Halloween: Cruella De Vil

So for Halloween I was Cruella De Vil!  This is me in front of the BYU law building.  Now I "live" in this building; I used to "live" in the music building across the street.  As you can see, sod still needs to be put in where the walk bridge was taken down.

An interesting fact about my costume is I've been planning to be Cruella for over a year now--long before I even considered going to law school.  It was great fun to assemble the costume and, of course, dress up!  And it is great to be in law school!

So check out "Cruella De Vil" from Disney's 101 Dalmations.

Double Chocolate Cookies: Ghost of a Chance

These cookies are the most decadent chocolate cookies I've tasted yet!  Perhaps a more appropriate name would be "death by chocolate" cookies just in time for October 31!

Tomorrow is Halloween so I had to get a good "ghostly" song in here.  Check out "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance" sung by Billie Holiday.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup baking cocoa

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat with electric mixer the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until creamy.
4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture.  Beat on low until thoroughly mixed.
5. Stir chocolate chips into dough with a spoon.
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 7-8 minutes.  Remove baking sheet from oven and let cookies set for 2 minutes.
8. Remove cookies from parchment paper onto cooling rack to cool completely.

Turtles: The Addams Family

So it's close to Halloween.  And what's Halloween without chocolate?  And what's chocolate-enrobed caramel and pecans?  A turtle!

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory® makes the biggest, sweetest turtles I've ever had.  You should seriously try them.

Since it's almost Halloween, I had to include the Addams Family Theme song.  A turtle may not be "Thing;" actually, it's better because it's delicious!

Orange Cranberry Sauce: Haunted Heart

Cranberry sauce at the Chaston house is always homemade with fresh cranberries.  Making cranberry sauce is really quite easy.  This orange cranberry sauce is a twist on the usual cranberry sauce.  Whenever the end of October is near, we make and keep a ready supply of this sauce on hand in the refrigerator.  A spoonful can accompany just about any food to which we want to add a little tartness!  It is almost October 31 and we just made our first batch!

Since it's getting closer to Halloween, check out "Haunted Heart" sung by Jo Stafford.

ORANGE CRANBERRY SAUCE

3 cups fresh cranberries

2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate

¾ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon dried orange zest

1. Wash cranberries and sort, then put only the firm, plump ones in a large saucepan that has a lid with a vent hole for steam to escape.
2. Pour water over cranberries.  Add orange juice concentrate.
3. Add sugar and orange zest.
4. Stir to dissolve sugar.
5. Put the cover on the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Turn down to low heat.
6. Once the cranberries have popped, remove the lid and simmer until thickened.
7. Serve warm or cold as a compliment to meats, salads, or bread.

Hearty Wheat Pancakes: Maple Leaf Rag

I know I've done many a recipe for pancakes, but really, can you have too many pancake recipes?  I think not.  This recipe is a variation of a basic wheat pancake recipe.  We love to change things up a bit with a heartier pancake for breakfast!

And what's a pancake without maple syrup?  So check out "Maple Leaf Rag" played by Scott Joplin.

HEARTY WHEAT PANCAKES

¼ cup cake flour

⅔ cup wheat flour

2 tablespoons cornmeal

2 tablespoons raw wheat germ

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup + 1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon granulated sugar or Splenda®

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1. In a medium size bowl, combine cake flour, wheat flour, cornmeal, wheat germ and salt.
2. In another bowl, put milk, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla, egg and oil.
3. Stir together with a fork until consistent.
4. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture.  Stir just until combined.
5. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat until a droplet of water sizzles on the surface when dropped.  Spray with Pam®.
6. Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, scoop out and pour batter onto hot frying pan.  Turn when bubbles of air pop on the surface of the pancake.
7. Turn pancakes and cook until lightly browned.
8. Spray frying pan every time before a new batch of pancakes is poured on it.

Hearty Banana Cake: Fried Bananas

Baked goods that include bananas have a tendency to be too, well, gooey and sunken.  I can't tell you how many times I've been disappointed upon opening the oven and finding a tacky, sunken banana muffin or loaf.

But this great recipe has enough cake to hold up to the bananas.  This banana-filled cake with just the right banana-cake ratio is a sturdy yet moist breakfast cake or lunchtime dessert treat!

On a related banana-note, check out "Fried Bananas" played by tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon.  Sorry, I don't have a fried banana recipe!

HEARTY BANANA CAKE

½ cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup wheat flour

2 tablespoons wheat germ

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons baking powder

4 large ripe bananas

TOPPING

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Put butter and sugar in a large bowl.  With electric mixer, beat together until creamy.
2. Add eggs and beat on low speed until blended.
3. In a small bowl, combine all-purpose flour, wheat flour, wheat germ, salt and baking powder.  Add to butter mixture and stir together with a fork.
4. Peel bananas and put on a large plate.  With a fork, mash the bananas into large chunks. 
5. Add bananas and stir gently to incorporate them into the batter.
6. Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch glass baking pan.  Spoon the batter into the pan, gently spreading the batter to the edges.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients.  Just before baking, sprinkle topping over the batter.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake.

Sunflower Bread: Sunrise Serenade

When I was a teenager, I used to get sunflower bread at the local grocery store in Suwanee, GA.  When my family moved away, I couldn't find sunflower bread anywhere.

This week my mom decided our family needed hearty sunflower bread again.  She created this recipe from her basic wheat bread recipe and her French bread recipe.  It tastes great and now I can have sunflower bread anytime I want it without searching for it in the stores!

So to celebrate the sunny joy of sunflower bread coming back into my life, check out "Sunrise Serenade" by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

SUNFLOWER CRACKED WHEAT BREAD

2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

½ cup warm water

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup olive oil

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon gluten

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ - 2 cups wheat flour

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1. In a large bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm water.  Let mixture sit for five minutes until it bubbles.
2. Sprinkle the gluten over the yeast.  Do not mix.
3. Add the honey, olive oil, warm water, salt, 1½ cups all-purpose flour and ½ cup wheat. 
4. With electric mixer on low speed, mix until dough looks stretchy—for about two minutes.
5. Add remaining all-purpose flour and 1 cup wheat flour.  Stir with a large spatula or spoon.
6. Add sunflower seeds.  Incorporate them into the dough by folding the dough, turning it 90 degrees, and folding again.  Repeat until sunflower seeds are in the dough.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough sit for 10 minutes.
8. Stir down the dough and add 1 cup wheat flour.  Mix with a large spoon or with your hands.  If dough is still too moist to handle, add remaining ½ cup wheat flour and knead on a clean surface for about five minutes.
9. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes.
10. Stir dough down and cover with plastic wrap again.  Let it rise for 45 minutes.  Stir down.  Let it sit for 5 minutes. 
11. Put a little olive oil on your hands.  Divide dough in half.  Shape into two long logs and place each on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
12. Put waxed paper over the loaves and set aside in a warm place to allow the bread to rise for 45 minutes.
13. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the crust is browned.
14. Remove loaves to cooling rack. 
15. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing.