Mini Cherry Pies

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I made these mini cherry pies yesterday when I didn't have enough cherries to make a full-sized pie. The crust has a little cinnamon in it.  I mixed the cherries with a little sugar and tapioca to draw out the juices and thicken them before baking. I think they're adorable!

Beefy Bean 'n Biscuit Casserole

Here's an interesting use for biscuits.   I tried this recipe for Beefy Bean 'n Biscuit Casserole from the Pilsbury Family Cookbook (1979).  Typically, I left out the sugar, because I don't appreciate sugar in hot dish.  The biscuits are cheese filled, which was a tasty treat.  I used homemade baked beans instead of canned Pork 'n Beans.  The more homemade you can make it, the better.  The hot dish itself calls for water and tomato paste.  I thought it turned out a little pasty.  Next time, I would skip the water and tomato paste, and just use a 16 ounce can of tomatoes - no more pasty.  The one mistake I made was adding a garlic clove instead of garlic salt, and then neglecting to add salt.  It was a little bland.  I think tomorrow, when I serve leftovers, I'll add some salt when I heat it up on the stove top.
I made the apple pie for dessert - also from the Pilsbury Family Cookbook.  The apples were from our trees outside, which tend to be particularly sweet, so I didn't add as much sugar to the apples as the recipe called for.  I made streusel topping instead of a double-crust.  I like the crunchy sweet goodness of streusel, and that saves the work of rolling out another crust.  This pie was particularly easy, since both pie crust and sliced apples had been made earlier, and came out of the deep-freeze.  All I had to do was add the butter, cinnamon, flour, and sugar, pop it in the oven.  That's my version of an instant dessert!

Pumpkin-Pecan Tea Loaf

I made this Pumpkin Bread from some pumpkin I had in the freezer from last Fall.  The recipe called for raisins, but I put in snipped dates.  The pecans add nice texture. I also cut down on the sugar by almost 2'3 cup.  It's from Sunset's Cook Book of Breads (1978), a book I really enjoy; the recipes are wonderful, and the pictures look so 70's and homey. 
I'm glad I baked that pumpkin in the Fall, so I can enjoy goodies like this.  It saves a trip to the grocery store for a can of pumpkin, and a trip to the recycling center with the empty can.

Date Tarts

I finally made these Date Tarts after the dough sat in the refrigerator for nearly a week. My Grandma used to make Date Pinwheels - my favorite kind that she made. My Mom made stuffed date cookies similar to these. Looking through my Sunset Cookies (1989) book last week, these cookies sounded just too good to pass up. I stirred the dry ingredients together that same evening, and mixed up the rest of the dough the next day. I tried out a couple just to be sure the recipe was working, and I was not disappointed. The freshly grated ginger in these tastes amazing!
I lowered the amount of sugar in these cookies, and added a couple tablespoons of milk, because the dough was too stiff without it.
"Date Tarts"
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted unsweetened wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 - 3 Tablespoons milk
Beat butter and sugar together until creamy; beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the dry ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly. Cover dough, and refrigerate for at least two hours, or up to 3 days. (I refrigerated mine for several days.) Meanwhile, prepare date filling.
Take out half the dough, and roll it out on a floured board to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out into 3-inch rounds.
Place half the cookies slightly apart on greased cookie sheet; spoon a heaping teaspoonful of filling onto each. Dampen edges of cookies with water, using a pastry brush. Cover each cookie with another cookie round; press together with a fork around edges. Cut a decorative x in the top of each cookie. Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 - 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

Date Filling. In a small pan, combine 1 1/2 cups lightly packed snipped, pitted dates, 1/2 cup water, and 2 Tablespoons honey. Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing with a spoon, until mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Let cool; then cover and refrigerate.

Egg Yolk Doughnuts

This evening, I made one of my favorite kinds of bread: doughnuts. My students and I were discussing sweets in class yesterday. They were trying to convince me that I would like Crispy Cream Doughnuts, and were incredulous when I told them I like to make my own doughnuts. After a long day of teaching and studying today, the thought of doughnuts sounded so inviting that I made half a batch of my Mom's recipe for Egg Yolk Doughnuts with freshly grated nutmeg. The apartment smells heavenly! It's amazing how the scent of frying doughnuts brings back so many lovely memories of home. They taste amazing, too! And I was even able to restrain myself to the extent that I have enough leftover to share with my students tomorrow.

Maple Nut-Cardamom Rolls

It's a hot day in August. Christmas music accidentally chiming from the I-pod on my stereo brings a celebratory mood to the atmosphere of my apartment as the scent of cardamom lingers in the air. That's right, I made cardamom rolls, not cinnamon. All I can say about the source for this recipe is that the inspiration for it came from Better Homes and Gardens Comfort Food (1992), because I changed the whole recipe.
Maple Nut-Cardamom Rolls
In a saucepan, heat until butter melts:
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter
Allow milk mixture to cool, transfer it to a large bowl, and stir in until combined:
1 cup whole wheat flour
Cover with a plate or plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, remove dough from refrigerator, and add:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, and on high speed for 3 minutes.
Stir in unbleached white flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it can no longer be stirred. Turn out on floured surface, and knead in enough unbleached white flour to make a moderately soft dough. Place in an oiled bowl, and turn dough over once, so that entire surface of dough is covered with oil. Cover; let rise about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, mix together in a bowl:
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
When dough has risen, punch it down, and divide it in half. Roll each half into an 8 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread each half with:
1 Tablespoon butter
Sprinkle each half with half of the pecan mixture, and roll up with a long side facing you. Pinch closed, and slice each half into 8 pieces. Place rolls cut side down in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Let rise 30 - 45 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, for Maple Glaze combine in a small bowl:
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon Maple syrup
Enough milk to make of drizzling consistency (2 - 3 teaspoons)
When rolls are finished baking, remove them from the oven, and drizzle them with the Maple Glaze.

Farmer's Tomato Pie

It's almost time for school to begin again, which means attending meetings and teaching classes, but August is not quite over yet, and we're just beginning to enjoy the tomato bounty, one of the wonderful gifts of the end of summer.
I've made this tomato pie from Better Homes and Gardens 2001 Recipe Annual three times over the past couple of weeks. It's delicious! Use your favorite pie crust recipe, bake it, and fill it with divine tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, garlic, and bread crumbs, bake it, and then sprinkle it with fresh basil leaves. Amazing!

Farmer's Tomato Pie
1 1/3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 coves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fine dry bread crumbs
2 lb. ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (about 6 cups)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
Baked 10-inch pie shell
Layer first four ingredients in baked pie shell. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
I have simplified the instructions. If you want the original recipe, find it in the August section of the Better Homes and Gardens 2001 Recipe Annual. Their recipe also calls for cherry tomatoes, which would also be good, but they're not necessary.