Jalapeño Cheddar Crackers

I saw Ina Garten make these crackers on Food TV and they looked so good that I just had to try them. I decided to make them for our next movie night. They were sort of a cross between a cracker and a savory shortbread. Delicious with a chilled glass of crisp, white wine. I think they’ll also make a great accompaniment to the cocktails at our next cocktail party. Yummm….. Definitely a keeper!

JALAPEÑO CHEDDAR CRACKERS

• 2 cups all-­purpose flour
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ⅛ tsp. baking powder
• 1¾ sticks cold unsalted butter, diced into 1/2-­inch cubes
• 5 ozs. extra ­sharp white Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 Tbsp. minced and seeded jalapeño pepper
• ¼ tsp. chipotle chili powder
• 3 Tbsp. ice water
• 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. milk, for egg wash
• Fleur de sel or sea salt

1. Place the flour, kosher salt, and baking powder in a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse to mix.
2. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Add the cheese, jalapeño, and chipotle chili powder and pulse again.
4. Add the ice water all at once and continue pulsing until the mixture begins to form a ball.
5. Dump the dough onto a floured board, gather and press it into a ball, then roll it into a 14­-inch log.
6. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
7. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
8. Cut the dough in 3/8-­inch ­thick slices.
9. Place the crackers on the prepared sheet pan, brush tops with egg wash, and sprinkle lightly with fleur de sel.
10. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

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Blueberry Lemon Bread

I had a bunch of blueberries that I needed to use up. Today didn’t feel like a blueberry pie kind of day so I decided to make cake instead. Blueberries and lemon form the perfect sweet and sour flavor combination. Specially if you get blueberries when they’re in season and are at their peak, practically bursting with juicy sweetness. This recipe makes a super moist cake that’s great for breakfast or for an afternoon snack with a nice cup of hot tea.

Speaking of which, I saw a picture somewhere (probably on Pinterest) of a blueberry cake that was cut in small little rounds so I decided to try doing that. I baked one loaf cake with half my batter, but poured the other half of the batter into an 8-inch round pan to make a thinner cake which I cut into little circles with a mini-biscuit cutter. Don’t those look adorable? How perfect for a dessert table or for my annual Mother’s Day tea party!

BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 3 cups flour + 2 tbsp. for tossing with blueberries
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup plain yogurt (can substitute sour cream)
• zest of one lemon
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp. vanilla or lemon extract

Topping:

• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. butter, melted
• ¼ cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom and sides of two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2. Toss blueberries in 2 tbsp. flour. This helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf. Set aside.
3. Combine 3 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
4. In another bowl, whisk eggs together; then whisk in melted butter, milk, yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.
5. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
6. Gently fold blueberries into batter.
7. Divide batter into prepared pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
8. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans.
9. Make topping by mixing lemon juice and melted butter together.
10. Brush lemon-butter mixture on top of loaves.
11. Sprinkle with a heavy layer of sugar while tops are still wet.

NOTE:  My kids love the crunchy sugar topping made by sprinkling granulated sugar over the loaves, but if you prefer to have a glaze for the topping, just omit the butter, replace the granulated sugar with 1 cup of powdered sugar, and stir in 2-3 tbsp. of lemon juice till it reaches a good consistency for drizzling.

A nice trick to help you remove a cake from a loaf pan is to line the bottom of the loaf pan with a strip of parchment paper long enough to go up the short sides and stick out at least a couple of inches past the edge of the pan on either side. After your cake has cooled for 10 minutes, grasp the ends of the parchment paper that stick out past the loaf pan and use them like handles to lift the cake up and out. You can then tip the cake on its side to peel the parchment strip off.

Crab Salad Crescent Appetizers

I got the inspiration to make these appetizers from the Pillsbury website. My family has been making crab salad for years, though we always serve it as an appetizer in a bowl with crackers on the side. When I saw the photo on Pillsbury, I thought how perfect it would be to wrap our family’s crab salad in crescent roll dough and bake it, instead of doing the same old, same old. It turned out great! And looks so pretty, too!

