Maple Gingerbread

This recipe results in a delicious non-traditional gingerbread. Although it can be made any time of year, I made this for Christmas this year. I found this recipe in Mom's cookie recipe box. The recipe is a type of quick bread recipe, rather than cookie recipe. But when made in a large pan, it can be cut into cookie-sized pieces and included in a holiday cookie plate.

The recipe uses maple syrup instead of molasses or dark brown sugar, which gives traditional gingerbread its darker coloring. So, this gingerbread is lighter in color and does not appear to be gingerbread. But it is a delicious variation of gingerbread. Next time I make this gingerbread, I might try a cream cheese frosting. This time, I added chopped candied ginger, which added a nice extra zing to the gingerbread.

Maple Gingerbread 

• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 2 1/3 cup flour
• 1 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger

Combine syrup, sour cream, butter, and egg; beat well. Gradually add in flour, baking soda, ginger, salt. Beat until smooth. Blend in the candied ginger. Turn into a greased 9X13 pan and press to even the dough. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done. Allow to cool before cutting. Enjoy!

Orange Drop Cookies

This recipe is a terrific Christmas cookie recipe. Although I found the index card for this recipe in Mom's recipe box, it is not her handwriting, so I suspect she got the recipe from someone after tasting these tasty cookies. The orange flavor is delicious and festive for the holiday season, but could be delicious any time of year. This recipe yields a lot of cookies, about six dozen. The cookies freeze well, so they can be saved for later.

The recipe is quite simple. I used all butter, instead of shortening and margarine. The recipe does not specify which type of nuts to use. I used hazelnuts, but many other nuts could be used or you could leave out the nuts completely. Also, next time I make this recipe, I might add in dried cranberries. Also, I only frosted about half of the cookies. These cookies are terrific with or without the frosting.

Orange Drop Cookies 

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs 
• 2 Tbsp.  grated orange peel
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking pwoder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Orange juice and grated peel to taste

Cream 1 cup butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, peel, orange juice, vanilla, and milk. Add in flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend in the nuts. Drop by spoonful onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 to 13 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting. To make the frosting, blend the softened butter with the powdered sugar. Add orange juice and grated peel to taste and to spreading consistency. Spread the frosting on the cookies. Enjoy!

Maple Cookies

I found this recipe in Mom's cookie recipe box. I made these cookies for Thanksgiving this year, which was celebrated at Rich and Christen's house. These cookies are so delicious, it was hard to stop eating them. But, the recipe yields a whole lot of cookies, so this is a great recipe when you need to feed a bunch. The cookies are a variation on sugar cookies, with a bit of maple flavor. The dough is a rolled out, so you could use any type of cookie cutter. I used a basic circle cookie cutter.

The recipe below is just a little different from Mom's recipe pictured below. I did not have maple extract, but I did have maple syrup, so I just reduced the sugar from the original recipe and added a little vanilla. Like other sugar cookies, you could frost these cookies. I would consider trying a maple glaze frosting, using maple syrup and powdered sugar. Whether you frost these cookies or eat them plain, you will love these tasty cookies.

Maple Cookies 

• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 2 eggs

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together. Blend in butter, sugar, vanilla, maple syrup, and eggs. Beat until well blended. Chill dough overnight.

Roll out a small amount of dough on a well-floured board until 1/8 inch think. Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes on greased baking sheet. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Blueberry Pie Bread

MDS and I used to get delicious pie breads at a local farmer's market. The pie breads came in many varieties: apple, peach, and cherry. I enjoy all the different flavors, but blueberry pie bread is my favorite. Pie bread turns a basic bread into a sweet treat by dispersing pie filling within the loaf of bread. This bread is terrific fresh out of the oven or warmed in the microwave. And this bread makes excellent french toast.

Pie breads are easy to make at home. I used my Mom's french bread recipe. I also think a brioche bread recipe would be delicious. You can use any type of pie filling. It is easy to make your own pie filling, or, just use canned pie filling. The bread is topped with a streusel that adds a nice touch. Sometimes, the pie filling collects in one place within the bread making it slightly messy to eat. The bread could be assembled by covering small chunks of dough in the pie filling and dropping them into the pan. I found that it is easiest to spread the filling before rolling up the loaf and then twisting the resulting loaf to spread the pie filling around.

