12 Days of Cookies – a bon appétit cookie extravaganza! Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookies

This wonderful event, in it’s second year, is the brain child of Andrea of Andrea's Recipes, but this year is being organized and ran by Sandy of At the Baker's Bench.

How I got asked to be involved with this incredible group is beyond me but all the thanks goes to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and after last year I sure earned my way in the hard way! There are 10 of us that have decided to do The 12 Days of Cookies – A bon appétit cookie extravaganza. We will be choosing, baking, tasting, blogging and sharing with you a cookie a day for the first 12 days of December.
These cookies are coming from bon appetit's Holiday Cookie-a-Day Slideshow.

These are my partners in crime. We will all be choosing different cookies and surprising each other. How fun is that???? Be sure to check out their selections for the day!

Andrea of Andrea's Recipes
Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook
Kelly of Sass & Veracity
Michelle of Big Black Dogs
RJ of Flamingo Musings
Sandy of At the Baker's Bench
Tiffany of The Nesting Project

For Day 4 of the 12 Days of Cookies I choose to make these flavorful little ones because after Day 3’s disaster with a rolled and cut cookie I was taking no chances at all!

Really glad too.  These are delicious and decidedly a very adult cookie!  They have fresh and dried cranberries in them as well as lots of orange zest and then to top all of that off you add fresh ginger to the mix!  Just a wonderfully full flavored cookie.  The only thing I changed was adding pistachios.  For some reason I can’t find any plain just the really salty ones so I use pecans and skipped the walnuts as well.  I also added more orange zest after reading the other comments on the recipe.

Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookiesyield: Makes about 48Colorful bits of cranberries, walnuts, and pistachios make these simple cookies sparkle for the holidays.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (packed) dried sweetened cranberries (about 10 ounces)
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup chopped unsalted natural pistachios
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

Directions:

Butter 3 baking sheets. Combine dried sweetened cranberries and orange juice in small bowl. Let stand until dried cranberries soften slightly, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Whisk all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until just blended.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter and golden brown sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg, minced ginger, vanilla extract, and grated orange peel and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour-spice mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts, chopped pistachios, coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, and dried cranberries with any juices that have accumulated.

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing tablespoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until golden and almost firm to touch in center, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool cookies completely. (Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature.)

Would I make these again?  Yes I would and that is so refreshing after yesterdays cookie fail!  These were really, really good and quite adult like.  I loved the pecans in them and the fresh cranberries and ginger.  Really good…

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12 Days of Cookies – A bon appétit cookie extravaganza! Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies…

This wonderful event, in it’s second year, is the brain child of Andrea of Andrea's Recipes, but is being organized and ran by Sandy of At the Baker's Bench.

How I got asked to be involved with this incredible group is beyond me but all the thanks goes to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and after last year I sure earned my way in the hard way! There are 10 of us that have decided to do The 12 Days of Cookies – A bon appétit cookie extravaganza. We will be choosing, baking, tasting, blogging and sharing with you a cookie a day for the first 12 days of December.
These cookies are coming from bon appetit's Holiday Cookie-a-Day Slideshow.

These are my partners in crime. We will all be choosing different cookies and surprising each other. How fun is that???? Be sure to check out their selections for the day!

Andrea of Andrea's Recipes
Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook
Kelly of Sass & Veracity
Michelle of Big Black Dogs
RJ of Flamingo Musings
Sandy of At the Baker's Bench
Tiffany of The Nesting Project

For my first cookie and to kick of the event I have chosen and rather simple cookie. I based my choice on the ingredients I had on hand in my pantry and the use of fresh cranberries was intriguing! Lucky for me they are totally delicious! I did skip the white chocolate as no one in the house is a fan and I had major problems with the drizzle…you still get the idea right?

Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies (bonappetit.com)

Chunks of fresh cranberries and dark, milk, and white chocolate chips dress up oatmeal cookies for the holidays.

Makes about 30

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2 ounces milk chocolate or white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)

Preparation

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended. Stir in all chocolate chips and cranberries.

• Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.

