peanut butter shortbread

I love going to the peanut butter company website to find new exciting ways to create baked goods with pb in them. Plus their peanut butter products are some of my favorite. A while ago I saw this recipe for peanut butter shortbread, bookmarked it, even printed it out to try at some point. Or as most of us say, put it in the "to cook" pile. I finally came around to baking it. If you are a lover of peanut butter then I highly suggest making this. It's very rich, very buttery and you can try new flavors of peanut butter to use (best part) in it. The recipes on their website change from month to month so I don't know if the pb shortbread is still up there, but I'll list it below for you. There is also a recipe, currently up there, for pb hot chocolate. Sounds good.
I loved this shortbread so much, that the next time I make it I want to dip one end of the shortbread in melted milk chocolate and give these out to family & friends as Christmas gifts. I haven't even begun to start my holiday baking! Ack! Anyone else way behind in baking? For some reason I am having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit lately. Maybe it's all the rain and lack of sunshine. Who knows. I did all my Christmas cards, but it felt like it took forever and a day to do. Anyone else in a Christmas-less funk?

PB Shortbread
adapted from The Peanut Butter Company

2 cups flour
2/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white chocolate pb (or try the: Dark Chocolate dreams, Mighty Maple)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
(I added 1/2 cup of Nestle pb & milk chocolate swirls morsels)

Prehead the oven to 275 (I cooked mine at 300 degrees). Grease a 9-inch cake pan for wedges or I guess you could use a square pan or even roll into balls for cookies.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt and set aside.
In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla till fluffy.
Continue mixing, adding the dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time, until fully incorporated.
If you want classic wedges, at this point press the dough into the prepared cake pan, using a knife to score the surface of the dough into 12 wedge-shaped pieces. (I put mine in the fridge to chill for an hour before baking, then scored the dough before baking)
Repeatedly press the tips of a fork around the outer edge of the shortbread, creating four concentric circles of dots.
Bake for 60 - 75 minutes (I baked mine at 300 degrees for 60 minutes) or until shortbread is a pale golden color (if using the chocolate pb look for a slight crispness around the edges).
If in wedges, allow to cool for 1 hour before cutting.
(the next time I make these I am dipping one end of the shortbread into melted milk chocolate). Store in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I put caramel drizzle on almost everything.
A big thank you to my friend Elle over at Elle's New England Kitchen. I won her recent giveway contest and will be receiving Barefoot Contessa's latest book "Back to Basics". I am over-the-moon thrilled to have won.

ham and cheese sliders

Oh. my. goodness. Are you sitting down?
I have something really tasty and flavorful to share with you: sliders, made with ham & cheese. I've never heard of these before, not in the ham & cheese version just burger version.
But boy these were so tasty, and that onion topping?
 I could eat just that on the bun.
 So good, and be generous when making the topping--don't skimp!


So much fun to make, extremely tasty too. Perfect for a football party.
You can make massive quantities with minimal effort.
I used those mini dinner potato rolls from Martins. Almost every grocery store has them.
That topping is killer!

ham & cheese sliders
print recipe

2 TB dried minced onions
1 TB Dijon mustard (I used 2 TB)
2 TB poppy seeds
I used a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 stick melted butter
1 dozen mini dinner rolls (I used 2 doz. Martin's Famous Dinner Potato Rolls)
1/2 pound ham (I used sweet capicola)
1/2 pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese (I used baby swiss)

Preheat oven to 325°. In a small mixing bowl mix onion, mustard, poppy seeds, Worcestershire sauce, and melted butter. Leaving the dinner rolls intact, slice them open so that you have one solid top and bottom. Don’t slice each one open, but rather as a whole. Place the bottom half on a baking sheet or in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Line the bottom half of the rolls with cheese slices and ham. Return the top part of the rolls and drizzle the butter mixture evenly over top. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Now use a sharp knife to separate the sandwiches.

cook notes:
I baked for 15 minutes with foil then about 7 with foil off as I wanted the tops to get a bit of crunch. These can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, may require 5 more minutes of baking. Also can be prepared ahead and frozen. Defrost in refrigerator overnight and bake as directed. Oh these were so fun to make and eat. You will be the hit of the party if you make these. Next time I make these I'm going to try it with cheeseburgers. Don't you think little BLT's would be good too? Or little buffalo chicken sliders?

first snow

Our first snow of 2008. It started early this morning and has been snowing all day, it's now 4pm and still light snow. This is the kind of snow that is light, wet and not sticking (yeah). As much as I hate winter and dream of summer, I have to admit it did look pretty outside with the light snow falling and gently covering everything white outside. I decided to let the pictures share with you what I saw today on my walks. Very pretty on a cold almost too dark day in winter at 2pm. (click on any picture to enlarge)


my front/side door--just thought this pic was too cool to pass up


my side yard under the old trellis--can you see the rose vine?
so pretty in the spring when it's in full bloom.


my backyard. something about the blanket of snow that makes everything so clean & fresh. see that bottle to the right? that's a bottle of Prosecco we shared one late August night when the temp. was 80 degrees at 7pm. I remember vividly the crickets that would sound-surround our house with croaking all night long; I loved that intensity.


my front yard, my neighbors to the left and straight ahead is our barn/garage. can you see the church tower on the left in the back? many decades ago that was a church; it later became a museum, then an antique shop, a doll museum, B&B and now it's owned by some very wealthy couple that bought it, gutted it, fixed the tower, added in stained glass windows, only to live there a few times a year. I saw the inside when it was a B&B and it was very cool; think gothic inside with a lot of light, stained glass windows and all open rooms, even the bathrooms (like a giant loft in SoHo).

those stained glass windows look wonderful when the sun is out.



the front of the above remodeled old church/now a home.



these are my neighbors to my right of my house. I loved this pic because in the summer this street is lined with tourist cars & tourist walking about...just seems like such a ghost town (which I love).



the street on which that other blue church sits, down the road a bit another church.
this one is a functioning church.



we have a lot of churches in this area.


