Recipes and Cooking Ideas for Homemakers and Amateur Cooks
 

Cranberry Relish or Salad

Posted on December 22, 2009
Filed Under Holiday cooking, Salads

This is a cranberry relish recipe that Mom added some variation to. It is SO good!!!! You don’t even have to be crazy about cranberries to like it. Mom gave me this recipe along with the ingredients. :) There are several different ways to make it and on the recipe she wrote: “It might not always taste exactly the same, but always leaves that crisp flavor in your mouth!”

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Cranberry Relish

Printable recipe coming soon.

2 cups washed, raw cranberries
2 cored apples
1 large peeled orange, or put in some peel if you like OR substitute the orange for crushed pineapple
1 – 2 cups sugar, to your taste
1/2 cup or more chopped walnuts or pecans

Pulse in blender or grind together berries and oranges. Do not over blend to mush. I opted for the crushed pineapple instead of the orange. I LOVE pineapple! I put in about half of a can.
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Shred or chop apples. Add nuts.
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Mix together and keep tasting and adding sugar till happy. I liked it with 1 cup of sugar… didn’t want to interfere too much with the tartness. Don’t miss popping a few cranberries between your teeth for a tart burst of flavor! Makes 3 cups. May be frozen.
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And here’s another variation, which I love! You can also mix in some Cool Whip and cream cheese. Mmmmm! I think this addition would make it a salad instead of relish.
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So there you go, this one or that one… take your pick… you can’t go wrong either way! :)
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Comments

3 Responses to “Cranberry Relish or Salad”

  1. Marlene Graber on January 21st, 2010 8:35 am

    I just looked at this again, one reason was to look up the recipe (!) to make it for tonight’s supper. I just saw again how beautiful you set up the stage for the pictures! As elegant to the eyes as delectable to the taste! Can’t wait to indulge again. Fresh cranberries actually last pretty long in the fridge.

  2. Kymmi on February 7th, 2010 3:14 pm

    Kay, Wonderful site. I needed equivalents for a super bowl party and did not want to go any were but Sam’s. Also first feed I have ever subscribed to. Will certainly give you, Kay, the credit for the relish recipe I just downloaded.

    Kymmi

  3. Pat on February 21st, 2010 12:27 pm

    I always enjoyed your recipes but never left a comment. I’m sad to see you’ve abandoned this site!

Turkey Schnitzel

Posted on December 16, 2009
Filed Under Chicken and Turkey

Don’t you just love the sound of that? Schnitzel. Makes me feel like I’m cooking authentic German food. It’s really good. I’ll give you a brief description and see if you think you’d agree… pieces of turkey breast dipped in milk, then flour, then eggs, then seasoned bread crumbs, then fried in oil and butter. Mmmmmm!

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My mom gave me this recipe, including the ingredients. She does that for birthdays. I love it! She shares my love for trying new recipes, but she’s also got a bunch of tried and true ones.

Turkey Schnitzel

Printable recipe coming soon

1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 lb. turkey slices (1/4″ thick) or strips
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. canola oil

Mom gave me this with the recipe.
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It’s some GOOD stuff, but I wonder if she knows that things like this are way out of my comfort zone! ????
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I think the only chunk of meat I’ve ever bought with a bone in it is ham. Oh wait, sometimes I get a rotisserrie chicken at the deli, but that’s easy, all I have to do is reheat it. I’ve never even done a turkey at Thanksgiving! This turkey breast is supposed to be cut into slices or strips. Well, I got various sizes and shapes of pieces! :)  

Place first 4 ingredients in 4 separate bowls.
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Dip turkey slices or strips into milk, then flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Place on waxed paper and let stand for 5-10 min. I was out of waxed paper, so I just used plastic wrap.
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Heat butter and oil in large skillet. Brown turkey for 2 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.
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Serves 4. In Germany and Austria, schnitzels are served with French fries and lemon wedges (to squeeze on meat).

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The meat stayed really moist. And it had a great flavor! Because you can quick fry it up, it’s one of those quick things to make for when you’re staring in the fridge/freezer/cupboards at 4:30 p.m., totally blank for a supper idea. Mom said she even tried it with just the bread crumbs (without dipping it in milk, flour, and eggs) when she was in a hurry and that was good too. It would be good with chicken breast too, I’m sure, although I’ve never tried it, having only made it this once… so far anyway. ???? So, with these variation ideas, the question would be: Would it still be schnitzel then? We sure don’t want to lose that word! :)

Coming before Christmas yet: Cranberry Salad and Fudge. That is 2 separate recipes, by the way. ????

