Mother's Pickled Beet Salad

                                             Happy Mother's Day!

Rarely a day goes by that I don't remember my mother....either wanting to share some little tidbit of information, or just simply ask a question. So often I say aloud to her: I wish you could see how this or that has changed, or you wouldn't believe what color they painted your condo building!, what your grandchildren are doing now, or just share something that amuses me that only she would understand.
This was taken in 1956, the day I was married.

Mother (and yes, we called her "Mother" and not mom. her insistance) is certainly remembered for her skill in the kitchen...of course, we named recipes after her: Grandma's sandwiches (I must post those some time!) or Mother's Frozen Fruit Salad for the holidays, the list goes on and on. I'm sure you all do the same thing.

We did a great deal of picnicking when I was a child...mostly on our boat. In my mind's eye I can still see my dad hauling a huge wicker laundry basket (do they even make those anymore?) filled with picnic food, toted off the front porch, onto the dock and into the boat. You can be sure there would be blueberry or rhubarb pie, hamburger or hot dogs for a cookout, and always a variety of cold salads. One of my favorites was a pickled beet salad. My children always hated it and so did my sister, I recently discovered. :)  But I loved it (as did my father) and had such fun making it for this post, as I'm the only one who will eat it!

I suppose you could pickle your own beets, which I did NOT do for this post, but HERE is a link if you'd like a recipe. I wanted to keep this simple for busy lives, so I used bottled pickled beets. It brought back many memories when I lunched on it. I've made a few minor changes over the years as mother's recipe was just the beets, mayo and salt and pepper.

Mother's Pickled Beet Salad

Ingredients:
3 jars chilled pickled beet slices, drained
6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise (You may need more or less of the mayo/sour cream mixture)
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1 tablespoon chopped dill
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Method:

Drain beets well. Quarter the eggs and combine carefully with the beets. Mix the remaining ingredients together and toss with the egg and beet mixture. Serve on lettuce.

Black Velvet Whoopie Pies

These Halloween colored whoopie pies are a combination of recipes. The basic recipe and idea was from Amanda at I Am Baker. The additions I made to Amanda's recipe came from Hedy Goldsmith, a multiple James Beard Award nominee in the Outstanding Pastry Chef category. She has a fabulous and fun cookbook called Baking Out Loud. In this cookbook, Hedy makes Mochaccino Whoopie Pies, so I snitched an idea from her recipe and added espresso powder and cinnamon to Amanda's fun recipe for Halloween. 
Now I'm going to have to go back and make Hedy's recipe!

Halloween Black Velvet Whoopie Pies
From I Am Baker and Baking Out Loud

Ingredients:
1 package (15 1/4 to 18 1/4 ounces) German chocolate cake mix with pudding 
1/2 cup water 
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
3 tablespoons black food color 
3 eggs 
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Filling: 
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow cream 
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon red food color 
1/2 teaspoon yellow food color

Method:
For the cookies:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat cake mix, water, cocoa powder, oil, food color, eggs, vanilla. espresso powder and cinnamon in your electric mixer on low speed just until moistened, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. 
Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter, 2 inches apart, onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. (Cookies will spread so don't crowd.) 
Bake 8 minutes or until cookies are puffed and spring back when touched, turning baking sheets halfway through baking. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely. 

For the orange filling:
Beat all ingredients with your electric mixer until light and fluffy.
To assemble:
Place 1 tablespoon filling on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with a second cookie, pressing gently to spread the filling. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

Blueberry Slab Pie

Looking for a dessert for your 4th of July picnic? Slab pies are the answer!  They serve a lot of people, you can eat them by hand, no plate, just a napkin. It's a nice surprise not to have to think about your blueberry pie being a little runny....this one holds together nicely. And frankly, I think making slab pie crusts are easier than making a regular pie crust. Almost like a galette: just tuck those edges under. No fuss.
If you have paper plates on hand, you could serve them on a plate as well, with a scoop of your favorite ice cream. For the 4th, I chose blueberries for this slab pie, but I've made peach and apple as well. I just think a blueberry pie goes better with the July 4th celebration.

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH EVERYONE!

Blueberry Slab Pie

Ingredients:
For the crust:
5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups (4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 to 1 1/2 cups ice water

For the filling:
2 1/4 pounds fresh blueberries (8 cups)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
good dash of cinnamon, maybe even a scrape of fresh nutmeg

Method:
Make the crust:
In your food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar a couple times. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add 1 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. You can add more water in tablespoon increments, but just until dough holds together...do not overmix. Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
On a floured surface, roll out the first disk to a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Place in a 10-by-14-by-1-inch rimmed jelly-roll pan. 

