Chewy Ginger Cookies

I love ginger cookies.  The older I get the more I lean towards lovely ginger cookies instead of chocolate peppermint cookies for the holidays.  (I still love a chocolate peppermint cookie... make no mistake about it)

These are not ginger snaps.  These are soft and chewy... and delicious.

Chewy Ginger Cookies:
(King Arthur Flour)

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Sugar for coating: I used regular granulated sugar but sparkling white sugar would be pretty

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they're light and fluffy.

Add the molasses, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Mix well.  Add the eggs, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.

Add the flour and scrape down the sides again.

Scoop the soft dough into 1 ½" balls and roll them sugar.

Space the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 ½" between them.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. The centers will look soft and puffy.  Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool them on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Bourbon Baked Ham

We don't usually make a ham for holiday meals but this Thanksgiving we ended up having more people than turkey so I decided a ham would be the easiest way to fix the problem.

I already had a bottle of bourbon opened from the Derby Pie I made and thought I should find some more ways to use it.  Bourbon Ham was the answer!  This recipe is adapted from my late grandma's ham recipe.  She covered the ham in mustard and brown sugar and let it cook until everything melted together.  I added some bourbon and juice to the mustard and ham mixture and was really happy about how it turned out.

Bourbon Baked Ham:
(adapted from my Grandma's recipe box)

1 ham- precooked, whole or spiral cut
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
4 + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup orange juice
salt and pepper to taste
Whole cloves- depending on how many scores you make in your ham

Preheat the oven to 350.

Take your ham and slice a diamond pattern on the top and put a whole clove at the point of each diamond.  If you have a spiral sliced ham you don't have to do anything here!!






















Spread the yellow mustard all over the ham.  If your ham is larger then use more mustard.  This is not exact science.  Spread 4 tablespoons (more or less) of the brown sugar on top of the mustard ham.

In a bowl mix together the rest of the brown sugar, bourbon, orange juice, and salt and pepper together.  Pour a quarter of the mixture over the ham and place in the oven.  Continue to pour the mixture over the ham and cook until everything is warmed through.

Another option is to take the remaining 3/4 orange bourbon mixture and reduce over medium-low heat until nice and thick.  This can be poured over the sliced ham as needed.

Citrus Cranberry Sauce

It's the time of the year for cranberry sauce.  I love it and I tend to stock up on the fresh berries when they go on sale and then I pop them in the freezer to keep until I need them.

Citrus Cranberry Sauce:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 bag cranberries
1/2 cup dried cranberries
juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon

In a sauce pan bring the sugar, lemon zest, and water to boil.  Add the fresh and dried cranberries and citrus juices to the pan.  Bring back to a boil then reduce the heat to medium and let cook for about 10 minutes.

Turn the heat off and let everything come back to room temperature then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made pumpkin cheesecake to go with our Christmas Dinner this year.  I used my basic cheesecake recipe, added some pumpkin puree and spices, and let it go.

Remember with cheesecake, cooking it low and slow is the best way to make sure it comes out perfect.  Also, if you don't want the top of the cake cracking make sure you put a water bath in the oven while it bakes.

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

3 pounds of cream cheese
3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 can of pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix

Crust:
gingersnap crumbs
melted butter

I don't know exactly how many cookies I used but I filled my small food processor 3 times to make the crumbs.  Just guestimate and make sure that you have enough to make a crust.  Bake at 300 degrees for a couple of minutes.

To make the cake:

In a mixer mix the cream cheese and sugar together.  Add the cornstarch, flour, vanilla, and spices,  Mix together again.

Add the eggs one at a time and then pumpkin puree and mix one last time.  Pour into the prepared crust and bake for roughly 2 hours or until the cake is slightly golden on top and set all the way through.

Rib Roast with Blue Cheese Chipolte Sauce

In our house Turkey is served on Thanksgiving and a beef roast is served on Christmas.  This year we found rib roasts for a really good deal and decided to try something a little different.

