Smell is a powerful thing. There are certain smells that transport me back in time the instant they hit my nose. One of the smells that reminds me of winter days in my mother’s kitchen is Russian Tea. It was usually made on holidays, but occasionally my mother would create a pot of this magical brew on a regular winter day. As a child, I thought there must be something very special and complicated about Russian Tea. After all, anything that tasted like all the winter holidays swirled together had to be elusive, right? Turns out, it’s pretty simple to make this soul-warming treat, so don’t wait for a special day on the calendar. Make it just because it’s cold outside and you are in the mood for something yummy. Bonus: It makes your kitchen smell amazing! I don’t know how long leftover tea lasts in the fridge because it never hangs around more than a day or so. Just too good.
Author Archives for Renea Myers
Layered Fiesta Dip is a big hit at holiday parties.
Ok, here it is. The easiest great impression you’ll make this holiday season. I honestly don’t get it, but every time I make this for any gathering of people, they practically lick the bowl. Try it for yourself!
Two of my favorite cookies
I like to try different cookie recipes each year but I also enjoy making those old reliable ones I know I’ll love. If you mix up the old and new, you know at least half of them will come out ok! These two cookie recipes continue to be on my list of faves. I have made these for so long I don’t even remember where the recipes came from so I don’t know how to acknowledge credit. Oops!
Reuben-spirations
Who doesn’t love a good Reuben? I have added a special little twist to the sauce that makes my hubby’s tastebuds smile! Bonus idea: take all the leftover ingredients for the sandwiches and put them in a freezer bag together for an easy lunch on another day. So nice having all the ingredients together in the same bag. Just thaw and grill.
Tropical Gingerbread House
Christmas and the Islands… two of my favorite subjects! So, I combined them into a Gingerbread House theme. I love doing gingerbread houses because it can be as simple or as complex as you want. It can take a couple hours or a couple weeks! A great project for kids or a family gathering. It’s hard to have family drama when everyone is focused on visions of gingerbread. A little eggnog doesn’t hurt either! I made this gingerbread from scratch as well as the royal icing. Here are the recipes, courtesy of Chef Michele Prairie. The recipes work beautifully!
Gingerbread Dough
6 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour (29 oz)
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup (18 oz)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar packed (10 oz)
1 cup margarine (8 oz)
Preheat oven to 350. Stir flour and spices into a large bowl. Combine corn syrup, brown sugar and margarine in sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until margarine is melted. Stir liquid into the flour mixture and then mix with electric mixer (paddle attachment) until well mixed. Chill the dough until stiff and easy to handle. Roll the dough out to 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness on parchment paper. Move the dough and the paper to a sheet pan. Cut out dough with a template of your choice. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Check for air bubbles during baking and poke them with a sharp knife or tooth pick to deflate. Cool on pan 15 minutes before moving.
Royal Icing
1 lb. box of powdered sugar
3 egg whites at room temperature or 3 Tbsp. meringue powder plus 7 Tbsp. water
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
Sift powdered sugar in a bowl. Place egg whites or meringue powder and water in a mixing bowl. Add cream of tartar and sugar to egg whites while stirring. When all sugar is added, turn mixer to high and beat until thick and very white and holds stiff peaks. May take 5-7 minutes. When finished, cover icing tightly with a damp cloth or plastic wrap as it dries out very quickly.
Tips to get you going:
-Plan a theme for your house and then decide on some major elements you want to include
-Purchase all your candy and decor items and lay them out on trays for easy access.
-Make any special decorations that need to dry well ahead of time… like icing flowers, trees, anything that needs to have the icing set up well before adding to your house.
-Put the walls up first and then let it sit for a few hours or overnight before adding the roof. Reinforce the inside with icing. No one sees that part!
-I prefer to decorate the sides, the back, the front and the roof in that order for easiest access to everything.
-Do the landscape and board cover last so you’re not sticking your arm in it while you finish the house.
-You can draw your own templates or use pre-made cutters. You’ll need two roof pieces, two side pieces and two front/back pieces. 6 pieces in all.
Have some fun this year with gingerbread. Here are some pics of my house from different angles.
Salted Caramel Cookies Feed My Newest Obsession!
Did someone say salted caramel? Just the thought of it makes my mouth water! I’ll eat just about anything dipped in, served on or topped with salted caramel! If a fast food restaurant is serving something new with salted caramel, I’ll drive across town just to taste it. Can you say Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha!!!! Ok, I passed out for a minute. Why am I this old and just discovered this amazing flavor juxtaposition only last year? My sister found a Pillsbury recipe for salted caramel cookies in a magazine and shared it with me. After a few changes and tweaks, I think this cookie recipe is a winner. NOTE: Milk does need to boil for 3 hours. You can shortcut it by cooking it in the microwave in 15 minute increments, but texture isn’t nearly as creamy.
