Walnut Roca Bars (Secret Recipe Club)

SRC is back!  We took the month of December off because of all the holiday craziness (and we certainly had enough of it!)...so here we are, the first club post of the year.  And let me tell you - this is a really good one!

My assignment this month was Lisa's blog, Cook Lisa Cook.  Lisa had some great recipes to choose from (many of which were made with help from her adorable daughter!) and it was hard narrowing it down.  I'm glad I picked these bars.  They were a huge hit with the family.

In reality, they weren't actually bars (or squares, as Lisa called them)...at least not for me.  When they first cooled, I couldn't get them off the foil.  They kept breaking into pieces.  Fortunately, 5 days later, that wasn't the case.  I guess they needed some time in the fridge before they would part from it.  So, it ended up looking like pieces you'd get when you make bark.  Totally fine by me - they still tasted delicious!

Thanks for a wonderful recipe, Lisa!


Walnut Roca Bars
from Cook Lisa Cook

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil.

Cream butter and sugars together in a large bowl.  Add egg and beat until smooth, then add flour and salt.  Beat for about a minute.  Spread mixture into pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle chips on top.  Return pan to oven and leave in for about 2-3 minutes.  Take pan out and gently spread chocolate with an offset spatula.  Sprinkle walnuts on top.

***Let cool completely and remove from pan by lifting foil.  Peel off foil and place on cutting board to cut into bars.

***see above for how I needed to remove them

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Cranberry Walnut Bread

Tis the season to bake.  And to bring it to work so I don't end up eating it all.  Because if I didn't unload this, it would have ended up being my breakfast for a week.  With butter slathered all over it.

Now you see why I had major temptation.  SO good!


Cranberry Walnut Bread
from Cook, Pray, Love

2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2/3 cup orange juice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a standard loaf pan.  Combine orange juice, eggs and butter in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add orange zest and stir to combine.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not overmix).  Fold in walnuts and cranberries and transfer to loaf pan.

Bake for about 50-55 minutes, until knife comes clean out of center.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then place on wire rack to cool completely.

Linked to:  Sweets for a Saturday

Pumpkin Granola

...and so begins The Great Pumpkin Dilemma.

You cook or bake something with pumpkin and end up with leftover pumpkin.  What to make...what to make?

I think you'll be seeing a lot of "pumpkin dilemma" posts here in the next few weeks :)

Pumpkin Granola
from Baked Bree

5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine oats, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar in a large bowl.  In another bowl, combine pumpkin, syrup, applesauce and vanilla.  Pour wet mixture into dry mixture, and toss until oats are all coated.

Spread granola evenly onto a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and stir around.  Bake for another 20 minutes or until granola gets crisp.  Take out of oven and let cool for 2 minutes, then add cranberries and almonds and mix.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Once upon a time, you'd never find me at home.  I woke up, went to work, went out, stayed out, came home very late.  Repeat.  For YEARS.

Last night, Bella stayed at my inlaws' house.  I went to work.  Then I came home.  And stayed home.  With this.

My, how times have changed.  And I'm okay with that.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream
from Delightful Repast

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (I used light)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

Whisk sugars, vanilla, salt and milk together in a bowl.  Stir in heavy cream and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

While mixture is chilling, melt butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat.  Add pecans (and a pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter).  Cook until pecans are toasted, stirring frequently, for about 5-6 minutes.  Set aside to cool completely.

Pour chilled mixture into ice cream maker.  Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.  With about 5 minutes of churning time left, add pecans.

Transfer ice cream to freezer-safe container and place in freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes about 5 cups.

Linked to:  Sweet Tooth Friday

Snickers Pie

FACT:  Snickers is one of my absolute favorite candy bars.

FACT:  This pie was a HUGE hit among family/friends.

FACT:  I'm going to have to make 4 or 5 of these next time!


Snickers Pie
slightly adapted from Confessions of a Wannabe Baker

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
5 regular size Snickers bars, or a bag of mini sized ones
1 tub light frozen whipped topping
2 ready made pie crusts (I used graham cracker since that's what I had, but I'm sure chocolate would be even better!)...or, just one, and freeze half the filling for future use
caramel topping

In a large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar until creamy.  Stir in chopped candy bars.  Gently fold in frozen whipped topping.

