Homemade Strawberry Jam

Here we go.  Another 2012 DIY project I was able to cross off my list this year.  Homemade Strawberry Jam.  This Summer, from Bountiful Baskets, I purchased a large amount of strawberries at a very cheap price.  I made jam, a topping for strawberry shortcakes which I froze, cut up and froze strawberries, kept for some for snacks and even made the cutest strawberry ice for fruity summer drinks.  This Strawberry Jam was a huge hit and my most favorite part about this particular recipe is that you do not use Pectin. It is completely natural!  I had never made jam before and after looking at several recipes, most of them containing pectin, I wondered how this one would gel or set, but it did and it tasted amazing!

This recipe was found at Scientficially Sweet.  Hop on over there and check out more delicious recipes!

The THREE Ingredients:

1 lb strawberries, quartered

3/4 cup granulated sugar (don't skimp on this)

2 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

How To Make It:

Place strawberries in a large sauce pot over medium-low heat.  Cover and cook gently until they begin to release their juices, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the sugar, increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until it has thickened, which takes between 10-15 minutes.  Using a potato masher, break down the large pieces of fruit, leaving it a little chunky.  Stir in your freshly squeezed lemon juice (love any excuse to use my grandma's glass juicer) and continue to boil gently until very thick and syrupy (takes about 15-20 minutes).  Be sure to stir often! You will know that the mixture is thick enough when you are able to see the bottom of the pot as you stir and it sets up quickly when dripped onto a cold plate.  If using a candy thermometer, the mixture is done when the temp reaches 215 degrees F.

Immediately pour your jam into a sterilized mason jar and let it seal tightly.  Cool completely before storing in the refrigerator.  Pop an English muffin in the toaster and enjoy! 

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Pumpkin Butter

I had some left over pumpkin from our Thanksgiving dinner and with it I decided to make some pumpkin butter. If you love pumpkin, you will love this butter. It is great on french toast, bagels, wheat toast, in oatmeal, as a dipping sauce for your kids' apple slices or just straight out of the jar by itself. Actually, I think I will have some on a bagel when I am done with this post!

*of note: this makes a small amount, so the picture shown of what I made is a tripled recipe!

What you will need:
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 TBS peanut butter (almond butter would be tasty too. I even added a little extra to give it a more nut butter taste)
1 TBS brown sugar to sweeten
Pinch of salt
Optional: After tasting I decided to add
1/2 TBS of honey. But this is optional.

How to make it:
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix with a spoon. You can use a food processor if you wish. Once combined put in a jar for an store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Pumpkin Butter

Homemade Doggie Treats

December 1, 2012 and I realize I haven't accomplished half of my DYI projects I had set out to try this year. So, this morning I was determined to cross one off of my list. Homemade doggie treats for Roscoe. It was as if he knew they were for him as he was under my feet the entire time I was preparing them. This recipe yields approximately 40 treats. As
for Roscoe, the pickiest dog I've ever seen, he gives them two paws up!

What you need:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup oats (I used quick oats)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the peanut butter, honey, oil and chicken broth. Add in the dry ingredients and combine. Roll out the mixture onto a floured surface, about 1/4" thick. Using a cookie cutter (I used candy cane shaped, but little dog bones would be cute) cut out your treats and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Continue to re-roll scraps to get as many treats as possible. Bake for 15 minutes and cool on wire rack. Store in an air tight container.

Homemade Doggie Treats

Cranberry & Orange Relish

This cranberry relish is a perfect side dish for any holiday meal. I have been using this recipe for a couple of years and it has been a huge hit with my family. It is especially good on those left-over turkey sandwiches! Yum!

You will need:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup water
12 ounces cranberries
1 pinch cinnamon, ground
2 tablespoons orange zest
1/2 cup orange segments

1. Rinse cranberries with cold water. In a medium saucepan add sugar, orange juice, and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

2. Bring to a boil and add cranberries, cinnamon and orange zest. Return to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook until cranberries start to burst, about ten minutes.

3. Remove from heat and add orange segments.

4. Let cool to room temperature. Pour sauce into a serving bowl and chill in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Cranberry & Orange Relish

Southern Pecan Pie

Not just Pecan Pie, but SOUTHERN Pecan Pie. A family recipe I make for my boys every Thanksgiving and Christmas. We all know there's no cooking like grandma's cooking, but I try to use family recipes as much as I can as a reminder of home. No matter what state we live in, thanks to our dear families and deep traditions we at least have some good southern recipes to fill our bellies. We may now call Wyoming home, but Kentucky is forever in our hearts. Happy Thanksgiving!

What you need:
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
Dash of salt
3 eggs well beaten
1 cup pecan halves
1 tsp vanilla
1 unbaked pie shell

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and salt. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes longer.

