At a birthday party a while ago the kids were introduced to something that began to immediately harden their arteries and and boost their cholesterol sixty percent.

Sweet Corn Nuggets

Sweet Corn Nuggets.

It’s corn, and it’s fried. I’m not sure how I’ve lived in the south for multiple decades without ever coming across these before, but my kids aren’t going to let me forget them now that they’ve found them.

Sweet Corn Nuggets
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 cups drained whole kernel corn

Beat eggs, and stir in remaining ingredients. Drop from a spoon into deep fat and fry until brown.

Some recipes call for half creamed corn and half whole kernel. Some call for half flour half corn meal. I don’t think you can really mess this up, but I like the recipe above best.

My house smells like yum. Gingerbread for the Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle. Chocolate from the Chocolate Chip cookies. Then there are the Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate cookies (like these, but with chopped up Reeses instead of toffee.)

There’s a pot of turkey veggie soup simmering in the crockpot. There’s pine from the wreath on the front door, which has been open to the beautiful 70 degree day. There’s vanilla from the candle that’s burning, and Tide from the three four loads of laundry.

Oh yes, it definitely smells like Christmas.

There was much sweetness in the house today. My MIL carries most of the weight with the Thanksgiving cooking (turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, two stuffings, many veggies and casseroles, cranberry sauce, more than I can list here). The rest of us pitch in with a veggie or side dish, and I’ve adopted dessert duty – with my sweet tooth, its a natural niche to fill.

The table usually has 15-20 around it, and the usual suspects are all there. Pumpkin pie. Pecan pie. Apple pie. Whipped creme. Then a few days ago I saw this recipe for Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake, and I was drooling before I got to “Gingersnap”. This recipe had to find its way into my day.

But cheesecake is so heavy. After a big eating day do we really want to make people decide between a slice of heavy cheesecake or a slice of pie? Then there’s the whole transportation thing, and cheesecake isn’t the easiest thing to take and bring home. Because with 4 deserts for 18ish people, there’s going to be some bringing home. (I tried leaving it all one year, and while the recipients seemed pleased with the outcome, my house was a cold, dessert-less place come midnight.)

So what’s a baker to do? Well, let them eat tarts. Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake tarts.

I pretty much used the recipe there, but not really. No pecans – nuts are an underapreciated aspect of my palate. And I knew that any cheesecake with 4 blocks of creme cheese was going to be a huge cheesecake, so I cut the recipe to 3/4’s. And in case a few people were not caramel fans (baby sis assures me not everyone is) I made half with chocolate chips instead of caramel. Since they are tarts (hint – make in muffin pans) they only need to bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the depth of your pan.

They were well received. And I may be going out on a limb here that since my pies disappeared at the usual rapid rate, and then people came back for the cheesecake for their second dessert round – and their third – but I think these are going to have to become a staple of my Thanksgiving cooking.

Recipe below – and much thanks to PW for the original recipe, modified here for individual muffins.
Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake
(modified from PW’s Caramel Pumpkin Pecan Gingersnap Cheesecake)
((Cook in Muffin Tins))

Crust:
8 ounces storebought gingersnaps
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
Dash of salt

Filling:
3 packages cream cheese
1.125 cups sugar
12 ounces of a can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 eggs
1.5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 jar caramel topping

In a food processor (or large ziploc bag) crush gingersnps. Add melted butter, brown sugar, and salt, and pulse (or mix) until thoroughly combined.
Press into bottom of mufin tin (I sprayed the pans with Pillsbury’s Crisco / Flour baker spray first). Chill crust / pans for 20-30 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and spices and mix again. Add eggs one at a time, mixing for 20 seconds between each addition. Add cream and mix until just combined.

Remove crust from fridge. Pour a tablespoon of caramel topping in the center each cup of the muffin tin crusts. Try to keep it in the center – if it spreads to the edges, it will be much harder to remove from the pan. Gently pour cheesecake filling in muffin pan cups to almost full. Even out the top with a flat spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until no longer soupy. Cheesecake should still be somewhat jiggly. Cool on counter for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, cover and chill cheesecake for another two hours or overnight.

Remove rim from pan (a spoon seemed to work best) and slice. Sprinkle each tart with extra crushed gingersnaps, offer with more caramel, and serve.

(I substituted chocolate chips for caramel in half of them – they were much easier to remove from the pan, and actually disappeared faster than the caramle ones – probably because they were prettier? But I didn’t think they had quite as much yummy sweetness as the caramel ones did.)

It’s hot in Alabama in June. Who knew?

It is also National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Sis has an ice cream machine (that hasn’t been used since 1994). I think hot June days are the perfect time to break that baby out of the cobwebs, don’t you?

The Birmingham News had this recipe today for Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pie. I’m going to have to give it a try when I get home.

Original Oyster Restaurant Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pie

The Original Oyster House in Mobile and Gulf Shores, Alabama has been in business since 1983 and is not affiliated with any other Original Oyster House restaurant in the United States.

8 ounces cream cheese
1 (8 ounces) tub Cool Whip
1 cup peanut butter
8 ounces powdered sugar
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 Oreo Pie Shell

Mix cream cheese, peanut butter and powder sugar together. Add cool whip and blend well. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into pie shell. Should be mounded, high in the middle.

NOTE: Keep refrigerated, serve with a dollop of whip cream.

Yield one pie

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

My love of good bread is as much a part of me as my love for words.  I’ve been baking bread, with various degrees of sucess, for almost 15 years now.  Sometimes I break out the bread machine, less often I put my pizza stones to use and aim for the rustic, crusty look

Sourdough is to bread what wine is to grape.  It takes an already great thing, and makes it a delicious mouthful.  But in my nearly 15 years of breadmaking, achieving a good, tangy, stable sourdough has never been something I was able to achieve.  I’ve tried grape starters and flour starters, but my east coast home never gave me anything with more than a memory of what I know as sourdough.

