Whipped Orange Nutmeg Butter

I apologize for the lack of post lately! I have been immersed in the holidays, as well as tending to our litter of puppies born October 12.... all 15 of them!
I hope my photography skills will begin to improve as well! I received a DSLR camera from my husband as a Christmas present! I am looking forward to higher quality photos to put on my blog!

For dinner tonight, I decided to roast some sweet potatoes. I simply make a couple of small slits in the sweet potatoes, then place them in a 350 degree oven until they are tender. I usually put a piece of foil underneath them while they roast, since they will caramelize and "ooze" a bit of goodness onto the bottom of your oven.

To make the whipped butter, I decided to try something my sister had told me - whipping butter with coconut oil. But, as is my nature, I couldn't make plain butter! Here is the recipe...

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut oil (I didn't use extra virgin)
Pinch of salt (I used Himalayan pink salt, ground to a powder in a mortar and pestle)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (I used satsuma zest)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Place butter in a bowl, and beat for a second to smooth the texture out. Add the coconut oil, and whip together until fluffy looking.  Season to taste with salt. You can stop here and have just a plain whipped butter. Simply stir in the flavors (zest and nutmeg) and scoop into a serving dish. Chill until service time. For softer butter, simply remove from the fridge about an hour before service.

Coconut oil is a very healthy oil and by mixing it with the butter, it still retained the buttery flavor and creamy texture. The salt is optional, but I felt that it made it taste like true butter. As with most compound or flavored butters, you can change up the flavor combinations.  Different citrus zests, herbs, spices - endless possibilities!

Whipped Orange Nutmeg Butter

Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn

I thought some of you might enjoy this... It's very festive for the holidays! Though it's not my recipe, I did alter it slightly...

In case any of your are interested, I thought I would share a favorite recipe of mine... I didn't make this up, it's out of a cookbook, but it's a fun change from your normal caramel corn!
Red Hot Cinnamon Candy Popcorn
8 quarts popped popcorn
12 oz package red cinnamon candies
+ enough sugar to fill up a 2 cup measure
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Spread Popcorn onto a lightly buttered roasting pan; bake at 250 degrees while preparing syrup. Pour cinnamon candies into a 2 cup measure, then fill remainging space to the top with sugar. Place in a heavy saucepan and add butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and carefully stir in baking soda. Pour over popcorn and stir to coat. Bake in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Break apart and store in an airtight container.
I hope you all enjoy! I love this recipe!

Turkey and Apple Cranberry Sauce

I love the holidays and the delicious food that comes with them! While my Thanksgiving was a little late, it was still wonderful! I took the time to brine my little 9lb turkey and what a difference it made!  Even though I misjudged time and overcooked the turkey, it was still moist and flavorful. I made the brine the day before I cooked the turkey and allowed it to marinate overnight, about 12 hours. Here is my recipe…

Turkey Brine 

¾ gallon water

1 cup apple cider

1 ¼ cup salt (canning and pickling salt is perfect)

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon peppercorns

1 tablespoon allspice berries

2 tablespoons pickling spice

10 fresh sage leaves

2 quarts ice

Heat the salt and sugar with ½ gallon of water. Add cider, vinegar, spices, remaining water and ice to food safe bucket or other large vessel. Once sugar and salt are dissolved, add to bucket with remaining ingredients. Add turkey and weigh down with a plate to keep turkey submerged. You may need a gallon freezer bag or other container to set on the plate to help weigh it down. Brine about 12 hours for a small bird, or up to 24 for a large bird. Remove bird from brine at least a couple of hours before cooking and rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate uncovered until cooking time – this will help dry out the skin so it can crisp up during roasting. You may add herbs or other spices to give the skin flavor… I used thyme, sage, pepper, and butter. Be sure to pat the skin dry before rubbing with spices.


The turkey is never complete without the cranberry sauce on the side! While canned cranberries have their place, I much prefer fresh made cranberry sauce! Here is my recipe for my Apple Cranberry Sauce.

Apple Cranberry Sauce

1 12oz bag fresh cranberries

1 ½ cups peeled and diced apple (about the same size of cranberries)

1 ¼ – 1 ½ cup sugar – to taste

1 cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, but start with only 1 cup of sugar. You can always add more later! Heat over medium low heat until apples are tender and cranberries have burst. Sauce will be fairly thick. Taste for sweetness, then add additional as necessary. I used about 1 1/3 cups sugar with mine batch. Stir to dissolve additional sugar, and then cool. Serve chilled or at room temperature. No thickening is necessary, as both the apples and the cranberries contain pectin that will naturally thicken the sauce!

Cranberries, apples, sugar, and aromatic spices

This cranberry sauce if so versatile! The apples absorb the colors from the cranberries and make this sauce so elegant. I love using leftovers in different ways and this cranberry sauce recipe is great in many things! Think cheesecakes, trifles, on sandwiches, pureed and used in cocktails… so many uses!

Finished Apple Cranberry Sauce

I hope you enjoy these recipes! And, thank you all for supporting me in this blogging endeavor!

Pumpkin Spice Latte, Part 2

Since I know I can make my own latte, I decided to take the next step - make my own Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Syrup. I compared it to the store bought version, Torani, and the sweetness appears to be the same, but the flavor is much better! And, no preservatives! Here is my recipe for the syrup...

Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cinnamon stick
1" square of fresh ginger
1-2 cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a low simmer and stir to dissolve sugar. Once dissolved, simmer for an additional 2 minutes. We aren't reducing it, just steeping the spices. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp. Strain into a clean glass container, and store in the fridge. Make 500ML or 2 cups. For a more spicy flavor, rinse off the cinnamon stick and leave it in the syrup overnight.

