Now, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  They've always been my favorite, and I've tried many recipes over the years, searching for the "perfect" cookie.  Is this it?  Well, maybe it's not perfect, but it's pretty darned close, these are the best I've ever made.  I've had the recipe for Auntie Em's Oatmeal Cookies on Jan CAN cook for a couple of years, but I never had wheat germ to make them, and I was a little skeptical, after all, wheat germ is "healthy." ;o)

So yesterday, hubby was at the store, and I had him pick me up a package of wheat germ, and I made a batch of these cookies.  I made them exactly like the recipe said, with cinnamon and golden raisins, and scooping out 1/4 cup measured amounts on my Silopat Baking Sheet.  I only put six on a sheet as they spread, you will want to leave quite a bit of room between cookies.   I took them out of the oven, they looked good, they tasted great, but cold oatmeal cookies are the true test.  I don't like them hard and flat, I want them to be chewy, yet crisp, and these were all of the above.  They aren't puffy and cake like, they are a crisp oatmeal cookie around the edge with a perfect chewy center.

So, if you're an afficiado like moi when it comes to oatmeal cookies, don't take my word for it, buy yourself some wheat germ and golden raisins and bake them for yourself.

The only thing I did differently was bake them for 18 minutes, 14 minutes wasn't enough in my oven.  It makes  a huge amount, my dough is in the fridge, waiting to bake when we want them, I'll probably put some on a cookie sheet pop them in the freezer to firm and then bag them in the freezer for later use.

Four stars on this one, ladies.  Here's the quick link.

This salad is so good,  very lemony, and garlicky, it is just superb.  I found it years ago on a now defunct site, Gail's Recipe Swap.  Gail's had so many wonderful people that posted daily, chefs, gourmet cooks, everybody shared their favorite recipes.   It was sponsored by Epicurious and it was a sad day when they closed it.

This Salad is from Gail's Swap, it's so good, another keeper recipe...

Andrea's Garlic Salad

DRESSING
Mix together and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving:
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3-5 cloves of garlic crushed
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

SALAD
1 head of Romaine
1/2-1 lb. of bacon, cooked crisp and diced
2/3 cup of toasted almonds
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup julienned Swiss cheese
2 cups of sliced plum tomatoes, or cherry
tomatoes quartered
1 cup of croutons

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup drained, canned crushed pineapple in juice
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Garnishes: sliced bananas, chopped fresh pineapple

Preparation

Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk and next 5 ingredients in another bowl. Gradually stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in toasted pecans. Pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot buttered griddle or large nonstick skillet. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry and cooked. Turn and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until done. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet, and keep warm in a 200° oven up to 30 minutes.

Serve with Cream Cheese Anglaise

Note: When using a griddle, heat it to 350°.

Tip: For tender pancakes, don't overmix the batter; it should be lumpy.

Cream Cheese Anglaise

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups half-and-half
 1/2 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Process half-and-half, cream cheese, sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt in a blender until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in butter and vanilla. Serve immediately

Source:  Southern Living

Ree made these on FoodTV and they are calling my name. It's a "must try" recipe this holiday season at our house.

This recipe is so simple, all you do is take a Keeble Club Cracker, put a mound of brown sugar on it, she also makes some using a mound of parmesan cheese on the crackers. Then you take a half a slice of bacon, wrap it several times around the sugar or parmesan and the cracker, put it on a cookie cooling rack that you've sprayed with Pam, put the rack on a jelly roll pan, put it in a preheated 250 degree oven for two hours.

That's it! She said they freeze really well, too.

I will line the jelly roll pan with foil, this isn't my first rodeo with brown sugar, and I don't want a sticky mess to clean up.

They freeze well, you can just reheat, or you can eat them warm or at room temperature. What's not to love with this recipe... Picture Source: FoodTV

This beef tenderloin with mushrooms, onion and wine is perfect for a very special dinner.   It was given to me by a friend thirty years ago and I’ve  made it many times since for Christmas dinner.

My friends make this recipe, my family makes it, and it always gets rave reviews, always!

My son, Ryan, makes it using ribeye steaks if he’s just making it for two, it would be really good made with filets or New York strips, also.  You won’t be disappointed with this recipe, it’s wonderful with horseradish mashed potatoes and glazed carrots, it’s so delicious and since you  make it ahead and marinate it, there are no last minute hassles preparing it.  I never alter the recipe, why mess with perfection...

