Stuffed Sweet Peppers

While most people stuff bell peppers we thought to stuff a small sweet pepper, and they were a HIT!

Ingredients:
Sweet peppers
Cheese (we used organic feta and swiss)

 Directions:
1. Grate your cheese, it helps to grate a little at a time and to use the small holes.
2. Cut tops off peppers and hollow out any extra seeds (usually there are none)
3. Stuff the peppers. How full they are depends on you.

Tips:
1.You can stuff with any cheese you like.
2. Don't limit yourself to just cheese.
3. Great appetizers or veggie side for a party or dinner.

                                                                            ENJOY!

Lemon Raspberry cupcakes

I found this recipe in a  magazine to make these cupcakes but it required boxed cake and jelly. I wanted something more so I tweaked it my way. First I found a lemon cake recipe I liked.

Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Spice Islands® pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Directions:

In a bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat well after each addition. Stir in extracts.

Pour into papered muffin cups. Bake at 350° 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. 

I did mine the night before and let them cool and harden up a bit.

Filling:
Ingredients:
3 C raspberries (mine were picked fresh in season then frozen for later use)
1/2 C sugar

Directions:
• Placed 2 cups of raspberries small sauce pan with  sugar.
• Cook on med heat till fruit and sugar has reduced down and all you have is juice and seed pulp.
• Place in remaining cup or raspberries and  cook til soft, but still holds fruit shape.
• Remove from heat and strain juice from pulp, set aside.

• Using any tip that will allow pulp to past through pipe into cupcakes till sides 'pop' from filling.





Frosting: 


Ingredients:
• 1 package Confectioners' Sugar (16 ounces)
• 1/2 C Butter or Margarine (1 stick), softened
• 1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 TBS Milk
• 2 TBS Fresh Lemon
• frosting colors in yellow, pink, and green (optional)

TIP: I doubled my frosting and flavored only half of it. I used 3 TBS of lemon to make it very tart.

Directions: • In large bowl, with mixer at medium-low speed, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla and 2 tablespoons milk until smooth and blended.
• Add citrus juice.
• Increase speed to medium-high; beat until frosting is light and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula.

• Beat in additional milk as needed for easy spreading consistency.
• If adding coloring to do the way I did you'll need to take About 1/2 C out of pink tinting, and 1/4 C for green. Add yellow to the remaining frosting and tint how light or dark you want.

Decorating:

• Pipe on yellow frosting, I went with the spatula method but they would look just as good with a large start tip.
• Place in fridge till frosting is harder than when spread.










 • Tint 1/4 C green and fill piping bag with a leaf tip.

• Pipe leaves over yellow and set back in fridge to harden. 

• Tint 1/2 C frosting pink,
• Add 2-4 TBS of raspberry juice you set aside to flavor your flowers
• Fill bag with a flower tip.
• Holding bag straight up I turned my cupcake while squeezing bag. (I know this isn't the way to do it but it made my flowers faster with softer frosting.
• Add some sugar pearls for the middles and enjoy. 

Apple Pie Cupcakes.

What's better than an apple pie? Apple pie cupcakes that's what.

What you'll need:
12 small apples, I used yellow delicious and galas.
1/2 C brown sugar
2 TBS cinnamon
1 TBS lemon juice
2 C powder sugar
water to cover mixture
12-24 vanilla cupcakes

What to do:

1. Slice apples and  place in pan with lemon juice. Add cinnamon and brown sugar stir, coating well. Pour water over apples to cover about 1/2 and inch above. get a nice rolling boil and then turn down to med/low and cook till apples are tender. Remove from heat, place apples in a bowl and chop with a mixer or blender till just under chunky. take liquid from pot, add powder sugar and mix well.

 2. Slice cupcakes in half horizontally, adding applesauce to cover one side. Place top back on and set aside.

3. Plate cupcakes & drizzle  applesauce glaze on top and let run down sides of cupcake. Serve and enjoy.

2 weeks of Thanksgiving, Day 1 ~ Chutney-Honey Glazed Ham

If you're like me and no holiday dinner is complete without a yummy glazed ham try this recipe at your next holiday meal.

 

Ingredients

• 1~ 7 - 8 pound cooked bone-in spiral-sliced ham
• 1~ 9 ounce jar (3/4 cup) mango chutney
• 2~ tablespoons honey
• 1~ tablespoon stone-ground mustard
• Fresh mint sprigs (optional)
   
    Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place ham on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. If desired, insert an ovenproof meat thermometer into the thickest portion of the ham. Thermometer should not touch bone.* Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours.

  2. Meanwhile, for glaze, in a small bowl, stir together chutney, honey, and mustard. Using kitchen scissors, snip any large pieces of fruit in the mixture.

  3. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the glaze over ham. Bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes more or until meat thermometer registers 140 degrees F.

  4. Serve ham with the remaining glaze. If desired, garnish with fresh mint.

  
  

  Don't forget to take a look at today's craft project, Trivets for the holiday's.

Headless Gingerbread men

If you love making gingerbread people over the holidays, you'll love this fun take for All Hallows Eve! This recipe for Headless Halloween Gingerbread People is too cute for words and they make great Halloween party cookies.

 
Cooking Time: 10 min
Ingredients
 10 ounces or 300 grams self-rising flour
 Pinch salt
 4 ounces or 100 grams caster sugar
 3 teaspoons ground ginger
 2 ounces or 50 grams margarine or dairy-free spread
 3 tablespoons golden syrup
 4 tablespoons milk or water
 1 tablespoon raspberry or strawberry jam

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius or 325 degrees F. Grease a baking tray.
2. Put salt, flour and ginger in a bowl. Warm sugar, fat and syrup together, and add this to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
3. Add milk or water and mix to a firm consistency, and then knead lightly.
4. Roll out dough and use a person-shaped cookie cutter to cut shapes out.
5. Modify these shapes with a knife, removing most of the head. Feel free to get creative and leave jagged edges at the neck or remove part of a limb too etc!
6. Place on baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove and cool on cooling rack, as syrup-based cookies need a few minutes to crisp up after baking.
7. Decorate with the jam and a pastry brush/small paintbrush, brushing the jam onto the necks. Again, feel free to get creative - clumps or trickles of jammy 'gore' are all in the spirit of Halloween!