Potpourri: Thanksgiving Prep: Corn Pudding

One of my best friends is currently in England right now for a year long grad school program. She wrote to me last week requesting the recipe for the corn pudding I made four years ago for Thanksgiving. She wants to make it for her college friends' "Thanksgiving" dinner. (I used quotation marks because they are having it the day after Thanksgiving and IN ENGLAND!

I kid...I just like teasing my friend about England while she's over there. Once she's back I shall desist. I promise.)

 

Anyway, her request for one of my favorite T-day dishes got me thinking about posting the recipe on my blog. Now, while this is not dessert, it IS sweet and DOES contain sugar. It's also called Corn PUDDING. AND you bake it in the oven. When it's finished baking, it's nice and shiny on top.

This dish is served warm and is very sweet with a little touch of savory via the butter. It's very easy to put together and I highly recommend adding it to your Thanksgiving meal (or as a side dish to any meal!)

Corn Pudding (adapted from my Mom's Best Recipes Cook Book)
1 15 oz can creamed corn (any size from 14-16oz will do)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 C sugar
2 eggs
Combine melted butter, sugar, and eggs and beat with rotary beater. Add to corn and put into greased casserole dish. Bake 325 degrees F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Serves 3-4 people.
(To double, use 3 cans of corn and double everything else.)

Erika's Extras: This dish can be running on the bottom, so make sure to serve via a slotted spoon to drain some of the liquid.

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri: Kale Chips

I just have to share my new favorite easy recipe to make in the oven with you. And since it's not a dessert, it goes under my potpourri label.

 

Have you had kale? Have you had kale chips?

 

Some find kale in its birthday suit a little too bitter for their tastes, but most people love when it's mixed in a salad, smoothie, or made into chips.

 

I used to buy my kale chips and then one day I decided to make my own. I was surprised at how low a cost kale is. So inexpensive for such a super food!

 

Making kale chips is super easy.

Get some kale.

Wash it and tear the leafy parts into tortilla chip sized pieces. Dry in spinner or pat dry.

Turn on oven to 350 degrees F.

Put individual pieces of kale on a cookie sheet.

Brush on some olive oil on one side of the kale.

Sprinkle some salt over the kale and put in oven for 8-10 minutes. Check the kale often after 6 minutes. It can burn easily and the smaller pieces might be ready to be removed from the oven. Once they are crispy they are ready to eat.

(If you have a square meat frying pan, this works extra well for baking kale since the ridged cooking surface brings the flow of heat under the kale as well.)

 Isn't it so lovely and green? I bet you can't eat just one!

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri: Broccoli Peanut Salad

This is my "go to" salad for different types of "bring a dish" gatherings. Every time I make it people go crazy over it!

It's a great salad. Salty. Sweet. Healthy. Bacon. I grew up with it so I guess I never realized what a winner it was until people who had never had it before sang its praises.

 

I've been promising to post the recipe for awhile now. I will finally fulfill that promise with this post. Whew!

 

So now you, too, can make an awesome salad to empress people at your next potluck gathering!

Broccoli Peanut Salad (from my Mom's Best Recipes Cookbook)
1 bunch of broccoli, washed and cut into small chunks
3/4 C raisins
1 C (or less) unsalted peanuts
3 strips of bacon, fried crisp and broken

Dressing:
1/4 C sugar
1 T vinegar
1/2 C mayonnaise
2 t chopped onion
(Mix all of these in a separate bowl and then stir in to the salad.)

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri: Baked Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments

I haven't done a potpourri (a non dessert post) in awhile! But this art project was just begging to be shared. And it DID involve baking.

 

My room mate and I decided that this past weekend was the weekend to get our Christmas tree. We had decided to get a bigger tree than last year which meant we needed more ornaments. I saw a post on these cinnamon and applesauce ornaments and knew where we would be getting those ornaments from!

My room mate was in charge of rolling out the dough and cutting the shapes. He did a very good job.

He even made a mess! Such a good start to the ornaments! (Remember: If it's a mess, it's a success!)

 

Annalise from and now for something completely delicious (I just love blogs with long names!) didn't decorate her ornaments, but I saw an opportunity to use my glue gun, ribbons, and gems! (And the opportunity for wine.)

I mean, it WAS a tree decorating party. Wine was a no brainer. ;)

How cute is this snowman with his scarf?!

The Christmas lights nicely reflect off these decorative gems on the candy cane.

 

There are two special ornaments that we made because I had cookie cutters in their shapes.

Yes. I own a PacMan cookie cutter set. Not the usual suspects, eh?

Our Christmas tree looked so lovely once we were done decorating it. The red ribbon that we used for some of the cinnamon ornaments really turned out pretty and ended up looking like bows on the tree from far away.

This was such an easy and fun craft project that I plan on making it a yearly tradition. You should try it too!

Baked Cinnamon Christmas Ornaments (from and now for...delicious)

Ingredients

1 cup applesauce

1-1 1/4 cup (130 grams) ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground cloves (optional)

 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the applesauce, cinnamon, and cloves (if using). It may take a few minutes for the mixture to come together. You want the dough to be able to form a ball without being too sticky. Add additional applesauce or cinnamon if needed.  (Erika's Extras: I found that the extra 1/4 cup of cinnamon was much needed.) You can mix the dough by hand, it may just take longer.

