There are lots of reasons why I love winter, but up at the top of the list is citrus. Winter is when oranges are in season, and I love oranges. It’s also one of the reason I love living in the modern world–I can live in West Virginia and drink orange juice all year round, and get fresh oranges when it’s snowing outside.

I’m not sure about anywhere else, but the first seasonal citrus to his the shelves here are clementines. I can sit and eat clementines like they’re candy. In fact, one day over the holidays when my brother was here I think the two of us went through half a box in a single evening.

I started seeing Cara Cara oranges a week or two ago, but what I was really waiting for was Moro or blood oranges.

I actually hadn’t tried them until a couple years ago, and now I can’t wait until they’re in season. They’re tart, which is usually not my favorite, but there’s something about them I can’t resist.

Given a choice between the two, I prefer clementines, but blood oranges are usually on their way in as clementines are on their way out. Which probably keeps me from getting sick of clementines.

And that is why I love winter.

Mine sent my grandmother flowers.

Aren’t they nice?

That doesn’t mean, however, he’s right in the head.
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I love baked goods with nuts in them. Heck, I love all kinds of foods with nuts. In a conversation with Tania she mentioned a nut bread a friend used to make.

She sent me the recipe and the source, which I discovered was in a cookbook that I have, The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

The bread is completely delicious–I’ll definitely make it again. However, the directions left something to be desired.

The problem is they had me roll out the dough, and then roll the nut paste on top of the dough. Unfortunately, the bread dough is very soft, so when I rolled the nut paste onto the dough, the dough became extremely thin, especially in the center.

So next time I may try and roll out the nut paste and then put it on the bread dough. That may keep the dough from getting too thin when it is rolled out.

Regardless of how it looked, it was very very delicious.

So as I mentioned last week, I was on a baking binge before Christmas. I love to bake, and Christmas is a good excuse for me to go hog wild.

For this weeks Tasty Tuesday, here are my two favorite cookies from this year, Cranberry Caramel Bars and Cranberry Oatmeal cookies.

Cranberry-Caramel Bars
1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
2 tbsp sugar
2 cups flour (240 grams)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups uncooked oats
1/2 cup sugar (100 grams)
1/2 cup brown sugar (114 grams)
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup chopped pecans
~10 ounces chopped dates
~12 ounces of caramel sauce
13 x 9″ pan

Preheat oven to 350.

Coarsely chop cranberries (I gave ’em a spin or two in the food processor). Mix with 2 tbsp sugar and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, oats, and sugars in a bowl. Stir in melted butter and mix until crumbly. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture (NOTE: I never remember to do this). Press the flour mixture into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9″ pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Remove dish from the oven. Sprinkle with dates, pecans, and cranberries. Drizzle caramel sauce over everything. If you remembered to set it aside, sprinkle with remaining flour mixture. (I think it looks nicer with the cranberries on top anyway.)

Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Eat.

Modified from Christmas Cookies. I received this book as a gift and do not recommend it, for I found the recipes to be poorly written, but after modification this recipe is a gem.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar (100 grams)
1/2 cup light brown sugar (114 grams)
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour (210 grams)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup pecan pieces, slightly toasted
1/2 cup coconut flakes, slightly toasted
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 325.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter and sugars until light. Add egg, corn syrup, and vanilla. Beat about a minute.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture in two stages. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Scoop out 2 tbsp balls of dough, and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.

I baked about half the cookies, and froze the rest in 2 tbsp balls to bake later. I also made part of the recipe without pecans for my grandmother, and they turned out fine, although I of course prefer the pecans.

This recipe was modified from The Best of Fine Cooking: Cookies Vol 23, which had some excellent (and well-written) recipes. If you can still find it on the shelves, snag it. You won’t be sorry.

Somehow the holidays always surprise me with how quickly they arrive. Luckily, the only thing I have to do before Christmas is bake.

And bake I have. Here’s what I’ve made so far:

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Lemon Shortbread Coins, from The Essential Baker by Carole Bloom
Spiced Sugar Coins, from The Essential Baker by Carole Bloom
Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Cookies, from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett (modified)
Lemon Snowflake Cookies, from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett (these were a mess to make)
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, from The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett
King Arthur’s Special Roll-Out Sugar Cookies, from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Book
Sour Cream Nutmeg Sugar Cookies, from Christmas Cookies
Cranberry-Caramel Bars, from Christmas Cookies (modified)
Lemon Cornmeal Shortbread Bars, from The Best of Fine Cooking: Cookies
Giant Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, from The Best of Fine Cooking: Cookies (modified to be not giant)
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Shortbread Bars, from The Best of Fine Cooking: Cookies

I still need to decorate the sugar cookies and make the pumpkin and sweet potato pies, and Michael is still planning on making peanut butter fudge.

Now before you think I’ve completely lost my mind, I did give cookies to my co-workers for Christmas, and will give them to some others tomorrow.

AND I didn’t bake up the full recipes for some of the cookies. So I’ve got frozen dough I can bake at any time. Yum!

Lemon Snowflake Cookies

Lemon Coins

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies (with coconut, pecans, and white “chocolate”)

Sugar Cookies

I hate Monday.

This is a stupid way to start my vacation.

I’m pretty sure it is going to require chocolate cookies to repair this batch of Monday damage.

And it’s time to start baking!

Here is a reposting of my bread pudding recipe, just for Vince.

Actually, I’ve changed a few things, which is why I’m reposting and not just linking to the old post.

Bread Pudding
Leftover bread, cut into cubes (I used a whole loaf of whole wheat “Italian” bread–the cup or so I didn’t use went to the birds.)
3 cups milk (We used soy milk for Grandmom)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup minced apple
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 F and then butter a medium sized casserole dish.

