German Spice Cookies

Spice cake is one of my favorites.  Like most cakes, it doesn’t travel all that well and it’s hard to control my portions.  (“I’ll just cut a small-ish piece…”).  I’m still trying to lose weight, so I like to have something I can just grab one of and it’s forced to be pre-measured.  Not to say I don’t eat my fair share of cake, but that’s a whole other conversation.

This is another recipe from Taste of Home magazine (Taste of Home Five Star Desserts), which I highly recommend.  No, I don’t have any affiliation with them, but I do like them.

In a small bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl (that’s your mixer bowl), beat 3 eggs.

Add 2 cups packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Mix well.

Add flour mixture gradually and mix.

Stir in 1 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped nuts.  For nuts, the recipe calls for walnuts.  I didn’t have any, so I put pecans in and I think I liked them better.

Drop by tablepoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes or until surface cracks.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

Once cooked, they’re kind of crispy on the outside and very chewy on the inside.  I actually found them quite good.  I shared them and was told that this is very similar to an actual German recipe, and someone even told me he hadn’t had these cookies in 30 years, when his mother used to bake them.  They were definitely a hit, and I’ll be making them again.

I read the recipe to my mother and she said she didn’t even want to try them.  I think at some point I’ll make them again, take her some, and not tell her what’s in them… I think she’ll like them.  The pepper does sound a little strange, and cloves normally have a super strong flavor but they really work in this cookie.  Try them, and share your results.

See you next time!

York Bunny

Since Easter will quickly be upon us, I thought I’d share something I had last year.  I swear this is one of the best bunnies I’ve ever eaten.  Mmmmmm…. York Peppermint Patty Bunnies.  I really hope they’re out again this year, but I haven’t seen them yet.  If you see them in Canada, please let me know where in the comments so I can share!

If you’re in the US, I notice Amazon has them… just not the Canadian site.

Carrot Cake Bars

I like carrot cake.  I can’t say that I love it, but it’s one of those things that once in a while is just delicious.  I was visiting family recently and had a slice.  It was good, but I felt like I wanted something different.  I came across this recipe in a What’s Cooking magazine from Spring 2004.  It was different, but not too different.

First up, take a smallish bowl and mix together 1 1/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg.  Set that aside for now.

In a large bowl (probably your mixer bowl?) beat 3/4 cup butter (softened, of course), 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup granular sugar (that’s the normal stuff) with your mixer until well blended.

Add in 2 eggs and 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 carrots) and mix that until well blended.

Remember that bowl with the flour mixture from earlier?  Grab that and add it in a little at a time.  Mix until well blended.

Take this mixture and spread it on the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan.  Set that aside.

Now that your mixing bowl is all cleaned out you can beat in 1 package (8oz) cream cheese (softened a bit) and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until well blended.

Add one more egg and 2 tablespoons of flour and mix until just blended.

Drop this mixture by spoonfuls all around the top of the other stuff in the pan, and swirl it around gently to kind of combine.

Cook this at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, whatever comes first.

Once these cool, they taste quite a bit like iced carrot cake, in a handy compact package.  These are great to take in lunches, because bars aren’t quite so messy.  As complicated at this recipe seems, it’s really not that bad.  If you try these, let me know in the comments below how you made out.

Cheeseburger Bites

From the slow cooker!  Well, kind of.

As I may have mentioned, I’m working my way through my massive piles of recipes to see what’s worth keeping and what’s not.  It’s a little overwhelming, but hey, it’s great for blog content.  Not so much for my waistline though.  This recipe comes to us from one of those little tiny books you see in the checkout line of the grocery store.  It’s called Slow Cooker Recipes, from January of 2002 (oh yeah, these are old) and they do have a website listed of http://www.classiccookbooks.com.  The site is still there at the time of writing this, but I have no idea if the book is still available.

This recipe is great for picky people, and most of the items should already be in your kitchen.  I did need to make a few modifications based on what was in my kitchen so I’ll give you that version.  First, cook up a pound of ground beef (although I bought the “big package” at the grocery store and just used the whole thing), drain it and set aside.

Chop up an onion into small pieces.  How much you want to use is based on taste, but you don’t want huge pieces.  Fry the onion and add it to the hamburger.  Mix in 2-3 tablespoons of ketchup and a tablespoon of mustard.

Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray and put the mixture in.  Take 2 cups of cheddar cheese and cut it into 1 inch cubes.  Spread these over the top of the beef, but don’t stir it in.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours.  Stir up, put some of the mixture onto a small bun and top with whatever you’d like.  I used tomato, pickles and some lettuce and it was quite good.  One suggestion I do have is to not use a super soft bun for this like I did.  The recipe actually calls for mini buns and I think that would be ideal.  It wouldn’t give the liquid enough time to make the bun soggy.

Yes, I said liquid.  You wouldn’t expect it, but the grease from the cheese actually makes this into a sloppy joe style mixture, although not quite that runny.  It may not look fantastic, but it certainly does the job with minimal work.  Also, with a little prep you can go out and come back to a hot supper.  You could even do the cooking the night before and just throw it in the slow cooker day-of.

If you try this, let me know how it works for you.  I don’t think it’s something I’ll make often, but it will be one of those things I keep in my recipes as something different to throw together.

Jam Topped Mini Cheesecakes

These are great little finger foods from Taste of Home magazine.  They don’t make a ton, so if you’re trying to lose weight you don’t have a massive cheesecake hanging out in your fridge.  Still dangerous, but better.  Kind of.

Grab your muffin tin, put some paper liners in a dozen of them and play along now.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup graham cracker crumbs and 1 tablespoon butter.  Press gently onto bottom of 12 paper lined muffin cups.  The worst part of this is getting roughly the same amount in each of the liners.

In another bowl, beat together 1 package (8 oz) of softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Add a slightly beaten egg and beat with your mixer on low until just combined.

Spoon over crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-16 minutes or until centers are set.

Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from muffin tin.  Place on wire rack to cool.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Remove paper liners and top each with 1 teaspoon of jam.

Because there’s a lot of crust and not a ton of cheesecake I find these easy to pick up and eat.  Plus if you put the jam on them then put them in the fridge for a bit you’ll find it isn’t as likely to run off the top.  That’s probably a preference thing, but since I was using homemade jam it was already a little runny to start with.  So what do you think of these?

At the time of writing this, the magazine I got it from was still on sale.  It’s the Taste of Home Five Star Desserts magazine.  I know they’re a little pricey, but this is worth it.  There’s a ton of great recipes in there that I just can’t wait to try.

Irving Nature Park

Something pretty for your Friday the 13th:

http://youtu.be/ILN-8yc3RZU

This is one small section of the Irving Nature Park near Saint John, New Brunswick.  It’s nice to have somewhere to go that doesn’t cost you anything…

So Broke!

I’m quickly learning that home ownership is a lot harder on your finances than expected.

Even the most carefully laid out budget falls apart when faced with the first $400+ power bill.  Not to mention unexpected maintenance, water bills, property tax and absolutely anything else you could possibly think of.  At this rate, I anticipate being homeless in 6 months.

My husband and I have separated but are both living in the same house (not by my choice, I assure you).  He’s not paying his share of the bills, so I’m trying to shoulder the responsibility on my own.  If I’m ever actually able to get him to leave, I’ll need to pay the bills alone anyway.  The difference is that I won’t have to pay his as well.

If I get a real life second job right now, I could be forced to pay out spousal support based on that income along with my regular job’s salary.  If I have a little income coming in that’s not really steady, it probably won’t be considered regular income when it comes time to calculate support payments (so I’ve been told).  I don’t think I should have to pay  spousal support to a lazy bum who quit a full time job to sit on the couch and watch TV, but welcome to Canada, where the law protects jerks like that for some reason.  But I digress…

So I’ve been looking at selling off some of my stuff (which hasn’t been going well) and sites that pay out a little money.  Yesterday I found swagbucks, which seems promising.  It’s got a couple things going for it.  It you shop online, use their links and get “swagbucks”, which can be exchanged for cash (or gift cards).  I don’t shop online much, but you can also earn swagbucks through surveys or by printing coupons and using them.  I’ve been on there less than 24 hours and have 94 swagbucks already.  It’s free to join so it doesn’t hurt to have a look right?  Find them HERE.

I’ll bring you other things like this as I find them.  In the meantime I have $3.50 to do me the next 2 weeks, and that’s without paying my credit card (another $700).  I think I’ll do some more surveys…