Poached Pears with Caramelized Raspberry Sauce

I just wanted to post this real quick, as it used to be a regular around here whenever I did special or fancy dinners (Thanksgiving or New Years especially), but I haven't made it in years and years.  I made it for Easter this past week and fell in love with it all over again. 
It's a treat for a special, sweet fruit side dish, or perfect for a dessert.

And for the first time, because I actually have these things as staples in my kitchen now -I guess I've "matured" as a cook?- as opposed to when we were first married and I used to make this, I used a real vanilla bean and actual cinnamon sticks, and OH MY GOODNESS.  The difference was amazing.  Don't get me wrong, using vanilla extract and ground cinnamon certainly produces a perfectly yummy sauce... it's just that I was actually impressed with the difference this time.  It just took it beyond the Mmmm, to the Mmmmmmmmm. :)

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water, champagne, or dry white or red wine 
(I've used champagne once, water every other time.  I'm happy with water)
1/2 vanilla bean, split down the middle, or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
(oops, I used a whole bean this last time.  oh well, it was extra yummy!)
1 cinnamon stick
8 large firm-ripe Bosc or Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and left whole with the stem on 
(I always go ahead and core them... usually cutting them into halves as well. Whole would just make for a prettier, fancy presentation)
1 cup frozen raspberries

-In large saucepan, deep enough so pears can stand up when covered, mix sugar, water, vanilla and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil over high heat.

-Reduce heat to low and add pears, standing up. Cover pot and let simmer about 30 min, gently turning the pears once or twice to make sure they're coated with the sugar syrup.  Pears are done when they feel tender throughout when tested with a small, sharp knife. Remove from heat.

-Add frozen berries to the sauce, cover and let sit 5 minutes.

-Remove the pears and berries with slotted spoon and place in serving dish or deep plate.  Strain the syrup and pour over the tops of the pears, let cool and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

chocolate

First a recipe for chocolate milk. Don't worry if you're not a milk lover.... there's The Most Awesome Brownie recipe in the second half of this post :)

Savannah loves chocolate milk. I think she inherited that from my mom. Who happened to be in town last week. What better time to try my first giant batch of homemade chocolate milk?

Homemade Chocolate Milk:

4 cups instant powdered milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup non-dairy creamer (optional)
2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

To make instant cocoa mix - Combine ingredients and store until ready to use. Add 1/3 cup mix to 1 1/2 cups hot water.

To make chocolate milk - Mix together 11 cups of water, powdered milk, sugar, cocoa, creamer, vanilla and salt in a medium saucepan with a wire whisk. Heat on medium until warm, just before boiling. Don't let the mixture boil or you'll scald the milk. Pour into a gallon sized container and chill in the refrigerator. Mix before serving each time as the mixture will settle.

Yum!

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These brownies are taken from Swistle's love of all things brownie and her brilliant experimentation into Chocolate-MINT brownie land. I made these yesterday for dessert for our small group. These were actually my first ever attempt at from-scratch brownies. I personally have been more disappointed in other's homemade brownies than in most boxed brownie mixes, so I've never thought to try any of my own. It's sure easy to throw oil and eggs into the mix and pop it into the oven, and if they come out moist, yummy and just the right chocolatey, why mess with a good thing?? So when I saw Swistle's latest recipe, I thought, Yum! That'd be easy to throw on top of the next brownie mix I shake out of the box!
I honestly don't know why I ended up making the whole homemade brownie part yesterday, but it must have been divine intervention (and really, they were almost just as easy as a mix!), because they are So Much Better.
Too Much Better actually, because I've had three (small) helpings for breakfast already today. (Is it even possible these are better the next day? Because I'm thinking they just might be)

Proof that these are Awesome (with a capital A):
The last batch of brownies I made lasted over a week on our kitchen counter. This is after approximately 18 hours with this batch in our house....

The Brownies!!

1) Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 5 squares (5 ounces) of unsweetened baking chocolate in a large saucepan.
2) As soon as it's thoroughly melted, remove from heat and add
-2 cups of sugar
-3 eggs( beat them ahead of time and add slowly while stirring so you don't cook the eggs)
-1 cup of flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp peppermint extract (I actually didn't have any peppermint extract, but I had peppermint schnapps so I used that!)(it would probably be fine to omit it too?)

3) Stir just until combined and then pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.

4) Remove from oven and immediately pour mint chocolate chips or Andes baking chips over the top as evenly as you can. You can just let them sit and cool, but I personally popped them back in the oven for just a minute or two to be sure they got all nice and melty before they started cooling.

Cut them after five or ten minutes (it's really too early to cut them, -wear oven mitts!- but it's easier now than when the chocolate topping is hard and breaks up). Then let them fully cool. This seems to take a loooong time. I ended up putting mine in the fridge to cool and harden.

Important!! Bake these only if you're expecting people to help you eat them (i.e. before a party, potluck or other gathering)... a whole pan of these sitting in your own kitchen for any length of time would be extremely dangerous!!

The Best Apple Crisp

We had new neighbors move in over the holidays, so to say hello, I made this last night to take over. It seemed fitting; warm and cozy in the midst of this cold snap we've been having.
And I looove how my house smells with Apple Crisp in the oven!!

• About 6 medium apples, pared, peeled and sliced thinly.
• 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 3/4 butter, softened

Toss sliced apples with 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg.
Spread into a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine remaining brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg with flour and oatmeal. Add butter and mix until it's a crumbly consistency. Sprinkle over apples.
Bake at 375* for about 30 minutes until the apples are tender and the topping is golden.

