Be sure to stop in next week.  In honor of Valentine’s Day,  we will be showcasing a project daily that we did based on a suggestion/tutorial by Sherry and John in their book Young House Love.  That will be our version of a good ole Valentine celebration.

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I just finished reading The Bucolic Plague (available here) yesterday.  It’s about The Fabulous Beekman Boys and I have to admit it – I kind of have a crush.  It’s not on the boys exactly but on their country lives, real or not, and on the “putting it all on the table” writing style of Josh Kilmer-Purcell.  I knew about them before the Amazing Race and loved them on the show, especially the way they played the game in such a spirited, caring, humane way.  And guess what!  Even though they are the total opposite of athletic or coordinated, they played smart and won.  So, if there was a lesson  to be learned this past season – it pays to be smart.

 

So anyway, I checked out their website and decided to put a spin on one of the cookie recipes they shared.  There is some pink in the final product, thanks to marachino cherries which many of us remember from the 60′s.  They call theirs Cherry Kisses.  I’m changing the name because pretty much the only similarity is the pink frosting.  Mr. Autumn has been a diligent follower of the Paleo plan since early November, (not to lose weight but to be healthier), but I think he’ll appreciate this sweet treat.

 

 

VALENTINE DELIGHTS

Start with your favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe, or you can even cut and bake the pre-made dough.   I used the recipe on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip bag.

 

 

Next, make your favorite butter cream frosting.  Chop up six cherries and add 1/2 teaspoon of juice for the color and add to the mix.  To simplify it,  you can buy the pre-made frosting and just add the cherries and juice to that.   Then  spread the frosting on one cookie and then top it with another.  That’s all there is to it.  If you take the easy way out, you can make these confections while your Valentine dinner is cooking.  Your sweetheart will think you are the sweetest!!!

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Have a great week-end!!!

 

Take care.

I have been making these enchiladas for a couple of years now, and I love them. The recipe is originally from www.allrecipes.com.  They are easy, tasty and make enough for a crowd.  In fact, there will be enough for all of the friends you invite over to watch the Super Bowl and maybe some left over.  I made them for my mom when she was here last week, and as we were wiping some sauce off of our mouths, we decided these yummy delights would be perfect game day food.

 

 

 If this close-up of the gooey goodness doesn’t set your heart aflutter, then we give up!!!

 

COTTAGE CHEESE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves- boiled and shredded ( I have bought a rotassie chicken to make this and also put a whole chicken in the crock pot and made chicken salad and soups with leftovers.)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 (7 oz) can chopped green chile peppers

1 package taco seasoning mix

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups cottage cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 pinch of pepper

12 6 – inch tortillas (I sometimes will do the larger size to fit in the pan better)

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce

-To make the meat mixture, heat oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken, onion, and green chile peppers and sauté until browned, then add taco seasoning and prepare meat mixture according to package directions.

To make cheese mixture, in a medium bowl mix sour cream, with cottage cheese and season with salt and pepper, stir until well blended.

-Preheat oven to 350

-To assemble enchiladas, heat tortillas until soft.  In each tortilla place a spoonful of meat mixture, a spoonful of cheese mixture and a bit of shredded cheese.  Roll tortillas and place in a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish.  Top with any remaining meat and cheese mixture.  Add enchilada sauce and any remaining shredded cheese on top.

-Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

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Have a great week-end, and we hope your team wins!!!

 

Cheers!

 

 

It’s Friday, and here at The 2 Seasons that usually means a recipe.  And since it’s a January Friday, we’re going for comfort food.  What could be more comforting then the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls drifting from the oven?  That’s right, boys and girls.  We have cinnamon rolls today.  And I’m here to tell you that they are worth every single calorie.  Just run an extra mile, swim some more laps, and spin a little bit harder.  It will all be worth it.

 

Lucky for me, our local paper featured an article about cinnamon rolls in today’s edition, and they selected this recipe from a book called I Love Cinnamon Rolls! by JudithFertig.  It’s has a lot of steps, but just work on something else while they rise and bake.

 

TRADITIONAL CINNAMON ROLL DOUGH

 

 

1 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons unsalted softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

3 1/3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading and dusting

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

 

 - Mix the first four ingredients and heat to no more than 130 degrees and then whisk in eggs.

