Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Martha Baked these Chocolate Pecan Cookies and I was delighted this cook loves Peecanzzz. I am going to do my best to give you a cookie a day for your Holiday Baking time.










This is the first of many. Enjoy and grab a friend there is nothing better than cooking with friends.
Every year I go to my Mother-in-loves home and get the 911 on the back in the day Italian Cookies.

 This in itself is a gift! 






These Chocolate-Pecan Cookies were (we ate them all) are really good. Then again what cookie is not really good. I found the recipe in an insert out of the Martha Steward Magazine my friend Linda drops at the house each month. It was a little Everyday Food insert . I subscribe to the magazine but I found I am saving so many. But good reference. Most of my cooking comes from desire and history .

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecans chopped/crushed

Preheat you oven to 350 degrees

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.



In your mixer beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.





Add vanilla and eggs and beat until well combined.





Now sift in your dry ingredients (I sift then sift it into the batter) I'm a sift head!


Yes my sifter is old as the hills it was Mama's

Mix in your pecans and chocolate chips.







Drop the dough on to your prepared cookie sheet. You can see my cookie sheet is old and prepared for it's cooking.

Yes it's old all my stuff is old but reliable! Like me
I placed 15 on the cookie tray to start             


BUT

12 will work better and not get all attached. I got a little excited!
Blame it on Martha.

 Hey they still taste great.





 


Cook them for say 12 or so minutes they should be just brown around the edges. When they are done let them cool slightly then off to the rack to cool completely . Into an air tight container and they are good for a week if they last that long.



Here is the Original Post at Martha Stewart

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Well I had a can of pumpkin puree on hand that was going to expire in a month. Pumpkin Cheesecake. When I was getting my nails done I came across a recipe in Real Simple. It Sounded delicious. Well this project turned out to be more than I had expected. The recipe from Real Simple was a refrigerator pie. No cooking. Now this is fine but I had a baking craving going on.

So on to the search I went to Food Network and looked at Paula Deans recipe  plus a recipe from The Joy of Baking that gave me the cream cheese topping for the pie. It was a project.  I cooked it at 355 for a little over an hour . The time cooked truly depends on your stove. Oh also I did not have enough cream cheese I was about 4 oz. off so I went to this link and it has all the Common Ingredient Substitutes really cool and very handy site. I replace the cream cheese with some Greek yogurt. The results awesome.

So it ended up going like this

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups of graham cracker crumbs.
* I used half graham cracker and half english tea cookies/crackers.
They had a little sweet taste to them and where thicker.
3 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup of melted butter


In a food processor break up the crackers into crumbs , add the butter and sugar. Take the cracker crumb and press it into a spring form pan. Cook in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes. Take it out and cool it while you prepare the filling

Filling

1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 1/2  8 oz sticks of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 6 oz container of plain Greek yogurt
1 cup of granulated  sugar
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon of nutmeg

In a mixer mix the cream cheese until it is smooth , add the pumpkin and yogurt until it is mixed well. Now add the spices , eggs and sugar. Last add the flour and mix well.

 Pour the mixture on to your crust and bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. Cook it until the middle is still giggly. Take it out and let it cool then put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours

Topping
1 cup sour cream
4 tbs sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip up the topping

In a small bowl add your sour cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Use a whisk and whisk till smooth and top your cake or if you prefer just put some whip cream in a bowl to add if you or your friends want to. I sprinkled a little pumpkin spice on top . It was a hit

Sprinkle the top with some nutmeg. You can use Pumpkin Spice but enough is enough with the pumpkin ! 

This is a nice change from the usual Pumpkin Pie and it is so light and scrumptious !

Italian Calzone

The Calzone I am baking is a recipe from my Mother-in-love. She is Sicilian and when she made this calzone for the first time. I scratched my head and said  “What the Hell”.  Where is the sauce Well there is NO sauce is Traditional Calzone. I am use to the half moon pie type with sauce. After a long Italian conversation about the origin of this in her family I got it. Why? you ask because it tasted so scrumptious. I always cook this at Easter because it reminds me so much of my Mother-in-love. 

Now it uses a boxed roll mix which I found almost impossible to find. I finally just took what I could find. I got a picture off the Internet so you know what to look for.


I do make bread and plan on trying my own dough one day when I grow some Italian Balls. Plus I was still in shock over the no sauce thing! xoxo But not to detour the original recipe here we go.

Ingredients

2 box's of Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix
1 pound of Italian sausage it is about 6 sausages. I got three sweet and three spicy
2 white onion's chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
13 eggs
1/4 cup milk (any kind)

2 cups fresh ricotta (drained)
1 cup of fresh shredded Romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley

What you need a large skillet, a large bowl to combine the cooked ingredients, a large roasting pan or cooking vessel with at least 3" sides and a rolling pin. The roasting pan I used is pictured below.

This recipe takes time but a tradition on our Easter table. If I do not make it or my Mother-in-love than we call Easter off and Jesus stays in the cave!


Prepare all your ingredients for the stuffing of the calzone.
You actually are not stuffing it is like a big square pie!





Chop your onion and fry them in a large skillet until translucent. Chop your garlic and add it to the onion and simmer until they are cooked but not browned.





Take the casings off your sausage and add them to your onion/garlic and cook until your sausage is cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set this mixture aside in a large bowl.

Now put all your eggs, milk, salt and pepper to taste into a large bowl whisk them together really good and put them into the same pan you already used.



No need to clean all the taste is going together anywho! Now cook up your egg mixture just like scrambled eggs.

Once your eggs are scrambled take the sausage mixture, egg mixture and parsley and pit it into a large bowl. DO NOT add the cheese until the mixture is cool!


  Here the ingredients are co-mingled.

I actually make this mixture the day before you bake the Calzone. This way you  can concentrate on the dough preparation. Just take the mixture of sausage, eggs and parsley and add all your cheeses and cover for the night. Make sure your mixture has cooled prior to adding the cheeses.

You need a  box of mix for the crust of the calzone and a box for the top.




You need time to let the bread rise once prior to rolling it out and assembling the dish. Follow the direction on the box.

Once your dough has done it's first rise then take one loaf and roll it out for the bottom of the roasting pan. Add your filling and roll out the second dough and apply it to the top.Seal all the way around and brush  the top with egg white. This gives it the glossy look plus the egg white can be used to help you seal any edges that are not cooperating.




 Bake in a 400 degree oven uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes. Until the top is golden brown.

Beautiful sorry there is no picture on a nice plate they ate it right up !