Pour into crusts and top with more chopped bars.  Drizzle with caramel topping.  Refrigerate overnight.

You can also freeze one pie in the crust...or, make your own crust, press into a springform pan, and pour all the filling in for one large pie.

Linked to:  Sweets for a Saturday
                  Sweet Treats

Cauliflower, Walnut & Parsley Salad

Anyone out there love raw veggies as much as me?  There's just something so satisfying about that big, loud crunch...so, I try to find different ways to dress them up.   Sometimes straight up gets kind of boring, you know?

Forget the mandolin the original recipe writer suggests using if you love the crunch.  Like me.

Cauliflower, Walnut & Parsley Salad

slightly adapted from Lucullian Delights

1 small head cauliflower

chopped walnuts

chopped fresh parsley

lemon juice

sea salt

extra virgin olive oil

Cut cauliflower into bite size chunks, chopping stems off.  Put in a bowl.

Whisk together parsley, lemon juice, salt and oil (taste as you go) then add to cauliflower.  Top with walnuts and serve.

Medjool Dates with Almonds & Pecorino Romano

You've found your next go-to appetizer...especially when you have to feed a big crowd.

I recently catered a women's networking event and had to supply appetizers for about 50 people.  The caveat - I had no stove, no oven, no fridge...so I needed to get creative.  These little beauties were perfect (and EASY!)...people loved them.

Sorry for the awful pic but I only had my point and shoot with me that night.  Still, you get the idea of how delicious they are, and how ridiculously simple they were to assemble!

Medjool Dates with Almonds & Pecorino Romano


Medjool dates
wedge of pecorino romano
whole unsalted roasted almonds

Split dates lengthwise and remove pits.  Stuff an almond (or two, depending on size of date) followed by a thin slice of cheese inside.  Place toothpick on top and serve.

Linked to: Tastetastic Thursday

Salty Sweet Candied Peanuts

Ah, the ballgame.  One of my favorite past times.  All my life I've been a huge sports fan...and yes, I mean HUGE.  I don't think anyone else can say they knew a 7 year old girl who memorized all the stats of each player on her favorite baseball team, hmmm? 

Although we are partial season ticket holders, I rarely get to any games these days.  Life just gets in the way.  But, I'll be sure to teach my little girl how to appreciate the beauty of baseball.  She already wears her pink Yankees hat with pride :)

This delicious snack was the dish I chose to represent "Moneyball" at my 24x24 party.  And it should come with a warning label.  No joke.

Ignore the bad picture and concentrate on the virtual deliciousness.  This is a home run!

Salty Sweet Candied Peanuts

from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

2 cups salted peanuts (or whatever nuts you like)

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix peanuts, sugar and water together in a large pot.  Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently.  You'll notice the mixture will start to look sticky.  Keep stirring, through when it turns dark, until it becomes golden brown in color.  Remove from heat.

Stir in salt and cinnamon.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat and dump nuts on top.  Let cool and break apart.  Keep in airtight container.  

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Diner Style Cranberry Walnut Muffins (Secret Recipe Club)

One of the things I love most about the Secret Recipe Club is that it exposes me to some great blogs that I've never seen before.  This month is no exception.  Amber, who writes Bluebonnets and Brownies, is originally from Texas and currently lives in the great state of NJ :)  As soon as I received my assignment I headed right over to the blog (as usual) and immediately fell in love.  Amber's got some great recipes - it was tough to pick just one!

One thing NJ is well known for is their diners.  The fact that you can go pretty much anywhere in the state and get a kick ass meal round the clock is awesome.  So when I saw Amber's recipe for these muffins, which were called "diner style", I had to try them out.

These muffins were delicious!  I'm not sure I agree that they're diner style, though.  The muffins I usually see in the diners around here are way bigger (yeah, I guess if I had a big muffin pan, mine would be too) and fluffier.  Still, they were good, and very easy to make.

I'm looking forward to trying more of Amber's recipes...be sure to check out her blog if you haven't done so before!

