Holiday Baking and Cooking and Candy Making

I love to create things in the kitchen. It is so satisfying! A couple of days ago I spent most of the day in the kitchen and these are some of the things I made.

Caramel
This was a disaster. I guess we overcooked it because it was hard. Jordan took a hammer to it and broke my 9x13 Pyrex dish! Geez.

Carrot Zucchini Spice Bread (Pampered Chef Recipe)

I love this recipe and it is super easy to tweak. I add things like puree's and ground flax and part wheat to it.

Ritz Cookies
These are sooo easy and a big hit with everyone. The only problem is that they take more time to make than to eat. Spread peanut butter on the cracker and dip in melted chocolate bark. YUM!!! I can do 2 sleeves of crackers with one package of bark.

Microwave Fudge
Another easy recipe. We discovered this last year. One bag of semi sweet chocolate chips and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I got the canned milk for free and the chips for $1 making this a very thrifty treat to give or keep!



Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches
These aren't exactly hard to make, but they take an ingredient I never buy-Marshmellow Creme. I have made them twice-once when I was a newlywed for Eric's birthday and then this week. You can add food coloring to the filling!



Jellied Cranberry Sauce(Ball Canning Book)
I started making my own cranberry sauce last year. I will be honest, I have always loved that jellied stuff shaped like a can, but after tasting this we won't go back to that HFCS crap! I can control what kind of sugar is used in this recipe. I got the cranberries on sale for $1.50 a bag and just used the sugar in the house. I can get 4 half pints for around $2. This years turned out a beautiful bright red!

Yummy Homemade Bread

I just love baking bread. Actually, I love all baking. I am into scratch cooking in a big way. I have even been tweaking my recipes to make them healthier and cheaper. It is so fun!

I am very pleased with how this batch turned out. I made some changes to a favorite Pampered Chef recipe. Next time I plan to reduce the sugar by half and add some ground flax. I love to bake bread in my Pampered Chef mini loaf pan. The bread turns out perfect every time.

I get zucchini in the summer for free from friends. I shred it and freeze it in 3/4 cup portions for this recipe. When thawed, I get extra liquid that I use to replace part of the milk. Just pour the liquid into your measuring cup first and fill to the 1/2 cup mark with milk.

Here is the recipe with my changes.

Spiced Carrot-Zucchini Bread

2 1/4 Cups flour-I use a mix of whole wheat and unbleached white
1 Cup sugar-I will try 1/2 Cup next time
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
3/4 cup carrots, finely chopped
3/4 cup zucchini, shredded or finely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 cup carrot puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk and zucchini liquid mix
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 350
Spray bottom only of Stoneware mini loaf pan. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, flax, salt and spices. Finely chop carrots and zucchini (or use previously shredded zucchini). Coarsely chop walnuts. Add carrots, zucchini, walnuts and remaining ingredients to the bowl. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into loaf pan. Bake 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pan; place loaves on cooling rack. Cool completely.
Makes 4 mini loaves or 1 regular loaf