Kris & Larry at Scrapwarrior

Here is a recipe that our family has make every new year’s eve as far back as I can remember as a child and often other times during the year. In the summer time, we substitute blackberries or raspberries for the cranberries.   

A “Fool” is a dish made of fruit, scalded or stewed, crushed and mixed with cream.

This recipe is included in my upcoming cookbook, “A Kitchen Full of Kid Tested, From Scratch Recipes” being released in January of 2013.

Cranberry Fool

Ingredients:

• 16 oz cranberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)*
• 3 Tablespoons orange zest
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream

Directions:

Simmer cranberries, 1 Tablespoon zest, 1/2 cup sugar and orange juice on stove until cranberries have “popped”.

Remove from heat. Add 1teaspoon almond extract and stir. Set mixture aside to cool.

Whip 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups whipping cream in a chilled mixing bowl on high speed until fluffy.

Once the cranberry mixture is cooled, pulse-chop the mixture in a food processor or blender.  Set aside 1/2 cup of mixture for use as topping.

Fold cranberry mixture into whipped cream. Drizzle the 1/2 cup of cranberries mixture that was set aside on top of  folded dessert. Sprinkle with remaining zest.

Chill and serve. Makes 12.

*Cranberries freeze incredibly well. Buy them in bulk during the holidays while they are on sale, freeze and use them year-round.

Having an organized pantry is important in your kitchen. It allows for less time during meal preparation and a much better feel in your kitchen. I know that I feel a whole lot better when I walk into my kitchen and know exactly what I have in my pantry.

We do dehydrate a TON of veggies and herbs from our garden that I use in a variety of cooking when I do not have fresh available. I know that if I bag them up in zipper bags, then I can’t always find what I was looking for when I need it. We also store all of our mixes in gallon sized jars.

In my pantry, I use mason jars in both pint and quart and recycled gallon size pickle jars work great for mixes and bulk food.I don’ t loose anything this way!!!

I also use chalkboard labels so that I can change the label on them if I need to (There are many out on the market. I posted a link to the least expensive that I found on amazon.com.) The changable labels come in handy with our homemade instant oatmeal container. The kids always know what flavor is available!!

It does not take a ton of money to make your pantry be usable. (Yes, those are milk crates as extra shelves as well!)

It has always been fascinating to me to see the child’s eye when they experience something for the first time. My children have always been in the kitchen with me and I know that I take that for granted. We have children come in and out of our house though foster care who get to experience life and family for the first time in our home. It still always shocks me when I hear that they have never made cookies from scratch or know what a Christmas tree is.We as a family have decided to give them exactly this, even if for only a day or a week or a month.

Making cookies has been a HUGE treat in our house, especially lately. And I was able to share this today… We decided to make a very special cookie – Peanut butter blossoms – These are SO YUMMY and use one of my favorite candies – Hershey Kisses. (and I think that the kids ate more chocolate as they were peeling the wrappers than what ended up on the cookies!!)

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup butter or margarine, softened ( I only use butter in my house for cookies… tastes SO MUCH BETTER)

2 eggs (These are fresh from our chickens and ducks)

3 cups  all-purpose flour (I only use whole wheat fresh ground, but any bleached white will work as well)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Additional granulated sugar (about 2 tablespoons)

About 6 dozen Hershey’s® Kisses® Brand milk chocolates

• Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in additional granulated sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Immediately press 1 chocolate candy in center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Lar and I had the best time in Ketchikan, Alaska. The sun was shining. We were told that they got about 17 feet of rainfall annually and had only about 30 days with sun a year. We got a 100% clear blue sky. It was amazing! Here are a handful of photos from that day (Sept 16, 2012). On our visit there, we stopped by the totem village, toured a salmon cannery and tours the bay on a boat.  I have added more photos online at https://www.facebook.com/KrisMazyPhotography