Diner Style Cranberry Walnut Muffins
from Bluebonnets and Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 cups pancake mix
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
3/4 cup cranberries (I used frozen, which I thawed first)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
turbinado sugar for topping (optional...I wanted to use it and forgot!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Cream sugar and butter together in mixing bowl.  Add eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next.  Add pancake mix in one cup at a time, also fully incorporating each time.

Scrape bowl down then add milk while mixing on low speed.  Fold cranberries and walnuts in by hand.

Spoon mix into paper lined cups evenly.  Sprinkle with sugar if using.  Bake for 25-35 minutes.  Cool before removing from pan.

Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon

Kale is everywhere these days.  I find it funny that over 20 years ago, when I was waiting tables at a family restaurant while in college, we used it as a garnish for plates.  No one would even dream of eating it.  Now, it's one of the famous "super foods" that's all the craze.   And I will proudly say that I'm a fan.

This salad was delicious.  It was the dish that represented the movie "War Horse" for my 24x24 party.  In the film, the horse owner was a farmer, so I wanted to choose a farm to table dish to represent it.

Crunch, crunch.

So eat up and make Dr. Oz proud! :)

Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon
slightly adapted from Amateur Gourmet

1 bunch kale, stemmed, washed and torn into pieces
1 cup walnut pieces
2 lemons
grated pecorino romano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put kale in a bowl.  Place walnuts in a dry skillet and toast until fragrant and warm.  Remove and chop.

Zest both lemons and add to kale.  Toss in walnuts, then juice lemons over the mixture.  Add oil (a generous amount, or else however much you like), salt and pepper, then toss.

Add cheese in (again, as much as you like) and toss salad several times to ensure everything is coated.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Foodbuzz 24x24: A Tribute to the Best Picture Oscar Nominees of 2012!

I was so excited when I received the email from Foodbuzz that my 24x24 proposal had been accepted this month!  Planning a menu and party around a theme is always fun, and I had a blast with this concept.

For those of you not familiar with 24x24, it's a virtual party sponsored by Foodbuzz each month, where 24 bloggers' proposals are chosen to be executed in the same day.  Since the assigned party date was the day before the Academy Awards, I thought it would be fun to come up with an event based on it.  Then I thought, why not devote one dish to each movie nominated for Best Picture?  Awesome.  Except, I hadn't seen any of the movies...

Frank and I have never been big movie goers...and now our trips to the theater are to see whatever Disney film is playing.  But, we love watching movies at home, and I LOVE watching the Oscars...especially the Red Carpet portion :)  So, I did a little research on each film and came up with rough ideas for each of them, finalized the menu, went shopping, and got to work.

My family got together and enjoyed the feast (like we do most weekends anyway!) while listening to tunes from our favorite movie soundtracks.  The dishes were mostly of the picky/finger food variety, which was what I wanted, since there were 9 of them.  I wanted everyone to enjoy a little portion of each.

All of the recipes will be featured in the next few weeks, but the dishes were as follows (alphabetized by movie title):

For "The Artist" - Crostini with Goat Cheese and Olive Tapenade.  I went with something black and white since, well, that's what the movie is :)

For "The Descendants" - Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream.  It brought us right back to Hawaii.

For "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" - Juice Box Wings, based on the juice boxes that Thomas Horn's character is seen drinking throughout the movie.

For "The Help" - Chocolate Pie.  If you read the book or saw the movie, you definitely know why this dish was a no-brainer.

For "Hugo" - Herb Mushroom Quiche with Puff Pastry, shaped as hearts to match the key ring that is significant in the film.

For "Midnight in Paris" - Mini Croques Monsieur.  When in Paris...

For "Moneyball" - Salty Sweet Candied Peanuts.  A fun spin on ballpark food!

For "The Tree of Life" - Death By Chili.  I thought a comfort food dish was fitting based on the movie, and made an extra batch of my chili that won FOUR awards at a competition I was in the week before the party!  Much more to come on this...

And finally, for "War Horse" - Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon, a farm to table dish which is appropriate for this movie's theme.