Last weekend I pulled out the big guns in my search for great sourdough and went shopping.  Between the marvels of internet shopping and the USPS,  today I had waiting in my mailbox a prepackaged mix from Sourdoughs International.

The jar and measuring cup are mine; the instruction book ad culture packet were in the envelope.

This is a proofing box.  Basically a very low wattage lightbulb that generates just enough heat to keep the inside of this box warm, but not enough to melt the box or overheat the jar of starter.  Ideally, it’s going to stay 85 degrees in that box for the next 24 hours.

Tomorrow we feed it and hope it starts to grow.  With good luck, I’ll be on my way to the deliciousness that is sourdough by Turkey day.

I had a very female need for chocolate tonight, one that wouldn’t wait an hour while I baked or even 10 minutes while I ran out to Winn Dixie.

Luckily I found this Microwave Brownies in 5 minutes recipe.  And very, very quickly all was right in my world.

They weren’t World’s Best, but they were pretty damn tasty.  A bit more cake-like than I usually prefer my brownies, but that could have been from the margarine instead of the butter, or the eggbeaters instead of the eggs, or the corning ware instead of the glass pie pan.  But very yummy, especially with a healthy dribble of Chocolate Temptation liqueur on the top.

Now, what am I going to do about my craving for Reese’s Peanut Butter?

It doesn’t take much for me to get a craving for Bouillabaisse. Pretty much just the mention of saffron will do it.

So when Jaden at Steamy Kitchen offered the chance at some free bits of heaven in exchange for a recipe and a link, I was there.

Yum.
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 small)
2 cups large-diced small white potatoes
garlic to taste (usually 4 or 5 large sections)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups good white wine
1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped
1 quart Seafood Stock, recipe follows, or store-bought fish stock
Hot sauce to taste (Crazy Jerry’s if you can find it)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (3 cloves)
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined (reserve the shells for the stock)
1 pound each halibut and bass fillets, cut in large chunks
24 mussels, cleaned
1 dozen large or 2 dozen small clams
any other seafood that looks good at the shop
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Toasted baguette slices, buttered and rubbed with garlic

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or stockpot, add the onions, potatoes, garlic, salt, and pepper, and saute over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until the onions begin to brown. Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the tomatoes with their juices, stock, garlic, and saffron to the pot, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the shrimp, fish, mussels, clams, and any other seafood, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the pot to sit covered for another 5 minutes. The fish and shrimp should be cooked and the mussels /clams opened. Discard any mussels that don’t open. Stir in the orange zest,hot sauce, and salt, to taste. Serve with 1 or 2 slices of toasted baguette.

Seafood Stock:
2 tablespoons good olive oil
Shells from 1 pound large shrimp
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 quarts water
1/2 cup good white wine
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
10 sprigs fresh thyme, including stems

Warm the oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp shells, onions, carrots, and celery over medium heat for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add 1 1?2 quarts of water, the white wine, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Strain through a sieve, pressing the solids. You should have approximately 1 quart of stock. If not, you can make up the difference with water or white wine.

Yield: 1 quart

The next week will have it all. Fireworks, strawberry cake, water parks, a space shuttle launch (*knocks on wood*), St. Augustine site seeing, a birthday party, cook out, and a house full of family to share it with. Not sure how much updating I’ll have time to do here once sis and her six kids roll in during the whee hours between Friday night and Saturday morning, but now you’ll know what I’m doing!

I started the preperation today by beginning the shopping. Friday, I’ll begin the cooking – and probably won’t stop until the 5th, when they leave and I demand my husband buy pizza and other take-out for a week while I recover. But for now, I’ve got cooking on the brain. First up – German Potato Salad.

This recipe isn’t exactly like Grandma Montgomery used to make, but it’s pretty close. I like to add a bit more vinegar, until it’s tart enough to make your eyes water. Goes great with a cold beer
German Potato Salad

Boil potatoes until tender (not mushy). Slice into a deep bowl (peel if you like, but I like the skins and leave them in).

Fry bacon until crispy. Remove to drain, and saute onion and celery until slightly soft. Add salt, pepper and sugar to the bacon pan (keep the grease – I didn’t promise this was going to be healthy). Add water and vinegar, simmer until it thickens. Pour over potatos and toss lightly. Serve warm.
Makes 6 servings.

I can taste it already. And it goes great with brats and burgers!

I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts yesterday to pick up two pounds of coffee (great coffee; nasty donuts) and saw the signs splashed all over the windows for Iced Latte! 

And it sounded so good.  So, I bought one.

And then I had to drink it, and it was the worst iced latte ever.  I question whether that was real coffee they put in, or yesterdays pot leavings.  Eww.

But by then I was in the mood.  And don’t get between me and my moods.  Soon after, I was in my kitchen busily perfecting a recipe for homemade iced lattes that were not merely drinkable, but pretty damn tasty.

And it was good.  Took me seven hours to come down off the taste test caffine buzz.

Now that the recipe has been perfected, I offer you :

Ember’s Iced Latte

Pour 2 cups (as marked on your coffee pot) coffee over a full glass of ice.  Cold or at least cooled coffee works best, you’ll end up with less melted ice.

Add 3 tablespoons simple syrup.  Simple syrup is made by disolving sugar in an equal amount of water.  Splenda words GREAT. Especially if you’re going to use 3T – you want a caffine buzz, not a sugary caffine buzz.

Add 3 tablespoons half and half.  Stir gently to mix.

And drink.  And if you love it, drink more.  And if you drink enough so you can’t sleep, open your laptop and start writing until the caffine wears off.

Mmmmmmm…..