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This is me, now that Christmas is but a happy memory. I am enjoying the solitude of my own living room as the maddening crowds in the stores scramble for the remaining items of drastically-reduced gotta-have sale items. (Drawing is from my collection of vintage cookbooks titled "The Casserole Book" illustrated by Kay Lovelace and published by Culinary Arts Institute Copyright 1956.)
I discovered this recipe on Fitness Freak's blog. It was originally published in the October 2005 issue of Vegetarian Times Magazine. They are guiltless morsels of sweetness jam-packed full of goodness. I used some buckwheat honey that I had purchased last July when Dick and I volunteered in the North Central Beekeepers Association's booth at the Crow Wing County Fair. Buckwheat honey has a dark color with a more robust flavor compared to such varieties as clover. Whenever I make cookies I use my special tablespoon-size measuring spoon, that I use solely for this purpose, to quickly produce uniform sizes. Growing up, I fondly remember the spoon that my mother used to scoop dough from the bowl to plop onto the cookie sheet. My mother, who is 91 years old, still has the spoon in her kitchen drawer. My sister, Rita, thinks that it was originally a gravy ladle. It's a happy tradition to begin in your own families. Any spoon will do as long as it is holds approximately one tablespoon. Note: In an email that I received from my daughter, Lisa, she included a comment regarding this recipe. "We made your nut balls the other day and boy are those things good. Those things are more dangerous for me than a candy bar, I like them so much."
No-Bake Pumpkin Seed Oat Energy Bites
Makes 24 1-inch balls
2 ½ cups rolled oats
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
½ cup raisins
2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup almond butter (or natural peanut butter)
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp barley malt syrup or agave nectar (I prefer brown rice syrup instead of barley malt syrup.)
1 tsp vanilla
Grind ½ cup oats and ¼ cup pumpkin seeds in food processor until powdery. Transfer to a cereal bowl or similar size bowl; set aside. Combine remaining two cups of oats, remaining ¼ cup pumpkin seeds, raisins, sunflower seeds, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir almond butter (or peanut butter), honey, barley malt syrup (or agave nectar or brown rice syrup), and vanilla together in a small bowl then add to mixture in large bowl. Stir until a soft dough forms. Moisten hands and roll dough into 1-inch balls. Coat balls in oat-pumpkin seed powder. Store in refrigerator or not. Freeze for longer term storage.
This gingerbread house is the perfect size for when you want just a couple sweet nibbles. Set at each guest's place at the dinner table... How cute is this? I cut out a paper snowflake for a pretty snowy groundcover set atop a colorful circle of scrapbook paper. (A handy dandy tool is a "circle cutter" that can be purchased in the scrapbooking section at Joann's or Michael's. Mine is a "makingmemories" brand that cuts 2" to 8 1/2" circles.)
Another way that you could present these petite gingerbread houses would be to line them up on a long narrow serving dish, dust with powdered sugar, and set them in the middle of the dinner table.
The gingerbread house construction steps are from Martha Stewart's web site. I chose an alternate gingerbread recipe than the one that came with the house directions. The recipe I used is from Martha Stewart's Whole Living, so the traditional recipe has been revamped to produce a healthier version using oil instead of butter, whole wheat flour substituted for part of the white flour, and reduced sugar. I tweaked the instructions a bit by using Polaner All Fruit raspberry spread, which is sweetened only with fruit and fruit juice, instead of chocolate frosting to adhere the house's body and roof segments. I used a pecan segment for a chimney instead of licorice and a sliced almond for a door.
Gingerbread
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour.)
¾ cup turbinado sugar
2 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup molasses
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup canola oil
½ cup buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup boiling water
Polaner All Fruit seedless raspberry fruit spread
powdered sugar for dusting
Cake Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or butter a 9-inch square baking pan. (For the gingerbread houses, use a 9x13 inch pan.) Line the bottom of the pan with parchment, then spray or butter the paper. Dust the pan with flour and shake out the excess. In a large bowl whisk together the flours, sugar, spices, and salt. In a medium bowl whisk together molasses, eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Dissolve baking soda in the cup of boiling water. Fold the baking soda and molasses mixtures into dry ingredients until combined. (Do not overmix.) Scrape batter into the prepared pan; bake until cake is set around the edges and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in the pan. Run a knife around the edges of cake to loosen, then invert onto parchment-lined surface. Remove parchment paper from cake’s surface and let cool completely.
House Construction:
Cut cake into 1-inch cubes. To make this step easier and produce more accurate results, I used a length of crochet thread to lay across the cake at 1-inch ruler measurements then “sawed” the string back and forth by grasping each end. I completed the cut using a serrated knife. For each house, you need two cubes- one of them cut on the diagonal into a triangle for the roof. Spread jelly between the house’s body cube and the roof’s triangle. Use jelly to adhere a sliced almond door. Insert a pecan segment for a chimney. Dust roofs with powdered sugar.