• Stir chopped milk chocolate in top of double boiler until melted and smooth. Using small spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cookies in zigzag pattern. Let stand until milk chocolate sets, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Would I make these again? Not so sure. Yes, they were good but I already have a cranberry, chocolate, oatmeal cookie that I love…

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Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread

So I am running a little bit behind on the BBA challenge but I still feel pretty good with my progress.  This week I made the Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread.  Funny thing is I almost skipped this one.  But the girls went back to school this week and I found myself with a couple of free minutes and an empty house.  When I saw that it wasn’t a 2 bread I jumped right in.  I am so glad I did…

About the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Group: Nicole of Pinch my Salt sent out a twitter message saying “I need a challenge. Am thinking of baking my way through every single recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Anyone want to join me?” Well I jumped right in. Both feet, no thought at all. I think I was one of the first 5 that joined…did I even have the book? Nope but I ordered it that night!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

We are now over 200 strong with members everywhere on the globe. It’s an incredibly enthusiastic group that wants to share like no group I have ever belonged to before. Awesome!

Our goal is to bake our way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. An  intimidating book at anytime but to think that you are going to be baking one of these recipes a week is slightly overwhelming to say the least. But I love a challenge and feel a real need to get out of my comfort zone. Oh yah, I bake all of our bread but I never seem to have the time or the desire to try something new and different. This will change all that!!!

I really, like this bread.  I followed the recipe to a tee.  Right down to the huge amount of cranberries and walnuts that went into it. It did take a while to get them all incorporated but with some patient kneading they all fit in. Someone on twitter (so sorry that I forget who!!!) suggested that these would be an incredible addition to the Thanksgiving table made into muffins!!!

Will I be making this again?  I think so.  I liked it and the family liked it and I really think that it would make the best turkey sandwich with leftover roasted turkey from Thanksgiving!

Check out the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Blogroll to see some other really nice Celebration Bread!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun! First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Then just start baking! Even if you are starting late, just begin with the first recipe and start working your way through. There are several ways to communicate with the group as you begin your journey:

Flickr: We have set up a BBA Challenge Flickr Group where you can upload photos, see photos from other members, and even post questions and comments in the group forum. It’s a private group, so you will need to click on the link that says ‘join this group’ if you want to be able to post photos. As long as you are willing to bake bread all of the bread from the book, you are welcome to join the Flickr group!

Twitter: If you use twitter, you can follow what the group is doing by searching for #BBA or #bba using Twitter’s search box. You can join in on the conversation by adding the #bba or #BBA tag to the end of your tweets when you are talking about anything related to the BBA Challenge. For me, following what people are doing on twitter has been the most fun!

Facebook: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the BBA Challenge Group there and share photos, ask questions, and talk about your bread baking experiences with other BBA members on Facebook.

Next up…English Muffins!!!!

I am submitting this to BYOB (Bake Your Own Bread) hosted by Sandy of At the Baker's Bench. This is a great challenge to get you baking more of your own baked goods. Better for you and cheaper in the process!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Something a little lighter...

This was my test salad from lunch. For dinner we tossed the salad and added blue cheese and cut up fried chicken!

As anyone who follows my blog regularly knows I have been deep in the heart of cookie baking season! Back to some regular posts for a bit here and maybe some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes that can be used for Christmas Dinner!!!

My local CSA has started up but that sure didn't fit in with the 12 days of cookies now did it? But at least we have been forced to eat really healthy when I wasn't elbow deep in cookie dough!

Near the end of one of the weeks I had a head of baby bok choy, arugula and some mizuna. Now I could have done a stir fry or a salad and something else but I decided to chop them all up together! Am I ever glad that I did. I found the most incredible dressing that went so well with the bitterness from the greens. We chopped up some leftover fried chicken to top it and it was one memorable dinner!!!

Cranberry Vinaigrette (adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh cranberries
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons water

• Mizuna
• Arugula
• Baby Bok Choy
• 1 cup toasted pine nuts
• Crumbled blue cheese
  

Directions:

Pulse all ingredients but the pine nuts in your food processor and serve over your choice of greens with blue cheese crumbles and the pine nuts.

