Holiday Appetizer From Chef Grant Actatz: Sweet Potato Toppers

From Denny:  This is a sweet appetizer to enjoy for the holiday season while the turkey is roasting.  Because it is sweet potato it will hold over those rumbling stomachs waiting for the feast.

This appetizer is so simple as it is a sweetened whipping cream and sweet potato mixture topped off with bourbon soaked raisins rolled in spices like cinnamon and ginger with a bit of brown sugar.

With the cracker of your choice (make sure it is strong enough to hold this mixture as sweet potatoes are heavy) just spread with the back of a spoon - or pipe like icing - some of the sweet potato mixture onto the cracker.  Then place the bourbon soaked and spice-sugar rolled raisins on top all in a row.  Simple, easy and serve immediately!

Nutrition facts follow after recipe.  Good news:  very low in sodium per serving.

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Chef Grant Actatz's Sweet Potato Toppers

Servings:  20

From:  Kellogg's

Preparation Time:  40 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices (about 1-3/4 lb. total)

3/4 cup bourbon or orange juice

1/2 cup raisins

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

Crackers Keebler™ Town House Toppers™ Original

Directions:

1. In large saucepan combine cream, granulated sugar and salt. Add potatoes. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

2. Drain potatoes. Place potatoes in food processor bowl. Cover and process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, in small saucepan combine bourbon and raisins. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Let stand for 1 hour.

4. Drain raisins. Pat lightly with paper towels.

5. In shallow dish combine brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Add raisins. Stir until coated.

6. Generously spread sweet potato mixture on crackers. Top each with 3 or 4 raisins.

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Make some merry this holiday season! Jingle Jingle!

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Thank you for supporting this cause.  You rock!

Subscribe in a reader to Romancing The Chocolate

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place.  A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

* * * Be sure to check out the Romancing The Chocolate Amazon book store for cookbooks on chocolate!

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Holiday Cake: Chocolate Chip Gingerbread

From Denny:  Would this make a beautiful holiday food gift or what?  Who doesn't like chocolate or gingerbread during the holiday season?  The winter white vanilla glaze gives a strong visual contrast for presentation.  We do eat with our eyes...

This beautiful cake would be great for those holiday gatherings to beautify the dessert table.  Come on; if you are able to slightly warm the servings, melting the chocolate chips, then one whiff of that gingerbread and chocolate and this cake will go fast!

Santa Jingle Picture Ornament

Make some merry this holiday season! Jingle Jingle! This design also available in teapots, cocktail platters, serving trays, lots of bedding, area rugs, blankets, pajamas, pillows, clocks and so much more; come see!

Chocolate Chip Gingerbread

Servings:  Makes 16 servings

From:  McCormick spices

Preparation Time:  15 minutes

Cook Time:  40 minutes

Chocolate chips and cocoa added richness to traditional gingerbread. For an elegant touch, bake the cake in a Bundt pan instead of the typical square.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp McCormick® Ginger, Ground

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp McCormick® Cinnamon, Ground

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup molasses

1 egg

1 cup boiling water

1 cup chocolate chips

Vanilla Butter Glaze (recipe follows)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 10-cup Bundt pan with no stick cooking spray with flour. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, ginger, baking soda and cinnamon in medium bowl.  Set aside.

Beat butter, sugar and molasses in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture alternately with water, stirring just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Prepare Vanilla Butter Glaze. Spoon over cooled cake. Let stand until glaze is set.

Vanilla Butter Glaze: Mix 3 tablespoons butter, melted, 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons water and 1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract in medium bowl until well blended and smooth. Let stand 5 minutes.


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Cookies: Coconut-Almond Macaroons

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Christmas Confetti Round Ornament

Check out the riot of holiday color to brighten your tree!  This design also available in teapots, cocktail platters, serving trays, lots of bedding, area rugs, blankets, pajamas, pillows, clocks and so much more; come see!

And here is a site for:  Easy DIY Thanksgiving Crafts Kids Can Make

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Thank you for supporting this cause.  You rock!

Subscribe in a reader to Romancing The Chocolate

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place.  A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

* * * Be sure to check out the Romancing The Chocolate Amazon book store for cookbooks on chocolate!

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Healthy Chef Recipe: Yam Chocolate Spice Bars

From Denny:  Here's an interesting twist for the holidays - chocolate chips in your yams!  This is a quick recipe utilizing a spice cake mix, canned sweet potatoes, chocolate chips, real butter and reduced-fat cream cheese to create a delectable but easy to make dessert!