>I love the topping on this and I never think it's enough, so I actually use the six apples and mix with them what's called for, but then in making the topping I double it by half... so instead of 1 cup of brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, I'm using 1 1/2 cups, and so on.

New Years Day Dinner

Each year we have a big New Years Day Dinner Celebration with as many friends as we can gather. Also each year we try to create a menu of lucky foods full of good wishes for our friends for the coming year. There are many traditional and symbolic foods to celebrate the fresh start of a new year!

Here’s to a very Happy New Year… or at the very least a happy belly!
Our Menu this year:

Shrimp Martinis
(original recipe here, we just hang plain shrimp around the rim of a martini glass filled with cocktail sauce)
seafood stands for good luck and shrimp specifically signify long life and a year filled with laughter

Vegetables with Arugula Broth
(recipe here)
green foods like arugula and spinach mark growth and wealth
Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's in different countries for a simple reason — their green leaves look like folded money, and are thus symbolic of economic fortune. It's widely believed that the more greens one eats the larger one's fortune next year.

Grilled Pork Chops with Creamy Mashed Potatoes
(recipe here and I did these amazingly delicious make ahead potatoes found here)
pork is considered good luck and symbolizes progress or "moving forward" since the animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving. Also, traditionally, a family that owned a pig would be eating "high on the hog" for the whole year; thanks to its rich fat content, it signifies wealth and prosperity.

Honey Sweet Peas
Cornbread
the saying in the south goes "peas for pennies, greens for dollars, cornbread for gold"

*Sweets in general symbolize a “sweet year” and plenty of good fortune
Here are the desserts and extra wishes we had on our table*

Champaign Shooters
Champaign (just to celebrate!) poured over Lime sorbet which symbolizes a prosperous new beginning

Gingersnaps
(recipe here)
ginger reprsents a sharp mind and intelligence and cookies mean sweetness of nature and a good disposition

Chocolate Eclair Cake
(recipe here)
pudding is symbolic of the sweetness of life

Orange, Peanut and Red Candy Plates
oranges represent gold and wealth, peanuts are for the hope and luck for the birth of children in the coming year, and red candies traditionally stand for good health and good luck.

Homemade Applesauce

*Edited to Add* Sawyer loved it! He ate a whole big bowl at dinner and asked for more.

I love homemade applesauce. I love anything baked with apples, but that's beside the point!

Here's my favorite Crockpot Applesauce recipe:
8-10 apples, peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced through food processor
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Put water and apples in slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours.
Add brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for 30 minutes longer.
Simple as that.
Yummy.

Here's also another version I have sitting in my cookbook along side this one. I have never tried it because I love the basic version so much, but doesn't this sound good??...
Caramel Applesauce
31/2 lbs of Granny Smith Apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 jar of caramel topping sauce
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Cook at on low for 8 hours.

Carrot Cake Recipe

Since Sawyer is so anti-vegetable, I'm trying to sneak it in other places. We had carrot cake at my sister's house for her birthday and Sawyer devoured it. I'm going to try out a few recipes of healthier versions so I can use it more as a snack cake than a dessert for the kids. Here's my first attempt. I put in a ton of carrot and a ton of apple. And no walnuts. I hate nuts.

Carrot Cake Recipe

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups grated peeled apples
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

Mix together the sugar, oil and eggs until the mixture is slightly thickened. Sift the flours together with the soda, salt and cinnamon.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Add the carrots, apples, raisins and walnuts. Stir until evenly mixed.

Bake in a greased and floured pan, 9"x13"x2" or a bundt type pan or two round cake pans. Bake at 350ºF for 35-40 minutes if using the 13" long pan. 30-35 minutes for round and 40-45 for bundt.

Always check for doneness by piercing the center of the cake with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's done.

Let the cake cool and ice with the cream cheese icing below.

I, however didn't ice it... I made the bundt cake and just slice and hand it out. So far so good. It really is moist and yummy! I don't think this one will be around for long!

Variation:

• Replace the grated apple with an equal amount of crushed pineapple that has been well drained. It adds a wonderful bit of tropical flavor to the cake and blends well with the carrots and raisins.

Cream Cheese Icing

4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar

Blend all together and spread over cooled cake.

If you are making a layered carrot cake in the round pans and want to put some icing between the layers, double this recipe to make sure you have enough.


Variation:

• If you want to drizzle the icing on a bundt style cake you will need to make it thinner. Do this by adding warm water to the icing a few drops at a time until it is the right consistency. Don't add too much water at one time. It's easier to add a bit more than try to fix runny icing.

Tonight We're Taking Dinner Out

Well, my menu was sort of thrown for a loop this past week, as I was really sick on Thursday and not really up to par on Friday and Ryan didn't want to stick to the menu and cook meals that the kids probably wouldn't even eat.
Friday we had planned on taking dinner to the Malones and visit with them and the new baby, but I didn't want to go near Yuri not being too sure about my stomach. So we're headed over there this evening and we're taking along my favorite Salmon Baked in Foil, along with an Apple and Pear Salad, some fresh baked bread, and for dessert... Creamy Lemon Squares. These are my absolute favorite... I could eat them all summer long. I found the recipe at the very beginning of the summer after searching high and low for a good lemon bar recipe. I love lemon bars, but I'm pretty picky about them. That is to say, I'll eat just about all of them, but I love the creamy ones, more like cheesecake than the ones that are too gel-ly. These are perfect! And I love that the crust is made of Nilla Wafers instead of Graham Crackers... very yummy! If you like lemon, give 'em a try.