Homemade Granola

Granola just got so much better...
This is absolutely delicious, minus all the preservatives!!

We make tons of this at once and put it in jars. It's great for gifts, to give to friends and family, or to keep all to yourself ; )

Here's what you'll need:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

Remove from oven and let cool.

If you'd like you can add any dried fruit you'd like too.

Separate into bags or jars and enjoy!

Another really delicious way to make this is to replace the maple syrup with honey, and use pecans instead of almonds!

Enjoy! : )

Bertha Hopkins' Almond-Filled Coffee Cake Ring!

 This recipe is from my step mom, Janis. We make it every year around the holidays (well she makes it, until this year when I made my first one!). I don't know why we wait to just have it around the holidays, because it is so delicious. It is a special treat I look forward to every year! This coffee cake is very similar to a bear claw, the yummy almond filling... mmmm!! It has a lot of steps and takes some effort but it is well worth it!!

Here is the story behind the perfect coffee cake:

Bertha Hopkins’ Almond-filled Ring Coffee Cake

Bertha was a parishioner in Pard’s (my father) Stockton Church (1965-1972) The story goes that her husband loved coffee cake and so she searched the world over for the best coffee cake recipe. She invited Janis to her house to show her how to make it. It used to arrive at our house around Christmas time on a foil wrapped piece of cardboard decorated with red and green candied cherries (you can skip that part if you want). When we make it at Christmas, it barely makes it off the cookie sheets before it gets eaten up. This recipe makes two cakes

The cake dough:

2/3 cup milk

1 t. salt

½ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

1 cube butter

2 pkg. Yeast

½ c warm water

3 cups flour

2 t. grated orange rind

Add yeast to warm water. Put flour in a large bowl. Put butter, milk, sugar and salt in sauce pan to melt and warm (you could use the microwave) Add to the yeast when it is cool enough not to kill the yeast. Stir in the egg yolks and the flour. Turn on a floured board and knead a few times. Raise in a warm place until the ball has doubled. Divide in half and roll each part into a ¼ in thick rectangle. Spread half of the filling on each. Roll into a long log and bring ends together to make a circle. Make cuts an inch apart all around the circle (starting at the outside and cutting to within an inch of the inside) take each little slice and turn the piece over. Raise again for ¾ hour. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove to large plate, drizzle icing while still hot.

Linguine and Clams with White Wine Butter Sauce

Man was this good. I'm drooling just thinking about it...

I made this dish a few weeks ago but hadn't had the time to post it until now.

It was delicious, this is a winning dish!

I bought fresh clams, they are actually pretty reasonable in price - which is always a good thing!

About an hour before you want to eat, you are going to want to cover the clams in water with about a teaspoon of pepper or corn meal. This will make the clams spit out any sand they are holding on to, giving you a more satisfying bite (without grit!)

Throw out any clams that are already opened up or cracked.

After the clams have been soaking for about an hour

Get your pasta going in some boiling heavily salted water, you can use any kind of pasta you like, I use a long skinny spaghetti or linguine. The pasta should take about 8 minutes to cook.

Next,  I start on the sauce.. 

This is another fun dish to make with things you already have around the house and in your kitchen.
If you like a certain vegetable, throw it in a try it out. I used mushrooms, onion and garlic. 

Saute about 1/4 cup of chopped onions, 1/4 cup of mushrooms and a tablespoon of garlic in a pan with a little butter and olive oil (about a tablespoon of each) for about 3-5 minutes. Next add in about a cup of white wine and let it reduce for about 2 minutes (another option is to use chicken stock instead of wine, or use both). Next - pull the clams out of the water and add them to the white wine sauce and cover until all of the clams open up (about 4-5 minutes) throw out any clams that do not open. Add in the cooked and drained pasta with about a tablespoon of butter.

Mix it all together with tongs or a fork and serve!

I chose to serve the dish with a toasted piece of bread that I rubbed with garlic.

It was perfect for soaking up that yummy sauce!

Enjoy!!

Cocoon Cookies (Sandies)!

These cookies hold a special place in my heart and I decided to make them again.

When we were little, my mom used to make these with my brothers and I all the time around the holidays, they were so fun and so yummy! My dad would come into the kitchen just in time to get a cookie while it was still warm :)

So I'm bringing back the tradition.. I'm in my Christmas attire, blasting Christmas music, it's raining and I'm making "cocoons"!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine butter and sugar and mix until creamy. 

Add water, salt and vanilla and mix.

Next add in the flower in small batches until combined.

Then add chopped pecans and mix well.

Next, take about a tablespoon amount in the palm of your hand and

squeeze it to make a fist, this will give you the "cocoon"

 

Bake for about 20 minutes until the cookies are lightly toasted and golden brown.

Move to a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar.

 

Enjoy! 

Happy Holidays!

After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup!

 Ok, in my opinion one of the best parts about Thanksgiving... leftovers.

Turkey Soup is so good and pretty simple to make

I start by breaking down the left over turkey and bones.

Sometimes it's easiest to just use the legs, wings, neck and other bones that are already small enough to fit into the pot. If you have a pot big enough for the body, that's great too!

Cut up about 3 carrots, 5 celery stalks, 1-2 onions into large chunks

The beauty about this stock is you can just throw veggies into it. You don't need to peel them and you can use all the parts you would usually throw out.

Place the carrots, celery, onion and bones into a large pot and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 - 2 hours.

Season liberally with salt, pepper, celery salt, seasoning salt, sage, really any seasonings you like.

Once the liquid is a rich brown soupy color, strain out all the veggies and bones and return stock to the large pot.

Voila! A beautiful stock!

You can freeze the stalk and use it for future recipes,

Or you can make soup!

I dice up carrots, onions and celery (about a cup each) into small bite-size pieces and add them to the stock. Bring to a simmer. 

Meanwhile simmer about a cup of pasta on the side for about 6-7 minutes until its almost done.

Add pasta to the stock with veg.

Shred up left over turkey into bite size pieces and add it to the stock.

Simmer the soup about 5 - 10 minutes.

And serve.

Enjoy!