Cinnamon / Raisin Breakfast Biscuits

Another one of Aunt Faye's recipes from her collection.

2 C Flour
3/4 C Granulated Sugar, divide into 1/2 C and 1/4 C.
1 TBS Baking Powder
3 TBS Butter, cold and cubed
2 Large Eggs
1/2 C Half and Half
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 C Raisins
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Here's what you'll need:

1 - sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl:
Flour
1/2 C Sugar
Baking Powder
Whisk well.
Cut in the Butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl:
Eggs
Half and Half
Vanilla
Whisk well.
Stir into the dry ingredients just until the mixture is wet. Do not over mix.
Fold in Raisins by hand.

Roughly drop the dough 2" apart,  by the Tablespoonful onto the sheet pan.

In a small bowl:
Whisk together the 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and remaining 1/4 C of sugar.
Sprinkle it over the biscuits.
Bake for 20 minutes. They should be golden brown.

Serve warm with Butter.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen

Chile Relleno Squares

I love the traditional Chile Relleno recipe from Mexico. I've also publish a very similar recipe for  Lazy Chile Rellenos from Ree Drummond.
This is just another version.

Easy Chile Relleno Squares:

3 C (12 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
2 C shredded Queso Quesadillo Cheese
2 - (4 oz.) cans of Chopped Green Chiles, well drained
2 large Eggs
2 TBS Whole Milk
1 TBS Flour

Here's what you'll need:
1 - 8" X 8" baking pan sprayed with a vegetable cooking spray.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Evenly distribute half of each of the cheese in the pan.
Evenly distribute the diced green chiles over the cheese.
Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.

In a small bowl:
Whisk the Eggs
Add:
Milk
Flour
Whisk well.
Pour over the casserole.

Bake for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly.
Serve warm.
Cut into squares to serve.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Cranberry Cream Freeze , Cherry Cream Freeze from my childhood and my contemporary version of it in a pie

Cranberry Cream Freeze:

This was my Aunt's favorite version of a Fruit Freeze Dessert.

The second recipe was the one my mother always made during the holidays and it was my favorite childhood dessert.

The third recipe is my contemporary version of my mother's, made into a pie.

I hope you like all three of them.

This is from Aunt Faye's collection of recipes.

The photograph is from the original magazine recipe.

1 - can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1/4 C lemon juice

2 C miniature marshmallows

1- can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

1- can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, well drained

1/2 C chopped pecans

3 drops of red food coloring

1 - (8oz.) container of Cool Whip, thawed

In a large mixing bowl:

Milk

Lemon Juice

Whisk well.

Add:

Marshmallows

Cranberry Sauce

Pineapple

Pecans

food coloring

Stir to mix well.

Fold in Cool Whip until completely combined and the color changes to solid pink!

Pour into a 9" X 13" baking dish.

Freeze overnight.

Cut into squares to serve.

Enjoy!

Peace in the Kitchen!

My mother always made this for Thanksgiving and Christmas beginning in the 50's.
It was my favorite dessert as a child.

My mother made it in aluminum ice cube trays without the dividers.
I have a source for them, I will order some for this recipe.

Here's my mother's recipe.
Cherry Cream Freeze:

1 1/3 C (15oz. can) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 C lemon juice
1- 12 oz. package of frozen sweet dark cherries.
3/4 C ( 1 9 oz. can) well drained crushed pineapple.
1/4 tsp almond extract.
2 C heavy cream, stiffly whipped.

In a large mixing bowl, combine:
milk
lemon juice
cherries
pineapple
almond extract
Mix well.

Gently fold in whipped cream.

Place mixture into a 9" x 5"x 3"  Loaf Pan.
Cover tightly with Foil
Freeze for 24 hours.
Dip pan half way in a pan of warm water to release.
Un mold onto a serving platter.
Slice to serve.

Enjoy!
Peace in the kitchen!



Cherry Cream Freeze Pie

When I was a child, my mother made a Cherry Cream Freeze Dessert. It was my favorite dessert. She made it for me every Christmas. The recipe is on the blog.
Here's my contemporary version made into a pie!

1 - box of Pillsbury Pie Crust
Prepare according to package directions for 1 single baked 9" pie shell.
Bake in a 9" glass pie plate.
Bake according to package directions.

1 C sweetened flaked coconut
1 can (15.25oz.) crushed pineapple, well drained
1 C maraschino cherries, drained, chopped. Reserve 1 TBS
4 oz. (1C) slivered almonds
1 1/3 C  (15oz. can) sweetened condensed milk
5 TBS fresh lime juice
Reserved cherry juice
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 C frozen  whipped topping, thawed

In a large bowl:
Combine the first 8 ingredients

Fold in Whipped Topping
Pour into crust
Refrigerate overnight

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie:

It's June and I'm already thinking ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I spent my career as a retail executive and I never had time enough to get things done at home for the Holidays, because I was so busy creating Holiday Magic at the store for all of you to enjoy during the season.
Now that I'm retired, I can spend time planning our family Holidays.

