Warm Cinnamon Pineapple Dessert

Warm Cinnamon Pineapple Dessert

One of our favorite places to visit is the beach.  We love the beach.  By "we" I mean, my son and me. My Husband goes with us because he knows how much we love it. This past summer, our neighbor's offered us the use of their Condo.  Of course we couldn't pass it by, so we took an unplanned vacation to the Beach.  As always we had so much fun.  We were in walking distance to several Pancake Houses, and we could see the oceanfront from the balcony. We were also very close to many of the attractions.  It was a wonderful get away.  We visited with some friends who live there, and we went out to eat, a lot.  

I have heard of Brazilian Steakhouses, but never been to one.  I decided to surprise my family with a trip to Brazil, via the Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse.  Now, I'm not trying to "plug" the steakhouse, but feel it necessary to call them by name, because I am about to share this recipe that I got from the waiter, or Gaucho, in the restaurant.  It's so important that we give proper credit where credit is due. 

If you have never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, and you love meat, all meat, and you have dreams of being surrounded by a multitude of deliciously seasoned, and cooked meats, then you must go to a Brazilian Steakhouse.  We walked in and were immediately greeted by a friendly hostess, who checked our reservation and led us to our table.  We walked past a large buffet covered in every different type of vegetable, mixed salads, fruit, pasta, breads, seafood, cheeses, among other delicacies nestled among the ice, or steaming above a friendly warmer.   I was beginning to think, we'd be there all night.  

Once seated at our table, the young lady gave us an explanation of what to expect, and our role.  We could help ourselves to the endless Buffet, upon returning to our table there will be fried bananas, cheese bread, polenta and mashed potatoes.  We were each given a two sided card, one side was red, the other green.  The lovely Hostess instructed us, at our discretion, turn the card to the green side to begin the parade of the main courses.  When we have had enough, turn to red, repeat if we so choose.  We followed her direction, and upon returning to our table, found it just as she described.  Each of us turned our cards to green.  To say we were overwhelmed with the choices of meat presented to us would be a gross understatement.  Perfectly cooked meats, lined up neatly on warm  skewers, were in turn delivered to us.  It was a dance of such pleasure, we could not resist.  Very soon, our plates were piled high with perfect portions of mouth watering selections.  Each of us flipped the cards to red, the dance was over and we could enjoy our feast without interruption.  

Delighted by the atmosphere, we were soon ready to begin another wave of friendly Gaucho's.  The ballet began anew.  As a Gaucho came near, he had a type of meat I could not identify on his skewer. It looked, as he got closer, not like meat at all, but pineapple.   I couldn't be sure, as it was golden brown, crusted in a ruddy glaze.  What could this be?  It was, indeed, pineapple. Grilled to perfection on the rotisserie, covered in cinnamon sugar and presented as though it were a golden treasure.  We soon found out that is precisely what it is.  Golden treasure.  We sent our waitress to find him, three times.  

This has now become one of our favorite treats.  We eat thick, warm slices of cinnamon pineapple with frozen whipped topping.  Sometimes we eat the delectable pineapple all on it's own.  If you have never tried a warm, baked pineapple you don't know what you are missing.  The baking process brings out the juices which intermingle with the cinnamon sugar and create a mouth watering crust, full of sweet juicy pineapple flavor.

I am going to share with you, the simplicity that is the Grilled pineapple.  Whether you cut your own pineapple, or purchase it already cut and cored, it doesn't matter.  It will work either way. 

Cut the skin off the pineapple, no need to core it.  

Don't have a rotisserie? No problem, just elevate with a wire rack. 

Roll in Cinnamon Sugar, make sure to coat all sides thoroughly.

Place in oven, full recipe is shown below.  

 Warm Cinnamon Pineapple Dessert

1 Whole organic Pineapple

1 Cup organic sugar

2 Tablespoon ground Ceylon Cinnamon

• Remove the skin from the pineapple, careful to cut the sharp "eyes" out as well.  
• No need to core the pineapple, unless you want to shorten the baking time. 
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Place a wire rack on a cookie sheet
• Mix the cinnamon into the sugar, use as much or as little of the sugar  and cinnamon as you like
• Carefully cover the pineapple in the cinnamon sugar by rolling and sprinkling it all over
• Place the coated pineapple on the wire rack and place in the oven, on the middle rack 
• Bake for 45 minutes until the entire pineapple has been warmed through and the cinnamon sugar is a mahogany color 
• Careful not to burn the sugar mixture
• Check at 30 minutes just to be safe
• Remove from oven and let cool a little
• Cut into thick slices, place on a plate 
• Serve as is or with ice cream or frozen whipped topping.  

Acorn Squash with Grapes, Cardamom and Cinnamon. Out of this world.