We had a great time - it really was a lot of fun!  I can't wait to share all of the recipes with you.  Enjoy the Oscars!

Honey, Walnut & Cranberry Granola

I realized it had been a while since I made a new type of granola.  Plus, I bought my first bag of flax seed (is it sad that I was somewhat excited about this?) and thought this would be a nice way to start using it.

I threw together what was in my pantry that I consider "granola friendly" and was very pleased with the end result.  Been loving it with my morning yogurt!  Yum.

Honey, Walnut & Cranberry Granola
3 cups old fashioned oats
3 tablespoons flax seed
2 cups walnuts
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons unsalted melted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Combine all ingredients except cranberries in a large bowl and mix.

Line baking sheet with parchment and spread granola evenly on it.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes, mixing it around halfway through.  Let cool completely, add cranberries and mix.  Store in airtight container.

Coffee Cake Muffins

10am playdate.

Hostess says she'll have fresh fruit.  Plus she's making quiche.  And sangria.

So what do you bring?

These beauties.

Coffee Cake Muffins
from Mark Bittman, via The Chicagoist

5 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
2 cups AP flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed

For the topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or cashews

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.  In a small bowl, mix topping ingredients together, along with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter.  Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together flour, sugar and baking powder.  In a third bowl, mix milk, egg and remaining 3 tablespoons of melted butter together.

Make a well in dry ingredients, add wet to it, and blend.  Fold until dry ingredients are wet, then add in half of the brown sugar/nut mixture.  Batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but very moist.  Add more milk if needed to achieve this consistency.

Spoon batter into tins, filling them about 2/3 of the way.  Sprinkle remaining brown sugar/nut mixture on top.    Bake 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving.

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Spiced Walnuts...and PLEASE vote for me!

Even though I'll be 43 (gasp!) in a few weeks, I'm still fortunate enough to have two grandparents that are still alive.  One is my grandpa.   Unfortunately, I don't get to see him that much since he lives down in Florida.  But because we spent SO much time with my grandma and him for so many years, I have countless memories of all different kinds.

My brother, sister and I spent lots of time at our grandparents' house.  Grandpa was a truck driver so he wasn't always there, but when he was, you could bet he was sitting on his recliner, watching tv and smoking his pipe, with a jar of nuts right by his side.  I don't remember exactly what kind of nuts they were, or if they were always the same or not, but I do remember them being his favorite snack.

I love all kinds of nuts, but sometimes the ones right out of a can or jar just don't cut it.  So, I look for different ways to "spice" them up.  Like this.

The perfect snack for anytime.  But be careful - they are definitely addicting!

And before I share the recipe, I have to ask all of you, my wonderful readers, to take just a few minutes to vote for my Pasta e Fagioli in a contest I entered, sponsored by Lidia Bastianich (one of my idols!).  Every vote counts so PLEASE vote and spread the word if you can!

CLICK HERE to vote.  Thank you! :)

Spiced Walnuts
from Dolcetto Confections

1 cup raw walnut halves
4 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper.

Combine walnuts, syrup and oil in a bowl and mix.  In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon, salt and cloves.  Add spice mixture to nuts, stirring to coat evenly.

Bake until nuts are very fragrant and toasted, about 10 minutes.  Allow walnuts to cool on baking sheet before serving.  Store in airtight container.

Kala Christougena!

Our Christmas Eve celebration is all about our Italian heritage.  The Feast of the Seven Fishes is in full swing, along with many other Italian dishes and sweets.  So, it's only fair that something from our Greek side makes an appearance.

Enter Melomakarona - a Greek cookie traditionally served at Christmas time.

I'm in love with these little things.  They're sometimes forgotten during our celebration, but not this year.  I think my aunt made a bunch too.  Yum, yum, yum...plenty for everyone!

These are chock full of nuts and honey, very typical of Greek sweets.  And, they seem to taste better with age!  A few days, even a few weeks after baking them, the flavors all have time to really settle in.  

I had to find a recipe online that was similar to the one that my Mom's ancient Greek cookbook has...it was temporarily lost but has since been found, thankfully!  This recipe is great anyway.  Don't let the length of it fool you, by the way...they are not hard to make, and are totally worth all the effort!  You could even whip up a batch for this weekend - you know, with all that free time you have.