Make the blueberry filling:
Toss together blueberries, cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice. Pour evenly over the unbaked bottom crust.
On a floured surface, roll out second disk to an 11-by-15-inch rectangle. Moisten the edges of the bottom crust with water. Lay the second piece of pastry over the blueberry filling; press along moistened edges to seal. (The bottom is bigger than the top, so I fold the bottom crust over the top and crimp to seal so the blueberries don't run out while baking.) 
Make some slices in the top, cut out some small stars or you could even do a lattice top crust if you like.
Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with a bit of sugar.
Place pie in the oven, reduce heat immediately to 375 and bake for about 50 minutes until crust is golden and blueberries are bubbling.
Cool at least an hour before slicing.

Old Fashioned Spice Cake

(Don't ask me where I found this cute Father's Day jpg, 'cause I don't remember. If it belongs to any of you, I borrowed it.....mea culpa!)

My dad only liked two kinds of cakes. The first was a plain vanilla layer cake, but with softened raisins beaten into a 7 minute frosting slathered all over it. From the time I was a child, he referred to this as a Minnehaha Cake. Your guess is as good as mine where that name came from. Reading Hiawatha?

His second favorite was a spice cake with a brown sugar frosting. If you remember from my post last Father's Day, he loved penuche and that's basically what this frosting is. So I made this spice cake in his honor for Father's Day.  Unfortunately, I don't have my mother's recipe for spice cake, but this one was in my files and it turned out perfectly. 
I so wish my dad was still here to share a piece of his favorite cake!

                                                                             (Photo taken in Georgian Bay)

Dad's Favorite Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
Recipe found on Dramatic Pancake Blog

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

For the brown sugar frosting:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1¾ – 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Method:
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch cake pans. In a mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Add in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with the buttermilk in two additions, beating well after each addition.
Pour batter into prepared cake pans and tap pans on counter to make sure batter is evenly distributed in pans. 
Bake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. The cake will start to pull away from the pan when it’s done. 
Cool on a wire rack.

Method:
For the brown sugar frosting:

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low, stirring continuously for 2 minutes. Stir in milk. Return to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Allow mixture to cool to lukewarm temperature, then gradually stir in confectioners’ sugar until frosting has reached your desired consistency. For a thicker frosting, add more sugar; to thin it out, you can always add a bit of milk. Fill and frost the cooled cake. 
I threw on some cinnamon chips just for presentation.

Mother's Waldorf Salad

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Every year I combine Mother's Day with my mother's birthday, as they fall within the same week. We always did it that way when she was alive, so I'm continuing the tradition. She's been gone 14 years now and I miss her.

I think the best way to remember Mom is in the kitchen as she was a super home cook and a superb baker. But this year, rather than desserts or baked goods, I'm going to feature one of her favorite salads: Waldorf. She made it all the time. We all know the history and when I looked up the Waldorf's most recent remake of this old favorite, it's a far different recipe than my mother's. But I'm going to post hers with the addition of the spiced walnuts from the Waldorf's recipe. (Mother's recipe used toasted walnuts.)

Happy Birthday and Happy Mother's Day, Mom! 

Mother's Favorite Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:

2/3 cup dried tart cherries, slightly softened in some hot water, then drained

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

4 Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/3 cups very thinly sliced celery

1 1/3 cups red seedless grapes, halved

2 cups raw walnut halves

1 egg white

1 tablespoon spice mixture (such as a combination of paprika, cayenne, ground fennel seed, and ground coriander)

1 cup sugar

Method:

For the walnuts:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, combine walnuts and egg white; add spice mixture and sugar and mix until evenly coated. Spread walnuts into an even layer on a nonstick sheet lined with parchment paper; roast in the oven until browned, about 20 minutes.

Whisk mayonnaise and next 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add apples, celery, grapes and cherries; toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange lettuce on platter. Spoon salad over. Top salad with candied walnuts.

David Lebovitz's Chocolate Idiot Cake

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It's got to be chocolate for Valentine's Day, right? This was an awesome cake and yes, easy peasy. Because it's so good I'm going to ignore David Lebovitz's "idiot" in the title.  He could not possibly have been referring to moi. 

