Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving, with much to be thankful for. And now, may everyone have a merry and bright holiday season!

This is my mother's favorite holiday. There is something about the family togetherness, serene settings with a warm glow of lights on a Christmas tree and miracle jingles playing in the background. I think the lights and songs of home are my favorite.

Here in Minnesota the weather has been quite chilly. I even ventured out Saturday morning to take some Senior photo's for my parents' foreign exchange student from Australia. She wanted them in the snow... But, Friday night was one of those nights where all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a good Christmas movie and watch it in the dark. That, however, was not how my night went. I had this yearning to also do some baking.

Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
6 oz. Cream cheese, room temperature
2 Cups granulated sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Cup mini dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Cups Oreo Crumbles (about 1 1/2 rows)
*I added some chopped Andes Mints to the last pan*

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
2. In mixer on medium speed, cream together butter and cream cheese until thoroughly combined.
3. Add sugar and vanilla, mix well.
4. Add flour one cup at a time and mix on low just until combined. Stir in chocoalte chips with a rubber spatula.
5. Pour Oreo crumbles into a separate bowl. Scoop dough out and roll into roughly 1.5" balls, then roll in cookie crumbles- coating thoroughly.
**Be sure to cover the dough balls really well with crumbs, as this is what holds the cookie together while baking.
6. Space cookies about 1-2" apart on baking sheet.
7. Bake on center rack about 14-15 minutes. Allow to cool on sheet several minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

My husband's favorite pie is pumpkin. His birthday was last week so I decided to do what my grandma does for her children's birthdays... make them a pie. I had viewed a pin on Pinterest for mini pumpkin pies and decided I would try those instead - easier transporting to work. 

It's super simple so I am only going to post pictures instead of the actual recipe. 

Mini Pumpkin Pies

INGREDIENTS:

1 Can of pumpkin puree (all ingredients listed on can for pumpkin pie)

2 (9) inch pie crusts

Directions:

1. Using a wide enough rimmed glass or circle cookie cutter to fit into muffin pan.

2. Pour pumpkin ingredients into crust lined muffin pan. 

3. Follow baking instructions on pumpkin puree can.

Apple Crumb Pie

Fall is in the air! Which means I can use my oven again! The last month of summer in Minnesota were HOT, and learning one thing from my mother it was avoid using the oven as much as possible during that time.

My hubby did his usual fall trip to Colorado to hunt elk. I am pleased to say that my freezer is now back to full status. That is, unless he gets a deer, then it will be on overload status. In which case, we will be having quite a few dinner parties until we can get the lid of the chest freezer closed. Okay, I shouldn't brag, but honestly he's got some lucky jeans or genes - I'm not sure which.

I awoke this morning to a beautiful sun shining, gun shots in the distance (duck hunting season here) and cold feet. I guess I was feeling over confident that having all the windows open last night wasn't going to be too cold... oops.

I have neglected my baking skills it seems this year. Either that or I have neglected putting them on my blog. I'd like to plead the fifth and go with the second reasoning. I have tried a few new recipes but sadly, it has been so long that I don't quite remember which ones they are. My apologies.

So what has this wife of a hunter been up to since March, you ask? Sadly, it has been mostly work. I don't like to get into the nitty gritty of work publicly, therefore, that is all I will say about that. Other things have been spending time at the family lake cabin, family and friends' weddings, house cleaning, mowing lawn, oh and getting stung by a wasp... twice.

Just last week I was standing on the driveway talking to a neighbor and something was crawling on my leg so first instinct was to swat (silly me). Sadly, I was wearing jeans so I couldn't see what I was exactly swatting at, as it was crawling inside my pant leg. One swat and I hadn't injured it (sting number 1), as it kept crawling I swatted again (sting number two). Here I sit a week later, a visit to the doctor, some prescription drugs, and a swollen leg and foot.

Back to baking... I love fall in Minnesota. I never eat as many apples as I do during the fall season. And yesterday I decided to bake with them. I had found this recipe at Wal-Mart a few years back and it is just so simple it's hard not to love! I have not really altered it, but I don't feel it needs altering - It's that delicious!

Apple Crumb Pie:

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) package refrigerated piecrusts, divided (all about convenience)
1 Cup and 2 tbsp. flour, divided
1/2 Cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Cup butter, softened
3/4 Cup chopped almonds, toasted (optional)
3 lbs. Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced (6 cups)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Fit 1 piecrust into a 9-inch pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under and crimp; set aside.
2. Stir together 1 Cup flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or fork) until crumbly. Stir in almonds. Toss together 1 Cup of the flour mixture, apples, and remaining 2 tablespoons flour; spoon into piecrust. Top with remaining flour mixture; cover loosely with aluminum foil.
3. Bake on lower rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes. Cut leaf or any design desired out of remaining piecrust; bake and serve warm on top of pie slices with ice cream, if desired.

