Cherry / Raspberry Coffee Cake

There's nothing not to like about this coffee cake/dessert! You can change up the fruit to your liking. Its easy to make . . . a combination between a Platz and a cobbler. Another recipe from my mom.

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cup flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¾ cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 1 - 6oz pkg raspberries (frozen)
  
  Crumb Topping
  
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ cup butter
  

Method:

1. Grease 9X12 or 10 inch round spring form pan. If you want to be able to lift out rectangular shaped cake, line pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter with pastry blender, till crumbly.
3. In a separate small bowl, beat eggs with fork, stir in buttermilk and vanilla.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring to moisten.
5. Divide batter, spreading just over half of it (about 2/3) into greased pan.
6. Spread with cherries and then raspberries. (frozen raspberries are easy to crumble by hand)
7. Using a teaspoon, dot the rest of the batter over the fruit.
8. Make crumb topping, using pastry blender, and sprinkle over cake.
9. Bake at 350 F for 45 - 50 minutes.
10. Serve plain, with whipped cream or ice cream.
    

for the visual learner - click to enlarge

Cranberry Molasses Dessert

This is a wonderful winter dessert with a warm sauce.

Mix Together:
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1-1/2 cups whole cranberries (frozen okay)

After you've mixed these ingredients well pour into a lightly greased 9x9 baking dish. You can double the recipe and use a 9x11 pan. Bake for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
This can be made a day ahead of serving.

Just before serving prepare the sauce:

Mix together:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup cream

Bring these ingredients to a boil. Cut cake into serving portions and pour enough sauce over each cake portion to cover. Serve immediately. The sauce is a very important part of this recipe because the cake is tart and the sauce brings a wonderful balance between tart and sweet. Enjoy.

Italian Wedding Soup

This soup is a delicious alternative to Chicken noodle soup. We’ve enjoyed it at several Italian restaurants and I thought I’d try to duplicate it at home.

Here’s the recipe I came up with. You can easily double it to serve 10-12 people.

• 10 cups home made or purchased low sodium Chicken broth, divided
• Italian style meatballs (recipe follows)
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup uncooked Orzo (rice shaped pasta)
• large handful of chopped kale or spinach
• the rind of a piece of fresh parmesan (if available)*
• several large leaves coarsely chopped fresh basil

For the Italian Style Meatballs:

• 1 cup fine breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. Montreal Steak Spice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese

1. Mix breadcrumbs, milk, beef broth and egg together.
2. Add ground beef, ground pork and remaining ingredients.
3. Form into small meatballs. (about 3/4”) I use a tablespoon to measure the amount for each meatball.
4. Cook meatballs 10 at a time in 2 cups of chicken broth. This will only take a few minutes for each batch. Cut one in half to see if it is done.
5. In another pot, cook sliced carrots until just tender.
6. Cook orzo in a separate pot of boiling water until “al dente”. (do not overcook)
7. Add cheese rind to chicken broth in a large soup pot and bring to a boil.
8. Turn heat down to a simmer and add meatballs, cooked carrots, cooked orzo pasta and chopped kale and basil.
9. Heat until kale is wilted.
10. Serve with a sprinkle of grated parmesan and chopped basil if desired.

Notes:

As with any soup recipe this one can be adapted to your taste. Some like it with garlic added to the broth. I’ve also seen it made with different leafy greens (arugula, curly endive, escarole)

Making the small meatballs is the tedious part of this recipe but you can prepare and cook them ahead of time and refrigerate them. The carrots and orzo can also be cooked ahead of time so they are all ready when you assemble the soup.

*I’ve noticed from my reading that Italians often add the rind or heal of Parmesan cheese to their soups. This not only uses up that last bit of cheese but adds flavour to the soup. And, it’s a a delicious mouthful if the melted cheese turns up in your bowl.

Chicken Ala King

These little bread cups filled with left over turkey or chicken bathed in a flavourful sauce brings me back to my mom's kitchen. Back in the day when there was still regular Sunday evening church services my parents would often invite a group of their friends or new comers over for a light lunch after the service. During the afternoon mom would put our her best dishes and get things ready. Chicken Ala King is one of the things she would serve. along with veggies and dip, pickles and of course something sweet.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup celery, thinly diced
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup cream (or milk)
• 1/2 tin cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups chicken or turkey, diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 8 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed

Method:

1. Melt butter. Add onions and celery, and saute until translucent.
2. Sprinkle with flour and stir to absorb butter.
3. Add chicken stock, cream and soup. Stir well and let simmer 5 minutes.
4. Add meat and peas. Simmer another 15 minutes.
5. While the sauce is simmering, cut crusts off bread and press slices into muffin tin forming little bread cups.
6. Toast in 400º oven for 8-19 minutes. When toasted, remove to plate and fill with sauce. Serve immediately. Yields 4 servings.

Great Northern Beans with Sausage and Pork Chops

This time of year. . .I love to enjoy the fragrance of a slow cooker meal getting better and better as the day goes along.  You'll need to start this dish the day before by soaking your beans.  Great Northern beans are a good choice for this dish as they won't be as prone to fall apart during a long cooking period. 