Comments

6 Responses to “Turkey Schnitzel”

  1. Elsie on December 16th, 2009 8:41 pm

    Sounds good!
    The word schnitzel sounds like a swiss word meaning pieces. Makes me wonder, maybe I should ask one of my Aunts!

  2. Mom on December 17th, 2009 2:21 pm

    Hey, Jenny was supposed to slice up this whole turkey breast, and get it in the freezer in nice quick cooking-friendly packs while she was there. She must have forgotten to tell you!! The children called these fingers – for if you change the recipe too much to keep the schnitzel in there!

  3. Kay on December 17th, 2009 2:55 pm

    Ha, no, Mom, she told me and I said, “Nah! I can do it!” :) Then, when it actually came down to doing it, I was feeling a bit out of my comfort zone! It was of course fine, I just didn’t get it sliced very evenly. :)

    Btw, that was a big chunk of meat, I think we’ll get 2 more meals out of it! Thanks!

  4. Jan on January 9th, 2010 3:32 pm

    There’s a schnitzel they make in Romania, but that’s with beef or pork. It’s pounded very thin, then fried about the same way. It is also very good. I’ll have to try it with turkey, but I never have turkey on hand.

  5. yoana on February 28th, 2010 3:38 am

    hello…i found your blog a few days ago…i tried out the recipe for turkish schnitzel and turned out not only to taste great but also to make my friends gealous for it..kisses from romania and keep out the good job your doing with the blog..i will start a new one in english with old traditional romanian recipes..

  6. Nikki Cooks on November 19th, 2010 3:51 pm

    I accidentally found your blog by accidentally finding The Best of Blogs site! And I am glad I did! Your recipes look great and definitely something a home cook, such as myself, can do and will love to do. **Adding to my favorites**

School Bus Birthday Cake – Happy 7th Birthday, Lexi!

Posted on December 10, 2009
Filed Under Birthday cakes

Some of you may have already seen this on my Facebook, so excuse the repeat!

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When Lexi started Kindergarten last Spring, she decided that she wanted a school bus cake for her next birthday. She had also made a bunch of new friends and wanted them all to come for a REAL party instead of the low key family parties she’s had so far. So, unlike all her other birthdays, this one was planned well in advance. That doesn’t mean I didn’t go party shopping earlier than the day before or finish the cake earlier than an hour before the guests arrived! :( Sigh. Oh well, it all worked out great and the party was a success and was a lot of fun for all involved… well, maybe my husband wants to speak for himself on that one. :)

Anyway, the birthday cake. There was a bit of an issue getting started. I decided I wanted the bus elevated a bit to look more realistic and my problem was HOW to do that! So, I looked around the house for something to use. I found these 2 square lids and put them down first. Tiffany saw this and said, “So, you’re using my candy box lid, huh?” I confidently said, “Yup.” and she didn’t protest. Whew!
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They were red though, so I taped strips of black paper around the edges. Then I cut a piece of cardboard the size I wanted the bus to be, cut notches for the wheels and put it on top of the lids. I know, not professional, but it worked great! :)

Then, I took the lids off again and made part of the bus on ‘ground level’ (on the foil-covered cardboard though).
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The first 2 layers are the full length of a 9×13 cake. It’s 5 or 6 inches wide. I used 3 cake mixes for this. The top layer… there’s no reason for that extra little piece on there except that after I cut and stacked it, it looked like the nose of the bus (is ‘nose’ what that part is called?) would be a little too long. Also, it looked a little too tall, so I ended up cutting about a half inch off of the bottom (shown on the next picture). I was glad to get rid of those crazy big holes down there too! Not sure why that happened!

The ‘nose’ is carved (maybe that called a ‘hood’?), and the top of the bus is slightly rounded. Doesn’t look too promising, huh? This is where I felt like dumping it in the trash and running to the local bakery.
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It’s times like this when I love frosting! Now it’s looking more promising!
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Now the yellow fondant gets rolled out… think that’s big enough?
7th10.jpg Sprinkle plenty of powdered sugar on the table/counter and on top of the fondant. Roll it out. Then roll it up around the rolling pin, take it over to the cake and starting at one end, unroll it off of the rolling pin onto the cake. By the way, to get yellow fondant, I bought white ready-to-use fondant and put yellow paste (NOT liquid food coloring) on it, then mixed it in by hand… you’ll see the messy process of doing the black soon.

Ah, it IS big enough! Tuck it in and cut off the excess.
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Now, I’m going to leave you hanging with this picture and flip to something else… the setting for the bus, which is, of course either a highway or a school. I chose the highway. And it’s stopping to pick up Lexi.

