Tis the season...

...to be baking! And eating, and Cranberry Sauce making! Specifically, one of my absolute favorite recipes for the holiday season, my Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce. Its been a popular recipe with Thanksgiving guests, clients, and friends, and now I'm sharing it with you (maybe it will keep me from having to make so many batches this year lol). This is the perfect recipe to go with that Thanksgiving turkey or ham. The orange juice is the perfect partner for the fresh cranberries, the brown sugar gives it depth, and the spices add a lovely little twist. You use the same concept you would for making any other kind of fruit jam, and if you're really being ambitious, you can even can it (I don't, because it doesn't last long enough to matter lol) So here it is, and to make this post even better, I have pictures! Yay pictures!

Kara's Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

24oz fresh cranberries (2 of the little bags, or 2/3 of the big one)
2c orange juice (I personally like the high pulp)
2c brown sugar (by the time I finish the recipe, its more like 3c, but to each his/her own)
spices (I use pumpkin pie spice, but cinnamon will work too)

You'll also need a large pot and some Kerr jars to keep everything. So now you're ready. Awesome. Dump everything into the pot and turn it on medium-high heat.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. As the berries start to heat up, they'll burst, which is exactly what you want. The sugar and juice mixture should be nice and bubbly, and it should all look like this:

Take the back of your spoon and crust the berries against the side of the pot. You can even use a potato masher if you'd like, to make sure you don't have whole berries left in the sauce.

Let the mixture continue to bubble and thicken, and let it turn a pretty red color like this:

Let the sauce cool for a few minutes. This is the time to do your taste testing (be careful, its hot). Add some more brown sugar if you don't like it that tart, or some nuts, orange zest, etc. I don't, personally, but feel free to make it your own and add something special. When you get it just like you want it, use a ladle to transfer the sauce from the pot to the sterilized Kerr jars.

Make sure you leave a little space at the top of the jar, and take a clean rag and wipe the edges and rim of it before putting the lid on. If you're canning the sauce, now is the time to start processing and you should follow the general canning rules.

All done! See, that wasn't so hard. I promise, it will be a million times better than having the gelled stuff from the can. Just a few more steps, but its sooo worth it. Give it a try this Thanksgiving, and stay tuned for more Turkey Day recipes from Kara's Kitchen.

As always, happy baking!

Clam Chowder...stopping the madness before it starts lol

Tis the season to be baking...and for crock pots, stews, and cinnamon. And the best way to kick off the season is with a giant pot of clam chowder. By giant, I mean that we ate it for dinner last night, I sent it with two clients today for lunch, and there is plent for dinner tonight. I've already been asked for the recipe twice, so in order to stop the madness before it starts, I'm posting it here for your enjoyment. This is a recipe I altered (duh, do I ever follow a recipe? Recipes to me are like the Pirate Code - they're more like "guidelines") from one I found on my all-time favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com.

Clam Chowder

Ingredients
4 (6.5 ounce) cans whole clams
1 cup minced onion
4 large stalks celery, diced
8 - 10 medium potatoes, cubed
4 medium carrots, diced
1 qt vegatable broth (or seafood broth, if you can find it)
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1.Drain juice from clams into a large pot over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add broth to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
2.Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Add to pot with vegatables and broth. Heat through, but do not boil.
3.Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

I hope you all get a chance to make this as the lovely cold season approaches (haha, yeah I know everyone in Texas is rolling in stitches right now, but let's speak metaphorically and try to pretend), because it is totally worth it.

Banana Nut Bread

Its classic, but that's because its so darn good. We are constantly buying bananas for their fantastic nutrition at a budget price, but sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and they don't get eaten. So the perfect excuse for me to whip out my KitchenAid hand mixer is banana bread. My favorite recipe for a perfectly moist, sweet banana bread is an adapted version from Allrecipes.com, which was originally Janet's Rich Banana Bread. Here's a link to the original recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/janets-rich-banana-bread/detail.aspx

And here's my take:

Kara's Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice, for a really great flavor)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped pecans
4 medium bananas, pureed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda, spices and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

And here's the final product. Happy Baking!

A Berry Princess Tea Party

So being the cool mom that I am (I'm sure my girls will think differently in a few years, but I'm cool for now) I decided to let my girls have some friends over for a real, big girl tea party. The girls all dressed up like princesses, I let them wear some of "Mommy's special jewelrey," and used the good dishes. To add to the affair, I wanted to create a menu fit for afternoon tea at the Plaza. While I may not have quite accomplished that, the spread was certainly better than their usual fare of imaginary cookies and water tea. Here is what we had:

Berry Green Tea (with sugar in a sugar bowl)
Tea Sandwiches (cucumber, egg salad, and peanut butter & blackberry jelly)
Carrot and Celery Plate
Strawberries with Whipped Cream (piped into them, of course)
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Raisin Scones with Raspberry Jam and Mock Devonshire Cream (since the real version is insanely expensive and very hard to find)

Here is a picture of our lovely tea party table:

My absolute favorite part was the Raisin Scones. I had never, ever made scones before, but I wanted the girls to have something extra special for their tea (the little one is now asking if we can have "stones" for breakfast, as she can't quite remember how to say "scones") so I decided to give it a shot. Hey, if I failed, I failed. Its very rare that I have a complete and total flop, but I usually try to avoid using a new recipe when I have company coming, just in case. But alas, if you don't take risks, you end up with just PB&Js for lunch...

