Almost Instant Hutch Update: Green is the New Orange!

An extremely generous co-worker and friend gave me a hutch several months ago.  I absolutely loved it, and not just because of the low, low price point!  It is beautiful, with two glass shelves, a light, and windowed doors in a top area that is perfect for displaying breakables like my hurricane lanterns and some of my great-grandmother's china.  On bottom there is a solid single-doored area for storage.  It is an old-fashioned and genuinely lovely piece of furniture.

OK, except for one thing: at some point someone painted the original back of the hutch orange.  Really, really orange.  And streaky, because they didn't spring for multiple coats of paint to get it even.

I lived with the orange for a while, thinking I would paint the back when I made some other decisions about painting my cheap living room furniture.

Eventually, I realized that I didn't want to do what the previous owners did.  Just painting over the orange wouldn't bring back the niceness of wood grain, and if I wanted to change it later I would just be adding more coats of paint.

Enter my genius plan: cover the orange with fabric!  I found a great microsuede-like fabric in a dark green that was very similar to the fabric covering my living room chair and ottoman.  I used simple push pins (though I had to hammer them into the hard wood) to attach it, then put the glass shelves back into their original positions.  I think it turned out really nice.  It is colored, but is sort of neautral in that coloring...and I can change it quickly and easily anytime I want to!

Retro Recipes: Fruit Cocktail Cookies

 

The second recipe of the two that I completed for the Nom-Nom Baking Challenge at Work was for Fruit Cocktail Cookies (see the first recipe here).  I always loved fruit cocktail as a kid--the cherries were my favorite part--so it seemed like something worth trying.

I'll put the original recipe and then my modern, updated version with more information that might help people who aren't experienced bakers or who aren't used to using old recipes.

Three things to note about this recipe:

• The cookies, as I made them, turned out kind of like little fruit cakes in texture.
• The original recipe said that the raisins and nuts were optional.  I added them and some extra cherries leftover from making the Cherry Nut Loaf.  I would not recommend leaving them out; I think the cookies would be really bland without them.  And if you do leave them out, you should definitely swap them for other fruit and/or nuts. 
• This recipe is really large; I made nearly 6 dozen cookies and still had some extra dough.
• I didn't have any cloves, so I made do with a combo of other spices that I have.  

Original Recipe, as it appeared in Adventures in the Kitchen, the 1954 Waverly Lutheran Church Cookbook:
1 c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
3 beaten eggs
1 c. raisins (may omit)
2 c. well drained finely diced fruit cocktail
1 1/2 c. nuts (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla
Sift together 1 tsp. soda, 1 tsp. B. P., 4c. flour, 1 tsp. each of cloves and cinnamon.  Mix well.  Drop by teaspoonful on lightly greased cookie sheet, Bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned.

--Mrs. Sanford Anderson

Modern Version:

Ingredients:

• 1 c. margarine
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 c. raisins or other dried fruit (craisins would probably be yummy!)
• 2 c. well drained, finely diced fruit cocktail (this is more than 1 can, but less than 2)
• 1 1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
• 1/4 c. (or more) chopped maraschino cherries
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 4c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 tsp. Penzey's baking spice   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
2. Cream together margarine, white sugar, and brown sugar.  
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla.  
4. Mix in all fruit and nuts.  
5. In a separate bowl, sift together salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and all spices.  
6. Mix dry and wet ingredients together.  
7. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet (I used foil sprayed with Pam spray on cookie sheets).  
8. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Retro Recipes: Cherry Nut Loaf

At work we have an email group called NomNomNom, also known as "Where the Treats At?"  In general, people send announcements when there is left-over party food or if someone has a big batch of a work treat to share.  However, every once in a while, we have a special event.  For the end-of-summer, we had our first bake-off challenge.

Since we work for a Historical Society, selecting historical recipes made sense.  We have a huge collection of cookbooks from all over Minnesota and who doesn't like to muddle through less-than-exact directions?

The organizer picked the book Adventures in the Kitchen, a 1954 cookbook compiled by the women of the Waverly Lutheran Church.  Participants could make any of the cookies, bars, pies, or quick breads/muffins.  I chose to make two recipes: Cherry Nut Loaf and Fruit Cocktail Cookies.  The first is described below and the second is in another post on this blog.

I'll put the original recipe and then my modern, updated version with more information that might help people who aren't experienced bakers or who aren't used to using old recipes. Oh, yeah, and my recipe has more cherries than the original.  Why?  'Cause I like cherries.

