Caramel Nut Bars

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2013/07/05.shtml

Well...early into the kitchen to fire up the oven before the humidity and heat affect the comfort zone of an air conditioned house. It has been wicked hot here, and never having been much of a hot weather kind of person, I figured I had better get these bars done in the cool of the morning.

I have to say, I LOVE salty and sweet. My Mister does as well, but he is off in the Pacific somewhere for 6 weeks, I know not exactly the location, but we have some contact still. He called yesterday and asked if I had made these bars yet, because he loves that combination as much as I. The Supremes are missing out as well, because I will not be going south to the office to share these. But I have two hungry boys next door, off for summer vacation, and I know they will be more than willing to step up to Supreme status and eat these.

My potato masher comes in handy for lots of things, and this is one of them. I did warm the butter a bit, and after blending the flour and brown sugar, this handy kitchen utensil made short work of incorporating the butter.

I did make one substitution, using agave syrup for the corn syrup, because we stay away from corn based sweeteners. The conversion was to halve the amount of corn syrup with agave. It worked just fine, and for two boys next door, 10 and 13, they will never know!

I wondered if there was going to be enough of the topping to cover, (my more-is-better sensibilities kicking in), but there was plenty to cover the crust and peanuts, so I need to stop imposing my thoughts on what is already a great recipe. Mrs. Sundberg said any type of nuts were fine, and I think when the Mr. is back home, I will do this again, using a mix of cashews, almonds and walnuts. Mmm.

They are cooling now, and when I can cut them up, I will deliver them next door and report back on the comments from the Junior Supremes.

Thank you, Mrs. Sundberg.  :-)

Back with Grandpa's Wings

Recipe: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2013/06/27.shtml


Finally. I am back. If anyone out there missed these posts, I apologize for the big blank space. I had quite an adventure in late February, visiting the cardiac intensive care unit, and it has taken me a while to get back to everything I left behind after that trip. Which included a very cool ambulance ride, a glow in the dark nuclear heart mapping and a chemical stress test. I am better...back to my old self, and ready to begin again.

I have eaten wings in my life, but never have been this up close and personal with them. Having to cut them apart was a wrestling match, and I think the wings might have won. Although they turned out fine, tasted wonderful, and in the end it didn't matter that I really didn't know what I was doing! I chose to bake them, because that is what I do with most foods when I have the choice over frying. I also peppered them before baking, because we like pepper, and I broiled them at the end to crisp up the skin and bring them closer to the fried version. Worth it, in the Mr.'s opinion, as he is a wing-eating expert.

This butter/hot sauce was very good, extra hot sauce for the Mr., again, because he has eaten a LOT of wings, and goes for the spicy, hot flavors in just about everything. He could not stay out the the kitchen while this was going on, so it's his hand doing the mixing. The only reason he did not cut the wings is because he was on the phone when I was ready to prep them. I needed to do the work in order to share this, so I had to wait for my chance. :-)

The Super Buffalo Blue Cheese Sauce was amazing. I grew up in a home that used Miracle Whip®, so mayo is not my go-to, but when the recipe said "real mayo", I used Duke's® which is a staple in this area. I've never made blue cheese dressing before, but love it, and this has given me a mix that I will use when ever I need blue cheese. I mashed the crumbles with a fork to disperse the flavor, and let it perk in the fridge for a couple of hours, and when the wings were done, it was ready. And good, and creamy, and delicious.

I did find this helpful video for eating the flats, which worked remarkably well, and with it, I was able to teach my wing-eating expert something new. He loved everything about this recipe, and took the rest for lunch yesterday. This recipe will be happening again at our house.

How to eat a flat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRcOY-PvOC8

And this is no generic Grandpa, it's Mrs. Sundberg's dad, so a big thanks to you to both!! :-)

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Recipe: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2013/01/31.shtml


I tried making sweet potato fries once, and they didn't turn out. I'm not sure why, but they were awful. This recipe was the opposite of that. With the Mr.'s stroke and bypass surgery, I am always on the lookout for healthy things, and we both like sweet potatoes. I am talking about baking them, and putting a dab of butter, cinnamon and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I have never gone the savory route, so when I saw salt and pepper, I was eager to see if I liked it. I figured that I could sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on them if I didn't, but that wasn't necessary. Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse of good stuff like vitamins B6, C and D, plus iron, and magnesium, the anti-stress mineral, and I don't know about you, but I could use more of that in my diet.

They are a bit like cutting a rutabaga when they're raw, so a sharp knife and paying attention is important. I tried to get them as even as possible, but we all know how wonky they are. Not uniform in shape and size makes it a little difficult to cut uniform slices. Next time I am going to buy large ones and cut the ends off, because on the thinner ends they got a little well done. 

It really took very little oil to coat them, and even though there are healthy oils, moderation is always key. I used a coarse sea salt, because I like that bit of crunch from it. And I also only did one potato, because I am the only one here right now, and I would have eaten more than I should if they were there. 

Another thing worth mentioning is to make sure you don't crowd them on the pan. They tend to steam instead of bake and brown, which brings me back to one of the reasons my first batch didn't turn out well.

