Sophisticated Palates

I have a collection of pictures on our camera I intended to post here. Some more of our favorite cookie recipes, a beautiful cake made following a Victoria Magazine recipe, etc...

And yet, I find that what has motivated me to actually upload photos and share is not beautiful to look at, nor would it fit anyone's definition of "cooking" per se...

...but my is it tasty.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

The Cheddaroni Dog

Yes, it was created out of a series of events. With dad spending fewer lunches at home and the boys loving to "make toast," we've had a series of ho-hum lunches lately. We took a tour of the farm today looking at how the animals keep warm. It was beautiful, but at 40, still a bit chilly. I came home desiring to turn on the oven--and use exactly three hotdogs for lunch so we could have enough for a quick dinner before dashing out this evening.

Local friends of ours own a greasy spoon which features their own invention, the Provoroni Dog. It includes a sliced hot dog, pepperoni, and provolone all cooked to perfection on their perfectly seasoned griddle.

I made mine with cheddar (because its what we had), and put it in the oven (because I was cold). I also happened to have pepperoni in the freezer because my dear husband went to buy some at the Italian market to add to a cheese tray and came back with two pounds. He was shocked at how much two pounds of pepperoni added up to. I am reminded of the scene from Anne of Green Gables involving twenty pounds of brown sugar.

So, yep, that's all it is: bun, cheese, pepperoni, and hot dog. Yum!

PS--I folded mine back in half.

Cherry Nut Cookies

This is a family favorite that my dad's mother made, and my mom continued. It is such a simple cookie with very few ingredients that comes together quickly, but its very tasty and pretty, and it makes a wonderful addition to a Christmas cookie tray! (Didn't my husband and boys do well while I was sewing?)

Cream together until light and fluffy:

• 1 c. butter
• 2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar (sucanat)

Add and mix thoroughly:

• 1 egg

Stir in:

• 1 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl, stir together

• 2 1/4 c. flour (I use white whole wheat)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Add 1 c. flour to butter mixture and stir until smooth. Add enough more lfour to make a moderately stiff dough.

Mix until well blended. Shape dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll in:

• 1 c. chopped nuts.

Place on ungreased baking sheet. Press thumb into balls to make depression in center of each. Bake in moderate oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. Fill depress in cookies with:

• halved candied cherries, cut side down.

Makes about 6 dozen (really) small cookies (I've never gotten that many).

Grandmother noted on the card: VERY GOOD

Chai Tea

We are in the throes of the first snow storm of the year, and it is a doozey You can spell doozie however you want, right? Spellcheck is not helping me here!

I made French toast this morning, and I'm about to go clean my kitchen while putting on some Chai Tea. I made it for the first time last week after seeing the recipe on the back of my giant bottle of cloves from Costco. SO easy, tasty, and I like that it uses less milk than cocoa! The recipe called for 1/2 cup of sugar, but I'm going to cut it to 1/3 this time, and I think it will be plenty sweet!

Put 4 c. water to boil with 2 cinnamon sticks, broken and 1 tsp. of cloves. Turn it down and simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1 c. milk, 8 black tea bags (My boys love Trader Joe's decaf Irish Breakfast), and 1/2 (or 1/3) c. sugar. Let it steep for 3 minutes, strain, and enjoy!

Squash in Bounty

After my husband found winter squash on sale and then I succumbed to a bad back, I found myself with an embarrassment of squash to use quickly this week.


Well, not quite that much, but enough.

Monday morning I put two large butternut squash to roast while I was at the chiropractor. Then, I returned and used it to make a variation of this Curried Cream of Chicken Soup. I pureed the rest and made this Butternut Squash Muffin recipe into a loaf of bread AND a pie.

Pumpkin (or Squash Pie)
1 pie crust
15 oz can pumpkin (or pureed winter squash)
3 eggs
3/4 c sucanat
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp posdered cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup plain yogurt

Puree the squash in the food processor and then transfer to a bowl. Put the eggs, sugar, and spices in the processor and mix well. Return the squash and gradually add the remaining ingredients. Pour into a pie shell and bake for 35 minutes at 350.

I had two mysterious green squash that I wasn't sure what they were nor what to make. I cut them open and discovered pumpkin! I put the halves to roast at 350 for about a half hour while I pondered what to do. I found this recipe, cubed some bread and cheddar and mixed it with garlic and a bit of milk, and put it into the pumpkin halves. I continued roasting for another 30-40 minutes.

It was SO yummy! Wow. For something so simple, it made such a tasty and unique dish. We had it as an entree, but it would make a nice Autumn side dish as well.

I have one spaghetti squash, one acorn squash, and one butternut left. I think I'll make meatballs to serve with red sauce on the spaghetti, Serve the acorn roasted on its own as a side one evening, but I'm just at a loss for what to do with the remaining butternut. We are butternutted out, it seems!

On Second Thought...

We have a bunch of apple seconds we bought at the orchard a few weeks ago. We really needed to use them up (so I can justify buying more this weekend), and we made an apple pie and apple sauce.

