A Christmas Tradition: Mincemeat Cookies

A tell-tale sign it’s Christmas at our house is the making of Mincemeat cookies. I grew up with these Christmas cookies, but not everyone (outside family) likes them. Actually, mincemeat sounds rather gross to me, but made into cookies they disappear quickly.
Mincemeat is a mixture of minced apples, raisins, spices, currants, and sometimes minced meat (which, if it is in the jar, you can’t taste it), that is usually made into pies. Never tasted mincemeat pie (and don’t care to, thank you!). It is NOT like fruit cake. It is a cake-like spice cookie with little chunks of apples and raisins, and a little sweetness. Mincemeat is only available during the Christmas season, and one jar makes two batches. Recipe is on the jar.
Try it! You might like it!

Mincemeat Cookies
1 c. shortening
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1-1/3 cups (1/2 of a 28 oz. jar) None Such Mince Meat

Official directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. In large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs, beating until smooth. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in mincemeat. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and no longer glossy in center. Makes about 6-1/2 dozen.

Note: In my usual style, I mix all the dry ingredients first, cut in the shortening, and then mix in the eggs and mincemeat. They turn out the same as following the official directions! (watch over-browning around the edges)
Another Note: there are two types of mincemeat: apples and raisins, and brandy and rum. There's a little red oval label on the lower right side of the regular label that tells you which is which. We always buy the apples and raisins type.

Pomegranate Jelly!

This recipe was just as fast as the Spiced Apple Jelly. An hour at most, from start to finish, and you're done!

GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES

large bowl for measured sugar

wooden spoon for stirring

8 qt. stock pot

1/2 pint preserving jars with lids and bands

pomegranate juice

powdered pectin

granulated sugar

butter, optional

boiling water bath or steamer canner

Recipe:

3-1/2 cups prepared or bottled pomegranate juice

1 box fruit pectin

1/2 tsp. butter, optional

5 cups granulated sugar

7 (8oz.) half pint glass preserving jars

Begin:

Prepare canner and set aside. Heat jars (I put them on a cookie sheet in a low heat oven - 200 degrees). Soften lids by putting them in hot water till ready for use.

Measure sugar in a large bowl; set aside.

In an 8 qt. stock pot, pour pomegranate juice. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. butter to reduce foaming, if desired (I did. See it?).

Over high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Add entire measure of sugar and dissolve thoroughly. Bring mixture to a full boil again.

Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat; skim foam if necessary. I use a napkin to lightly skim the surface of liquid to gather foam to the sides and lift out any foam.

Ladle into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rim, set lid on top, twist on band till fintertip tight.

Process in canner 10 minutes.

Remove jars and cool.

This and other home canning recipes can be found at the Ball Canning website.

Spiced Apple Jelly

Fast and simple jelly made from apple juice - a family favorite.

4 cups bottled or canned apple juice

1 package powdered fruit pectin

5-1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

In a small stock pot, combine juice, spices and pectin; bring to a full boil. Stir in sugar; return to boil; boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim off foam.

Ladel into hot jars to within 1/2 inch of jar top. Wipe jar rim, seal, twist on lids. Process in water bath canner 5 minutes, or process in fruit steamer canner 5 minutes. Remove and cool; tighten lids. Best if left to set 12 hours before opening.

Delicious! I love the amber color with little specs of cloves floating around in it.

I love my steamer canner! It's great for making jams, jellies, and bottling fruit, and it's so easy to use. I bought it about 20 years ago, and though it shows wear, still works great. Holds 7 quarts or pints.

Next jelly making venture will be with pomegranate juice!

Blueberry French Toast - side note

I was in a hurry when I wrote the last post about Blueberry French Toast; I was so excited to share the recipe because it was different from other recipes I've tried, and I was on my way out the door. And, to be correct, our daughter, Alisa, made the whole thing for us by herself early yesterday morning for breakfast for the whole family. However, among the many gourmet french toast recipes, my favorite is Stuffed French Toast.
Pretty simple: make regular french toast using texas toast but spread cream cheese between each set of two slices of toast and serve with blueberries and strawberries, and even a slice of orange on the side. Pancake syrup drizzled over the top with powdered sugar sprinkled over the whole thing really makes for a rich, filling breakfast. Your mouth says, "more, more, more!" but your tummy says, "stop, stop, stop!"
I always like hearing about and trying recipes. Any variations on this one that are out there would be great to hear. Please share!

Blueberry French Toast. Outstanding!

I wish I had a picture of this. But since I don't, try to imagine the beauty of it. This recipe was found on the back of a Safeway Texas Toast bread bag and was developed by cookbook author Marlene Sorosky Gray. Our daughter, Alisa, made it for breakfast blueberries and strawberries, and both were a big hit!

