Putting Out Fires

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Food, food and more food.

I should know that it's not a good idea to promise certain things on my blog. I think to myself "this way, I KNOW I'll blog because I owe it to the blog to deliver what I've promised". Take my last post. I said I'd post certain recipes. Then every time I had a second to blog, it was too overwhelming because I knew I had THREE recipes to come up with pictures for, and to type into the little bloggy window thingy here.

Right now I have pumpkin chocolate chip bread in the oven and tomato sauce for my Mom's lasagna stewing on the stove. No promises on recipes for those, but it does give me some time to put out the aforementioned promised recipes.

First up, I cooked two of my family's cookies recipes to send to my grandma a week ago. We used to have an ancient cookie tin that went from Florida to Arizona and back again every year filled with cookies. My grandma would send us Apricot/Cinnamon Squares (recipe below), and we'd send back spritz cookies pressed by mom and decorated by us kids. And both houses made Three Layer Party Squares (recipe below). That tin had "To/From" labels on it dating back to the 70s. We just kept slapping labels over labels. I wish I knew where that tin was....

(Three Layer Party Square left, Apricot/Cinnamon right)

Apricot/Cinnamon Squares

2 1/4 C. flour 1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C. sugar 3 eggs

3/4 C. margarine 1 C. dark brown sugar

2 Tb. cocoa (unsweetened) 2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon 1-8oz apricots (cut or chopped fine)

1/2 tsp backing powder 1 C. chopped walnuts

Combine 1 1/2 C. flour and sugar. Cut in margarine into course crumbs. Pack evenly into 13x9 baking pan. Bake 350deg about 25 minutes.

Combine 3/4 C. flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and cocoa.

Beat eggs with brown sugar. Blend in vanilla and flour mixture. Stir in apricots and walnuts.

Spread over baked layer. Bake 30 min till cake tester comes out dry.

Cool in pan then cut into squares.

Three Layer Party Squares (my favorite cookie ever!!)

1 C. butter

1 2/3 C. sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 C. flour

1 C. chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter. Gradually add 1 C. sugar, mixing well. Blend in 2 unbeaten egg yolks (reserve whites), vanilla and salt. Mix well.

Add flour, blending thoroughly. Press into bottom of lightly greased 15"x10"x1" jelly roll pan Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.

Sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes.

Beat 2 egg whites until soft mounts form. Gradually add 2/3 C. sugar, beating well after each addition.

Spread melted morsels over warm cookie base. Spread meringue over chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool and cut into squares.

And last but not least, my mom's cranberry mold for Thanksgiving. I don't like cranberries that much, but I knew that Thanksgiving wouldn't have been right without her famous mold in the amazing crystal piece she got from her grandmother. Check out this well-used recipe card!

Holiday Cranberry Relish

1 9-oz. can crushed pineapple 1 Tb. lemon juice

1 3-oz. package red Jell-o 1 C. ground fresh cranberries

1/2 C. sugar 1 C. chopped celery

1 C. hot water 1 small orange (peel on, seeds removed, ground, 1/2 C.)

Drain the pineapple, reserving the liquid. Add enough water to the pineapple liquid to make 1/ 2 cup.

Dissolve Jell-o and sugar in the hot water. Add the reserved pineapple liquid and water and lemon juice. Chill until partially set (this will take a while).

Add pineapple and other ingredients. Pour into a mold or bowl. Chill until set.

So there ya go. Possible food entries to come: pumpkin chocolate chip bread, my mom's lasagna, holiday poke cake, and my family's famous Wassail (hot spiced cider).

Hope you all have your shopping done!

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Pumpkin chocolate chip bread, mmmm. Your 3 layer party squares is similar to the magic cooke bars recipe I make every Christmas. Yum. Merry Christmas!; 9:01 AM
African Kelli said...: you know you married the right man when he's willing to be photographed in jammies and a santa hat for the blog!; 12:22 PM

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