Fireball Eggnog

I’m not a fan of grocery shopping, but when I go, I find the liquor department irresistible. There is something about all of those little bottles, some of them uniquely shaped, the colors, the labels, I love it. As a consequence, I tend to come home with bottles of various things that I have no clue as to what to do with. Such was the case last fall when I came home with a bottle of Fireball whiskey. Fortunately, I recently found this recipe. Trust me when I tell you I already had the whipped cream vodka, who knows why. I’m not an eggnog person either, but I bought it specifically to make this recipe, and boy is it good! If you’re looking for a festive and tasty winter warmer, look no further, this is it!

Fireball Eggnog

3 oz. good quality eggnog
2 oz. Fireball whiskey
1 oz. whipped cream vodka
Cinnamon sugar

Rim cocktail glass of choice with cinnamon sugar mixture. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add eggnog, whiskey, and vodka to cocktail shaker and shake vigorously; strain into cinnamon sugar-rimmed glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick. Serve immediately.

Makes one cocktail.

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Copycat Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies

I was having a particularly bad day the other day and decided it might be a good day to make cookies. I keep a stack of recipes that I plan to try always on hand, so I grabbed this one to make a copycat of Starbucks ginger molasses cookies. Having never had their ginger molasses cookies, I can’t say if these are as good as what they sell in the stores, but I will say that they are delicious!

Copycat Starbucks Ginger Molasses Cookies

1 c. dark brown sugar
¾ c. unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ c. molasses
One large egg, room temperature
2¼ c. flour
¼ t. Kosher salt
2 t. baking soda
1¼ t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. freshly ground nutmeg
½ c. sugar, for dipping

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat; set aside.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer, cream brown sugar and butter together until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add molasses, scrape down, and add egg. Mix until smooth and creamy.

In a separate bowl sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. With mixer on low speed, slowly add dry ingredients. Beat only until a thick dough forms.

With a large cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop, scoop up about 1/4 cup of the dough. Roll it in a ball, roll it in the granulated sugar, and place it on the prepared baking sheets. Allow 2 inches of space between each of the cookies. Once you have filled a baking sheet, dip the bottom of a glass in the sugar, and flatten each slightly. With a teaspoon (in order to get that crackled effect) top each cookie with a little more sugar (approximately a half teaspoon).

Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes approximately 15 cookies.

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Creamed Spinach

Last week I reviewed Tara Teaspoon’s wonderful cookbook, Delicious Gatherings: Recipes to Celebrate Together (You can read my review here  ); today I’m going to share one of her recipes with you. I like recipes that are versatile, and this one certainly is. It is a delicious creamed vegetable recipe that is as at home at dinner as it is at breakfast. I cut the recipe in half (half the amount of spinach, the full amount of sauce) and had it with lemon dill salmon for dinner one night, and the next morning I had it as a filling in an omelet. You would not believe how delicious that omelet was! I highly recommend that you try this recipe.

Creamed Spinach
A recipe by Tara Teaspoon

2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. finely chopped onion
10 oz. baby spinach, coarsely chopped
½ t. kosher salt

Cream Sauce:
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1¼ c. milk
2 T. cream cheese
3 T. finely grated Parmesan
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

In a medium nonstick skillet, heat olive oil, garlic, and onion over medium heat. Sauté until onion is soft and just turning golden, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add spinach and salt, and cook, stirring with tongs, until wilted. (Spinach can be added in batches, if needed, until all spinach has been cooked.) Transfer to a colander in the sink to drain.

For cream sauce: in the same skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir.

Whisk in milk, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Stir until cream cheese is melted and sauce begins to thicken. Add nutmeg and remove from heat.

Press spinach in colander to release excess water, then add spinach to sauce. Stir until spinach is completely coated. Season to taste with salt.

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Southern Living’s 2022 Annual Recipes, Reviewed

It’s that time of the year again, time for Southern Living’s 2022 Annual Recipes cookbook. This cookbook featuring an entire year of recipes from Southern Living will appear oh so familiar to those of you who have gotten their volumes in the past. It releases on Tuesday, December 6^th!

One thing for sure about this cookbook is that it is filled with loads of mouthwatering recipes that you are going to love. I have yet to have a bad recipe from Southern Living. They may not all appeal to me, but those that do, and those that I’ve tried, have always come out perfectly, looked beautiful, and tasted delicious.

 This year‘s book is, again, filled with new recipes to tempt every pallet. As deputy food editor, Linda Cericola says, “It’s good to be gathering again;” Southern Living has been gathering now for 55 years, hard to believe.

Containing every single recipe that appeared in Southern Living magazine throughout the year of 2022, this book is, conveniently, divided by months, as are all their previous volumes. Personally, I like this kind of division. I think it’s fun to turn to a particular time of the year in order to find a recipe to prepare. Such recipes often rely upon seasonal produce as it becomes available throughout the year, as well as heavier dishes in winter months, and lighter dishes during the warmer months.    There were many things that drew my attention in this book, among them, Broccoli Pesto Pasta, Apple Spice Muffins with Oat Streusel, Deluxe Buttermilk Biscuits with Sage Brown Butter, Oven Baked Omelet with southwestern, French, and Denver variations (I liked the idea of having the possibility of serving an omelet to a crowd), Lemon Barbecue Chicken, as well as the entire dessert section, what can I tell you? I definitely plan to try French Onion Soup Casserole. As a lover of the soup, I am intrigued at the thought of turning that into a casserole. I’ll report. I was amused by the inclusion of a recipe for Shepherd’s Pie that contained beef. A shepherd herds sheep, not cattle; Cottage Pie has beef -- just one of my pet peeves.

