Swedish Spritz

This recipe is passed down from Grandma Frankman, and is a traditional Christmas treat made in the Frankman household.

Directions:

• 1 cup butter (at room temperature) creamed with
• 3/4 cup sugar

then add:

• 3 egg yoks
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix well and then add:

• 1/4 tsp salt sifted together with
• 13.5 oz (~ 2 1/2 cups sifted) flour

Put dough in cookie press and press onto ungreased cookie sheets (we prefer to use a silicone baking mat on a cookie sheet). Make cookies in shapes of candy canes, wreaths and christmas trees. Decorate with red and green sprinkles and red hots. Bake in 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until tips are just turning golden brown.

Breakfast Sausage

* Warning: the following post may cause readers to embrace vegetarianism *

Dave loves to make his own sausage! It takes some of the mystery out of the mystery meat when you see what goes in it, and makes it much more enjoyable to eat!


Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork butt (2 1/2 pounds with bone), diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 pound fat back, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

Combine diced pork with all other ingredients and chill for 1 hour. Using the fine blade of a grinder, grind the pork. Form into 1-inch rounds. Refrigerate and use within 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. For immediate use, saute patties over medium-low heat in a non-stick pan. Saute until brown and cooked through, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Recipe Courtesy of Alton Brown, Foodnetwork.com

White Chili

A fall favorite around our house! It smells delicious as it is cooking, and is a fun alternative to traditional chili. And truth be told, it did win third place at the Slate Canyon Ward 2007 Chili Cookoff (although, yes, Dave did happen to be on the panel of three judges ...)


Directions:

Add oil to an electric skillet and then add onions and garlics, cook until onions are translucent.

• 1 T. oil
• 2 medium onions (diced)
• 2 garlic cloves (diced)

Add:

• 2 cups cubed chicken

Cook until chicken is no longer pink, then add the following:

• 3 cups chikcen broth
• 2 T. fresh lime juice
• 2 T. diced cilantro
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. diced oregano
• 1/4 tsp. tobasco sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 11 oz. California & Washington frozen white sweet corn
• 16 oz. great northern beans (canned, with juices)
• 16 oz. baby butter beans (canned, with juices)

Simmer for about 1 hour in electric skillet. Enjoy

Scalloped Potatoes

This is our favorite companion to a delicious Ham dinner.

Directions:

Peel and slice evenly potatoes (we use a mandolin slicer). Grease a 9x13 pan and put a layer of potatoes on bottom. Sprinkle lightly with flour and dot with butter or bacon grease. Sprinkle diced onions on layer, then add another layer of potatoes. Once again sprinkle lightly with flour and dot with butter or bacon grease. This time sprinkle bacon on layer, then add another layer of potatoes. Repeat until pan is full, alternating layers with bacon and onions.

Heat the following in a bowl in the microwave:

• 2 1/2 cups milk or cream
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt (less, if you use lots of bacon or bacon grease)
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. dried mustard

Bake at 350 degrees for 1-2 hours, until potatoes are soft. If potatoes aren't cooking fast enough, it may be necessary to cover with tinfoil to prevent top layer of potatoes from getting too hard.

Shishkabobs

Shishkabobs Alton Brown style - great for a backyard bbq:

This way, everyone can form their own shishkabobs and cook them to their desired wellness. Recommended to put only meat or only vegetables on your shishkabob, not only to prevent contamination from raw meat, but also to facilitate more even cooking.

Dilled Potato Salad

This potato salad is a favorite summer treat around our house - nothing beats the smell of fresh dill!


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs new potatoes
• 3 Tbl. low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 Tbl. low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 Tbl. dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 Tbl chopped fresh dill (or 2 tsp dried, we recommend fresh)
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Peel and dice potatoes. Cook in salted water until tender. Drain and spread out on a cookie sheet to speed-up the cooling process (can also place in the fridge). In large bowl, stir together yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar. Add celery, dill and potatoes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and stir gently to combine.

Cheese Blintz and Raspberry-Honey Syrup

We can't have a White family reunion without Ruth's famous Cheese Blintzes. An alteration on a traditional cheese blintz, these are super easy to make, relatively healthy (before all the toppings that is) and a fan favorite.

Cheese Blintzes

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup flour

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, beat eggs with a fork. Add cottage cheese and yogurt, blend well. Add dry ingredients and mix until belended. Cook like pancakes, center should remain cheesey.

* And, to be perfectly honest, i just dump everything in the bowl and mix it all at once, and it always turns out fine :-)


Raspberry-Honey Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 10 ounce package frozen raspberries (can substitute other berries as well) thawed or 1 pint fresh cleaned and sliced
  

Directions:

Melt butter and berries in microwave, mix with a fork and add honey to taste.

Congo Bars

A Tippets family tradition that we have adopted because they are SO DELICIOUS!


Ingredients:

• 2/3 cups butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 lb. light brown sugar (~2 cups)
  
• 2 and 3/4 c. flour
• 2 and 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 c. choc chips
• 1 t. vanilla
  

Directions:

Melt butter and add sugar, mix well. Add eggs one at a time while mixing. Stir in dry ingredients. Stir in vanilla and choc. chips. Spread in 9x 13 pan and Bake at 350 for ~25 minutes or until golden brown.

Sausage Pasta

This is a delicious almost-one-pot meal. It warms up great for leftovers too! We usually use Dave's homemade sausage (recipe to come later) but it works great with store-bought sausage too!


Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 lb. hot or mild Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
• 1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 28 oz can italian diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb bowtie pasta
• 3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and pepper flkaes. Cook until sausage is no longer pink (~7 minutes). Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion is tender and sausage is light brown (~7 minutes). Add tomatoes, cream and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly (~4 minutes)

Cook pasta until tender. Drain. Add pasta to sauce, sprinkle with parsley and fresh Parmesan.

Dual Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This is a recipe that I made for Dave to try and entice him into dating me. It worked ... it just took a little longer and A LOT more batches than I anticipated ...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups oatmeal (ground)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-2 cups flour
• white chocolate chips
• milk chocolate chips
  

Directions:

Mix together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix again. Grind up 2 1/2 cups oatmeal until fine in the blender and then add. While mixing, add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add 1-2 cups flour. Add chocolate chips to desired chocolate-y-ness. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-11 minutes or until golden brown.