Divine Mercy Sugar Cookies

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My daughter is doing Wreath II of Little Flowers this year and during our first meeting we focused on St. Faustina and the virtue Mercy. For a treat, I made these sugar cookies in a heart shape and frosted them with red and blue frosting, in the manner of the image of the Divine Mercy Jesus (except I put the colors on the wrong sides!).



If you need a treat for Little Flowers during Mercy month, these are a lovely, and kid-favorite, treat. These would also be a tasty tea-time treat or dessert for Divine Mercy Sunday or the Feast of St. Faustina on October 5.


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Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti

A girlfriend requested a recipe from me this week, which made me realize I had never posted it here. I can't imagine how I could have forgotten to post about these yummy cookies.

We love biscotti in my house -- we're big dunkers and biscottis are just begging to be dunked. We're also big cinnamon toast eaters, so these bisciotti were just made for us. The recipe is so simple -- easier than cookies, truly. The flavor is so sweet and cinnamony, and the texture crunchy, but not rock hard. Yum! These are the perfect cookie for a fine, cool, autumn day -- if it would ever cool down around here.

The recipe came from Joy the Baker. I pretty much followed the recipe except I made my logs larger (making two instead of four) and I kept an eye on them while they were baking and pulled them out early in the first bake -- before they got too dark.

Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti
about 24 cookies

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2 cups flour

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 cup granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 t. vanilla

For Topping:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 beaten egg (for brushing biscotti before baking)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and arrange two baking racks in the upper portion of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Also whisk together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the down and beat in the egg followed by the egg yolk. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter all at once. With the mixer or just with a spatula, bring all of the ingredients together until a somewhat stiff dough is formed.

Divide the dough in two and put each half on a baking sheet. Shape each half of dough into a log, about 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide, flattening slightly. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle very generously with cinnamon sugar. Bake the two sheets on two different racks in the oven for 20 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheets for even baking and bake for 20-25 more minutes until golden and firm to the touch (mine were starting to get too dark during the second half of the first bake, so I pulled them out early).

Remove from the oven but keep the oven on. Let biscotti cool until able to handle. Using a serrated knife, cut logs into 1/2-inch wide diagonal slices. Place biscotti cut side down on baking sheet and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Bake again until pale golden, about 10-15 minutes.

Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Cutlery

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At the moment, I am avoiding doing the dishes. I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, and then again this morning, and after running around all day, I came home to find a dishwasher full of dirty dishes (you don't ever do that, do you?). Ugh. Now the dinner dishes await me.

Why not blog instead?

I have been meaning to have a chat with you about cutlery. Sometime during the summer I ran across a survey on a favorite food blog (can't remember now which one) and the question that was posed was (more or less): Which kitchen item could you not live without? a) food processor, b) Kitchen Aid mixer, c) knives, d) immersion blender. Prior to receiving a really nice knife from my brother this year for my birthday I would probably have said b) Kitchen Aid mixer. But after using a really good quality knife for several months, I truly can not imagine living without it. While I use my mixer almost every day, and I use the food processor at least once a week, I absolutely use my knife at least once a day and often much more. I can not imagine making a meal without it. If you do not currently have one really good knife, please put it on your Christmas list. You deserve it.

The knife my brother bought me is a 7-inch Henckels Santoku (isn't he a nice brother?). It was not cheap, but then it's not as expensive as good knives can be. It fits my hand well, and I have small hands, so it would likely fit most women's hands. It's very sharp, and I sharpen it about once a week (we'll talk sharpeners in a minute). I have, a few times, cut myself on the lower edge (the sharp part sort of comes around the bottom and I've just nicked myself). But, by and large (and I know you've heard this before) you are less likely to cut yourself with a really sharp knife than a dull one. Partly that's because you are more careful. But mostly it's because you don't have to work so hard to cut. This knife slices onions like a dream, and cuts through tomatoes like butter. It has no trouble with tough skins, like those you find on peppers, and it's long enough that I can cut across a couple of zucchinis at once and cutting potatoes or other large objects is never a problem.

While this magnetic strip is not a necessity in the kitchen, I love the space it has freed in my drawer. Plus the kids don't accidentally reach in and grab something sharp.

Now, the cutting board is another issue. I used to use glass and acrylic, but I suspect I was dulling my knives by using them. My husband bought me a wooden cutting board (pictured above and sort of like this one) for my birthday (it was quite the kitchen birthday) and it's such a great kitchen tool -- I never even put it away. It's large -- 16 x 20 -- and I just leave it on the island all the time. It has little rubber grippers at the corners, so it doesn't slide around. I do have a "veggies only" rule for the wood, however. I don't use it for meat at all -- not even cooked meat. I have a couple of smaller wooden boards that I use exclusively for bread, too.

