For the Holledayz

This is a special recipe for Holledayz.

It is simple, gluten free, and just in time for Memorial Day.
It is the perfect summer time treat.

A dessert that is straight from The Amalfi Coast (and pinterest)

Lemon Squares
1 cup gluten free flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup butter ~ at room temperature
2 eggs + 1 egg white
1 Tbs Lemon zest (or more)
3 Tbs Lemon juice
Pre-heat oven to 350
Blend dry ingredients, Lightly cream in Butter. This should be easy if the butter is room temperature. In another bowl, combine lemon juice and eggs. Add slowly to dry ingredients, without over blending. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan
Bake for 25 minutes.
Icing
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1Tbs lemon juice (or Limoncello)
Whisk together a small amount of lemon juice with powdered sugar to make a thick icing. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.

DeLicIoUS!
It makes a thin 'brownie' type lemon bar that is so moist and lemony.

You will be able to smell the lemon groves and hear Italian church bells.

Well . . . Sort of.
that might have been the extra limoncello)

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Late Night Tapas

We can start off the year with another Virtual Supper Club dinner. This month we are having a late night Tapas dinner ~ with cocktails.
I am in charge of bringing the dessert . . . so I searched the Cooking Light recipe box and found  THIS Recipe  for a Gingered Creme Brulee. It will be perfect in individual dessert cups.

Ginger Creme Brulee
1/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons sugar, divided

Preheat oven to 300°.
Combine 1/3 cup sugar and the egg yolks in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine the milk and crystallized ginger in a medium saucepan. Heat the milk mixture over medium heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around the edge (do not boil), stirring occasionally.
Strain mixture through a sieve into a bowl, and discard the solids. Stir in the vanilla extract. Gradually add milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Divide the mixture evenly among 6 (4-ounce) ramekins, custard cups, or shallow baking dishes. Place ramekins in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan; add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch.
  Bake at 300° 45 minutes or until the center barely moves when ramekin is touched. Remove ramekins from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover ramekins and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

Carefully sift 1 tablespoon sugar evenly over each custard. Holding a kitchen blow torch about 2 inches from the top of each custard, heat the sugar, moving the torch back and forth, until the sugar is completely melted and caramelized (about 1 minute). Serve the custards immediately or within 1 hour.

I also found a 'recipe' for  Champagne With Cranberries ~ yes there is a recipe for this on the Cooking Light pages for even the most kitchen challenged. I froze my cranberries to they would keep the champagne chilled and a garnish of sugared ginger ~

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Late night New Year's Supper.
Jerry has brought Ginger Shrimp Pot Stickers and a Spicy Peanut Sauce. His drink is a Satsuma-tini.
Val is making Kibbeh MeatBalls with Spiced Yogert Sauce and a Pommegranate Gin Sling
Susan is bringing Chicken, Raisin and Pinenut Salad.
Sara is making Smoked Salmon Spread and a Cucumber Saketini
Shelby is bringing Roasted Tomato Soup Shooters with Grilled Brie Cheese Bites.

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club ~It's a Picnic

For the month of July, the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club has decided to have a Beach Blanket Picnic. I am in charge of dessert . . . so I found This Recipe for a light summery cake. Perfect for any picnic.

Lemon Polenta Cake

Cooking spray

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup reduced-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup extravirgin olive oil

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons grated lemon

 

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, coat an 8-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Coat paper with cooking spray. Set aside.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, eggs, and rind, stirring well with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring until moist. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in the pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. 

Rather than the apple compote that this recipe called for. . . I thought fresh Strawberries would be better. I sliced them with a spoonful of sugar and some fresh mint.

Serve with a drizzle of Strawberries and Mint.

