Frozen Cranberry Salad

This lovely salad is an absolute favorite of ours and has won rave reviews from the friends that have shared meals with us when this was on the menu. One friend was going to bypass it because he thought it was a dessert for later, until I corrected him. The salad is frozen, but it isn't hard. It is easily eaten after setting out at room temperature for about 20 minutes, so don't let the "frozen" part deter you from trying the recipe for your family. I was blessed to win a cookbook for this recipe as an entry in a contest. The one and only time I've ever attempted such a thing; maybe the last as it is a lot of work. Blessings...

Recipe: 

1 16-oz can jellied cranberry sauce
3 tbsps. orange juice
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff
2 tbsps. low-fat mayonnaise
2 tbsps. sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans, optional for garnish

1. Remove cranberry sauce from the can with a fork, breaking it up and mashing it as you go. Add orange juice and zest. Mix until smooth. You may need to use an electric mixer to accomplish this. Pour into a 5 x 9-inch loaf pan.
2. Add mayonnaise and sugar to whipped cream; beat about 30 seconds until smooth. Spread over cranberry and then sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.
3. Remove the salad from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving time. Cut into squares and remove from the pan with a small spatula.

Yield: 8 servings
187 calories
Prep time: 15 minutes plus freezing time.

White Chocolate Cranberry Bread

Last year when my mom came for Thanksgiving, she brought a loaf of this delicious tea bread with her. We gobbled the bread for breakfast one morning with our eggs and fruit. The combination of whole cranberries, white chocolate and toasted pecans in each slice makes for a lovely and festive presentation for any holiday table. Blessings...

Recipe: 

6 oz. good quality white chocolate, finely chopped, or chips
2-1/4 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
8 tbsps. (1 stick) salted butter, at room temp.
3 large eggs, at room temp.
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen whole cranberries, not thawed or chopped
1 cup toasted, coarsely broken pecans (mom used macadamia nuts)
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan and tap out excess flour.
2. Melt and cool the chopped white chocolate.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda.
4. In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer set on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, beat in the eggs, beating well after each addition, and scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Beat in the buttermilk, followed by the tepid white chocolate, orange zest and juice, and vanilla. The mixture will look curdled. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, and beat just until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Stir in the cranberries, nuts and white chocolate chips. Spread batter in prepared pan.
7. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 1-1/2 hours. After 45 minutes, turn loaf pan in the oven and cover the loaf with foil if it's browning too fast. I need to do this in my oven for such a lengthy baking time.
8. When bread is done, remove to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing the bread from the pan. Cool completely before cutting.

Yield: 12 slices
1.7 gms. fiber per slice

Note: Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes. They should smell fragrant and be lightly browned.
Note: This loaf freezes beautifully

Recipe adapted from "Tate's Bake Shop Baking for Friends," by Kathleen King

Orange Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

When I prepared this recipe this week, my husband asked me if this was a mini Thanksgiving meal. Yes, in that the chicken is spiced with some of the favored seasonings of the holiday season and served with sweet potatoes. The chicken cooks in the slow cooker on top of the sweet potatoes covered in a fruity sauce for 3-1/2 to 4 hours. The chicken is then served over rice; add a vegetable or salad and dinner is ready. Simple and tasty. Blessings...

Recipe:

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ozs. each)
2 tbsps. butter
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted (I use 98% fat-free)
3/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tsps. brown sugar
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms, if desired (I don't use)
Hot cooked rice

1. Layer the sweet potatoes in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Turn slow cooker on to low heat.
2. Combine the flour and seasonings in a pie plate. Coat each chicken breast completely.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken in butter for 3 minutes per side or until lightly browned. Arrange chicken on top on sweet potatoes.
4. Combine 3 tbsps. of the remaining seasoned flour with the pineapple juice, soup, brown sugar and orange zest in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth and add mushrooms, if using. Pour over chicken and potatoes.
5. Cover and cook for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until chicken and potatoes are tender. Serve over rice.

Yield: 4 servings

Cinnamon-Apple Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving is coming and most dinner tables will have some form of cranberry sauce, gelatin salad or a taste-tempting dessert made with these tart little gems. Our family loves them, so we have had many varieties of salads and sauces over the years. Last week I did a variation of a recipe I found and tried last year in Relish Magazine that my husband wasn't crazy about. I thought I could possibly change his mind with a few changes to the recipe. Success was achieved with this recipe. Hope you might try it for your holiday meal. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 12-oz. pkg. cranberries, washed and picked over (3-1/2 to 3-3/4 cups)
1 cup honey
1 cup apple juice
1 medium apple, peeled and cut in 1/4-inch dice (1-1/3 to 1-1/2 cups)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/16 tsp. ground cloves

1. Combine cranberries, honey and apple juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes or until cranberries burst and sauce is thick and chunky.
2. Remove pan from heat and stir in apple, pecans, cinnamon and cloves. Chill sauce until cold. This is best if served the second day and will hold in the refrigerator for several days. Cranberry sauce freezes beautifully.

Yield: 3 1/2 cups
14 - 1/4 cup servings
114 calories
1.6 gms. fiber

Note: A sweet apple like Gala, Jonathan or Golden Delicious is wonderful in this sauce.