I just loved this pic, sidewalk on main street in front of the church.



down the road from the above pic, our old Town Hall, still functioning in a way for meetings and the like, but the main town hall moved down the street to a move energy efficient building. aren't those columns cool though? hard to tell from this pic, but the building is really tall.



across from the Town Hall are these old fences over-looking the brook that feeds to the marsh.



Tiki checking out the falling snow.


then sitting in front of the heating vent in the hall


decides he prefers the heating vent by my desk.



this is why I'm always so cold! he covers the whole vent!

spicy pecan pie with cheddar cheese crust

I'm always raving about the great finds at Trader Joe's, and my deep love for their Sweet & Spicy pecans. The best part of these pecans is finding new ways to use them in recipes. Because in all honesty, I can literally sit down and eat 2 bags of the pecans. That's not good for me because they are kind of fattening. The heat/spice does not bother me; I can eat fairly hot food items without getting too over-heated. Some people say that over time you lose the sensitivity in your tongue because of eating to much spicy foods. That can't be true? Can it? I do know people that can eat way hotter foods than I can and never ever be bothered by it. Why is that? I've always wondered if it's a myth about your tongue over time becoming desensitized from the over-consumption of spicy foods. What do you think?

So, I've found another recipe for my favorite sweet & spicy pecans: spicy pecan pie. It was good, we had a lot leftover as hubby won't go near that spicy stuff, ever!

Spicy Maple-Pecan Pie with Cheddar Cheese Crust
(I adapted some of this from Closet Cooking)

print recipe

1 1/2 cups sweet & spicy pecans (found at Trader Joe’s)
1 cup light brown sugar, not packed
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoon bourbon (optional, but makes all the difference)
¾ stick of unsalted butter
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (I used 2 whole eggs, plus 1 egg yolk)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
(I used a pinch of cayenne-optional)
2 pie crusts (chilling in the fridge until used)
¼ - ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional, just use plain crust if you want)

Take 2 pre-made pie crusts of your own homemade pie crusts shaped into 2 circles for a regular sized pie plate.
Take one of the pie crusts and place on floured surface, place the shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top of the pie crust and gently push the shredded cheddar into the pie crust. You can use a rolling pin to push it in there. It's ok if some of the cheddar sticks out.
Take the other pie crust and put on top of bottom pie crust. Seal the crusts together and place into pie pan and form into a regular pie crust, crimping edges as you would any other pie crust. Once formed place ready pie crust into fridge to stay chilled.
Heat the sugar, syrup, bourbon and butter in a large saucepan until it boils, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and let cool.
In a separate bowl beat in the eggs, cream, vanilla and salt (and cayenne if using). When sugar mixture is cooled add in the egg mixture, combine well.
Spread the spicy pecans over the bottom of the pie crust.
Pour the liquid mixture into the pie crust.
Bake in a preheated 350F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes

double chocolate brownies with minty cream cheese frosting

The main reason I made these brownies is because of the frosting. Isn't that what it's always about: either the frosting or the crust? Aren't they the best parts? Just like when there is a really good cheesy casserole, the best part is the most golden, crispiest part of the crust; that's the part everyone wants in on. That's how I feel about frostings--go big or go home. I mean if you're going to go to all the trouble of making some stellar brownies, cakes, cookies, etc... then make a good frosting. Don't you hate when you bite into a gorgeous looking cake and the frosting is just awful: greasy, oily, too much sugar, too much food coloring (that does have a really bitter taste).
I had been mulling over a good mint cream cheese frosting for a while, but what was holding me back was the mint. I've tried some mint frostings that were just way too minty, so much so that it blew you away as you were coming in for a bite, all you could smell was the over-whelming smell of mint. And then it's colored green! Ick. Not for me. I like a really mild mint flavor with no food coloring. And once you have that then you can add in the creamy richness of cream cheese. Some of you may think mint & cream cheese in a frosting? Ugh. No! Trust me, if done right it's good and it melds well.

To make these bad boys just use your favorite brownie recipe and then use this minty frosting:

1 package of cream cheese, 8oz. room temp
1 cup of confectioners sugar (maybe a little more)
1 ts of cream or half & half (maybe a little more)
a splash of peppermint extract (like a 1/2 ts; all depending on your liking)

Sift confectioners sugar, this is a must because it will help get rid of the lumps! Then mix all in a bowl until nice and creamy.
I decorated the tops of the brownies with some chocolate peppermint bark. Or you can use crushed candy canes. These should be kept in the fridge as it has cream cheese in it.