Granola

I had no idea when I got married I was going to be immersed into a family who loves to cook. Luckily for us, we never lack in good recipes. My sister-in-law shared with us her granola which, in my opinion, is the best granola out there. She was so kind to let me share it with you. 

If that's not incentive enough, I read in this month's Rachael Ray's Every Day Magazine, making your own granola is 39% cheaper than store bought. Now really. Have you ever really had a good store-bought granola? I didn't think so.

You're going to want to make this recipe. Again. Again. And again. 

Granola

Combine the following (except vanilla) and boil for one minute. Stir in vanilla. 1 1/2 cups brown sugar  1/2 cup water1/2 cup honey3/4 cup oil1 tsp cinnamon1 tsp salt2 tsp vanilla

Combine the following in a large mixing bowl:6 cups rolled oats (not the quick kind)2-3 cups of assorted nuts (whole or chopped) (I prefer almonds and pecans)1/2 cup wheat germ1 1/2 cups coconut

Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients and stir to coat well.Spread onto two cookie sheets.  (If you have silpat liners they work really wellwith this recipe and the clean up is a snap!) No need to grease the plain pan.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  I bake two pans at once and stir and swap racks withthem at the 15 minute mark.  The Granola will not feel crunchy after thirty minutesbut it will harden up as it cools.  You want to see it turning a golden brown around the edgesafter 15 minutes.  This is when I stir it up and switch places.  Don't over bake!!
Add one of our favorite ingredients: Craisins. Just eyeball however much you want. 

Store in a covered container for 2 weeks.  But it rarely lasts that long!

Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

adapted from Epicurious.com

Just in time for Thanksgiving. Are you in charge of a dessert? This one is guaranteed to be a hit.
I've been making this cheesecake for several years. It might have been the first cheesecake I ever attempted. So, needless to say, it is quite easy. Time consuming, but straightforward.


Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

1. For crust
   • 1 cup pecans (about 4 ounces)
   • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
   • 2 tablespoons sugar
   • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2. For filling
   • 4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature (I have substituded Neufchâtel cheese to lighten it up and it has been just fine)
   • 1 1/4 cups sugar
   • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
   • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
   • 1 15-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
   • 3 large eggs
   • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1. Make crust:
   1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend first 3 ingredients in processor until nuts are finely chopped. Add butter; process until moist crumbs form. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Bake until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. Cool. Wrap outside of pan with double thickness of heavy-duty foil.
2. Make filling:
   1. Using electric mixer, beat first 4 ingredients in large bowl until smooth. Add pumpkin; beat until blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until smooth. Transfer to crust. Set in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of springform pan.
   2. Bake cake until top is golden and begins to crack and center is set, abut 1 hour 45 minutes. Remove from roasting pan. Cool. Chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.)

Deniece's Pumpkin Roll

This recipe comes from my late friend, Deniece. She lived a few houses away from me when my daughter was four. On several occasions my daughter would wander away from my house. Almost every time, I would find my daughter's bike parked by the curb of Deniece's house. Once when I went to bring her back home, I approached the sidewalk to find my daughter leaned up with one leg on the side of Deniece's house just chatting away telling her all the trivial things a four year-old has to live through. Every year until she passed away my daughter felt certain Deniece needed a school picture of herself. And my sweet neighbor would post it prominently on her refrigerator. She taught me many lessons over the years of being her neighbor. She graciously battled breast cancer for years but never complained --- always made time for other people, and never wanted the attention brought on her.

So, you can see this pumpkin roll is sweet in many ways. Sweet in memories of a sweet lady who set time out of her day to listen to my daughter. To care for her and make her feel special. She taught me a lot and still teaches me.

Pumpkin Roll

3 eggs
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. pumpkin pie filling
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs for 3 minutes. Add sugar, pumpkin and lemon juice. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well. Place a sheet of wax paper covering a jelly roll pan. Spread the batter over the waxed paper. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 375-degree oven.
Using an old, clean dish towel, sprinkle powdered sugar generously on top of it. After the roll is cooled, gently turn it over onto the dish towel. Including the towel, roll up the cake starting at the narrow end and chill.

Filling:
1 c. powdered sugar
6 oz. cream cheese
4 T softened butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. finely chopped nuts (I use walnuts)

Cream filling together. After the cake has chilled for a bit, unroll it very carefully and fill with filling. Roll back up and sprinkle with more powdered sugar if desired. Chill and serve.

Salmon with Herb-Almond Crust

This has to be one of our favorite ways to make salmon. It is quite tasty! I think you'll love it.