This was a delicious dinner for us. I also topped my salad with dried cranberries. Any nut can be used. Almonds is what the recipe called for but I couldn't find mine so made do with pine nuts!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Cranberry Praline Pecan Spinach Salad

Cranberry Praline Pecan Spinach Salad
inspired by friend, Megan

baby spinach
grape tomatoes
dried cranberries
praline pecans
log of goat cheese

In a salad bowl, place spinach.
Top with grape tomatoes, dried cranberries and pecans
Run a fork over the log of goat cheese to crumbe the cheese & top the salad.
Serve with your choice of dressing. (I recommend lemon poppyseed & raspberry pomegranate vinaigrette!)

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Turkey Cranberry Appetizer Wreath

Turkey Cranberry Appetizer Wreath

recipe courtesy of Pampered Chef

2 pkg. refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 C. mayonnaise
2 T. honey Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
2 C. cooked turkey, chopped
1/2 C. celery, sliced
3 T. fresh parsley, snipped
1/2 C. dried cranberries
4 oz. Swiss cheese, shredded (1cup)
1/4 C. walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 egg, separatedPreheat oven to 375°F.

Unroll crescent dough; separate into 16 triangles. With wide ends of triangles toward the center. arrange 8 triangles in a circle on Large Round Stone. Corners of wide ends will touch and points will extend 1 inch beyond of baking stone. Arrange remaining 8 triangles in center. matching ends. Seal seams using pizza roller. (Points will overlap in center; do not seal.)

Measure mayonnaise, mustard and black pepper into a bowl. Grate cheese into a bowl. Mix filling. Scoop filling over seams of dough, forming a circle.

Coarsely chop walnuts; sprinkle over filling. Beginning in center, lift one dough triangle across mixture. Continue alternating with outer triangle, slightly overlapping to form wreath. Tuck last end under first.

Separate egg over bowl. Beat egg white lightly; brush over dough. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Yields 10 servings.

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Holiday Cranberry Apple Citrus Punch

Holiday Cranberry Apple Citrus Punch

original Joelen recipe

1 2-liter bottle ginger ale or lemon lime soda

1 64-oz bottle of cranberry juice
1 frozen tube of apple juice concentrate
apple slices for garnish
ice

Combine all ingredients in a large punch bowl and stir.

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Cranberry Cardamom Muffins

The following recipe was featured in my Muffin Swap event. You can read about it and view other muffin recipes HERE.

Frances's Cranberry Cardamom Muffins

Recipe adapted from HERE

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cardamom. Add cranberries; stir to coat. In a small bowl, combine eggs, sour cream, butter and vanilla; mix well. Add to cranberry mixture; stir just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-10 minutes or until muffins test done. Remove from pans; serve warm.

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Cranberry Pumpkin Praline Muffins

The following recipe was featured in my Muffin Swap event. You can read about it and view other muffin recipes HERE.

Joelen's Cranberry Pumpkin Praline Muffins

Recipe adapted from HERE

3 T. brown sugar
1 T. sour cream
1/3 cup broken pecans
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground clove
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 canned pumpkin
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup margarine, melted
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Grease twelve 2 ½ inch muffin cups or line them with paper bake cups. Set muffin cups aside. In a small bowl stir together 3 tablespoons brown sugar and sour cream. Stir in pecans. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and cloves.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. In another medium mixing bowl, stir together egg, buttermilk, pumpkin, 2/3 cup brown sugar and melted margarine. Add the pumpkin mixture and dried cranberries all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into the muffin cups, filling each ¾ cup full. Drop 1 tsp. of pecan mixture on top of each muffin. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 20 minutes or until done. Cool slightly, and serve warm.

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Chicken Salad... eh.

With the roasted chicken I made yesterday, I made a chicken salad. I usually do the usual salad with chopped apples, grapes, walnuts, etc... but wanted to try something different. I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com. It was okay - nothing that wowed me. It did make for a nice light meal though... Here's the recipe for Holiday Chicken Salad from Allrecipes.com:

4 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup chopped celery
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup minced green bell pepper
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
ground black pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise with paprika and seasoned salt. Blend in dried cranberries, celery, bell pepper, onion, and nuts. Add chopped chicken, and mix well. Season with black pepper to taste. Chill 1 hour.

