Bacon and St. Valentine's Day

Raise your hand if you love bacon!! I thought so. Does anyone not like bacon? Many years I deluded myself into thinking that turkey bacon was all I needed. Not!There is nothing like the aroma and taste of real bacon.

You may be wondering what bacon has to do with Valentine's Day. Well, it doesn't exactly. As you see in the above picture, bacon is featured in the latest Food Network Magazine. I mean, everything is made with bacon or looks like it anyway.

Today, being Valentine's Day, my good friend, Janice, is running a baked goods fund raiser for The March of Dimes at Kennestone Hospital where she works as a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse.
Every year I make a few batches of my giant crisp chocolate cookies. But in addition, I made a batch with butterscotch morsels and BACON BITS. Yes, that is right. And from talking to Jan this morning, they are a big hit. And hubby Jim loves them.

I am giving you my recipe for a valentine's present to you. I hope you like them!


Crispy butterscotch bacon cookies 

 Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ready In: 35 Minutes

 Submitted By: Charlotte Wilson

Cook Time: 23 Minutes

Servings: 24

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups Butterscotch morsels

1 cup chopped bacon bits ( I use the package of real bacon bits to save time.)

Directions:

1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

 2.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients until well blended. Stir in the butterscotch chips and bacon bits. Scoop the dough with a  2 inch ice cream scoop and place them 3 inches apart onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

 3.

Bake for 20 to 23 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

What do you think of Valentine's Day? It used to make me anxious and sad if I didn't have a special someone in my life. 

Being blessed with a wonderful and considerate husband, we celebrate our love almost every day that he is home. This morning as usual, he got up before me and made the coffee, fluffed up my pillows on my living room chair and folded my lap blanket. For the 3 days that we were snowed in, he brought in firewood and had a beautiful fire to keep us warm. It doesn't get better than that for me.

 

 Peace and love of Jesus to you today and always!

Just Checking in with a recipe for Super Bowl

Hello, Sweet Friend! I want to thank you for your kind words of comfort during my difficult time. Although I am feeling much better and at peace, the situation remains without change. God is in control.

Many years ago when I first moved to Georgia with my then husband, we were invited to the home of some new friends who we met at dog shows. They had whippets among other breeds.

We knew we were in for a treat when "Sixty" Watts told us that he was cooking up a Low Country Boil, with sausage, shrimp, potatoes and corn on the cobb. But when his wife offered us "boiled peanuts", we just looked at each other. Boiled peanuts?? Little did we know that we were in for a southern treat!

With my husband, Jim, we would only buy boiled peanuts in the fall when we would stop at Burt's Pumpkin Farm. There was just something about the yearly ritual that was so much fun. When I offered to make them at home, you would have thought that I was being sacrilegious. LOL

But I ignored his misgivings and went right on with a wonderful recipe from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Here it is:

Southern Hot Spiced Boiled Peanuts

This takes about 10 minutes to throw together.

5 hours, 25 minutes cooking time

2 pounds raw peanuts in the shell

3/4 cup of hot sauce

1/3 cup of salt

1 (3”piece of fresh ginger,) sliced

1 tablespoon of black pepper corns

2 bay leaves

Directions: Bring all ingredients and 1 gallon (approx) to  a boil in a pot over high heat.

Reduce to medium heat and cover, cooking for  four hours or until tender. Add water as needed.

Can be done in a crock pot. Makes about 4 cups.

 Watch out. These can be addictive. :o)

"May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. "

Hadassah's words to Atretes before she was fed to the lions. Voice in the Wind  

by Francine Rivers. 

Happy Valentines !

Graphics Fairy Credit, I added the stamp and the address

Happy Day, Everyone! This is the day that we show appreciation for those that we love and care about and that is YOU!

And to show you how much I care, I am giving you my absolute favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies....giant ones!

Giant Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies from All Recipes Submitted By: Patricia Boccaccio Cook Time: 25 Minutes Servings: 10 "Giant chocolate chip cookies like in the bakery." Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter 1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup chopped salted almonds, chopped ( this is my addition) Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds. Using a 2 inch ice cream scoop, scoop and place them 3 inches apart onto parchment lined cookie sheets. 3. Bake for23-25 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Warning: You may have to hide one of these for yourself as they go really fast!                                                Love, ♥Charlotte

Superbowl Curried Chicken Wings with Peach Dipping Sauce

 This photo is not of my wings, as I haven't made them yet. This was by a blog called:
Lisa is cooking.

The recipe was in our local Atlanta Journal Constitution but when I tried to locate it online, I couldn't. I googled it and Lisa's site came up. It is Virginia Willis' recipe. I worked with her as a volunteer many years ago at cooking school in Alpharetta, GA. And I know her cooking. She studied in France for about a year after i left the school.


It looks so good that I ran out and got the ingredients for Sunday. And that is all I am making...about 5 pounds of chicken wings. Forget the celery and carrot sticks. That is not what my man wants. He wants WINGS and plenty of them.