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Picnic.
Jerry has a light side dish of Zucchini Ribbons with Lemon and Pecorino
Val is bringing a pitcher of  Cherry Peach Sangria
Susan is bringing Lemon Ginger Fried Chicken
Sara has the appetizers with Bruschetta of Peach Salsa and melted Brie
Shelby is bringing Farro with Cherries and Walnuts

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking LIght ~ Gingery Banana Pudding

The Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is re-creating memories this month . . . The theme for our supper club is 'Everything Old is New Again' The idea was to recreate some of our favorite recipes from Mom's kitchen.
I thought of the Banana Pudding that was served at the WhistleStop Cafe . . . Yummy ~ but full of calories. Instead I found this recipe for  Gingery Banana Pudding on Cooking Light. It is a 'little' lighter with fresher ingredients.
The flavor is kicked up a notch with fresh ginger, gingersnap cookies (I used Gluten-Free) and a bourbon cream on top.
That is making the old New again ~

Gingery Banana Pudding with a Bourbon Cream
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
4cups 1% low-fat milk, divided
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, divided
12 gingersnaps, crumbled and divided
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger

Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Gradually whisk in 3 cups milk. Heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil).
 Combine remaining 1 cup milk and yolks; stir with a whisk. Gradually add 1 cup hot milk mixture to yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Add egg yolk mixture to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly

.
Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 20 minutes or until mixture cools, stirring occasionally. Cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 hours or until chilled.

Mash 2 bananas; cut remaining 2 bananas into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Stir mashed and sliced bananas and half of gingersnaps into pudding; chill 30 minutes.

Combine cream and 1 teaspoon sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form; stir in bourbon, if desired.

Spoon 2/3 cup pudding into each of 8 dessert glasses; divide remaining gingersnaps among servings. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons whipped cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons pecans, and 3/4 teaspoon ginger.

It is definitely not the Whistlestop Banana Pudding ~ It is yummy and there isn't a vanilla wafer in sight.

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Old Timey ~  New Style feast.
Jerry has upgraded the classic Green Bean Casserole
Val is making Meatloaf Bolongese
Susan is bringing Curried Crab Salad on Belgin Endive Spears
Sara is updating a Wedge Salad
Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Southern Pecan Pie

This is the 'new' Southern Pecan Pie from the pages of Southern Living. (I had to go all the way to Boston to see a copy of Southern Living) 

This pie is really different ~ and really yummy.
The sweet and salty topping that is poured over a chocolatey brownie filling is rich and filling . . . this ain't your grandma's pecan pie.

Salted Caramel-Chocolate Pecan Pie
Chocolate filling
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweeteded cocoa
1 Tbs corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
1 9inch piecrust
Salted Caramel Topping
3/4 cup sugar
1tbs lemon juice
1/3 cup heaby cream
4 Tbs butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups toasted pecan halves
corse sea salt
Preheat oven to 350

Stir first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Incorporate eggs, stirring until well blended. Fold in chopped pecans.

Pour into pie shell. Bake for 35 minutes. The brownie filling will be soft. 
For the topping: Bring sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 cup water to a boil over high heat.
Do Not Stir. Bring to a boil, gently swirling for about 7 minutes until it becomes the perfect caramel color. Remove from heat, add butter and then cream and salt, stirring until it stops bubbling and is smooth.

Arrange pecan halves on the top of the baked pie.
Top with warm caramel.
Cool and top with sea salt.

Like I said. . . this ain't your Grandma's pecan pie.  It is still a hit!
Maybe even a New Holiday Tradition.


I am also joining Our World Tuesday
Y'all enjoy the ride~
Sandi

Saturday PhotoHunt ~ Burst

The Saturday PhotoHunt is 'Burst'
My favorite Burst in the kitchen. . .  is when I finish my crème brûlée
With a Burst of flame to brown the top.

This is a recipe from the Pioneer Woman ~ who has gone from blogger, to blogger extraordinaire with a cooking show and everything.
 