Acorn Squash is one of my favorite things to make.  It's so easy and so versatile.  I always make it the same way, however that gets old, so I decided to change it up.  It's a big joke in my house when asked, "what's for supper?"  

That question is usually followed by, "Is it one of your concoctions?"  

The answer to that is nearly always, "pretty much."  

My husband doesn't mind my concoctions because he says they're usually pretty good.  Not always, for instance, two weeks ago I decided to try my hand at roasting vegetables.  I didn't really know what to do, but how hard can it be?  I bought some golden beets, carrots, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions.  I called my brother about the beets, he said to boil them first before I baked them.  Good advice. Once I was ready to assemble the vegetables on the pan, I remembered one of the Chefs on Food Network, (the lady with the crazy platinum hair, can't remember her name) say to make sure and salt every new addition of vegetables.  Ok, so I did.  Well, the roasted veggies came out looking great, but tasted awful!!!!!  So salty it was so gross, it all got dumped.  I was very upset with the waste, but nothing could be saved.  Nasty.  So take from that, don't salt every new layer of veggies.  No No No. 

Back to the Acorn Squash.  I have a recipe for acorn squash on the blog, you can find it here.

I usually bake it, then fix up some baked fruit to go in the middle with brown sugar and butter.  It's really good, but, like I said I needed a change.  

Years ago I remember having some wonderful chicken cooked with grapes.  The flavor was absolutely fantastic and the grapes added a very nice taste and texture to the dish.  I thought I'd give my new idea a chance, what's the worst that could happen?  So I made up the acorn squash and along with it, cooked up some chicken with the same grapes, to tie the meal together.  My son, who tends to be on the picky side (wonder where he gets that from? Certainly not me. Insert sarcasm here) loved it.  All of it!  The taste was so delicious, we didn't need to add anything but a little pat of butter.  Really, if you all haven't tried to make Acorn Squash you really need to.  It looks so fancy when you fill it up with fruit, and serve it on the plate with your other food.  A lot of people avoid acorn squash because it looks weird and many recipes call for peeling and cutting.  No thanks.  I like the way my Mom taught me better.  

 Without any further ado here is the recipe. 

Acorn Squash with Cardamom, Cinnamon and Grapes:

1 Acorn Squash

16 grapes 

Sprinkle of Cardamom

1/2 a Cinnamon stick 

2 tsp brown sugar (if you want, we didn't use any and it was wonderful)

Preheat the oven to 350

Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds

Prepare a baking sheet with a layer of aluminum foil 

Place a pile of grapes, sprinkle of cardamom and the 1/2 cinnamon stick on top of the grapes

**NOTE: go easy with the cardamom as it can easily and unpleasantly overwhelm the dish

Place the acorn squash over the grapes, making sure the sliced side is touching the foil. 

Pour water in the pan to seal up the edges of the acorn squash (this will keep the squash from burning and drying out.)

Carefully place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  

You can tell the acorn squash is ready, by touching the top of the squash, if it makes a little dent, it's ready.  If it's still hard, leave it in the oven for a few more minutes.  

By leaving the skin on the squash, you've made yourself a bowl. 

When the squash is done, take out of the oven and turn over, add the grapes, a pat of butter and 1 tsp of brown sugar, scrape the squash off the skin, mix and enjoy.

If you try this recipe or, have an acorn squash recipe you like, share with us in the comments.  

Frozen Fresh Strawberry Syrup with dried up Brown Sugar and freshground Cinnamon

Frozen fresh? What is that? My Dad went to North Carolina this past fall and harvested a bunch of fresh strawberries.  He brought me about 6 gallons of them.  I washed them off and let them dry. After they were dry I placed them, in a single layer, in a freezer safe container and directly into the freezer.  So, Fresh Frozen. Dad's idea and it worked beautifully.  Stored in that way, they could be used, at will, throughout the winter.  I still have some left and noticed that they were "growing" ice, which means they are going to be ruined and frost bitten.  What in the world was I going to do with them?

My son asked for waffles for breakfast.  We have gluten free, multi-grain Pumpkin spice waffles, which actually taste like gingerbread.  How to incorporate those strawberries?  Strawberry syrup.  

I have been purchasing organic Ceylon cinnamon sticks so I can grind my own cinnamon.  I have read articles that claim some cinnamon is cut with bark.  Cinnamon is bark, but I don't want another kind of bark in my cinnamon.  I prefer pure cinnamon.  How can I assure this?  Grind it myself.  I put several sticks in my coffee mill and poof, freshly ground cinnamon that I know is 100% and nothing extra added.  

Where does the dried up brown sugar come into play?  I keep my Organic brown sugar in a ceramic container, with a terra cotta bear to keep it moist.  However, not all of the brown sugar fits.  Some of it has to stay in the original container, where it dries up into a big ole' lump.  I know if you add sugar to strawberries, the strawberries released their juice so it becomes a delicious syrupy treat.  It's so good, just strawberries and sugar.  Not so much frozen strawberries and sugar, fresh strawberries.  

