If you’re still working on your Christmas morning menu, this recipe for Cranberry Streusel Cake would be a good one to consider. The moist, festive cake is both easy to make and delicious. The sweet, brown sugar streusel is a nice balance to the tart cranberries.

To simplify things the morning of, have your cranberries chopped and measured, and your dry ingredients measured and combined. Now all you have to do Christmas morning is mix the  cake (wet and dry ingredients) and bake it.

I didn’t have plain yogurt so I used a combination of sour cream and buttermilk. The cake turned out great and several people asked me for the recipe. Enjoy!

Cranberry Streusel Cake
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Add the topping 40 minutes into baking rather than at the beginning, when it would sink too far into the cake, or at the end, when it wouldn’t sink in at all. Serves nine.
 
9 oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour; more for the pan
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. table salt
4 oz. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, well softened at room temperature; more for the pan
1-1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plain, low-fat yogurt (or sour cream)
1/2 cup fresh cranberries, chopped

For the streusel:
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup fresh cranberries, chopped

Make the cake:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter and flour a 9-inch-square baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt until blended. With an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just incorporated. Using a wide rubber spatula, alternately fold the flour mixture and the yogurt into the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add the chopped cranberries with the last addition of flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Tap the pan gently on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake for 40 min.

Make the streusel:
While the cake is baking, combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the butter and mix, using a fork, until the ingredients are well blended and form small crumbs. Stir in the walnuts and cranberries.

After the cake has baked for 40 min., sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the cake. Continue baking until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean, another 10 to 15 min. Cool in the pan on a wire rack until warm or room temperature. Cut into squares and serve.

Tags: Breakfast, brunch, cake, Christmas, Christmas baking, cranberries, cranberry, cranberry coffee cake, Dessert, holiday baking, holiday breakfast, holiday brunch, holidays

Next time you need cranberry sauce, I urge you to make your own. Not only is it incredibly easy to make, but you can jazz it up and make it more exciting than the humdrum store-bought variety. In this recipe, I love the addition of fragrant orange zest and orange liqueur…very tasty! 

Cranberry-Orange Sauce   
-recipe from Cook’s Illustrated (November 1999)  

What combination of basic ingredients—cranberries, sweetener, and liquid—would give us a cranberry sauce recipe with a clean, pure cranberry flavor and with enough sweetness to temper the assertively tart fruit but not so much that the sauce would be cloying or candylike? It turned out that simpler was better. White table sugar balanced the tartness of the cranberries without adding a flavor profile of its own. As for liquid, water—not cider, orange juice, or cranberry juice—won out in our cranberry sauce recipe. We also discovered that adding just a pinch of salt brought out an unexpected sweetness in the berries, heightening the flavor of the sauce overall.

The cooking time in this recipe is intended for fresh berries. If you’ve got frozen cranberries, do not defrost them before use; just pick through them and add about 2 minutes to the simmering time. Orange juice adds little flavor, but we found that zest and liqueur pack the orange kick we were looking for in this sauce. Makes about 2 1/4 cups. 

3/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 (12-ounce) bag cranberries, picked through
2 tablespoons orange liqueur (such as Triple Sec or Grand Marnier)

Bring water, sugar, orange zest, and salt to boil in medium nonreactive saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Stir in cranberries; return to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until saucy, slightly thickened, and about two-thirds of berries have popped open, about 5 minutes. Off heat; stir in orange liqueur. Transfer to nonreactive bowl, cool to room temperature, and serve. (Can be covered and refrigerated up to 7 days; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.)

Tags: Christmas, cranberries, cranberry orange sauce, cranberry sauce, holidays, orange zest, Thanksgiving, triple sec

During the Fall and winter months, I like to have cookies baking or a small pan of spiced cider simmering on the stove when I’m expecting company. The moment I open my front door, my guests are greeted with the wonderful fragrance of warm spices. I think it’s a great way of saying, “Welcome to my home”.

What do you do to welcome guests to your home?

Tags: Christmas, cookies baking, entertaining, fragrant house, handy hint, holidays, spiced cider

Since Thanksgiving is next week, it’s time to get your Turkey Day game plan in order. This recipe for Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Sage Stuffing is fantastic! Loaded with savory and earthy ingredients, it may just upstage the turkey!

For the bread, I used some homemade rustic bread that I’d baked earlier in the week. The hearty bread was a perfect foundation for the stuffing. I also substituted a little dry sherry (about 1/4 cup) and used a little less stock than the recipe called for. The result? A pan of delicious, moist stuffing that’s loaded with tasty ingredients — perfect for your holiday table! Enjoy!   

Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Sage Stuffing
-recipe from The Thanksgiving Table by Diane Morgan

Some are just “ho-hum, nothing-special” stuffings, but not this one. The sausage is key here. Where I live, several local butcher shops make their own savory and richly flavored link sausages and those are what I buy. Look in your area for artisan sausage makers.

Once the sausages have cooked, I sauté the mushrooms in some of the flavorful fat. The browned bits of sausage clinging to the sides of the pan mix with the mushrooms, so that all these tasty morsels go into the stuffing. With the addition of sautéed vegetables and fresh herbs, this is bliss to a stuffing lover.

5 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
10 cups unseasoned dry bread cubes (see Cook’s Note)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound mild Italian sausages
1 pound cremini mushrooms, wiped or brushed clean, stems trimmed, and quartered
1 large yellow onion (about 12 ounces), chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 large ribs celery, chopped
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups homemade chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat a deep, 9-by-13-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Place the bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. In 10-inch sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat, and swirl to coat the pan. Cook the sausages until nicely browned on all sides. Remove and let cool. Drain all but 3 tablespoons of the fat. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add to the bread in the bowl.

Return the pan to the heat, and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Swirl to coat the pan, and add the onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté, stirring frequently, until soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the parsley, thyme, sage, salt, and a few grinds of pepper, and sauté 1 minute longer. Add this mixture to the bread cubes, and stir to combine.

Cut the reserved sausages into ¼-inch rounds and add to the stuffing. Add the beaten eggs and stock to the bowl, and mix well. Place the stuffing in the prepared pan and bake, uncovered, until the top is lightly browned and crusty, about 1 hour.

If you have room in your oven, bake the stuffing while the turkey is roasting. Otherwise, bake it beforehand and reheat it once the turkey is out.

Cook’s Note: Making your own read cubes is a small, easy task with delicious results. There is just no comparison between homemade bread cubes and the cello-packaged ones available in supermarkets. I usually prepare mine a day or two before Thanksgiving. Buy a loaf of artisan or peasant-style bread, trim the crusts, cut the bread into ½-inch cubes, and spread them out on baking sheets. Toast the cubes in a 400ºF oven until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Cool completely and store in a covered container until ready to use. Artisan bakeries are springing up in every city and town around the country. Check out their breads, and use them for these bread stuffing recipes. However, if you are short on time, the bakeries often sell toasted bread cubes made from their day-old loaves, especially at Thanksgiving time.

Tags: Christmas, dressing, holiday side dish, holidays, italian sausage, mushroom, sage, stuffing, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving side dish, Thanksgiving stuffing, turkey stuffing

Give me a spoon and a bucket of this stuff and I’m a happy girl. Okay, maybe that’s a little over doing it. I really do love this recipe, though. Corn pudding (if you’ve never had it before) is a savory baked corn dish that is creamier than cornbread but more dense than a custard. Basically, it’s a delicious corn casserole that pairs well with grilled and roasted meats, and would be a great addition to a holiday feast (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July). Many versions use canned cream of corn but we’re using fresh ingredients in this recipe.

I saved myself a little prep work and used Trader Joe’s White Frozen Corn (almost as good as fresh corn) and it worked perfectly. The fresh basil gives the dish wonderful just-out-of-the-garden flavor, and since I had fresh chives, I added some of them to the custard, too.

For the water bath, I set my 2-quart casserole of corn pudding in a larger pyrex baking dish, set it in the oven then poured hot water into the pyrex dish until it was close to halfway up the side of the corn pudding dish. Be very careful when removing the corn pudding from the water bath after it’s finished baking because you don’t want to splash scalding water all over you (it’s best not to be wearing shorts and flipflops for this part of the recipe).

Let the casserole cool for 15-20 minutes after taking it out of the oven to allow it to firm up a bit. Enjoy!

Sagaponack Corn Pudding
-recipe from Barefoot Contessa Family Style by Ina Garten

The basil and extra-sharp cheddar give good flavor without overpowering the delicate corn. If you can’t get fresh corn, use frozen. Makes 8 servings.

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 45 min

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter
5 cups fresh yellow corn kernels cut off the cob (6 to 8 ears)
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
4 extra-large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup (6 ounces) grated extra-sharp cheddar, plus extra to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the inside of an 8 to 10-cup baking dish.

Melt the butter in a very large saute pan and saute the corn and onion over medium-high heat for 4 minutes. Cool slightly.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, and half-and-half in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the cornmeal and then the ricotta. Add the basil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked corn mixture and grated cheddar, and then pour into the baking dish. Sprinkle the top with more grated cheddar.