Crème Brûlée
4 cups Heavy Cream
1 whole Vanilla Bean
10 whole Egg Yolks
¾ cups Sugar
6 Tablespoons Superfine (Baker's) Sugar Preparation
Instructions Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Pour the cream into the saucepan. Add vanilla (whichever product you’re using) and simmer over medium-low heat. Whip egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow and thick. Strain cream using a fine mesh strainer. Whip yolks while you very slowly drizzle in 1 cup of warm cream. Go slowly so as not to cook the eggs! Once the first cup is added, you can add the rest of the cream slowly. Place ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet. Pour custard mixture into ramekins. Pour water in bottom of baking sheet until it comes halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until just set. Do not allow to get brown. Cool ramekins on countertop, then chill for at least 2-3 hours, covered in plastic wrap. To serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon over each ramekin of custard. Use a kitchen torch to quickly (but carefully) brown the sugar. There should be a thin, crisp surface of burned sugar on the top. Serve immediately!
I like to top mine with a bit of fruit or chocolate . . . or both ~

Check for all the other Burst Photos on The Saturday PhotoHunt
Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi

Cutie Cake ~ Orange Olive Oil Cake

Do y'all love these cuties?
That is what these tangerines are called at the Piggly Wiggly . . . is that just an Alabama thing?

I decided to try to adapt this Citrus Olive Oil Cake making it a Cutie Cake. . .

Orange Olive Oil Cake
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
6-8 tangerines (you will use the whole thing)
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup flour (I used gluten free baking flour)
1 Tbs baking powder

Peel the oranges and place the peels and the orange sections in a deep mixing bowl, add skinless almonds. With an immersion blender, grind the oranges and almonds to a pulp.

Add eggs and sugar and whisk together till well combined.

Add olive oil, stirring until smooth. (taste to see if you need more sugar) Stir in flour and baking powder. The batter will be slightly lumpy with bits of orange peel. Pour into a greased 8" bundt or round cake pan.
Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn out onto wire rack. Serve with berries, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Pairs of Pears

We were lucky to get some end of the season pears from a pear tree . . . they weren't very pretty, but still yummy!

I decided to make a quick dessert with our Apple Crisp Mix ~ If you haven't tried it you need to.

I sliced the pears and whipped up a box of crisp, and piled it all in a 8x8 baking dish.

30 minutes later we had a pipping hot dessert with those 'yard pears'. It was perfect with a scoop of ice cream.

I hope you can find our products in your local market or grocery store. If not, you can always go to WhistleStopCafe.com . . . we'll send it straight to your house.

  Y'all enjoy~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Fall Festival

Our Cooking Light virtual Supper Culb for this month is celebrating the 'Fall Festival'.
I had a hard time making a selection . . . because it is still hotter than Blue Blazes here.
We are a L O N G way from a fall festival.

But in the virtual spirit of a virtual supper club, I went to Cooking Light and found
This Recipe which reminds me of the banana treats at the fair.

Caramelized Banana Sundae
1Tbs butter
1Tbs brown sugar
2Tbs dark rum
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup thinly sliced banana
2 cups vanilla icecream
4 tsp sliced almonds (optional)

Melt Butter in a non stick pan, add sugar and cinnamon and stir till blended. Add Rum and cook on high heat. Add bananas and cook for another minute. Remove from heat
Scoop ice cream into bowls, top with bananas and sauce.

I used candied pecans instead of the almonds ~ this is a quick and easy dessert. It is basically a banana's foster. Not exactly what you would find at a Fall Festival . . .
Perfect anytime of the year!

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Fall Festival.
Jerry has grilled Corn on the Cob with Roasted Jalapeno Butter
Val is making a Lobster Roll with Fennel and Citrus
Susan is bringing Beer Battered Onion Rings
Sara is bringing Taco in a bag!

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ April Fools in the Kitchen

This month for our virtual Supper Club, we've decided to celebrate April's Fools with a 'Deceptively Easy Gourmet Dish'.
Deceptively easy? That is right up my alley.
I searched Here on Cooking Light for the perfect recipe. A rich chocolate souffle ~ that is deceptively easy?
I'll give it a go . . .

 Rich Chocolate Soufflé Cakes with Crème Anglaise
Cooking spray
8 teaspoons sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons sugar

CrèmeAnglais

3 large egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350º.
To prepare soufflé cakes, lightly coat 8 (4-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon sugar.

