Recipes

Southern Bourbon Sweet Mashed Potatoes

Today’s recipe is courtesy of The Wave Restaurant at the Contemporary Resort in Disney World in Florida. Once again mixing food and booze, always a good thing! I don’t know if I have mentioned it before but I love Disney World. Don’t worry though I am not one of the fanatics who have their entire being transformed into Disney. Disney house, clothes, car, tattoos, etc. No, I am not like that. But Disney World is my happy place. I love going anytime of year and just wandering around the parks checking out all the new stuff as well as the old. Living in Florida I have become spoiled. We are only a little over 2 hours away by car so we can make the trek a couple of times a year at least. Plus Florida residents get a really awesome discount on annual passes. My goal is to stay at all the resorts on the property. I’ve done most of the Value and Moderate resorts and a few of the deluxe but the Contemporary has still eluded me. One day…So instead I came across this recipe for their version of mashed sweet potatoes. I have not made this yet but it looks incredible.

Don’t these look delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups diced sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons brown sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
3 tablespoons Jim Beam Bourbon
DIRECTIONS:
1. Steam the sweet potatoes until well cooked. 

2. While the potatoes are cooking place butter, sugar, cream and bourbon in a small pot and heat up. Don’t boil it.

3. When potatoes are done, place them in the oven for 5 minutes or so at 350º to get some of the moisture out of them.

4. Place potatoes in a large bowl and add a whip attachment to an electric mixer, whip until desired consistency. If you don’t have a whip attachment just use a regular mixer attachment.

5. Add cream mixture and then season with salt and pepper to taste

6. Re-season with more salt, pepper or Jim Beam if you think it needs more.

Serves 4

Shrimp w/Sour Cream and Onion Dip

Well back to somewhat of a normal week. Christmas is over but we still have New Year’s coming up. So this recipe today is a redo of a dip I posted some time ago. Originally the recipe called for the shrimp to be chilled in it for at least 8 hours. This time I just cut the recipe in half and used it in place of the usual cocktail sauce. Nothing against regular cocktail sauce but it gets boring. When I served this dip with the shrimp last week it was a huge hit! Everyone loved it. The small amount I had left over also turned a little bit pink from the red onion in it. Festive! So make up a batch for New Year’s Eve and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup light mayonnaise

¼ cup light sour cream

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar (or Splenda)

¼ cup finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon dried dill

1 pound medium-large cooked shrimp, shelled and deveined

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, sugar, onion, and dill. Mix well. Chill to set up at least an hour.

2. Serve with shrimp!

Gingerbread Cookie Martini

Well it’s Christmas Eve and I’m actually doing the blog before noon! I know! As far as cookies go I think Gingerbread People cookies are always associated with Christmas. So what better cocktail than a gingerbread martini! Once again this recipe uses Goldschlager so if you still have some left from the other martini recipes then you are good to go! This recipe calls for Van Gogh Espresso vodka but if you by chance have some Patron Coffee liqueur I am sure you can use that as well. So mix and be merry! Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas weekend! Remember the reason for the season is not about the presents or the food or the drinks…but for being with family and friends and celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. If it were up to me I’d leave my tree up 24/7/365!

Merry Christmas everyone!

INGREDIENTS:

3 ounces Van Gogh Espresso or Double Espresso Vodka (or any other brand)

1 ounce Goldschlager Cinnamon Schnapps

3 ounces Irish Cream (Baileys)

DIRECTIONS:

Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker with crushed ice. Let it stand for a few seconds. Then shake vigorously for about 5 seconds and pour into chilled martini glasses!  Garnish with a gingersnap or gingerbread cookie if you wish!

Makes 2 drinks

Brownie Holi-Pops

Well tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Wow where did the time go to? As a kid Christmas could not get here fast enough and now many years later, ok decades later, Christmas appears as if out of nowhere! It was just Halloween! My house is decked out, inside and out, and it is certainly festive looking! The weather is cooler, in the 50s and 60s so it’s not so hot that we do forget it’s winter here in south Florida. And I am still sticking with my no dieting till after the New Year. Weight Watchers can wait a little longer for me!