David Lebovitz's Chocolate Idiot Cake
Adapted from Ready for Dessert (Ten Speed Press)   
                         

Ingredients:
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (ScharffenBerger chocolate if possible, if not, use a good one)
7 ounces butter, salted or unsalted, cut into pieces
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F
Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. Wrap the outside tightly with foil, making certain it goes up to the rim. Water leaking in will ruin the cake.
Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, stirring each time you check, until smooth.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and cover the top of the pan snugly with a sheet of foil. Put the springform pan into a larger baking pan, such as a roasting pan, and add enough hot water to the baking pan to come about halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

You’ll know the cake is done when it feels just set, like quivering chocolate pudding. If you gently touch the center, your finger should come away clean. Lift the cake pan from the water bath and remove the foil. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack.

Storage: This Chocolate Idiot Cake can be wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Pumpkin Madeleines

More pumpkin! These madeleines are fun to make, it's a really simple recipe and they could be decorated any way you wish. This is yet another Pinterest find. For which I'm grateful, as I learned about emulsions, something I'd never used in baking.

Our pantries have certainly changed over the years. I remember my mother had vanilla flavoring in her pantry and that was about it. (And my aunt had some lemon flavoring...she used it in all her baking recipes.) Over the years, we graduated to extracts and MY pantry now contains about 10 bottles of various extracts.
While reading this recipe, I noticed an emulsion was in the ingredient list. I'd never even heard of pumpkin spice bakery emulsion, but investigated and discovered emulsions are the flavor stars of the professional baking world. Where have I been? In the event you didn't know either: emulsions are a water-based alternative to alcohol-based flavor extracts. These flavorings are made to match the strength of an extract, but instead of the flavor being diluted in alcohol, it is suspended in a water base. According to what I read, baked goods made with emulsions retain more of that flavor after baking. Lorann's seems to be a favorite brand and I read someplace how divine the cream cheese emulsion is...I haven't tried that one yet. 

Having said all that, I must be totally honest with you after trying this emulsion....I really didn't like it all that much. For some reason it seemed to be a little "off", flavor-wise. Strange and I think I'm in the minority as everyone else seems to praise emulsions. Maybe the pumpkin one is not one of the better flavors, or perhaps I shouldn't have used it in the frosting. If someone has tried the cream cheese emulsion, let me know. And I'm wondering: does the home baker really need to use emulsions?

At any rate, this recipe has both extract and emulsion. I suppose you could replace the emulsion with more extract as they seem to be interchangeable: 1 teaspoon extract = 1 teaspoon emulsion. 

Pumpkin Madeleines
From: Created by Diane

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted and cooled)

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pumpkin spice bakery emulsion (Loranns...see below, got it at Amazon)

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/8   teaspoon salt

1 cup flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 375

Prepare Madeleine Pan with nonstick spray.

Beat eggs and sugar with mixer, add vanilla pumpkin emulsion, pumpkin pie spice and salt.

Mix in flour until blended.

Pour butter in a stream and mix on low until well blended.

Place 2 tablespoons of batter into each madeleine area of the pan.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until just golden.

Remove pan from oven and turn onto a cooling rack.

Allow Madeleines to cool completely.

Pumpkin Spice Icing

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon corn syrup

2-3 tablespoons water

2 drops orange food coloring

½ teaspoon pumpkin spice baking emulsion (Loranns)

Method:

Mix all ingredients until smooth, add a drop or two more water if you need it thinner.

Drizzle icing over cooled Madeleines.

Royal Meringue

                                                             Happy 4th!

If this recipe wrings a bell, it's probably because I made something similar over the Christmas holidays with a Caramel Meringue. Same cookbook too. And I will repeat what I said then: yes, they unmold with no problem. (I didn't believe it either until I made them the first time.)
I know this presentation looks way too involved, but you can simplify any number of ways. I made it with all the bells and whistles as suggested in the cookbook, but you could simplify by crushing some berries, slice the meringue and serve just with the berries. You don't need to bother with the strawberry dip or the toasted coconut unless you want a splashy presentation. 
(BTW: that strawberry dip would be lovely served by itself, surrounded with fresh berries.)

Royal Meringue
From The Private Collection by the Junior League of Palo Alto

Ingredients:
8 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
2 teaspoons almond flavoring
one 10 1/2 ounce package frozen strawberries. defrosted
1 cup heavy cream
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
sugar
sprigs of mint

Method:
Preheat oven to 250.
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar, 3 tablespoons at a time beating until meringue stands in stiff peaks. Spoon with great care into a 10 cup ring mold. Press down on each layer to prevent air bubbles.
Place mold in a roasting pan, with 1 inch of warm water. Bake 45 minutes or until meringue is set. Remove from oven, place on a rack to cool completely. It will settle quite a bit. It can sit on the counter all day at room temperature if you wish.

