SpruceHill

Christmas/Holiday Gift Idea.....Pioneer Woman's Cookbook

Well If you are a fan of Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, I would recommend to go right out and buy her new cookbook! It is full of her wonderful mouth watering recipes and is chalked full of her beautiful photography too!

I have made many of her recipes and let me tell you they are all stellar. You can always count of them being delicious and full of flavor. Her recipes are partly responsible for my growing waistline, but life is short so why not eat well while you are here?

I am buying several of her books as Christmas gifts, any home cook would love to have this cookbook in their library! If you are lucky enough to be near a city where Ree is doing a book signing, I encourage you to go out and meet her and get some books signed. I hear it is well worth it! I have my eyes set on this one!

West Chester, PA
Sunday, December 13, 2009
2:30 pm
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK & MUSIC COMPANY
975 Paoli Pike
West Chester, PA

My Brother lives in West Chester! Road trip!

In Search Of the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie.......

 
I have searched and searched for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. I have to admit that I have about 10 or more recipes in my recipe binder. But you see there is a problem. I have had the best Chocolate chip cookie of my life, but there is a catch. The person who makes them refuses to give out the recipe. Don't you just hate that? I do, I don't understand it one bit. Ever since I bit into that cookie or I should say cookies. I have been searching to replicate them. No luck so far but I recently found one that comes close.

The Ingredients

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter softened
1 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (12 oz.) bag semisweet chocolate chips (2 c.)

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

  

 
2. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

 

 

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.

 

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.

 

 

 

4. Using two spoons  scoop the dough into balls and lay on two baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-20 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.

5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a piece of parchment paper and let cool completely.

In the recipe that I am trying to replicate, the cookies are gigantic mounds of cookie and chocolate. I can't seem to get close to the consistency but these are well worth trying. They made about

 

In the recipe that I am trying to replicate, the cookies are gigantic mounds of cookie and chocolate. I can't seem to get close to the consistency but these are well worth trying. They made about 50 nice sized cookies. I also added about a cup of white chocolate chips to part of the mix.
 

 

 

Christmas/Holiday gift idea: Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce

Well If you haven't noticed already, Halloween is over and the Christmas commercials have already started. We have also been bombarded by Christmas catalogs already. I thought I would do a little series of simple gift ideas this year.

This is my homemade hot fudge sauce recipe that I posted about before. It is a recipe from my Aunt Janie that is my absolute favorite thing to eat on my ice cream. It has ruined all other hot fudge for me. But that's ok, It is very easy to make and keeps well in the fridge.

 
This summer I made my first attempt and canning jelly and I thought to myself why not can the hot fudge? So I tried it last week and it worked out so well. I added a little fabric to the top of the jar and tied it off with some brown twine. You can also print out the recipe on a small card and attach it to your gift. It is so easy and is very inexpensive. It would be a great gift for a teacher or even those hard to buy for people on your list, and I am sure everyone has a chocolate lover on their list. I am always looking for great inexpensive gifts for the holidays.

What are some of your favorite handmade gifts you have received?

Something Sweet

I am not sure why it is but I have been craving sweets and baked goods lately. My eldest daughter even commented about it the other day. It must be the cooler weather that fuels my endless need for sugar and comfort.

I made this Pumpkin Custard Crumble the other day. It just kind of whipped it up after looking at several recipes I didn't really like. I posted it earlier in the week on Tasty Kitchen and it was chosen as a featured recipe the next day. If you would like a printable recipe click on the first link.

• 1 can (15 Oz.) Pureed Pumpkin
• 1 can 12 Oz. Evaporated Milk
• 3 whole Eggs
• 1-½ cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ginger
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
• ⅛ teaspoons Nutmeg
• 1 box(es) (about 18 Oz.) Yellow Cake Mix
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• 1 stick Butter, Melted

I started with the recipe on the back of the libby's pumpkin puree, it is my regular pumpkin pie recipe that I always use. I added some ingredients too it and jacked it up a bit. Here is what I did.

 
In a large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk.

 
 1 cup of sugar, and spices. Whisk together and pour into a greased 8×12 baking dish.

 
In a separate bowl, combine cake mix, brown sugar and remaining 1/2 cup white sugar. Add melted butter and mix together until it becomes crumbly. Sprinkle generously all over the top of the pumpkin mixture.

 
 Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, making sure the top is nice and brown and crisp.

 
Eat with ice cream or just a dab of whipped cream on top. It is a great dessert for a cold and nippy fall weekend, Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings the perfect comfort food

The other day I needed to make some comfort food. I had two home with the flu and they needed something warm and good in their belly's. So I made chicken and dumplings.

Ingredients

• Two carrots sliced
• Two ribs of celery sliced
• One whole small onion
• 2 TBS of butter
• Three large chicken breasts
• 5 Cups of chicken broth
• 1 can od cream of chicken soup
• two tablespoons of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of hot water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 TBS Herbs de Provence

Dumplings

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1 cup of buttermilk

 
  
In a large soup pot melt butter and add chopped onion, cook until translucent about 5 minutes. Add the sliced carrots and celery cook until tender.

  
 
 Lay your chicken breasts on top of the cooked veggies and then pour the chicken stock over the top. Let this simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and falls apart with a fork. Take chicken out of the pot and shred it into pieces with a fork place back into the pot.

 
Add cream of chicken soup, flour and water mixture, salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence. Stir everything together and let simmer for about 45 minutes to let the flavors seep into the chicken.

Now it is time to make the dumplings. In a nice sized bowl measure out your dry ingredients, tossing them together. Add the butter and cut it into the mixture with a fork until it reaches a crumbly consistency. Now add the buttermilk and mix with your hands until it makes a nice ball.  When the stew is finished simmering roll small balls of dough with your hands and drop them on top of the stew, leaving a bit of room for them to rise. I always leave a small part of the pot uncovered for those members of my family who do not like dumplings (Picky kids!). I make biscuits with the left over dough. Just rolling the left over dough out and cutting them into nice round biscuits, great with a bit of homemade jam on top. I had both dumplings and a biscuit.

  
  
Let the dumplings simmer covered in the pot for about 15 to 20 min. Then It is ready to dish.

 
This is the perfect recipe for a chilly fall weekend. Enjoy!

H1N1 has hit our area very hard. Little E and Miss H are feeling much better!