Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Posted on September 28, 2010 by pat


Cranberry Sauce Ingredients

* 1 cup (200 g) sugar
* 1 cup (250 mL) water
* 4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries
* Optional Pecans, orange zest, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

METHOD

1 Wash and pick over cranberries. In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst.

2 At this point you can add all number of optional ingredients. We typically mix in a half a cup of roughly chopped pecans with or without a few strips of orange zest. You can add a cup of raisins or currants. You can add up to a pint of fresh or frozen blueberries for added sweetness. Spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice can be added too.

3 Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and then chill in refrigerator. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Cranberry sauce base makes 2 1/4 cups.

7-11 SLURPEES!

My friend Beth H. just shared this FABULOUS recipe with me for Slurpees. They are SO Yummy and so easy to make! We had our kiddos drink them out side in the back yard. That way we didn't have to worry about them spilling sticky slush all over the floor AND they could run off their sugar high while they drank! It was GREAT! Strawberry Lemonade was my favorite flavor. Just Say'n. ;)


7-11 Slurpees

Fill your Blender (I have a 48oz blender with good blades) with crushed ice. Add 3/4 cup of sugar. Add one packet, any flavor of Kool-Aid. Fill you blender with cold water, blend, and serve. It's THAT easy!

Have fun giving your kids sugar highs! :D

Tip: Make sure you add the water last, so that the ice and water don't freeze together making a solid block of ice in the middle of your blender.

July Is National Ice Cream Month!

When I was a kid, my parents used to pack all of kids up in our big green and white van and drive us to a real dairy to buy our milk. The thing I remember most about the dairy farm was, yes all the cows and the stinky smell, but every time we went, our parents would let us each buy a vanilla ice cream cone dipped in chocolate. This was quite a treat for our family. Having 10 kids in our family we didn't get the luxury of eating out or getting extra treats very often so this was a big deal to us kids! The other day I took my kids out for chocolate dipped ice cream cones. It took me right back to the memories I just shared with you. After that, I knew I needed to come up with a recipe to make that delicious self hardening chocolate bit of heaven, resting on a delicious bed of ice cream. Here is what I came up with. It is SO EASY! If you like Magic Shell you will love this!!!

Magic Shell Chocolate Topping

1/2 cup chocolate chips
4 TBLS UNSALTED butter (Other wise it is too salty)
1/2 tsp. Coconut extract

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter completely in the microwave.
Add the coconut extract and the chocolate chips. Mix until well combined and runny. You want the chocolate to be pretty runny.

If your chocolate is not melted enough, return the bowl to the microwave for an additional 10 second (or more). Do it slowly! If you heat it too fast, your chocolate will clump and be no good.

If your chocolate is too thick, add a little more butter. If it is too thin add a few additional chocolate chips.

Spoon over immediately over cold ice cream, waiting a couple of minutes for it to harden, and enjoy. Serves 4.

Café Rio Sweet Pork

From the kitchen of Christine P.
6 lb. Pork Shoulder Roast
3 Cups Dr. Pepper
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Cup Mild Taco Sauce
2 TBL. Molasses
1 ½ Cups Brown Sugar
A few dashes of:
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Cumin
Salt & Pepper

Place Pork Roast in crockpot, fat side up. Cook on low for 11-12 hours. I just cook it over night. You do not need to add water or any liquid, but you can if you prefer. When done cooking, remove the roast and drain it in a colander. Set it aside while it is draining. Remove any left over fat, out of the bottom of the crockpot.

While your pork is draining, mix the rest of the ingredients in the crockpot. Shred the cooled pork and return it to the crockpot. Continue to cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve hot.

Oreo Sheet Cake

Oreo Cake
1 pkg. Betty Crocker's Devils Food cake mix
1 small box Devils Food Jello pudding mix
1/4 C. Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder
1 1/4 C. Water
1/3 C. Oil
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix on low speed for about one minute. Increase the speed to med/high. Beat for and additional 2 minutes. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan (cookie sheet). Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
1/2 C. Shortening
1/2 Butter, room temp
2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
4 C. Powdered Sugar, Sifted
Oreos

Cream Shortening and butter until light and fluffy. Add whipping cream and vanilla, continue beating. Add sifted powdered sugar and beat until frosting reaches desired consistency. Break Oreos and scatter on the top of the cake for decoration.

Texas Sheet Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

This is my family's favorite chocolate cake EVER!!! It is so adicting.

Texas Sheet Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Chocolate Fudge Frosting
6 tablespoons milk
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
powder
1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch pan.

2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat in the sour cream and eggs. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until blended.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4. For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake. Work fast, the frosting sets really fast.