Toast coconut until brown and mix with the almond flavoring. Set aside.
Puree the frozen strawberries (I used fresh, but added a little sugar) Beat the whipping cream and fold in the strawberries. Refrigerate.

To serve: Loosen the meringue by running a knife dipped in cold water around the edge. Turn it out onto a serving plate. Mine always unmold with no trouble. Place the strawberry cream in the middle and top the mold with sliced fresh fruit, then sprinkle the coconut all over. Garnish with sprigs of mint.

Penuche

I rarely make candy of any kind, but in honor of Father's Day and in my dad's memory, I decided to make penuche...his favorite fudge. 
Part of every summer in my childhood we spent boating and we always docked at Mackinac Island for a week or so. Even after I married and had kids, we still spent time on the boat and Mackinac was a favorite stop. Once in a while, we drove to northern Michigan and took the ferry over, with all the other "fudge-eaters", a label bestowed on tourists by the islanders. For good reason, as everyone ends up walking around the island holding a half-eaten box of fudge. Here's a little 2 minute video on Mackinac and their famous fudge making.

Practically every other store is a fudge shop as you walk down main street. As you can imagine, the entire town smells of candy (and horses as there are no cars on the island and walking, boats, bikes and horses are the only  methods of travel here) and you can stand outside and watch it being made, window after window. 

Dad was very particular and we always bought our fudge at May's. It was the best fudge store on the island. There was no "grit" in the fudge, just smooth luscious rich fudge. It still is there, family owned and operated. Also, they make the best peanut brittle ever...another of Dad's favorites.

So...he loved penuche. Pronounced puh-noo-chee. And while most penuche has walnuts, Dad liked his without, so that's how I made it for this post. It's amazingly delicious, has a butterscotch flavor with maple overtones. If you're going to make it and your family likes nuts, add 3 ounces of roughly chopped walnuts. 

Penuche

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil cooking spray 
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk 
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar 
5 ounces (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
3 ounces toasted walnuts, chopped (1 cup) , optional

Method:
Coat a 5-by-10-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line with plastic wrap leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides.
Bring evaporated milk, brown sugar, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture registers 236 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 25 minutes.
Transfer to your electric mixer and beat in confectioners' sugar on low speed. Increase speed to medium, and beat until mixture is thickened and smooth, probably about 5  minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add vanilla and walnuts, if using.
Spread mixture in a pan, smoothing top. Refrigerate, uncovered, until firm. Cut into small pieces. 

    Here we are at Mackinac on the boat...Dad, daughter Tracy and me, 1959

Memorial Day: Honoring the Fallen

And please don't forget our veterans...they need our support!



(Comment free post over the holiday)

Mother's Lemon Angel Pie

                         Happy Mother's Day!

One can't help but think of one's mother this weekend, whether you are fortunate to have her with you, or only hold her in your heart. The photo below was taken in the late 80's...it's three generations...my mother, daughter and me.

I know I've mentioned my mother was a great pie-maker. One of her favorites was wild blueberry....we'd go out in the woods and pick them for her. I've never had another like hers. The crusts were always flaky and delicious (always makes and breaks a pie as far as I'm concerned) and you just can't beat the taste of wild blueberries. Yes, there really is a difference.

Her next favorite to bake for us was a lemon angel pie. But there's no crust here. Or not much of one. This crust is a baked meringue. Yum. It's a gorgeous pie, but does tend to crumble a bit when cut. It's the nature of the beast if you've ever made one. And all that tart lemon with the crunch of the meringue crust and the coolness of the whipped cream in every mouthful. I have to say, it's awesome. And it's always been my sister's favorite pie, BTW.  Happy Mother's Day to you too, Sharon!

Mother's Lemon Angel Pie

Ingredients:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 pt. heavy cream
4 egg yolks
4 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons lemon juice

Method:

Add salt and cream of Tartar to egg whites and beat on high, gradually adding the sugar until stiff and glossy. Add vanilla. Butter a pie plate. Pour in the meringue. Spread evenly in the pan, but form a slight crust with it around the edges. Bake 275 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cool. Mix egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice. Stir in the top of a double boiler until thick. Cool. Beat whipping cream. Spread lemon mixture on meringue, then top with whipped cream. Chill for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Bunny Bark and Easter Gift-Givers

                                                        Happy Easter!