Original Recipe:
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
5 oz. jar of chopped maraschino cherries or 1/3 cup cherries and 1/4 c. juice
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. B.P.
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. nut meats chopped
Beat sugar and eggs until light, add cherry juice and dry ingredients alternately.  Add cherries and nuts. Bake 1 hour in 350 degree oven

--Mrs. Ollie Kleinschrodt

--Mrs. Orville Peterson

--Mrs. J. H. Holland 

(Guest Cooks)

Modern Version:

Ingredients:

• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 of a 10 oz. jar of chopped maraschino cherries, drained and chopped plus 1/4 cup reserved drained juice 
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. nuts, chopped (I used walnuts this time)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Whisk eggs and sugar together until well mixed and light/fluffy.  
3. In another bowl, stir together dry ingredients
4. Alternately add cherry juice and dry mixture.
5. When well blended, stir in cherries and nuts.  
6. Lightly grease sides and bottom of standard loaf pan
7. Bake loaf 45 to 60 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf.  My loaf was not done at all when I checked it after 40 minutes, but probably slightly overdone when I checked it at 50 minutes.  
8. Let cool, loosen edges, and remove loaf from pan. 

Sweet and fruity chicken salad

I have been making and tinkering with the following fruity chicken salad recipe for several years.  It is based on a Hungry Girl recipe called Sweet 'n Chunky Chicken Salad.  The idea is that it is sort of like a Waldorf salad, but I like to think of it as a totally different thing.  My version has more fruits and veggies than the original, making it less saucy.  None of the amounts in the ingredients are exact, it is definitely a "to taste" thing.  

I have added walnuts to it, topped a sandwich with avocado, added extra salt and pepper to the top of it, eaten it straight out of the bowl with a fork, and other serving variations.  I've also made it without any mayo (when I just didn't have any in the house) and without any sweetener (because I forgot, but it was still pretty good!).  It is filling and a great way to use yummy fruits and veggies to make a healthy lunch.  

Here it is:

Ingredients:

• About 1 cup cooked and chopped skinless chicken breast (rotisserie chicken makes it extra-tasty!)
• 1/2 to 1 cup peeled, chopped cucumber
• 1/2+ cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 1/2+ cup chopped apple (usually I just cut up half to 3/4 of a medium to large sized apple)
• 1/4 cup (heaping) plain, fat free, Greek yogurt 
• 2 Tbsp light or fat free mayo
• 1 packet Splenda
• 1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
• dash salt
• pepper and more lemon pepper, to taste

 Directions:

1) Mix yogurt, mayo, Splenda, salt, pepper, and lemon pepper.

2) Stir in chicken, coating evenly

3) Stir in remaining ingredients

4) You can eat this right away, or you can let the flavors mellow a bit in the fridge.  

This makes 2 really large servings.

Photos of chicken salad are never really gonna look that appealing, but here is an example:

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Nutella Glaze

A colleague from work is leaving because she just got a super-cool new professional gig at another institution  in the city.  She'll do really great there, but she will certainly be missed at out work.  And what better way to say "Congrats and Good Luck!" than sharing baked goods, right? :)

I did a little multiple-choice form-and-flavor questioning to find the best thing for the last day celebration.  She picked cake and chocolate and mentioned that Nutella was a good thing in her book. 
 

Then I did some online recipe searches and found the following on OneDollarCottage.com.  Well, a version of it, anyway...this has my edits and changes.  

It turned out really good!  Lots of compliments and positive reviews from everyone.  The cake was moist and dense, and the glaze was really chocolate-y.  (Actually, the glaze was really thick, so it didn't turn out quite as delicately decorative as I initially wanted.  But it ended up looking pretty nice and tasting so good, that I forgive it for being a bit hard to work with.)

Plus, bundt cakes always look really special and fancier than sheet cakes.  And people can cut small slivers or big chunks, depending on how people feel  

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• 1 box of instant chocolate pudding
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup sour cream (I actually used light sour cream, because then I will use the left overs in my cooking in the next day or so.  It worked perfectly.)
• Mini chocolate chips, about 1 1/2 cups or so

Cake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Grease bundt cake pan. 
3. Combine ingredients in a bowl
4. Mix with a mixer (or a spoon and then a whisk, like I did) for about 2 minutes; batter will be really, really thick.  
5. Add chocolate chips, and fold in by hand. 
6. Put batter into pan and spread/shake to even it out a bit. 
7. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester stuck in the center comes out clean. 
8. Turn out onto a plate.  
9. Add glaze while warm.  

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a 12 oz. jar hazelnut-chocolate spread (usually this means Nutella, but I had a 20% off coupon for the Hershey's version.  Since this is for the glaze, the difference in texture between the types of spreads shouldn't matter)
• 1/3 of a stick of butter/margarine (I used the second, 'cause that's what I had in my fridge)
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla, or so

The original recipe called for a full jar of Nutella and a full stick of butter.  I just wanted to have a drizzle-glaze, rather than a full-cake-glaze, so less seemed like a good idea.  And a lower ratio of butter--while making it thicker--also made it more Nutella-like.  I definitely recommend less-is-more (butter) in this circumstance!  