I revisited a December 2000 issue of Cooking Light that I had tucked away for "awhile". Upon leafing through the pages, a section of the magazine titled "How to Make the Ultimate Light Cookie" caught my interest. I chose to make this raspberry strippers recipe because of its festive look and simplistic ingredients. It turned out that the prep is so easy despite the illusion of fussiness.
...and the finished product. These are SO yummy. You absolutely must make them!
Raspberry Strippers
1/3 cup sugar
5 tbsp butter, softened
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 large egg white
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
cooking spray (or butter)
1/3 cup raspberry or apricot preserves
½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp almond or vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat sugar and butter with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add 1 ½ tsp vanilla and egg white; beat well. In a small bowl, combine flour cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, mixing until well blended. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion into a 12-inch log. (I found it easier to roll into four 6-inch logs.) Place logs 3 inches apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. (I used butter.) Form a ½-inch deep indentation down the length of each log using your index finger or the end of a wooden spoon. Spoon preserves into the center. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove logs to a cutting board. Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and almond (or vanilla) extract; stir well with a whisk. Drizzle sugar mixture over warm logs. Immediately cut each log diagonally into 12 slices (or into 6 slices if you chose to make 6-inch logs). Do not separate slices. Cool 10 minutes then separate slices. Transfer slices to wire racks. Cool completely. Yield: 2 dozen
Pinocchio, dressed in this season's red and green finery, overlooks the snowy village that sits atop my glass pedistal cake stand. A winning bid on eBay brought him to me. The mica church and houses were a gift from my daughter Lisa.
I officially started my Christmas baking today by trying a new recipe from Kristen's Raw. I reduced the measurements by half so as not to waste any ingredients if it flopped and because my cute little Betty Crocker micro food processor, that I scored at a yard sale, wouldn't hold any more than that. It turned out that the size of my B.C. food processor was the only factor that was necessary to consider. These nutritious morsels can stand up to any buttery and sugar-laden Christmas confection that they may share a plate with... quick and simple and sooooo good!
Pecan Spice Delights
Makes 20
1 ½ cups pecans
½ cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup raisins
10 dates, pitted
Process all of the ingredients, except for the raisins and dates, in a food processor fitted with the “S” blade until coarsely ground. Add the raisins and dates and continue processing until the mixture begins to stick together when pressed between your fingers. I used a measuring tablespoon to scoop the dough into uniform sizes. Roll and form into balls or patties.
Kristen, from Kristen's Raw, used 1 tbsp lucuma powder in these cookies. Since that's not an ingredient I ordinarily stock as a staple in my pantry, I left it out, but I researched it to see what in the heck it is. This is what I learned when I went to the Navitas Naturals web site that Kristen recommended: "Native to the highlands of Peru, Chile, and Ecuador, lucuma (loo-ku-mah) is considered a healthy alternative sweetener as it lends a sweet taste to recipes, but it is very low in sugars. (It has a) maple-like taste (that) blends well to make smoothies, puddings, and ice creams, and can also be used as a flour in pies and pastries." I think I must order some.
Did you happen to notice the fun colors and patterns underneath the glass bowl of pecan spice delights? It is a placemat from a set my daughter Jessie gave me. Isn't it pretty? They adorn my table this Christmas season in lieu of the standard shades of red and green.
When I receive magazines in the mail, I immediately flip to the recipes. Therefore, my favorite publication is Clean Eating Magazine because the entire magazine is recipes. A limited number of recipes can be found on their cleaneatingmag.com web site, as well. This recipe caught my interest but my month delay in printing it was disappointing when I discovered it was no longer there. New recipes had replaced the old ones. It turned into a good thing when, upon doing an Internet search, I discovered http://thefitnessfreak.blogspot.com. Not only had she posted the recipe I was looking for, but she has many other nutritious recipes that I can't wait to try. One I printed was No-Bake Almond-Oat Energy Bites, but that is another day. Today I prepared the recipe I initially was searching for... with a little tweaking.
Sweet Potato-Apple Saute
Ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾-inch chunks
1 tsp olive oil
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks (about 1 cup)
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp real maple syrup
1 tbsp water (or orange juice)
1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions:
Cook sweet potatoes in a very small amount of water or orange juice (just enough to steam but not go dry) until they are tender but still firm. Meanwhile, pour oil in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add apple and sprinkle with allspice and salt. Saute for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Gently mix sweet potatoes and apples together. Mix together maple syrup, water (or orange juice), and pepper then pour over sweet potatoes and apples. Gently toss.