Holiday Baking: Eggnog Crumb Cake

 

First, we need to get some formalities out of the way: namely, I almost never bake from a mix!  I've evolved to be a snotty brat that way.  After we got married, I started discovering how to cook and bake, and the first time I made an actual cake from scratch, I was shocked.  It tasted NOTHING like the boxed cakes I had previously made up to that point.  It tasted so much richer, so much more simple and basic but at the same time more complex.  I also decided that, if I'm going to go through the hassle of busting out my mixer, cracking eggs and adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients, I might as well go the whole nine yards and make everything from scratch.  At that point, it's already a project, so it makes more sense to use pantry items instead of a pre-packaged mix.

All that being said, I've come to find that Trader Joe's Baking Mixes are essentially like the real thing.  They save time during the holidays, but they also require the use and addition of real ingredients like butter (instead of oil or shortening) and milk (instead of water) to keep the cake tasting completely homemade.  I've been happy with their brownie and blondie mixes, and I am thrilled with their Cinnamon Crumb Cake, pictured above.

After making it once, I decided to switch things up for the holidays and add eggnog to the base of the cake.  The recipe calls for milk, so I made a quick substitution.  Since eggnog is so thick, I still added 1/3 cup of milk to the batter until it reached a good consistency (as for any cake.)  The finished product was delightful!  The eggnog wasn't overpowering, but at the same time it had a strong presence in the cake.  It went along beautifully with the cinnamon crumb top.  This cake was perfect for a holiday weekend morning with a cup of coffee.  I need to go back to Trader Joe's and stock up on some more to make for this weekend and maybe next weekend!

I'm going to remind myself of this tip next year, to substitute eggnog in baking products for the holidays.  It's an easy way to put a holiday flourish on an everyday treat!

Don't Underestimate the Goodness of This Cheeseball

 

Thanksgiving week has drawn to a close.  For many of us, we won't be seeing some of the food we indulged in until next Thanksgiving:  so much of what we eat for that holiday is specific just to that particular Thursday in November.

However, some of it can transition over to December and join us for all of our Christmas and New Year's festivities.  This cheeseball recipe is one of them.  I plan on making it at least once more in December to bring to a party or to an event.

I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a true hit.  How do I know?  Well, our family Thanksgiving is a food fiesta if ever there was one.  We have family come in from New York and Massachusetts and it's our one "big holiday" all year because it's the only holiday we do with extended family.  In our family, Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas, and we treat it as such.  We double and triple our recipes to make sure plenty of leftovers exist for the entire weekend.  After eating at 1 or 2, we gather in the living room, take naps, catch up on gossip, watch football, have coffee and beer, and then we take all the food out of the fridge again around 6 or 7.  After eating again, we play games.  As we were taking all of the leftovers out for Round 2 of our Thanksgiving feast, several people asked if there was any more of this cheeseball leftover.  For a lowly cheeseball to be referenced among the many Thanksgiving sides and main dishes, you know it was popular.  In fact, I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like it.

I made this cheeseball years ago, in the early 2000's when I saw Paula Deen appear on an episode of Oprah and whip it up for the audience.  For whatever reason, it entered the rotation and I didn't bring it out again until this year.  I'm glad I resurrected it, because it is ridiculously easy to make and it makes 2 giant cheeseballs.  

Here's the original recipe:  Fisher Nutty Bacon Cheeseball.  Here's how I adapted it; mainly, I doubled the amount of cream cheese to make 2 balls instead of 1, I use walnuts instead of pecans and I only roll the ball in walnuts, not walnuts and bacon (I found that the bacon would constantly fall off the cheeseball...instead I just add all of the bacon to the mixture since it gets divided among 2 separate cheeseballs.)

Ingredients:

2, 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, very softened

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (I usually add a bit more, here)

1 jar pimiento, drained

1/4 cup minced green onions

3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped and divided

10 slices bacon, cooked, drained and finely chopped

Directions:

Place softened cream cheese in a large bowl and mix on medium speed for a couple of minutes.  Add milk and mix again.  Add remaining ingredients, including half of the nuts and mix again until well incorporated.

Divide mixture into two.  Turn out onto plastic wrap or non-stick foil and shape into 2 separate balls.  Wrap the balls and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  After 2 hours, unwrap and roll each ball in the remaining chopped walnuts or pecans.  

Serve with crackers.

Enjoy!

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/food/Fisher-Nutty-Bacon-Cheese-Ball#ixzz2DFHn3Smt

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese , softened

1/2 cup milk

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup (1 ounce) blue cheese , crumbled

1/4 cup finely minced green onions (white part only)

1 jar diced pimento , drained

3/4 cup Fisher pecans , divided (Of course, any nut will do!)

