Hot Chocolate with a Kick!

Here's something else to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup milk

pinch cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

1 ounce rum (can substitute Bailey's, Kahlua, Frangelico or any other liqueur that you like)

STEPS

• Pour milk, cocoa powder, brow sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg into a small pot and whisk well to combine.
• Heat over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring often to avoid scalding the milk.
• Once the milk has reached a simmer, pour it into a mug, then add the rum and stir.

Keeping Warm In The Snow

The snow came early this year and it's been an unusually cold November. What better way to stay warm than to curl up with a nice blanket and a plate of scrumptious shepherd's pie.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef or turkey

1 medium onion, diced

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

black pepper to taste

3/4 cup chicken stock (only required if using ground beef)

1 can corn

4 to 6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons milk

salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• For extra light and fluffy mashed potatoes, rinse the potatoes under cold water then steam the potatoes in a colander over boiling water or in a steaming basket for 10 minutes. Then rinse the potatoes under cold water again until the potatoes are cold. Return them to steam for another 10 minutes or until fork-tender. (Rinsing the potatoes after they have cooked for a few minutes removes the starch that makes mashed potatoes so dense and heavy).
• If short on time or if you want to save yourself a bit of effort, place the potatoes into a deep microwave-safe dish and add just enough water to cover the potatoes. Use the microwave button for potatoes or microwave for about 5 to 8 minutes or until fork-tender.
• Once potatoes are cooked, drain out any remaining water and mash the potatoes and butter together until smooth. Then add the milk, sour cream, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper stirring until well-mixed.
• While the potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet on medium heat and brown the ground beef or turkey with the onions. Sprinkle the garlic powder and thyme over the meat while it cooks.
• Once the meat has cooked, if using ground beef, drain the liquid, then stir in chicken stock and corn. If using ground turkey, just stir in the corn.
• To assemble, pour the meat mixture into a 3-quart casserole dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, then sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. (We like it cheesy, so we slice up the cheese and put it right on top so it forms a crusty cheesy layer.)
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes or until the cheese browns a bit and the mixture is bubbly.

Oatmeal Cake and Caramel Sauce

When I first read about Lori's oatmeal cake at her blog, My Wooden Spoon, I was skeptical as to how something containing oatmeal could actually be good. I continued to read the recipe and thought that it sounded easy enough and maybe it could be good with the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, so I decided to try it. Well, Lori was right. The cake is delicious! We had to make an effort to not eat the whole cake in one sitting! Here's the recipe with a few small modifications to suit us, including a different caramel sauce only because I had already made some for something else.

For the oatmeal cake:

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour an 8x11-inch casserole dish.
  
• Mix the water, oats and butter and let stand for 15 minutes.

• In another bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

• Add the oatmeal mixture to the sugar mixture and mix well. Bake in an 8x11-inch casserole dish at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

For the caramel sauce:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup evaporated milk

STEPS

• In a two or three-quart saucepan, melt the sugar over medium-high heat. You can add 1 tablespoon of water to help the sugar melt more evenly if you think it will burn. Whisk or stir the sugar to help it heat evenly.
• Cook the liquified sugar to a dark copper-brown colour. Then add the butter and stir it in.
• Pour in the evaporated milk, then turn off the heat. Be careful as the sauce will froth up when you add the milk. Whisk the sauce until it is smooth. If you like it thicker, you can continue to heat the sauce until it thickens.
• Drizzle over the warm cake. You can store the rest in a jar for a few weeks. It will probably be a bit thicker, but you can reheat it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is one of those delicious things you can enjoy at almost any time of the year, but is especially nice in the fall when the weather starts to get a little bit colder. Nothing warms you up like a bit of fresh apple crisp with that crunchy, crumbly topping and the taste of cinnamon and apples. This recipe, adapted from All Recipes, can be made with any fruits you like, whether it's apples, pears, peaches or any other fruit.

INGREDIENTS

8 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the apple slices in a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over the apples. Pour the water evenly over top.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the rolled oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together to form the crumble. Sprinkle evenly over the apple mixture.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.

The apple crisp can be enjoyed by itself or with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Kitty Cat Tuesday

Having a day off work means catching up on all the things that I meant to do, like blogging, cooking and folding laundry.

Here's a little video of Nutmeg helping Mike fold the duvet cover. We seem to never get anything done quickly, but we sure have fun doing it!

Crustless Turkey Pot Pie with Cranberry Sauce

I love turkey dinner, but since it's just the two of us, a whole turkey is far too much. Instead of cooking an entire turkey and all the trimmings, I make a turkey pot pie that works just as well! It's like having a turkey dinner, but in one casserole dish.

For the turkey pot pie:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked turkey meat, cubed

1 cup mixed frozen vegetables

1 can creamy soup (chicken, mushroom, celery, or whatever soup you like most)

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 pkg (500g) sausage meat

2 cups cold mashed potatoes

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 large onion, chopped

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a casserole dish, mix the turkey, vegetables and soup together and spread evenly.
• In a very large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients together very well with your hands.
• Spread the bread mixture evenly on top of turkey mixture and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. You may need to place foil on top in the last 15 minutes to keep the top from burning.
• You may have extra left, so you can put that into another dish and cook it next to the turkey pie.
• Serve the turkey pie with cranberry sauce.

For the cranberry sauce:

INGREDIENTS

1 bag frozen cranberries

1 pear, diced

2 tablespoons raisins

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

STEPS

• Put all ingredients into a 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the cranberries begin to pop. Then lower the heat and simmer another 5-10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve over turkey pie.
• Keep leftover sauce refrigerated.

Roasted Potatoes

Potatoes make a great side dish for almost any meal and can be prepared in many different ways. One of the easiest ways to prepare potatoes is to roast them and it's even more convenient if you're already going to be roasting something else in the oven like roast beef or a chicken.

Roasted Potatoes

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

3 medium-sized potatoes, chopped into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon chopped dried rosemary

1/8 teaspoon ground or chopped dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon savory

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spread the potatoes onto a baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle the herbs on top of the potatoes.
• Stir the potatoes around to coat them in the oil and herbs, then spread them evenly on the pan in a single layer.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then flip the potatoes and bake for another 15 minutes or until the outside is crisp and lightly brown, but the inside is fork-tender.