Cream Cheese Nut Bread

 

It seems that, lately, I have had no time for baking or cooking. Today I had a hankering (I tend to hanker a lot) for a comforting quick bread for tomorrow’s breakfast.  I pulled out a recipe for an old favorite, warming and deliciously scenting the kitchen in the going. This is an easy recipe to make, and you probably have all of the ingredients on hand.  It does take up a number of bowls, but the end result is well worth it.

This moist, dense, nutty loaf is made all the better with an almond-flavored ribbon of cream cheese running right through the center. This cream cheese filling can be used with almost any of your favorite quick bread recipes, by the way, but do give this one a try, and then experiment by adding it to other favorites.  It makes an already delicious quick loaf all the better.  As an added note, this bread gets better every day. Cream Cheese Nutbread

 To make filling:

 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 c. sugar

½ t. almond extract

1 large egg, room temperature

 Beat the above ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl on high speed until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

To make bread:

 2 large eggs, room temperature

½ c. canola oil

½ c. whole milk

1 t. freshly grated lemon peel

2¼ c. flour

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1 t. baking soda

1 t. kosher salt

1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a 9” x 5” loaf pan with PAM and dust thoroughly with granulated sugar (or, a cinnamon-sugar mixture, if you prefer).  Set aside.

Beat eggs until frothy and lemon colored.  Slowly add oil, milk, and lemon rind, mixing until well blended.

 In separate bowl, stir together flour, sugars, soda, salt, and nuts.  Add this dry mixture, all at once, to the wet mixture and mix until just moistened.  Do not over mix.  Spoon half of bread batter into loaf pan, smoothing as you go.  Top with all of the cream cheese mixture, then spoon the remaining half of the dough on top, spreading to cover as well as you can.  Bake for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Chewy Salted Peanut Bars

 

Years ago, my parents had a large house at the lake. I used to love going there when we had it packed with company. The house had five bedrooms, so it could hold a lot of people. My cousin, only a year older than me, was one of my favorite people to have at the lake. She was a night owl like I was, and after everyone had gone to sleep, we would get up and raid the cookie jar. One night after we consumed a good amount of oatmeal raisin cookies, she went back to get some potato chips. I asked her why she got those and she said, “Sweet calls for salty, salty calls for sweet.”  She wasn’t wrong. How many times have you had a sweet snack, and then needed a touch of salty thereafter? Conversely, how many times have you had something salty, and then longed for something sweet? This is the best of both worlds. They are easy to make, reminiscent of Payday bars, and can be quite addicting. 

They’re the perfect combination of salty and sweet.

Chewy Salted Peanut Bars

1½ c. flour

¾ c. packed brown sugar

½ c. cold butter, cubed

2 c. salted dry roasted peanuts

1 c. butterscotch chips

½ c. light corn syrup

2 T. butter

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil, letting ends extend up and over the sides to facilitate lifting; spray foil with PAM.

Place flour, brown sugar, and butter into the work bowl of a food processor; pulse until crumbly. Empty into prepared pan, patting down. Bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle peanuts over crust.

While crust is baking, place a small saucepan over medium heat and melt butterscotch chips, corn syrup, and butter; stirring occasionally. Bring mixture to a high simmer/low boil*, remove from heat, and immediately drizzle over peanuts. Bake until bubbly, 6-8 minutes longer.

 

 Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Lifting with foil, remove from pan. Cut into bars.

 *The mixture should be simmering and puffing up all around the perimeter of the pan, wanting to work its way into the center. That’s when you want to remove it from the heat.

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Bacon Mushroom Caps

 

These are wonderful appetizers, easy to make and delicious. I have served them both at brunches and cocktail parties with equal success, and I always get requests for the recipe. Recipients are continually surprised by one of the ingredients - corn chips!

 Bacon Mushroom Caps

40 medium button mushrooms

½ lb. bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

1 c. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

½ c. butter, softened

½ c. finely crushed corn chips

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 T. finely chopped onion

1 T. dry red wine

 Remove stems from cleaned mushrooms; chop stems. Combine stems with remaining ingredients. Fill mushroom caps. Place an inch apart on baking sheets and broil 5 to 7 minutes until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve hot.