Southern Pecan Pie

OXO Good Cookie Spatula

I recently signed up to participate in a Blogger Cookie Swap in conjunction with Cookies for Kids Cancer and to my surprise this week I received a OXO Good Cookie Spatula! I encourage all of my readers to checkout their page http://www.oxogoodcookies.com/cookie_spatula, and purchase one of these adorable cookie spatulas.  50% of the profits from the Spatula benefits Cookies for Kids' Cancer! And don't forget to register your upcoming bake sales at www.cookiesforkidscancer.org and mention OXO because they will match funds up to $100,000.

Happy Baking!

OXO Good Cookie Spatula

Candy Bar Popcorn

Four kids equals a ton of Halloween candy, so for dessert tonight I decided to put some of that candy to use and created some candy bar popcorn! We have such a variety of candy I mixed it up a bit and used milky way, snickers and twix. It should go great with an after dinner movie, if I can keep my hands out of it long enough to set! Yummo!

What you'll need:
1 bag of microwave popcorn
8-10 pieces of miniature candy bars
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used white chocolate)
Kosher salt to taste

Heat the peanut butter, honey, sugar and vanilla on the stove until smooth. Pour the mixture over the popped popcorn in a bowl and mix carefully with a spoon. Chop up the candy bars and add to the popcorn mixture. Pour the mixture out onto a wax paper lined pan. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over the mixture. Let sit until the chocolate hardens and then enjoy!

Candy Bar Popcorn

Squash Chips

School has started, football season is in full swing, office has switched to winter hours, and Fall is swiftly approaching. Routine, hoodies, baking and cheering for our favorite football teams...this is my favorite time of the year.

During our long weekend we have been Fall cleaning, reorganizing and enjoying this beautiful Wyoming weather. As for me, I am focusing on getting back into the routine of baking, meal planning and blogging!

Today I made Squash Chips. Healthy, tasty and due to the simple fact that they are chips, the kids of course love them.

Making the chips:
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Slice one large squash into thin slices and place on a baking sheet. Salt. Bake for one hour and then flip over chips. Bake for an additional hour or until crisp. Serve with your favorite dip.

Squash Chips

Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie

My life has been a crazy blur these past few weeks.  Big changes at work (positive, exciting changes I should add), track meets, school activities, last minute tax preparation...you get the picture.  What better way to relax on an activity-free Saturday than with a cookie that you mix and cook right in the skillet.  Spoon a scoop of ice cream on top, pass out some spoons, and dig in.  Talk about a yummy treat to indulge in after a long busy week.  Go ahead, you deserve it!

Recipe adapted from: Sophistimom

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What you need:
1 stick 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chunks


How to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in an 8 inch cast iron skillet set over medium-low heat. Next, stir in sugars and vanilla and remove from heat. Let the mixture rest until the pan is warm, but no longer very hot, (about 5 minutes).
2. Crack an egg onto the butter and sugar mixture, and use a fork to whisk it well into the mixture. Place flour, baking soda, and salt on top, and very carefully stir into the mixture until smooth and well-mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until starting to turn golden on the top and around the edges, but soft in the center. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Dark Chocolate Chunk Skillet Cookie

Double Oat Breakfast Cookies

Thumbing through recipe cards last weekend while looking for my chocolate chip muffin recipe, I came across a recipe card that a dear friend of mine from Texas gave me about a year ago.  I used to babysit her two little munchkins and most mornings they would arrive at my house with these delicious looking cookie bars.  I finally gave in and asked her what she was sending with them and if I could have the recipe because they looked amazingly delicious.  A few mornings later she arrived with the kids and the recipe for the breakfast cookies and I stuck it in a recipe book, completely forgetting about it.  I was so excited to come across this forgotten card of yumminess and decided to make the cookies instead of the planned muffins that morning for breakfast.  Just picture the surprised looks on my boys' faces when I called them to the table for breakfast and served cookies to them on their plates.  I can proudly say I got the mom award that day.

These cookies taste incredible, they are filling and best of all...freezable!  After we were done with breakfast I put the remaining cookies in a zip lock freezer bag and put them in the freezer.  These are wonderful to eat straight out of the freezer with a hot cup of coffee or cold glass of milk.

My favorite recipes are the handwritten ones given to me from friends....

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What you need:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup water

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla

1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup oats

1 cup chocolate chips  (or your favorite chip, white chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, etc.)

3 cups cheerios 

*the cookies pictured above were made with 1/2 cup peanut butter chips and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips)

How to make them:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large mixing bowl combine butter and peanut butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds.  Add sugar, baking soda and salt.  Beat until combined.  Beat in water, egg and vanilla for one minute.  Beat in flour, followed by the oatmeal until well combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and cheerios.  Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.  Let cool on pan for 3 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.  

A few substitution suggestions:

*3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup splenda 

*1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat 

Double Oat Breakfast Cookies