 - Combine flour and yeast and add liquid mixture.

 - Mix in a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 5 to 6 minutes and then switch to dough hook and knead 4 to 6 minutes longer.

 - Place in greased bowl and let rise till double in size.

 

CLASSIC CINNAMON ROLLS

1 recipe from above

Flour for dusting

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

 

 - Spread 4 tablespoons of butter into a 9 x 13 pan

 - Place dough on floured surface and roll out to a 16 x 20 rectangle

 - Spread remaining 4 tablespoons of butter on top of the dough

 - Mix brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over dough.  Roll up dough starting at short side to form a cylinder.  Cut into 12 rolls.

 - Place rolls in buttered pan, cover, and let double in size again.

 - Then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes or till browned on top

 

GLAZE

2 cups powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon whole milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons strong brewed coffee

1/2 tablespoon maple syrup

 

 - Combine ingredients and drizzle over warm rolls

 

*****

Take care and have a great week-end.  I’ll be spending next week at Jordan’s in Syracuse.  We have two big projects planned, and I hope we have enough time to complete them both.  Stay tuned.  We’ll keep you posted.

Happy Friday.

 

Remember, we are giving away a $50 etsy gift card this week to celebrate our birthdays.  See the details on how to enter at the end of this post.

 

 

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that I would be sharing a salad recipe with you today.  My friend, Randy, told me that her daughter-in-law made this salad for Thanksgiving.  It sounded really yummy, and so I had to give it a test drive.  Boy, am I glad.  It was one of the best salads ever.  It has more steps than most salads, but with the addition of grilled chicken, salmon, or shrimp, it would be a wonderful main course.  This recipe came from the Barefoot Contessa, as usual.

 

 

• ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALAD

• 1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash, peeled and 3/4-inch) diced

• Good olive oil

• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 3 tablespoons dried cranberries

• 3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice

• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons minced shallots

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 4 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry

• 1/2 cup walnuts halves, toasted

• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

*****

Take care and have a great week-end.  I have a big project planned for the week-end.  Can’t wait to do it and then share it with you.

If you have been reading our blog for a while, you know I love going to and serving afternoon tea.  For all of our new readers, well, I love going to and serving afternoon tea. (Here, here, here,and here).  And today with its freezing temperatures was a perfect time to serve tea to some of my gals.  It was time to chow down on some sweets and savories.   We needed to regroup after the holidays, and you all know that girls just want to have fun.

 

I love prepping for the ritual as much as I love eating and sipping during the ritual.  I pulled out my vintage napkins, plates, and cups along with our wedding silver.  I set everything up on the great room coffee table that I had topped with an old, crisp linen table cover.

 

 

It’s really not necessary to serve a large selection or large servings of the foods.  I made some bread and topped it with a store-bought smoked salmon spread and baked some cheddar crackers. That recipe follows.  For sweets I baked some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and served them with some assorted chocolates.  Can we all give a collective YUM?

 

 

In the short time we were together, we caught up on each everyone’s news, discussed the latest movies, and solved the world’s problems.  Not bad.  Not bad, at all.

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JALAPENO CHEDDAR CRACKERS 

Recipe from my girl, The Barefoot Contessa (here)

Note: – For our tea, I eliminated the chipotle chili powder and jalapeno pepper.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 cups milk

• 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra to grease the pan

• 8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated, divided

• 1/3 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts, plus extra for garnish, 3 scallions

• 3 tablespoons seeded and minced fresh jalapeno peppers

Directions

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don’t overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapenos, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Take care.

Today is bake day in these parts.  I’m doing as much ahead of time as possible and found a recipe to bake and freeze that will be great for a grab and go breakfast when we take Jordan and Mr. Spring to the airport for their flight to ski country.  Don’t worry.  We’ll get to spend four quality days together packed with activities before they go.  That is, if they get here in time.  Mother Nature might affect their flight schedule tonight.

 

 

BERRY-ORANGE COFFEE CAKE

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

1 Tbsp. shredded orange peel

1 Tbsp. orange juice

1/2  tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped

1 recipe orange glaze (below)

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (I used pecans)

2 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger (I omitted this)

 - Preheat oven to 350.  Grease either muffin pans or mini loaf pans, which is what I used.

 - Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Whisk to blend.

 - In another bowl beat butter and sugars till fluffy.  Beat in ricotta, egg, orange peel, orange juice, and vanilla.  Stir flour mixture in till combined.  Fold in cranberries and ginger.

 - Fill pans 2/3 full and bake 20 to 25 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes, and then remove.  Top with glaze and sprinkle nuts and additional orange peel, if desired.

Orange Glaze

Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. orange juice, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.  Stir in 2 Tbsp. melted butter and 1/2 tsp. shredded orange peel.

 

Take care and have a great week-end.

 

 

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, November, 2012

 

Linking to 

Everyone loves a little holiday cheer this time of year.  Like most of you, I have a favorite.  These festive bubbly drinks were introduced to me a couple years ago, and I like to make them for the holidays.  And lucky for you, I’m sharing…..the recipe that is.

 

HOLIDAY POINSETTIA COCKTAIL

1/2 ounce of Grand Marnier

2 ounces of cranberry juice

4 ounces of champagne

Mix Grand Marnier and cranberry juice together and pour in champagne flute.  Top off with champagne.

 

You only need these three ingredients.  How simple is that?

 

 

I had red sugar from decorating cookies on hand, so I dipped the rim of the glasses in orange juice and then dipped them in the red sugar.  A little added bling never hurts.

 

 

I also had some cranberries, and I thought it would be fun to add just one to each flute.  More bling.

 

Now we can sip  Poinsettias at our bar and enjoy this holiday season.

 

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Cheers!

Happy Friday!!!  We recently celebrated my husband’s birthday, and I decided to make homemade bread to go along with his birthday meal of shrimp and grits, arugula salad, and red velvet cake.  I didn’t really want to use my bread machine since I had some time to make bread the old fashioned way.  I dug into the recipe file I started as a newlywed and rediscovered a bread recipe that I got from one of my friends at my first teaching job.

 

HOMEMADE BREAD

 - 5 cups flour

 - 1 1/2 cups hot water (about 120 degrees)

 - 1 package yeast (2 teaspoons)

 - 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 1/2 tablespoons salt

 

 

DIRECTIONS

Place flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle.  Combine the other ingredients until all are dissolved and then pour them into the well.  Mix all together until they are completely combined.  Then knead for about 10 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, cover,  and let rise till doubled in size.  Punch down and form into two loaves.  Put into two greased pans and let rise till double again.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes.  Rub the tops with butter when done.  Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

 

It works well for sandwiches and French toast, too.

 

Take care and have a great week-end.

Yummy!!  And based on what I was told as a little girl about eating my carrots, I can already see better.

 

 

When I was thinking about a recipe for today’s post, I asked my friend Stephanie for suggestions.  She is a great cook with lots of tips, recipes, and good vibes.  I should mention that we were sweating it out in our 6 a.m. workout class when this conversation took place.

 

She suggested that I try a recipe she had prepared the night before and proceeded to give me the easy ingredients and directions for carrot soup.  This is all you need:

 

CARROT SOUP

 

 - 1 tablespoon olive oil

 - 1 tablespoon butter

 - 1 medium onion, finely chopped

 - 1/2 teaspoon salt (If you use homemade stock, you might need less).

 - 1/4 teaspoon pepper

 - 1 pound carrots, cut into 1-ince pieces

 - 2 14-ounce cans chicken broth

 - Water (I like a thick soup, so I omitted it).

 

DIRECTIONS

Heat olive oil and butter in a medium-sized pot.  Add the chopped onion and saute till it is tender.  Add the carrots and broth.  Simmer till the carrots are tender.  At this point, Stephanie added water.  Blend in a blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender (that’s what I used).

 

I topped it with some fresh thyme.  The only downer is that I didn’t have a slice of my homemade bread  to go with it.

 

 

I can’t guarantee that this will help your eyesight, but the world is looking a whole lot brighter to me.  Just sayin’.  Thanks, Stephanie.

 

Take care and have a great week-end.  Jordan and I will be back next week with some great projects we have been working on.