Avocado Quesadillas

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with avocados.  I think they're interesting, and I know they're very good for you.  But I have a hard time just eating avocado.  They really don't have a particularly strong flavor, at least not the ones I've encountered.  Some people profess to just sprinkling a bit of salt and/or lemon juice over half an avocado and eating straight from the skin with a spoon.

I need to doctor up my avocados.

These avocado quesadillas are easy and quick, and you can adjust the heat level to make it as mild or as spicy as you like.

Tex-Mex Venison Chili

Winter has returned to the Northeast, and it's great weather for hot and spicy foods like chili.

Our neighbor across the street was kind enough to give us some venison (neatly sealed in airtight packages), but having had no experience up to this point with cooking this particular meat, I was at a bit of a loss for what to do with it.  I figured my best bet would be to start with something simple using the ground venison.

I decided on chili.  And since I had a package of McCormick's Tex-Mex chili seasoning (which appears to be a relatively new product), I thought I'd give it a go.

Unfortunately, I have no in-process pictures, because I'd been home sick from work for a day and a half and really didn't feel like doing much fussing with the camera.  My only goal was to feed my husband.

I made this batch the "old fashioned" way on the stove, but it would easily translate to a slow cooker.  It's also really low in calories - a 1 cup serving has about 140 calories.  Plus, venison is a really lean meat.

TurboFire Chicken Cacciatore

People seem to love slow cooker meals.  I do too.  Relatively little prep work, easy clean up - especially if your slow cooker has a removable insert that you can put in the dishwasher - and your house smells great all day.

Here's a great, healthy chicken cacciatore recipe from the TurboFire cookbook that went over well with my family.  I did some adjustments to meet my taste preferences from the original recipe. Here's what I did.

Gilded Irish Coffee Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Meringue Buttercream (Cupcake of the Month #12)

So I got a bit behind with non-Christmas baking over the last couple weeks, but I finally found time this evening to make the final 2012 Cupcake of the Month.

Ain't it pretty?  Plus, it marks

Teacher, Baker, Gourmet Meal Maker's 100th Post!

It's an Irish coffee mini cupcake, topped with brown sugar meringue buttercream and "gilded" with festive gold sugar sprinkles (because I could find neither gold luster dust or sanding sugar).

It's quite a finish for the 2012 Cupcake of the Month series - but never fear, cupcake fans!  My mom got me the 2013 Martha Stewart Cupcake calendar, so there are more cupcakes on the way. Perhaps not one every month, but they'll make an appearance every so often. Promise.

Here We Come A-Wassailing

For those of you who don't know, wassailing was a tradition wherein people would walk from house to house singing Christmas carols.  Scholars believe the practice started as an Anglo-Saxon pagan ritual based of an Old English salute - "waes hael" - which basically meant "good health."  In addition to walking along and singing, carolers or wassailers would "beg" for some sort of charitable gift and perhaps a warm beverage as well.  Wassailing traditionally occurs on "Twelfth Night", January 5th or 6th, rather than before Christmas. So if you haven't gone wassailing yet, you still have time.

I managed to start a new Christmas tradition last year when I found this delightful recipe for wassail at the Jane Austen Centre's online magazine.  (I do love trying out historical recipes.)

I did some fiddling and adjusting this year based on how last year's wassail turned out, and everyone agreed it was better than before.  To make this "stronger" you can also mix in brandy while the wassail is heating, but I always serve it on the side, as there are some in my family who prefer to leave out the alcohol.

And yes, we did sing before we drank it.  No, no one got it on video.  Thank God.

Traditional Wassail
Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon apple cider
• 3 small (6 ounce) cans of pineapple juice
• 3/4 cup of hot tea (I used English Breakfast, but you can use any black tea you like)
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• French brandy (optional)
• Orange slices (for garnish)

Method

1. Measure out the spices into a coffee filter, and securely twist and tie the filter with thread or string to prevent anything from leaking out.  This creates a spice bag.
2. Pour the cider, pineapple juice, and tea into a 4 quart pot and stir to combine. Add the spice bag.
3. Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Then reduce the heat to low to keep the wassail hot.
4. Offer orange slices for garnish - and a slightly stronger citrus flavor.  Offer brandy on the side if anyone wants to add a splash to their cups.

Notes:  This can also be made in a slow cooker.  Combine all ingredients and heat on low for 4-6 hours.  In place of ground cinnamon, a cinnamon stick can be used, and you can also add allspice.

And with that, "may God bless you and send you a happy New Year!"

Savannah Sponge Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote (OXO Product Review)

One of my coworkers celebrated a birthday a couple weeks ago, and I tasked myself with making her birthday dessert.  It was a small challenge, because she can't have anything with dairy in it, even if it's baked. Fortunately, this sponge cake recipe from The Savannah Cookbook has no dairy.  In fact, it's so simple, it has only four ingredients.

It would be beautiful topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, but I wanted to be a bit more festive.  So I decided to whip up some strawberry-rhubarb compote (you might remember me mentioning in when I made the meringue cupcakes - a.k.a. Cupcakes of Doom - in May).  And since I had some strawberries and rhubarb tucked away in my freezer from this summer's crop, it seemed the perfect combination.

And it was.

What was even more fun is that I got to use my new Mini Measuring Beakers from OXO.

Aren't they cute?  They come in four sizes - 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon, 2 ounces and 1 ounce.  Plus they next together for easy storage.

The fill lines are well below the top of the beakers, which means no spills, and if you overfill, it's very easy to pour the liquid back into the container.

Aside from using them to measure the lemon juice for this sponge cake, I've also used them to measure flavor extracts while baking my Christmas cookies this year. I love them.

Anyway, would you like to learn how to make the cake and compote?

Be a Good Cookie (OXO Promotion)

Are you a good cookie?  Want to be one?

This is OXO's "Good Cookie" Spatula, a special product designed in conjunction with Cookies for Kids' Cancer, a non-profit organization started by two OXO employees dedicated to raising funds for pediatric cancer research.

You can be a good cookie and help in two different ways.  The first, possibly the easiest, is to buy one of these adorable little spatulas for yourself.  It's available directly from OXO and also on Amazon, and 50% of the proceeds from each spatula's sale goes toward pediatric cancer research.

But helping doesn't have to stop there.  Cookies for Kids' Cancer has a way you can get directly involved in the fundraising efforts.  All you have to do is host and register a bake sale!  What's particularly cool is that, up through the end of 2012, OXO is going to match the funds raised and/or donated through registered bake sales which mention OXO, up to $100,000.  (And there are lots of other corporate sponsors too.)  Your bake sale doesn't have to be huge.  It can raise as little as selling 2 dozen cookies at your school, office, or church.

I was hoping to get my own little bake sale up and running - the faculty room at my school is a great place when it comes to fundraisers and baked goods. Combining them would be brilliant.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to set anything up, so I'll have to hold off until after New Year's.  But that doesn't mean I don't have some cookie ideas!

For starters, I have my quick sugar cookies that I can whip up in 45 minutes.  There's the old standby, the original Nestle Toll House cookie recipe.   Bakerella's chocolate peanut butter cookies would be brilliant.

And how about this recipe?  (I sorta made it up.)

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 and 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar together until light. Beat in vanilla.
2. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
3. Blend in oatmeal, cranberries and white chocolate chips to create a stiff cookie dough.
4. Drop by heaping teaspoon (or by cookie scoop) onto either an ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.  (You may have to adjust for your oven.)

It's not too late to register a bake sale with Cookies for Kids' Cancer and mention OXO.  Get out those baking tools and cookie sheets, and be a "Good Cookie"!