*Update: Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions to use curry in the recipe for a bit more flavor. I reached for it and second guessed using it because I didn't think it would work with cranberries. I should have used it!! Oh well... we live and learn. :) *

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Does Cranberry Bark count as cooking?

I was really strapped for time and needed to come up with a baked something or other to place inside the little boxes that I had for the teachers that taught my children. I had already made the pretzels with chocolate and M&M's and I needed to come up with something quick. I was pacing through the aisles at Publix when it came to me. Bark!

I really dislike white chocolate though so I had to come up with some milk or dark chocolate. I have had major chocolate disasters before so this was kind of scaring me...I think that Florida heat and humidity do no favors at all for the chocolate dipped items. As I was wandering I happened upon some Ghirardelli Chocolate and I just had to commit!

CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY BARK

1 c. sugar
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. dried cranberries

• In a large heavy skillet cook the sugar over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until it is melted (about 15 minutes). Remove the skillet from the heat and add the chocolate and vanilla, stirring the mixture until the chocolate is melted.

• Stir in the 1 cup of the cranberries and pour the mixture immediately onto a buttered baking sheet, spreading mixture evenly with a buttered spatula. Add the 1/4 cup of remaining cranberries by sprinkling on top. Let the cranberry bark cool and break it into pieces. Store in airtight container lined with wax paper, separating the layers with wax paper.
  

This recipe worked very well for me with the humidity and all here. I gave this to the assistant teachers, Spanish teachers and the music teacher along with the chocolate M&M pretzels that we made. All were happy!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Harvest Salad & Raspberry Vinaigrette

Tonight is focused on my Traditional fare menu and some desserts. Everything is set for the most part... and I approached it as if it were just one of my cooking class events where everything is prepped and ready to assemble. Here are recipes of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes on my menu.

Harvest Salad & Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing:

½ cup oil
½ cup raspberry puree
½ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon italian seasoning salt & pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients well.
This dressing will accompany my harvest salad that includes baby spinach, mache, Danish blue cheese, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and chopped apples.

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Cranberry Orange Sauce

Tonight is focused on my Traditional fare menu and some desserts. Everything is set for the most part... and I approached it as if it were just one of my cooking class events where everything is prepped and ready to assemble. Here's a must have for Thanksgiving to accompany the turkey!

Cranberry Orange Sauce

1 cup orange juice

1 cup white sugar
12 oz cranberries

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

In a pot, dissolve sugar in juice.
Stir in cranberries and zest; cook until they pop.
Remove from heat and place in serving dish.
It will thicken as it cools.

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Ginger Ale Cranberry Punch

Here are the recipes for the desserts on my Thanksgiving buffet dinner menu. I figured I'd post the recipes now before the kitchen chaos begins (and I'll post pics of the final products by Thursday)...

Ginger Ale Cranberry Punch

2 cups water
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3 cups cranberry juice
2 ½ cups orange juice
1 cup lemon juice
lemon, lime, orange slices mandarin oranges, drained
2 ltr bottle ginger ale

Chill fruit juices and ginger ale.
To make a cinnamon syrup, simmer water, sugar and cinnamon for 10 minutes. Cool.
Before serving, combine cinnamon syrup, juices and ginger ale.
Add lime slices, orange slices, lemon slices and mandarin oranges w/ice.

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Cranberry Apple Crisp

Cranberries and apples are two ingredients that will most likely grace tables all across the country on Thanksgiving. Here's a Cranberry Apple Crisp recipe I made that combines these two ingredients into one delicious dessert!

Cranberry Apple Crisp
recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated

4 cups chopped unpeeled apples
12 oz fresh cranberries
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup melted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 ½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.
Prep casserole dish and spray with cooking spray.
Combine apples & cranberries and place in dish.
Combine pecans and white sugar and sprinkle on top of apple/cranberry mixture. Give the dish a little shake to have the sugar fall through the bottom of the dish.
Combine butter, brown sugar, oats and salt.
Pat oatmeal mixture over top of fruit. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
** Since I'm baking this tomorrow, I'm waiting to put the oatmeal topping just before I bake it.

Pic from Thanksgiving 2007
(when I had so much yet to learn with food photography!)

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