Glaze Directions:

1. Put spread and margarine in a microwave-safe bowl.  Heat slowly on a medium to medium-high setting until melted.  (You could also do this on the stove in a medium or small saucepan.)
2. Stir together
3. Add vanilla
4. Whisk together
5. Drizzle over warm cake

Almond chocolate-chip shortbread cookies

Two weeks ago I went to see some Scottish music at a 9 Nights of Music event. (9 nights of music is free to all and takes place at the Minnesota History Center on Tuesday nights in the summer.  If you haven't been, you should try it!)

Since I had friends coming to hear the music with me I decided to make them a Scottish dessert.  My favorite is sticky-toffee pudding, but that is more of a winter/fall thing and since it is best served warm, it wasn't the perfect thing.  

I ended up making shortbread cookies.  Something that is highly portable, almost universally enjoyed, and easy to change depending on what you like to add as mix-ins.  They can also be easily fancied up with chocolate drizzle or coating, or by rolling the edges in sugars or nuts.  Super simple, but also super versatile.  And very, very Scottish!

I particular, I made almond shortbread rounds with mini chocolate chips.  I've used all sorts of recipes before, but this time I adapted from Martha Stewart's Ice-box Shortbread recipes and made the recipe that appears below.   

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (in all honesty, I only had margarine and not butter in my fridge, so I used that instead.  The shortbread was still delicious)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (or more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (next time, I'm going to leave this out, I think.  My other shortbread recipes don't have salt unless the other flavors involved really call for it)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
• about 1/2 cup or a bit more of mini chocolate chips.  

Directions

1. Mix/beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt, until smooth.  
2. Add flour, mixing just until dough forms
3. Stir in chocolate chips
4. Divide dough in half and place each half on floured parchment paper
5. With floured hands, roll each dough portion into a log, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter.
6. Wrap logs in the paper and refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour). 
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
8. Unwrap log and slice dough into about 3/8 inch thick rounds.
9. Put rounds on parchment paper covered baking sheet, about 1 inch apart
10. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned around edges
11. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then remove to cool completely 

Hint: I baked one log of dough the day I made it and the other I pulled out of the fridge and baked the next morning.  However, if you plan on storing the dough for longer, I would wrap the parchment in saran wrap or put in in a ziploc bag to keep it from drying out too much.   

Blueberry-Banana Bread

I was looking in my fridge last week and realized that I had a whole pint of blueberries that I didn't know I had.  They sorta of ended up shoved behind something else and I had forgotten about them.  I looked closer at them and discovered that they where still mostly good.  Maybe not the best for eating one-by-one, but definitely perfect for baking.

 

I also happened to have a few mushy bananas and so I wanted to make banana-blueberry cupcakes for a gathering later this week.  You'd be surprised at the number of people trying to call muffins "cupcakes." Hello! They are very different things, with different textures and crumb.  Yeah.  Well.  I wasn't going to be fooled.

Instead I decided to go with an easier-to-wash-the-pan option and just make a banana-blueberry bread.  The normal, classic recipe that I have for banana bread works fine with nuts or chocolate chips, but I was worried about how well it would stand up to the juiciness of fresh berries.  So I went to the great and powerful internet to find instructions. 

Some of the options I found online looked ridiculous or overly fussy.  The one I settled on is from Giada DiLaurentis and I then made a few tweaks so what I did is as written below. It turned out well: moist, solid, with good fruit flavor and berries throughout.  I'm adding this to my repertoire and think that a strawberry or raspberry experimental version might also turn out well. 

Ingredients:

• Pam spray to grease the pan (or butter or some other kind of shortening 
• 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (plus a smidge extra for flouring the pan) 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 1 tsp. salt 
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I did a slightly heaping teaspoon) 
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 
• 5 or so good sprinkles of Penzey's baking spice (totally optional, but I'm adding it to anything with cinnamon and/or nutmeg these days) 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used my double-strength vanilla) 
• 2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 3/4 cup of banana) 
• about 1 cup of fresh blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Grease and flour a standard loaf pan (9x5x3 inches)
3. In one bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking spice
4. In a second bowl, whisk/beat sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla, until well blended
5. Stir bananas and blueberries into sugar/oil/eggs mixture
6. Add dry mixture and stir until blended
7. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake about 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean (Note: your loaf pan could make this time much longer or much shorter, depending on the material and exact dimensions.)
8. Cool loaf in pan for 15 or 20 minutes and then turn out to cool on a plate or wire rack. 
9. Cool completely before cutting.