I capped the strawberries,  dumped the dried up brown sugar over them, and sprinkled some cinnamon on them too.  Let me tell you, it only took a few minutes to have a fresh strawberry syrup with delicious strawberries to go with it!

Fresh Frozen Strawberry Syrup

Skillet for cooking

Frozen Strawberries

Organic Ceylon Cinnamon sticks

Organic Brown Sugar (dried up, fresh, whichever doesn't matter)

1-2 cups frozen strawberries, cap them and place into the skillet

Sprinkle the ground cinnamon over the strawberries

Put brown sugar on top

Turn skillet on low

The heat will start to un-thaw the frozen strawberries and a syrup will start to form, 

Gently stir the berries to incorporate the brown sugar and cinnamon

No need to wait too long, the syrup will form pretty quickly 

Ladel the strawberries over the waffles, scoop out some syrup and you have your own, freshly prepared Strawberry syrup.   

My son gobbled all, but 4, of the strawberries (I saved some for myself) and his entire waffle.  Which he rarely does.  Healthy goodness I could feel good about.  Like most Moms, I beat myself up over every little thing I think I'm doing wrong.  Today it was, that I didn't think I was feeding him enough healthy things to help him grown and develop properly.  This was a good start to a great day!  

How about some Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding or just plain Organic Chocolate?

How about some Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding or just plain Organic Chocolate?

      With the weather being so cold, and plenty of snow to play in, sometimes Hot Chocolate becomes boring.  How to mix it up and be healthy?  Make home made pudding.  This recipe is an adaptation of Grandma's Jello Salad recipe.  Which, is one of my most popular recipes!  Give it a try.  Anyway, my son and I love Chocolate.  I try to make healthy treats for us, and can't bring myself to use the boxed pudding mixes any longer.  If I can't pronounce an ingredient, without a Chemistry dictionary, then I probably shouldn't be eating it.  Thus this recipe was born.  I made a vanilla pudding for Rice Pudding and raisins.  It was very good.  So why not make chocolate?  I used Organic Cacao powder, it's a superfood!  

Organic Chocolate Pudding

   This picture shows how silky smooth the pudding is.  In fact, my son liked it so much he keeps asking for it.  When making my second batch, I messed up the flour and sugar  measurements.  Not to worry, the result was a super thick pudding, so I just added milk to thin it out.  Worked great. So, don't freak if the pudding looks super thick, just add more milk.  Don't forget you can also use 2% or skim milk for this.  We were snowed in and this was the only milk I had.  I don't usually use this brand, but when a snow storm is on the way, you sometimes have to take what Organic milk you can get.  

When I was enjoying this delicious dessert I thought about my friend whose son has a lot of food allergies, like me, and my other friend who is opening a restaurant and wants to use "healthy alternative" foods.  

My friends son wouldn't be able to enjoy this pudding because of the milk and egg.  So I sent her a message to ask what she used to substitute eggs.  She told me Chia seeds or flax seeds.  Ok, I had coconut milk and chia seeds.  She was coming over today, so I put her to work. We created this new pudding recipe.  I'm so happy with it!   Her son loved the pudding.  The consistency was a touch thinner, and it didn't set up as solidly as a pudding, but it was setting up better as it cooled.  

Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding

Homemade Chocolate Pudding 

1 cup of organic milk

1 organic egg  beaten

2 Tablespoons of organic flour

3 Tablespoons of organic sugar

1/2 cup of Cacao powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon stick (optional)

In a sauce pan over medium heat, 

pour 1 cup milk and beaten egg

vanilla and cinnamon (both are optional)

DO NOT LET IT BOIL!!!!!!!  

Whisk frequently (you'll see it start to thicken)

Get the flour and sugar ready to whisk into the hot mixture.  

Whisk as you put the flour in to avoid lumps.  

I put my flour and sugar in a bowl, whisk with one hand and shake in with the other hand.  

After you have incorporated the flour and sugar then whisk in the cacao powder.

If the mixture is too thick or you just prefer a thinner pudding, then whisk in  more milk until it is the consistency you like.  

After the cacao is mixed in thoroughly and there are no lumps the pudding is ready. 

Homemade Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding

2 cans Coconut milk

1 Tablespoon of milled Organic Chia seeds (substitution for eggs)

4 Tablespoons of Organic Flour

4 Tablespoons of Organic Sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla extract

1 Stick of Organic Cinnamon (ground well)

I put the cinnamon stick and the chia seeds in my vitamix and milled to a powder

Put the milled mixture in a measuring cup and add 1/2 can of coconut  milk.  This will allow the seeds to thicken.  You may want to add the entire can if it looks like the seeds have thickened a lot. 