NOTE: We typically frost the cake using 1 1/4 times the recipe, then quickly add sliced almonds to the top of the cake and pat them down into the frosting

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

I am thinking I MIGHT just have to make these for my Valentine who just happens to love Cookie Dough! Now you can have cookie dough bites without the raw eggs! Yum-o-licious!


Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
From: The Girl Who Ate Everything (Her pics, not mine. I haven't made them yet!)

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1½ lb. semisweet or milk chocolate, coarsely chopped (Baker's chocolate)
Mini chocolate chips (for garnish)

Directions:
Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up enough to form balls.

Shape the chilled cookie dough mixture into 1-1½ inch balls. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Cover loosely, transfer the pan to the freezer and chill for 1-2 hours.

When ready to dip the truffles, melt the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Dip each chilled truffle, one at a time using a fork, coating in chocolate and shaking gently or tapping against the bowl to remove the excess. (If at any point during dipping, the cookie dough balls become too soft, return to the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.) Transfer to a wax-paper lined surface. If using mini chocolate chips for garnish, sprinkle on top quickly after dipping each truffle before the chocolate sets. Once all the truffles have been dipped, store them in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentines Day is in just a couple of days! Here is a wonderful, decadent recipe to give your Valentine's Day a little extra flair! After searching (for longer than I want to admit) through what ingredients should be in a Red Velvet cake, I decided on one particular recipe. Well, I tried it....It came out, BLAH! I even tried putting marbles in the cupcake tins to try to create heart shaped cupcakes. Let me just say, THAT was a disaster! The cupcakes oozed over the tops making the hearts not even recognizable. They were now poor, ugly, decrepit cupcakes! The flavor of the cake was not horrible, it was just not up to my standards either. When I create something, I want it to taste AMAZING. It was time to have a recipe makeover!!! I decided to try MY OWN recipe. I REALLY hoped that my recipe turned out better than the last one because I did not have them time and money to fail the recipe again.

I better tell you up front, I fall into the category of people that like a little more chocolate in their Red Velvet Cake. Just a warning for those of you that think more chocolate is not how Red Velvet is supposed to be made, and that I am certainly going to be sent to the underworld for such a abomination. BUT... I let the fam taste test the two cakes and my recipe won hands down. All is not lost for the sad batch of cupcakes though! I will put them gently in the food processor and grind them to smithereens, and then use them as sprinkles for my yummy cupcakes.

Any way if you are still here, HERE is the recipe for my Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Anjella's Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 Box Betty Crocker German Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Small Box Chocolate Pudding Mix
3 TBL. Cocoa powder
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 Sticks of Melted Butter
4 Eggs
1 Bottle of Red Food Coloring (1 oz.)
1 tsp. Vanilla

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place cupcake liners in cupcake tins.

2) Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat on low speed for one minute or until all the ingredients are combined. Scrape down sides with a spatula. Beat at medium/high speed for an additional 2 minutes, until fluffy.

3) Divide the batter evenly between the 24 cups. (You could turn it into a whole cake here, if you so desire. You will need to increase the baking time though.)

4) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. Frosting recipe below.


Anjella's Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

3 C. Whipping Cream
3/4 C. Powdered Sugar
1 (8 oz)stick of cream cheese really softened and divided (so it will mix in better)
1 small box instant Cheesecake flavored pudding mix

Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar until it holds a soft peak. Beat in cream cheese just until it is blended in. I separated my cream cheese into 5 parts before I added it to the cream mixture, so that it wouldn't be one big clump. Add pudding (and vanilla) and beat until it reaches desired consistency. Frost cake or cupcakes immediately.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Lava Cake

This is a chocolate cake that creates it's own chocolate pudding/custard beneath the cake. You serve it with a spoon with the pudding on the top. Garnish with whipped cream, A MUST! It is not a real sweet cake, but wonderfully rich.

Part One
3/4 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Baking Cocoa
2/3 Cup + 2 TBLS. Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup (half a stick) of Butter, melted
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease your slow cooker with cooking spray or shortening (I used butter flavored shortening).

In a med sized bowl whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir until well incorporated with the dry ingredients and batter is smooth. The batter will be thick. Spread evenly in the bottom of a medium round slow cooker.

Part Two
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Baking Cocoa
2/3 + 2 TBLS. Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 1/2 cups Boiling Water

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Gently poor over the top of your thick batter already in your slow cooker. DO NOT STIR!

Cook on HIGH HEAT setting until puffed and top layer is set, about 1 1/2hours. If you poke the top layer with a toothpick, it should come out clean.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Sandwich

I saw these on another blog and thought that my boys would absolutely LOVE them! So we whipped up a batch and whola! The recipe comes from the Picky Palate blog. You can see the original post here. I didn't change anything.
They were quite yummo, but I could only eat one, and even then I shared it with the kiddos. They're HUGE!
On the blog I got this from, she also used mini candy bars, like Snickers, and peanut butter cups. I thought that would be fun to try too.