CRAB SALAD CRESCENT APPETIZERS

• 1 pkg. imitation crab meat, chopped
• ⅓ cup mayonnaise
• ½ pkg. (4 ozs.) cream cheese, softened (optional)
• 1 large shallot, finely minced (can substitute ¼ small onion)
• 1 stalk green onion, green and white part, finely chopped
• ½ tsp. worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 can Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix imitation crab, mayonnaise, cream cheese, shallot, green onion, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper together in a bowl until well combined.
3. Unroll dough on work surface and pinch seams to seal.
4. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows to make 24 squares.
5. Spoon about 1 teaspoon crab salad onto center of square.
6. Pull opposite corners on each side up over filling and let points meet in center.
7. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Serve warm.

Zucchini Crumble Bars

I make these bars a lot during zucchini season. The zucchini is like a “surprise ingredient” that fools everybody. They all think it’s apple and don’t believe me when I tell them it’s zucchini. These bars are delicious, and best of all, are so easy to make. My family loves to eat them warm with a scoop of ice cream. Give them a try and see if they don’t surprise you, too.

ZUCCHINI CRUMBLE BARS

For the Filling:

• 8-10 cups zucchini, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 4-5 lbs.)
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2-3 tbsp. cold water (this is called a slurry)

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook zucchini, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring occasionally until zucchini is crisp-tender, about 15-20 minutes.
2. While stirring constantly, pour in slurry (cornstarch water mixture). It is important to keep stirring as the slurry will thicken the mixture very quickly.
3. Continue to cook and stir, 1-2 minutes more, until mixture is thick and glossy.
4. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the Crust:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups cold butter, cut in cubes

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
2. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Set aside about 3 cups of the crust mixture for topping.
5. Press remaining crust mixture into bottom of prepared baking pan.
6. Pour zucchini mixture over crust, spreading evenly to edges.
7. Crumble remaining crust mixture over zucchini mixture.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top crust is golden brown.

Snickerdoodle Muffins

I haven’t made these muffins in a long time. I don’t really know why. Maybe because my kids are grown up now? But when they were younger, I made these muffins a lot. The kids really loved them. They’re great for breakfast, brunch, or an after school snack. They’re also great packed for dessert in a school lunchbox. I love them warm with an ice cold glass of milk. Mmmmm………

SNICKERDOODLE MUFFINS

• 1½ cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• extra melted butter for topping

1. Mix flour, oats, and ¾ cup sugar together.
2. In another bowl, mix egg, butter, vanilla, and milk together.
3. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined.
4. Fill 12 muffin cups 2/3 full.
5. Bake at 400ºF for 12 minutes or until light golden brown.
6. While muffins are baking, mix ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon together for topping.
7. When muffins are done, brush tops with a little melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar topping mixture.

Olive Tea Sandwiches

Vickie, one of my officemates, brought in some little olive sandwiches and I got to try one. Delicious! I thought they would be perfect to serve at my Mother’s Day Tea Party. She told me what all she put in hers (cream cheese, garlic powder, a little ranch dressing….) but I can’t remember what all the ingredients were that she used and I didn’t write anything down so I decided to try and make my own version when I got home. My sandwiches are simpler with less ingredients in the filling, but I think they came out just as good.

OLIVE TEA SANDWICHES

• 1 pkg. (8 ozs.) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup chopped pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• 1 tbsp. olive juice
• 1 loaf soft white or wheat bread

1. Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, olives, pecans, and olive juice.
2. Cut crusts off bread.
3. Make sandwiches with olive filling.
4. Cut sandwiches into little shapes.

Dulce de Leche Bars

I love dulce de leche. It’s so delicious, I can eat it by the spoonful! I thought it would be fun to make some kind of bars with dulce de leche in them. So I made up this recipe with a blondie base and ready-made dulce de leche. It turned out great! The kids loved them. I’ll definitely be making these again!

