Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Hooray September is almost here and I will start cooking real food again. I can't wait for baking season to start. For now, though, I will enjoy the end of summer and all the fresh food that goes along with it. This recipe is an old Pampered Chef recipe. It is a great summertime recipe and actually works okay anytime of year. I have tried it with frozen strawberries and it worked just fine.


Fruit Salsa

2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 small orange
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp apple jelly

Mix together chopped apples, strawberries, and kiwi. Zest (hopefully you have a microplane as this makes it so much easier) and juice entire orange and add both orange juice and set to fruit. Stir in brown sugar and apple jelly to fruit mixture. Chill.

Cinnamon Chips

1 pkg. flour tortillas
water
cinnamon/sugar mixture

Cut tortillas into triangle shaped wedges and spread in one layer on a cookie sheet (you will need more than one cookie sheet or to do this more than one time). Spray with water from a clean water bottle or use a pastry brush to spread a thin layer of water over the tortillas. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place in a 475 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes, or until the cinnamon mixture melts and the chip edges begin to turn a light brown.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Kate asked me to post my pb cookie recipe. My kids love peanut butter cookies, and this is our favorite recipe because it's more chewy than a lot of other recipes I've tried.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup peanut butter
1 1/4 Cups flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla

Sugar (to roll balls in--I like to use sugar in the raw, or turbinado sugar)

Beat butter and peanut butter together on high speed for thirty seconds. Add 1/2 cup of the flour, the sugars, egg, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. If necessary, cover and chill dough till easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in additional sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten by crisscrossing with the tines of a fork.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7-9 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned. (make sure not to overcook if you want them chewy!)

Chocolate Marshmallow Popsicles

You should be warned that if you try these, you will probably never want to eat another Fudgesicle or Chocolate Creamie again. These are soooo much better. And quite easy.

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Combine cream, half-and-half, chocolate chips, and marshmallows in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate chips and marshmallows are melted. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor, making sure to scrape all the chocolate out of the saucepan. Add the vanilla and salt and puree for about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a popsicle mold or paper cups and freeze for at least three hours. If you are using paper cups, freeze until slightly firm and then insert popsicle sticks.

It's nice to invite some cousins over and share!

naan

Naan (Indian flatbread)
*recipe adapted from http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com
This was so good! I'd never had naan before, but I tried an Indian dish (chicken tikka masala--which was okay, but not great) so I figured I should give it a try. Wow. And it was so simple. Definitely a "keeper" recipe. And it would go good with anything. In fact, we dipped ours in honey butter and it was like dessert!

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 egg
1/2 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup milk

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl by hand), stir together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and yeast.

In a small bowl, mix together the egg, yogurt, and milk. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir for about 1 minute, until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the wet ingredients. Increase machine speed to 2 (or by hand) and knead the dough until it is smooth and shiny, about 5-7 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and cover with a towel. Leave in a warm place to rise until the dough doubles in size, about an hour.
Put a baking stone or heavy baking sheet on the lowest rack of your oven. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.
Divide the dough into eight pieces and form into teardrop (mine were more like oval) shapes with your hands, about 6 to 8 inches across.
Cook two or three pieces at a time. Drop the dough onto the hot stone and shut the oven door, watching until they are just starting to turn brown in places, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove the naan and lay on a board. You can lightly brush with melted butter or garlic butter, or just enjoy them plain.

Butterscotch cookies

These cakey little cookies are some of our family favorites. I got the recipe from my mom. I thought I had already posted them here, in fact I know I took a picture of them. But I can't find the post (or the picture!) so if it's a repeat, I'm sorry.

Cream together:
1/2 Cup shortening (I know, I know. I don't usually use shortening either, but trust me--don't try to substitute anything for it.)
1 1/2 Cups brown sugar
2 eggs

Cream until the batter lightens in texture and color. You'll actually see a change.

Stir in:

1 Cup (NOT 1 can) evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together and stir in:

3 Cups flour (maybe just a little less, depending on how rounded you like them--less flour=flatter cookies)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp soda

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-12 minutes at 350.

Glaze:

1/3 Cup butter
3 Cups powdered sugar
5 TBSP. hot water

spread glaze over still warm cookies.

Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

My husband's favorite cookies are homemade oreo's and oatmeal cookies. I decided to make his favorite oatmeal cookies into a sandwich cookie using cream cheese frosting. He loves them...and so does the rest of the family. I tried this using a couple different oatmeal cookie recipes and I think this one works the best because the cookies are soft and not too fluffy.

Oatmeal Cookie Dough

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs and milk; mix well. Add rolled oats and stir in. Sift together dry ingredients and mix in until smooth. Stir in nuts if using them. Form into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1- 8 oz container cream cheese
3/4 cube of butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Soften cream cheese and butter (but don't melt). Stir together. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Frost the pan side of one cookie and place another cookie on top of it to make an oatmeal cookie sandwich.

Honey Popcorn

This is one of the first recipes I ever put in my little blue recipe box. My best friend brought it to our Merrie Miss recipe exchange when we were ten or eleven. Her mom made it frequently and I always loved it. Friday nights at our house are Movie and Popcorn Night at our house. There are many times we have a snack different than popcorn at Movie and Popcorn Night, but last Friday we stuck with tradition and had this. I ate most of it, but it looks like Annie has inherited my love for it.

Honey Popcorn
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup cream
1 cube butter
1 cup marshmallows
2 large bowls popped corn

Cook all ingredients except marshmallows over medium heat to soft ball stage, stirring constantly (or in my case, with just quick little breaks in between stirs). Remove from heat and stir in marshmallows. Pour over popped corn.