Tag: Christmas

Orchard Green Salad with Apples

To finish off Johnny Appleseed week I have a salad that combines tart green apples with candied nuts. Serve with roasted chicken or grilled pork chops. 1 head leafy green lettuce 1 tart green apple, sliced 1 handful candied pecans or walnuts, coarsely broken 1 

Cherry Breakfast Cake

A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to an annual blueberry festival at a local farm. The kids enjoyed plucking ripe blueberries and cherries, munching a few along the way. The highlight of my day was Mason’s dirt streaked face. Evidence he had 

Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins

Ok, so it is May and I am making pumpkin muffins. It seems sad to make that lonely can of pumpkin wait until October. Besides, there was a lovely sour apple in the basket with a slight blush on its cheek. Now, the gorgeous statuesque can of pumpkin and sweet delightful apple are happily-ever-after in a match made in heaven. Yes, it felt like we should be sipping on apple cider while carving jack-o-lanterns as the little goblins were devouring every last crumb of these scrumptious muffins.

Source: Melissa F.
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
3/8 tsp nutmeg
3/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
3 tbsp sugar

In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, spices, salt, soda and powder. In a small bowl combine the pumpkin, butter, and eggs. Make a well in center of flour mixture; add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.

Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and the spices; sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

Variations:
Use 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice in the place of the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in the batter. Use 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice in the place of the spices in the topping.
Streusel Topping: 1/4 cup sugar + 1 heaping tbsp flour + 4 tsp cold butter, 1 tsp cinnamon.
Mix in some raisins or oatmeal.

Orange Marmalade Cake

I made this cake for my mother-n-law a few years ago on her birthday. I am not a huge fan of potent orange flavor but this cake won me over. I decorated it with edible flowers but you could also use orange slices or flowers 

Apricot Mustard Glazed Pork Roast

Growing up, we always had turkey on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Stephen is not a fan of turkey, so we only have it on Thanksgiving, because it just seems right to have turkey on Thanksgiving. For our Easter feasts so far, I have tried lamb 

Cider-Baked Ham

This recipe calls to bake the ham in a baking bag. I cooked the ham covered in my roasting pan until the last 20 minutes and it was still tasty.

Source: Cook’s Country January 2008
1 Cinnamon stick, broken into rough pieces
1/4 tsp whole cloves
13 cups apple cider
8 ice cubes
1 cured bone-in half ham, (7-10 pounds) preferably shank end
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp pepper

Toast the cinnamon and cloves in a large sauce pan over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups cider and bring to a boil. Pour spiced cider into a larger stockpot or bucket and add 4 more cups of cider and ice. Stir until ice is melted.

Meanwhile, remove the skin from the exterior of ham and trim fat to 1/4-inch thickness. Score remaining fat at 1 inch intervals in criss-cross pattern. Transfer ham to container with chilled cider mixture. (Liquid should nearly cover the ham) Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours.

Discard cider mixture and transfer ham to a large oven bag. Add 1 cup fresh cider to bag, tie securely, and cut 4 slits in top of bag. Place in a large roasting pan and let sit at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Bake ham until internal temperature registers 100 degrees, 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, bring remaining cider and mustard to boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, until mixture is very thick and reduced to 1/3 cup, about 1 hour.

Combine sugar and pepper in a a bowl. Remove ham from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Roll back oven bag and brush ham with reduced cider mixture. Carefully press sugar mixture onto the ham. Return to oven and bake until dark brown and caramalized, about 20 minutes. Transfer to cutting board and loosely tent with foil, let rest 10 minutes.

Chicken Cordon Blue Panini

Last year, I snagged a grill/panini press for a phenomenal $40.00. We have not pulled it out for a few months. I was surprised to hear Mason request a grilled sandwich for lunch a week ago. Since then, we have been heating up ham and 

Little Goat Cheesecakes with Blackberry Compote

When I was a teenager my brother Todd used to make and sell cheesecakes. I decided I had to get in on the fun and make my own cheesecakes. I found a delicious recipe for a graham cracker crust cheesecake with blueberry compote. When I