Beef Tenderloin in Red Wine Sauce

whole beef tenderloin
6 Tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, slivered
2 Tablespoons Heinz Chili Sauce
10 ounces dry red wine, I use a Cabernet
2 onions, sliced
1 pound mushrooms, whole button ones, or thick sliced large ones
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
2 dashes Worchestershire sauce
2 beef boullion cubes
4 slices bacon
flour, salt and pepper

Saute onions and mushrooms in butter, adding garlic for the last minute or so.  Add marjoram, Worchestershire sauce, wine and boullion.

Sprinkle tenderloin with flour, salt and pepper.  Lay slices of bacon on top of meat in large roasting pan that has been sprayed with Pam.  Broil for 7 minutes on each side.

Pour the liquid over the meat and marindate it for 5 hours in the refrigerator basting frequently.  (May be refrigerated overnight).

Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.  We let it set for awhile, and then slice.  Test it after 30 minutes, if it’s too rare for your family, cook a bit longer.  Since this cooks at 450 degrees, it doesn’t take long, watch it carefully. 

Note:  I let it come to room temperature before baking.  The 30 minutes baking time is more accurate if you do this.

This is an amazing recipe for Starbucks Amazing Cranberry Bliss Bars.  Seriously, who doesn’t love these?  And who wouldn’t want to make their own at a fraction of the cost???

My daughter-in-law, Lindsay, introduced the real thing to me a few years ago, and it took no time at all to find a copycat recipe online.  They are so, SO good, if you are a fan, do your friends and family a favor and make these!

Here’s the link, enjoy….   ~ jan

This is the easiest, most amazing bread, anybody can make this.  The crust is so crisp, because you bake it in cast iron or a Le Creuset dutch oven.  I’ve tried for years to get a crackle crust at home, putting bowls of water in the oven to steam, throwing ice cubes on the oven floor, but I’ve never had results like this.  The only difference I make in the original recipe is that I use an entire package of rapid rise yeast, and I add 3 TABLESPOONS of sugar, because our family likes a sweet bread.  I always use warmer water from the tap, not room temperature or cold water.

This picture is my bread after it came out of the oven.  Doesn’t it look amazing?  It was just fantastic!

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast – I just use a whole package of Rapid Rise Yeast
1 1/2 cups water
*I add 3 Tablespoons of sugar

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

Note:  There are two ways people shape the dough and let it rest.  Some recipes tell you to shape your dough, cover it and leave it for 2 hours before you bake it.  The recipe above jus has you let it rest and rise for 30 minutes – I couldn’t tell any difference in letting it rise for 2 hours, both ways gave great results.

I’m including two videos, the original video, and the second, upated one, that makes bread in just a few hours.  He bakes his at 500 degrees, I wouldn’t do that, as I  think his crust looks a little too brown.  I bake mine at 450 in my le creuset dutch oven with the lid on for 30 minutes, take it off and bake it an additional 15 minutes and it comes out perfectly.  Don’t oil your pan, this bread does NOT stick.

And now for his updated video that lets you bake bread the same day.

You won’t find a better french toast recipe than this, the taste is just amazing!  it’s fluffy, crunchy, yummy, with a hint of orange, not overpowering, it’s just right.  And, it’s an overnight dish, wonderful for the holidays, and very simple to make. 

Your friends and family will love this.  Pinky swear, they will.  ~ jan

PRALINE FRENCH TOAST WITH ORANGE SAUCE

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. white corn syrup
1 cup chopped pecans
2 eggs
3 egg whites
1 cup orange juice
¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tsp. grated orange rind
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 (16 oz.) loaf French bread, cut into 12-15 (1 inch) slices

In a large 9x13” ovenproof baking dish, melt the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup by putting it in a warm oven until everything  turns to liquid.  Then sprinkle the bottom of the dish with pecans.  The original recipe called for 1/2 cup, I used at least a cup, because I like lots of pecans, and 1/2 cup just wasn’t enough.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, orange juice, sugar, milk, orange rind, vanilla and cinnamon. Arrange the bread slices over the mixture in the baking dish and pour the egg mixture over all.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.  Serve this immediately, flip each slice when you take it out of the dish so that the praline sauce is on top.  Serve with Orange Sauce.

ORANGE SAUCE

¼ cup margarine
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup orange juice
orange zest
2 Tbsp orange liqueur or flavoring (optional) – I omitted this
Mix ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat.
Note:  I doubled the orange sauce because I wanted everybody to have plenty.  Serve the sauce in a small pitcher so people can drizzle it on the french toast.