One of my very favorite kitchen tools is this apple peeler.


I think we bought it with a gift certificate when we were married, or maybe we registered for it? If you bought it for us, thank you! It is great.

This handy little gadget not only means that I don't have to sit and hand peel a half bushel of apples to make sauce and pie; it means I can assign the entire job over to the boys. Truly, there was little work on my end. The boys did every bit of the peeling and slicing.

For apple sauce, I just had them fill up my big pot with apples. I'm really not sure how many apples that is, but I roughly followed the Cook's Illustrated recipe and doubled it. All that meant was adding 2 cups of water, 1/2 cup sucanat, and 6 cinnamon sticks.

I put a lid on the pot, turned it to medium high, checked periodically and stirred a bit, breaking up the apples as they softened. I'm guessing it took a half hour to get really soft.


Then, I pulled out the cinnamon sticks and smashed it with a potato masher. We've used a plunger blender in the past if you like it smooth, but be sure to count the cinnamon sticks so you are sure to get them all out. Ask me how I know. This time, the boys interrupted me while I was putting in the sticks; so, I just mashed. I figure chunky applesauce is far superior to smooth apple sauce with chunks of wood scattered throughout.


I put it in Mason jars. I didn't do the whole sterilizing thing. I planned to keep it in the fridge, but I figure sealing it in the jars will help it keep longer in the fridge, though, it doesn't usually stay around all that long anyway!


For apple pie, I must confess to resorting to a store bought crust. This is my first year, and I must admit that my local health food store carries an excellent prepared crust! Since I wouldn't have a top crust, I found this recipe to follow for making a streusel topping. It's been a hit so far this year.

Of course, it wouldn't be homemade if life didn't happen in the process. Moley has no complaints about the frozen pie crust. The little stinker even pushed the step stool over so he could steal some! Not even walking yet and already stealing food.


Can't you tell we don't feed him?

Norwegian Apple Cake

I was very much inspired by Jennifer's seasonal menu post. I don't try a lot of new recipes these days, but one recipe that Jen shared that we've enjoyed a few times already was her Puff Pancake. I think I like it for the same reason I like one of my own favorite fall time recipes--it is both easy and tasty.

I've long viewed this Norwegian Apple Cake as my go to in the fall when we crave homemade goodness but don't have a lot of time or energy. It's one of those recipes we've whipped together right before the real estate appraiser shows up to make our home smell nice, and it is versatile and appropriate for breakfast, tea, or dessert.

This morning, my back is a bit better, and it was something that I felt up to making as we are all ready for some homeyness after almost a week of prepared foods. Besides, we didn't have enough milk to make a puff pancake;)

It is also pretty. It goes together in a pie plate, and I just love a pretty pie plate!


The original recipe is one I got from my mother. I, of course, modify it somewhat to fit my own ideas of ease and extra nutrition.

Norwegian Apple Cake

3/4 cups sugar (I use 1/2 c. sucanat)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I use white whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 med. tart apple, peeled and chopped (I don't peel the apple)
1/2 cup chopped walnut
1 T. cinnamon sugar

In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.

Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

Stir in apple and walnuts. Spread into ungreased 9-inch pie plate.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

My mom notes that she doubles the recipe and bakes it in a 9x13 inch pant at 350 for 30 minutes. I've never done that but will have to soon since we can polish off one of these in a sitting. I think I would use two pie plates, though.

This is what I do.

I mentioned that I don't peel the apple.

I also mix the dry ingredients directly in the pie plate. Then, I use a spoon to make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients where I drop the eggs. I beat the eggs right there, add the vanilla, and then I stir the flour in with the wet ingredients in the center. Then, I add the apples and walnuts. If mindful enough to remember, I would wipe the edges with a paper towel after using this method. You can see in the picture that it makes a bit of a mess on the sides of the dish.

I also don't always keep cinnamon sugar on hand, so, I just sprinkle a teaspoon of cinnamon and a couple teaspoons of sucanat on top.

This way, I don't have an extra bowl to clean!

Funny Food Names

Remember this is prepared food week?

Tonight we enjoyed hummus, tapenade, and mini-pitas. When he ran out of pitas, our oldest asked if he could have more "air biscuits."

It's a fitting name, and we think it might stick.

I'm not sure I have that many readers yet, but for those of you out there, what are some of the funny names for food that have become a standard in your family's vocabulary? Actually, what are some funny food names you've heard, whether they stuck or not?

I posted last week about the three year old's request for "muggets" and "hanimanburgers" from "O'Donnel's," which is cute and all, but I find it especially funny when they come up with an original word rather than just a mispronunciation.

One of our oldest's first words was "dobby bread" which is a peanutbutter sandwich. We referred to them as such for at least four years, but sadly, I think that it has worn off now that he's five and so much more sophisticated.

When I was little, four I think, I asked my parents for "rubbed cheese." It took them forever to figure out that I meant "grated cheese." My family will still playfully refer to grated cheese as rubbed cheese in my presence.

Any other food funnies to share?