Rum Balls

I had planned to make these awhile ago, but when drama unfolded around here they were pushed to the back burner. Not needing as much as originally, I halved the recipe-which worked really well! They are chocolatey, rummy, and oh SO delicious. From now on, I think these are going to be one of my Christmas must have recipes.

Recipe originally from Canadian Living. Don't ask me what issue, I have no idea.
4 oz semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (bittersweet might be even better)
1 pkg (200g) chocolate wafer cookies
1 cups finely chopped walnuts or pecans
3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup rum
1 tsp vanilla
chocolate sprinkles

Melt semi sweet chocolate in a bowl over hot, not boiling, water until melted. Set aside and let cool. Whiz chocolate wafers in a food processor to make 2 1/3 cups (actually, you could probably just purchase already crushed Oreo cookie crumbs); transfer to a large bowl. Add 1 cup nuts, condensed milk, run, and vanilla; stir in chocolate. Chill, covered, for 1 hour or until firm.

Shape mixture by teaspoons into balls and roll in chocolate sprinkles to coat. Chill in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you must, drink the leftover rum.

Makes 70. Unless you scarf them down when nobody's looking.

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Butter Tarts

Nothing says holidays in my house like butter tarts. For you Americans out there scratching your heads, read about the history and what they are here. Sweet, full of raisins, a little bit messy to eat, these are scrumptious. I have to warn you, I do not make pastry from scratch. Instead I buy ready made tart shells, because it's just a whole lot easier. This picture to the left are my tart shells all ready to go in the oven.

Also, these freeze really well! I like to eat 'em straight from the freezer, actually. Just be careful how you pack them. They do best if you freeze them on a cookie sheet first until they are nice and hard, and then pack them into an airtight container with a sheet of waxed paper between the layers.

This recipe is from my mom, and I have no idea where it came from.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup seedless raisins (preferably golden)
1/4 cup butter (you must use butter, not margarine)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
and about 12-14 tart shells

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.Measure raisins into a bowl. Pour boiling water over to cover and allow to steep for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix together brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla. Drain raisins. Add butter directly to drained raisins and stir until butter is mostly melted. Add to sugar mixture and combine until butter is melted. Stir in beaten egg. Fill tart shells 3/4 full and bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until pastry is browned and filling is browned and bubbly.

Yummy! They freeze really well too. Makes about 12-14.

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Coconut Mango Butter Cookies

Cookies that you have to roll and cut out have always seemed like too much work for me, but I really was interested in this recipe. Buttery shortbread like cookies, sandwiched with jam, and topped with a coconut glaze? Yum. The original recipe called for seedless raspberry jam, but somehow that didn't jive with my taste buds. Why use raspberry when I have mango apricot jam in the cupboard? Mango and coconut just seems to go together better.

So I made the dough with all these fantastic intentions, and then drama hit and there the dough sat in my fridge for a few days. Yesterday I finally got around to actually making them.

Oh, wow. They are so good! The cookies are initially crisp and delicious all on their own, but they soften up a bit when they sit overnight and soak up some of the moisture from the jam. The result is amazing!

Original recipe is from Canadian living December 2009

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsps milk (approx)
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/4 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

Filling:

1/2 cup good quality jam. I used mango apricot, but I think vanilla apricot would be delicious too.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, continuing to beat.

Whisk the flour, coconut, baking powder and salt together in a seperate bowl. Stir into the butter/sugar mixture in two additions. It's going to look a bit dry at this point, but don't worry. It comes together. I stirred it together best I could and then dumped it out on the counter and used my hands to bring it together with a slight bit of kneading. You don't really knead it, but work it just a teeny bit and it comes together. Be careful, though. The trick is not to over handle it too much.

Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge. You can let it chill for about 30 minutes, or if you are like me you can leave it for a day or so.

Roll the dough out onto a wax paper lined counter. A way to keep your waxed paper from flying around is to spray the counter with a bit of water before you lay down the paper, and then it sticks to the counter. The original recipe said to roll the dough to 1/8 of an inch thick, but I really am lame at estimating that sort of thing. Mine are obviously thicker. It doesn't make too much of a difference, other then you will have more cookies if you get them thinner. Cut out your cookies with a fluted 1 3/4 inch cookie cutter and transfer them to a cookie sheet, placing them about 1 inch apart. Keep rolling and cutting, re-rolling scraps, etc until you've used all the dough.

When the cookie sheet is full place it in the freezer for 10 minutes. I know! Sounds so weird. Works, though. Do it.

Bake those babies in the middle of a 350 F oven for about 8-10 minutes until light golden. Remove them from the cookie sheet and let them completely cool before you glaze 1/2 of them.

You should, in theory, get about 96 cookies. I didn't. I ended up with about 1/2 that, which attests to my rolling and cutting skills, lolol.

Glaze:

Just stir all the glaze ingredients, except the coconut, together in a bowl. You have to use your judgment for the milk part. To make it spreadable, I kept adding bits of milk here and there and stirring until it was still sort of thick but I'd be able to spread it.

**If you only get as many cookies as I did, half the glaze ingredients or you'll end up with a bunch of glaze left over***

Okay! So ice the tops of 1/2 of the cooled cookies. Dip them in coconut as you go so they look pretty. Let dry for about 30 minutes.

Filling:

Spread about 3/4 tsp jam over the bottom of an un-iced cookie, and sandwich with an iced one. Let stand about 30 minutes until they are set.

You can keep your finished cookies in an airtight container on the counter for a few days or put them in the freezer. I don't think mine are going to last very long....

