Cherry Cranberry Pie

1 9" pie crust

4 cups of fresh/frozen cherries and cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 c corn starch

1 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
6 T butter

Put the berries in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat until they release a lot of their juice. Add sugar and corn starch, stir well, and cook until it thickens.

Meanwhile, mix flour, other sugars, and butter until they form small crumbs.

Put the filling in the crust, top with cumbly mix, and bake at 425 for 35-45 minutes.

Black Forest Cherry Cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans pitted sour cherries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
4. Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.
5. Combine whipping cream and confectioner's sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
6. With long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on cake plate. Spread with 1/3rd of the whipped cream. Top with 1/3 cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Add (or decorate with) remaining whipped cream and spoon remaining cherry topping onto top of cake.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/07/blueberry-crumb-bars/

These are easiest to cut once chilled, and store even better in the
fridge than they do at room temperature–something unusual for cookies!

Yield: I cut these into 36 smallish rectangles

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and
baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter
to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of
dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon
juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture
evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly
brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool
completely before cutting into squares.


Try making it with apricots instead:
2 cups dried apricots
1/2 cup sugar (or a little less)
Water to cover
Pinch of salt

Boil this all together on the stove for a while until the water is
mostly absorbed and the apricots have broken down a bit and it
smells/tastes good. Add more sugar if needed. Put in a splash of
brandy if you want before taking it off the heat.

Then just use this mixture as the filling instead of the blueberries
below.

Bailey's Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 2 c heavy cream
• 1 c milk
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c Baileys (or other liquor)
  

Instructions:

Whisk all of this stuff together until all the sugar has been dissolved. Stick it in the ice cream maker. Because of the alcohol, it will stay pretty soft. 1/2 cup of liquor may not seem like a lot, but you will definitely be able to taste it.

Mac & Cheese

You can substitute the same amount of any type of cheese and substitute any veggie (or just leave the veg out entirely).

Ingredients

8 ounces of pasta (macaroni, penne, etc)
1 1/4 cups of milk
2 T butter
2 T flour
1/8 t. cayenne pepper (optional)
4 oz cheese (I like smoked gouda. 4 oz is about 1 cup of shredded cheese)
1 bag of fresh spinach (or substitute about a cup of other veggies or leave them out)
1/2 c bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 375

Cook the noodles until al dente.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in flour until it's bubbly. Slowly stir in the milk and keep stirring until it starts to thicken. Add the cayenne, salt & pepper to taste, and bring it all to a boil for a couple minutes. Add the cheese and stir until it's melted. If you're adding veggies, add them now (for spinach, it will seem like a lot, but don't worry - it wilt really quickly in the cheese sauce).

Meanwhile, make bread crumbs by chopping up some stale bread in a blender and seasoning with parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, or anything else you like until they taste good.

Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Add the noodles, pour the sauce over them, and stir. Top with the bread crumbs. Bake for about 20 minutes until it's golden brown and bubbly.

Lemon Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cups lemon juice

Cream the butter and sugar, add flour from first 3 ingredients. Bake for 15 minutes at 350. Mix the remaining ingredients. Pour over baked crust and bake 25 minutes at 350.

Alexis's Mom's Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

375*

1/2 c butter
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla

cream the above, then sift and add carefully:
1 1/4 c flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

shape into 1.5-2 inch balls, roll in granulated sugar, place onto cookie sheet, the use a fork or potato masher to lightly press a checkerboard/plaid dents and slightly flatten the balls.

bake 10-12 min.

mmmmmmmm

(3,000 calories per batch. Divide by # of cookies to get calories each)

Spicy Chickpeas

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon Cajun spice
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Mix it all together well and then bake at 400 until chickpeas are crispy on the outside, 45 minutes to an hour.

Roasted Poblano Corn Chowder (Whole Foods)

Ingredients

3 medium poblano peppers

Olive oil for roasting peppers

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 stalk celery, sliced thin

2 large cloves fresh garlic, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

6 cups vegetable stock

2 cups whole milk (or half & half)

1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, washed and diced unpeeled (or Yukon Gold)

1 (16-ounce) package frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup roasted red peppers (in jar), chopped

Salt to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste

* Lightly coat poblano peppers with olive oil and place on pan for roasting. Place pan under oven broiler until peppers are charred (about 5 minutes); turn over and char other side.

* Remove peppers from oven and place in paper bag; roll top of bag to trap steam. Allow peppers to sit for 10 minutes.

* Remove steamed peppers. Set aside to cool. Peel, remove stem and seeds, and chop.

* In a large, heavy soup pot, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add celery, garlic and onions and cook till translucent, about 5 minutes.

* Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter till melted. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, careful not to let the flour scorch.

* Turn up heat to medium-high and slowly add the vegetable stock, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add milk.

* Bring mixture to a rolling simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

* Add the potatoes, poblanos, corn and red peppers.

* Adjust heat to a slow simmer and cook uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

* Season with salt and cayenne pepper; serve.

- Whole Foods Market

Nutritional information per serving: 362 cal., 12 g fat (7 g sat), 29 mg chol., 57 g carb., 11 g pro., 6 g fiber, 595 mg sodium