Place the dish in a larger pan and fill the pan 1/2 way up the sides of the dish with hot tap water. Bake the pudding for 40 to 45 minutes until the top begins to brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Tags: baked corn, Christmas, corn casserole, corn pudding, Easter, Fourth of July, holiday side dish, holidays, Ina Garten, Side Dish, Thanksgiving

The other day, one of my kids was hankering for pumpkin pie…yes, in the middle of July. Since this is the best time to try new holiday recipes (way ahead of time), I obliged his craving. After a quick search, I decided to make a Double-Ginger Pumpkin Tart. This dessert is like a cross between pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pie. It’s easy to make, creamy, nicely spiced with cinnamon and ginger, and baked in a cookie crumb crust. The whole family loved it and they’re already requesting that it appear at our Thanksgiving feast.

I’m not a fan of crystallized ginger so I didn’t use any in the tart filling or as a garnish. If you like it, use it. If not, the tart is still great without it. For the filling, be sure and buy plain ol’ pumpkin puree NOT pumpkin pie mix (the pre-sweetened, pre-spiced stuff).

I used graham crackers for the crust because that’s what I had on hand. The tart would also be really good with a  Nilla Wafer crust. Also, I thought the crust’s texture was best on the day the tart was made. It still tasted great on Day 2 and Day 3, but the crust is much softer.

I garnished each piece of pumpkin tart with a pretty swirl of freshly whipped cream from my handy whipped cream dispenser. Enjoy!

Note: Since I already had the food processor out for the cookie crumb crust, I decided to use it for making the filling, too, instead of using a mixer and having more stuff to clean up. However you decide to mix the filling, make sure it’s smooth before pouring it into the cooled crust. 

Double-Ginger Pumpkin Tart
-recipe by Abigail Johnson Dodge / Fine Cooking Magazine

Serves twelve.

Yields one 9-1/2-inch tart.

6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup very firmly packed light  brown sugar
3/4 cup solid-pack pumpkin purée  (not seasoned pumpkin pie filling)
1-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. table salt
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 Tbs. finely chopped crystallized ginger; more for garnish
1 Press-In Cookie Crust baked and cooled (recipe below)
Whipped cream for garnish (optional)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325°F. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and brown sugar with a stand mixer or hand-held mixer on medium speed until smooth and lump-free, about 3  min. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and salt and continue beating until well blended, about 1 min. Add the egg yolk, egg, and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Sprinkle the chopped crystallized ginger over the batter and stir it in with a rubber spatula.

Use the spatula to scrape the filling into the crust and spread it evenly. Bake the tart until the filling just barely jiggles when the tart pan is nudged, 25  to 30  min. Transfer the tart to a rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate the tart in the pan until chilled and firm, about 3  hours. Garnish with whipped cream and crystallized ginger, if you like.

Press-In Cookie Crust
by Abigail Johnson Dodge

Yields one crust for one 9-1/2-inch tart.

1 cup finely ground cookies (ground in a food processor); choose from one of the following: about 8 whole graham crackers, or 35 vanilla wafers
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1-1/2 oz. (3 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Have ready an ungreased 9-1/2-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.

In a medium bowl, mix the cookie crumbs and sugar with a fork until well blended. Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs and mix with the fork or your fingers until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Put the crumbs in the tart pan and use your hands to spread the crumbs so that they coat the bottom of the pan and start to climb the sides. Use your fingers to pinch and press some of the crumbs around the inside edge of the pan to cover the sides evenly and create a wall a scant 1/4 inch thick. Redistribute the remaining crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan and press firmly to make a compact layer. (I like to use a metal measuring cup with straight sides and a flat base for this task.)

Bake the crust until it smells nutty and fragrant (crusts made with lighter-colored cookies will brown slightly), about 10 min. Set the baked crust on a rack and let cool. The crust can be made up to one day ahead of filling, and stored at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic.

Tip: I prefer Nabisco Honey Maid Grahams and Nilla Vanilla Wafers for these crusts. If you don’t have a food processor, put the cookies in a zip-top bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Tags: Christmas, cinnamon, cookie crumb crust, crystalized ginger, graham cracker crust, ground ginger, holiday desserts, holidays, pie, pumpkin desserts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin puree, pumpkin tart, tart, Thanksgiving

“For unto us a child is born,
   unto us a son is given,
   and the government shall be on his shoulders.
And his name shall be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
- Isaiah 9:6

May God bless this Christmas!

Tags: Christmas, Isaiah 9:6, true meaning of Christmas

If you’ve got lots of candy canes and you’re wondering what to do with them, here’s a few ideas I found at MarthaStewart.com. 

The Candy Cane Can
-tips from Martha Stewart Everyday Food and MarthaStewart.com 

More than 1.8 billion of these holiday hooks are made each year. Luckily, candy canes are tasty additions to lots of seasonal treats.

Hot-Cocoa Stirrer: Mix things up in a classic winter drink: Add a candy-cane “spoon.” It melts in the liquid for extra flavor.