So here I am putting together the last “cookie” blog for the  year. These cookies are actually brownies, but also a lollipop. But hey, I’m using it anyway. I am not really a big brownie fan. Never was. Love making them but not eating them. The only ones I truly LOVE are my friend Debbie’s. They are little bitty ones and she puts frosting on them! I swear they must also have some kind of booze in them or something. They are so moist and just down right addicting! I could eat a dozen no problem! But these are not those. Sorry. I will have to get her recipe another time! These are just too cute not to include them and the kids will love them also. I have not actually made these as of yet but I think I will soon!

I actually got this recipe from Land-o-Lakes. Aren’t they just adorable!

BROWNIE MIXTURE:
¾ cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, divided

3 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, divided

1 cup sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

2  eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup powdered sugar
COATING:
16 ounces vanilla or chocolate flavored candy coating (almond bark)
40 lollipop sticks
DECORATIONS:
Holiday nonpareils, jimmies, sprinkles and/or decorator candies. Your choice!

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine ½ cup butter and 2 ounces chocolate in 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted (3 to 5 minutes). Add sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla and salt; mix well.

3. Spread batter evenly into greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake for 23 to 27 minutes or until brownies just begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely.

4. Melt remaining ¼ cup butter and 1 ounce chocolate as above.

5. Finely crumble cooled brownie into large bowl. Add butter mixture and powdered sugar; mix well.

6. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls; place onto waxed paper-lined jelly roll pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

7. Melt candy coating according to package directions; keep warm.

8. Remove 1/3 of balls from refrigerator; insert lollipop sticks. Dip balls into melted coating, swirling or tapping off excess; press coated balls into desired decorations. Push lollipop stick into craft foam or place coated balls onto waxed paper. Repeat with remaining balls. Let stand until coating is set.

Makes 40 pops

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

I really love lemon cookies. You don’t usually see too many out there either and this recipe was too good not to include. I think most people may have these around Easter or springtime but who says you must have certain cookies certain times of the year? The cookie police? I don’t think so. These little delights are just so tasty and very addicting! I rationalize that cookies are better than cake because they are smaller. 🙂 This way I can eat more! These are also a sort of drop cookie so they are pretty simple. No cutting or pressing involved. They are also topped with a wonderful lemon glaze to make them even more enticing! Like I need an excuse as it is!

INGREDIENTS:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 (15 oz) container whole milk ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested (this is probably the hardest part of the recipe and it’s not even that hard!)

GLAZE:

1½ cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until mixed in. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat till combined and stir in the dry ingredients.

4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (Trust me, using parchment paper will make your cookie experience so much better!) Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden on edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the cookie sheets for about 20 minutes. (Don’t get anxious and try to take them off earlier! You’ll be sorry! :P)

6. GLAZE: Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about ½ teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread it. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. NOW you can take them off the cookie sheets and pack them in decorative containers. Enjoy!

Makes about 44 cookies

Christmas Baking Humor

Ok so it’s after midnight and I forgot to get the blog done for Monday. So now I am early for Tuesday! A friend just sent me this Holiday Cake recipe that I’ve gotten pretty much every year. I chuckled and then thought “Why don’t I put it on the blog as a nice stress reliever for the week!” So here it is. I know many of you have probably heard this but it’s a good one either way. And yes I know it’s straying from my cookie recipes but I promise to add one later today!  Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS:
 2 cups flour                                            1 stick butter
 1 cup water                                            1 tsp baking soda
 1 cup sugar                                            1 tsp salt
 1 cup brown sugar                                 Lemon juice
 4 large eggs
 Nuts
 2 bottles wine
 2 cups dried fruit


DIRECTIONS:

Sample the wine to check quality.  Take a large bowl, check the wine again – to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.  Repeat.  Turn on the electric mixer.  Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.  Add one teaspoon of sugar.  Beat again.  At this point it is best to make sure the wine is still OK.  Try another cup ….. just in case.  Turn off the mixerer thingy.  Break 2 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off the floor.  Mix on the turner …. if the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver …. Sample the wine to check for tonsisticity.  Next sift two cups of salt …. or something.  Check the wine.  Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.  Add one table.  Add a spoon of sugar or some fink.  Whatever you can find.  Greash the oven.  Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.  Don’t forget to beat off the turner.  Finally throw the bowl through the window.  Finish the wine and wipe the counter with the cat.  Go to Walmart and buy a frigging cake.
 Bingle Jells !!!!!!

