texas pralines

My husband and I have loved pralines since the early 1970s when he first made them for me. Using a recipe called Praline Prize Winners from Farm Journal’s Homemade Candy cookbook, he would sneak into the kitchen while I was curled up under a blanket during the cold Oklahoma winter, then bring me one fresh from the pan. Nothing said love to me quite like that warm sugary treat.

Through the years I have tried to emulate those early year pralines, but mine are never as good as his. He likes his pralines with that sugar gritty graininess , and I prefer mine lightly crunchy but smooth. I tried Homesick Texan’s recipe in this post from my old blog and it was good but didn’t quite hit the spot.

This past weekend I was craving creamy pralines so I pulled out the old Farm Journal cookbook. I decided to make Texas Pralines, which differ from that original recipe by the addition of corn syrup and a slightly different technique. I added Mexican vanilla and sprinkled with a little sea salt, and while I loved the flavor of these they were actually too creamy! They were perfect around the edges, but inside was a bit like frosting. I managed to put away several of them, but next time I will return to husband’s original recipe. And let him make them!

Texas Pralines
adapted from Farm Journal’s Homemade Candy

3 cups light brown sugar
1 cup half and half
3 tablespoons light or dark corn syrup
1/3 cup salted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used Mexican vanilla)
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
Kosher or sea salt

Combine sugar, half-and-half, corn syrup, and butter in 3 quart heavy saucepan. Stir to combine; bring to boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Cook to soft ball stage (238 degrees) and remove from heat. Cool to lukewarm (110 degrees) without stirring. Add vanilla and pecans and beat until mixture changes color and begins to thicken.

Quickly spoon heaping teaspoons onto waxed paper or parchment paper, making circles 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Makes about 24 pralines.

My husband held this pan while I took photos with my smartphone, and his finger is featured in this photo.

snickerdoodles, cakes, and a creche cloth


Creche Cloth

My husband is the Business Director of a church in The Woodlands, and he asked me if I would make a tablecloth for the nativity figures that grace the narthex during Advent. After measuring the table, I went to JoAnn Fabric and chose a creamy gold brocade with tiny crosses.


Brocade fabric

I mis-calculated the width of the fabric and had to put in some tucks to make it fit the table, but several commented they liked the added interest. I did purchase additional fabric and intend to make the cloth a true round tablecloth for next Advent season.


Engagement Party Entwined Hearts Cakes

The engagement of my daughter and her fiance was celebrated at the home of my son and his wife in December. I made them a cake of entwined hearts with the logos of their respective universities. For Jenni’s Oklahoma University cake I baked this 1-2-3-4 cake, and for Chris’s Texas Tech cake I made Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. I’m really not bragging, but both cakes were delicious. The 1-2-3-4 cake was sturdy but tender and flavorful – everything you would want in a yellow cake. The chocolate cake was moist and chocolatey and addictive. Both were frosted with buttercream made with butter, a bit of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cream.

Snickerdoodles and Nestle Tollhouse Cookies

Yesterday we went to my son’s house for a New Year’s Day feast of sliders, homemade guacamole, caramelized red bell peppers and onions, and jalapeno slices that my son sautes in coconut oil until they are crispy. They purchased To-Go salsa, queso, and chips from Chili’s. Everything was so, so good! I made cookies – chocolate chip and snickerdoodles. On a whim I followed the old tried and true standard Nestle’s Tollhouse Cookies recipe on the back of the chocolate chips package, and after all the chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve tried the last few years, my family declared these the best! I always cut back on the salt, because I use salted butter, and I use Mexican vanilla which imparts a delicate whisper of cinnamon. I really don’t know why I ever tried any other recipe.

The snickerdoodles were a hit, and the recipe is adapted from the recipe on Joy of Baking website.

Snickerdoodles
Makes 4-6 dozen

2-3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sugar mixture:
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In large bowl whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. Combine sugar and cinnamon, set aside.

In another bowl using electric or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes; add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture and mix on low until dough is smooth. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to roll into balls, about one hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch round balls, roll in sugar mixture, and place on sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Use bottom of glass, gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake cookies 8 – 10 minutes, or until light golden brown around edges. Let cookies sit on pan for 5 minutes, then place on wire rack to cool.

cranberry wild rice yeast bread

Amidst all the Christmas baking, I decided to give this bread recipe a try. There are several variations of wild rice bread on the internet, and this is my adapted version. I elected to soften the dried cranberries in orange juice – a good decision! Wild rice was very expensive at my local grocery, so I found a wild rice mix of wild rice and brown rice. Now that I know how good this bread is, I will spring for the pricy Minnesota wild rice!