Bluberry French Toast Casserole
4 eggs or 1 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup whole or fat free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 slices (we used 6) Safeway Texas Toast
4-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries,
not defrosted (about 1-1/2 lbs.)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cornstarch
powdered sugar for sprinkling on top

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. Dip bread into batter; turn to coat both sides. Cut last piece in half to fit and place bread on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour any remaining batter over bread. (If desired, bread may be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight.)
Place oven rack in top third of oven and preheat to 450 F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place blueberries, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in dish; stir to mix well. Place bread slices on berries. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toast is golden and berries are bubbling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. To serve, use a spatula to remove toast to plates. Spoon blueberries and sauce over toast.
Makes 6-7 servings.
What we did: we used one 9x13 dish each for blueberries and strawberries. We made up the egg mixture and set aside. We mixed the berries and ingredients in a separate bowl and turned onto the 9x13 pan, then, after dipping the bread slices into the egg mixture, we placed them over the berries, then baked, and ate!

Canning Potatoes

I've always wanted to try canning something other than peaches, pears and jellies, but have shyed away from it because of the fear of broken jars, wasted money, and ruined food. But the opportunity arose to try canning potatoes, so I decided I'd give it a try (thanks to Momzoo for the inspiration). I asked a few of my older girls to help buy some potatoes, and help can them (the Chicken Little theory), and guess what? No broken jars (at least, not today; tomorrow may be a different story) ! Thanks, Alisa, for helping on the first day of canning!

Here's what I did:

First you scrub the potatoes really good and rinse them twice. Cut into chunks and save in salted water (so they don't turn brown) till you're finished chunking.

Then add them to boiling water for two minutes. Fill the jars loosely with potato chunks, add 1 tsp. salt, and pour the water they were boiled in, into the jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Twist on the caps, and place in the pressure canner (that has boiling water in it).

Follow the manufacturers instructions for your canner regarding water levels and proper procedures for canning.

My canner calls for 3 quarts of water, holds 5 jars, and the potatoes process for 40 minutes.

This is before being processed (above). And this is after being processed (below). They look alike, but they're not.....really!

Ten pounds of potatoes yielded about 10 quart jars. We went through about 40 pounds of potatoes today with another 50 to go. It's really not that hard! I might try something else in the future after making it this far with my canner!

Cheese Stuffed Potato Pancakes

Our usual favorite with leftover mashed potatoes is potato pancakes. But this time, we spiced it up and found it to be a big hit.

(remember, at our house, we don't measure anything when cooking from scratch, so these measurements are close guesses)

To the mashed potatoes (which I had already added salt and pepper the day before), I added:

1/2 cup finely diced onions

2 eggs

dash of salt

dash of pepper

1 cup flour, plus flour for dusting

1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese (the spice)

Olive oil for frying

On a floured surface, drop a scoop of mashed potato mixture.

Mash flat and form into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Both sides should be floured.

Sprinkle a teaspoonful of grated cheese into center of pancake.

Fold edges in toward center covering the cheese.

Fry on medium low heat until golden brown on both sides.

We kept them warm in the oven until ready to serve. This was, of course, after we tried a few. Yummy! The spicy melted cheese with the soft potato texture was really a complement to our dinner.

Exclamatory Verbage!!!!

"OH, HOT DOG!"
Even before Jeffrey R. Holland's talk (May Conference 2007) about the language we use around our families, I'd tried to watch my words. I remember the saying, "A soft answer turneth away wrath (Prov. 15:1)" and I know that the effect of kind words lifts those around us. But non abrasive, not-so-hard-to-hear words of frustration are sometimes hard to find in those moments of exasperation. So a while back, I came up with a few softer, easier-to-hear words that make my family aware that I'm miffed about something, but don't have that cutting edge to them.
"Oh, hot dog!" has stuck for the past few years, and had even made our youngest girl giggle. It usually comes out when I've realized something important didn't get done or didn't happen.
Such as:
Upon reaching the car with my cart full of groceries, I realized I forgot the milk I came for. "Oh, hot dog!"
With the first batch of chocolate chip cookies ready to go into the oven, I realized I forgot to add the eggs! "Oh, hot dog!"
I got all the way home from the store and realized I was supposed to put gas in the truck. "Oh, hot dog!"

"BOLONEY!" (I know it's really spelled Bologna) is used when I don't believe a word of what someone is saying.
Such as:
One of the boys says they've emptied the bathroom trash. "Boloney! Go empty it!"
"I don't have any homework!" "Boloney!"
"I DID sweep the floor!" "Boloney!"

In some instances, my frustration peaks and a foreign language comes out. Some kind of incomplete, jumbled words that don't even sound like real words gets blurted at someone at an instant when they're supposed to be hurrying up or when they need an attention-getting blast. "Bwa-ten-o-muh-sow-ehn!" This muddled word is never the same, but it's enough to get someone moving!

When I was little, my mother used to say "Fiddlesticks!" I thought, at the time, it was a cute thing to say, but never picked up on it.

Although I'm no where near perfect at using the English language to express my feelings and thoughts, at least for now, hopefully whatever words DO come out of my mouth during those moments of irritation, are a little softer on the ears!