Family favorites
As you know having a family member that has to be gluten free and dairy free can be difficult. This is more difficult during the holidays when the food is a little more extravagant. More filled with heavy cream, cheese and so much more. The usual potatoes I make are filled with butter, heavy cream and cream cheese! Robby cannot have any of that so I wanted to find a mashed potato recipe that not only he could eat but also taste really good. I found a couple of recipes on Pinterest and combined both things I liked with the two recipes and the outcome was delicious. Not just for Robby, but for us too and not filled with all the fat my usual holiday potatoes have! I use a potato ricer to get the potatoes super creamy, no lumps in my potatoes!
INGREDIENTS
3 pounds of yellow flesh potatoes, peeled and cut into two-inch pieces
1 cup of potato cooking water- don’t forget to save it before you drain potatoes.
2 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
A drizzle of garlic infused olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Place peeled and cut potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by a couple inches. Add two teaspoons of salt to the water. Bring to a boil and cook for 12-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender enough for a knife to easily slide in and out.
Save a cup of the cooking water before draining. Drain potatoes and return them to the cooking pot over medium heat tossing them for a minute or so until they are dry. Mash the potatoes or remove them from the heat and use a potato ricer. Add 6 tablespoons of good olive oil and stir through. Thin potatoes with water a little bit at a time until you are happy with the consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper and lightly drizzle with garlic infused olive oil. Use this sparingly as it packs a lot of flavors. Serve warm.
Enjoy!
Are you looking for a new dessert for your holiday table? I have mentioned in the past baking is not really my thing. Well, it’s not our daughter Amanda’s either, but she was looking for a cherry pie recipe that was delicious and easy. Needless to say, I turned to the tried and true recipes from Taste of Home magazine. You can find them online through Facebook and Pinterest as well. I am a volunteer Field Editor for them. I sent Amanda this recipe knowing that it would be easy for her to make and still have great flavor. Amanda, her husband Steve, the twins and extended family enjoyed the pie after their Thanksgiving dinner. I heard not a crumb could be found!
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup ice water
2 cans (16 ounces each) tart cherries
1 cup of sugar
3 Tablespoons quick cooking tapioca
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Red food coloring-optional
1 Tablespoon butter
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl combine flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide dough in half. Roll out one portion. Line a 9-inch pie plate with bottom crust and trim pastry even with the top edge of pie plate.
Drain cherries, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. In a large bowl combine the sugar, tapioca, extract, salt, food coloring if desired and reserved juice. Gently stir in the cherries. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Pour into crust. Dot with butter. Roll out the remaining pastry. Make a lattice crust, seal and flute edges. Bake at 375 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Time seems to be going much too fast these days. We had a really nice Thanksgiving at our house with family, friends and some delicious food from start to finish. Needless to say, I went to bed tired and stuffed from the day but that was okay with me as I could take the next couple days off! No Black Friday shopping for me but watch out cyber Monday!
So this is another Taste of Home recipe that has been gaining a lot of attention and I can see why! Although this recipe calls for steaming the fresh green beans I turned it into a one-pot dish by using the frozen green beans in the steam bags and putting my microwave into action. I did not put the bourbon in just because I did not have any. This is a simple tasty dish, great for any holiday side dish. It will be making a second presence on my table at Christmas. This dish is perfect to make while the turkey rests!
INGREDIENTS
3 cups fresh green beans or 2 bags of frozen green beans in the steamable bags
1 large onion chopped
4 bacon strips cut into 1-inch strips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon bourbon-optional
DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, place steamer basket over 1 inch of water. Place beans in the basket. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a low boil, steam, covered until crisp-tender. 4-5 minutes. Or do what I did and buy the frozen bags, steam according to the package.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook onion and bacon over medium heat until the bacon has crisped through. Drain bacon fat if necessary. Add the cranberries, syrup, salt, pepper, and bourbon, if desired. Add beans to the bacon-onion mixture heating through and tossing to combine. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Enjoy!
While in New York this summer one of the things we went to was a barbeque competition being held at and for the Hammondsport, NY Fire Department. This is a large fundraiser for the small fire department. The event is held each year and is called “Smoke on the Water” as the fire department is located at the southern tip of beautiful Keuka Lake. This event is held in late August and they have lots to do for everyone in your family, including a cornhole tournament, a kid zone with bouncy houses, and mini golf. While we loved tasting all the amazing BBQ at the event, there was one particular vendor that stood out. You guessed it, Schweigart’s Sugar Shack.
Schweigart’s has a number of products, BBQ sauces (one team competed using their sauce and won an award),
maple peanut butter sauce, candy, nuts maple cream and of course maple syrup. The company sells at local fairs and events in the NY and Pennsylvania area, BUT they do ship worldwide.
The day we were at the BBQ festival, I was asking about a couple of the products. One product I asked about was the Italian Maple Marinade. The gentleman told me one of their favorite ways to use that is to inject it in their Thanksgiving turkey and then roast the turkey. Needless to say, as soon as we got home that was one of the first things I made except using a chicken! It was absolutely delicious!
The second product I asked about was the Maple Peanut Butter Sauce. Lucky for me, while I was chatting, both Jim and our son-in-law, Steve, took Luna so they all could get an ice cream! As soon as they came back, we added the Maple Peanut Butter Sauce on top of the ice cream and we all loved it! Creamy, rich and the perfect accompaniment to the ice cream! Needless to say, I bought both the marinade, Peanut Butter Sauce and also a bottle of the BBQ sauce!
We were talking about this company and their products all afternoon enough so that when we went to a hot air balloon festival a couple days later I went back to their tent and purchased more! All of their products are made with real ingredients, no high fructose corn syrup, and the main ingredient in each product is maple syrup!
They do ship worldwide and have a small website, so if you are not local to them check them out online!
Enjoy!
Although I made these in the air fryer, they can also be baked by following the package directions. These are fast and easy to make using canned apple pie filling and can be made using any kind of filling. Apple is our favorite! I drizzle them with caramel sauce when they are out of the fryer. If you are making this with blueberry filling you can make a lemon drizzle for the top using confectioners sugar and lemon juice. So many varieties can be done with this!
INGREDIENTS
1 package store-bought puff pastry
1 can caramel apple pie filling or apple pie filling
Pinch of cinnamon
Store-bought caramel sauce, I used Ghirardelli.
Olive oil to spritz
DIRECTIONS
Cut the puff pastry into 4-inch squares. Using one square at a time add approximately 2 Tablespoons Of the apple pie filling to the middle of the pastry. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and fold the pastry diagonal forming a triangle. Seal the edges using a fork. Do this for each puff you are making. Place in the air fryer, lightly spritz with oil and air fry at 375 degrees for five minutes, turn them over, lightly spritz the second side and continue to fry for an additional five minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Remove from the fryer and drizzle with caramel sauce. Let cool for a couple minutes, as the filling will be very hot.
Enjoy!
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