Deep Chocolate Brownies

This delicious recipe was a reader-contributed recipe that won in the best brownie category in a Better Homes and Gardens contest back in 2005. The topping is like the topping on German chocolate cake, only butterscotch-flavored ice cream topping is used instead of corn syrup. These brownies are a chocolate-lovers delight. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 egg
1 cup butterscotch-flavor ice cream topping
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
2 cups flaked coconut
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 12-oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan; set aside.
2. In a small mixing bowl beat the 1 egg with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy and light colored. Stir in ice cream topping. Fold in pecans and coconut; set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in cooled chocolate, the 2 eggs, and vanilla.
4. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat or stir into chocolate mixture. Stir in chocolate pieces. Spread in prepared pan; spread nut mixture over batter.
5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and set. Toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs on it. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Yield: 24 - 36 bars

Blondie-Brownie Pie

This is another one of those recipes that I have had stuck away for a number of years and can not remember where it came from, so I can't give credit to a source, but I can tell you that it is an easy and tasty dessert. I would have called this pie a Candy Bar Pie. A portion of the batter is spread out in the pie plate to make the crust so there is no crust to roll out, which is a great time-saving help. We enjoyed the pie with a scoop of French Vanilla ice cream along side. Blessings...

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter, cut up

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup unbleached flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp. baking cocoa powder

13 fun-size Snickers or other snack-size candy bars

1. Grease a 9-inch glass pie plate; set aside

2. Melt butter and brown sugar in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes.

3. Stir in 1 egg and the vanilla until blended, then stir in flour and baking powder until smooth. Scrape 3/4 cup into prepared pie plate (don't spread); freeze 10 minutes or until firm.

4. Melt 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips as package directs. Stir melted chips, remaining egg and the cocoa powder into remaining batter.

5. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Press chilled batter evenly over bottom and halfway up sides of pie plate. Top with the Snickers, then chocolate batter. Spread the chocolate batter to cover the candy bars.

6. Bake for 24 to 27 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips over the pie, let stand 5 minutes until soft, then spread to blondie crust. Cool pie before cutting in wedges.

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Note: 4 fun-size candy bars is equal to 1 standard-size candy bar. I cut the bars into chunks.

Crunchy Onion Chicken

This chicken recipe is popular in a few different versions, but I really like this one for it's simplicity when I'm in a hurry to get dinner on the table. I served it this past week with sauted potatoes and green salad. Easy and delicious; blessings...

Recipe: 

1-1/3 cups French's Original Fried Onions
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
1 egg

1. Lightly crush onion in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. I then put the onion in a pie plate because I get the onion to stick to the chicken better than shaking in the bag.
2. Beat the egg with a fork in a pie plate.
3. Dip the chicken in the egg and then in the onion. Place pieces on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until tender and juices run clear.

Yield: 3-4 servings
Note: Chicken does not reheat well in the microwave oven. The onion gets soft and soggy, so I cut the remaining chicken pieces in half and reheat them in a covered casserole in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Saute'd Potatoes

This is such a tasty and simple way to prepare potatoes for dinner. Because of the simplicity in flavor, this dish compliments meat, fish, pork or chicken. I've offered some seasoning suggestions, but be creative so the potatoes compliment the flavors in the main dish you are serving at any given time. Blessings...

Recipe:

4 medium-sized red or gold potatoes
1 tbsp. each butter and olive oil for sauteing, use more if needed
1/2 tsp. seasoning blend of choice such as Italian, Cajun, barbecue or southwest. Also, seasoning with salt, pepper and garlic powder is wonderful.

1. Cook potatoes until tender in boiling salted water; drain.
2. Melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat; add olive oil. Stir in potatoes; sprinkle with half the seasoning and saute' until potatoes are golden brown. Stir potatoes and sprinkle with remaining seasoning. Continue sauteing until potatoes are all a lovely golden brown color adding more olive oil if skillet gets too dry. You want the potatoes moist, not dried out from over frying.

Yield: 4 servings

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

A few weeks back I was able to purchase some of the first-of-the-season cranberries for a wonderful price and I couldn't wait to make this favorite dessert. This easy to make crisp only takes about 30 minutes to put together and about 40 minutes to bake, so it works great for a weekday meal, as well as for a holiday meal.

I created this variation of an old favorite using Honeycrisp or Gala apples because they are sweeter than the traditional cooking apples, but don't cook down to mush. As a result, less sugar can be used. I also love the addition of apple pie spice in place of the traditional cinnamon. Blessings...

Recipe:

2 cups fresh or frozen thawed cranberries, rinsed and picked over
3 cups unpeeled, cored and coarsely chopped Honeycrisp or Gala apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Topping:

1 1/2 cups dry oatmeal, not instant
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup flour
1 1/4 tsps. apple pie spice
1/3 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In an 8" x 8" ungreased baking pan, combine cranberries, apples and granulated sugar. Set aside while preparing topping.
3. Combine topping ingredients in a medium - sized bowl.
4. Stir filling ingredients again to make sure the sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling and gently press down.
5. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are fork - tender. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm, plain or with vanilla ice cream.

6 servings = 347 calories without ice cream and 5 gms. fiber
8 servings = 260 calories without ice cream and 4 gms. fiber