Christmas 2015 Baking

Christmas 2015

This year we hosted Christmas.  We had people over on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the Second Day of Christmas (26th)

Also, along with hosting Christmas I baked a lot of stuff as presents for people.

The week from December 13-19, I baked stuff that could be frozen.

I made two pumpkin breads, two chocolate chip pumpkin breads, two coffee cakes - one plain and one blueberry, a banana cream pie, and two batches of Springerle cookies.

I froze everything except the Springerle cookies.  I looked up on ehow.com on how to freeze pumpkin bread and banana cream pie.

The coffee cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated explained how to freeze it.  The coffee cakes were presents for my mom.

One regular pumpkin bread and one chocolate chip pumpkin bread were presents for Trisha's brother.  

The banana cream pie, one pumpkin bread, and one chocolate chip pumpkin bread were for guests and remained in the freezer until needed.

I made a test batch of Springerle cookies that Trish took into work.  The other batch was a present for my dad.  These obviously were not frozen but can be made well in advance.  

On Monday the 21st, I made a Key Lime pie from the Betty Crocker cookbook.  This was my first time making a Key Lime Pie.  I didn't use enough lime and no one could taste the lime.  I am now on the hunt for some real Key Lime juice for baking.

I baked some Christmas cookies for our garbage collectors.

I finished baking the second batch of Springerle cookies.

On Tuesday the 22nd, I made mini-pumpkin pies, two batches of Homemade Honey Wheat bread, and two batches of cornbread for the cornbread stuffing.  The cornbread could sit out for a couple days according to the recipe before finishing the stuffing.

On Wednesday the 23rd, I made a pecan pie, peeled the potatoes, and peeled the sweet potatoes.  We let these soak in water overnight in the refrigerator.  This is a trick Trish told me about from working in the high school kitchen.  Trish and the kids made more Christmas cookies for guests, and I prepared a slow cooker breakfast.  I put all the ingredients in the crockpot the night before and it was ready the next morning.  This way I didn't have to make breakfast when I was preparing for guests.

On Thursday the 24th, Christmas Eve, we had the slow cooker breakfast for breakfast, and then I made the mashed potatoes, the mashed sweet potatoes, the Broccoli Cheese Casserole, and the Cornbread stuffing.

On Wednesday the 25th, Christmas Day, I made more mashed potatoes, more mashed sweet potatoes, another broccoli cheese casserole, and some more homemade bread as presents for Trisha's grandparents.

On Thursday the 26th, I went to the store, reloaded, and started baking.  I made more mini-pumpkin pies, mini-pecan pies, mashed potatoes, and the second cornbread stuffing.

So, what went wrong - 
The Key Lime Pie wasn't strong enough.
The first Pecan Pie I made was a bit runny and people ate it more like a pecan cobbler.
The cornbread stuffing I used turkey breakfast sausage.  It was still good but next time I'll make it with regular turkey meat.  
For the slow cooker breakfast, it used hashbrowns.  We bought hashbrowns.  I tossed them in the freezer.  When I pulled them out to use them, they were obviously frozen solid and the package specifically said "Do not freeze".  So, at 10:15pm, I'm going to Meijer to buy more hashbrowns.

Other than that, everything went well.  Everyone enjoyed the food, the company, and the presents.  As much baking as I did, I do like baking, but in the years that we host, we're always like, 'wow, it's a lot of work to host'.  Then the years we travel to other people's homes for Christmas, we're like, 'wow, it's a lot of work to travel, and pack the kids and presents.'  So, it's a lot of fun either way with some effort but it is well worth it.

The recipes that I have on my blog are:

Homemade Honey-Wheat Bread

http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2015/11/honey-whole-wheat-bread.html

Springerle Cookies

http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2015/12/springerle-cookies.html

Cornbread
http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2015/12/cornbread.html

Cornbread stuffing

http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2015/12/cornbread-stuffing.html

Breakfast Casserole
http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2015/12/slow-cooker-breakfast.html

Mini pecan or pumpkin pies

http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2015/12/mini-pecan-pies-and-mini-pumpkin-pies.html

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

http://marksbakingadventures.blogspot.com/2014/12/broccoli-and-cheese-casserole.html

I did not add recipes for mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, or the Key Lime Pie.  The mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes can be found in just about any cookbook.  I happen to use the recipes in the Betty Crocker cookbook.  The Key Lime Pie is probably one of the easiest recipes to make - the trick is actually finding Key Lime juice.  May need to pick some up next time I'm in Florida if I can't find any locally.