Pumpkin Chocolate Nut Quick Bread
This autumn treat falls into my husband’s “Get this stuff out of the house before I eat it all” category. Consequently, I make it, we gobble up a few pieces and then I slice it and wrap it for sharing at my next school meeting, work appointment or social gathering. I love the smiles that spread around the room when I walk through the door with freshly baked treats. It’s how I sprinkle a little stardust wherever I go and keep my hubby (and myself) from doing that kitchen fly-by thing we do when there is something tempting on the counter. So here it is.. a moist and delicious “totable” treat for you to sample and share. I keep these ingredients on hand to have a quick go-to when I need to come up with a baked good for company, hostess gifts, or other gatherings. You can also bake this into muffins, just increase temperature to 375 and decrease baking time (time depends on the size of your muffins). My son and his friends like the muffins best, especially when I leave out the nuts and double the chocolate.
Salty fall snack mix
Salty snack mix is fun any time of the year, but it’s a nice alternative to all the sweets floating around during October. This snack mix is cute, quick and yummy! I like to buy the snack mix ingredients separately so I can include exactly what I want and what I think the kiddos will like. This particular mix has cheese balls, pretzels, Sun Chips, pretzel squares, popcorn, Cheese Nips and Goldfish. I didn’t include any kind of nut product since it was for a school party, but I think mini peanut butter crackers and salted pumpkin seeds would be a good addition. I got sturdy plastic snack bags from the craft store for bagging them up and closed them with mini clothespins for easier re-closing. A glittery fall leaf sticker completes this simple little treat.
Avoiding the dreaded cookie spread
The first day of fall has barely passed and I’m already looking forward to cookie season. But truly, is there ever a season that’s not good for cookies? I think not. Have you ever spent a half hour or more mixing and scooping cookies only to have them spread all over the pan and end up in a crunchy, stuck, deflated, sad little blotch? Yeah, me too. Darn that’s annoying! Well here’s a little trouble-shooting for ya to get the season rolling.
Common Causes of Cookie Spread
- Creaming the fat and sugars too long. If you beat too much air into the batter, it can cause them to spread out too much. Mix it just until blended into a paste using low-medium speed.
- Don’t butter or grease your cookie sheets and, if you must, add a thin layer of flour over top the slippery stuff. Cookies need a surface to “hang on to” during the baking process. Use ungreased, non-stick cookie sheets, stones or (my favorite) parchment paper.
- Your baking temperature may be too low. Bake most cookies at 375 or 400 degrees.
- Too much baking soda or powder will cause spread. Measure carefully!
- High sugar content increases spread, especially granulated sugar. Fine sugar or confectioner’s sugar decreases spread. Adding extra sugar to sweeten a recipe can have a consequence.
- Batter too thin. Be sure you’ve added enough flour and if you’ve left out an ingredient like the nuts in chocolate chip cookies, you’ll need to make up the difference in bulk by adding extra chocolate chips or another ingredient. One caveat- don’t increase amount of oatmeal in a cookie. Substitute with something else or maybe add a little more flour.
- Over-beating at any stage of the recipe can develop too much gluten and cause excessive spreading.
Keep your eyes peeled for other cookie tips in future blogs.
Once you bake the bacon, you’ll never go back.
I don’t really enjoy cooking breakfast. There.. I said it! I find traditional breakfast food somewhat boring and my brain doesn’t work all that well in the morning. By the time I am awake enough to cook, it’s at least brunch time. I used to have a dream of opening a Bed & Breakfast but soon realized the flaw in my thinking and realized that a Bed & Bagel doesn’t quite have the same appeal. I am, however, happy to cook breakfast as an act of love for my bacon & egg lovin’ family. The most dreaded part was always that hateful bacon! I used to stand and babysit that grease-spitting main event as it wiggled and spewed all over my stove. I could almost feel the 409 in my hands. Not only was it messy, but it handcuffed me to the skillet until that last little piece was properly crispified. But then I was visited by the Bacon Fairy in culinary school. And she presented me with a sheet pan, a piece of parchment paper, plus a pound of bacon and pointed me towards the oven. No more skillet, no more grease-cicles and no more half-hour cook time!
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, spread the bacon out (not touching) on a parchment-lined sheet pan, stick it in the oven, set your timer for 17 minutes and then focus on the rest of your meal prep. 17 minutes is a good time to check it. Thicker bacon takes longer and your preferred Crisp Factor may nudge your cook time one way or another. Once the bacon comes out, immediately remove the pieces to a little stack of paper towels for blotting the grease. You can also use a baking rack in the pan so the grease drains to the bottom, but then you have to wash the rack. I just do it the paper towel way. When the pan cools, simply wrap up the grease in the parchment paper, throw it in the garbage and put your pan away. Ta da!!!
Now I still don’t LOVE cooking breakfast, but it’s almost effortless with my baked bacon. Plus, I have a great way to prepare bacon for all those lunch sandwiches and wraps that I DO love to make!