Our weekly Publix advertisement had this recipe and a picture of the finished product on the front page and it just looked/sounded amazing.  It turned out really well.

Rib Roast with Blue Cheese Chipotle Sauce:
(Publix Apron Meals)

Ingredients:
8 celery ribs
1 standing rib roast (4–5 lb)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground pepper
5 oz Deli soft-ripened blue cheese, cubed
1/2 stick herb garlic butter, cubed
1 cup yogurt blue cheese dressing
2 teaspoons chipotle pepper sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat medium-size roasting pan with spray. Cut celery into 7-inch ribs; lay across center of pan. Place roast on top of celery; sprinkle salt and pepper over roast.

Bake 20 minutes or until roast has browned.

Reduce oven to 350°F; cook 2 more hours or until roast is 145°F (medium-rare). Use a meat thermometer to accurately ensure doneness. Transfer roast to cutting board; let stand 10–15 minutes before slicing.

Cut cheese and butter into small cubes. Place both in medium saucepan on medium heat; cook and stir 2–3 minutes or until melted. Stir in dressing and pepper sauce; remove from heat when sauce is bubbly. Serve roast with sauce.

Red Velvet Cookies

Everyone loves Red Velvet cake (well, a lot of people do at least).  I found this recipe for gooey butter cookies through Food Network and Paula Deen.  Her original recipe uses a box of chocolate cake but since it's a box of cake I decided to go with red velvet.

Red Velvet Cookies:
(Paula Deen)

Ingredients:
8oz. (1 brick) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box red velvet cake mix
Powdered sugar to roll the cookies in.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Beat in egg, then the vanilla.  Beat in the cake mix.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up.  Roll batter into tablespoon-sized balls and then roll them in powdered sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey."

Crustless Spinach Bacon Quiche

I took a step out of my comfort zone the other day.  I made a quiche without the pie crust.  I love bread and carbs... however I don't need to eat a ton of them all the time so i'm trying to find simple ways to cut back on them, like using wraps instead of bread, cauliflower instead of potatoes, and trying out this crustless version of a classic.

Crustless Spinach Bacon Quiche:
(inspired by Joy the Baker)

1/2 bag of spinach leaves, stems trimmed
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
3 large eggs
1 cup half and half
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a pie pan.


In a saucepan cook the spinach and garlic over medium heat.  Cook until the spinach is wilted.  Take the spinach and garlic and squeeze dry.  Let sit for a minute and squeeze again.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs until they are a light color, add the half and half.  Add the spinach, garlic, bacon, cheese, and salt and pepper.  Stir together with a spoon and pour the mixture into the buttered pie pan.

Bake the quiche for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Hashbrown Casserole

My family does a big brunch for Christmas every year.  It's awesome.  We wake up, make breakfast, enjoy the time with friends and family, and then open gifts. 

The menu usually consists of waffles, quiche, fresh fruit, and an assortment of breakfast meats.  We also have hash brown casserole.  It's awesome and everyone loves it.

Hash Brown Casserole
 

Ingredients:
2 lbs frozen hash browns
1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted
1 can cream of chicken soup and cream of mushroom soup
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup onion, peeled and chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 11 x 14 baking dish with cooking spray.

Mix the above ingredients together, place in prepared pan and top with more cheese.  Bake for 45 minutes or until brown on top.

Sausage Balls

I love sausage balls.  They're really popular in the South, more so in Alabama than in my area of Florida.  Every family tweaks this recipe a little bit (I added some Old Bay) so feel free to experiment.  I have a friend that uses venison sausage instead of the pork.

Sausage Balls:
(Old Southern Recipe, but checked measurements from Paula Deen)

1 (1-pound) package ground sausage
3 cups baking mix (recommended: Bisquick)
4 cups grated sharp Cheddar
1/8 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon Old Bay

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl. Mix well with your fingers. The mixture will be very crumbly.

Form into 1 inch balls, squeezing the mixture so it holds together, then rolling it between the palms of your hands to form balls.

Place the balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

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