SBBC Birthday Gift, Holiday Recipes

I participated in the Stitching Bloggers Birthday Club and I received my birthday exchange from Judith. Apparently she is aware of how much I like Halloween designs because she selected this great design and finished it as a long skinny pillow, how cute. Judith also stitched a floss caddy using some wonderful Moda fabric. Thank you Judith for the wonderful surprise.

SBBC: Birthday Gift from Judith

Do you need a side dish recipe for your holiday dinner??? I like this one because it taste great, and looks so festive on the table.

Festive Side Dish Recipe

Green Beans and Pearl Onions with Tarragon Vinaigrette
Serves: 8-10

1 red bell pepper

12-14 oz pearl onions, about 3/4" in diameter, unpeeled

1 T salt, plus a pinch of salt

2 lbs green beans

1-2 T tarragon white wine vinegar

2 T olive oil

freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

Cut red pepper into thin strips and saute in 2 T of olive oil until tender. Set aside.

Fill a saucepan 3/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Add onions and 1 T of salt and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat slightly, cover partially for 2-3 minutes; drain and plunge into cold water.

Cut off the root ends; slip off skin and set the onions aside.

Trim the stems from the green beans and cut beans into 3/4 inch lengths. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and cook, uncovered, until just tender but still crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice water. Drain again and set aside.

Just before serving, combine 1 T of the vinegar and the pinch of salt in a small bowl, then add pepper to taste and whisk together. Pour into a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, onions and beans and toss until heated through, 1 minute. Taste for seasoning, adding more vinegar or salt if needed.

Here is one of my very favorite salad recipes:

Orange-Avocado Salad
Yield: 8-10

3 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 C honey, mild flavored
3/4 lb baby spinach salad, washed and trimmed
fresh pepper
1/2 C olive oil
2-3 ripe avocados
2 T minced sweet red onion
1/2 t salt
1/2 t minced fresh mint or 1 t crushed dried mint
4-5 oranges

Wash spinach and wrap in clean, damp kitchen towel . Place in refrigerator for at least 2-3 hrs to chill/crisp.
Cut avocados in half, remove pit, peel, cut lengthwise into thin strips; set aside.
Peel orange, remove white membrane; cut crosswise into thin slices, remove seeds; set aside.
In small bowl stir lemon juice + salt until dissolved. Whisk in honey and a little pepper, then whisk in olive oil, onion, mint. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.
To assemble:Arrange chilled spinach on individual plates. Top w/avocado slices and orange slices. Whisk dressing again and drizzle on salad.

I do hope that you all enjoy the holidays!!!

Until next time...

Gorgeous Ornament

I am so excited to have received such a wonderful ornament from Valerie! She tells me that this is her first pillow finish, hard to believe seeing as it is so nicely finished. The design is from the November 2008 Gift of Stitching ~ I recognized it immediately since it tops my list of projects from this issue! Valerie stitched the ornament on 32ct Lakeside Linen Vintage Light Examplar using Crescent Colors (Cupid). It is perfect and I love what she did on the reverse side, take a look...

In addition I was treated to this lovely array of extras.

HOE Ornament Exchange from Valerie

Many thanks Valerie for this wonderful exchange, you certainly made my day!

My friend just had her very first grand baby (a baby girl) and here is the baby quilt that I made.

Khloe's Baby Quilt

My younger son arrived home from college and I am anxiously awaiting the return of my older son who is busy with finals. He is expected home on Friday, that is if the weather holds out. We are expecting icy conditions but nothing like what those in MA, NH, and parts of VT are dealing with~that is truly dreadful!

I was watching Martha Stewart prepare this potato recipe and I have decided that I will include it in our holiday meal this year. What I like about it is you can prepare it ahead of time and bake it later. The recipe is courtesy of chef Emeril Lagasse and can be found in his cookbook, "Emeril's Potluck."

Potatoes a la Boulangere

Yield: 10-12 servings

Ingredients
10 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups thinly sliced onions
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
5 pounds red bliss or Yukon

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Transfer onions to a large bowl and let cool.

3) In the same skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat, and cook a quarter of the potatoes until lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Transfer to a platter and let cool. Repeat process three more times with remaining butter, potatoes, salt, and pepper.

4) Arrange a quarter of the cooled potatoes in a slightly overlapping single layer in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with a third of the onions and sprinkle 1 teaspoon thyme over the dish. Layer another quarter of the potatoes over onions and thyme and top with another third of the onions and 1 teaspoon of thyme. Repeat process and finish with a layer of potatoes.

5) Pour chicken stock over potatoes and transfer baking dish to oven. If you like you can refrigerate until ready to bake...

6) Bake for 25 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, and continue baking until potatoes are golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

I know that you are all quite busy so I thank you for taking the time to stop by ~ I do hope that you are able to find a few minutes to sit and stitch!