First step was to make the road. Here’s the tar. I know, gag. But this technically is edible. Nobody tasted the road though. That stuff actually does wash off, but I think next time, I’ll put plastic gloves on my birthday party shopping list!
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Next I rolled it out onto the ‘cake board’, which was actually an upside down baking sheet with tin foil on it.
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And now, we have a BIG jump in the progress because I either I was so entralled with my project that I forgot to take pictures or I didn’t feel like stopping to wash up to photograph each little step. And the setting is done.
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It’s all made out of fondant (road and white & yellow lines and mailbox), graham crackers (driveway), frosting (grass, plus some under the driveway to hold the graham crumbs in place), and a tootsie roll (mailbox post).

And now back to the bus again, which is another big jump in progress. The reason for the big jump here is because the clock was galloping and party time was drawing near and I was in a hurry.
7th14.jpgThe wheels aren’t on yet (chocolate covered mini donuts). The black and gray are fondant. The letters are frosting piped on. The ‘people’ are flavored tootsie rolls cut into 4ths, then smashed, then stuck on with frosting and a face piped on. The ‘mirrors’ are pieces of graham crackers.

And the cake is now DONE! 45 minutes till party time and my kitchen looks like a tornado hit! Don’t even ask questions like what I’d have done if it would’ve totally flopped because the answer is that I don’t know and that I’m just SO thankful it turned out ok.
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school-bus-cake3.jpg Yeah, so I forgot the lights on the back!

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Lexi had her seven 1st grade friends over. Supper was pigs in blankets, Pringles, cheese slices, and layered finger jello. I was in the kitchen and heard a bunch of quacking coming from the dining room. Here, they were making duck bills with their Pringles! :)
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And here they all are with the cake.
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Back row, left to right: Emily, Victoria, Kaitlyn, Samara
Front row, left to right: Alexis, Candace, Lexi, Sarah

And here’s the aftermath:
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First thing to go was the donut wheels, then they picked off the people in the windows and ate them, then had cake and ice cream.

This bus was pretty easy… very little carving. It was just rounding the top a little and shaping the nose/hood/whatever it is. I only bought one box of fondant (I forget the oz, but it was the smallest of the 2 sizes that were there). Oh, and by the way, the girls standing there is just a toy… not edible! Let me know if you try this! :)

Comments

11 Responses to “School Bus Birthday Cake – Happy 7th Birthday, Lexi!”

  1. Aug on December 11th, 2009 6:04 am

    Wow! I am so extremely impressed. Something like that would NEVER turn out for me. You have quite a talent and make it look so easy!

  2. Katrina on December 11th, 2009 10:33 am

    Fabulous cake bus!

  3. Twila on December 11th, 2009 12:30 pm

    I just told my 7 y.o. son whose birthday is coming up soon that he should not ask me to make one like this because I could NOT do it! It’s SO cute!!!

  4. Charlene on December 12th, 2009 6:37 am

    Nice Job, I made a bus for my oldest 7th birthday, but it didn’t look that nice,
    My children had fun picking out the girls they knew on the picture!

  5. Liz on December 12th, 2009 10:10 am

    Great job, Kay! Hard to believe you had your doubts if it would turn out ok. You are so good and creative at making cakes. I’m sure your girls love you for it.

  6. Jo H. on December 12th, 2009 5:53 pm

    You make some amazing cakes! loved your recent updates :)

  7. Ruth on December 13th, 2009 7:30 pm

    You cake turned out great. I’ve never worked with fondant, but would like to try sometime. Congratulations on your pregnancy. Hope everything goes well.

  8. Beth on January 14th, 2010 12:29 pm

    I put Alexis’ pic of the girls & bus cake on our refrigerator & Trevor saw it this morning. He pointed at the picture & said “that’s the cake I want for my birthday”. :)

  9. Sarah on May 28th, 2010 2:50 pm

    I LOVE THIS CAKE! I would like to make it for my husband, a school bus mechanic, for his birthday. I’m confused about this part of the instructions, and they seem important. Could you clarify?

    “Then I cut a piece of cardboard the size I wanted the bus to be, cut notches for the wheels and put it on top of the lids. I know, not professional, but it worked great!

    Then, I took the lids off again and made part of the bus on ‘ground level’

    The notches are for the donuts to go in?
    Why did you take the lids OFF?

  10. Kay on May 28th, 2010 3:43 pm

    Yeah, the notches were for the donuts to go in… otherwise they (the wheels/donuts) would’ve been on the outside of the bus instead of flush with the side of the bus. And I’ll bet your bus mechanic husband would know that’s not right! :) The reason I cut notches instead of making the whole cardbord piece narrower is because I thought the extra stability would be good if the cardboard would come all the way out to the edge of the bus.