What could be more fun than white chocolate bark for an Easter treat? And with big marshmallow bunnies studded through it! Of course, you can use the miniature pastel marshmallows too, but I couldn't resist these pastel big bunny shaped puffs, although the shapes are difficult to see in the photo.

My collection of Christopher Radko/Ino Schaller bunny band gift givers (called gift givers because the bottom is removable and you can put a gift or candy inside) are drooling over the view of the egg shaped bunny bark while "entertaining" us. It's almost as much fun to get them out for Easter as it is to eat the bark!

In Savannah for their annual house tour recently, I was pleased to see a large collection of the Schaller gift-givers, for all holidays, at The Christmas Shop. (To see the collection, click on Ino Schaller on that webpage.) While my Santa gift giver collection has gotten way out of hand, I did break a promise to myself to resist and purchased one little one. There were lots of Easter gift-givers (chicks and bunnies), a large turkey gift giver that didn't appeal at all and even some Halloween gift-givers....an adorable pumpkin one I'd never seen and I just had to have it. Fortunately, I don't get to Savannah that often because it appears resistance is futile. :)


Bunny Bark

Ingredients:
12 ounces white chocolate (I used 3 Ghiradelli 4 ounce bars)
3 cups pastel marshmallows, mini or bunny shaped (got mine at Target)
Pastel sprinkles of your choice

Method:
Fit some parchment paper in a baking pan and set aside.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave, starting with 30 seconds, stirring well, and then in 15 second increments. Shouldn't take more than 1 minute or so. Remove when there are still some chunks, stir madly until it's all melted.
Add the marshmallows and quickly spread on the baking sheet. Use your sprinkles on top and put the pan in the freezer for 15 or 20 minutes. You want to stop those marshmallows from melting.
Remove and let it come nearly to room temperature before cutting into squares, or use an egg shaped cookie cutter. 
Note: It's easier if you spray some Pam on any cookie cutter you use.

Irish Boxty

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What's boxty you ask? Traditional Irish potato cakes. It's said the recipe dates back to the days of the Irish famine, presumably to make potatoes stretch further. After searching online for boxty recipes, the two main ingredients are always leftover mashed potatoes and grated raw potatoes and the patties are usually fried in butter. With even more butter slathered on top of the hot patty! (I skipped that part!)

While boxty used to be considered a peasant dish, it is now common to see it on menus everywhere in Ireland.

I'm joining Kathleen  at Cuisine Kathleen, for her 6th Annual St. Patrick's Day event. Please stop by and see what everyone's doing!

There is a little ditty that accompanies the recipe....

Boxty on the griddle,
Boxty in the pan,
If you can't make boxty,
You'll never get your man.

Irish Boxty

Ingredients:

1 cup raw, grated potatoes

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

dash pepper

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup (about) milk to mix

Butter for frying

Applesauce for serving

Method:

Place the grated raw potatoes in a clean cloth and twist to remove excess moisture. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Combine flour mixture into raw potatoes, mashed potatoes, and eggs. Add milk until you have a thick batter. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat and add butter or oil. Drop potato batter by the tablespoon into the hot pan.

Brown on both sides (about 4 minutes per side).

Butter each boxty and serve hot with applesauce or sour cream.

Yield: about 4 servings

Red Velvet Brownies

                   Happy Valentine's Day!

Can anyone resist a brownie like this? But here's the thing....it's all about the frosting! Condensed milk and white chocolate. Wow.
Make these for your favorite Valentine!

Red Velvet Brownies
From Gina at Kleinworth & Co.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter - diced
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp red liquid food color OR 1 tbsp red gel food color
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the frosting:
1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups white chocolate chips
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Valentine M&M's & 1/8 cup Heart Shaped Sprinkles

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Use either non-stick foil or just use regular foil & then spray with non-stick spray & line a metal 9"x9" baking pan.
Stir butter & chocolate in a heavy large saucepan over low heat until all is melted.
Remove from heat.Whisk in sugar & then eggs- one at a time.Stir in vanilla, salt & food coloring.Sift flour & baking powder & stir in & blend well.
Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until puffed & dry looking- or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with some moist batter attached. (about 35-45 minutes).
Cool completely in pan on a rack.

Method for the frosting:
In small saucepan combine sweetened condensed milk & white chocolate chips.
Heat until completely melted & combined.
Pour immediately onto brownies while they are still in the pan.
Top with your M&M's & sprinkles