Here's What's Cooking in Tracey's kitchen!

For me the holiday season means baking and creating lots of really wonderful food memories. I love preparing Christmas meals! I start out weeks in advance scouring my collection of cookbooks and remembering what the family favorites were for past menus. This year I resurrected a really simple, but classic dessert. And it’s low fat! I always like to add new foods to the table. I decided on a food pairing. I made a really yummy apple cider sangria and paired it with sweet and spicy almonds. Below are the recipes. Enjoy!!! Wishing you happy holidays, and a very Happy New Year filled with yummy food!

Taken from 366 Low-Fat Brand Name Recipes in Minutes (M.J. Smith, M.A.,R.D./L.D.

Pumpkin Spice Angel Food Cake

1 pkg. Betty Crocker 1 Step Angel Food Cake

1 ¼ cup water

½ cup canned pumpkin, (Tracey’s note; use the leftover to make pumpkin muffins or freeze for later use)

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, beat cake mix, water, pumpkin, and spices. Pour batter into tub pan and bake for 30-45 mins. Cool cake completely before removing it from the pan. Serve with orange sherbet as a topping.

Sweet and spicy almonds

Heat oven to 250 degrees F

1 egg white

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ cayenne pepper-( you can add more to your taste)

3 cups of almonds

Mix egg white in a bowl until frothy. Toss almonds in egg white to coat. Drain in a strainer. Mix sugars and spices in a bowl toss almonds to cover. Spread mixture on a cookie sheet, place in oven, cook for about 45 mins to 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Mixture will be dry. Take from oven, enjoy! Store nuts in an airtight container.

 

Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria (from Vinepair.com)

Serves 8

2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

1/2 cup cognac

2 cups apple cider

750ml bottle cava (or other dry sparkling wine), chilled

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Add the apples to a large pitcher reserving about 1/2 cup for garnishing. Add the cognac, apple cider, and chilled cava. Stir.

Fill the pitcher with ice. Pour the sangria into glasses filled with ice and top with sliced apple and pomegranate seeds.

Recipe Notes:  Non-Alcoholic Version: You can easily make this a non-alcoholic sangria by removing the cognac and replacing the Cava with seltzer water or club soda.  (Tracey's note; I actually found Cava at our local wine store and really liked the taste but any sparkling wine will do!)

A Few Of My Favorite Things

When it comes to holiday eating, I have many, many favorite recipes. But my one staple, something that I make every single year for guests who come to my house and for small gifts to give out, is my "Holiday Brittle & Bark". Yup - a Christmas bonus - two recipes in one! And they are quick and easy too!

Tools you will require: cookie sheets and candy (or digital) thermometer.

Peanut Brittle 

You'll need:

     White sugar (1 Cup)

     Light Corn Syrup (1/2 Cup)

     Salt (1/4 Tsp)

     Water (1/4 Cup)

     Peanuts ( 1 Cup)

     Butter (2 Tbsp)

     Baking Soda (1 Tsp)

Bring corn syrup, salt and water to a boil. Add sugar until completely dissolved. Slowly stir in peanuts. Put candy (or digital) thermometer into mixture and keep stirring until temperature is 300 degrees F (150 degree C).

Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter and baking soda. Once combined pour onto greased cookie sheet. Spread mixture across cookie sheet using two metal spoons to form flat, square surface. Let cool. When completely cooled, snap into uneven pieces and enjoy!

Christmas Bark

You'll need:

     Bittersweet Chocolate chips (9 Oz) - I prefer Ghirardelli Dark

     Chopped walnuts (6 Oz)

     Craisins - chopped (1 Cup) - Really good with the pomegranate ones too

     Candy Canes - broken (1/2 Cup)

     Ginger - finely chopped (2 Tbsp)

Toast chopped walnuts on a baking sheet in a 350 degree F pre-heated oven for 8 minutes.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or in a pot over a pot of boiling water), stirring until smooth. Add walnuts first, then craisins and then ginger, ensuring that all are coated well with the chocolate. Remove from heat and add candy canes. Stir well and then spread onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes. When cool, break into pieces. Enjoy!


My very best to all of you for a happy, healthy holiday season! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Elisabeth Mayer

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Oh Christmas tree!

