Marmalade

Marmalade recipe courtesy of grandma E. Also the oranges were from her tree!

Cut the ends off 6-7 oranges.

Thinly slice the oranges. If I could do this over I would slice thinner- I ended up with some pretty thick pieces of rind.

Put orange slices into a large pot and add 1/2 cup lemon juice and 6 cups of water. 

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

As the rind got softer I used my stirring spoon to chop it into smaller peices. 

Add 1 package of pectin then add 9 1/3 cups of sugar all at once. Bring to rapid boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat for 5 minutes.

Stir then put into jars. Place jars upside down for 10 minutes to help with rind distribution. Then let cool before storing. 

This recipe made way too much! I am giving away 6 jars and I still have a lot left over. Maybe next time I will reduce to a half recipe. It is delicious though.

Butternut squash soup

I decided to make some butternut squash soup to test out my new immersion blender, a Christmas gift from my aunt Suzanne! 

I wanted a savory butternut squash soup recipe because the last time I ordered this soup in a restaurant it was too sweet for my taste.

This recipe included onion, carrot, and celery.

Vegetarian soup stock and butternut squash. I also added some fresh ginger and red curry paste. 

Made the vegetable stock.

Sauté vegetables. 

Add other ingredient and simmer 30 minutes. 

Here is the hand held blender. No more messy blender explosions!

This was super fast and easy to use. Way better than transferring hot liquid in batches into a blender. 

This was hearty and savory. Perfect for a rainy day!

Lemon Bars 2

My friend Zaki brought us some lemons do I decided to make lemon bars.  I was excited to try this recipe because it uses the entire lemon!

Also for this recipe, all of the mixing was done in the food processor.  

First for the crust combine flour, sugar, salt and butter 

Press into 9x9 pan lined with parchment paper and buttered. Poke all over with fork and bake. 

Remove seeds from lemons 

Cut lemon into thin slices. Add sugar, salt, eggs, butter, and corn starch. I used 1 less egg than the recipe called for because I was ran out of eggs and only wanted to borrow one from my roommate.

Blend until smooth. 

Bake until set.

Let cool and then sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Blueberry Muffins

I wanted to start baking more for my coworkers and I saw a recipe for blueberry muffins that sounded pretty good. Plus I had all of the ingredients on hand.

First oil the muffin pan and lightly dust with flour. 

I have been using coconut oil in place of butter or shortening with great results.  I have used it in the last 3 things that I have baked. I would say I'm a little obsessed. 

My other secret ingredient was my homemade vanilla.  I made vanilla for Christmas gifts and I have a jar of what was left over brewing in my fridge.

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately. At the end mix together until just combined

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Sprinkle sugar on top and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

I'm bringing what's left of these to work tomorrow! 

Peanut butter jelly muffins

A classic pairing of PB&J in muffin form! What's not to like?

I had pomegranate jelly on hand so I used that instead of the standard grape.

It was also a chance to put my cute new measuring bowls and spoons to use! These adorable woodland creatures were a birthday gift from my godparents!

The recipe I used was from pillsbury. I altered it by using coconut oil instead of crisco. Also I used half vanilla almond milk, half regular milk.

I almost forgot to add sugar on top of the prepared muffins, so I hastily pulled them out of the oven to throw some sugar on top. Also I failed to show the step of adding the jam. Basically you just fill the muffin cup half way, add a couple teaspoons of jam and then cover with more batter. 

I had extra batter left over so I made some extra mini muffins.

Done in 20 minutes!

These were pretty good. I brought them into work for my coworkers and they liked them. I am going to try to bring in treats for them more often-a New Years resolution along with working more on my blog. 

💜

Sweet potato kale frittata

I was looking for a recipe to use up some kale and sweet potato I had on hand. As you may know I never turn down a chance to utilize or consume goat cheese!

Recipe from countryliving.com

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1 c. half-and-half
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• ½ tsp. Freshly ground pepper
• 2 c. sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 c. firmly packed chopped kale
• ½ small red onion
• 2 clove garlic
• 3 oz. goat cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together eggs and next 3 ingredients.
2. Sauté sweet potatoes in 1 tablespoon hot oil in a 10-inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden; remove and keep warm. Sauté kale and next 2 ingredients in remaining 1 tablespoon oil 3 to 4 minutes or until kale is wilted and tender; stir in potatoes. Pour egg mixture evenly over vegetables, and cook 3 more minutes. Sprinkle egg mixture with goat cheese.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F 10 to 14 minutes or until set.
4. (I found it needed an additional 5 minutes cooking time to set)

Apple Fritter Bread

Julian Apple recipes part II!

Recipe provided by my friend Michelle's mom:

Apple Fritter Bread loaf

Preheat oven at 350

1/3 c. Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Cinnimon

Mix Brown sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.

2 apples pealed and chopped in thin slices

Mix in 

2 TBLS Sugar

1 tsp Cinnimon

Mix this up and set it aside

Batter

2/3 c. Sugar

1/2 C. Margarine

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Beat the batter, then put in.

1 3/4 tsp of baking powder

mix that  into batter

Add 

1 1/2 C. Flour, mix 

then add 1/2 c. Milk

Put  1/2 batter in a 9 X5 Greased loaf pan, then put in 1/2 of apples and 1/2 the brown sugar and cinnamon mix.  Lightly press the apples and cinnamon mix into the batter. Then add remainder of batter, apples and cinnamon/brown sugar.  Take a knife and kind of mix that together on the top to move apples down a bit.

Bake for 50-60 mins, cool for 15 mins and add glaze.

Glaze- should just be able to drizzle it on top

1/2 C powder sugar

1 Tlbs Milk or cream.  May need a bit more milk 

Chop up the apples

Layer with batter, apples, and cinnamon sugar mixture

Repeat layers then press apples down into batter 

After baking make the glaze and drizzle on top of the bread

The Apple cinnamon combo is classic fall flavors! I will be eating the leftovers for breakfast :)