In a saucepan, heat milk, butter, sugar, and cinnamon until the butter melts. In a bowl, beat eggs. Remove milk mixture from heat, and then mix in eggs.

In a large bowl, mix everything together and then dump into casserole dish. Alternatively, put bread and apples into casserole dish and then pour milk and egg mixture over bread.

Bake at 350 F for 45- 60 minutes, or until knife comes out clean.

(adapted from How to Cook Everything)

Whiskey Sauce
8 tbs butter
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp whiskey
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt
1 egg

Melt butter in saucepan. Add sugar, whiskey, water, nutmeg, and salt. Heat over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Beat egg and whisk into whiskey sauce. Raise heat to medium, and stir gently until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

(from The Joy of Cooking)

Spoon hot bread pudding into bowl. Add scoop of vanilla ice cream. Spoon hot whiskey sauce over everything. Eat.

NOTE: Grandmom has hers with soy ice cream and loves it.

Filled the bird feeders.

Brought the tree inside. (It won’t be decorated until Christmas Eve day, but smells wonderful.)

Went looking for a wreath. Changed our minds.

Bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and whiskey sauce.

Today was full of doing stuff. Not anything particularly fun, but the grocery shopping and laundry and all that other stuff that ends up on the back burner until the weekend.

However, on the bright side, since I was already on my feet the whole day, I made pizza for dinner, and there is bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and whiskey sauce for dessert.

Mmmmm!

No, I didn’t take any pictures, as I was making dinner and dessert at the same time while washing up as I went. So you’ll just have to imagine.

Or perhaps I’ll just take a picture of the end product–a couple spoonfuls of piping hot bread pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whiskey sauce poured over the entire thing.

I love baking.

The holiday season is officially upon us when we make bourbon balls. Of course, we should have made them immediately after Thanksgiving, because they’re better the longer they sit, but this is still plenty of tie.

These are one of Michael’s favorite Christmas cookies, and we make a double (or even triple) back every year.

This recipe calls for Nilla wafers, but other recipes have called for stale cake. But I never have stale cake lying around, so this works perfectly well. The recipe calls for corn syrup to hold everything together. I suppose honey might work, but I think it might change the flavor, so I’ve never fussed with the recipe.

Bourbon Balls

1 box vanilla wafers, crushed
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
3 tbsp corn syrup
1/4 to 1/2 cup bourbon
3 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp espresso powder or instant coffee *

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West Virginia Public radio had a recent piece of pepperoni rolls.

Having grown up here, pepperoni rolls are just a food you can get in some delis and convenience stores. However, they’re a local item that has only slowly spread, and at some point I discovered that people not from this area had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned them.

Different bakeries and individuals in the Fairmont/Clarksburg area claim to be the creator of the pepperoni roll, but no one particularly knows for sure. Nor, really, does it matter. They were a food created to take into the mines.

No, I haven’t eaten one for years, but sometimes when I come across one, I remember the soft bread and the spicy pepperoni and the cheese and just for a second I am tempted.

But only for a second.

(I’d link to the WV Public Radio article, but that site is unbelievable slow and I can rarely get it to come up. So, no radio link for you.)

So for various reasons, I am relatively careful about what I eat. Partially because of health issues in older members of my family, but more because what I eat tends to affect my mental health. So meals at regular times, try not to skip meals, and try to eat healthy meals that won’t spike my blood sugar. And as we’ve all been told a million times, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Even if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to take the time in the morning.

Last year a discovered a recipe that’s pretty near perfect–as long as I remember to prepare it the night before. Irish oatmeal requires a relatively long cooking time–unless you soak it in milk. So some time between dinner and bed we put everything together, when we get up we put the tea kettle and the oatmeal on low, and by the time we’re dressed and together, breakfast is ready.

Irish Oatmeal – makes 2 servings
1/4 cup Irish/steel cut oats
1 tbsp wheat germ
1 tbsp chopped walnuts/pecans
1 tbsp chopped dates (when I can find them)
ground flax seed
dash kosher salt
ground cinnamon
1 1/8 to 1 1/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

Put everything into a small pot and place into fridge.

In the morning, place pot (uncovered) on stove on lowest setting. Stir every time you walk by. After 15-20 minutes, it should be thickened. If not, turn the heat up, stirring more frequently, and after at boils for a minute or two, should be done.

Serve with a spoonful of brown sugar and/or maple syrup.

So what about all the other stuff besides the oats?
Wheat germ – Vitamin E and Folic Acid
Flax seed – Omega 3 fatty acids
Dates – Calcium, iron and potassium, and vitamin A, B and C + yummy
Cinnamon – Good for blood sugar levels + yummy
Walnuts – Omega 3 fatty acids + yummy

So Thanksgiving is Thursday, and for the first time in awhile, I won’t be making Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m actually saddened by this, because I like making big special meals. Yes, I make Michael clean and stuff the turkey but everyone else likes turkey, and I always use the leftovers in turkey pie, so it’s okay.

But not this year.

No Yukon gold potatoes for masked potatoes. No buying two types of sweet potatoes–one for sweet potatoes an one for sweet potato pie. And no stuffing. The past couple years, with Grandmom guiding me, I’ve gotten the stuffing just right. And since stuffing is the best part of dinner, not having cold stuffing to nibble on for a couple days saddens me immensely. Even if it rarely lasts a couple of days.

I’ll be making two pies–one pumpkin and one sweet potato–but they’ll be traveling, so I might not have any leftovers.

But just wait for Christmas!