This recipe comes from Holly Clegg who has been a celebrity in Louisiana from some time now.  Why?  She was on the cutting edge of the food trends to reduce calories in our favorite comfort foods while adding nutrition.

Holly's father suffers from arthritis and she has developed a book of recipes to help those with arthritis reduce inflammation through food choices (think watermelon and sweet potatoes).  Holly also has a book on diabetes recipes.  Her mind is always thinking of healthier ways to trim, substitute or re-think our favorite recipes for modern times and health needs.

Louisiana yams and sweet potatoes are quite popular in our state so the local chefs are constantly thinking of new ways to include these vitamin A and vitamin C packed veggies into our everyday diet.  Holly also suggests this recipe is a good way to use up leftover sweet potatoes.

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Vintage Bicycle, a curious blast from the past, to warmly decorate the present. This design also available in flour and sugar containers, and teapots, cocktail plates, platters, serving trays and bedding, pillows, shower curtain, clocks, area rugs and more!

Here are a few tips to get you through the holidays from Holly Clegg:

• 1 cup canned = 1 medium cooked, fresh
• 1 (16-ounce) can = 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• When using canned sweet potatoes, add at end of recipe
• Baked sweet potatoes freeze well
• Store at room temperature

Yam Chocolate Spice Bars

Servings:  48 squares

From:  Holly Clegg for Albertson's grocery stores - and HollyClegg's Site

Preparation Time:  15 minutes

Cook Time:  50 minutes 

"One bite of this incredible fall favorite made with a spice cake mix, yam filling and chocolate chips was a taste sensation. Everyone requested this recipe. Good use for leftover cooked sweet potatoes."

Ingredients:

1 box (18.25-ounce) spice cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 package (8-ounce) reduced-fat cream cheese

1 can (15-ounce) sweet potatoes, drained and mashed

1 box (16-ounce) confectioners’ sugar

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Coat 13x9x2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In mixing bowl, beat together cake mix, butter, and egg until well mixed. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. In mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sweet potatoes, confectioners’ sugar, egg whites, and vanilla until creamy. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour mixture over batter in pan.

4. Bake 40-50 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool to room temperature and cut into squares.

Terrific Tip: Most bar cookies freeze well, so feel free to make ahead and pull out when you have a craving.

Nutrition Nugget: You know yams are an excellent source of antioxidant-rich carotenoids because of their deep orange color – great for reducing inflammation.

Nutritional Information: 

Calories 134

Calories from Fat 42

Total Fat 5g 

Saturated Fat 3g 

Cholesterol 12mg 

Sodium 116mg 

Total Carbohydrate 22g 

Sugars 16g

Protein 2g


And here is a site for:  Easy DIY Thanksgiving Crafts Kids Can Make

Writers Thank You Greeting Cards (Pk of 10)

Elegant lady writer ponders what to write on her scroll.  This design also available as an ornament for your tree or to include with your thank you note as a little gift for the holiday season!

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Thank you for supporting this cause.  You rock!

Subscribe in a reader to Romancing The Chocolate

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place.  A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

* * * Be sure to check out the Romancing The Chocolate Amazon book store for cookbooks on chocolate!

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Holiday Recipe: Frozen Grasshopper Pie

From Denny:  This retro recipe is a blast from the past - with updates!  The decade of the 1950's sported the food trend of frozen desserts, especially for entertaining and the holidays.

Historically, it was in the 1950's when freezers were first mass manufactured as separate from refrigerators.  This new appliance trend created some serious creativity in the cooking arena with frozen desserts offered.

This Christmas holiday favorite has survived the test of time, in this decade with a couple of tweaks as options for ingredient substitutions - like frozen yogurt or reduced-fat ice cream for the original full fat ice cream in the filling.  Using canola oil reduces the saturated fat in the original crust that used butter - later in the 1960's and 1970's it was worse, using solid shortening like Crisco for the crust.

Basically, this is a type of frozen mint ice cream pie with a delicious chocolate cookie wafer or chocolate graham cracker crust.  It's a very easy recipe to make which also makes it a big hit.  This recipe is an easy one for beginners.

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Frozen Grasshopper Pie

Yield: 8 servings

Serving size: 1 slice

From:  CanolaInfo

Ingredients:

• canola oil cooking spray
• 1¼ cup finely crushed chocolate wafer cookies or chocolate graham cracker crumbs (310 mL)
• 3 Tbsp canola oil (45 mL)
• 4 cups mint chip reduced-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt, softened* (1 L)
• 1/3 cup chocolate shavings (1 oz (30 g) chocolate)* (60 mL) 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray 9-inch (22-cm) pie dish with canola oil cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs and canola oil and mix until combined, then press mixture into prepared pie dish. Bake until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
3. In large bowl, place softened ice cream and mix well until uniform texture forms, similar to soft-serve ice cream. Fill cooled pie crust with ice cream, smoothing out top. Garnish with chocolate shavings, cover with plastic wrap and put back in freezer until solidly frozen, at least 4 hours. 
4. When ready to serve, heat knife under hot water and use it to cut pie into slices. 