The last item I want to chat about is a knife sharpener. Most cooks' issues with knives are related to sharpening. Even a good knife gets dull and needs sharpened (I sharpen about once a week). My brother (he really knows his knives) recommended this AccuSharp knife sharpener and for the price (less than $10 on Amazon) you'll never have to buy another sharpener. Just four or five swipes along the edge and it's sharp as new. It will take care of even old knives (just follow the directions).

Dinner prep used to be a pain for me. I would dread chopping onions, celery, peppers, potatoes, but now it takes me a fraction of the time and it's a pleasurable chore. Of course, a nice glass of red while I'm chopping never hurts either.

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Roasted Veggie Sandwich

One night a month or so ago, Doug and I were wasting time in front of the television and Sam the Cooking Guy was on. Have you ever seen him? I must say he amuses me. He loves food and he's not afraid to say so.

Anyway, he was having a veggie night and this sandwich (or something very much like this sandwich) was being featured. I made the comment that I would love this sandwich, if only the people I live with would eat veggies. My husband responded that he absolutely would eat this sandwich, and so I said, "You're on." The following Saturday I bought yummy veggies on my Saturday morning grocery shop, as well as a big loaf of Orlando Ciabatta. Yum.

Doug offered to grill the veggies outdoors, but you could also put them on a grill pan on the stove. I'll do that during the winter. I threw the ingredients for a pesto in the processor and when the veggies were done, it all came together in just minutes. All-in-all it was started and finished within 30 minutes. This would be a great dish for a weekend tailgate party -- especially if you have a veggie eater in your crowd. All of my kids ate it, and Joshua, who is a senior in high school, was so taken by this sandwich that when he saw this picture he said, "Oh, mom, when can we have those again?" Big success!

You can vary the veggies according to what you like; I'm listing those that I used. Also, my pesto is a nut-less version, but feel free to add toasted pine nuts or even toasted walnuts to pump yours up. I could not find the recipe on Sam's website, so I had to work from the memory of the show.

Roasted Veggie Sandwich
serves 4-6 depending on size of ciabatta

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1 large loaf ciabatta bread, sliced horizontally and brushed with olive oil
1 medium yellow squash (sliced in about 1/8-inch slices)
1 medium zucchini (sliced in about 1/8-inch slices)
1 red pepper, seeded and sliced in 1/4-inch slices
1 red onion, sliced
olive oil
1 bunch fresh basil, washed and dried
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
salt to taste

Place basil and garlic in bowl of food processor. Process until chopped. Add olive oil through feed tube in a slow drizzle, processing until basil and garlic is pureed, adding only enough olive oil to keep it wet. Add Parmesan cheese, process and then add more olive oil as needed to keep pesto wet (you don't want a paste, you want it just slightly runny). Taste and salt as needed.

Preheat grill or grill pan on stove. Place vegetable slices in a bowl and coat with olive oil (you might want to individually coat onion slices so they stay together). Place vegetable slices on grill or grill pan and grill until tender and slightly charred in appearance. When vegetables are done remove to a platter and cover with foil. Grill bread on cut sides, and on outside if desired. When bread is toasted layer vegetables evenly over bottom piece. Spread pesto on top piece and then sandwich them together. Cut in squares or slice loaf crosswise. Serve immediately.

Cheese and Guinness Spread

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Last weekend I was looking for a few recipes to make for a homemade tailgate party. It's college football season in Buckeye territory and at least a part of each Saturday is usually spent watching a game on the TV. Last Saturday the game was at 3:30 p.m. and so the game time overlapped with supper time, thus dinner was tailgate party fare.

My husband enjoys Guinness beer (his preference is for a Black and Tan) and so I knew he would like this spread. Served with carrot and zucchini chips, as well as some whole wheat crackers, I enjoyed this spread, as did the kids. The flavor of the beer is present, but not overpowering. I modified the recipe, found at myrecipes.com, just a bit.

Cheese and Guinness Spread

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4 T. unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 ounces Guinness stout
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 t. caraway seeds
1/2 t. paprika
Salt and pepper

Assorted crackers and crudités

In a small skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add shallot and sauté until soft, 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook for 2 minutes longer. Transfer to a food processor and let cool.

Add Guinness, cheeses, caraway and paprika to food processor and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a serving bowl, cover and chill for at least 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Serve with crackers and crudités.