I tried these with Heinz Simply Ketchup. I LOVE this...it does not contain high fructose corn syrup, that insidious ingredient that has become a staple in so many foods. Not good for us, in any way. Ever. I also tried spicy mustard with horseradish. YUM to both! I will be doing these again and with some experience trimming them, I think they'll be even better!

Thank you, Mrs. Sundberg.  :-)

Apple Spice Dump Cake

Recipe: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2013/01/24.shtml

I had a serious crave for dessert, and when I made this, I knew I was in T.R.O.U.B.L.E. My Mr. is on work travel, so there is no one in the house but me. This recipe and a container of vanilla bean ice cream would have meant three meals a day of it. Seriously. It is that good. And I agree with Mrs. Sundberg, canned pie filling might not be as good as homemade, but it really didn't seem to matter with this. I used the store brand, because it was the only kind of apple they had, and to my surprise, when I opened the cans, there were big slices of apple, all the way to the top. Not mostly the goo, like I had expected, but thick, whole slices. It was labeled 'spiced apple', but since it was the only choice I got it anyway, and added the full amount of spices in the recipe. It was full of spice flavors, but I liked it that way. The allspice was right there in the flavors, but I like allspice, so it wasn't overwhelming. And the pecans gave it a bit of sweetness, and after baking, they were crisp and flavorful. 

Thank goodness for neighbors! I shared it with Julia and her gang. She said, "delicious!" Going to have to make this again when the Mr. gets home.

Thank you, Mrs. Sundberg.  :-) 

Cheesy Chili Hashbrown Bake

Recipe: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2013/01/17.shtml


Well! 5 stars for a great, comforting, cold night dish that warmed not only me, but my next door neighbors up nicely last night! That was amazing! My Mr. is on work travel, so I took the easy way out, and got chili from the deli at my local supermarket and a bag of hashbrowns from the refrigerator section. If I had made it from scratch, I would have had a LOT of chili, so I opted for ready made, to test out the deli version, and I have to say, it was wonderful. Probably way too much sodium, but I will be making this again with my own chili recipe.

This is it before baking. I added more potatoes and cheese than the recipe called for, but I come from the Land of More, and more cheese and potatoes in a dish is the way to go....and I'm not sorry I did that here!

It baked up all crispy around the edges with the chili bubbling up through the topping, and that potato and cheese topping was so good. I kind of stirred it together a little in the bowl, but really liked having more chili in one bite, and more potato/cheese in the next. So dragging my spoon around the bowl gave me the different combinations. This was SO good. And SO easy. I added parsley because I didn't have cilantro, and I added a sweet southwest mesquite seasoning. I also gave the top a dusting of chipotle chili powder before baking. I made mexican cornbread to go with, and there were three happy faces at Julia's house, along with mine at home.

Thank you, Mrs. Sundberg.  :-)

Chocolate Cherry Cake

Recipe: http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2013/01/02.shtml

I have made this before. It is a recipe that has been around a while, I first found it in a recipe book that a friend's daughter was selling as a fundraiser for her school, when I  lived in West Virginia. Cook books that are from schools or churches seem to have the best recipes, because everyone seems to want to show their skills in the kitchen. I have found that they always seem to have the best variety of dishes to try. I actually look for handwritten books/journals/bags of recipes when I go to antique shops, or second hand stores. I have a zip bag of hand written recipes and notes from a dear, unknown woman. She added her personal thoughts to dishes, changed some things out, and generally let me know through her writings that she loved being in the kitchen. I like her. Even though I don't know her name, I like her.

Anyway...this was the last piece. I shared it with neighbors, and it is gone. I added some thawed out dark sweet cherries on the plate, just because I like them, but the cherry chocolate goodness comes through. The almond extract helps them along, and chocolate and cherry together is a delicious way to enjoy a cup of coffee. This makes a great breakfast!

Thank you, Mrs. Sundberg.  :-)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/prairiehome/sundberg/2012/12/27.shtml

No photo, because I served this at our 29th Night party this past Saturday, but it was aMAZing! I was busy with lots of other things, so my camera didn't make it out while the food was being served.
We had quite a spread of food. Shrimp, BBQ meatballs, veggies and dip, dates stuffed with goat cheese and  pomegranate seeds....thank you Silke....and lots of Prosecco, wine and some Devil's Cut for the hardcore men who wanted to practice for New Year's Eve. Mike, Mark, Paul, Jeff and Dwayne, you know who you are!
I made a double batch of this, and put it in a small crockpot on 'warm'. I got it all melted and delicious in the microwave, then transferred it to the crockpot. Worked like a charm, and all I needed was a big spoon to scoop it out. The kids even liked it, and came back for more than one helping.
I think it would be good as a baked potato topper, spooned over noodles...and other things that I haven't thought of yet. But I recommend it as a dip, and Mrs. Sundberg was right. Fritos are the way to go. I bought regular, because if I had gotten the scoops, it would have been gone before I got around to trying it. Hungry kids and men tend to put a dent in most things like this. It was good!

Thank you, Mrs. Sundberg.  :-)