Russian Tea Balls

Whether you call them Russian Tea Balls or Snow Balls, they are delicious and are my favorite cookie to make for the holiday season. They just taste so good and are festive; they'll be one I make for years to come. The recipe I use is from my grandma. 

Russian Tea Balls

Mix together:

1 cup soften butter

1/2 cup sifted confectioners powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Sift together and then stir in with butter mixture:

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

Mix in:

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Shape into a loaf and chill for 3-4 hrs or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake on non-greased sheet until firm but not brown for about 10 - 12 minutes. While still warm roll in confections sugar. Cool and roll in the confectioners sugar again. Devour!!!

 

Thanksgiving and I brought the Salad

For the past few holidays, I have offered to bring the salad. Some might think this to be a boring choice, and if I went with the typical Caesar Salad, it just might be. But, I welcome the challenge of discovering new and delicious ways to throw a bunch of healthy veggies together. Over the years of making my own lunches, I've tried and been pretty successful at finding ways to make a salad interesting, fun, and exciting to eat. For this one, I used a recipe I found on Pinterest called Summer Veggie Slaw. After dinner my cousin asked, "What were the green leaves in there?" I responded, "Spinach!" She said she didn't think she even liked spinach and maybe I had helped to change her mind on that. 

Below are the vegetables I put in the salad. It's easy to mix it up, use what you have at home, or perhaps buy a new vegetable from the store that you might want to try. For many of the veggies, I simply use a potato peeler so they create long ribbons instead of chopping them. For some reason, this makes the salad new and exciting to eat. 

• Yellow squash
• Green zucchini
• Red pepper strips
• Carrots
• Radish, sliced and cut into strips
• Green onions finely chopped
• Very fresh shucked corn or precooked (I used frozen sweet corn)
• Torn spinach leaves
• Served with Caesar dressing

A Bit More Pumpkin

Pumpkin Gingerbread Biscotti

I made these biscottis a few weeks ago to bring with to a game night we had planned with my cousin and her boyfriend. They tasted good but were a little hard. I realize biscotti are supposed to be hard, but I don't want anyone loosing a tooth! Below is the recipe with the altered baking time. Enjoy!

Ingredients

·         1 large egg

·         1/2 cup sugar

·         1/2 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/4 cup pumpkin puree

·         1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

·         1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

·         1/8 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

·         1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

·         1/8 teaspoon salt

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla

·         1 1/4 cups flour

·         4 ounces real white chocolate, chopped, or white candy melts

·         3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 350.

2.      Whisk together the egg, sugar and baking powder on medium-high speed until the mixture falls in ribbons when the wisk is lifted. Next, add in the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt and vanilla and whisk the ingredients together.

3.      Carefully fold in the flour. The dough will be very dry.

4.      Shape the dough into a flat log about 3″ wide by 8″ long.

5.      Bake the flat log for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 300 degrees.

6.      Let the dough cool down for 15 minutes before cutting into 1/2 inch slices. Put the slices on the baking sheet and bake for another 14 minutes, turning them over half way through.

7.      Let cool completely.

8.      Melt the white chocolate and dip half of the biscotti into it. Sprinkle the walnuts on top. Lay them on wax paper until the white chocolate hardens and then serve.

Everything's Coming Up Pumpkin!!!

It's smack in the middle of October. Our Indian Summer is gone for good. The other morning when walking to my car, I swear the air smelled different, like winter is just on the horizon. I'm sad to see the warm weather leave us, but am excited for cozy sweaters, comfy socks and warm boots...oh and I'm very excited for more hearty and warm meals. This includes desserts. I've decided this months sweet treats will all include some pumpkin in them. Pumpkin seems to be everywhere I look these days so I figured why not create my own little challenge and include it in my blog? I made some Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats last week. They were delicious; I have posted the recipe below. So quick and yummy!!

Last weekend, my husband and I went to pick out our pumpkins which we plan to carve this week. Below are some of the photos I took (pretending to be a professional photographer) :) Pretty good if I do say so myself. 

  

  

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

3-4 tbsp butter

4-5 cups marshmallows

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

1/4 cup pureed pumpkin

6 cups rice krispies cereal 

Melt the butter in a large pan. Once melted add in the marshmallows. (I add a little more butter and marshmallow to make sure the treats are ooey gooey and do not get hard). Stir the marshmallows until completely melted. Add the pumpkin spice and the pureed pumpkin to the melted marshmallows. Once all these ingredients are combined, add in the rice krispies. Stir until all are coated and then transfer to a tin or baking dish that has been lightly greased. Press the krispies down, let cool and enjoy!

Pumpkins in Fall

Pumpkin and  Brown Sugar Glaze Coffee Cake

I had Friday off of work this week. So, I did some chores, ran some errands, and made this fabulous Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze. It was so tasty I had to share. When my husband got home later that evening I told him that we can’t eat the whole thing; we should both take some of it to work on Monday. Well, it’s Sunday and the cake is practically all gone. There won’t be any left to take to work on Monday. That is how tasty it is.

With it being October, fall is definitely in the air. The leaves are finally starting to change colors, there is a crisp feel to the air in the morning, and pumpkins are showing up everywhere! In our lattes, our beer, on doorsteps; but I love the whimsical look they give a home and let’s face it, pumpkin flavor is so delicious. Perhaps Coffee And could have an “All Things Pumpkin” week. I guess that’s some food for thought.

1/3 cup water

1(15oz) can pureed pumpkin

2 whole eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 box yellow cake mix

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup sugar, divided

1 cup brown sugar, divided

1/2 cups flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. In a large bowl, mix together water, pumpkin, eggs, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined. Add the cake mix, baking soda and ¼ cup of sugar.  Grease a 9x13 pan with butter and pour the batter into the pan.

In a small bowl, mix together ½ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of flour and melted butter. Sprinkle the sugary mixture over the top of the cake. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes.

Combine ½ cup of brown sugar, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon and heavy whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat until all the sugar has dissolved.  After the cake is finished baking, remove from the oven and pour the sugar glaze over the top. Then, devour!

Honeymoon - Wine Country Home

My husband and I found an adorable little home to rent for the week while we toured wine country. It was actually a watertower  on a working ranch that we found it on Airbnb. It worked out perfectly and was a great place for us to call home for the week. It was on the property of The Beltane Ranch which is also home to a cozy little bed and breakfast. The owners encouraged us to explore the ranch, which we did. The photos are below. It's such a romantic and calming place to stay for a new, young, married couple just starting out on a lifetime of adventures and exploring. We definitely have intentions or returning. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

California Travels - Santa Cruz

Our honeymoon ended up being sort of a road trip within Northern California. We started in San Francisco for a few days and then drove down to Carmel, CA. On our way down to Carmel, we stopped in Santa Cruz. I am so glad we did because it has a wonderful boardwalk amusement park. It's right on the beach, so you could be laying out and if you or kids (that are old enough) wanted to go ride some rides, that could be done. You could go in and out of the park as you pleased. If you want to ride unlimited amount of times, you get a wrist band for just under $40. Not too shabby. Below are some pictures I took of the area and amusement park. The colors were so bright and fun that I felt like I was a kid again with excitement to ride some rides and eat some cotton candy! I really hope that we can go back and spend a few days here when we have kids!!!