Source: modified from myrecipes.com

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Chocolate Sorrow Cake

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Yesterday we remembered Our Blessed Mother on her feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. It has become a tradition to make a heart-shaped cake with seven "swords" depicting the seven sorrows that pierced the heart of Our Lord's mother. In the past I have used pretzel sticks for swords. This year I cut swords from craft sticks (aka Popsicle sticks, um, unused). The cake is easy to put together by making one round cake and one square (this method). I frosted it with vanilla buttercream frosting, ignoring my husband's pleas for chocolate frosting because, I argued, Our Blessed Mother's heart was pure white -- besides the cake was chocolate. The cake was a Chocolate Sour Cream cake. It's a moist and spongy cake with rich chocolate flavor. I used low-fat sour cream, so the end result is not a high-fat cake, though you definitely get a rich flavor and moist texture. The recipe for the cake came from the Pillsbury Complete Cookbook.

Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
serves 12 printer version

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
1 cup water
3/4 c. sour cream (I use low-fat)
1/4 c. shortening
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans and line bottom with wax paper (or for the Our Lady of Sorrows cake a round and a square).

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and baking powder; mix well.

In a large bowl, combine water, sour cream, shortening, vanilla, eggs and chocolate; blend well. Add dry ingredients; blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Pour batter into greased, floured and lined pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans.

Cool completely before frosting.

Source: Pillsbury Complete Cookbook
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A Peach of a Blueberry Pie...

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...Blueberry Peach Crumble Pie to be precise. For the feast of Our Blessed Mother's nativity, we celebrated with pie...the usual birthday dessert in our house. And because it was Our Blessed Mother's birthday, I chose to make a blueberry pie, with a couple of peaches added for extra yum, and a crumble topping because it's my favorite.

Blueberry Peach Crumble Pie
serves 6-8

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2 cups blueberries rinsed and patted dry
two large peaches, peeled and diced
3/4 c. sugar (if fruit is very sweet cut this measure back to 1/2 cup)
3 T. flour
1 T. fresh, strained lemon juice
1/8 t. salt
Single pie crust (if you need a crust recipe, you can find the one I use here)

Crumble

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/2 cup flour
4 T. butter



Prepare pie pan with bottom crust.

Mix the fruit, sugar, flour, lemon juice and salt (do this gently with your hands to prevent breaking the berries). Place in pie crust.

Crumble: Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour and spices. Cut in the butter until crumbly and sprinkle on top of the fruit.

Bake the pie at 375 degrees F in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes. Place a baking sheet under pie. Bake until thick juices bubble in the middle, about 30 minutes longer.

Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookies

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My mother makes the best Chocolate Chip Cookies. I bet your mom does, too. Because no matter what chocolate chip cookie you eat, your mom's always tastes best -- it's what you know best, right?

Well, I've made a lot of chocolate chippers in my day, but I just can't beat my mother's. Hers are crisp and rich and have that je ne sais pas that makes them hers. Well, actually, I do know what that je ne sais pas is (so I guess it's not so unknown) -- dark brown sugar and Imperial margarine. You may think those don't seem like such unusual ingredients, but I have tried this recipe forwards and backwards and those two ingredients provide the je ne sais pas. If you don't like your chocolate chippers crisp, this may not be the cookie for you, but I can tell you that you can substitute 1/2 Crisco and half butter for the margarine and you'll get a softer cookie, without the crisp middle.

Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 36-48 depending on scoop size

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2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
2 sticks Imperial brand margarine (1 c. total)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
12 oz . chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, but yummy)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream margarine and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat just until well combined. Add chocolate chips and nuts, if desired and stir until well mixed. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls (or use a medium cookie scoop) onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

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Saturday Night Vidalia Onion

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This recipe's popularity in my house never fails to make me laugh. These children, who complain about little bits of onion in so many dishes, fight over big chunks of sweet and savory onion to eat with their ground steak burgers. Go figure!

This recipe is from Paula Deen, and I always prepare them with ground steak burgers. They make what is, in essence, a burger without a bun, a special treat. Granted the meat is usually a cut higher than hamburger, like ground sirloin, but really the onion is what makes it special. A bite of burger with a bit of onion -- YUM! It's also just as easy as can be -- a few minutes of prep and about an hour cooking and you're done. You can make these on the grill, and they are delish if the grill gets them a little charred on the inside, but I don't usually want to babysit the grill for that long, so I mostly use the oven. If you don't want to make five onions, just remember one tablespoon butter and one boullion cube (or one teaspoon beef base) for each onion.