Every year I swear I'm going to break down and buy a fake tree. They don't shed needles every where  and when you're done with it, you simply fold it up or break it apart and pack it away. Then next year, poof you've got an instant tree. But... It never happens.
I think I'd truly miss the smell of a real tree being in the house. I love decorating it. Keeping it watered is a task that sometimes gets overlooked, but I try.
When the kids were little, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, while everyone else was fighting it out in stores shopping, we would be on a tree farm hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. Love those memories. The search, the debates, and the final selection. Then came the cussing while trying to cut it down with the not-too-sharp saw the tree farm provided. Granted, after the first year or so, we brought our own saw in the form of a small chainsaw. LOL. It made it so much easier.
The past couple of years, this tradition has gone array, with the kids grown and schedules not jiving, I've turned to making a donation to the local volunteer fire department and purchased the family tree.
Here's the latest rendition:

I've also got a new release just in time for Christmas. It called Wish Upon A Christmas Star and it's available for pre-order @ http://amzn.to/1O4MYgr

It releases on December 18th. I love writing stories about Military families. This one is about a Marine who is determined to reach home and be with his wife on Christmas.

There's no snow deep enough to keep this Marine from the woman he left behind.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful day!

Tara Nina

https://taranina.com

https://www.facebook.com/TaraNinaAuthor

Come party on the EC Facebook page on Friday, December 18th for chances to win prizes as we celebrate all the Stocking Stuffer releases. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/502230776619041/

Christmas Comfort and Joy

I grew up in a food equals love kind of family. My grandmother could offer comfort, affection, love, and healing just by putting a meal on the table. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the holiday season gave us all the excuse we needed to cook up a storm.

Though I have many favorite recipes, some of my favorite memories were of baking cookies with my mother and grandmother.

Okay, if I’m being honest, there was a little bit of perfectionism when it came to Christmas cookies. My grandmother used an old-fashioned cookie press to design her cookies. After they were baked there was still icing and chocolate dipping and sprinkling to be done. When I was very little, I was only allowed to watch as the finishing touches were put on the cookies. Finally being allowed to help was a big milestone for me.

Now, I’m passing down the Christmas cookie tradition to my own daughters. My mom is still part of the day we bake, but we’ve let go of a lot of our perfectionism. Sometimes the icing drips or a cookie comes out a little misshapen. But they taste just as good. I relish knowing my daughters will carry memories of our Christmas cookie baking for the rest of their lives.

Here’s one of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes:

Shiny Sugar Cookies

2 ½ cup all purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cream of tartar

1 cup of butter, softened

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and extracts, beating until mixed.
5. Gradually beat in dry ingredients.
6. Divide dough into quarters and flatten into disks.
7. Wrap dough and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 3 days.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough ¼ - inch thick.
9. Cut into shapes with 3-inch cookie cutters.
10. Place cookie cut outs on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
11. Bake 6-8 minutes and cool on wire rack.
12. Decorate.

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

You can decorate cookies however you like. We usually make some royal icing by combining confectioner’s sugar, a bit of vanilla extract and a few tablespoons of milk. You can adjust the amount of milk you add to get the desired thickness on the icing. Color with food coloring and then spread on cookies.

After that, sprinkles, chocolate chips, piped on icing—your decorations are up to you and your imagination!

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And speaking of comfort and joy…my very sweet Christmas novella, Joyfully Yours, is on sale for only 99¢ for a few more days. It’s a great book to curl up with for a few hours by the lights of the Christmas tree!! 

Buy it on Amazon 

Hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

~ Amy Lamont

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December means holiday parties which means lots of great food!

Hello and welcome back to the Warwick Valley Romance Author's blog!

We hope you've enjoyed the November posts about our favorite holiday memories.

This month we are talking about our favorite holiday recipes!

Want to know more about WVRA? Check out the member tab up top for more information about each author and how to purchase their books!

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It's December. There are over 100 holidays observed this month. Almost all of them involve some kind of food.

The struggle is real. :)

So, what do we do when we need to whip up a last minute appetizer or side dish? Have a few quick recipes on hand.


Shrimp/Crab Dip

1 pkg real cream cheese, softened
1 jar cocktail sauce
1 can crabmeat, drained
1 can tiny shrimp, drained
1 box crackers

In serving dish create layers of ingredients. Spread cream cheese out, spread cocktail sauce over that, crabmeat then shrimp. Serve with crackers (Wheatsworth are really good with this dip). Use small knives for spreading.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs OR BBQ Meatballs

1 32oz bag frozen fully cooked meatballs (about 50)
1 18oz jar grape jelly
1 12oz Heinz Chili Sauce
OR
1 18oz BBQ sauce

Combine sauces in your crock-pot and stir until combined. Add meatballs and stir until they are coated with the sauce. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Enjoy as an appetizer or serve over rice for a main dish.

Easy Fudge

12 oz. pkg semisweet chocolate chips

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Place chips and milk in microwave safe bowl.

Microwave on medium power for 2-3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes.

Microwave, stirring at 1 minutes intervals, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth and thick.

Pour into greased 8" square pan and cool.

You can also melt the chips and milk in a heavy saucepan over low heat.

Heather M. Gardner
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