When we were in Franklin, Tn. last weekend we shopped the delightful downtown stores.  Franklin is a wonderful little town, just chocked full of the quaintest boutiques,  and of course, they have great displays of things that you might not see in other stores.

Being the foodie that I am, I was naturally drawn to the cookbooks, so I took lots of pictures with my iPhone, and now I’m going to share my finds.  All available on Amazon, of course, I hope you enjoy, and maybe you will find something that you would like to give as a gift or keep for yourself.   There are naturally lots of Southern cookbooks, included, I’m awfully prejudiced, but I do think southern food is the BEST!

"Southern cooking is the Mother Cuisine of America." -Nathalie Dupree

Through more than 600 recipes and hundreds of step-by-step photographs, Dupree and Graubart make it easy to learn the techniques for creating the South's fabulous cuisine. From basics such as cleaning vegetables and scrubbing a country ham, to show-off skills like making a soufflé and turning out the perfect biscuit-all are explained and pictured with clarity and plenty of stories that entertain. Traditional Southern recipes and ingredients are also given modern twists to make them relevant for today's healthy lifestyle.

With more than 750 recipes and 650 variations, making a perfect piecrust, a heavenly biscuit, mouthwatering vegetables, or crispy fried chicken is attainable for any home cook. The recipes and directions are easily accessible to kitchen novices as well as seasoned cooks-there is plenty here for everyone.

Nathalie Dupree is the author of twelve cookbooks, including two James Beard Award winners: Nathalie Dupree's Southern Memories and Nathalie Dupree's Comfortable Entertaining. Her latest books include Shrimp and Grits and Southern Biscuits. She has hosted more than 300 television shows and specials that have shown nationally on PBS, The Learning Channel, and The Food Network. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Cynthia Stevens Graubart is an author and former television producer whose culinary television production career includes Nathalie Dupree's New Southern Cooking. Cynthia is also the co-author of The One-Armed Cook, as well as the co-author of Southern Biscuits. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Ask any pie lover—the words "southern" and "pie" go together like ripe fruit and flaky pastry. And behind all the mouthwatering, light-as-a-cloud meringue peaks and the sticky dark butterscotch fillings lies a rich and delicious history. In Southern Pies, some of the South's most famous bakers share recipes for 70 pies. Perfect for bakers of all skill levels, these pies are made with simple, easy-to-find, and gloriously few ingredients. Featuring such classics as Sweet Tea Pie and New Orleans Creole Coconut Pie, this tasty homage will fill everyone at the table with Southern hospitality.

 

Renowned food photographer Katie Quinn Davies’ cookbook shares her favorite simple dishes with a dazzling collection of recipes and beautiful images (American edition).

After spending more than a decade as an art director working for some of the top design studios in Ireland, the United States, and Australia, Katie Quinn Davies refocused her creativity towards food and lifestyle photography and created a blog called What Katie Ate. An Internet phenomenon, What Katie Ate has received international attention and was even dubbed one of the best food blogs in the world by GOOP. Showcasing her extraordinary eye, this debut cookbook is a unique combination of food diary and how-to, with tips and tricks, photographs, recipes, and stories.

Sharing more than one hundred simple culinary recipes drawn from Katie’s travels, dinner party cooking and foodie haunts, What Katie Ate emphasizes seasonal ingredients and irresistible flavors. Featured dishes range from Wild Mushrooms on Toast with Parmesan and Herbs to Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple, Prune & Pine Nut Stuffing and Cider Cream Gravy. What’s for dessert? Temptations include Coffee Hazelnut Frangelico Cake and Honey Baked Peaches with Vanilla Bean Créme Fraiche.

Perfect for entertaining, this gorgeous cookbook minimizes the time spent in the kitchen and maximizes the time spent enjoying the meal with friends and family. Bringing together easy-to-cook recipes (using standard American measurements) with gorgeous world-class food photography, What Katie Ate will indulge all of your senses.

 

• The Vintage Tea Party Book embraces the style and class of the trendy London Vintage scene and illustrates how to beautifully recreate the tasty treats and classic styles at home

• A unique mixture of recipes and feature spreads with accessible tips on hairstyling, makeup methods and tips on where to collect vintage china

Angel Adoree cordially invites you to accompany her on a journey to create your perfect vintage tea party. Expect glamour, roses, rabbits, headscarves, foxes, teapots, crows, parlour games, cake stands, hair and make-up tips and, not forgetting, humongous amounts of magical tea party food that is fit for the Queen of England, and easy enough for you to make.

