English Toffee

English Toffee is my all time favorite Christmas recipe. I first made it in 1986 (really! I marked it in the cookbook).  A neighbor of mine gave me a church cookbook from her hometown in Arkansas. Love those local cookbooks where everyone submits their very best dish. This was submitted by a Mrs. Van Moores, Jr.

Favorite recipes collected by First United Methodist Church of Russellville, Arkansa.

I should warn you, if you're planning to make this to share with family and friends, plan on making it for the rest of your natural life! Try slacking off a year, and they'll give you those sad puppy faces and ask why you don't love them anymore.
I should also warn you that this is definitely not the recipe to try when you have young children or pets under foot. Seriously y'all, 300 degree toffee is molten lava ( I have tiny scars to prove it). When it reaches that temp., you need to pour it quickly onto the foil and you really don't want to splash any on yourself or anyone else!
Lastly, spend a couple of dollars on a candy thermometer. Butter and chocolate are too expensive to waste because you thought you knew what "hard-crack" meant. Know this from experience!
K? Here we go...


English Toffee
*Cook to hard crack stage, stirring constantly----
1 C.sugar
2 sticks butter (not margarine!)
3 Tbs. water
1 Tbs. Karo syrup (light)
Spread 1 C. broken nutmeats (I use pecans) on sheet of foil. Pour mixture over nuts. Spread over top of mixture with a knife: 4 Hershey bars, broken. When cool, break into pieces.
*Hard crack is 300 degrees.

And that's my last recipe for 2011. Probably. Enjoy!

Date Balls and Decorating

Still a little miffed with my Christmas tree for flinging itself onto the hardwood three days ago (see 12-12 post), smashing so many of my favorite ornaments. So I turned my attention outdoors and finished this garland for the front door. Started with a fake garland and added fresh greens until I was satisfied with its fullness. I think it looks pretty good!

Ran  Christmas-y errands. Then a quick ride where Zoey tried to dump me, yet again!  She's determined to buck me off me and I'm equally committed to not hitting the ground. Hitting the ground is a young girl's game, 50-somethings don't bounce. We just lie there. 
Now here's a treat for you, Date Balls. I remember my mother-in-law making these when my husband and I were dating, then we sort of forgot about them for awhile. Other treats took their place. We started making them again a few years back and they're a favorite with my kids. Very easy! So tasty!

Date Balls
8 oz. chopped dates
1 stick margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)
Pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups crisped rice cereal
Cook first five ingredients over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Add cereal and vanilla. Shape and roll in 10X sugar.
I usually make them about the size of a truffle.


Now I've no choice but to finish that wretched tree. 
Hope you're taking a little time to be merry amidst all your Holiday racing around.

Let's Bake!

Going to share two family recipes with you. Firstly, my mother-in-law's Banana Bread. This is hands down, the best banana bread recipe I've ever tried. I do sometimes tweak it a bit, a pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg, different nuts, but that's all. Delicious!! Easy!

The second recipe is for Pecan Triangle Icebox Cookies. This is a recipe from my Aunt Dee's  mother-in-law. More tweaking...we make them with black walnuts because, YUM!  If you're not familiar with black walnuts, they have a much stronger flavor than English walnuts. Anything baked with black walnuts just gets tastier over time, so you're going to want to make sure you save a roll for a snowy day in January. These cookies are fantastic dunkers, tea, cocoa, eggnog, whatever...
Hopefully, you know someone with a black walnut tree who doesn't want to be bothered with them. They are the devil to de-hull! Here's what they look like in the wild...

When I was growing up, we would gather them in a burlap sack and leave them in the driveway for a few days until the car tires had worked the hulls off. At the very least, wear gloves. The hulls will leave you looking like you polished shoes with your bare hands. This lonely little walnut  was found on my neighbor's trail. We've been stepping around them on horseback since August, but when "the Nige" and I walked back there to take a pic a couple of days ago, we could only find two. Anyway, you can usually find them in the supermarket at Christmastime, but fair warning, they are PRICEY!
Here's the finished cookie...

...and now for the recipes!


Emily's Banana Bread
Mix:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp .baking  soda
Add to dry ingredients:
2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup oil (I use canola)
2 eggs
!/2 cup walnuts or pecans, if desired
Grease loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. (I find it takes a little longer, so test it. You can lay foil on the top to keep it from getting too brown and keep baking).
Also note that this recipe is for 1 loaf. I doubled it to get the 2 loaves pictured above.


Mom Kundt's Pecan Triangle Icebox Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped pecans (or black walnuts)
Mix well . Shape in square rolls (3x3 inches), wrap in waxed paper and chill in freezer. Slice thin and cut each slice in half, diagonally. Bake in 375 degree oven for f10-12 minutes.


Put on some Christmas music (or Love Actually, if you're obsessed with it like someone in this household) and start baking!!
XO

It's Soup Day!

Been waiting for a rainy day to make and share my favorite soup recipe. Found this recipe in Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly, Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker, page 164. This is the book that made me dust off my crock-pot a few years ago and start slow cooking again.

Seriously, y'all this is comfort food at its comfiest.You won't know whether to eat it or crawl into the bowl and take a nap. While this book is out of print you may buy the revised edition,

Fix-it and Forget-It Lightly, Revised and Updated:600 Healthy, Low-Fat Recipes for Your Slow Cooker. Cream Cheese Potato Soup is on page 165 in this edition.

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

3 cups water

1 cup ham

5 medium-sized potatoes, diced fine

8-oz. pkg.fat-free cream cheese, cubed

half an onion, chopped

1 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. dill weed

1.Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on high 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

3. Turn to low until ready to serve.

Makes 6 servings. Ideal slow-cooker size 3 1/2 qt.

The vegetarians in my family tell me it's very tasty without the ham. I find that one ham steak is just the right amount. I like to garnish with a bit of cheddar cheese and a sprinkling of turkey bacon.

This recipe is very forgiving. Cooked longer, it just gets thicker and more baked-potatoey. If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, you can thin it with a little broth, water, or milk. I like to give my slow-cooker a good spritz of cooking spray before I start, to make clean up easier. So, go make some this weekend and be comforted! You deserve it!