.  

Pour topping over fruit.  Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is brown and fruit is bubbling.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.  Delicious hot or cold!

*I used Pioneer Buttermilk Baking Mix.  I love the texture of this mixture.  It's great for pancakes, too.

Cherry Pie

Stone Fruit Pie

When fruit is in abundance, I make pies and freeze them.  Stone fruit (a fruit with flesh or pulp enclosing a stone, such as a peach, plum, or cherry) works very well for this process and requires no cooking prior to making the pie.  

Filling:

6 Cups of Fruit, pitted or with stones removed

2 tbl.  to 1/2 cup of sugar  (This depends entirely upon the sweetness of the fruit)

1 tbl. of white vinegar

grated nutmeg

1 tbl. of cornstarch

2 prepared pie crusts

Pitt cherries (or other fruit) and slice into bite sized pieces.  Have a large bowl on hand for the fruit and a plastic bag (to be discarded) for the pitts.  When fruit is pitted, mix the fruit with the remaining ingredients (except for pie crusts).  Allow the fruit to macerate (soften with the liquid in the bowl) for an hour or so).  

Roll out dough and fill pie plate with bottom crust.  Add the fruit.  Top with second crust.  If you are intending to weave a lattice crust, go here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwQYd2ljw-4  

Wrap securely in plastic wrap to freeze.  Place in freezer.

To bake frozen pie, preheat oven to 400F and bake pie for 30 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 325 and bake until pie filling is bubbly.  

To bake freshly made pie, preheat oven to 400F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until pie crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Italian Roast Pork

Italian Pork Roast

Preheat Oven to 350F

Ingredients:

Ken's Italian Salad Dressing or Italian Vinaigrette*

Fresh rosemary or a pinch of dried rosemary

Garlic and onion powder

Two tbl. of Sutter Homes Pinot Grigio

One pork roast

Mix the above ingredients and marinate the pork roast for several hours.  Bake for about an hour and a half until the roast registers 145 degrees on your meat thermometer.  

*My grandmother's salad dressing was really delicious and worth waiting for at the end of a meal.  Ken's is a dead ringer....

Easy Arugula and Spinach 

This recipe makes use of several ingredients that may be in your refrigerator, especially rotisserie chicken.  Use your imagination and incorporate mushrooms, nuts, cheese, or vegetables that make up all those saved components in your fridge.  Here's the basic recipe...

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced

Olive oil and butter

3 to 4 cloves of garlic, smashed

3 to 4 cups of fresh arugula

3 to 4 cups of fresh spinach

Leftover chicken, ham or any protein

In a skillet, melt butter in extra virgin olive oil.  Add onion and saute over lowest heat until onions are translucent.   Add arugula and spinach.  Remember that these will cook down significantly.  Add garlic and a little chicken broth (if needed).  Add leftover protein and cover pan.  Simmer until protein is warm.

This recipe lends itself well to mushrooms, cheese, cooked bacon, cooked pancetta, etc.  Be creative!

Peach and Blueberry Pie

Easy Peach and Blueberry Pie

Preheat Oven to 350F

Ingredients:

1 Shortbread pie crust (premade)

1 Can of peach pie filling

1/2 cup of fresh blueberries

Mix peach pie filling and blueberries together.  Pour into prepared crust.  Bake for 15 minutes.

(You can find the pie crust in the supermarket aisle near the prepared graham cracker crusts.)

Easiest Roquefort Dressing Ever

This is easy, can be prepared well ahead and makes any salad inviting.  Add bacon crumbles for a nifty touch!

Ingredients:

2 cups of sour cream

1 pkg. of Ranch Salad Dip Dressing

1 pkg. of Roquefort Cheese

1 capful of apple cider vinegar

Mix all together.  Refrigerate.  Delish

Bread

Basic Bread Dough

My grandmother made bread dough so often that it never seemed to be a challenge to make it come out properly.  Her teaching method was simple:  stand next to me and watch.  She never wrote anything down, never consulted a recipe.  Here is what I learned about making bread dough:  never kill the yeast; use really good water and wait patiently for the dough to rise.  Yeast killed means deflated bread.  Bad water results in weird tasting dough.  Waiting for the dough to rise means you will achieve your goal of perfect bread.  I usually do a double rise, time permitting.

There are a couple of good theories on how to keep your yeast alive while making bread dough.  One is simple:  preheat your glass mixing bowl (this works beautifully if you have a Kitchenaid machine).  The other is to mix your yeast separately in a measuring cup with 1/4 cups of warm water (tap warm).  

Finally, kneading is really important to good dough.  It matters not how you mix your ingredients (as  long as you don't kill the yeast).  What does matter is kneading the dough properly.  It takes eight to ten minutes to knead the dough by hand.  This is my favorite part of making bread.

Two other tricks to perfect bread:  baking stones in your oven and 1 cup of hot water thrown in the oven before you shut the oven door.

Preheat oven to 350F

Ingredients:

1 pkg. of yeast

1/4 lukewarm water

1 cup of scalded milk, cooled

1 cup of cold water

1 tbl. of butter at room temperature

2 tsps. of salt

1 tbl. of sugar

6 cups of all-purpose flour

Add yeast to water.  Allow to set for five minutes.

Using the bowl of your Kitchenaid or a regular mixing bowl if doing by hand, pour in yeast mixture, butter and salt.  Mix well.  Mix in milk and cold water.  Add flour, gradually, until well mixed.  Add sugar and salt at end.  Mix well.  

Turn onto a surface with flour.  Knead until a good consistency is achieved.  Place in a mixing bowl rubbed with olive oil.  Pour a little olive oil over the surface of the dough and rub lightly.  Cover with a linen towel.  Allow dough to rise.  Punch down and allow a second rise.  Slip dough onto a baking stone in your oven.  Throw some hot water on the bottom of your oven and close the door.  Bake the bread dough for around 45 minutes until it is golden brown and when you tap it, it sounds hollow.