* Notes: An ice cream or frozen yogurt without green food coloring is recommended. To make chocolate shavings, use a vegetable peeler to peel strips from a thick block of chocolate. If the chocolate crumbles as you make the shavings, put it in the microwave at 10-second intervals to soften it slightly.

	Per Serving Calories 290 Total Fat 14 g Saturated Fat 5 g Cholesterol 15 mg Sodium 190 mg Carbohydrates 36 g Fibre 1 g Protein 5 g Celebrate Chocolate Earring Circle Charm

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* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Thank you for supporting this cause.  You rock!

Subscribe in a reader to Romancing The Chocolate

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place.  A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

* * * Be sure to check out the Romancing The Chocolate Amazon book store for cookbooks on chocolate!

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Holiday Recipe: Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

From Denny:  Do you love gingerbread?  Here's a chance to make a smaller version in cookie form to delight your friends, family and guests at holiday gatherings.  The beauty of this cookie recipe is that it's a wonderful surprise of gingerbread combined with chocolate! 

If your local store doesn't carry the Swedish pearl sugar then just dust with regular refined sugar or some sprinkles.  This recipe is a fun twist on the holiday favorite of gingerbread from King Arthur Flour.  Also, left in their links to various ingredients and products they sell on the site for you to check out if you wish.  What I enjoyed most was reading the many reviews which I thought you would find useful too.

Santa Jingle Clutch Bag

Make some merry this holiday season! Jingle Jingle!

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

King Arthur Flour:  "These gingerbread cookies have all the chew of your favorite molasses cookie and, for an added bonus, surprise you with bursts of melted chocolate. We like them served warm from the oven, but they'll stay soft and chewy for several days when stored in an airtight container."

From:  King Arthur Flour - ingredients list available in ounces or grams as well as volume

Hands-on time:  10 mins. to 15 mins.

Baking time:  10 mins. to 12 mins.

Total time:  25 mins. to 32 mins.

Yield:  30 to 32 cookies

Tips from our bakers

• Don't have mini chips? Try pulsing the same quantity of chunks or chips in a food processor. The uneven pieces of chocolate will make each bite a different chocolate experience.

Yield:  30 to 32 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon King Arthur All-Purpose Baking Cocoa, or Dutch-process cocoa
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips
• 5 tablespoons Swedish pearl sugar
• 
  

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease lightly.

2) Combine the flour, baking soda, spices, salt, and cocoa.

3) In a separate bowl, beat the butter with the sugar until light and creamy.

4) Add the molasses and beat until combined.

5) Beat in the dry ingredients, then stir in the chips.

6) Scoop the dough a tablespoon at a time; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Roll the top portion of each dough ball in pearl sugar.

7) Place the unbaked cookies 1-1/2" apart, sugar side up, onto the prepared baking sheets.

8) Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until their surface begins to crack. Remove from the oven, cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

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Reviews from King Arthur Flour site:

• LC from NJ
• Delicious! When fresh out of the oven, the cookies are an amazing confluence of textures. The cookies themselves are pillowy soft, interspersed with gooey nips of chocolate, and the sugar crystal topping adds a wonderful crunch. The taste as well is quite delicious, almost overwhelmingly rich and very complex in tone.

• Pamela H from Ford City, PA

• Rolling_In_Dough from KAF Community

• bob from KC

• Lisa from Greensboro, NC

• Rebecca from Illinois

• Karen from Boston

• Jenifer from Pittsford, NY
• This recipe is easy to prepare with fabulous results! The texture of the cookies is perfect - crunchy on the outside and gooey chocolate on the inside. The spices, molasses, & chocolate make for a wonderful, complex taste. This recipe easily doubles.

Santa Jingle Woven Throw Pillow

* * *  Please support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  Thank you for supporting this cause.  You rock!

Subscribe in a reader to Romancing The Chocolate

* Check out Dennys News Politics Comedy Science Arts & Food - a place where all my other 20 blogs link so you can choose from among the latest posts all in one place.  A free to read online newspaper from independent journalist blogger Denny Lyon. * 

* * * Be sure to check out the Romancing The Chocolate Amazon book store for cookbooks on chocolate!

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