Put the other can of coconut milk and the vanilla, in a sauce pan over low heat. 

When it starts to steam add the chia seeds.  DO NOT LET IT BOIL.

Whisk in the flour and sugar. 

If the mixture is not as thick as you like, add some more flour, just be careful that you don't add too much.  You don't want to taste the flour in the pudding.  

You may want to add Cacao powder to this to make it chocolate.  We couldn't because Junior is allergic to nuts, and the Cacao was packaged in a facility that also pacakages tree nuts.  

This was very good!  I was surprised to be honest.  Pleasantly surprised.  

If you like this recipe, please comment below and visit me again!  

Beautiful and Festive Crabapple Preserves or Candied Crabapples

Crab apple Preserves

or

Candied Crab apples 

My Mom always made everything a celebration.  Our birthdays were not just a regular day.  On our birthdays we didn't have to do any chores.  Nothing! That by itself was a perfect day!  First thing in the morning, I couldn't come downstairs until Mom or Dad called for me. 

Walking down the stairs, I couldn't help but smile knowing how special everything was going to be.  As I stepped down each step I could see the lights had been dimmed, and I could smell my favorite breakfast, anything bacon! After the last step I would look up and see my family standing around a beautifully decorated table, arranged with flowers, a chocolate iced cake (my favorite) decorated beautifully, presents sitting on my plate and my family smiling and singing Happy Birthday to me.  I can't tell you how much those memories mean to me.  Like I said, my Mom always makes everything a celebration!  Thankfully some of my Mom's creativity has rubbed off on me. My best friend, Angie, calls me Rosie Jr.  I love it.  

Thanksgiving and Christmas were fantastic events, full of German customs mingled with American tradition.  We had advent wreaths, sugar cookies with smiling icing faces, Gingerbread houses iced with white sugar and covered in candies.  We wrote letters to Santa and awaited a visit from St. Nikolaus on Christmas eve while we remembered Jesus' birth at Christmas Eve service.  With nervous anticipation we would come into the house, to see if St. Nikolaus left us sticks with coal, or brightly covered pieces of chocolate.  We had to dress up in our best clothes for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  Mom laid out her best china, linens and festive tablecloths.  Fresh pine fronds were cheerfully nestled among the silver serving dishes filled with steaming and home cooked foods.  Perfectly cooked turkeys with crisp golden skin, ham covered in pineapples, cloves and bright red cherries.  Gravy, stuffing, veggies, bread, casseroles, and salad laid out in abundance.  Right beside the ham, served in it's own silver bowl were the candied crab apples, covered in a bright red syrup.  In my mind I can still see those crab apples, served over a slice of ham. In the bowl they looked like Christmas tree decorations that should be sparkling on the tree, not shimmering at me under a spicy, sweet syrup.  With each slice of ham or turkey, Mom would carefully ladle the festive apples and syrup over each one. Absolutely delicious.

Last year I decided that I would find some crab apples and try my hand at making my childhood memory come to life again.  I mentioned to a lady at church and she told me that she has a crab apple tree in her yard.  She would check to see if they were still OK, then let me know.  Next time I saw here she told me that her apples had turned bad, but her daughter also had a tree and she would check, but that would turn out to be a bust as well.  It was too late in the season for the crab apples.  I was very disappointed.  I would just have to wait until next year.  

This summer, as I was walking around my neighborhood, I decided to go down a street I never walk on.  As I made my way along I noticed a tree with cherries on it.  As I neared the tree I realized they were crab apples!!  I was so excited I couldn't believe my eyes!   There they were, red, small round apples on a gorgeous green tree! Anyone who knows me, is shocked by what I did next, I marched right up to the front door of someone I don't know and knocked.  My heart was pounding and I was thinking, what am I doing! No one answered.  Unbelievable!  I got up the nerve to knock on a strangers door and no one is home.  Great.  I didn't think I'd ever get the nerve up again, but the memories flooded in and I

knew what I had to do.  The next day, I walked down that street again and knocked on the door.  No one answered.  This must be a cruel joke.  As I was walking away a man with a dog came toward me, he asked if he could help me.  I told him yes while proceeding to tell him I'd like to get some of the crab apples, but no one is home for me to ask permission.  He looked at me in an almost disgusted way, mingled with surprise and asked, "what in the world do you want with those nasty old crab apples?"  His mouth curled in distaste as he said it.  I told him my reasons and he advised me that the couple that lived there would not have a problem with me collecting as many apples as I could carry.  He explained that they despise the tree and are planning to chop it down.  He then went on to invite me to harvest white and purple concord grapes from his backyard.  He and his wife had planted grape vines along their fence line and there was an abundance of them.  I thanked him heartily promising to bring him a sample to try, and finished my walk as quickly as I could in order to prepare for an afternoon of harvesting fruit from my neighbors yards!  