 

Crush corn chips very fine. I used an ice cream scoop.The recipe calls for Monterrey Jack, but I used Fontina.Cook bacon until well done and crispy, and then chop with a sharp knife.Stir ingredients together well. I cubed the butter in order to allow it to more quickly incorporate.Rolling the filling into loose ball shapes makes it easy to fill each cap.

These are a MUST TRY!

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Deck Garden, End of the Year Assessment

 

Summer has nearly come to an end, and it is time to recap how well things went in my deck garden this year. For the most part, I consider this year to be a bit on the mediocre side. After all of my efforts, loving care, not to mention expense, I was underwhelmed by the lack of production.

My inability to grow peppers, other than jalapeños, has become quite frustrating. Year after year I plant pepper seeds, all kinds, all colors, they will reach a height of between 3 and 4 inches, and stop right there and never do a thing.

On the plus side, I got loads of tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, so much so that I was giving them away. That’s a good thing because there’s nothing more delicious than a summer tomato warm from the vine. On the downside, despite vines crawling all over the deck, I didn’t get a single cucumber. That puzzles me because generally, as with cherry tomatoes, I am giving those away.

  Another plus (and I am thrilled beyond words at this) is that the seeds I had harvested from a black heirloom tomato that Melissa’s Produce had sent me, germinated and produced! I planted this late, so I wasn’t really expecting anything, even though I got a couple of blossoms. There are two tomatoes here; one is small and obviously pecked by a bird, unfortunately. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the other one makes it to the ripening stage. It should. Generally, I don’t have a need to pull up tomatoes until mid October, although the shorter days do impede their growth. I’m going to keep a careful watch on this, and photograph it weekly, so that I can capture the point when it begins to turn black. I’m so excited! 

The charentais melon seeds that I planted did quite well. I got 100% germination from all six of the seeds that I had harvested from an organic melon that I got from Melissa's Produce, and, like the cucumbers, those vines crawled all over the deck. Also, like the cucumbers, I didn’t get any melons… or so I thought. When I went out to pull up the vines, I got three of them pulled up, but when I pulled up the fourth, I heard a clunking sound. Upon examination, I noticed that there were six tiny melons on that vine. I cursed myself for having not been more patient. I did find another melon on one of the remaining vines, and I have been babying it ever since. I doubt, at this late stage, that it will be big enough to use, but I have been encouraged by this, and will certainly plant melons again next year.When I went out to water this morning, I saw yet another one on the way. It’s probably too late to actually turn into anything edible, but it’s exciting nonetheless. Clearly, I can grow melons. Noted for next year.Speaking of melons, this little mystery melon started growing in one of my window boxes. It’s not the same as the charentais melon because each striation is actually an indentation. This may just be a pumpkin! I have no idea where this came from. The only thing I can figure is that the neighbors have pumpkin seeds in the mixture they use to feed the birds, and one of the birds dropped it in my window box.

The scallions did well, my cash crop was jalapeños (I couldn’t give those away), the basil bolted way too soon, and I didn’t get one batch of pesto out of it. The Alstroemeria did quite well, and I am very pleased with the result of that bit of experimentation. I am going to dig it up, bring it into the house, and attempt to overwinter it. The petunias put on a very colorful fuchsia show, I’m also going to try to overwinter them; the zinnias were their usual beautiful self.

They attracted loads of hummingbirds that are always a delight to watch, as well as goldfinches that love to hang onto the branches, and painstakingly pull out the pedals, in order to get to those delicious fresh seeds. They’re so cute that I just let them. I’m already in the planning stages for next year.

What were your successes and failures this year?

I’ll see you in the spring for more garden talk.

How 'bout Them Apples? TABLESCAPE

 

I had big plans for lots of table settings this summer, but sadly, did very few of them. But, I am beginning to emerge from the heat and humidity, am truly embracing September, and today felt like celebrating fall with this apple table.

I don’t often use my dough bowl — I’m not quite sure why — but it proved the perfect vessel for this beautiful combination of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples from Melissa’s Produce. Interspersed among the apples for a little bit of pattern are the Tennessee Dancing gourds that I grew this year. It is on these colors that I based this table.