    About taking the lids off was just a rambly useless piece of info. I think i thought it would slide around on them while I was working on the cake and end up tipping the bus over, so I did the stacking and icing before putting it back up on the lids. Hopefully, you can find something better than odd things around the house (like my lids)! I’ll bet a piece of 1×4 board cut to the right length would be perfect.

    Let me know how it turns out! :)

  11. Tracy on July 11th, 2011 7:54 pm

    I cannot thank you anywhere near enough for posting this!!!! My sister and i are in the process of creating a short bus for my daughter’s 13th birthday and so far are winging it and had pretty much the same thought of doing it the way you have laid out here. You have given me hope that my cake will turn out as beautiful as yours. Thank you for the step by step pictures.

Christmas Cookies – Sour Cream Cutouts

Posted on December 7, 2009
Filed Under Cookies and bars, Holiday cooking

Other than listening to some Christmas music, this is the first thing “Christmas-y” thing I’ve done this year… Christmas cookies. (Decorating my house will hopefully happen this week yet.) These were for a cookie exchange, so I *ahem* didn’t let my eager little helpers in on the fun because I have to say “No licking!” about 273 times in the course of the project and that just sorta wrecks the Christmas spirit. So, I got up early and made & frosted them myself.

I’m not a fan of sugar cookies, butter cookies, or any frosted cookies like that because I think they’re rather dry and messy and not very tasty. Having said that, these would be about at the top of the list of good frosted cookies that I’ve had. The only better ones I can think of were some that my friend Kim made one time. They had cream cheese in them.

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Sour Cream Cutouts … recipe taken from the Christmas Cookies & Candies cookbook

Printable recipe

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
6 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream

FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. milk (I added more so it would be faster/easier spreading)
Food coloring, optional

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients; add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (dough will be sticky). Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle. (It’s not kidding about this… impatient me tried it without chilling. Bad idea. So, I chilled it for about an hour and the process went MUCH better!) On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4″ thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters dipped in flour. Place 1″ apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes or until lightly browned. (I set the timer for 10 min and they were perfect.) For frosting, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and milk until smooth. Add food coloring if desired. Frost cookies. Yield: about 9 dozen.

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Up next: Lexi’s 7th birthday cake. Her birthday was actually today, the party is tomorrow… 7 of her friends are coming after school.

Comments

10 Responses to “Christmas Cookies – Sour Cream Cutouts”

  1. Kay on December 7th, 2009 8:56 pm

    Uhhhh, I just posted this and was proof-reading it and looking at the pictures… is it just me or does that one green tree have the tip bitten off? Oops. :) Wasn’t me!

  2. Twila on December 7th, 2009 9:30 pm

    Now that you mention it… :) You must have some elves at your house!

  3. Ruthie on December 7th, 2009 10:07 pm

    The cookies must be as yummy as they look! And Happy Birthday to Lexi!!

  4. Beth on December 8th, 2009 5:18 am

    I was one of the lucky ones who got a plate of these. The sour cream must make the difference between other dry & boring sugar cookies, because these were absolutely scrumptious!

  5. Shannon H on December 8th, 2009 7:39 am

    Ohh good. I was going to start a google search for cut out cookies now I don’t have too! :) I’m going to attempt this with the girls one of these days, maybe Sat cause Madison will want to help too!

  6. Sharon on December 8th, 2009 9:06 am

    Yup, these sound similar to the ones I make and I’d agree that they’re much better than other cut-outs. I grew up with them and always thought my Mom’s cookies were just the best. Got a kick out of the bite!

  7. Dorothy on December 8th, 2009 4:34 pm

    We’ll have to give these a try. I think cut-outs are never worth the bother. Besides having to cut them out they don’t taste good. I love sour cream so these seem to be a winner already in my mind.

  8. Aug on December 9th, 2009 6:26 am

    I just got the call that today is a snow day here, so I think I’ll go mix up a batch of these and let the kids cut out and decorate with me. I remember these cookies as being extra good cut-out cookies too, because I don’t like a lot of them either. Thanks for sharing the recipe. And…I’m glad you’re back at Kitchen Scrapbook a little more again!

  9. Arla on December 10th, 2009 11:05 am

    Kay, do you know a nice tasting spritz cookie? We like to do them to add dash to our cookie plates, but they aren’t overly yummy…kind of boring in taste. Any ideas?

  10. Sarah Elizabeth on December 15th, 2011 3:46 pm

    Hi! Do these freeze well? They look great!