I called Mom to inquire about the recipe, she informed me it is from a very old Kerr Canning Cookbook, which she would type out and e-mail to me.  I then took the boys to help me gather the crab apples and grapes.  We got a lot of fruit! I wasn't sure what to do with the grapes but thought I'd make jelly.  That's a story for another day though.  I knew I needed canning jars and lids, even though I don't know how to can.  I do know how to freeze, so I wasn't too concerned about preserving the crab apples.  The recipe seemed easy, but I didn't believe it, no way it could be so easy.  Let me tell you, it was easy.  It didn't take a lot of time.  I also added my own touches to the recipe. 

When I had cooked up the apples, they tasted just as I remembered and they were amazing!!!  I was so happy with how they turned out.  I took a jar for the the people who let me harvest the apples from their tree, a jar to the neighbor that let me harvest grapes and to a couple other people I told about and they all reacted negatively to the crab apples.  I also put a couple in a baggie, so they could taste them and decide if they wanted to keep the canned jar for the Holidays, or give it back to me if they didn't like them.   Everyone that tried them, loved them.  I had to go get more crab apples and make another batch.  I cleaned the tree of them.  After the second batch, I shared a jar with my friend Kimberly and she loved them.  I brought her a jar when we all met to eat lunch with two other families.  Everyone at table tasted them, and loved them.  The owner of the restaurant came over and tasted them and he wanted some too.  I have found more crab apples, but they are green.  I'm going to try them as well, but I am told they are a little more tart.  I have also been told of another family with a red crab apple tree in their yard!!!! I'm so excited.  

The most labor intensive thing was cleaning the apples and sorting through them.  I filled a sink with warm soapy water and poured some white vinegar in to kill any germs on the apples.  I left them in the sink for a few minutes and then rinsed them really well.  I then sorted through the crab apples taking out any with holes and placing them in a separate bowl to use later.  After the apples were sorted and ready I moved on to the next step, cooking them.  Here is the recipe for Crab Apple Preserves.  I call them Candied Crab Apples, but the Kerr Recipe names them Crab Apple Preserves.  

Crab Apple Preserves

Inspired by Kerr Canning Recipe Book

Select good sound apples, wash and remove the blossom end.  Leave stems on and do not peel.

Syrup:

3 Cups Water

6 Cups Organic Sugar

2 Fresh Cinnamon Sticks

1 Tsp cloves

1 1/2 Tsp Red Hots Cinnamon candy

Boil the syrup for 5 minutes

Add the crab apples to the syrup and boil until they are tender and transparent (my crab apples didn't become transparent, but the skin did split a little. I took that as the indication they were done.)

Work rapidly and Pack cooked apples into *sterilized canning jars, cover with boiling syrup and seal each jar as filled.  

Make sure to wipe the top rim of each jar, to make sure that there is nothing that will cause the seal to fail, before adding the lids.    

Two options:

1) Let the jars "heat seal".  With this method the apples should be eaten within a few months of preparing.  Making sure the jars are hot, as well as the lids, will help with this method.  Also make sure you are filling the jars with the boiling liquid and apples. Fill to "neck" of jar and try not to leave too much air space.  You can turn the jars upside down it you want, I left mine upright. As the contents cool, the lids contract and "pop" shut, sealing them.  

2) Place your filled jars on rack of large lidded canning kettle.  The jars have to be a least 1/2 inch above the kettle bottom so water can circulate and the water has to be at least 1 inch about the top of the jars.  Process in boiling water bath, at a rolling boil for 25 minutes.  Use canning tongs to remove the jars from the canner, put them on several thicknesses of cloth to cool. 

You should hear the lids "pop" indicating they have sealed.  

*Sterilizing Your jars:

Wash them in hot soapy water, rinse and then boil them in clear water for at least 15 minutes.  Turn upside down on a clean kitchen towel until ready to fill.  (or you could wash them in the dish washer under sanitize) 

Important for canning. 

To keep the jars warm,  you could place them in an oven set at the lowest heat setting.  

Scald the lids by placing them in a pan and pouring boiling water over them.  Do NOT boil the lids, but keep them warm until you are ready to use.  

NOTE: Without the Red Hot Candies, The syrup was a brown color, and didn't look very good.  That was a problem.  Everyone that heard about my desire to find crab apples, asked the same question; "why on earth do you want those nasty crab apples?"

I didn't want to use the Red Hots because of the artificial color and I suspect they are made with High Fructose Corn syrup which means it's probably made with GMO corn.  I try to stay away from anything that is GMO or GE.  In this case, I really had three choices.  