Oatmeal Cookie Crush

Oatmeal, yuck!  Ewww… Gross…. But an oatmeal cookie! Yum! Ask any of my friends and family how much I detest oatmeal, hot oatmeal cereal that is. I don’t care how you dress it up, give it as many flavors as you want, throw in berries, sugar it up…I’m still not eating it! Ever! As a kid I remember being forced to eat it for breakfast. Mom was big on making us eat ‘hot cereal’ for breakfast. I wasn’t a fan. I warned her that if she made me eat the oatmeal on this one morning that it would not be a pretty sight. That I would get sick. She didn’t believe me, as mother’s usually know when the kid is bluffing. I don’t bluff. I ate it and got sick! See! Told her!  Never had to eat oatmeal again. 🙂

Now if you give me an oatmeal cookie I’m all over it! Love them! Throw some raisins in too if you want (though this is the only way I will eat raisins as well, in cookies). And if you make it into a cocktail well you know I will drink it for sure! This is a really tasty and yummy cocktail. A couple of the ingredients were used in the Chocolate Chip Martini I posted a few weeks ago so you won’t waste the booze! It does however call for an ingredient that you probably won’t use much of, Goldschläger Cinnamon Schnapps. So buy the smallest bottle you can find unless you plan to use it again. You only use ½ ounce for two drinks so it won’t be used quickly.

Garnish your drinks or serve them with your favorite oatmeal cookies! Who says you can’t have a cocktail and cookies! I also found this recipe in an old Rachael Ray magazine several years ago.

INGREDIENTS:

3 ounces butterscotch schnapps

2 ounces Baileys Irish Cream

1 ounce coconut flavored rum

½ ounce Goldschläger Cinnamon Schnapps

Oatmeal cookies, crushed, for garnish

ice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes. Add the butterscotch schnapps, Baileys, rum and Goldschläger Cinnamon Schnapps. Shake well. Strain into 2 rocks glasses. Sprinkle with the crushed cookies if you wish!

Makes 2 cocktails

Festive Cherry Drops

I found another really tasty cookie from the great people at Land O Lakes. This recipe uses maraschino cherries, and yes, I can hear some of you saying how bad they are for us. Yes I know. But we’re not eating the whole jar and it just makes these cookies burst with flavor! For one time of the year just enjoy them. Sometimes I think we’d all be better off not knowing “what is bad for us”. Life is short. Enjoy!

This recipe also has a chocolate drizzle on it. So cool looking! If you prefer you can change the chocolate morsels for the drizzle to white chocolate and make it a white drizzle instead. Still really delicious! Remember no calorie counting till next year!! (Though I did look at the calorie content for one of these delicious bites and it’s a scary 160 calories PER COOKIE!) Like I said, no calorie counting till next year. This is also a pretty easy recipe to make. Drop cookies are always pretty simple.

Photo is courtesy of Land O Lakes.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter, softened

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 (6 ounce) jar (½ cup) maraschino cherries, well-drained, chopped

DRIZZLE:

2/3 cup real semi-sweet chocolate chips (or white chocolate)

2 teaspoons shortening

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low, add flour and baking powder. Beat, scraping the bowl often, until well mixed. Add the cherries and stir into dough.

3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (use a regular teaspoon not a measuring spoon) onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire cooling rack. Cool completely.

4. Place chocolate chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH, stirring occasionally, until melted. (30-45 seconds). Drizzle cooled cookies with melted chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is set.

Makes about 3½ dozen cookies

Butter Cookies

Christmas cookies wouldn’t be complete without the usual butter cookie. Some cookies are formed using a cookie gun or cookie cutters. This recipe mainly uses cookie cutters but if you want to use your smaller cookie maker go right ahead. These cookies are also frosted! They are easy to cut out and easy to make. Win win! Decorate them with colored sugars, sprinkles or anything you wish to make them festive!

