This recipe is in the current issue of People magazine. It would be easy to miss it if you’re not looking for a homemade baby food recipe. I’m not, in case you’re wondering. But I love pears and I love cinnamon. This just seems so easy and like it would be a wonderful treat for any age.
The recipe comes from “celebrity chef and food network regular Donatella Arpaia” according to the magazine. Enjoy!
Roasted Pear
1 Bartlett pear, peeled Cinnamon Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove thin slice from bottom of pear; sprinkle with cinnamon.
Please pear in lightly greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake 35 minutes or until tender when pierced with wooden pick. (I use wooden toothpicks.) Cool to room temperature. Scoop fruit straight from pear to serve.
When I first began cooking, I stressed over separating the egg yolks from the egg whites. It seems silly now. I've been doing it more years than I care to admit and it comes naturally. But back then, it was sometimes a source of aggravation. Has anyone else ever had to use a spoon to get egg yolk out of the whites? And then you have to worry if the egg whites will do what they're supposed to do because of the egg yolk.
This cake sounds fascinating. It comes from another one of those old newspaper clippings, so I don't know the who or the where. I do recommend making sure the eggs are room temperature. Egg whites just do better that way when you go to beat them into stiff peaks.
Graham Cracker Cake
2 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 4 large eggs, separated 36 graham crackers, crushed to crumbs 2 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup milk
Blend sugar and vegetable oil; add egg yolks.
Mix Graham cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder together. Add dry mixture alternately with mix.
Beat egg whites until stuff, then fold into cake batter.
Pour into three 8-inch round greased and floured cake pans.
This comes from an old, yellowed newspaper clipping. I have no idea which newspaper. It does have a note saying it is a favorite contest winner for Oct. 15 (no year listed) for Betty Current. That’s what I don’t know.
That I do know is that in the Deep South -- and much of the country this year -- it is really hot and this sounds like just the thing for a summer afternoon treat!
Frozen Lemon Custard Dessert
1 package honey graham crackers (11 double crackers), crushed (1 ½ to 2 cups; set aside 2 tablespoons crumbs for garnish) ¼ cup sugar or 1 to 2 packets sugar substitute ¼ cup chopped pecans ¼ cup melted butter or margarine 1 quart vanilla ice cream 2 pints lemon custard frozen yogurt Grated rind of 3 lemons Raspberries or raspberry sauce
While preparing the crust, remove ice cream and frozen yogurt from freezer and let it soften.
Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, pecans and melted margarine. Mix and pat into the bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish.
Combine ice cream and frozen yogurt. Mix with lemon rind. Spread on top of crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs and return to freezer until frozen.
Remove from freezer 15 to 20 minutes before serving and let stand at room temperature. Slice in 2-inch squares and serve with raspberry sauce or pureed raspberries sweetened to taste with sugar substitute. Garnish with lemon slices and mint leaves, if desired.
I’ve never tried Butter Flavored Crisco, though I swear by the regular white Crisco. It’s a must item for every kitchen -- at least one you plan to use for baking. This recipe is enough to make me purchase some Butter Flavored Crisco just because the cookies sound so wonderful. This recipe came from an advertisement for, you guessed it, Crisco.
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
¾ cup Butter Flavor Crisco 1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 egg 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon baking soda 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup large pecan pieces NOTE: If nuts are omitted, use 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream Crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Blend until creamy. Blend in egg.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture, gradually. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop rounded tablespoonfuls (about 2 measuring tablespoons) of dough 3-inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies (they will look light and moist -- DO NOT OVERBAKE), 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies.
Cook on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to cooling rach.
This sweet little clipping is apparently from an advertisement for Sargento cheese. I say that because it’s got their brand of cheese in it. Hey, many wonderful recipes are created by the folks who are promoting their products. The “lite” caught me. The tuna almost stopped me. I like tuna but it just seemed odd. What do you think?
Lite ‘N Easy Cheese Dip
1 cup light mayonnaise 1 cup low-fat plain yogurt 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 8-oz. package Sargento Fancy Mild Shredded Cheddar Cheese 1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well-drained 1 6 ½ oz. can chunk light tuna in water, drained 2 tablespoons chopped pimento, optional
In medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, yogurt and mustard. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.
This recipe was in an October 2011 issue of Family Circle. I was thrilled to get it because at the time our apple tree was producing more apples than I could possibly keep up with.
Apple Raisin Bars
2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt 2 cups packaged light-brown sugar 2 eggs ½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ½ cups diced Golden Delicious apple ¾ cup raisins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, blend together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla for 3 minutes or until smooth.
Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture; mix for 2 minutes or until just incorporated. Stir in diced apples and raisins and spread into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cook completely before cutting into bars and serving.
Some pies are made to be savored. This would be one of them. Another great recipe from the folks at Pillsbury. I also love the feedback from other cooks. One suggested using extra creamy Cool Whip instead of the whipping cream. Another used strawberries instead of raspberries and found it to be wonderful. For me, anything with white chocolate is wonderful!
White Chocolate Raspberry Pie
1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
5 oz white chocolate baking squares
3 tablespoons milk
5 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
3 cups fresh raspberries
Heat oven to 450°F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell, using 9-inch glass pie plate. Cool completely.
In microwavable bowl, microwave 4 squares of the white chocolate and the milk uncovered on Medium about 2 minutes or until almost melted. Stir until melted. Cool to room temperature.
In small bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange peel with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Beat in white chocolate mixture. Fold whipped cream into white chocolate mixture. Spread in bottom of cooled baked shell. Arrange raspberries on filling.
Melt remaining square of white chocolate; drizzle over pie. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until set. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.
Expert Tips
White chocolate is made of a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin and vanilla. Check to see if the label states it contains cocoa butter; if not, it's not white chocolate