Blueberry Pie Bread 

• 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. yeast
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup blueberry pie filling
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp. butter, softened
• Dash of vanilla

In large bowl, mix 3/4 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Heat water to 120 degrees and add the butter to the water. Add the water and butter to the flour mixture. Mix well with a fork. At this point the dough should be fairly liquid. Once the mixture is smooth, add in more flour (usually 1 to 1 1/2 more cups) until a soft dough is formed. Then, turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead, incorporating the remaining flour in as you go, for about 8 minutes. The dough should become somewhat elastic. Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel (use a damp towel if the weather is dry) and let the dough rise until it doubles, about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Let rest about 10 minutes. Roll out the dough so it is about 12 to 15 inches long. Spread the pie filling on the flattened dough. Then, roll the dough to form a loaf. Twist the loaf several time, then fold in half lengthwise. Place in a greased loaf pan. Cover the dough with a towel and let rise again, for about an hour.

Prepare the streusel stopping by blending together the brown sugar, flour, butter, and vanilla. Crumble the topping over the loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Turkey Noodle Bake

In November, turkey becomes the focus of many menus. And, growing up, after Thanksgiving, it seemed that we were eating turkey forever. So it was not uncommon for Mom to use up some of the turkey in a casserole such as this recipe. After making this casserole, I remember it from childhood. Like many casseroles, this one is super easy to make and is delicious.

When I made this, I used cream of celery soup instead cream of mushroom soup. I notice that Mom's recipe forgot to include turkey in the ingredient list, so I suggest using 1-3 cups of chopped up cooked turkey. The recipe also calls for using frozen broccoli and cauliflower, but fresh vegetables could be used instead. I made this recipe with Swiss cheese, but as the recipe says, other cheeses could be used.

Turkey Noodle Bake 

• 8 ounces egg noodles
• 10 ounces cauliflower, chopped
• 10 ounces broccoli, chopped
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (Swiss, Muenster or cheddar)
• 1-3 cups cooked chopped turkey

Cook the noodles and drain. In a large bowl, mix noodles, cauliflower, broccoli, soup, sour cream, onion, pepper, cheese and turkey. Transfer to a 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let rest for about ten minutes. Enjoy!

Criner Caramel Popcorn

While I have had caramel popcorn before, I don't think that I ever had homemade caramel popcorn until I was recently at a get-together at Amanda's and Brian's house. Nowadays, parties at the Criner/Isleb house typically involve a wonderful buffet spread of food that is a free-for-all among the many kids and adults gathered. In fact, these get-togethers are much like any Buckley family gathering. Back to the popcorn, which was put out at a recent party. I could not stop eating it. Even when other terrific food was put out, I kept going back to the popcorn because homemade caramel popcorn is so much better than store-bought popcorn.

It turns out that this deliciously addictive caramel popcorn was made by Amanda's Mom, Karen Criner. So of course, I had to get the recipe to share here. The recipe came with some helpful hints. While working with the caramel, it is quite sticky, so use cooking spray or oil on your utensils. Also, do your best to remove any kernels. I tried, but missed at least two kernels, and MDS and I each bit down on one. For my own tip, I struggled to completely coat the popcorn with the caramel. I found that while baking, I removed the popcorn from the oven about every ten minutes to stir to help better coat the popcorn. Although this delicious treat does take some work, it is worth it, especially to enjoy while still warm.

Criner Caramel Popcorn 

• 4 quarts popped popcorn
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Spray a large roasting pan (or two large edged cookie sheets) with cooking spray or oil. Add popcorn and place in preheated oven at 250 degreed while preparing caramel. Mix brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for five minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Mix well. Pour over warm popcorn, stirring to coat evenly. Bake for 45 minute, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and spread on foil that has been sprayed or oiled. Allow to cool and break apart. Store in a tightly covered container. Enjoy!

Pork Chop Creole

While I do not remember this recipe specifically, I see why Mom had in in her recipe box. This recipe is so easy and so delicious. After you get it started, it just needs some time, which frees you up to make other items for a meal, or do nothing at all. I am not sure why this recipe has creole in its name. It does have a similar flavor to many creole dishes, but it does not have celery, which is part of the standard onion, green pepper, celery mix known as the Creole trinity in cooking circles. This recipe would easily benefit from adding celery, so maybe next time I will give it a try to make it a true Creole recipe.

There was plenty of extra sauce left over, so I made some egg noodle to mix in with the extra sauce. You could also use rice or serve some bread to soak up the sauce. Mom's recipe calls for using drippings, which I remember her saving from cooking various meats. I do not save drippings, so I just used olive oil.

Pork Chop Creole 

• 4 pork chops, about one-inch thick
• 2 Tbsps. cooking oil
• 1 cup tomato juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 envelope onion gravy mix
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper

Brown the chops on both sides in the cooking oil in a heavy skillet. Remove the chops from the pan and set aside. Blend the remaining ingredients into the drippings. Return chops to the pan. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the chops are tender. Enjoy!