Happy Father’s Day! Circus Peanut Salad

Happy Father’s Day to all the special men in my life, my dad and my husband.  My father is a man with strong morals and even though he didn’t always know the perfect thing to say or do sometimes as I was growing up, I always knew he would be willing to do anything for me and wanted me to be happy.  The picture below is of me and my dad.  My mom tells me that I tried on that dress before dad got home and asked her something about looking pretty in my dress and dancing…I think, something like that.  When dad came in she told him what I had said and he comes in and tells me how beautiful I was in my dress and he just had to dance with me, and there we are, dancing in the family room.

My dad is a simple man, but the little, simple things like that stick with you…and make me realize as I am raising my son the little things like this…or how dad would give us a “horse ride” on his back right before bed, those are the memories Alex will take with him and cherish as he grows up.  Bernie is a great dad and is already helping me make those memories for Alex.  I couldn’t have picked a better daddy for my little boy.

I obviously love to cook for people, that is how I show I care.  Evidently I am a lot like my dad’s mom, in that way.  She was an Indiana gal raised on a farm and a great cook.  A while back my dad found her hand written recipes and I am really excited that he gave them to me.  It is really neat to have her hand written recipes and gives me a connection to her to hold onto.  It also makes me wish she was still here, I could have learned a lot from her in the kitchen.  Dad has been asking about this circus peanut salad for so long – no, not peanuts but those big, bright orange, pure sugar candies…you know the ones- and I thought this would be a nice surprise for Father’s Day.

We had another dessert but I had to have dad taste test this before I left and evidently I pulled through and it tasted like hers!  I can’t wait to try more of her recipes in the future and dad, I have an extra bag of circus peanuts so you will probably be getting another batch in the future!

Circus Peanut Salad

Circus Peanut Salad, from my Grandma

Ingredients:
30 Circus Peanuts, cut up into small pieces
1-6oz package of orange jello
2-8oz cans of crushed pineapple
2 cups boiling water
2 cups cold water
1 container whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

Dissolve jello in boiling water.  Once jello powder is incorporated, add circus peanuts to dissolve.

Drain cans of pineapple and add juice to the cold water.  Mix pineapple liquid with the first mixture.  Place in fridge and allow to partially set.

Mix whipped topping and crushed pineapple.  Fold whipped topping mixture into the jello and place back in fridge to set.

Monkey Bread Minis

We really strive to eat healthy in our family, most of the time. I try especially hard to do right for Alex…who probably eats better than both Bernie and me. BUT where’s the fun if there are never any treats? We even splurged on some ice cream from the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen this weekend. Alex got to try strawberry ice cream and ate every. last. bite.  Alex has always been a pretty good eater but can be finicky sometimes just like any other kid.  If there is one food he will never refuse, it is ice cream.

Strawberry ice cream, yum!

He also loves monkey bread. Breakfast for Alex is usually oatmeal, muffins or pancakes…sometimes cereal when I am really in a pinch and don’t have anything in the freezer. Once a week or so I will try to make monkey bread as a treat, usually on the weekends when I have a little more time. If you want to make it even easier in the morning, make the dough the night before and put it in the fridge, then you can just assemble the next day and bake. I make these minis because I don’t have a monkey bread or Bundt pan, and it definitely works.  And who knows, maybe one day I will invest in one but for now I have other things higher on the priority list, like this pan from Williams-Sonoma.  Filled pancakes, how great does that sound?  But for now, we will stick with regular pancakes and monkey bread.

This is one breakfast I never have to worry if Alex will eat. Bernie approves too. This recipe calls for butter and sugar mixture to be drizzled over the dough but usually I bake Alex’s portion without – and he loves it just the same.

Monkey Bread Minis, adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1 recipe buttermilk biscuits
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons (half stick) butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins with non stick spray.

Prepare biscuits as directed up to the point where you roll out the dough. If you are preparing the night before, put the dough in the refrigerator.

Roll dough into balls about 1/2 tablespoon in size. I normally end up with about 4 in each muffin tin so that is about 48 total. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough pieces in sugar cinnamon mixture to coat and evenly distribute between 12 muffin cups.

Ready to go into the oven!

Mix butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar and drizzle over dough. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Yields 6 servings (2 muffin tins)

Chewy Brownies

I had actually never made brownies from scratch, I can’t believe it. Bernie’s mom loves chocolate so whenever she comes over I try to have something with chocolate for dessert. I have made cupcakes and various other treats and this time I thought brownies would do the trick. At first I thought I wanted something with some mix-ins or caramel but then I realized I am a working mom with 1,000 other things to do and I just wanted a good, fool-proof recipe that would be relatively easy. When I saw this recipe was from Cook’s Illustrated I knew it would be good, and who doesn’t love a chocolaty, gooey brownie? These are really rich and fudgy, perfect to go along with a tall glass of milk. While it is really tempting to eat right out of the oven, try to wait until they have cooled, they will be much easier to get out of the pan.

Cook’s Illustrated Chewy Brownies, from Project Domestication

Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. + 2 TB boiling water
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 9×13 pan or line with foil.

In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa powder into boiling water until combined. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until melted and combined.

Whisk in butter and oil. Add eggs, egg yolks and vanilla, whisk until smooth.

Mix in sugar until fully incorporated.

With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour and salt until combined. Mix in chocolate chunks.

Scrape the batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top.

Bake 35-40 minutes. Once out of the oven, cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares (if you can resist!).

Pumpkin-White Chocolate Blondies

Let me warn you, making these was a really bad idea.  These were so good I could not leave them alone.  Thank goodness my parents were kind enough to let me bring some over so I didn’t gobble up the whole bunch in one day.  My parents and Bernie described these blondies as pumpkin coffee cake, I think it taste like pumpkin pie goodness.  They are super moist and you get a little sweetness from the white chocolate bits.  Bring on the pumpkin for fall!!

Pumpkin-White Chocolate Blondies, from Cate’s World Kitchen

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease 9X13 pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree. Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in white chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares!

And look at this little boy who has been growing like a weed the last month!!

Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

I love oatmeal.  Not only is it a healthy option, being a whole grain, but baking with it just provides such good flavor.  I am not saying oatmeal cookies are healthy, but they sure do taste good.  My all-time favorite cookies are made with oatmeal, Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies.  Those are going to be hard to top, but these cookies are still delicious.  A little crunch on the outside and moist on the inside, the texture is perfect.

Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies, from Baking Illustrated

Ingredients

1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins (not packed)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.

With mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.

With a wooden spoon or large rubber spatula, stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture.  Once combined, stir in oats and raisins.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough each time, roll dough into 2-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheets – at least 2 inches apart.

Bake until edges turn golden brown, approximately 22-25 minutes.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack.  Let cool at least 30 minutes (or not, like me) and enjoy!

This is supposed to yield 18 large cookies, but I ended up making about 24.

Nutrition per cookie (yielding 24 cookies): 215 calories, 8.8g fat, 5.2g saturated fats, 36.1mg cholesterol, 70.7mg sodium, 42.7g carbohydrates, 2.5g fiber, 25.9g sugar, 2.4g protein