I remember when we were kids there was a wonderful lady on our street who used to make the most incredible butter cookies. We’ve tried to recreate them over the years but they were just never the same. I will always think of her though when I make or eat butter cookies. Why is it when we try and recreate a recipe from childhood it just never quite tastes the same.

I found this recipe from Land O Lakes Butter. They called for “all-natural” eggs in the recipe but just use a regular egg. No big deal. Unless you don’t have to worry about money and can afford those fancy “all-natural” eggs. Also remember to make the dough ahead of time. It should be refrigerated 2-3 hours at least before cutting into cookie shapes.

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons orange juice

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-2 tablespoons milk

food coloring if desired

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine 1 cup butter, sugar and egg in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until it is creamy.

2. Add the orange juice and vanilla and mix well. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and baking powder. Beat until well mixed.

3. Divide dough into thirds. Wrap each in plastic food wrap and flatten slightly. Refrigerate until firm, about 2-3 hours.

4. Heat oven to 400º. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface, one-third at a time, to 1/8-1/4-inch thickness. Keep remaining dough refrigerated. Cut with 3-inch cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookies sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.

5. Bake for 6-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

6. If using the frosting combine powdered sugar, 1/3 cup butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla in small bowl. Beat at low-speed, scraping bowl often and gradually adding enough milk for desired spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired. Frost and decorate cooled cookies as you wish!

– If you use a 4 to 5-inch cookie cutter the recipe will make about 2 dozen cookies

Macaroons in Paradise

Well here it is again, almost 7pm and my blog is still not ready for today. But here we go. I found this recipe on Food Network back in 2008. It is one of Alton Brown’s recipes and it is full of calories and downright deliciousness. The cookies are definitely NOT on the diet list. But like I’ve said before it’s the holidays and no calorie counting till the new year. The cookies are also very rich and sweet so be careful eating them. They are very addicting. Not only are they addicting but they are really easy to make also.  Easy and decadent!


INGREDIENTS:

2 (7 to 8 ounce) packages sweetened shredded coconut

2 ounces sweetened condensed milk

Pinch kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 large egg whites at room temperature

5 ounces granulated sugar

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 ounce vegetable shortening

2 ounces finely chopped dry-roasted macadamia nuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Combine the coconut with the sweetened condensed milk, salt and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a hand mixer) with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to whip the whites until medium peaks form, 6 to 7
minutes.

4. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a parchment-lined half sheet pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately transfer the parchment with the macaroons to a cooling rack. Cool completely before topping.

5. Fill a 4-quart pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the side, set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a small metal or glass mixing bowl and set over the simmering pot. Stir occasionally until melted, then remove from the heat.

6. Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate mixture, sprinkle with the chopped macadamia nuts and place on parchment paper to set, about 30 minutes.

Makes about 42 cookies

1 … 9 10 11 … 33
Blog at WordPress.com.
Dining with Donald

Cruise Ship Recipes at Home

How do I Make That?

Rachael Ray

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Joanne Eats Well With Others

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Garlic Girl

It's Not Just Popcorn!

BuzzFeed - Tasty

It's Not Just Popcorn!

An Edible Mosaic™

It's Not Just Popcorn!

StephenKing.com - Latest News

It's Not Just Popcorn!

The Penny Hoarder

Food52

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Big Bear's Wife

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Ocean of Games- Free Download PC Games

It's Not Just Popcorn!

John Heald's Blog

The Weekend Gourmet

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Skinnytaste

It's Not Just Popcorn!

What's Cooking at the Genua's?

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Marla Meridith - MarlaMeridith.com

www.chef-in-training.com/

The Pioneer Woman

Simply Recipes

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Budget Bytes

rasamalaysia.com

It's Not Just Popcorn!

Homemade In The Kitchen

Small Batch Recipes and Recipes For Two

overdeepblueseas

OVER DEEP BLUE SEAS BLOG @ WordPress.com

Sluggo's Escapades

What's Sluggo up to today?

Not Rachael Ray Blog

My Bizzy Kitchen

RavieNomNoms

A Girl, Her Blog, and Lots of Food Pictures!