1. leave them out and have a muddy looking syrup no one would want to taste
2. add food coloring and get a strong dose of red 40 (which has been shown to cause a lot of problems in kids and adults.)
3. add the minimum amount of red hots, just to turn the syrup red and add more cinnamon flavor

I went with option number 3.  Sometimes you just have to go with it.  

The Kerr recipe only calls for the sugar, water and red hots. I added the cinnamon sticks and cloves.  

Caribbean style Jerk Pork Chops with Grilled apples and Fresh Strawberry shortcake

Caribbean style Jerk Pork Chops with Grilled Sugar Spice Apples and Fresh Strawberry shortcake

The only thing lacking at my house tonight? The steel drums singing with the roar of the ocean. It was a Caribbean style meal at our house, and it smelled so good!  I adore the Caribbean, the food is delicious, the people are fantastic and fun is in the air.  There is nothing like the sound of steel drums to make my spirit soar and my feet move.  We've had a crazy winter and we're having an unseasonably warm day.  To have the last two days be so nice, I had to break out a summer meal.
My little boy and I picked two baskets of strawberries on Wednesday.  We stopped at a "pick your own" farm.  Neither of us had ever been to a "pick your own" farm, it was a lot of fun!  We were both very proud of our baskets of strawberries.  My little boy loves to make "the plan", so, the plan was to make a strawberry shortcake and strawberry milk when we got home.  So far, there's been a lot of eating strawberries, along with the strawberry shortcake, but not so much the strawberry milk. Maybe tomorrow.

Grilled Apples:

Wash and thickly slice two apples
Brush with coconut oil
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the apple slice
Then place on grill until sugar is warm and bubbly


Caribbean style Jerk Pork Chops:

4 thick sliced pork chops
Spiced rum
Jerk seasoning
Salt and pepper

Let the chops marinate in the spiced rum for about 30 minutes then rub the jerk seasoning in
Grill until done

Strawberry Shortcake:

Strawberries
Angel food cake
Honey
Dark Chocolate sauce
Cinnamon

Slice the strawberries and place in a bowl
Drizzle with honey, liberally
Sprinkle with cinnamon and stir
Let sit for a while at room temp so the juices mingle
Break up some angel food cake
Spoon strawberries over and drizzle with dark chocolate sauce

Authentic LEBKUCHEN, Gingerbread recipe from scratch. Wonderfully simple.

Here we go, as promised, my Mom's recipe for home made gingerbread.  Mom is German and in Germany, or Deutschland, gingerbread is called Lebkuchen.  I found a recipe for Lebkuchen in an cook book called, "My Favorite Cookies from the old Country."  They called for allowing the dough to sit in a covered bowl for 10 days before using it.  That's more time than I'm willing to wait for cookies, I'd just head right back to the store and get the refrigerated kind.  Well, I really wanted to know an easy recipe for gingerbread, so I called Mom.  As always, she came through with flying colors.  I believe I will make some homemade gingerbread cookies this week.  Let me know how yours turn out, ok? (P.S. The picture is not one of Mom's gingerbread houses, it's one we did with the baby a couple years ago.)
A little note on the cookbook I was reading, they did suggest to leave the cookies out over night to harden and then bake them.  Of course, cover them up first.  I'm not sure why, but it was an interesting step to take.  Well, if you've waited 10 days to make cookies, what's one more night?  Ahhh, but there's nothing better than a house filled with the warm scents of freshly made, freshly baked and decorated, Lebkuchen cookies. 

Note: I didn't have dark corn syrup, so I used molasses. Delicious!



LEBKUCHEN (Gingerbread)


½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1 egg
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. salt



Combine butter and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat until well blended. Add corn syrup and egg; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients in another bowl; stir to mix well then add to butter mixture, a third at a time, mixing after each addition until smooth. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each third in foil and chill at least one hour to make rolling easier. On a well-floured surface roll out one-third of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, cut out cookie shapes, placing them on ungreased baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake at 400 deg. F, for 8 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from baking sheet at once onto a cooling rack. While still warm brush with LEMON GLAZE.



LEMON GLAZE: In a small bowl 2 cups confectionery sugar add 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, stirring with a fork to combine. If too thick add a little at a time more lemon juice until glaze is of spreading consistency. Immediately decorate with sprinkles etc. (I use this same dough and glaze to make gingerbread houses)