I found this recipe that was my Grandmothers favorite Thanksgiving Pie.
This may have been my mother's handwriting.
It's classic and vintage and I'll make it this year.

I was going to rewrite it for the blog but I decided to simply post a picture of the original recipe card.

Now that I've posted the picture, I'll explain some of it. It
may be difficult to read.

"Blend together": - all ingredients.
"Fold in 3 stiffly beaten egg whites."
"Turn into 9" unbaked pie shell."
"Bake 450 degrees for 10 min. then 325 degrees for 45 - 50 min. more."
"Top with cool whip & nuts."

I think the pie was topped with chopped walnuts. My grandmother rarely used pecans. I think walnuts were more abundant then.
I'll use pecans or hazelnuts.

This card was probably written in the early 1950's, when my Grandmother taught my mother how to make it.
We probably had it every year for Thanksgiving.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Christmas Grahams

I can't believe I'm posting this recipe. I was convinced that everyone knew it. Our daughter brings a variation of these every year for Christmas.
Here's how I like them.

Christmas Grahams:

Line a sheet pan with enough foil to create a crinkled rim around the entire perimeter of the pan.
Brush the foil with melted butter
Line the prepared pan with Graham Crackers.

Toffee Layer:
1 C (2 sticks) butter, cubed
1 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan on medium heat:
Butter
Brown Sugar
Vanilla Extract
Stir until combined and smooth.
Allow to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Spread the Toffee even;y over the Graham Crackers with an offset spatula.
Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and immediately sprinkle the entire surface with 2 C of Chocolate Chips, your choice of Dark, Milk or Semi Sweet. ( I use Dark).
As the Chips begin to melt, spread evenly with an offset spatula.

Top the Chocolate with 1 C of Chopped Pecans.

Sprinkle the entire surface with a bit of Sea Salt.

Allow to cool completely.
Break into pieces to serve.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Cranberry Apple Crisp

I know there are hundreds of recipes for Fruit Crisp, but I just can't seem to get enough of them.
Here's one of my favorites to make for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I've been making this since 2009.

The success of this Crisp over other recipes is that the fruits are cooked separately.
There is less liquid and the tapioca thickens the apple mixture.
The final crisp will not be soupy like many others.
This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen.

Here's what you'll need:
1 - 9" X 13" baking dish on a baking sheet pan.

Topping Ingredients:

12 TBS chilled butter, cubed
3/4 C flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C Oats

 Cranberries Ingredients:

1 pound of frozen cranberries
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C water

Apples Ingredients:

5 pounds of Apples ( a combination of  2 1/2 pounds of Granny Smith and 2 1/2 pounds of Golden Apples), peeled, cored and cubed.
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 C dried cranberries
3 TBS tapioca


Topping Preparation:

In a food processor:
Butter
Flour
Granulated Sugar
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Long Pulses , about 12 times until pea sized pieces appear.
Transfer to a bowl.
Add Oats by hand, to create small clumps of a crumble.
Refrigerate it.

Cranberries  Preparation:

In a Dutch Oven on medium heat:
Frozen Cranberries
Granulated Sugar
Water
Cook about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Transfer to a bowl and use the same pot to cook the Apples.


Apples Preparation:

In the Dutch Oven:
Apples
Granulated Sugar
Dried Cranberries
Cook about 5 minutes to allow the Apples to release their juices
Add:
Tapioca and mix well.
Add Berry mixture and stir to combine well.

Pour into the baking dish.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with Whipped Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Peaches and Cream Muffins

Peaches are one of my favorite fruits. When they're good, they're really really good.
We have great Peaches in Texas. This is a basic Muffin recipe, nothing special about it other that the fact that it's made with Peaches!

Here's what you'll need:

1 - 12 C Muffin Tin, sprayed with a vegetable cooking spray
2 C self - rising flour
1 C (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 C sour cream
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 -(15 oz.) can of sliced peaches, drained and chopped into 1/4" pieces.

Spray the muffin tin cups. I use my Pan Release Mix. (equal parts of Crisco, Vegetable Oil and Flour) I start with 1 C of each and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator. I always have it available for all of my baking needs.

In a large mixing bowl:
Flour
Butter
Sour Cream
Sugar
Vanilla
Mix well.
Gently fold in Peaches by hand.

Divide the batter even;y among the muffin cups.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.
Release the muffins and transfer to them to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen.