Whipped Sweet Potato Bake

Ed had never tasted sweet potatoes before. I am not a big fan of them myself. But I wanted to try out this recipe for future reference and Ed is a good taste tester, since he isn't as picky as I am. This recipe looked fairly simple and had some nice reviews and tips on extra stuff to add in. For this first time making it, I followed the recipe exactly. Next time I will experiment with some of the suggestions. I will include a few of the reviewers tips at the end.

Ingredients:

3 (15 ounce) cans sweet potatoes, drained
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted (I used real butter)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
24 medium sized marshmallows

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat sweet potatoes, butter, cinnamon, salt, and the nutmeg in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on med speed until well blended.

2. Spoon into lightly greased 1-1/2 qt. baking dish; top with marshmallows.

3. Bake 15-20 minutes or until sweet potato mixture is heated through and marshmallows are lightly browned.

Makes 10 servings.
Nutrition info: Per Server: Calories 211, Carbs 40g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Fat 4g, Protein 2g, Sugars 29g.

Tips:

1. add some crushed pineapple to the potato mixture.
2. Add in raisins during blending step.
3. Sprinkle some chopped pecans over marshmallows before baking.
4. Add in 1 to 2 oz of southern comfort to the potato mixture.

Pecan Pie

I made a big dinner for new years and since I hadn't made a pecan pie yet, we decided that would be our dessert.


Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecan halves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat together the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla
3. Arrange pecans in bottom of pie crust and pour mixture over them.
4. Bake for 1 hour or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool before slicing.

Christmas Baking Ep 6

Russian Teacakes. These are a family tradition. My grandma used to make them along with fudge, divinity and all sorts of other goodies. While I don't make them near as well as she did, I have carried on the tradition. I only make them at Christmas, I want to keep them special, not to mention they are a lot of work lol.

Ingredients:
1 cup soft butter (must be real, not margarine.)
1/2 cup powdered/confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F

Mix together thoroughly the butter, confectioners sugar and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together the flour and salt. Slowly combine it with the butter mixture. Then Mix in the chopped nuts. Mix thoroughly.

Chill dough. Roll into 1" balls. Place 2 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until set but not brown, (7-12 mins depending on your oven). While still warm roll in confectioner's sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies

Cooter approves of this blog. :P

Christmas Baking Ep 5

One of my all time favs!!

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Margarine at room temp
1/2 cup Real Butter at room temp
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Topping: Also sugar and cinnamon for rolling the balls in later. I use about 9 tsp of sugar & 3 tsp of cinnamon. Mix those in a bowl for rolling the balls just before baking.

Directions:

Beat margargine, butter and sugar together until creamy. Mix in the eggs.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well.

Shape into 1 inch balls. Chill 1 hour.

Combine the topping (cinnamon & sugar) in a small bowl.

Drop balls into mixture, coating well. Then place on a greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375F for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool, then enjoy.

Update to my Zesty BBQ recipe

I posted this recipe a few months back, the Zesty BBQ Chicken. It has quickly become a favorite around here and amongst some of my friends as well. :D The first couple of times we had it, I served it on buns. But lately I have taken to using it as a baked potato topping. I cook the chicken the same. I bake a few potatoes, but them open, put a little butter, then when the chicken is done I scoop a few spoonfuls onto the potato and top with some shredded cheese. Its soooooooo good. :D

Christmas Baking Ep 4

I am not a fan of these, but I made them last year and hubby LOVED them. He specifically requested them this year. I do have to say they smell divine when baking.

Just a word of advice on these. Mix by hand only. Do not use a mixer. Too much mixing leads to flat cookies. :P




Ingredients:

3/4 cup REAL butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup of raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375f
2. In large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
4. Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually beat into the butter mixture. Stir in oats and raisins.
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden brown. Cool slightly, remove from sheet and place on wire rack or wax paper to cool completely.

Makes about 48 cookies.

Christmas Baking Ep 3

I have a love hate relationship with brownies. Some recipes I have tried are too rich, too chocolatey, too sweet, too dry etc. So when a friend (Jess) raved about her brownie recipe I thought I might give it a try and wow!! I am so glad I did. These are perfect. They have the perfect mix of chocolate, sugar, moistness. Big Thumbs up!!!

Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnut halves

Directions:

preheat oven to 350F

1. combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Melt butter and mix with vanilla and eggs. Then combine with the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined. You can add the walnuts now or if you are like me and want less nut influence, wait until you pour the mixture in the pan then place a few walnut halves on the top.

3. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in a 9x13 greased pan (I just used pam baking spray.)

4. Let cool, then cut up and enjoy. Nom!

Thanks again Jess for this recipe!