Home Made Fruit and Nut Crisps

 These delightful crackers are amazing with good aged cheddar!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey, warmed

1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

then add one (or mix and match fruit and nuts) of the options below:

Option 1 : 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries and 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Option 2: 1 cup dried cherries and 1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Options 3: 1 cup dried apricots and 1/2 cup hazelnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Grease 2 8" x 4" loaf pans. (you can also use a smaller size pan)

3. In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt. 

4. Add the buttermilk brown sugar, and honey, stirring until combined. 

5. Add the seeds, rosemary, and desired add on options and stir until blended.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown in color and springy to the touch. 

7. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack. 

8. The bread is easiest to slice when it has cooled completely. Transfer cooled loaves to a freezer-safe container and freeze solid, several hours or over night. If you're planning to freeze the loaves for longer than a day, they can be stored up to 3 months, wrap them in foil before freezing. 

9. When ready to bake into crisps, preheat the over to 300 degrees F.  

10. Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves as thin as possible - 1/8 " if possible - and place the slices in a single payer on a parchment paper covered sheet. 

11. Bake for about 15 minutes, flip them over, and bake for another 15 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. The edges should be curled slightly. Don't fret if they are still soft in the center, they will crisp as they cool. 

12. Store in an airtight container or serve immediately. 

Yield = about 8 dozen crackers.

Stuffed Squabs with Nuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Brown - put in casserole with gravy and water - sherry - bake for one hour - . Cover"

The hand writing is weird on this one and not one I can say I recall. 

As a recipe, it is basically you take your squab and stuff it with nuts and then follow the disjointed sentence above.

 Hmm...

Mexican Wedding Cakes

I can not recognize the handwriting on this recipe card so I can not tell you who it came from!

Ingredients
1 cup butter
2 cups sifted flour
confectioners sugar (a bunch you will need it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cup nuts: Brazil, Pecans, or filberts
1 teaspoon almond extract
OR
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
One to five days ahead:

1. In a small bowl, using a mixer at medium speed, beat butter with 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. Beat until creamy. 
2. In turn, beat in salt, extract, flour and nuts and mix until well blended. 
3. Refrigerate dough until easy to handle. 

When ready to prepare cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Shape dough into 1" balls. 
3. Place dough balls on cookie sheet and push to flatten. 
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. 
5. Remove from over, sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Cool.

Hello Dollies

I recently requested this recipe from my sister Mush so I could make it for a festival we go to every summer. It is easy to make and stores easily without refrigeration! Delicious and fattening, it is hard to turn these yummy desserts down!

Ingredients
1/4c butter
1c Graham cracker crumbs
1c chopped nuts
1c semi sweet chocolate morsels (I also add butterscotch morsels)
1c flaked coconut
1can (14 1/2 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt butter in 9" square pan
• Sprinkle crumbs,nuts,morsels, and coconut over butter in layers.
• Pour milk over the top. Do not stir.
  
• Bake in oven at 350 for 30-35 min.
• When cool, cut into squares and enjoy!
  

Makes 3 dozen.

Haroset

I am a little late this year, but oh well, here's the yummiest part of passover. Well that's my opinion, from good ole WASPy me!
Haroset, or Charoset is a dish served during Passover. Charoset in Hebrew means clay, and the dish's color and texture symbolizes the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt.

There are many recipes for Charoset. A typical recipe would include nuts, apples, cinnamon, and sweet wine. Honey is used as a sweetener and binder: the mixture is not cooked. Variations for this recipe do exist that may include raisins or other ingredients native to the Middle East such as figs or dates. In Egypt, it is made only of dates, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and sweet wine. In Greece and Turkey, it consists of apples, dates, chopped almonds and wine. In Iraq and Central Asia it sometimes consists of grape jelly. In Italy, it can include chestnuts. In Spanish and Portuguese communities of the New World, such as Surinam, it may include coconut.

I intended to put this recipe up a week in advance of Passover, but life got in the way of any blogging I was to do. I received this recipe from my friend Arona who I used to teach with in Connecticut. This recipe is tasty and healthy and loved by the entire family. I tend to use pecans in place of the traditional walnuts only because of personal preference.

Ingredients
1 apple - cored
1 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans) (whole or ground)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons honey
2 Tablespoons red wine

Process (there are 2 methods)

1. Combine whole ingredients in food processor and pulse until combined. OR
   
2. If using ground nuts - the alternative method would be to chop or grate apple coarsely and mix with rest of ingredients. Add wine and blend thoroughly.