So here was the scone recipe that I found at Allrecipes.com, with a few alterations:

Raisin Scones

Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raisins (optional)


Directions:
-In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
-In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or hand mixer. Stir the sour cream mixture, egg, and vanilla into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
-Kneed dough briefly in bowl a minute or two, till it can be gathered into a flaky ball (like pie crust). Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
-Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Raisin Scones

It was a very lovely tea party. I think the girls had a lot of fun, and so did their friends. And Mommy got to have some adult time, so it was a happy day all around. Just a few more highlights:

Tea Sandwiches

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Ah yes, before I forget...speaking of whipping cream, a fantastic addition to the scone recipe is a Mock Devonshire Cream recipe. Of course, its not like the original or clotted cream, however it is a pretty darn good substitute, and quite simple all you do is this:

Mock Devonshire Cream

Ingredients
3oz cream cheese(room temp, very important)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c heavy whipping cream

Directions
Simply add these ingredients to a bowl, and using a hand mixer (or a whisk, if you're feeling old fashioned), and whip like you would standard whipped cream. The addition of cream cheese makes this a thicker, richer version that is perfect for spreading on scones - with raspberry jam of course. Happy Baking!

Is summer over yet? Craving winter foods...

The past couple of weeks have been an interesting change. I've had to move out of the office I've had for about five years now, and transitioned into a home office. After three weeks of hard work, the house finally came together and my office has appeared out of the mess. One of the big upsides to this work-from-home experience is that I've had more time than usual to do what I do best - baking.

So with this extra time, I felt the need to turn on my oven (yes, in 105 degree August Texas weather) because I had a hankering for some good old-fashioned bread pudding, done my way. I've adapted the recipe that Paula Deen uses (simply because hers has entirely too much sugar, even for a sweet-tooth like mine) to create my own, and I'm quite proud of it. Here it is, for your enjoyment:

Texas Style Bread Pudding

Bread Ingredients
3 cups (about one loaf) cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl
1 tsp spices (any combination - pumpkin or apple pie, cinnamon and nutmeg, etc)
1 cups granulated sugar
5 large beaten eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
6oz cup chopped pecans

Sauce Ingredients
1/2 bag individually wrapped caramels
1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream (you know I don't really measure - start with the 1/4, then if you need more, add some)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Leave cubed bread in large mixing bowl to stale overnight. Toss with spices to coat cubes before making the pudding mixture, then add raisins.

Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over spiced cubed bread and raisin mixture; let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, and pecans.

Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Press brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set (a knife should come out clean). Remove from oven.

After removing from oven, begin making caramel sauce. Unwrap caramels, and place in small sauce pan with heavy cream on medium to high heat. Constantly stir until caramels are melted into a sauce that is thick, yet thin enough to drizzle. Using your spoon, drizzle sauce over pudding, either the whole pan, or individual servings for a pretty effect if being served immediately.

Happy Baking!

Too many strawberries!

Tis the season for fresh berries. I found a quart of strawberries at HEB for $3 yesterday afternoon, and it didn't take me long to figure out what to do with them...

That's right, Strawberry Pie! I decided to go a different route today, not wanting to go through the normal hassle of my Strawberry Apple Pie, plus, I didn't want to run my oven for very long (its 108 degrees in Texas), so I decided to make a fresh pie that only required me to pre-bake a pie crust. So here's the recipe I came up with after reading and not liking a few of them:

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Ingredients
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
1 quart fresh strawberries
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons flour
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Quarter and arrange about three-fourths of the strawberries in baked pastry shell. Puree (food processor or blender) remaining berries with sugar, water, flour, and vanilla, then pour into saucepan. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Allow to boil about two or three minutes, until thickened. Carefully pour mixture over berries in pastry shell, and toss berries lightly with spoon to coat. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

Top with whipped cream if desired. Happy Baking!

Happiness in a ramekin...

When answering a friend's Facebook question regarding what to bake to keep her from losing her skills, my suggestion was creme brulee. She claimed it was too complicated, but I disagree. Thanks to Debbie Puente, the Queen of Creme Brulee, and her fail-proof recipe, this elegant, decadent dessert can be as easy as...well...creme brulee. I've made this on several occasions, typically following a meringue when I don't feel like wasting my egg yolks to the garbage disposal and have some additional heavy cream on hand. So here it is:

Classic Creme Brulee

8 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated white sugar (for the caramelized tops)

Preheat oven to 300ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well blended. Strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

Divide mixture among 6 ramekins or custard cups. Place ramekins in a water bath (large pan filled with 1 or 2 inches of hot water) and bake until set around the edges, but still loose in the center, about 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days. When ready to serve, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of sugar over each custard. For best results, use a small, hand-held torch to melt sugar. If you don't have a torch, place under the broiler until sugar melts. Re-chill custards for a few minutes before serving.

Serves 6

http://cremebrulee.com/creme.htm

Here is a picture of one of my attempts:

This is a magically easy, creamy and smooth, beautifully elegant, horribly fattening dessert that is a perfect use of those extra egg yolks.