Sweetened only with a bit of molasses and tangy cranberries, this bread is moist and wonderful. I can’t wait to try it with grilled cheese and as French toast. Instructions are for rolls or loaf.

Cranberry Wild Rice Bread
2-1/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat or rye flour
2-1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1-1/4 cups water, room temperature
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup wild rice, cooked and cooled
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Orange juice
Extra unbleached flour, if needed

Soak cranberries in orange juice 30 minutes; drain, and set aside. Mix water, molasses, and olive oil. Set aside.

Whisk together flours, yeast, and salt. Switch to dough hook; add water mixture. Mix on low speed until dough forms; increase speed to medium and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 7-8 minutes. Turn speed back to low; add cranberries and wild rice; Add another 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup flour if dough seems excessively moist. Knead until evenly distributed throughout dough. Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise about 1-1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper for rolls or spray 9×5 loaf pan with baking spray and line bottom with parchment paper. Lightly deflate dough and turn out onto generously floured surface. Handling dough lightly and using floured hands, either shape into 12 rolls and place on baking sheet, or shape into loaf and place in loaf pan. Cover rolls or loaf with oiled piece of plastic wrap. Let rolls rise until almost doubled. Let loaf rise until about an inch above pan.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees for rolls, 375 degrees for loaf. Bake until golden brown as follows: rolls – 15-20 minutes; loaf – 30-40 minutes. After removing from oven brush tops of rolls or loaf with melted salted butter. Place rolls on wire rack to cool. Cool loaf in pan 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.

my favorite blog

I’ve decided to revive my favorite blog. I seem to have a blog hoarding problem, since I’ve had 4 blogs since I first began blogging. I started with For Goodness Sake, which became my catering blog. Then I decided I needed an Oklahoma blog, so I created this one, which is still my favorite. My foray into crafting prompted me to launch Talking Stash. I posted very little on that one, but I still love the name and might choose to bring it back to life.

When we moved to Katy Texas I blogged new adventures as Katy Rose. Now that we have moved to Magnolia, I hesitate to start yet another blog, so I will return to my roots. Even though I love Texas, at heart I am still an Okie.

The moving process has not been fun. I’m not sure anyone on the planet would say “I sure enjoyed packing up a 3330 square foot house and moving everything into a 2400 sq ft house”. In spite of it all, the job opportunity was welcome, the proximity to our son and DIL and grands (6 miles!) was a big draw, and we do love this part of south Texas with its gentle hills and pine trees. And who wouldn’t love this view from my sewing room!

When we lived in Katy I had a loft for my crafts and a sewing room for my quilting. These hobbies will now share space with our one guest bedroom, which has gone through quite a transformation from this before we bought it.

To this when we first moved in.

 

To this – it’s getting there!

Blue Cranberry Applesauce

My love affair with cranberry sauce started in childhood with the jellied version (I still love it) and finally progressed to the real thing. Several years ago I tried my hand at Pear Honey Cranberry Sauce from Allrecipes.com. My mother and I loved it so much that I’ve made homemade cranberry sauce each year when cranberries come available.

This year I decided to try a combination of two of my very favorites, Cranberry Applesauce on Simply Recipes and Blue Cranberry Sauce from Allrecipes, by using extra cranberries and Ocean Spray Blueberry Cocktail. I love it! It is a tiny bit tart, spicy from the cinnamon, and with a nice tang from the blueberry juice. Plus it looks gorgeous in my Mom’s old crystal relish dish.

This made eight cups using my ingredients. I will serve a portion at a luncheon at church tomorrow and the remainder will be used in recipes. It keeps well in the refrigerator and freezes well, so it is great as a do-ahead for Thanksgiving or Christmas; and its vibrant color makes a stunning addition to the holiday table.

Please see the original recipe at Simply Recipes for Elise’s version, as well as the excellent recipe for Blue Cranberry Sauce on Allrecipes.com, and give them both a try, after you’ve tried my version.

