Find refreshment for your heart, home and life
We’ve had some gorgeous weather this week, allowing me to walk each morning. I’m always so happy to step out my front door to views like this one…
I try so hard to get at least a little exercise in each day. I exercise inside, but being outside is my favorite! Seeing the scenery, the sky, the birds and cattle are just invigorating to me! How about you? Do you need to add a little Continue reading “Highlights of Recent Refreshments”
Since Valentine’s Day is a week from today, I thought I’d share a line-up of sweet treats for you to make for a sweetheart, a child, your Bible study friends or whomever you may want to shower sweet kindness on!
You may be tempted to buy one of those big cookies in the mall, but this first recipe is every bit as good, is so easy and only costs about $2, $3 to make! It is so yummy!!
Colossal Chocolate Chip Cookie
1 cup chocolate pieces – chips or M&M’s – Pink and Red Valentine would be pretty, or you could use just chocolate chips
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Reserve 1/3 cup candies for decorating. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in 2/3 cup candies. Place dough in center of a 13″ or 15″ round pan and spread out to sides. Decorate with reserved candies. Bake 16-18 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely. Cut into wedges to serve.
Yield: 10 servings
The following recipe is one I made my husband on Valentine’s Day when we were dating. He loved it so much that I’ve made it over and over on subsequent Valentin’e s Days! We all know the way to a man’s heart!
Sweetheart Fudge Pie
1/4 Cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
2 cups semi-sweet real chocolate pieces
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
9 inch unbaked pastry shell
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbl chopped maraschino cherries
Cream butter with brown sugar; add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Melt chocolate over hot, not boiling, water; add to creamed mixture with coffee and vanilla. Stir in flour and walnuts. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool. Whip cream stiff (I like to add about 1/4 cup powdered sugar). Fold in cherries. Spread on top of pie; decorate with chocolate or candy hearts.
Red strawberries are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Here’s a treat so start the day –
Strawberry Citrus Muffins
1 1/4 Cups chopped strawberries
3 tbl. margarine, melted
2 tsp grated orange or lemon rind
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar I reduce this to 1 cup – it’s plenty
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Cooking spray
2 tsp sugar I like to use the coarse sugar on top
1/2 Cup strawberry jam (optional) But why wouldn’t you?!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix just until mixture is blended. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until mixture is moist. Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray ( or you could use pretty heart-shaped liners). Sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pan immediately. Serve with jam, if desired.
More Strawberries…
Lite Strawberry Shortcakes
Ingredients
Combine 1 cup strawberry halves, 1/3 cup sugar, orange juice, vanilla, and lemon juice in a bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Stir in 2 1/2 cups strawberry halves. Cover and chill.
Preheat oven to 425°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; cut in margarine with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 6 squares. Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Split shortcakes in half horizontally using a serrated knife; place each bottom half on a dessert plate. Spoon 1/4 cup strawberry mixture over each bottom half. Top with shortcake tops; spoon 1/4 cup strawberry mixture over each top. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon whipped topping; garnish with whole strawberries, if desired.
Lastly, think about anything you could cut into a heart-shape, using a cookie cutter.
Here you go, friends! I hope you have fun baking up a sweet treat for someone you love!
If you love peanuts, I mean, if you adore them, then you will love the new recipe I tried from Southern Living’s November issue! I mentioned last week that I was scouring recipes for a pie fellowship we were having at church. I finally settled on the Georgia Peanut Pie with Peanut Butter filling and Brown Sugar Whipped Cream. That’s a mouthful, but just wait until you taste the pie! It’s a rich, peanut pie that will leave you smacking your lips and glad that you ate only a little slice! It is quite rich, but hey, isn’t that what dessert is for?
This recipe is easy when it’s done in a couple days. Do the crust. Go have lunch with friends, wash up the Thanksgiving linens, take a walk, then come back the next day and make the filling. Later in the day make the whipped cream. It’s easy when taken step by step. Here are some pics of the process for the crust:
Prepare the Peanut Butter Crust: Combine flour, peanuts, brown sugar, and salt in bowl of a food processor; process until peanuts are ground and mixture is combined. Add butter, peanut butter, and shortening, and pulse until mixture resembles small peas, 10 to 12 times. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons ice water over top of mixture. Pulse 4 times. Add up to 2 more tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition until dough just begins to clump together. Remove dough from processor; shape and flatten into a disk. Wrap disk in plastic wrap, and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place chilled dough disk on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle dough with flour. Top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll dough into a 13-inch circle. Remove and discard top sheet of parchment. Starting at 1 edge of dough, wrap dough around rolling pin, separating dough from bottom sheet of parchment as you roll. Discard bottom sheet of parchment. Place rolling pin wrapped with dough over a 9-inch (1 1/2-inch-deep) glass pie plate. Unroll dough, and gently press it into pie plate. Trim dough, leaving 1/2-inch overhang; fold edges under, and crimp.
Prepare Peanut Butter Filling: Stir together brown sugar, flour, and kosher salt in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter. Whisk eggs well in a medium bowl; whisk in milk, sorghum, and vanilla. Add peanut butter; whisk until blended. Spoon filling into prepared piecrust. Sprinkle peanuts over top, and place pie on a rimmed baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, and bake until puffed and golden brown and until center is set, 45 to 55 minutes, shielding edges with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning, if necessary. Transfer pie to a wire rack, and cool completely, about 2 hours.
Step 5
Prepare the Brown Sugar Whipped Cream: Using chilled beaters and a large chilled bowl, beat whipping cream with an electric mixer on high speed until thickened, about 2 minutes. Add sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla, and beat until well combined. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
This is a great pie! As a matter of fact, it landed the First Runner-Up award at our pie contest at church! A yummy Apple Crumb pie came in first and deserved it!!
Make this for the peanut lover in your life!!
Did you make any new recipes over Thanksgiving that were “Award-winning” with your family? They’re the ones who count!!
With love from my country kitchen,
RefreshHer 