Waldorf Salad

Ingredients
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 to 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup grated yellow onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
2 cups diced sweet red apples, such as Gala or Jonathan (2 to 3 medium apples)
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1/2 cup walnut pieces, broken
1 head Bibb lettuce, cored and leaves separated

Directions
In a bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and vinegar. Slowly add 1/3 cup buttermilk, whisking to thicken. Add the blue cheese, onion, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and whisk well to combine, adding more buttermilk, as desired. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, celery, grapes, and walnuts. Add the dressing, to taste, and toss well.
Arrange the lettuce leaves on 6 salad plates. Top with the tossed salad and serve.

Black and White Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup plus 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup miniature chocolate chips
• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Beat cream cheese, egg, and 1/3 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center, and add water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Mix just until blended.

Fill each muffin cup one-third full with the chocolate batter. Top with a spoonful of cream cheese mixture, until cups are about two-thirds full. Bake 22 to 28 minutes, until the tops spring back lightly when touched.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 24 cupcakes

(Recipe and image courtesy of www.bakeorbreak.com)

Easy Lemon/Cheese Danish

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 sheets (1 box) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream them together on low speed until smooth. With the mixer still on low, add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest and mix until just combined. Don't whip!
Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it's a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.
Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

I know I am really late in posting this, but I've been busy!!

I got this recipe from here.

They turned out to be pretty easy and fun to make. I am going to just put the basics here, so if you want more details, then go to her website.


Pumpkin Pie Bites

2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkin shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box.
Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)
Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.

Makes 24 pies. Keep refrigerated.

*I didn't have a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. I just cut out round shapes and then shaped them in the muffin tins. I also forgot to do the egg white wash on one batch and they were fine.

Lemon Orzo Pasta

I basically made up this recipe based on a couple different recipes I found on Food Network and Cooking Light. It is really easy and really good.

Lemon Orzo Pasta:

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
Juice from 1 medium lemon
1 Tablespoon lemon rind
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 TB Chopped cilantro
2 TB Chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts

-Cook orzo according to package directions
-Mix together lemon juice, rind and salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil.
-Pour over orzo and add remaining ingredients.

-Serve at room temperature

*This is a great side dish, but would make a great main dish if you added chopped chicken.

*You can buy toasted pine nuts at Trader Joes.

Angel hair pasta with lemon and pine nuts

1/4 pound angel hair pasta

3/4 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/4 minced flat leafed parsley

cook garlic in oil until softened

transfer mixture to large bowl

add pine nuts, lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, salt and pepper to taste

Drain pasta, reserving 2 tablespoons of cooking water

add pasta and reserved water to the bowl

toss with oil mixture until absorbed

serve pasta warm or at room temp

ENJOY

sausage apple and cranberry stuffing

I tried to copy and paste the recipe but it didn't work. Sadly, I can't/won't spend 10 minutes transferring it by hand, I know, LAME. But... if you liked the stuffing I made for the evening, just click here!