DULCE DE LECHE BARS

• 1½ cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 can (13.4 ozs.) dulce de leche (or you can make your own)
• ¼ cup evaporated milk (can substitute fresh milk)

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a 9×13 baking pan with foil and grease foil lightly.
2. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, melt butter in microwave.
4. To melted butter, add brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and nuts, stirring to combine.
5.  Add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing together well. Batter will be thick.
6. Reserve 1 cup of the batter and set aside.
7. Spread remaining batter into prepared pan. It will seem like you don’t have enough batter to completely cover the bottom of the pan, but just do your best, spreading as thinly as you need to.
8. Bake for 15 minutes.
9. While bottom crust is baking, empty dulce de leche into a bowl and add milk.
10. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds, until dulce de leche is completely combined with milk and is soft and pourable.
11. Remove cooked crust from oven and pour dulce de leche over crust, spreading to within ¼-inch of edges.
12. Drop spoonfuls of reserved 1 cup batter randomly over dulce de leche layer.
13. Cut through batter and dulce with a knife to create a marbled effect.
14. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until set.
15. Cool on wire rack, then lift foil from pan to remove.
16. Cut into bars or squares.

Sweet and Saltines

This strange sounding recipe is one of Trisha Yearwood’s. I watched her make it on TV and immediately rushed to the kitchen to try making it myself. O-M-G!!! It was sooo good! The family loved it! Such an unusual recipe and surprisingly yummy! And the best part…. it was super easy to make. You’ve just got to try this one.

SWEET AND SALTINES

• 35 to 40 saltine crackers
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 8 ozs. semisweet chocolate chips (about 1⅓ cups)

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
2. Line 1 large or 2 small jelly­roll pans with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Arrange the saltines salt­ side down in a single layer.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and boil for a few minutes until it turns a caramel color.
5. Remove from heat and pour over the crackers, covering them evenly.
6. Put the jelly­roll pan into the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just bubbly, watching carefully so as not to burn.
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crackers.
   
8. Wait a minute or so and when the heat melts the chips a bit, spread the chocolate over the crackers with a knife or an offset spatula.
   
9. Place the pan in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until completely cold. They will form one solid sheet.
   
10. Break up into pieces.
    
11. Store in an airtight container. That is…… assuming you have any left to store!

Super Moist Banana Bread

When Spunky was born, I hired a girl named Angela to help me around the house. She came from war-torn Nicaragua where she grew up in an orphanage run by nuns. She didn’t cook, but there was one thing that she did make and that was this banana bread. Angela told me that the nuns taught her how to make it and she shared the recipe with me. It’s the simplest recipe to make and the bread turns out super moist and delicious.

SUPER MOIST BANANA BREAD

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, melt butter and water together in microwave.
4. Pour into flour mixture and mix well.
5. Add mashed bananas, beaten eggs, and vanilla, stirring until well combined.
6. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
7. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

NOTE:  Old Goat always wants nuts in his banana bread. If you want nuts in yours, feel free to stir 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter. This bread is also good with 1/2 cup chocolate chips stirred into the batter before baking.

Yogurt Cake

I’ve been making this cake for years. It’s so good and easy to prepare. It always turns out moist and flavorful. I also love its versatility. If you don’t have margarine or butter, you could substitute butter-flavored Crisco shortening, or even use cooking oil if you’re really desperate. You could bake it in a loaf pan instead of a bundt pan if you want a more traditional “butter cake” look. I like to make small loaves of this cake (as pictured below) to give to my neighbors during the holidays.

You could also exchange the flavorings and use lemon extract and lemon yogurt to make a delicious lemon cake that goes great with a nice cup of hot tea. Hmmm……. I wonder….. what if we tried orange extract and orange yogurt, or strawberry extract and strawberry yogurt, or almond extract and plain yogurt?….. The possibilities are endless, don’t you think?

YOGURT CAKE

• 1 cup margarine or butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 8-oz. container vanilla yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Alternately beat in flour mixture and yogurt until just incorporated. Do not over mix. It’s okay if batter is still lumpy.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
8. Carefully flip cake over and let cool completely.