Smelling Like the Holidays

Getting your house to smell inviting and delicious for the holidays doesn't take endless candles, air fresheners and plug-ins... it just takes some water and a few spices.

Get a small pot for the stove and put in a few inches of water (the smaller the pot, the faster it boils which is a good thing). Drop in a cinnamon stick and a few cloves. You can also add a sprinkle of ginger or orange/lemon peel if you have it or want to. Turn up the heat and within a few minutes, your kitchen, and soon the rest of your house, will smell like Christmas!

This tactic works faster and, I think, better than candles. Plus, you don't have to worry about the stuff that burns off candles if you're worried about that. And... it's cheap :)

Monkey Bread Deluxe

I tried a new recipe for "Gorilla Bread" that was based off of one from Paula Deen. It sounded awesome in theory... basically it's monkey bread but each piece of bread is filled with cream cheese. How was it in practice? Eh.

I did it in a 9-inch round pan and cut the recipe in half since I was just trying it and didn't want to do a whole one.

The recipe said to take each biscuit (refrigerated) and press it out and put a block of cream cheese in the center with some cinnamon sugar. Then you sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top, then top it all with a melted butter and brown sugar mixture.

I baked it, pulled it out and found that it was... ok, but the pieces were just too big. When I tried it, I thought that the cream cheese needed to be sweetened. Simply sprinkling the cinnamon sugar in the center with the cream cheese didn't do the trick.

So, for the next time, here's the recipe I'll use:

1 can of refrigerated biscuits (10 count)

1/2 pkg cream cheese

3 Tbsp white sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

*chopped pecans to sprinkle (the original recipe called for walnuts but I think pecans will taste better, use whatever you want... or none at all!)

-------

3 Tbsp white sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

Turn your oven to 350. Grease a round 9" pan, and then sprinkle the bottom with chopped pecans (optional).

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and cinnamon together, set aside. Mix together the second set of sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Separate the biscuits and cut them each in half. Press them out with your fingers into an oval shape.

Fill each piece of dough with a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture. Press the dough closed around the cream cheese, roll in cinnamon sugar and place in the pan. Repeat until all the dough is used. Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar over the dough balls.

In a small pan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and pour over the dough balls.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the balls look baked through. Let the pan cool for about 5 minutes, then turn it over on a plate. Enjoy warm.

*If you double this recipe, bake it in a bundt pan.

**Disclaimer: I have not yet made this new recipe but I'm planning on it later this week and will post my findings. Just from my experience with the recipe I WAS using, I think these changes will be better.

Cooking is all about experimenting and finding what works for you and your family. Do things need more salt? More sugar? No mushrooms? Add some spice? Cut it in half for a smaller family? Nothing about it is an exact science, but I love trying new things.

Cheesecake Any Cake

I get so tired of plain old layer cakes. Yes, cake is awesome. Who doesn't love a good healthy dose of cake? I sure don't mind it. However, I like to mix things up so my desserts have a little more flair than the typical.

This one is easy, but just takes some time in advance for preparing the cheesecake layer. I like to do this the night before we are going to have to take the cake somewhere because Cheesecake is better after it's set and aged for a night in the fridge.

2 pkgs cream cheese (room temp)

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp lemon zest

*instead of the lemon juice and zest, you can add a Tbsp or 2 of your liquor of choice (Amaretto and Kahlua tend to work nicely with their flavors)

Preheat your oven to 300 and line whatever round pan you're going to use for the cake with foil and then cooking spray.

Beat the cream cheese. Add the sugar when the cheese is fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.

Stir in the sour cream, lemon juice, and zest.

Beat until smooth and then pour into th prepared pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 45-50 minutes at 300. After that time is up, turn off the oven and let the cheesecake stand in the hot oven for another hour. Take the cheesecake out and let it cool.

When it is cooled, cover it and put it in the fridge overnight. (You don't have to let it set that long, but I think the flavor is better).

When you make your double layers the next day, assemble the cake with a layer of cake, a little icing to help the cheesecake to stick, put the cheesecake on, spread a little more icing, then out your last layer of cake on top. Frost the whole thing as usual.

You can add this layer to any box mix cake that you want to make (or if you're an over achiever, you can make your cake from scratch) . I did a red velvet cake with the cheesecake layer and homemade cream cheese butter cream frosting.

Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese (softened)

1 stick butter (softened)

3ish cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Seriously, beat it forever.

Add the powdered sugar a little at a time.

Add the vanilla and keep beating the frosting until it's super light and fluffy.

*This is the best frosting I've ever made. I LOVE it.*

Not so Sloppy Joe Cups

The Sloppy Joe... an American staple. Loved by kids and adults. Have you ever found yourself with a family with a Sloppy Joe craving but didn't have hamburger buns? This happens to me pretty much every time. I don't always keep hamburger buns in the house. This recipe is one that I found to work really well.

Instead of buns, use biscuits. Either store bought "whop" biscuits or homemade biscuit dough works too. It just depends on what you have in the house.

Make your Sloppy Joe's as you normally would, again, either with store bought Manwich" or whatever sauce you use. I make my own up using a mixture of condiments (BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard (regular and dijon)) when I don't have any Manwich on hand.

After your Sloppy Joe mixture is done, get your biscuits and a muffin tray. Spray out the muffin tin cups so they don't stick too badly. Press out each biscuit so they are about 4-5 inches in diameter and press down into each muffin cup. Fill each biscuit cup with a spoonful of Sloppy Joe mixture.

Put then in the oven at about 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the biscuit cups are brown. Right after you take them out of the oven, you can top each cup with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.

My family loves these things and it's a nice mix from the typical sloppy Joe while still holding onto the original integrity of the meal.