Photographer Todd Selby is back, this time focusing his lens on the kitchens, gardens, homes, and restaurants of more than 40 of the most creative and dynamic figures working in the culinary world today. He takes us behind the scenes with Noma chef René Redzepi in Copenhagen; to Tokyo to have a slice with pizza maker Susumu Kakinuma; and up a hilltop to dine at an inn without an innkeeper in Valdobbiadene. Each profile is accompanied by watercolor illustrations and a handwritten questionnaire, which includes a signature recipe. Reveling in the pleasures of a taco at the beach, foraging for wild herbs, and the art of the perfectly cured olive, Selby captures the food we love to eat and the people who passionately grow, cook, pour, and serve these incredible edibles every day.
Praise for Edible Selby:
“Todd Selby has turned his curious eye to the kitchens of some of the world’s most imaginative cooks, artisans, and foragers. Far too often, food and the people who produce it are hidden behind closed doors or lost in an industrial food system, so it’s heartening to see this book champion those who have nothing to hide. With Todd’s trademark good humor and disarmingly quirky style, Edible Selby is a pure celebration of the creativity and authenticity of the wonderful individuals who are bringing real food to the table.”
- Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant
“Todd Selby’s foray into the world of food is every bit as intriguing as his eccentric take on the world of interiors. Long live Signor Selby!”
- Simon Doonan, Barneys New York creative ambassador
“Edible Selby captures the energy and excitement of today's food world. This book is pure Selby.”
- Thomas Keller, The French Laundry
“Books On My Gifts List…Photographer Todd Selby’s scrapbook reportage on passionate cooks and famous chefs around the world. Messy, magnificent, inspiring.”
—Food & Wine magazine
“Exploring the world for food, that’s what Edible Selby is all about…and hopefully, you get really hungry when you read it.”
—New York Daily News

 

With this charming guide to casual outdoor entertaining by Denise Gee, belle-of-the-ball author of Southern Cocktails, party and decorating ideas have never been more simple or inspiring. Gee and acclaimed photographer Bobby Peacock crisscrossed the U.S. photographing their favorite porches and dreaming up fresh, summery spins on classic Southern drinks, resulting in 50 recipes for everything from punches to cocktailsincluding several nonalcoholic sippers and 10 uncomplicated snacks. Grab a bottle, whip up some Tipsy Tea or Prosecco Martinis, and take the party outside!

Taste the chocolatey goodness of Mississippi Mud or marvel at the extravagant elegance of the Lady Baltimore and there will be no doubt that Southerners know how to bake a cake. Here are 65 recipes for some of the most delicious ever. Jam cakes and jelly rolls; humble pear bread and peanut cake; whole chapters on both chocolate and coconut cakeseach moist and delicious forkful represents the spirit of the South. A Baking 101 section offers the cake basics, some finishing touches (that means frosting and lots of it!), and the how-to's of storing each lovely concoction so that the last slice tastes as fresh and delightful as the first.

 

Betty Rosbottom, beloved author of Sunday Soup and Sunday Roasts, knows how to make Sundays feel special. For this third title in her Sunday series, she turns to the most leisurely and convivial meal of the week, brunch. Providing a year's worth of special meals, this book contains 80 mouthwatering recipes for eggs, stratas, pancakes, waffles, quickbreads, hash, and beverages, as well as 32 tantalizing color photographs and dozens of delicious menus. Full of enduring staples and delicious surprises, Sunday Brunch will become the go-to for tried and true Sunday treats.

“Housekeeping is becoming more and more a matter of science, and the laurels are bound to fall to the woman who conducts her household in a business-like way.”
Let the thrifty sensibility of yesteryear be your guide as you shop for the most economical foods, choose wall colors scientifically, clean with natural products, look your best without breaking the bank, and budget your way to frugal efficiency. In this amazing collection of clever wisdom and practical advice drawn from vintage home-economics textbooks, you’ll find everything you need to get back to basics and run a healthy and happy household. Home Economics covers all the categories of delightful domesticity:
     •  Health & Hygiene
     •  Cookery & Recipes
     •  Manners & Etiquette
     •  Design & Decoration
     •  Cleaning & Safety
     •  Gardening & Crafts
Rediscover the art and science of keeping house—economically!

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