Ginger Cookies

 

 

 

 

Ginger Spice Cookies

(printable version )

recipe from Paula Deen

Ingredients:
3/4 C Butter flavored Crisco
1 C sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1/4 C molasses
2 C flour
2 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground ginger
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.  Or don’t line them at all :)
With an electric mixer, combine shortening and sugar and cream until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the egg and the molasses and beat until completely incorporated.
Sift or whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt
and then add to the mixture. Stir until combined. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.
Place on cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just set around the edges and you start to see “crackling” on the top.
Don’t overbake! You want to keep them nice and chewy-soft in the middle.
Yield: about 4 dozen

S'more Cups

     This is an amazingly easy recipe that tastes as good as S'mores on the campfire.
The best thing is that they can be made ahead of time. Thank you Pampered Chef YUMM !!

S’more Cups
(printable version)
Yield: 24 cups 
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients:

7 whole graham crackers (1 cup), finely crushed
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 bars (1.55 oz) milk chocolate candy, divided
12 large marshmallows

Directions:Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place graham crackers into a large re-sealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs. Combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and butter into a small bowl. Evenly divide crumb mixture into each cup of a 24 cup mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups. Bake 4-5 minutes or until edges are bubbling. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.
Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using scissors dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows are just slightly softened. Cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before carefully removing cups from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
Break remaining candy bars in small pieces and place in a small bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute-1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow into the melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand until set.

Recipe Note: Store the cups in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Freezing is not recommended.

Ground Beef Tacos

 

This is the best taco meat recipe. My entire family prefers this over the powdered seasoning that contains so much sodium etc.................
Try this you won't be sorry. My husband likes it so well he has been known to "hide" the leftovers.

Ground Beef Taco Filling from Mels Kitchen Cafe

(Printable Version)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 to 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced fine (alternately, you can add hot pepper sauce to taste or canned jalapenos OR just leave out the heat altogether, although I think the meat really needs a little kick and adding the jalapeno without seeds didn't make the dish overly spicy)
• Taco shells, Additional taco garnishes

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil and chopped onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat into smaller chunks, until it is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, drain the grease.
2. Fill taco shells and add garnish  

Homemade Marshmallows

Well I finally did it. I made homemade marshmallows. I have been wanting to try these for a while and New Years day seemed like a perfect day. The result was great. Alot better than I had hoped for. I will experiment with flavors and shapes I like but all in all these mint marshmallows were a hit with the kids. They melted nicely in the hot cocoa ..... I found the recipe at our best bites and was confident that if they endorsed them it would be worth a shot.
Homemade Marshmallows
(printable version)
adapted from Alton Brown, variations by Our Best Bites
3 packets unflavored gelatin
1 C ice water, divided
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 C corn starch
1/4 C powdered sugar
9 x 13″ pan
non stick spray
Optional for variations:
cocoa powder
peppermint extract
food coloring
dipping chocolate
crushed candy canes
Place the contents of the gelatin packets into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add 1/2 C of the ice water. Stir gently to combine and then set that bowl aside.
In a small saucepan combine: remaining 1/2 C water, corn syrup, granulated sugar, and salt. Stir mixture to combine and bring it to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and then clip a candy thermometer onto the pan.
The sugar mixture needs to remain on a simmer and come to a temperature of 245 degrees F. It may take 20 minutes or so, so just stir the mixture every once and a while and keep an eye on the temp.
After the mixture reaches 245 degrees, remove from heat. Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the bowl with the gelatin. You may want to dirty one more dish and ladle the sugar mixture into something with a pour spout for easier/safer handling.
After you add the entire sugar mixture to the gelatin turn the beater speed up to med-high. Continue to whip for 12-15 minutes, adding the vanilla in the last few minutes of beating.
*Also, immediately put your sticky pan and utensils from the sugar mixture into very hot, soapy water. The quicker you get it soaking the quicker the goo will come off!
While your sugar goo is magically transforming into soft, fluffy marshmallows, prepare your pan. Combine the cornstarch and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Spray a 9 x 13″ pan with non stick spray and coat the bottom and sides with the cornstarch mixture. Tap excess out and save it.
When your marshmallows are done beating the mixture should be thick and white and luke warm.
Scrape the marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan. The stuff is sticky and gooey and it might put up a fight. Show it who’s boss. I found it helpful to spray my spatula with non-stick spray. Once the marshmallow mixture is all in the pan you’ll need to spread it out. A lot of recipes tell you to dip an angled knife into cold water first, but I found it much easier to spray the back of a large spoon with non-stick spray and spread it that way. It will be kind of lumpy, but just keep spraying and patting and get it as smooth as you can. (You can read my notes on variations later in the post to see why my marshmallows are two-toned)
Let the pan sit at room temp for about an hour (to form a dry layer on the top) and sprinkle a couple spoonfuls of the corn starch mixture over the top. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. Technically, you could cut the marshmallows after 4-5 hours, but I think they work better after sitting overnight.
When they’re ready to cut, just pull the marshmallowy sheet out of the pan. It should pop right out. The bottom side will be much nicer looking than the top side!
At this point you could use cookie cutters if you want some cute little shapes. I think hearts would be adorable for valentines day and stars are darling for Christmas time. If you do use cookie cutters, you can use a pair of kitchen shears to snip the scraps into mini marshmallows so you don’t waste any.
Otherwise, grab a pizza cutter, or a sharp knife if you don’t have a pizza cutter, and cut the marshmallow into cubes. It helps to dust your cutting implement with the cornstarch-sugar mixture. Especially after it gets sticky stuff on it.
Once they are cut, dust each marshmallow lightly with the remaining cornstarch mixture. This makes them easy to handle and keeps them from sticking together.
After cutting you’ll want to keep these in an air tight container or they will dry out just like store-bought ones do. They’ll be good for a couple of weeks if stored well.
variations:
– Add all flavorings and colorings in the last few minutes of beating.
For Cocoa Marshmallows: add in 3-4 tablespoons of unsweetened cococa powder. If you make cocoa marshmallows, add a spoonful or two of cocoa powder to your cornstarch mixture as well.
For Peppermint Marshmallows: add in 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
For Colored Marshmallows: add food coloring in the last few minutes of beating (think colored fruit flavored marshmallows!)
Another fun thing to do is chocolate dipped marshmallows. Melt 1/2 C chocolate chips (I prefer semi-sweet or dark because you’re basically dipping sugar squares into it) with 1/2 tablespoon shortening and combine until smooth. The cornstarch coating on the marshmallows makes it a little hard sometimes to have the chocolate stick, so just work slowly and it should work just fine. I sprinkled crushed candy canes on too for extra Christmas cheer