Romancing The Chocolate: Cookies: Vanilla Rich Chocolate Chip: From Denny: This is basically your standard chocolate chip recipe but with the difference of lots of extra vanilla extract to punch up the intensity. They should probably rename these cookies to Intense Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies.
This recipe is from McCormick, the company we usually think of for spices. Turns out they have quite an extensive recipe collection!
These cookies use light brown sugar along with white sugar. We like dark brown sugar at our house and reduce the white sugar by half. But hey, we are living in Louisiana where we like the molasses taste of dark brown sugar.
We bake and cook a lot with the cane syrup produced here. Steen's cane syrup is a lot like black strap molasses in that it is an intense taste but much sweeter, just perfect for baking or making an awesome barbecue sauce. I find it a bit too strong to pour onto pancakes. Of course, my Cajun husband thinks it's awesome on pancakes and waffles. :)
Chunks of tasty walnuts are perfect with intense chocolate. And remember that peppermint extract you bought for the Christmas holidays and haven't managed to use up yet? This is a winner of a recipe to make good use of it. Yeah, had some peppermint extract languishing in the back of my pantry too. I'm just saying... :)
This recipe reminded me of those delicious Hershey's mint miniatures that are almost completely disappeared from the holiday season. And I was craving a chocolate-mint combination and then I happened upon this little gem of a recipe. Enjoy!
I've been ordering from them since Time began it seems. Gevalia is from Sweden where folks drink a ridiculous amount of coffee. We thought Americans were addicted. These guys make us look like amateurs! :)
When I was up on the site ordering some new items today I noticed they started putting up some recipes. You know me; I've got to collect them for you and me to try.
From Denny: Pears come in season during the Christmas holidays and are plentiful. But have you thought about what to do with them beyond enjoying them fresh or giving as holiday gifts?
Our local newspaper here in Louisiana included some recipes from USA Pears, so, of course, you know I just had to go explore their site. The site is set up to promote the pear growers' product and awareness of the fruit. Since I've been thinking about setting up my own organic orchards I've been visiting a lot of sites like this one.
While their recipe section is not extensive it has some gems like the following recipe well suited for the holiday table when you want something special to wow the family or your guests. If, you are like me, you like to try new recipes or variations on a popular theme - like baked pears. A nice touch is the lemon chamomile sauce that snuggles up to these pears.
Check out a simple recipe that is always a bit hit with family and friends during the holiday season.
From Denny: Chef Paul Deen always laughs and has fun whenever she cooks. In this video her husband is helping on The Today Show kitchen set, preparing the cola basted ham. It's a traditional ham that Paul makes at her restaurant every year at Thanksgiving as it is a Southern favorite.
Basically, all you have to do is get a cooked ham, pour cola on it, stud it with whole cloves and pineapple slices (anchor with toothpicks), then place brown sugar on top and bake. Make sure to use your baster brush while it's baking to mop up the cola and brown sugar as it mixes with the ham fat and re-baste the ham. Talk about both simple to make and very delicious. It's no wonder this simple recipe has survived the test of time! :)
Paula's recipe for a cranberry and cream cheese sauce is a beautiful presentation as it is a layered look of red and white for the holidays. Adding the cream cheese also tones down the tartness of the cranberry taste.
1 18-pound cured ham
2 (12-ounce) cans cola
Canned pineapple rings
Brown sugar
Maraschino cherries
Cloves
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place ham in a shallow roasting pan. Baste the ham with cola. Using toothpicks, stick some pineapple rings on the ham, about 4 or 5 rings.
Sprinkle some brown sugar on the rings. With toothpicks, place a cherry in each pineapple ring hole and then stick some cloves in the rings. Cover the ham with foil. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes per pound of ham, or until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F. Baste with cola about every 30 minutes during cooking.
Mrs. Hoggle's stuffed cranberry sauce
From: Chef Paula Deen
Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 16-ounce can jellied cranberry sauce, chilled
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Mix cream cheese and mayonnaise until creamy — it needs to be spreadable.
Add pecans and mix well. Slice cranberry sauce in 1/4-inch rounds and spread cream cheese mixture on one round and place another round on top, sandwich style. Keep in fridge until time to serve.
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