10 slices bacon , cooked, drained, finely crumbled and divided

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup minced parsley

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/food/Fisher-Nutty-Bacon-Cheese-Ball#ixzz2DFHn3Smt

  

A Dinner Suggestion

No, I don't have a photo of this, but yes, I think you should absolutely make it for dinner sometime soon.

This is the world's most simple sandwich, and I can't believe I didn't discover it until just this year.  

To set the scene:  Mr. My Blog for Bonnie and I went on an early anniversary trip to Niagara Falls this spring.  We got to Niagara Falls all the time.  Like at least once a year, if not twice. We just love it there and can't get enough!  Our time there traditionally falls into two categories:  we spend a day at Niagara Falls, and then the next day we head to little villages in Canada further away from the Falls, like Niagara-on-the-Lake.

It was here (actually in the nearby village of Virgil) that we stopped at a random little bakery cafe that our friends recommended to us when they went on a weekend trip the area.  My husband ordered this sandwich, and it was heaven on earth.  This is what it is:

Brie and Ham.

That's basically it, y'all.  (yes, I just used that term and, yes, I'm a resident of Ohio.  But maybe I can get away with it because my dad hails from Texas and one of my besties lives down there? No?)

What makes this so exquisite is its simplicity.  Here's what you do: buy a small wheel of brie from the grocery store and cut it into thin slices. Get good quality ham from the deli.  And get long sandwich rolls, like the type for subs, hoagies or whatever you want to call them.  Put a slice of brie on each side of the long roll and the ham in the middle.

This is so, so good and it never ceases to amaze me.  I think what works is the combination of the saltiness of the ham with the creaminess of the brie.  And the brie with the soft white bread certainly adds to the Wowza Factor. (actual term).

I guess you coullllld add a healthy element and put arugula or some other type of greens on it.  But really, it's so perfect as it is.  You'll feel like you're eating in a tiny bistro bakery in Canada, but really you're in your own kitchen on a crazy weeknight with a thousand things to do after dinner and the holidays looming.

Try it!

Baking for the Holidays: Cranberry Bliss Bars

It's November and I, for one, don't think it's too early to start baking for the holidays!  It helps that it's November in Ohio, which right now means it's super chilly, winter-coat-type weather.  With the time change this past weekend, it's now pitch black at 6 pm.  It seems like we're moving into winter at a very rapid pace.  Is Thanksgiving really only a little over 2 weeks away??  Pretty soon homes and neighborhoods will be alight with Christmas decorations, and Holiday music will be playing in stores and cars.  So, given all that, it isn't too early to be getting in the spirit, right?

I started out with a holiday baking recipe that's perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas and even into January:  Cranberry Bliss Bars.  If you, like me, have ever popped into a Starbucks from November through Christmas, you've seen these bars in their bakery case.  Seeing them every year is almost more exciting to me than seeing the famous pumpkin spice latte each September.  I think it's because the Cranberry Bliss Bars are so festive looking...white frosting dotted with ruby red cranberries...  They just look like winter!  Better yet, they go great with a cup of coffee!

About a year ago, I joined Pinterest.  My sister-in-law invited me and this recipe was one of the first that I pinned and actually tested out.  We got new carpeting installed last Veteran's Day weekend, and I shut myself in our bedroom as the workers got down to business and went what can only be described as berserk on that site, pinning basically everything under the sun!  I think I made these bars the very next day.  I gave some to my parents, who loved them, and took them into work, where everyone enjoyed them also.  I'd say that from last November to January, I probably made these about 4 times.

This recipe comes from Recipe Girl and you can check out her recipe and method here.  I've done pretty much the same thing as the original recipe, with a couple of notable exceptions.  First, she calls for baking the bars in a 9x13 pan, which would replicate the thin-sized bars that Starbucks serves.  For whatever reason, I baked them for the first time in a 9x9x2 pan.  The pan, obviously, is slightly larger than an 8x8 but not as large as the 9x13.  I think this makes for the perfect thickness for the bars.  If you like them on the thin size, by all means go with the 9x13 pan.  Additionally, at the end she calls for melting some extra white chocolate to add to the frosting and drizzle on top of the finished frosting.  I omitted that because I realized that if I did, I'd have an extra 6 ounces of white chocolate, which translated into enough for another batch at some other point.  I don't miss the white chocolate at all: the bars are perfect without it!

I whipped them up this week with our fireplace blazing.  I also, for the first time, tuned into Pandora and listened to a Christmas station.  It was so much fun, and a great sample of what's to come in the very near future:  namely, lots of baking for others and for the season.  Only what's great about making these now is that I also don't have a laundry list full of other seasonal responsibilities hanging over my head:  shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, decorating, making side dishes, dashing out to parties, etc.  It was so relaxing to bake these without any other holiday obligations looming!

I'm looking forward to making these at least a few more times in the next 8 or so weeks!

I Made Buffalo Chicken Dip for Forty People, What of It?