Makes 48 cookies if you are the boss at rolling, or more like 30-ish if you're like me and like them a bit thicker.

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Baked Pasta Shells

Cheesy and delicious, this is a go-to meal for special occasions. It's looks like you've made a lot of effort, when in reality, it's actually quite easy! I love the cheesy filling with bits of prosciutto and spinach, all bathed in a tomato sauce. So yummy!

The original recipe is from Canadian Living Holiday Best 2000
8 oz / 250 g jumbo pasta shells (the original recipe says about 32 shells, but I've never used that many. Go by the weight. Got a scale?)

1 pkg of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and all the liquid squeezed out
1 onion, chopped
4 oz diced prosciutto
1 1/2 cups shredded Fontina cheese. (I substitute mozzarella, which is just as good.)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp pepper
3 1/2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce (I really like Prego)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (the real stuff, not the saw dusty stuff)

In a pot of boiling water, cook the pasta shells for about 7-8 minutes or until the are still slightly undercooked. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside.

Using a fry pan with a bit of oil, saute the onion until it is soft and translucent. Remove from the heat and stir in the prosciutto, ricotta, egg, nutmeg, pepper, spinach, and half of the fontina cheese. Stir well.

Spread about 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Using a spoon (or your fingers, it's so much easier), stuff the shells with a rounded tablespoon of filling. This must be why I never get 32 shells, because I stuff those babies full. Use your own judgment.

Set the stuffed shells on the spaghetti sauce in a single layer. Once you've stuffed all the shells, top them with the remaining spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the fontina cheese and Parmesan. Cover the dish with greased tin foil so that the cheese doesn't stick to the foil, and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

Let sit for about 5 minutes before you serve it once you remove the dish from the oven.

Serves 8

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Pork Orange and Ginger Stir Fry

Hubs never used to eat stir fries. I'm not sure why but he had decided he wasn't crazy about them, and for years every time I made one he just kind of picked at it. Now that he's supposed to eat more veggies, it's sort of like stir fry hating karma. Jake and I love any sort of Asian food, so for us it's a perfect excuse to have it for dinner more often! Hubs has decided that he likes them now and then too, so everyone is happy.

Some stir fries come out a bit oily and limp, so you have to watch how you cook them. I steamed the broccoli a bit before adding it to the pan at the very last minute so that it's cooked perfectly. There is also a lot of sauce in this recipe, so you can adjust how much you add to your liking.

This recipe is adapted from my dog-eared and worn out copy of Crazy Plates by Janet and Greta Podleski. The stir fry is supposed to be made with pork, which I'm sure is delicious, but nobody in my family eats pork so I used chicken instead.

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or pork tenderloin, thinly sliced
3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup each sliced red and yellow bell peppers
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp each sesame oil and grated gingeroot
1 clove garlic, inced
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Whisk the broth, hoisin sauce, marmalade, rice vinegar, cornstarch, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and 5 spice powder together in a bowl. Set aside.

Put the broccoli in a microwave safe bowl with about 1/4 cup of water and cook on high for about one minute, or until just tender crisp. Drain and set aside.

In a walk or large fry pan, heat up a small amount of oil and cook the meat over high heat until no longer pink. Add the peppers and continue to stir fry until they soften slightly. Throw in the broccoli and stir. Reduce the heat to medium high.

Pour in some of the sauce over the chicken and veggies, stirring. I don't like my stir fry too saucey and found that there was far more than I needed, so I didn't use it all. The sauce will bubble and thicken, coating all the meat and veggies. You can eyeball it.

Serve over hot cooked rice.

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Peanut Butter Brownies

When I first saw these on Crepes of Wrath, I knew immediately that I had to make them. How could I resist? Seriously?

This recipe should come with a warning label. The brownies are, without a doubt, the richest, sweetest, most decadent things I've had in a long time. They would be amazing served warm with a scoop of good quality ice cream. Jake exclaimed that they were the best things he'd every eaten.

You will need:
2 eggs
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter (room temperature)..I used smooth, recipe says chunky
1 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

The original recipe says to bake the brownies at 375 F in a 9x13 inch pan. I halved this recipe and then baked them in a 9x9 inch pan, at 350 F, which turned out okay. Then I made another batch at 375 F and they almost burned. My advice? Go with 350 F. That's the usual brownie/cookie temperature anyway.

Line your 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper.

Beat the eggs and brown sugar together, and then add the peanut butter, molasses, honey, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix well. Scrape down the bowl, then add in the flour and salt, mixing on low speed until it's all incorporated.

Fold in the chocolate and peanut butter chips. In the original recipe, you are to sprinkle the chocolate chips over top, but there's something about the combination of dark chocolate and peanut butter chips that make these sublime. Instead, I folded in the chocolate chips and sprinkled yet MORE chocolate on top, gently pressing them into the batter.

Because that's how I like my brownies; drowning in chocolate.

Anyway, spread the batter evenly into your parchment paper lined pan, and pop it into the oven on the middle rack. I still say 350 F is the best bet, and you want to bake them about 30 minutes. This is where the recipe gets a bit finicky-I wasn't sure if they were baked or not, yet the edges seemed to be overcooking and the middle too soft, which was a problem. Both times the edges turned out a bit drier then I wanted. You might want to use a knife to gauge whether the brownies are cooked in the middle (if the knife comes out clean you are good to go) rather then eyeballing it as I have, because eyeballing doesn't work so well.

Let them cool on a rack before slicing into bars.

Makes 20-24 bars.

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