Rice Pudding with homemade pudding, raisins and cinnamon

Rice Pudding with homemade pudding, raisins and cinnamon

Looks like Fall is here, and I'll have more time to post yummy recipes.  Might as well come out of the gate with a winner.  I have been battling Bronchitis for the last 3 weeks.  Finally went to the Doctor last Sunday where they loaded me up on medication that makes you feel worse, before it makes you feel better.  Since then, I was unable to sleep, or eat.  As I felt better, I wanted to eat, but everything hurt my stomach.  Tired of chicken noodle soup and crackers, I started combing the cabinets.  I ate a handful of raisins as I rummaged. Those were pretty good, but a bunch of those on a hurt stomach was not going to be a good idea.  Put the box back.  I found a bag of rice, made a mental note to cook some up for dinner the next day.  Then, WALAAAA, it hit me.  Mom used to make me rice pudding when I couldn't eat anything else.  I went on a hunt for a box of pudding mix, or a bag of the German pudding mix.  Nothing.  Then I remembered my Grandma's Jello Salad recipe.  Hold on, I know I said jello, but if you haven't tried this recipe you need to.  Grandma made a jello salad, then topped it with homemade pudding.  Since I always have eggs, milk, flour and sugar in the house, I knew this was the deal.  I fixed it, it was so good I nearly ate all of it.  It did make a bunch, so I couldn't eat it all.  I finished it off the next day. 
Things to remember.  The rice will absorb  the pudding, so it's best to double the pudding recipe if you are going to let it sit over night.  That way, it will still be creamy the next day.  

Rice Pudding with homemade pudding, raisins and cinnamon:

Cook rice according to package instructions.  
I used Sushi Rice, product of USA.  1 1/2 cups rice to 2 cups water

After the rice is cooked and fluffed prepare the pudding.  

1 cup of 2% organic milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup raisins (or more, I like more)
1 tsp. cinnamon (I like more with this too)

In a saucepan add all the ingredients, except raisins and cinnamon

whisk well & constantly to keep from burning.  

Once the pudding thickens, add the raisins and cinnamon
Take off the heat, stir well and pour over the rice.  
Mix well

You can bake it in the oven if you like a crispy topping to the rice pudding.  350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.  

I didn't bake it, I gobbled it up.  It's so delicious.  
As I said, I did have leftovers and I learned two things:

1) Already mentioned above, the rice absorbs the pudding
2) If you re-heat it in the microwave the rice becomes a little hard and crunchy.

SO, I did this:

1) I poured some milk into the bowl and heated it with a wet paper towel over the top.  This keeps the moisture in, and gives the rice some more liquid to absorb so it's creamy again.  
2) Made a note to myself:  next time double the pudding recipe.  

Pink Marshmallow Cornflake Candy Heart with Cinnamon

Pink Marshmallow Cornflake Candy Heart with Cinnamon




My husbands favorite Christmas treat is the Cornflake wreath, made with marshmallows and green food coloring.  I've been hearing about his favorite Christmas treats for years, but never got exactly what they were called.  Finally, Christmas 2010, he tells me that its the Rice Krispie treats he loves, colored green, with red cinnamon candies.  My little boy and I made a big batch of Rice Krispie treats, colored green, with red cinnamon candies.  We were very proud that we made Daddy's favorite Christmas treat.  When Chris came home we proudly showed him our creation.  To which he says, that's not like Mom makes it.  Oh. Really.  Just HOW does Mom make them?  He informs us that she uses Cornflakes, not rice krispies.  I remind him, HE said, Rice Krispie treats.

 Flash forward to Christmas 2011.  Again.  All we hear about is the favorite, elusive, Christmas treat his Mom makes.  The year before, his Mom made him some, but they were eaten before we were able to get there, in her defense; she does live 5 hours away, and they are really good......
I let him know, since he can not decide what the treats are called, the ingredients, or how they are made,  he will need to produce a recipe, or there will be NO favorite treats for him unless his Mom makes them and he goes to retrieve them before they are eaten.
Finally, a few days before Christmas, I received two e-mails from him each with a recipe attached.  He assured me the recipe is the one his Mom uses.  I, unfortunately, did not get around to making them for him.  I have felt bad about it, so I decided I would make them for him for Valentines day.  A real surprise, don't you think? He better like them. Just kidding. Okay. No. I'm serious.  (grin)

Here's what you will need.

Pink Marshmallow Cornflake Candy Heart with Cinnamon

2 small jars of marshmallow creme
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
Cinnamon hard candies
Pink decorating sugar crystals
red food coloring
4 1/2 cups cornflakes

In a *double boiler combine the  marshmallow creme, butter, and a couple cinnamon hard candies
Melt together then add the vanilla,
2 drops of red food coloring,
shake some pink sugar crystals then
mix well until a lovely pink color
Add the Cornflakes gently stirring to mix well

Spoon into a heart shaped pan, or onto a cookie sheet and form into a heart shape
Sprinkle more pink sugar crystals and arrange the cinnamon candies into heart shapes
Let cool and serve

You could also make small heart shapes instead of one big one, pipe a frosting bow on the hearts and shake pink sugar crystals on it

*Note:  If you don't have a double boiler, you can use an ovenproof or stainless steel bowl and a large pot.  Place water (don't fill it up, just about 1/4 way) in the pot.  Put the bowl on top (it must fit on top, and not IN the pot).  Heat the water until it steams then you'll see the butter and marshmallow creme melting.