Fudge Topper: Make Homemade Holiday Fudge an even sweeter gift with crushed peppermint. This is a great way to use leftover candy canes — simply put them in a zip-top plastic bag and then pound with a kitchen mallet.

Minty Bark: A holiday favorite, Minty Bark gets a cool crunch with peppermints. Blend crushed candy canes into melted white chocolate. Little elves can help break the bark into pieces and pack it in tins for gifts.

Candy-Cane-Chip Ice Cream: Kids love ice cream any time of the year. For a December-style treat, stir crushed peppermints into softened vanilla ice cream and freeze until firm. Serve with more candy on top.

Peppermint Sauce: Stir together equal parts cream and crushed candy canes over medium heat until smooth, then immediately whisk in some white chocolate until melted. Drizzle on brownies for a festive dessert.

Tags: candy cane hot cocoa, candy cane ice cream, candy canes, Christmas, holidays, minty bark, peppermint sauce

Here’s a fun project I made with my kids not too long ago. It’s easy, fun and kids love eating the Rudolph cookies once they’re made. I used Nabisco Nutter Butter cookies since I’m not aware of any other peanut-shaped cookie on the market.

The hardest part of making the cookies was inserting the “antlers” into the filling between the cookies. You first need to separate the two halves of the cookies then stick the pretzel pieces into the peanut butter filling, sandwiching the cookies back together once the antlers are in place. Sometimes the peanut butter cookie halves break during this step so be careful when sandwiching the antlers between the cookie halves. Next time I’ll try adding a little dot of melted chocolate to help keep the antlers in place.

For cementing the eyes and nose to the cookies, I used melted chocolate chips instead of buying the candy coating. I had to microwave the chocolate a few times to keep it melted but other than that it worked fine. Enjoy!

Rudolph Cookies
-recipe from Southern Living Magazine

 4 (1-ounce) chocolate candy coating squares
96 pretzel sticks
1 (16-ounce) package peanut butter sandwich cookies
64 candy-covered green, blue, or brown chocolate pieces
32 red candy-coated chocolate pieces or red cinnamon candies

Microwave chocolate candy coating in a small shallow glass dish at HIGH 3 minutes, stirring once.

Place 2 pretzel sticks in peanut butter filling of each sandwich cookie, forming large antlers. Break remaining pretzel sticks in half, and place 1 half pretzel stick next to each longer pretzel stick, forming smaller antlers.

Dip 1 side of green chocolate pieces in melted candy coating, and place on cookies for the eyes. Dip 1 side of red chocolate pieces in candy coating, and place on cookies for the noses. Yield:  32 cookies

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Nabisco brand Nutter Butter peanut butter sandwich cookies.

Southern Living, DECEMBER 1999

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Tags: Christmas, holiday, kids, Nabisco Nutter Butter cookies, peanut butter sandwich cookies, reindeer cookies, Rudolph

I love pork tenderloin because it’s difficult to mess up. This recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic-Cranberry Sauce is a perfect holiday dish because it’s easy, delicious, festive looking, and can easily be doubled or tripled to feed more people. The slightly sweet, slightly savory balsamic-cranberry sauce is a great compliment to the tender roasted pork.

It took longer than 2 minutes to get a good sear on the pork. To save time, you can start the sauce while the pork is browning. For the cranberry sauce, I used some leftover homemade Triple Cranberry Sauce which is lightly flavored with orange…it was perfect with the rosemary, onion and balsamic vinegar in the sauce. You could probably even make the sauce a day ahead to simplify things, then all you’d need to do is roast the pork, heat the sauce, and make a side dish or two. I served the tenderloin with bread stuffing and Green Beans with Caramelized Red Onion and Mushroom Topping.

Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic-Cranberry Sauce
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine, November 1998

To round out this menu, serve roasted squash, corn muffins and boiled green beans with orange zest. End with vanilla ice cream topped with warm chestnuts in syrup.

Yield: Serves 2, can be doubled

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 8- to 10-ounce pork tenderloin
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1/3 cup canned whole berry cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 450°F. Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Sear pork on all sides, about 2 minutes. Place skillet with pork in oven. Roast pork until thermometer inserted into center registers 155°F, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and rosemary; sauté until onion softens, about 3 minutes. Add broth, cranberry sauce and vinegar and whisk until cranberry sauce melts, about 2 minutes.

Transfer pork to work surface. Scrape any juices from large skillet into cranberry mixture. Boil until sauce has reduced enough to coat spoon thickly, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Slice pork and serve with sauce.

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Tags: balsamic cranberry sauce, balsamic vinegar, chicken broth, Christmas, cranberries, holidays, onion, pork tenderloin, whole berry cranberry sauce