The Schmales' Favorites: Holiday

Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts

11/17/13

Cranberry Relish

1 bag fresh cranberries
1/4 C water
3/4 C sugar
1 C fresh squeezed orange juice ( used 3 med. seedless naval oranges)
1 orange worth of peel, peeled wide using a vegetable peeler
1 cinnamon stick
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, orange peel, cinnamon stick, and water. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in orange juice. Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand to continue thickening. Stores for 1 week refrigerated. Serve at room temp.

Recipe adapted from Tasting Table on PBS and Martha Stewart.

I have NO idea how to make this picture more appetizing, but seriously, I've gone from a cranberry non-believer to cranberry addict!

12/22/11

Winter Fruit Salad

Pomegranate
Starfruit
Pineapple (fresh preferred, frozen ok)
Ruby Red Grapefruit
Oranges
Apples (optional, toss in lemon-lime soda to keep them from turning brown)

11/1/10

Katie & I decided to make Pumpkin Pasties and Butterbeer in honor of Halloween & James & Lilly Potters' death date (Katie reminded me). The neighbors agreed that the Pumpkin Pasties were great! Its the perfect ratio of crust to filling that I love especially with pumpkin. I'll be making these again.
I have enough filling to make another batch, I just need to make an additional 2-layer pie crust.
We had some issues with our pastry dough cracking after stuffing and folding over. I think that's pie dough is just something I just don't have enough experience to get the right "feel" yet. I think the pre-made dough might be worth the convenience.

Also, I did use fresh pumpkin because of availability ( a 15oz can was $3.39 at the co-op, but a 5 lb fresh pumpkin was $2.99) but don't feel it is worth the added work. On a good note, now I've got a few spare cups of leftover pumpkin that I need to find an awesome recipe right away! :-)

The butterbeer is waayy too *SWEET!* to my liking to be able to drink in mass quantity, maybe because I'm a muggle :-) We mixed vanilla cream soda with butterscotch schnapps and even experimented by adding a little condensed milk. I liked it with the milk, but felt like it should be warm and more bubbly, which I don't think is a feasible combination. More taste testing is required!

9/8/10

Apple Cider

2 C Water
½ C Brown Sugar
2 T Cinnamon
1 T Mace
½ T Nutmeg

Microwave 15 minutes in a 4 C Pyrex Measuring Cup, or glass bowl.
Mixture will be thick, bubbling, and very hot. Add to 1 gallon of cider. Keep
warm in a crockpot or on the stove.

~ Mom's Recipe