Handmade Cinnamon Broken Glass Christmas Candy

I enjoy watching the Cupcake and Cake wars on Food Network.  I find it fascinating when the chefs make their own candy and spin them into fabulous designs.  I may not be able to craft a candy cane, or fantastic flowers or spinning fairies with candy wings, but I can make some delicious cinnamon candy.  I got the recipe off a friend and co-worker who called it Rock Candy.  He would bring bags of it around Christmas and we would all go crazy for it.  He wrote the recipe on a torn piece of paper, that is much stained from years of use.  I suppose I'll print off a new one after I blog it to you all.

I do have some warnings to go with this candy, I learned the hard way.

Warning 1: Try as hard as you can not to have your face or any other body parts close to the hot sugar when you add the cinnamon oil.  A facial is nice, but having pure cinnamon oil infused into your open pores is miserable. It's much worse if it goes up your nose, much worse.  Trust me, I tried to stay away from it tonight and a little got on my face.  My cheek is a little hot, and my hand is red and tingling a bit.  I smell very nicely of cinnamon though.

Warning 2: Try to use a very deep pot, or make sure you have on a shirt you don't mind to ruin with the food color.  Once you drop the food coloring into the hot sugar, it will start sputtering and erupt like a volcano of red dye.


NOTES:
The past few years I used a wooden spoon and was so disappointed that my candy didn't have a nice cinnamon, well honestly, any cinnamon taste to it. This year I used a stainless steel spoon, and  my candy is so nice and Cinnamon flavored.

Ok, with the warnings out of the way, lets move on to the good part.  Making candy!  YUMMY.



Rock Candy or Broken Glass Candy

3 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup water
1 small bottle of Cinnamon oil (find in Pharmacy or bulk food store)
Red Food Coloring
Candy thermometer
Sheet pan with sides
aluminum foil (optional)
butter/oil
Powdered sugar

Have the sheet pan prepared before you start boiling the sugar, also have the cinnamon oil bottle opened and close by as well as the bottle of food coloring.  Things move quickly once hard crack stage is reached, be prepared.

Mix sugar, corn syrup and water and bring to a boil
Stir constantly until thermometer reaches 300-310 degrees

Remove from heat
Immediately stir in cinnamon and food coloring
Pour into sheet pan that has been oiled (or place a piece of aluminum foil on sheet pan and butter it)

Let cool
Once cool take the handle of a butter knife, or case knife and crack the candy into pieces

Place in a bowl or zip lock baggy and Roll in powdered sugar

This recipe is very versatile, you can use any sort of flavored oil you like.  Peppermint, wintergreen, anise....likewise, you can use any color food coloring you like as well.

If you are making a Gingerbread house, you can pour the candy into pre-made little molds to make the window glass and "glue" it in with royal icing.  Place a light inside the house (single corded lights can be found at craft shops all around.  They have one socket for a Christmas light bulb) and you've made a magical gingerbread house for Christmas.

You can also form foil into a circle and pour the candy into it to make a lovely pond for skaters to skate upon in front of your gingerbread house or Christmas village.  Simply tint the candy blue instead of red, once cool dust lightly with powdered sugar to look like snow covered ice.  My Mom always did those things when she made our Gingerbread houses. She really is creative.

Go Nuts (or Ape) for my Chocolaty Pumpkin Monkey Bread

Go Ape for my chocolaty pumpkin Monkey Bread

I had Monkey bread many years ago and it was so good.  A while ago I tried to replicate it, but failed miserably.  I ended up with a pile of dry bread covered in burned cinnamon.  Yuck!  I learned from that mistake and went on to discover the most delicious combination of monkey bread ingredients I ever tasted.

Ingredients:

2 cans biscuit dough
1 cup cinnamon sugar
Nutella Hazelnut spread
Pumpkin Pie dip
5 pats of unsalted butter

1 bread pan greased and set aside

Tear biscuit dough into small chunks and place into a large bowl as you tear them apart.
After all your dough is in small chunks pour cinnamon sugar over them and toss until every piece is coated in the mixture
Drop coated bread chunks into greased bread pan
Do not overlap, make one layer
Drizzle Nutella over this layer and then the pumpkin pie dip
Make another layer of dough, drizzle again with Nutella and Pumpkin pie dip
Make last layer of dough and place pats of butter on top
Place in oven and bake until dough is done, according to directions on biscuit dough can
WATCH carefully dough may bake faster, depending how big or small the dough pieces are.
Don't over bake!

Serve warm with scrambled eggs.  It is so good!

You can find Pumpkin Pie dip in most specialty kitchen stores.