Happy Holidays to all!  Surround yourselves with the people you love most...while eating lots of delicious food, of course :)

Melomakarona

from Kalofagas

For the cookies:

10 cups pastry flour

3 cups vegetable oil

3 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup orange juice

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

4 teaspoons baking powder

3 eggs

1 cup walnuts, roughly pounded

zest of one orange

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Add zest, honey and sugar into a large bowl, using hands to mix together.  Pour in orange juice, cloves and cinnamon and mix.  Add eggs and mix well.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda and add to wet ingredients, mixing well with hands.  

Roll dough into small balls (about the size of apricots) then form into round or oval shapes.  Using side of box grater that is for zesting, place cookie on top and lightly press, so that grid pattern is formed.  Repeat for all cookies.

Place cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment.  Bake for about 30 minutes.

For the syrup:

2 cups sugar

2 cups honey

2 cups water

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil, then lower to simmer.  Using a large slotted spoon, drop cookies into syrup for a few minutes until fully absorbed.  Reserve on a cooling rack until all cookies have been dipped.

For the walnut topping:

6 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups ground walnuts

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Brush each cookie with remaining syrup, then sprinkle walnut topping over them.  Let cool.  Store in a cool, dry container for up to 6 weeks.

Makes about 100 cookies.

Linked to: It's A Cookie Party!
                   Holiday Blog Party
                   Sweet Tooth Friday
                   Sweets for a Saturday

Need more cookies?

I know, I know...the blogosphere is being flooded right now with holiday goodies, endless sweets, more recommendations for your cookie tray than you can handle...so, what's another one ;)

I love these little bite size beauties.  They bring a little something different to the table...they aren't round, they don't include chocolate, they aren't flat.  They're little bits of nutty goodness, and they're SO easy to make.  No excuses!

And yes, you can cheat and use premade pie crust...I promise I won't tell.

Mini Pecan Pies
from Meg's Everyday Indulgence

For the crust:
1 stick butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup AP flour

For the filling:
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon butter, melted
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crust prep:  cream butter and cream cheese then mix in flour.  Roll 24 balls and press in mini-muffin pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stir together filling ingredients.  Evenly fill dough cups.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle confectioners' sugar lightly over pies after cooled, if desired.

Linked to: It's A Cookie Party!

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

When I first saw this advertised, I signed up immediately.  I love cookies and I LOVE surprises...it was like this swap was made especially for me! :)

Julie from The Little Kitchen and Lindsay from Love & Olive Oil pulled off the event of the year.  Hundreds of food bloggers committed to sending a dozen cookies each to 3 random bloggers, and received 3 dozen in return from 3 different bloggers.  Over 22,000 cookies were shipped!  That's 625 different bloggers, folks.  Amazing!

My contribution was a simple but delicious Italian cookie that my family has enjoyed for decades - the Italian Walnut Crescent Cookie.

In return, I got some pretty freakin' awesome cookies.  I mean, REALLY good cookies.  So good that I wasn't even able to take pics of them before they were chomped up.  Oops!

The first batch were gorgeous cookies called "Almond Joy to the World", made by Jessie who writes Body and Soul Food.   These delectable treats were incredibly moist, delicious mounds of coconut on top of chocolate with a big almond pressed on top.  SO GOOD.

The second - beautiful sugar cookies shaped and decorated like snowflakes - were from Kelly at Eat Yourself Skinny.  I have to wonder how an amazing baker like Kelly stays so skinny with the ability to make tasty cookies like that ;) They were perfection!

The final batch were delicious peanut butter cookies with a kiss plopped on top.  Yum!  Heather from Dr. Hbar's Adventures in Food was the master behind these sweets.  My love for the chocolate and peanut butter combination was easily fulfilled, thanks to her.



If you'd like to be a part of the festivities next year, submit your information here.  I highly encourage you to do so - I had a blast!  So much fun.

Now, get busy baking...add my cookies, an old family favorite, to your holiday tray!

