Cheddar Chicken Chowder

We'll serve this yummy soup Friday night as a counterpoint to all the delicious sweetness of the cookies and frosting. It's from Cooking Light but we came across it when it was printed in the Houston Chronicle in November 2001. The best part is kids love it as much as grown-ups, which is good, because it's hard to compete with cookies and frosting. :)

Ingredients:
2 slices bacon
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 1/2 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 3 /4 cups diced peeled red potato
2 1/4 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2 percent low-fat milk
3 /4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; cool and crumble. Set aside. Add chicken , onion, bell pepper and garlic to drippings in pan; saute 5 minutes. Add broth and potatoes; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Add corn; stir well. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a bowl. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended; add to soup. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheddar cheese, salt and black pepper. Top with bacon.

Makes 7 servings, each 306 calories, 7.5 grams fat, 25 grams protein, 33.7 grams carbohydrates, 2.9 grams fiber, 58 milligrams cholesterol, 1.6 milligrams iron, 376 milligrams sodium, 193 milligrams calcium.

[Note (12/19/10): when making this in large volumes, be sure to minimize the amount of liquid you add. For the 2 double batches I made this week I used 7 cups each of chicken broth (rather than the 9 cups the recipe listed) and 3 cups of milk rather than 4.]

[Note (12/15/11): a 3-pound bag of red potatoes yields just over 7 cups of peeled diced potato. And a 2-pound bag of frozen whole kernel corn is just about 7 cups so you'll need 2.]

[Updated 12/15/13 to add photo.]

Red, White and Brie

A little recap of Britain's 30th birthday party!! The party was last Saturday. Thanks, Ashley and Will for hosting, and thanks Jenn (and Sue and Scottie) for the great theme. We tasted a variety of wines and noshed on some really yummy goodies! Ashley made a great cranberry punch, too, that was a huge hit. Happy Birthday, B!

how cute is the birthday girl in her Elton John glasses? 

wine tasting! these are the reds

one of my favorites

delicious sashimi and love the wasabi 30. 

carrot cake - B's favorite

sorry, B, couldn't resist :)

love the star decorations for the cake (Jenn rocks)

 Many happy returns my friend!!

White Velvet Cutouts

This is a delicious easy-to-work-with cookie dough, and a favorite recipe of ours. We adopted it when it first appeared in the December/January 1997 Taste of Home as a runner-up in a cookie contest. We'll be whipping up a batch or two of dough today to chill in the fridge until the Cookie Party on Friday.

Ingredients:
2 cups butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sugar, cream until smooth. Add egg yolks and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour. Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness (the thinner you get them, the crisper the cookies will be). Cut into 3 inches shapes; place 1 inch apart on a greased cookie sheet (I never grease cookie sheets and have not had a problem with this recipe). Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until set (not browned). Cool 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool.

When cool, frost and decorate.

Makes about 7 dozen cookies

Lyre Ornaments

A few of my favorites... there may be more to share as we unpack them and decorate the tree

Triple Orange Pecan Biscotti

(by request for my bff Dawn over at The Flying Chagall)

From Fine Cooking's special issue Holiday Baking winter 2004. "These twice-baked Italian cookies 'smell divine and are delicious eaten by themselves or dunked into hot tea or coffee'. It's the perfect holiday cookie because of its great keeping and shipping qualities." Recipe developed by Susan Betz.

Ingredients:
12 ounces (2 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
finely grated zest of 2 oranges (to yield a scant 1/4 cup lightly packed) (takes me 3 oranges)
4 1/2 ounces (1 cup) coarsely chopped pecans
3 large eggs, at room temperature
5 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 Tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier

Directions:
Position oven racks in the middle and top of oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt to combine. Put a bit of the flour mixture in a small bowl, add the orange zest, and rub the zest into the flour to keep it from clumping. Stir the coated zest and the pecans into the rest of the flour mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the olive oil, orange juice, and liqueur until well blended. Pour into the center of the flour mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is blended. The dough will be very sticky. (she is not kidding about this, I sometimes only use 2 eggs if they are particularly large ones.)

Dump the dough onto a heavily floured work surface and divide into six equal portions. Roll each portion into a log that's 12 inches long, dusting with flour along the way to keep the dough from sticking. Set the logs about 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and then press gently to flatten each log so that it's 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide.

Bake until the logs are golden and the tops are fairly firm near the center, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets and switching their positions after 10 minutes to ensure even baking. Set the sheets on racks until the logs are cool enough to handle, 20 to 30 minutes. Leave the oven set to 350.

Transfer the logs to a cutting board and using a serrated knife, saw them on a sharp diagonal into slices 1/2 inch thick. Arrange the slices on the baking sheets, laying them flat with a cut side down. Return the baking sheets to the oven and bake the biscotti for about 6 minutes. Turn the biscotti over, rotate the baking sheets and switch their positions, and bake until the biscotti are golden, another 8 to 10 minutes.

Let cool on the sheets on racks for 5 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely (the biscotti won't get crisp until then).

Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Number Of Servings:about 60 biscotti

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

An unbelievably delicious treat, especially if you love peanut butter cups!

from Bon Appetit June 1993, introduced to us by hubs’ University of Houston colleague and friend, Coleen

Crust

1 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about 5 ½ oz)
½ cup roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped (about 2 ½ oz)
¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 Tablespoons firmly packed golden brown sugar
pinch of salt

--OR—

1 pre-made oreo cookie crust

Filling

4 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ cups firmly packed golden brown sugar
½ cup creamy peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
¼ cup whipping cream
2 ½ cups ¾-inch pieces Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (about 10 oz)

Topping

2 cups sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Crust: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter 9-inch diameter springform pan with 2 ¾ inch high sides. Mix chocolate cookie crumbs, chopped peanuts, melted butter, brown sugar and pinch of salt in bowl until well combined. Press mixture evenly onto bottom and ½ inch up sides of pan. Bake until crust is set, about 8 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. (--OR—use the cheater method. Spray the bottom of a springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Dump the contents of a premade oreo cookie crust into the pan. It’ll break into pieces. Press evenly across the bottom and a little way up the side. If it seems a little dry, spray the top lightly with nonstick cooking spray (just a tiny touch!!). Then put it in the oven for just a minute or two until it is set.)

For Filling: Using electric mixer, beat room temperature cream cheese and brown sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla extract and beat just until blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add whipping cream and beat until smooth. Stir in peanut butter cup pieces.

Pour filling into crust. Bake at 325 until sides of cake are set but center still moves slightly, about 55 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 10 minutes.

For Topping: Blend sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract in medium bowl. Carefully spoon topping over cheesecake. Return cheesecake to oven and bake 5 minutes.

Cool cheesecake in pan on rack. Run small sharp knife around edge of cheesecake to loosen. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated (HA HA, it would NEVER last 3 days untouched in our house.).) Release pan sides. Let stand 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.

10 servings, maybe more actually since it is a big tall cheesecake.

[Note (12/23/2010): This year we baked the big cheesecake, on right, but saved some of the batter and made a few mini "tasters" in a muffin tin. T added a chocolate chip to the top of the one at the bottom left. Delicious!!]

Jingle Jubilee

I joined some of my Alpha Chi friends a week ago Thursday night to support Junior League at their Jingle Jubilee at the Civic Center and thought I would share a few of the cute things I bought. (There were a few more, but the others are gifts... nothing like blogging about it to ruin the surprise).

On the assumption that T does not read my blog here is a cute little woodland creature to add to his ornament collection:

I loved all the cute cards from our local stationery shop, The Polka Dot Press:

We had a great time. It's always fun to support a good cause!