**When I made this yesterday I ended up making two 9-inch pies out of this recipe.**

Ham and Potato Soup

As Old Man Winter lingers here in Minnesota a tad bit longer, my only rejoice is that I can still make some of those tummy warming meals that just can't be made during the summer. In this case, I can try yet another new recipe.

My husband and I are working close to the same shift right now so that means we *cough* I mean I, have to get creative with our lunch ideas. We both aren't pre-schoolers anymore, which means we can't eat Mac & Cheese every day. Well... have it my way and I would; that or pizza! Sadly, my husband doesn't let me do that (shucks).

With that being said: using some left over ham that I had left over from a previous lunch (pineapple and ham in the crockpot) I decided to use up some red potatoes and the ham. I wanted something quick, easy, and not a lot of ingredients. Oh, and can I just say I love the fact that most of these lunch ideas my husband and I make together. For some reason I love sharing that time together. Yes, disagreements come up on how we should do things (how big to cut the potatoes, how much celery to add, can we add any other veggies, instead of 'this' could we had 'this', etc.), or what we should make- but for some reason if I don't ask him what we should make and just start doing it - it works out much better. Sometimes, we can be quite comical.

Ham & Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:

- 3 1/2 Cups Peeled (or un-peeled) diced potatoes
- 1/3 Cup Diced CElery
- 1/3 Finely chopped onion
- 3/4 Cups Cooked Ham
- 3 1/4 Cups Water
- 2 Chicken Bouillon (equals 2 cups of broth)
- 1/2 Teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1 Teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
- 5 Tablespoons Butter
- 5 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Cups Milk


DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.

2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook. Stirring constantly until thick (about 1 minute). Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick (4-5 minutes).

3. Stir in the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

*Optional: I also added some dried parsley since no soup is complete without it!

Recipe From: AllRecipes.com

Pepperoni Pizza Roll Up

My husband and I have been so busy lately with work, and let's face it... living! Yesterday was the first day in what seems like eternity that I got to try to make something new! Though it didn't turn out (by looks definition) it sure did taste great!

INGREDIENTS:
Pre Packaged Frozen Dough
Cheese
Pepperoni
Some Herbs (I used Italian Herbs) 
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Loosely cover the frozen bread dough with plastic wrap. Allow dough to thaw for a few hours at room temperature.
2. Roll dough out to approximately 11 x 11 square (if it's not perfect, that's okay - it all ends up in the same place anyway). One frozen dough log makes one pepperoni roll.
3. Brush dough with olive oil or whatever cooking oil you prefer. 
4. Lay pepperoni on dough covering entire surface. 
5. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.
6. Next, sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese. You can use grated from a can if that is what you already have on hand...but you can buy the shredded Parmesan in a bag. You'll find it right next to the other bags of shredded cheese. ( I don't see this as a dire make it or break it, but my taste buds didn't complain).
7. Add a sprinkling of garlic powder (I forgot to add this, but I am sure it would have added a little extra zip to my zing).
8. Lightly sprinkle with Italian herbs...basically, some dried oregano, parsley and basil. Be careful, not too much....oregano can be very strong and you don't want too much!
9. Roll up dough starting at one edge of square.
10. Place rolls on baking sheet, leaving space between if you are making more than one. I also used some pan lining parchment paper for easy clean up (no scrubbing cooked on cheese to my pan)!
11. Brush some melted butter on top of uncooked pepperoni roll.
12. You do not need to let rise. Bake it right away. It will rise up in the oven perfectly.

Bake at 375 degrees for approx. 15 to 25 minutes.
Oven temps. and times may vary.

When done, top of roll should be golden brown and you should be able to make a tapping sound on the crust with your fingernail...just the same as when baking bread. 
Make sure you allow pepperoni roll to cool completely before serving. 

**As with any baking, keep an eye on your roll. This is just an estimated time. You'll know it's done when the roll is golden and makes a hard tapping sound when you tap it with your fingernail...just like when baking a loaf of bread.**

From the blog of: http://whataboutpie.blogspot.com/2010/10/pepperoni-rolls.html

Happy New Year

Greetings from my family to yours! This is quite delayed but at least it's only by 10 days... Happy New Year!

My husbands family has a Finnish tradition of tin melting at the beginning of each year. In Finland there’s a certain tradition; people melt horse shoe shaped pieces of tin in a metal ladle, then quickly pour the molten tin into a bucket full of cold water. This makes the molten tin solidify in a random shape. When done at midnight, when the year changes, you can then view the shadow of the new tin piece against the wall in candle light and predict the upcoming year’s fortune from what you can see in the shadow. We don't do this at midnight but the following day, January 1st. It is a big family affair so there is always lots of conversations going on, picture and note taking so everyone remembers what their fortunes were at the beginning of the year.

Here are just a few pictures and a video on this tradition.