 

It's going to be a busy week.  Frankenstorm is reaching its way into the midwest, and my commute home tonight was pretty silly.  I know we have nothing to complain about compared to people on the east coast, but still, listening to this wind outside is pretty disturbing.

In addition to dodging monsoons and hurricane-force winds this week, on Halloween, we're doing a dip potluck at work.  I've made Buffalo Chicken Dip on several occasions previously so I volunteered myself to make it.  I got a head start on making it tonight because I'm terrified the power will go out tomorrow.  Making Buffalo Dip by candlelight isn't exactly my idea of maintaining standards of normality during times of crisis.  So I made it tonight, will bake the two trays tomorrow, and then take them to work on Wednesday.

I need to stop here and let you know how much I love this dip.  Mr. My Blog for Bonnie and I have been known to make it and eat it for dinner on occasion. (we don't have kids so we're allowed to put absurd things into our bodies and call it a meal....right?)  It's great for a party and everyone who has ever tasted it has loved it!

This recipe comes from my mama, who, incidentally, was born and raised in Buffalo!  The measurements aren't exact, which is great, because you can adjust certain things as needed.  For instance, I kept the 2 trays of dip pretty mild since they'll be feeding a crowd, but for just my husband and I, or at a gathering of my immediate family, I would certainly crank up the Buffalo sauce and increase the heat!

Here's the recipe:

Buffalo Dip

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (if you do mild cheddar cheese, I don't want to hear about it!  Blah...does mild cheddar cheese even have a taste??)

Half of a bottle of ranch dressing (we typically use fat free or light)

2, 8-ounce blocks of cream cheese (again, I routinely use the Light version)

Frank's Red Hot Sauce....(start with a few glugs, mix it up and taste it.  If you need more, add it.  I guess to be more precise, start out using about 1/4 a cup and increase to 1/2 cup if needed)

Mix all ingredients together in the pan of your choosing.  Bake at 325 for 20 or so minutes, or until the dip is bubbling.

Here's to making it through a stormy week....and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

It's Difficult to Make Meatloaf Look Attractive...But Nevertheless I Tried

 

Here:  I made meatloaf.  I totally get that meatloaf is one of those things that usually gets a bad reputation...it definitely isn't seen as gourmet, although there's no denying that it is absolute comfort food.

This recipe has been our go-to meatloaf dish for probably over 5 years now.  Like all good things, it starts with Paula Deen.  But, like with most recipes, it's evolved to become truly our own, especially over the last few years.

I will post the recipe with my alterations and also provide the link to Paula's Original Barbeque Meatloaf here.  There are just about 2 or 3 small ingredient shifts with mine, involving the onion and the vinegar.  Mr. My Blog for Bonnie and I always loved the onion in the meatloaf (the original recipe calls for a full diced onion) but there's no denying that it made the meatloaf pretty crunchy.  The onion wasn't sauteed ahead of time to soften it, and baking it didn't fully do the job.  If you want to continue using an actual onion, I would suggest sauteeing it for about 5 to 7 minutes until it softens and becomes translucent, then adding it to the mixture.  However, one crazy night, I was left with only my wits to help me improvise this ingredient:  I set out everything and discovered that we had forgotten to buy an onion for this.  In a pinch...and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it....I used Onion Powder.  I realized I had to make up for an entire onion, so I used about 3 tablespoons.  I also threw some garlic powder in for good measure.  It was one of those happy accidents: the meatloaf was the best it had ever been and we've used onion powder ever since!  It took away the crunching texture and made it taste very uniform and smooth, almost like a giant meatball.  Seriously guys, so good.  Oh, and the original recipe also calls for fresh breadcrumbs, but really, have you ever met anyone in life who has time for that?  I use Italian-seasoned bread crumbs, which are way easier and also add more flavor to the meatloaf.

Another alteration involves using Balsamic Vinegar instead of white vinegar.  Again, I was in a pinch and realized I was out of white vinegar so I substituted balsamic, which worked great.  It made the barbeque sauce have a real depth of flavor that it didn't have previously.  

Make this meatloaf.  It is so easy, and it lasts for 2 nights in our house.  It is superb as a sandwich with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on it.  Better yet, you can prepare it the day before, as I did.  I assembled the entire thing, topped it with the homemade barbeque sauce, then stuck toothpicks in it before covering it with foil and refrigerating (so the foil wouldn't stick to the sauce and make an unholy mess.)  Then Mr. My Blog for Bonnie just baked the entire thing when he got home from work. Couldn't be easier!

BBQ Meatloaf, My Blog For Bonnie Style 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (we rarely use beef)
• 1 cup Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
• 3 or 4 tablespoons of onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the turkey, bread crumbs, onion and garlic powders, egg, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce. Form this mixture into a loaf and place it in a shallow pan. Stir together the remaining tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire. Pour this sauce over the meatloaf. Bake for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes with the pan juices.