Springerle Cookies

Springerle Cookies

Please read through the entire recipe before proceeding.  

This recipe can actually take anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks before the cookies are done.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon anise extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

You will also need a springerle rolling pin

Instructions:

1.  In large bowl, beat eggs on high for 3-4 minutes until very thick.
2.  Gradually beat in sugar.
3.  Beat sugar-egg mix for another 15 minutes - on high.
4.  Beat in anise extract - 30 seconds.
5.  Add flour, baking soda, and salt.
6.  Mix well.  (you can try beating in the flour mix until it becomes difficult to do so and then just mix well).
7.  Cover with plastic wrap
8.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour; you can let it refrigerate overnight.
9.  On well-floured surface, with regular rolling pin, roll dough into a rectangle.  
9a.  The width should be the same as the springerle rolling pin. 
9b.  The length should be about 11-12 inches.
9c.  It should be about 1/2 inch thick
10.  Coat springerle rolling pin with lots and lots of flour.
11.  Using springerle rolling pin, roll designs into dough.
You may need to press hard.
12.  Cut cookies along design lines.
13.  Lightly grease two cookie sheets
14.  Place cut cookies on greased cookie sheets.
15.  Cover with cloth and let stand in cool place overnight.
16.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.
17.  Place cookies in ovent.
18.  Immediately decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees.
19.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until set but not brown.
20.  Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheets.
21.  Store in tightly covered container.
22.  Cookies can be served after 8 hours but are better if stored for several weeks before serving.


Mark's Story - 
Springerle cookies are my dad's favorite cookies.  Several years ago, Trish got the recipe from my mom and made some as a Christmas present for my dad.  Trish will every now and then make these for my dad as a present.  This year, I was going to make these.  How hard could it be??

Attempt #1 - After beating the ingredients for nearly twenty minutes, I put the dough in the refrigerator.  Then I went to a school meeting.  When I got home I was too tired to work with it and let it sit overnight.  The next day, the dough I thought was too hard to work with, so I threw it away and started over.

Attempt #2 - This time I let the dough sit in the refrigerator for one hour and then rolled it out in the rectangle, then I used the springerle rolling pin on the dough.  It stuck the pin and came up a gooey mess.  It couldn't be salvaged.  I tossed the dough mix.

Attempt #3 - I beat the eggs.  I beat the egg-sugar mix for 15 minutes.  I beat in half the flour and then mixed the rest in really well.  I placed it in the refrigerator and let it there overnight.  The next day, I pulled it out.  It was difficult to work with at first, but then as I pressed and rolled it, I finally got it into a rectangle.  Then Trish told me the secret is to thoroughly cover the springerle rolling pin with flour.  So, I covered the springerle rolling pin with lots and lots and lots of flour.  Then I took the springerle rolling pin and pressed it hard into the cold dough mix.  This actually worked.  I cut along the lines and placed the cookies on the greased sheets and let those sit overnight.  Baked them the next day.  Placed in air tight container and let sit overnight again.

Mini-Pecan Pies and Mini-Pumpkin Pies

Mini-Pecan Pies and Mini-Pumpkin Pies

Ingredients:
2  9" pie shells
Your favorite Pumpkin Pie batter or your favorite Pecan Pie batter

Instructions - 
1.  Make your favorite Pumpkin Pie batter or your favorite Pecan Pie batter.
2.  Grease a 12 muffin/cupcake pan
3.  Cut 4 inch circles into the pie crusts
4.  Place the 4 inch pie pieces into muffin pan.
5.  Fill the pie dough lined muffin pan with the prepared batter  - 3/4 to almost full.
6.  Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.  The pumpkin batter may take 10-15 minutes longer.  For the pumpkin batter, a toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Mark's Story - 
Christmas 2015 - we hosted Christmas this year.  Everything I baked is documented in a separate blog.  These were some of everyone's favorites.  It's great because it actually serves more people than a traditional pie and it's portion control, and when everyone has had too much too eat, these smaller desserts are a perfect for everyone to eat after opening presents and people have some room for a small dessert.

Cornbread Stuffing

Cornbread Stuffing

Please read through entire recipe before proceeding.

Part 1 - Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups cornmeal (yellow)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish
2.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
3.  Whisk together the milk, eggs, and vegetable oil
4.  In a separate large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt
5.  Pour the batter into the prepared 13x9 casserole dish
6.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean

The cornbread can sit out for 1-2 days at room temperature to stale it slightly.  This can be done rather than following steps 7-10.

