vegetarian

Sweet Refrigerator Pickles

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Pickles in a container

Ingredients
3 large cucumbers
1 medium onion
2 celery stalks
coarse ground salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups white wine vinegar
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp pickling spice
1/2 tsp dill

Slice the cucumbers, onion, and celery in 3/4 inch slices.  Toss liberally in your favorite kind of coarsely ground salt (sea, kosher, whatever), and leave them in a colander for 30 minutes, re-tossing occasionally.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Pack the veggies into an airtight jar or other container and pour the pickling liquid over the top until your container is full.

The pickles (and bonus pickled onion and celery) will be ready after 8 hours, but they will only get better after that.  You can keep them for up to 2 weeks in your fridge.

Apple Pie Cheesecake

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Apple Pie Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Cheesecake:
2 – 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp allspice

Apple pie:
4-5 medium apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Crumb topping:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp cinnamon

For this recipe you’ll need a 12″ spring form pan.

To make the crust, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and blend with a fork, pastry cutter or your fingers until well blended – it will look like big, soft crumbs. Press into the bottom and most of the way up the sides of a greased spring form pan.

To make the cheesecake layer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and allspice. Pour into the spring form pan on top of the crust.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Peel and core the apples, cut them into small pieces, and toss with sugar and spices to coat.  Pour the apple pieces over the top of the cheesecake.

Combine all of the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl and blend like you did the crust.  Cover the apple pie layer evenly with the crumb topping.

Bake for 12 minutes at 400F, then reduce the heat to 375F and bake for another 35 minutes.  The apple pie cheesecake will have puffed up a lot and will be quite jiggly, but if this is your first cheesecake don’t let that alarm you – it will return to its normal size and firm up as it cools.  

Let cool in the pan, then refrigerate.

Serves 12-16.

Kiwi Peach Rustic Tart

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Kiwi Peach Rustic Tart

Ingredients:
3 ripe peaches
3 ripe kiwi
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 oz peach schnapps (optional)
1 sheet puff pastry dough, thawed and unrolled

Preheat oven to 350. 

Skin and dice all of the peaches and kiwi and mix them in a bowl with the sugar and liqueur.  Let them sit together and marinade for at least 10 minutes. 

Lay the puff pastry out on a cookie sheet and pile up the fruit into the center of the pastry.

Fold the edges of the pastry up and around the fruit.  If you have completely covered your fruit, poke some holes in the top to let the steam escape. 

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the crust is flaky and brown. 

Serves 4-6, and is especially tasty served right out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Apple Blackberry Pie

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Apple Blackberry Pie

Ingredients
2 tbsp lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 granny smith apples
3 macintosh apples
2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup instant tapioca
zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
2 pie crusts

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the lemon juice and vanilla in a large bowl.  Peel and slice the apples in 3/4 inch chunks and toss them in the bowl with the liquids as you go.

Add the blackberries, sugar, tapioca, lemon zest, and salt to the apples.

Line a deep dish 9″ pie pan with one of the pie crusts.  Fill with the apple-blackberry mixture and cover with the other pie crust.  Trim the edges and pinch them together firmly.  Cut holes in the top pie crust to let the steam out.  Bake in the oven for 50 minutes and voila!

Ketchup Cake

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Ketchup Cake

Cake Ingredients:
2 cups All-purpose flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/2 cup Water
2 tbsp Red food coloring
3/4 cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Dark brown sugar, packed
2 Eggs

Frosting Ingredients:
6 oz Brick-style cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup Butter, softened
1 tsp Vanilla extract
4 cups Confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease two, 9-inch (23-cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

Stir the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and ginger into a bowl.

Stir the ketchup, water and coloring in a separate bowl. Set aside.

Beat the butter and blend in the sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour mixture and ketchup mixture. Beat on low, scraping down the bowl as needed, until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for one minute.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool the cakes for 15 minutes before turning onto a rack to cool completely.

Frosting: Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar on low, scraping the bowl as needed. Beat on high until fluffy.

Frost between the cake layers and over the sides and top of the cake.

Miss Collins

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Ingredients
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 bags Tazo Passion Tea
Gin
Club Soda

Start with the tea.  Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepot on the stove.  Steep the tea bags in the water for 5-6 minutes.   


Next turn the tea into simple syrup.  Stir in the sugar until completely dissolved.  Once dissolved you can let the syrup cool and put it in a bottle in the fridge.  It should keep for a couple of weeks.


Once all of that is done you’re ready to make your drink.  Mix 1.5 oz gin with 1 oz of the passion fruit tea simple syrup in a pint glass full of ice.  Fill the glass the rest of the way with club soda, top with a lime wedge, and enjoy.  

Scandinavian Almond Bars

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Scandinavian Almond Bars

Ingredients

Bars
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 cup margarine or butter 
1 cup sugar 
1 large egg 
1/2 teaspoon almond extract 
milk 
1/2 cup sliced almonds 

Icing 
1 cup powdered sugar 
1/4 teaspoon almond extract 
3-4 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 325°.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl beat the butter till softened.  Add the sugar and beat till fluffy.  Add the egg and 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and beat well.  Add the flour mixture and beat till well mixed.

Divide the dough into fourths, form each portion into a 12 inch roll.  Place 2 of the rolls 4 to 5-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten each roll till it is about 3 inches wide.  Repeat with the remaining rolls.  Brush each flattened roll with milk and sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of almonds each.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or till edges are lightly brown.

While still warm, cut crosswise on the diagonal into 1 inch strips.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

Stir together the powdered sugar, the almond extract and enough of the milk to make a drizzling consistency.  Drizzle the icing over the cool bars.