Combine 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a medium, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat.
Add chocolates, stirring with a whisk until chocolates melt. Combine 1/2 cup cocoa, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Add cocoa mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring with a whisk. Whisk in 2 egg yolks and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth egg white mixture into chocolate mixture; fold in remaining egg white mixture. Spoon chocolate mixture into prepared ramekins. Place ramekins in a large baking dish; add hot water to dish to a depth of 3/4 inch.

Bake at 350º for 15 minutes or until puffy and slightly cracked. Remove ramekins from dish, and place on a wire rack.

To prepare crème anglaise, combine 3 eggs and beat until pale yellow (about 3 minutes).
Heat milk in a heavy saucepan over medium g yolks and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Gradually add 1/3 cup sugar, whisking until thick heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat.
Gradually add hot milk to egg yolk mixture, stirring with a whisk. Return egg yolk mixture to pan; cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until slightly thick and mixture coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly (do not boil). Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Serve with soufflé cakes.

I did make these ahead, and took them the next day to a friend's.
I heated the individual souffle's in the oven just before serving, then topped each with the cream anglaise. They were light and creamy ~ perfectly delish.
No one would believe how easy they were.



 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Deceptively Easy Virtual Supper.
Jerry has Phylo Wrapped Asparagus with Proscuitto
Val is making Caramelized Espresso Frappe
 Susan is bringing Ham, Corn and Cheese Souffle
Sara is making Ceviche de Camaron
Roz  has made a Pork Saltimbocca with Polenta
Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Christmas Cookie Time

One of the Holiday traditions at our house is baking our Christmas Cookies ~

For years (actually, for generations) we have used this Butter Cookie Recipe.
It makes THE PERFECT roll out cookie dough. We have made cookies for all kinds of holidays. But . . . this year, I decided to try a new icing.
Thanks to Pinterest, I found this cookie glaze on the King Authur Flour Site

Cookie Glaze
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 Tbs light corn syrup
2 Tbss plus 1 teaspoon milk
Food coloring

Whisk together the sugar, corn syrup and 2 Tablespoons of the milk. The icing should be the consistency of a smooth but runny glaze. If it is to thick, slowly add the last teaspoon of milk. To ice the cookies, hold each one over a bowl of icing, drizzle the cookie allowing the excess glaze to fall back into the bowl.

Place the freshly iced cookies on a rack with waxed paper under for easy clean-up.
The icing will dry into a firm glaze.
They store well in the freezer . . . if they don't all get eaten first.

I miss the creamy vanilla flavor of most icings . . . but there is no doubt that this is easier, and prettier. It might just be a keeper.
What do y'all think?
Happy Holidays~
Sandi
 

Cooking Light ~ Celebrating birthdays with food

We have several birthdays in our Virtual Supper Club in the month of September . . . so we are celebrating birthdays with food ( is there any other way ? )
I love lemon bars ~ so I searched for this Cooking Light Recipe.

Butter Crunch Lemon Cheese Bars
Crust:

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg

1 cup all-purpose flour

Cooking spray

Filling:
1 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare crust, place first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add 1 cup flour to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until well-blended. Press crust into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

To prepare filling, place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and remaining ingredients, and process until well-blended. Pour filling over crust.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set (the edges will get lightly browned), and cool. Cover and chill for 8 hours.

Let me just say that cottage cheese is not a good substitute for cream cheese.
I am not sure there is a good substitute for cream cheese. The lemmony flavor wasn't bad... but that cottage cheese texture turned me off.
I saved lots of calories on this dish . . .
Now let's see what everyone else has brought for our  birthday celebration . . .
Jerry is kicking the party off with a Champagne Pomegranate Cocktail
 Val has an appetizer of Shrimp Bouillabaise Fondue 
Giz is bringing dessert, with Peach Ice Cream
This month we don't have a guest blogger ~ give a shout if you are interested in joining us.
Y'all enjoy~
Sandi