Here is the recipe:

Curried Chicken Wings with Peach Dipping Sauce

Reprinted with permission from Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company by Virginia Willis, copyright © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

 MAKES ABOUT 24

 Wings

· 3 pounds chicken wings (12 to 14 whole wings)

· 1 teaspoon Madras or spicy curry powder

· 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

· 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

· 2 tablespoons soy sauce

· 2 tablespoons canola oil

· 2 to 3 jalapeños, cored, seeded, and very finely chopped, plus more for garnish

· 2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

· Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

·  

Dipping Sauce

· 1/2 cup plain low-fat or whole-milk Greek-style yogurt

· 3 tablespoons peach preserves

· 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste

· Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

· Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

To prepare the chicken wings, cut off the wing tips (reserve to make stock), and halve the wings at the joint. In a large bowl, combine the wings, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne, soy sauce, canola oil, jalapeños, garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, combine the yogurt, preserves, and hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Remove the marinated wings from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, then set a large wire rack on the foil. (I don't like to use a nonstick baking liner on the baking sheet in this instance because the curry can stain the silicone.)

Transfer the wings without crowding to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake until the wings are deep brown and the juices run clear, turning once, 15 to 20 minutes per side. (If you like charred bits, after the 40 minutes, turn the oven on to broil for about 5 more minutes.)

Taste the yogurt dipping sauce and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro and serve the hot wings with the dipping sauce on the side. 

 Of course, there will be dessert; a cherry vanilla ice cream cake with chocolate icing. 

Maybe our diet will be next month?

Blessings!!

Christmas Linzer Cookies

 

These have always been a favorite of mine. I used to treat myself every once in awhile when living in New York City to one of these Linzer cookies. They are actually 2 cookies sandwiched together with a blackberry jam filling.

Since this is the season for cookie baking, I went online to find a recipe for these. I have never made them before, but the recipe was very easy to follow. And I think they turned out pretty as well as delicious.

Here is the link to the recipe: Linzer Cookie Recipe

Hope you are not getting stressed out and are enjoying life.

May the peace, joy and love of Jesus be with you today and always!

♥Charlotte

Linking up to:

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Peach Pie

 

My husband loves anything sweet so when he showed me the July cover of Southern Living Magazine, featuring Peach Pie, I took notice. 

Now baking has never been my forte. I can make bread easily enough in my food processor but pie crust has always made me nervous. For one thing, there is never enough pie dough in a recipe to really cover the whole pie. This recipe is different; there is plenty of goodness to overflow and still have some left.

The recipe is at the bottom of the page. :o)

 

Juicy, but firm tree ripened peaches from Georgia, of course!

Doesn't this look good? You will do a better job of crimping the edges.

All hot and bubbly! 

One very happy husband!

Recipe Time for Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Peach Pie

Hands On: 30 Minutes
Total: 4 Hours, 50 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups cold butter
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water
• 8 large fresh, firm, ripe peaches (about 4 lb.)
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar  

  Preparation

  1. Cut 1 1/3 cups butter into small cubes, and chill 15 minutes. Stir together 4 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup ice water with a fork, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened and dough begins to form a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding more ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, if necessary. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; press and shape dough into 2 flat disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes to 24 hours.
• 2. Preheat oven to 425º. Place 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface; sprinkle dough lightly with flour. Roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Starting at 1 edge of dough, wrap dough around a rolling pin. Place rolling pin over a 9-inch pie plate, and unroll dough over pie plate. Press dough into pie plate.
• 3. Roll remaining dough disk to about 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
• 4. Peel peaches, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; cut slices in half. Stir together brown sugar, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/4 cup flour in a bowl; add peaches, stirring to coat. Immediately spoon peach mixture into pie crust in pie plate, and dot with 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter. (Do not make mixture ahead or it will become too juicy.)
• 5. Carefully place remaining pie crust over filling; press edges of crusts together to seal. Cut off excess crust, and reserve. Crimp edges of pie. If desired, re -roll excess crust to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 3-inch leaves using a knife. Brush top of pie with beaten egg; top with leaves. Brush leaves with egg; sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 to 5 slits in top of pie for steam to escape.
• 6. Freeze pie 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a jelly-roll pan in oven 10 minutes. Place pie on hot jelly-roll pan.
• 7. Bake at 425° on lower oven rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°; bake 40 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake 25 more minutes or until juices are thick and bubbly (juices will bubble through top). Transfer to a wire rack; cool 2 hours before serving.
• Lovely Lattice: For an equally impressive top crust, cut remaining dough disk in Step 3 into 3 (1 1/2-inch-wide) strips and 8 (1/4-inch-wide) strips using a fluted pastry wheel. Proceed as directed through Step 4. In Step 5, replace whole crust with dough strips, making a lattice design. Omit pastry leaves. Brush lattice with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar. Omit slits in crust. Proceed as directed in Steps 6 and 7, shielding just the edges with foil.

Pastry Chef Shae Rehmel, Five & Ten, Athens, Georgia, Southern Living

JULY 2011      

Thanks for visiting today! I hope you are doing well and that you have a wonderful week!

♥charlotte