Jezebel Sauce

The amount this makes depends on the sizes of the jars of jelly & horseradish sauce that you use. If the jars are large, adjust the amount of dry mustard and the pepper to your taste.

1 jar pineapple jelly
1 jar apple jelly
1 jar horseradish sauce
1/4 tsp. dried mustard
Coarse ground black pepper, to taste
1 or 2 8-ounce block of cream cheese
Crackers - your choice

Mix all ingredients, except cream cheese and crackers, together. Refrigerate until chilled or overnight (it's better overnight). Put cream cheese on a platter and pour sauce on top. Dig in with the crackers and enjoy.

Coming Soon - Another Nigella Cookbook

Photo by J. P. Masclet

Was visiting Nigella Lawson's webiste earlier today and read the good news - Nigella is writing another cookbook. This one is titled "Nigellas Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities" and will be released on October 28, 2008.

We own all of Nigella's cookbooks & this one is definitely going on my Christmas list this year!

My Man, Alton Brown

No disrespect intended to Mrs. Brown for referring to her husband as my man - but Alton Brown is, bar none, my favorite on Food Network.

His book "Gear For Yor Kitchen" is a must-have for those who love to cook. My words don't do the book justice, so here's a review:

"I think cooking is a lot of fun and I hate to see people not having fun doing it just because they don't have the right tools--which is not to say they need the prettiest, best, most expensive tools. They just need the tools that are right for them." Such is the organizing principle of Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen by the selfsame Alton Brown, star of Food Network's Good Eats as well as award-winning author of I'm Just Here for the Food. It's an interesting, effective principle. It comes from a guy who serves pie with a four-dollar mortar trowel he picked up at the hardware store.

Brown's opening challenge is a 60-day, four phase process of ridding your kitchen of all things unused and insignificant--easy on the surface, but tough in the doing. That leaves room for essential gear. And to help make those choices, Brown looks at pots and pans, sharp things (not just knives, but graters, mandolins, and cheese slicers, too), small things with plugs (as in small appliances--from food processors to coffee makers to deep fat fryers), kitchen tools unplugged (those items that fill drawers), storage and containment, and safety and sanitation.

If this were just an encyclopedia, what an unwholesome bore it would be. But Brown turns this relevant information into a romp. He's talking about the tools he uses, after all, and has no fear of naming likes and dislikes--based on his own experience. He also includes unending side chatter about cutting corners, saving money, and actually putting good tools to work. You'll find recipes throughout, and techniques, too. Like, how to bake a chicken in a flower pot. If you wonder why you would even want to attempt it in the first place, Brown clues you in. Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen is about as guilt free as pleasure will ever get. --Schuyler Ingle

Cookies and Conversation

No, I didn't bake today, but my oldest friend, Janet, did. Oatmeal cookies, for her husband, John, and youngest son, Jake.

We had a catch-up conversation this afternoon while she baked. Janet is my oldest friend - we have known each other since I was six and she was eight. We met on North Prospect Avenue, in Catonsville, Maryland, and lived 5 houses apart from each other. We've been friends for 46 years.

Now she lives in upstate New York and I live in Florida. Since she's gotten married (nearly 35 years ago!), we probably have only seen each other 10-15 times. But we have never lost the closeness we forged as children.

I cherish each conversation with her. Today, especially, it would've been nice to be sitting at her kitchen table, smelling the cookies as they baked, and catching up on life face to face...

Uncle Ellis' Squash Casserole

I have to pry Jen away from this dish whenever Ellis makes it. She literally won't eat anything else. We use the small yellow squash for this.

Uncle Ellis' Squash Casserole

3 cups Pepperidge Farm stuffing
3/4 to one stick of butter, melted

Mix in bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix:

2 cups cooked squash (approximately 2 pounds fresh, cut up, then steamed or boiled)
1 grated carrot
1 small onion, grated
1 can pimento
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup

Preheat oven to 350. Layer half of the stuffing mixture in the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Spread the squash mixture on top of the stuffing mix, then top the squash mixture with the remaining stuffing. Bake 45 minutes.

Paula Deen's French Toast

This recipe is easy to make, delicious beyond description, and a serious artery clogger, which is why I generally only make it for breakfast on holidays!

Paula Deen's French Toast:

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping (recipe follows)

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.

Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Serve with maple syrup.

Betty Crocker Cooky Cookbook

My mom got this book when I was a little girl. I can still vividly remember the one Christmas that she made a ton of different cookies from this book. I used to spend hours reading the different recipes and drooling over the pictures.

Mom still makes the Applesauce Raisin cookies (see recipe below) every year at Christmas. I love them so much that I'll eat them rather then her excellent chocolate chip cookies.

After being out of print for many years, this book was finally reissued and my mom gave it to me for Christmas that year. Now, my daughter pores over the book and drools over the recipes, just as I did. In fact, she's already compiled a list of cookies that she wants us to bake this Christmas season.

Whether you're into collecting cookbooks, or simply love baking, then this is one book you shouldn't be without.

Here's the recipe for the Applesauce Raisin cookies (Mom eliminated the nuts from this recipe years ago, and I do as well):

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Mix shortening, sugar, and egg thoroughly. Stir in applesauce. Measure flour by dipping method, or by sifting. Blend dry ingredients and stir in. Mix raisins and nuts. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Makes 4 dozen cookies. Note: if you use self-rising flour, omit soda and salt.