2. Sprinkle a clean surface with cinnamon (like you would with flour while rolling out pie dough). Place the dough on the surface and sprinkle with more cinnamon. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick, sprinkling with more cinnamon to keep from sticking.

3. Cut out into desired shapes and place on the prepared sheet pan so that they aren't touching. Use a skewer to poke a hole into each ornament (to attach string). (Erika's Extras: I used the small end of a chopstick to make the holes.) Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until rock hard. (Erika's Extras: I found that the thin ones needed at least 1.5 hours and the rest were over 2 hours.)

4. Loop a decorative string through the ornament and hang on your tree. (Erika's Extras: This is the time to decorate the ornaments if you want to.)

Notes: Ornaments may also be dried at room temperature over several days.

Ornaments are not extremely fragile, but they can break. Handle with care.

Do not eat.

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri: The Best Gelato in the World - The Bent Spoon

OK. I'll admit it. I've only had gelato in America and Italy so I can't completely back up my claim of the best gelato in the world. But seriously, come on. Better than ITALY!

While in Tuscany in 2008, my mom and I tried many a gelato place. (I get my sweet tooth from her.) I kept thinking, "Hmmm...this isn't as good as The Bent Spoon." It was about our 3rd gelato in Italy when my mom said to me, "All this gelato is nice, but it's not as good as The Bent Spoon." Great minds think alike.

The Bent Spoon is located in Princeton, NJ. My undergrad campus is located about a 10 minute walk away. No, I didn't go to Princeton, but you can think that if you'd like. I have no problem with that.

But I digress. I worked at Small World Coffee while in undergrad. Little did I know that I was working alongside some highly talented chefs who would eventually open up The Bent Spoon - Gabby and Matt.

This duo happen to LOVE LOVE LOVE New Jersey which means tons of lovely and fresh ingredients from local farms. When I visited two weekends ago, Gabby was so excited to see me but even more excited for me to try a freshly picked organic strawberry. She even gave some for my friends to try. Nick turned to me and said, "I've never had a strawberry as great as this. It's amazing...mind blowing really." Well guess what. Those strawberries get to be made into sorbet. I wish I could have stayed around to try that batch of goodness.

My choice of gelato for the day was dark chocolate and vanilla bean.

It was DELICIOUS as always. I do have to admit that I went with a nice, easy, normal, and tame combo. I could have choosen the local goat cheese, chocolate orange, nutty caramel etc etc. But hey. There's nothing wrong with going with a classic. (You can call me boring...it's ok. *sob*)

Oh, I must talk about the other things there. Some of the yummiest chocolate chip cookies, caramel brownies, and cupcakes you'll find in NJ. Also, there's sorbet!

So, what are you waiting for? Go visit The Bent Spoon and enjoy the best gelato in the world. :)

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri - Raw Mozzerella with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

This is my second "Potpurri" post. Once again, I have something non-desserty that I just HAVE to share.

Last week I went to Torrisi, a small "hard to get in to" Italian restaurant that's received tons of good reviews. Everything was delicious and the service was remarkable. It IS a really small restaraunt, thus it being hard to get a spot (seeing it sits about 28 people at a time.)

If you dine there, you only get to choose your entree from about three options. Everything else it what they decide to serve that day. I was very happy just sitting back and allowing food to keep flowing in. We had 4 appetizers! The one that hit the spot for me was Torrisi's home made mozzerella with olive oil. Saint's alive, it was heavenly.

Torrisi isn't the first place to serve mozzerella like this, but it's the first time I had it served in this plain and lovely way.

The next day I bought some raw mozzerella and humbly attempted to mimic the wonderful appetizer. It was delicious once again! This is so easy to put together and will please the palate of any dinner guest.

Mozzarella Appetizer

Raw Mozzerella

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Cut the mozzarella to finger food size. Drizzle a smalla mount of olive oil over the mozzerella. Add sea salt to liking. Enjoy!

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri - Buttered Rosemary & Orange Nuts

Ok. So, this isn't exactly a dessert. It DOES contain sugar, but I mean, seriously? Could I pull this off as a dessert at a bake sale? Exactly. Thus I have made a new entry idea for my blog: Potpourri. If I make something that isn't a dessert, but that I just HAVE to share with you, I'll label it as a Potpourri Post. (Say that 5 times fast.)

Well, I saw this recipe on Framed Cooks yesterday and I was so enraptured with it that I HAD to make it right away. Also, I had lots of nuts that needed to be used, so it was very much a win-win situation. Further side note: I know the sister of the author of Framed Cooks.

Anywho... these mixed nuts are so lovely! I have decided that they will be my afternoon snack every day this week. I hope you enjoy them too! 

Buttered Rosemary Orange Nuts (from Framed Cooks)
2 cups salted mixed nuts (Erika's Extra: I used raw nuts and added sea salt to them)
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons orange zest

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When melted add the mixed nuts, sugar, rosemary, and orange zest. Stir just until the sugar is melted and everything is well-combined, which will take about 2 minutes.

2. Pour onto a piece of parchment paper or nonstick foil and let cool before serving. This will keep for at least a week...if it lasts that long!

Bake well and prosper!