Blue Cranberry Applesauce
inspired by Simply Recipes and Allrecipes.com

10 peeled, cored, roughly chopped apples – I used Granny Smith and Honey Crisp
18 oz (1-1/2 bags) Ocean Spray cranberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups Ocean Spray Blueberry Cocktail Juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon honey

Place all ingredients except vanilla and honey in large (5-quart) pot. Bring to boil, lower heat to simmer and cover. Cook 20-30 minutes, or until apples can easily be mashed.

Remove from heat, add vanilla and honey, and mash apples and cranberries with potato masher to desired consistency.

Serve hot or cold.

Earthquakes In Oklahoma!

On November 5, 2011, 10:52 pm CST, Oklahoma was rocked by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake, the largest ever recorded in the state. I had just gone to bed, and hubby was in his office, when a trembling started and increased to shaking. I jumped out of bed, Buddy the dog got out of his bed and did some woof/snort/barks, and hubby said, “Now that’s an earthquake!” I had been wakened at 2:15 am that morning by a 4.7 that felt like someone was stomping around on our deck, but hubby slept through it, so he declared the 5.6 his “first” earthquake.

Earthquakes have become more frequent in Oklahoma during the past few years, and according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, yesterday’s quakes were the result of movement along the Seminole Uplift Structure. The epicenter was located just north of Prague, in Lincoln County, and about 50 miles east of where I live.

All I know is it was somewhat alarming. The house literally shook and creaked, our big light/ceiling fan swayed slightly, and dishes and windows rattled for about 20 seconds. Then the movement tapered off to a rocking sensation. It was weird! So far we haven’t found any damage, other than our grandfather clock which stopped because the pendulum was swaying so much, and apparently there has been no major damage or injuries reported in the state.

My favorite comment was by an emergency manager in Lincoln county who commented, “It was a pretty ornery little earthquake.”

Personally, I’ll take the threat of tornadoes any day over the threat of earthquakes!

Cherry Streusel Pie

I have a love affair with cherry pie that dates back to my childhood. The recipe I always use for cherry pie is from Betty Crocker’s circa 1969 3-ring binder cookbook, because it is the closest in taste to that of the ultimate Pie Queen, my Granny Mitchell. Granny’s pies are the standard to which I aspire, and her cherry pie was perfect. This recipe is a streusel topped version. The buttery, cinnamon laced streusel takes the sweet-tart cherry pie to a another level.

My go-to pie crust is from the same cookbook, and I made the 9-inch single crust recipe with butter-flavor Crisco. Hubby, who declared this pie “excellent” in a forceful tone, said it was the best crust he had ever had. Love that man.

For me, the keys to a good flaky-crisp pie crust are to cut the shortening into the flour until it is the size of peas, to add the ice water one tablespoonful at a time, tossing with a fork, to use a very light hand when gathering the dough into a ball, and to handle the dough as little as possible. Butter is the current popular ingredient to use in pie crust, but in my opinion shortening yields a flakier, crisper crust.

After the pie crust is rolled out and carefully placed in the pie plate, I trim off the uneven edges and leave a 1/2 inch overhang, fold the overhang under and press it lightly till it is fairly smooth all around, then crimp or flute the edges.

Cherry Streusel Pie

Crust
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 -3 tablespoons ice cold water

Whisk together dry ingredients. Cut shortening into dry ingredients with pastry cutter until pieces are size of small peas. Sprinkle ice water over flour mixture one tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until mixture is moistened. Gather into ball. Place dough on floured surface and shape into flattened round. Roll into approximately 10 inch circle. I keep my pie plate close and loosely roll dough around my rolling pin, then transfer to pie plate and gently unroll it. Trim overhang to about 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate, tuck under and gently press to form even edge. Crimp with fingertips for fluted edge.

Streusel
1-1/4 cup flour
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix first 4 ingredients in bowl. Add melted butter and vanilla; toss with fork until easily clumped.

Filling
1-1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cans sour cherries (drain but reserve 2 tablespoons liquid)

Toss filling ingredients including reserved liquid together; using spatula to scrape sides of bowl, pour into pie crust. Sprinkle streusel over filling, covering completely.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes; reduce to 375 and bake another 45 – 1 hour, covering top with foil when crust begins to brown. Let cool on wire rack. Cool before serving.

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