One Batch of Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Syrup fits perfectly into a pint jar

So, for the price breakdown, this is much more cost efficient!

Here is what the prices are based on...

Sugar - 10lbs for $13.88
Canned Pumpkin - 15oz for $2.39
Water - free
Cinnamon Stick - 2lbs for $13.49
Fresh Ginger Root - 1lb for $3.99
Cloves - 1lb for $14.56
Nutmeg - 2.3oz for $10.56


So, for my recipe, here is the breakdown:
2 cups of sugar = 7oz -  $0.607
1/4 cup pumpkin = 2.25oz - $0.359
1 cinnamon stick= 1/8oz - $0.053
1 inch ginger = approx 1/4oz - $0.062
2 cloves = trace - $0.01
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg = 1/32oz - $0.143

Total Cost for 500ML :  $1.23
Cost for 500ML Torani Syrup:  $5.07

That is a total savings of $3.84! Think how much that would add up...
These prices were based on Amazon.com prices, but I am sure that some of this would even be cheaper in your local grocery store or Costco.

So, who says you can't make your own coffee flavoring?  This also makes a great hostess or Christmas gift for a coffee lover in your family! Try this on pancakes too...

I hope you enjoy! I'd love to hear feedback from recipes, so feel free to leave a comment on what you have tried off of my blog!

Maple Bars

Come the fall, I tend to crave comfort foods. Homemade maple bars are definitely on that list! I make mine with a slightly sweet yeast dough that I deep fry. I top it with a creamy frosting made almost entirely from real maple syrup.

First off, here is the dough recipe... It is based loosely on a recipe from my childhood called Monkey Bread.

Maple Bar Dough
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
5-6 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 quarts of mild oil, for deep frying
(peanut, canola, soybean, coconut, safflower - just make sure you are not using extra virgin, as it will likely burn)

"Bloom" (fancy word for dissolve and let it do it's thing) the yeast in the warmed milk (110 degrees). I usually allow this to sit for a good 10 minutes. Add the sugar, oil, and 2 1/2 cups of flour, and the salt. Beat well to combine, then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add enough flour to form a smooth dough. I use my stand mixer to knead the dough, but you can do it on a lightly floured surface too. Place into a lightly oiled bowl and allow to raise in a draft free, warm place until doubled in size. Once it's raised, gently push to deflate the dough. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 - 3/4" thick, then cut into rectangles, about 3" by 4". I prefer to go smaller, then I don't feel so guilty eating them!  Allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Heat oil in a large, deep sauce pan. Make sure your pan is deep enough to only fill it 2/3 full of oil, so you don't risk overflowing the pan. Oil should be fairly hot, about 350 - 375 degrees. Drop a few dough squares at a time into hot oil. These will cook quick, so make sure you watch them. Cook about 1 minute one each side. If you aren't sure how long to cook them, just cook 1 to start with, then taste for doneness. Fry all the bars in batches, allow to cool, then frost with Maple Syrup Icing. The dough may also be divided and frozen, or baked up into a number of other items, such as dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, or other sweet bread applications.

Fresh-made Maple Bars

And to top these off, a fantastic REAL Maple Syrup Icing. Why use maple flavoring when you can use the real stuff?

Maple Syrup Icing

1 cup of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon milk

Bring the maple syrup and milk to a boil, and boil about 4 minutes. Pour mixture into a bowl and whip with an electric mixer until mixture is light colored and thickened. If icing gets too thick, just add a little more maple syrup. This icing will dry out as it sits and thicken dramatically, so try to use the icing soon after it's made. Remember, this is fairly sweet, so you don't need much on the maple bars.

Maple Bars

Tomato Basil Quinoa

It was recently requested that I come up with some recipes using quinoa. What is quinoa? It is an ancient seed, full of fiber and protein. It is related to spinach and chard and is native to the Andes mountain region of South America. It comes in several colors: red, yellow, brown, black, and ivory. Quinoa is coated in a bitter powder and must be rinsed before cooking, otherwise your whole pot of quinoa will be bitter.

Tomato Basil Quinoa
1 1/2 cups rinsed quinoa
3/4 cup tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups water or chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon basil
Pinch of salt
Black pepper
Fresh ribbons of basil, for topping

Combine quinoa, tomato sauce, water, dry basil, salt and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat for approximately 25 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the "tail" of the quinoa has broken free of the seed. You will see little while "commas" in the pan. Fluff with a fork, transfer to serving bowl and top with fresh basil. This pairs well with almost any meal! If desired, grate a little parmesan, pecorino, or ricotta salata over the top for a salty kick.

Tomato Basil Quinoa

The Beauty of Canning Season

With bountiful harvest, comes all the work of preserving it. Sometimes, admittedly, it's tough to stay motivated. Once all the jars begin to stack up, I get a real sense of accomplishment! How much money I saved by making my own and how much better it is for my family are two of the best reasons! The fact they look beautiful - just a bonus.
One thing I experimented with this year was Yellow Tomato Sauce, made from "Lemon Drop" Heirloom tomatoes. It turned out so sweet! And, as a bonus, it's a gorgeous golden color! I thought I would share a picture of some of my work, it truly gives me joy to see all the delicious stuff that I get to enjoy this winter!


San Marzano Roma Tomato Sauce, "Lemon Drop" Tomato Sauce,
and Home-Grown French Cut Green Beans