Saturday Night Vidalia Onion
serves five

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5 large Vidalia onions or comparable sweet onion
5 beef bouillon cubes (or 5 t. beef base)
5 tablespoons butter
pepper, to taste

Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill (or preheat oven to 350 degrees F).

Trim a slice from the top of each onion, and peel the onion without cutting off the root end. With a potato peeler, cut a small cone-shaped section from the center of the onion. Cut the onions into quarters from the top down, stopping within a half inch of the root end.

Place a bouillon cube (or beef base) in the center, slip slivers of butter in between the sections and sprinkle with pepper. Wrap each onion in a double thickness of heavy-duty foil.

Place the foil-wrapped onions directly onto the hot coals and cook for 45 minutes, turning every so often. These can also be baked in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 minutes. Serve in individual bowls because the onions produce a lot of broth, which tastes like French onion soup.

Source: modified from the Food Network

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Roasted Garlic Potatoes

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O.k., o.k., I know I said I'm not a big fan over at Pioneer Woman Cooks, and here I am posting the second recipe from there in a matter of just a few weeks. I guess I just don't check in there often enough, or maybe I just got lucky with these two recipes. I guess I shouldn't judge unfairly. ;-)

My family looooved these potatoes. I actually thought they were pretty o.k., but my kids looooved them. So did my husband. So I guess they were better than I gave them credit for. They certainly were easy to make. I prepared them with some grilled steak burgers and Saturday Night Vidalia Onions (recipe to come) and there were yums all around the table -- even from my pickest eater, my college boy. I admit the onions and garlic sound like too much for one night -- but both had very mild flavors, so it was all good.

I altered the recipe only in the amount of garlic I used -- I just didn't think our stomachs could handle 5 heads. We're kind of touchy that way with garlic. One head was plenty -- I scattered them around instead of leaving them whole -- so I'll stick with one for the future. But, please use more if you like roasted garlic. Oh, I also used regular red potatoes instead of new (hence the changed name from Roasted Garlic & New Potatoes) -- I just diced them small enough to equal the size of a quartered new potato.

Roasted Garlic Potatoes
serves 6

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20 whole small to medium new potatoes (or about 6 to 8 medium to large red potatoes)
1 head garlic, unpeeled and separated (or more to taste)
1/3 cup olive oil (to 1/2 Cup)
1/3 cup dry white wine (to 1/2 Cup)
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Quarter new potatoes (or dice red potatoes in a 1-inch dice) and set on a large rimmed baking sheet. Separate head of garlic and arrange cloves throughout the potatoes. Drizzle olive oil over the garlic and all over potatoes; do the same with the wine.

Generously season the potatoes and garlic with salt and pepper. Toss potatoes to coat. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes until nice and golden.

Source: Pioneer Woman Cooks

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Fried Green Tomatoes

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If you have never grown your own tomatoes, you might never have tasted the wonderful treat known as Fried Green Tomatoes (although you can get them at some restaurants south of the Mason Dixon line). When the summer growing season slows down around the end of September and the vines are full of green tomatoes, but the sun is not quite warm enough to turn them red, Fried Green Tomatoes are just what you want.

I recently found some at my Farmer's Market and snatched up three of them for these yummy treats. My husband loves Fried Green Tomatoes and he was so happy to see those big fat green tomatoes sitting on my cutting board. Fried Green Tomatoes are crispy and tangy, and the kids and I dipped them in some Ranch dressing, but my husband enjoyed them just as is. The recipe is modified from the one found at Simply Recipes. My tomatoes were extra large so I had to up the quantities of cornmeal and flour for my three tomatoes, so the quantities shown here are approximations. You may need more or less. I also used buttermilk instead of regular milk -- I highly recommend it.

Fried Green Tomatoes

serves 4-6 depending on size of tomatoes

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3 medium, firm green tomatoes
1/2 to 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 to 1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs beaten with a few tablespoons water
1 cup cornmeal cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil mixed with 1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
dash cayenne pepper

Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt and pepper. Let tomato slices stand for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place flour mixed with cayenne pepper, buttermilk, eggs, and cornmeal in separate shallow dishes.

Heat half of the oil in a skillet on medium high heat.

Blot tomatoes dry with paper towels. Dip tomato slices in buttermilk, then flour, then eggs, then cornmeal.

Fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 4-6 minutes on each side or until brown.

As you cook the rest of the tomatoes, add oil as needed. Remove from oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep hot in a warm oven until ready to serve. Serve with cold Ranch dressing if desired.

Source: modified from Simply Recipes
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