Italian Walnut Crescent Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for covering
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups ground walnuts
2 cups AP flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Beat together butter and sugar until creamy, then add vanilla and walnuts.  Add flour, one cup at a time, and mix until combined.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Form crescents with small pieces of dough (about a tablespoon for each) and place on baking sheets.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until very slightly brown.  Let cool completely, then cover with confectioners' sugar.

Makes about 4 dozen.

Grab n go

I'm loving granola more and more these days.  This is another "must make" variety.  It's all I've been eating for breakfast lately.  I love it with milk, or on top of Greek yogurt, as seen below.

Life has been one big ball of craziness lately, so making a big batch of this comes in handy.

Cinnamon Walnut Granola
slightly adapted from food. com

7 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  In a big bowl, combine oats, nuts and raisins.

In microwavable bowl, blend together brown sugar, oil, honey and cinnamon.  Cook until it starts bubbling.  Remove, add vanilla and stir.  Pour over oat mixture and mix well.

Spread mixture evenly over baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Stir and bake for another 15 minutes.

Cool thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 10 cups.

Crazy sweet boozy goodness

I'm getting a little overwhelmed.  And it has something to do with the nearly full tray of fudge in my fridge.

I've taken on yet ANOTHER cooking challenge.  Yes, in the midst of all others, plus the holiday madness, plus starting a new job...well sure, why not throw something else into the mix?  

I think I just like being kept on my toes :)

Tina from Mom's Crazy Cooking runs the show with this one, and I can already see how much fun it is.  When I saw a submission for last month's challenge on my friend Jey's blog, I immediately inquired.  She pointed me in the right direction so I could take part in the madness this time around.

Every month, a new item is chosen, and your job is to find a recipe for it (that's a little "offbeat") on another blog that you may not normally know about, or just one that isn't super popular.  No famous chefs, cooks, recipe sites, etc. are allowed to be used!  

This month's item...well, take a look:

Helllloooo, fudge.

I found this recipe on Eat Good 4 Life, a blog that I hadn't seen before.  Miryam is a fellow Jersey Girl and her blog is terrific...I'm so glad I stumbled upon it!  This fudge is VERY tasty, super rich, and yeah, a little crazy.  Eat enough of it and you may get a little tipsy.  Perfect for the holidays :)

So take a look around...and don't forget to vote for your favorite!


Irish Cream & Pistachio Fudge
barely adapted from Eat Good 4 Life

36 ounces white chocolate chips ( 3 bags)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Irish cream liquor (such as Bailey's) plus 3-4 tablespoons
1/3 cup salted pistachios, chopped (more if you like)

Line a 9x9 pan with foil paper and lightly grease it. 

In a sauce pan, at low heat, pour in all of the ingredients except pistachios. Stir constantly until chocolate has almost melted.

Turn off heat and continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted. Add pistachios and pour evenly into prepared pan. Let cool until set. Remove fudge from pan and peel off the foil paper. Cut fudge into small squares.


Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

KISS (Keep it simple, silly)

No, your calendar isn't playing tricks on you.  Thanksgiving really is less than two weeks away.  For some of you, this could cause a bit of stress.  Hosting a large group and not sure where to begin?  Committed to being at 3 different places in one day?  Staying put at one house and not sure what to bring?

Times like these are perfect for having a few recipes that you can pretty much make with your eyes closed.

The best thing about this cranberry sauce is that you can make it your own by adding pretty much whatever you like.  Oh, and it takes about 10 minutes to make.  And, you can make it days in advance.  Super easy to transport, too!

Are you sold yet?

Impressive...delicious...SIMPLE.

You didn't really think I'd call you stupid, did you?  ;)

Simple Cranberry Sauce
from Simply Recipes

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries, washed and picked over
1/2 cup chopped pecans

additional ideas for add-ins:  raisins, pomegranate seeds, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts

Put water and sugar in a medium sized pot.  Bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar.  Add cranberries and return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until cranberries burst.

Add pecans (or other add-ins), stir and remove from heat.  Cool completely at room temperature, then chill in refrigerator.

Makes about 2 1/4 cups.  Can be made a week in advance and stored in fridge.