 The stack of ceramic apple bowls belonged to my mother, as did the wire basket holding Fuji apples, and vibrant red flatware. The smoky stemware belonged to my mother as well.

The tin chargers come from a favorite local shop, The White Rabbit; the glass crescent salad dishes are vintage, and one of the first things I purchased after graduating from college. I had a small table, and reasoned that these would take up less room than the traditional round salad plates, and I was right. I still love them after all these years.

Number two son gave me the bright green appetizer plates and cocottes; I love that color with the red.

Woven placemats, black plaid plates, and green plaid napkins are all from Pier One.

The cups are vintage, and a part of a bigger set of Galloping Gourmet (Remember Graham Kerr?) cookware that was given away, piece by piece, for free with a $10 or more purchase back in grocery stores in the ‘70s.

 I always find a transitional table appropriate for this time of the year. I don’t generally bring out the rusty reds and burnt oranges until October, but look out when I do!

 

Get the look:

Amber Stemware

Tin Chargers

Green Plaid Napkins

Green Cocotte

Red Flatware

Woven Placemats

Faux Apples (red)

Faux Apples (green)

 

 This post is linked to: Tablescape Thursday
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Summer Garden Pasta

 

To me, September is always bittersweet. I love that it is a harbinger of fall, and yet it also means the end of the garden that I labored over all summer long, as well as the fresh produce. Today I went out and picked what will no doubt be the last of the cherry tomatoes, and snipped off a few basil leaves to use in my supper. It was up near 100° again today, so I wanted something light.

 

Ina Garten’s summer garden pasta seemed just the thing. It’s very easy to make, particularly considering most of the ingredients are assembled four hours before use. When dinnertime rolls around, all you need do is to cook the pasta, toss everything together, and enjoy.  Summer Garden Pasta

4 pts. cherry tomatoes, halved

½ c. Good olive oil

2 T. minced garlic (6 cloves)

18 large basil leaves, julienned, plus extra for serving

   ½ t. crushed red pepper flakes

1 t. kosher salt

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

   1 lb. angel hair pasta

1½ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving 

Combine the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil leaves, red pepper flakes, salt, and the pepper in a large bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for about 4 hours.

Just before you’re ready to serve, bring a large pot of water with a splash of olive oil and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil and add the pasta.  Cook al dente according to the directions on the package (be careful – it only takes 2 to 3 minutes!).  Drain the pasta well and add to the bowl with the cherry tomatoes.  Add the cheese and some extra fresh basil leaves and toss well.  Serve in big bowls with extra cheese on each serving.

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Pumpkin Spice Mini Donuts

 

As happens every year about this time, it is officially pumpkin spice season! I have to say that I always welcome it. I’m quite grateful to live where I do, where each season is clearly defined. After the heat of summer, I welcome cool, crisp fall days, the crackle of a log fire, and everything pumpkin.

 This year I decided to try something new and put my mini donut maker to work. If you don’t have a mini donut maker, they are great fun. They are super simple to use, small enough to easily store, and knock out donuts as quickly (or even quicker) as you can make waffles or pancakes, and look how adorable they are. They are also quite tasty, and the perfect start to the season.

Pumpkin Spice Mini Donuts

 ¼ c. vegetable oil

1 large egg

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. pumpkin purée

¾ t. pumpkin pie spice

¾ t. salt

¾ t. baking powder

1 scant c. flour*

¼ c. melted butter

½ c. sugar

1 T. cinnamon

 Preheat mini donut maker.

 In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients EXCEPT flour until smooth. Add flour, stirring until evenly mixed.

 Grease a mini donut pan (if necessary, mine is nonstick, so there was no need), and pipe mixture into wells until each is a little more than half full. Bake for 2-3 minutes, or until indicator light turns on signaling that they are done. Remove donuts and allow to cool.

 While you are waiting, whisk together sugar and cinnamon. In a shallow bowl, microwave butter until melted (30 to 45 seconds depending upon the wattage of your microwave). Dip donuts into butter, covering to coat, and then into the cinnamon and sugar mixture, rolling around to thoroughly coat.

 *A scant up is a cup minus 1 tablespoon.

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