Until next time...

Thanksgiving Recipe

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Each Thanksgiving I make homemade cranberry sauce using the recipe listed below. It has become a favorite at our table so I thought I would share it with you.

The pumpkin pie recipe is so easy, very fast, and delicious!

Apple Orange Cranberry Sauce
Yields: 4 cups

1/2 of an orange
2 cups water
1 granny smith apple
3 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

PREPARATION:
Squeeze the juice from the orange half and set the juice aside. Remove the membrane from the inside of the orange shell and discard. Cut the shell into very small pieces and put these into a small saucepan with the 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Peel, core, and chop apple into small pieces. Place in a saucepan. Sort the cranberries, discard soft ones and add to the apples. Add the reserved diced orange peel, the reserved orange juice, sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and partially cover. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the cranberries burst~ 10-15 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and let cool before serving or cover and refrigerate; bring to room temperature before serving.

Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

4 oz cream cheese
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp milk, divided
1 Tbsp sugar
8 oz tub cool whip, thawed, divided
6 oz Honey Maid Graham Pie Crust
15 oz can pumpkin
2 pkg (4-serving size each) Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves

PREPARATION:
MIX: cream cheese, 1 Tbsp milk and the sugar in a large bowl until well blended.
Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Spread onto bottom of crust.
POUR: 1 cup milk into a large bowl. Add pumpkin, dry pudding mixes and spices.
Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick)
Spread over cream cheese layer.
Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Dollop with remaining whip topping.
Store in refrigerator.

I have not yet tried the recipe listed below but with all of the delicious Vermont Maple Syrup I have, this is one recipe that I must try.

Maple Cranberry Sauce

Yield: 4 cups

1 (12 ounces) package fresh cranberries, washed and picked over
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup cranberry-raspberry juice
1/2 cup fruity red Zinfandel wine
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped

PREPARATION:
Place cranberries, maple syrup, juice, wine, and orange zest in a heavy saucepan.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 10 minutes, until cranberries begin to pop. Skim off any foam that rises to the top. Remove from heat and gently smash a bit to open the cranberries, but do not mash. Stir in walnuts. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until

ready to serve. You'll probably want to double this delicious cranberry sauce recipe. May be made up to a week in advance and kept refrigerated.

Cranberry Sauce leftovers ????

Yes you can make desserts using leftovers! For the best muffins you've ever tasted use leftover cranberry sauce as the filling. Buy a regular muffin mix, spoon the cranberry sauce into the middle and bake as directed. For a real treat use orange muffin mix!

Until next time...

Recipes

I have been out of touch due to some computer trouble. I am still in Vermont and had to get my DH to overnight another laptop up here from CT. Needless to say this laptop does not have my pics on it so I have nothing to show you. I have decided to post a few recipes as they do not require photographs.


First let me thank Brenda, Donna, Jen, and Pokua for participating in the PIF (pay it forward). I really do look forward to stitching something wonderful for each of you! I have started on the first but am also quite busy with upcoming exchanges so it may be a while. I have one more slot for a PIF participant, if you are interested just send me an email.

Now for those recipes...

For those that enjoy a good cookie here is a recipe for:

Snickerdoodles

1/2 C butter or margerine
1/2 C Butter flavored crisco shortening
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 C flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven 400. Mix butter, shortening, 1 1/2 c sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Measure flour by sifting method. Blend flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture. Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll in mixture of 3 tbsp sugar and cinnamon. Place 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. These cookies puff and then flatten out.

Yield: 6 dozen

For those that enjoy the "other white meat" here is a recipe for:

Pork Tenderloin

1 T Olive Oil
1 Clove garlic,minced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients and coat pork - roast 375 for 35 minutes (use a meat thermometer ~ internal temp should read 160). Broil on top rack 5 minutes to brown, let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

For an easy and tasty breakfast dish:

Omelet for two

1/4 pound good thick-cut bacon
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup medium-diced Yukon Gold potato
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 T minced jalapeno pepper
5 extra-large eggs
2 T milk or cream
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly groud pepper
1/4 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts
4 oz extra sharp ceddar, diced, plus grated for garnish

Preheat 350. Cut bacon crosswide in 1" pieces. Cook bacon in 8" ovenproof saute pan over medium-low heat 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned. Drain the bacon on paper towels and discard fat from pan. Add butter to pan, then add yellow onion and potato. Cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion starts to brown and the potato is tender but firm. Add the jalapeno pepper and cook for 30 seconds.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl beat the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together with a fork. Stir in the scallions and diced cheese. When the potato is cooked, add the bacon to the pan and pour over the egg mixture. Place the pan in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the omelet puffs and the eggs are almost cooked in the center. Sprinkle with a handful of grated cheese and bake another minute. Serve hot directly from the pan.

Until next time...