  You are undoubtedly going to find a lot more recipes in this book than in most cookbooks because there are pages and pages of recipes containing no pictures. That is both good and bad at the same time. I have become very picky when it comes to cookbooks, and I, personally, want a picture of every recipe that’s included. That’s not the case here. There are loads of pictures, don’t get me wrong, but if you’re expecting every recipe offered to be pictured, you will be disappointed.

Fans of the magazine, of this particular annual issue, of great food, and fine Southern hospitality will really enjoy this book.I recommend it.

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 Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Southern Living’s 2022 Annual Recipes from Abrams Books as a participant in their Abrams Dinner Party Program for 2022-2023.

Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

 

 I’m suffering from the post-Thanksgiving blues. Not that I did anything, mind you, but I did leave the house and that’s saying something. I was also in a crowd of 14 people and by Sunday night I realized that I was coming down with something. It may be something, it may be nothing, but I’m taking no chances. Today, during one of my good moments, I put together a big ole crock of comfort food. I have only once before made red beans and rice (you can find that recipe here), and I absolutely loved it! Today I did not want to spend time standing by the stove, so I put everything into the crockpot. It was phenomenal! The house was scented with the most magnificent fragrance, and I could not wait to dig in. From past experience, I know that this freezes very well, so it can take place in the freezer alongside various stocks, sauces, soups, and stews, to get me through the winter. Wonderful!

Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

 2 15-oz. cans red kidney beans, drained

1 15-oz. can red kidney beans, undrained

½ lb. smoked sausage thinly sliced (andouille or smoked)

2 celery ribs, diced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium Melissa’s organic yellow onion, chopped

1 T. Melissa’s minced garlic

2 c. chicken stock

2 T. tomato paste

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1½ t. Cajun seasoning
1 t. Crystal hot sauce

1 bay leaf

4 cups uncooked long grain rice

Green onions chopped, for garnish

Fresh parsley chopped, for garnish

Add red kidney beans, smoked sausage, celery, bell pepper, onion, garlic, stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, salt, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, and bay leaf to a 6-quart slow cooker. Set on high setting and cook for 4-6 hours, depending upon how juicy you like your beans.

 Cook rice according to package directions. Remove bay leaf and serve red beans over top of the cooked rice. Top with fresh green onions and parsley.

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Christmas at the Lake Tablescape

This is a table that came about quite by accident. I was clearing things off of the large table in the dining room, placing some of the pieces on my table for two in the conservatory. Before I knew it, I had a nice table setting coming together, so I just went with it.

 The canoe once belonged to my mother. She had a very rustic, woodsy guest bedroom that I always loved. When I had to clear out her and dad‘s house, I took everything from that room, but up until now wasn’t entirely sure how to use it all. I had brought the canoe up from the belly of the beast and just set it on the table in the conservatory and loved the way it looked. I decided I was going to go with a rustic, in the woods, by the lake kind of vibe.

The placemats are among my favorites and are from Pier One. If I’m ever struggling to get in the Christmas spirit, these placemats always do the trick.

They are topped with tin chargers on which I have placed both an earth tone stoneware dinner plate, and black stoneware salad plate, each from different collections. On top of the plates are super cute little sauce pitchers that I am absolutely in love with. They work well at breakfast for syrup, or at dinner for barbecue sauce, mustard sauce, or horseradish sauce, depending upon your entrée.

The napkins and the twig reindeer (one of a set of three) are from Pottery Barn. I’d like the casual, knotted look that forms a half circle around a green-stemmed dessert dish that I inherited from longtime family friend, Betty. To replicate the bells in the placemats, I chose larger bell ornaments, and I love the look. Each guest can go home with one as a remembrance of the gathering.

The coffee mugs are new this year and I think they work well here. The champagne flutes I have been using for a variety of different cocktails, so I couldn’t resist putting them on this table to give it a bit of sparkle.

The flatware, one of my favorite sets, is from Cabela’s.

 The rustic tea lights (aren’t they adorable?) are bits of hollowed out bark. They are perfect for this table! In the photos you’ll notice that I used real tea lights. I think I would use faux tea lights if I planned to have them burning for any length of time. I wouldn’t want to catch the wood bases on fire.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this table as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Pretty much everything on this table came from Amazon. Click on the highlighted names of the various pieces to take you directly to the listing.

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 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday

 

Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies with Christmas Sprinkles

 

It is officially cookie baking season, and while I am not keen on baking of any sort, cookies in particular, I do set my feelings aside in favor of Christmas cookies, the best cookies of the year! I don’t like cookies that are fiddly, but these get a pass because they require no special equipment other than a bowl and a spoon. They come together in no time, and if you don’t find rolling them into balls too tedious, you are going to be rewarded with wonderful buttery cookies full of mini chocolate chips and holiday sprinkles. These will be a beautiful addition to your cookie tray, and melt in your mouth delicious.

Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies with Christmas Sprinkles

Slightly adapted from moreorlesscooking.com

 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter

½ t. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 c. confectioners' sugar

½ c. Christmas sprinkles

1 c. mini semi sweet chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 375ºF.

 In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in vanilla; cool completely.

 In another bowl, combine flour and confectioners' sugar. Stir in the butter mixture, chocolate chips, and sprinkles. (The mixture will look very crumbly.)

 Shape into 1-inch balls. Place cookie dough balls on ungreased or Silpat-lined cookie sheet. Flatten a bit with the palm of your hand.

 Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are brown. Let cool on a wire rack. 

 Makes about 2 dozen.

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