• 1 pound or one 500 gram bag Great Northern Beans (rinsed and soaked overnight in a 6 cup measuring cup filled to the top with cold water)
• 2 pounds or about 1 kilogram fast fry boneless pork chops
• salt and pepper to season
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 heaping tablespoon bottled minced garlic.  ..or about 6 cloves minced
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes, with the juice
• 1 ring kielbasa or farmer sausage cut into bite sized pieces  (optional. . you could cut both amounts of meat in half if you prefer less meat)
• 1/3 cup pot barley
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon summer savoury
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 can tomato paste  (added after the beans are cooked through)
• handful fresh parsley  .about 1/2 cup chopped

1. Drain your beans and place in the bottom of your slow cooker.
2. Preheat a large fry pan over medium high heat. .do  not use non stick unless it is all you have.  You want to brown the meat. .and non stick does not do this easily.  Spray your pan with cooking spray and add the oil. 
3. Sprinkle your chops with salt and pepper and begin to brown them. Don't crowd the pan. .or they'll just poach instead of fry.  As they brown, flip them over and brown the other side and then transfer them to the slow cooker.  Repeat until all the chops have browned.
4. Add the onion to the pan and stir while it starts to turn translucent. . .add the garlic, and wine..  Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add this to the pot and then add the rest of the ingredients.(except the tomato paste)
6. Add the tomato paste once the beans are cooked through.
7. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low 10 - 12  hours or high 6-8 hours.  The best idea is to make it a day ahead and then reheat it the following day.  The flavours will continue to get better.

Use spoons or forks. ..your choice. ..but be sure to serve with crusty buns.

Bread for the Journey

Fight the Good Fight...

I’ve been reading off and on a devotional by John Piper called Taste and See -Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life - 140 Meditations. I’m sharing part of Meditation 50 (How Can Elsie Run? How to Run and Box when You are over 80) I’ve highlighted in bold green print parts that really spoke to me…

…”Are running and boxing only for the fit and hardy?

The answer is that we all must run, whether old or young, whether sick or healthy. And this is possible for the sick and senile because the race is run with the heart, not the legs, and the fight is fought with the heart, not the fists. It is a race and a fight not against other athletes, but against unbelief. It is possible for the aged and weak to win this fight because the fight is a fight against lost hope, not against lost health.

Here’s the biblical evidence for this. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul says to Timothy: “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession” The fight is a “fight of faith.” It is not a fight to get out of bed, but to rest in God.

It is not a fight to keep all the powers of youth, but to trust in the power of God. The race is run against temptations that would make us doubt God’s goodness. It is a fight to stay satisfied in God through broken hips and lost sight and failed memory. The race can and may be run flat on your back. In fact, it may be run and fought better by the paralyzed than by the able and seemingly self-sufficient.

…Finishing the race means not giving up the hope of the gospel. It is a race against hopelessness, not against flawlessness.

When we cheer on the diseased or aging runners who run their final laps in hospital beds, what we are really saying is, “Do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward” (Hebrews 10:35) The finish line is crossed in the end, not by a burst of human energy, but by collapsing into the arms of God. And let us not forget: In the Christian race, we do not finish alone. We finish together. It is part of the rules. “Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13)”

I find this very encouraging and I hope it will encourage someone out there who is having a hard time running. Keep the faith. Keep looking ahead to the Hope we have in Christ. Keep acknowledging God’s goodness to you every day. Blessings on you…

Wassail ( Hot Spiced Tea)

On behalf of our MGCC team,
I wish very one of you dear readers and followers of our blog

a VERY blessed Happy New Year!

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My friend in the deep south has a family tradition of drinking 'Wassail' on Christmas Day. I think we might call it Hot Punch.

I remember in the early 80's we were at a meeting one winter evening where the hostess made a hot spiced fruit punch . It was the first time I had had anything like it and I still remember the taste of the first surprise sip!

This Wassail is just like it! I love it ! and when it is cooking the smell in the house is delightful!

I know Christmas is past ... but I think this hot spiced tea would be lovely for New Year's too -- or any winter day!

So, here is the Wassail recipe courtesy of my friend Tammie!

Ingredients

• 1/2 gal. unsweetened tea (I used 8 cups of boiling water and 9 Orange Pekoe tea bags)
• 46 oz. of Pineapple juice
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• 24 whole Cloves
• 24 whole allspice (or 3 tsp of ground allspice)
• 1 tin of frozen orange juice (12oz/355ml)
• 1 tin of frozen lemonade (12 oz/355 ml)
• 2 cups sugar ( I found this a little too sweet - I think 1 1/2 cups is lots)
• 5 cups water

Method

1. Bring the first 5 ingredients to a boil in a huge soup pot (larger than a 5 quart size)
2. Boil for 15 minutes
3. then add the sugar and frozen juices
4. Add 5 cups of water to make a total of 5 quarts wassail.
5. Heat until hot. Serve .... can be kept warm in a slow cooker for a party.

200 cal. per 8 oz serving with significant Vitamin C .

**Note -- Don't forget to make your New Year's fritters ! Click on the picture at the top right side bar for the regular recipe or find my GF recipe here.

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