7.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 2 hours.
8. Reduce oven to 250 degrees
9.  Divide cornbread between two rimmed baking sheets and bake until dry, stir occassionally - 50 minutes to 1 hour.
10.  Let cool for about 30 minutes

Part 2 - The Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds turkey meat
2 onions, chopped fine
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half and half
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1.  In a large frying pan, cook turkey meat.
2.  Remove turkey meat into a separate bowl and leave turkey juice in frying pan
3.  Add onions and 2 tablespoons pepper.
4.  Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes
5.  Stir in garlic, sage, and thyme and cook until fragrant - about 30 seconds.
6.  Stir in chicken broth.
7.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
8.  In a large bowl, whisk half-half, eggs, salt, and cayenne (optional).
9.  Slowly whisk in warm broth mixture until incorporated.
10.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish
11.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
12.  Crumble all the cornbread into the greased casserole dish
13.  Mixed the cooked turkey meat into the cornbread
14.  Pour the broth mixture over the cornbread-turkey meat
15.  Let mixture soak for 20 minutes - stir occasionally
16.  Bake for 30 - 40 minutes.
17.  Let cool for 15 minutes
18.  Enjoy.

Mark's Story
Christmas 2015, we are hosting Christmas.  We are having people over on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the Second Day of Christmas.  I pre-made two cornbreads.  I made the first batch of stuffing for the guests on Christmas Eve and had enough leftover for guests on Christmas Day.  I made the second batch on the 26th.  The first batch I used garlic powder.  The second batch I used actual garlic cloves.  Trish and I really liked it.  Although both batches I made it with turkey sausage.  When I make this next time, I will use regular turkey meat.



Editors at America's Test Kitchen.  (2014).  The New Family Cookbook, pp. 176-178.  Brookline, MA.  America's Test Kitchen.

Cornbread

Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 cups cornmeal (yellow)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish
2.  Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
3.  Whisk together the milk, eggs, and vegetable oil
4.  In a separate large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt
5.  Pour the batter into the prepared 13x9 casserole dish
6.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean
7.  Enjoy.

Mark's Story - 
Christmas 2015, we are hosting Christmas.  I found a recipe for a Cornbread Stuffing that I wanted to try.  The first step though was to make the cornbread.  So, thanks to America's Test Kitchen Cornbread Stuffing recipe, I now have a decent recipe for cornbread.

If making the Cornbread Stuffing, you will need this recipe.  I have included this recipe with the Cornbread Stuffing recipe as well.

Editors at America's Test Kitchen.  (2014).  The New Family Cookbook, pp. 176-178.  Brookline, MA.  America's Test Kitchen.

Slow Cooker Breakfast

Slow Cooker Breakfast - Hashbrowns, Turkey Sausage, and Eggs

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

1 pound turkey sausage

32 ounces hashbrowns (refrigerated not frozen)

1 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 dozen eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

1.  In frying pan, cook turkey sausage

2.  Spray crockpot with vegetable spray or use a crockpot liner

3.  Place 1/3 of hashbrowns in crockpot

4.  Layer 1/3 with turkey sausage

5.  Layer with 1/3 cheese

6.  Repeat layers two more times

7.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs, milk, and seasonings.

8.  Pour into crockpot

9.  Cover and cook for 8-10 hours.

Mark's Story - 

Christmas 2015 - we are hosting Christmas.  Christmas Eve we were having guests over for lunch.  I found this recipe in a slow cooker recipe book I got from Cracker Barrel.  I decided to make this so that breakfast would be ready for everyone in the morning and I could focus on getting ready for the festivities later that day.

So, the 23rd, I'm putting everything in the crockpot, I get the hashbrowns out of the freezer - these should have been in the refrigerator and not the freezer.  At 10:15pm at night, I'm going to the grocery story to buy more hashbrowns.

So, I liked it.  Trish liked it.  Abby tried it and she did not like it.  I used a garlic and herb hashbrowns.  I'm thinking she would have liked to better with plain hashbrowns which is what I'll try next time.

The original recipe said to use 6-8 slices of bacon rather than the 1 pound turkey sausage.  I like turkey sausage so I made that substitution.

Bibliography:

Ott, A.  (2013).  Slow Cooking All Year 'Round.  Columbus, Ohio.  Gooseberry Patch.