2 6 oz. Salmon Fillets, skinned

3 T chopped almonds

2 T butter, softened

2 T fine dry bread crumbs

1 T grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tsp. snipped Fresh Basil 

1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic)

1/4 tps. freshly ground black pepper

Rinse fish; Pat dry. Measure thickness of fish; set aside. In a small bowl combine almonds, butter, bread crumbs, Parmesan, basil, lemon peel, garlic, and black pepper. Place fish on the greased rack of a broiler pan. Spoon nut mixture on top of fillets; spread slightly. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 4 to 6 minutes per 1/2 - inch thickness, or until fish flakes easily.

We like it best on the BBQ at about 425 degrees for 7 - 10 minutes. Again, depending upon thickness.

Chocolate Cupcakes with a Decadent Cream Cheese Frosting

I don't know which I like better on these cupcakes:  the frosting or the chocolate cake. The combination of the two is compelling.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. (Batter will be thin). Pour batter into cupcake liners. DO NOT FILL MORE THAN HALF FULL. This rises up high.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

These make a TON of cupcakes -- like 2 - 3 dozen or more.


Frosting:
(You may need to double the frosting or half the cupcake recipe to make all cupcakes frosted)


8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 cups confectioners's sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Whip all up together with a mixer and top your cupcakes.

Tropical Diet Coke

You'd be hard pressed to find a more loyal fan of diet coke than me. Back in college we were assigned to create a VNR (video news release) of an event or product. Guess who chose Diet Coke's 10-year anniversary? (Yes, I just dated myself). THIS GIRL!

While the professor hardly deemed it a newsworthy event, I bit the bullet and had headquarters send me all sorts of literature and created my video piece. Yeah, I was obsessed; maybe a little rebellious since I had to smuggle it on campus to drink during class.

Anyway, recently I made my way through a drive-thru soda stand and ordered a different concoction involving diet coke. And WHA-LA! I was suddenly transported to a beach with white sand hearing nothing but waves and Jamaican music. Never having been to such a place, I was there in my imagination. And I am every time I drink this now.

So, want to escape to that beach with me? Here's the recipe:

One bottle of diet coke (I'll let you decide if it's leaded or unleaded :) )
2-3 T coconut syrup (that's equivalent to about 2-3 pumps, too)
1-2 T Pineapple juice
Add to a glass of ice

Pretty simple. Oh, the little pleasures of life. Now, where are those little umbrellas to stick in the glass?

A Little Less Guilty New York Style Cheesecake

You know you want to enjoy your cheesecake without the overwhelming question, "Just how fattening is this?" Well, here's a recipe that reduces the fat a little bit while not taking out the taste. 

However, this dessert still causes contempt in our house leaving everyone counting servings just so someone doesn't get more than the other. 

Another drawback? It doesn't last long. I don't even think it hangs around as long as it took to bake.

For the Crust:

·      11-14 Graham Crackers

·      6 – 8 tablespoons melted butter butter for pan, room temperature
2  T sugar

·      1 pinch of sea salt 

For the Cheesecake

·      4 eight-ounce packages Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

·      1 1/3 cups sugar


·      1/4 cup all-purpose flour


·      1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature


·      1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 


·      3 large eggs, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter the sides and bottom of a 10-inch springform pan.

3. Wrap the exterior of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.

4. To make the crust, process the graham crackers in a food processor until it's very fine and have no chunks. Now you can combine the crumbs, the melted butter, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.

5. Transfer the mixture to the pan and pat it into a flat layer using the bottom of a glass or meat pounder to make it even.

6. Put the springform pan in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Then place it on a baking sheet and bake until the crust is firm, for about 15 minutes. Let the pan cool completely. 

7. Now beat Philadelphia cream cheese in a large bowl, on medium speed until well combined and fluffy, for about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides.

8. In another large bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour. Set your mixer on low speed and add the sugar mix to the cream cheese. Mix until well combined and smooth.

9 Now it is time to add the sour cream and vanilla. Mix again until smooth.

10. Add the 3 eggs, one at a time though, beating until they are just combined (do not overbeat)

11. Pour the cream cheese filling into your springform pan. Place the pan inside a large, roasting pan. 

12.  Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan. Pour in halfway up sides of springform pan. This will prevent the cake from cracking. 

13.Bake for 45 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue baking your New York Cheesecake until it is set but still slightly wobbly in the center, another 30 minutes. 

14.Turn off your oven but leave your cake in oven with the door halfway open for a good hour.

15. Now transfer the springform pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool completely. Refrigerate it uncovered overnight. 

Garnish with your favorite fruit, whipped topping or eat it plain.