Jeanette's Rocky Road Fudge!

I'm really excited to share this recipe with you!  Growing up, my mom wasn't big into baking.  So when Christmas rolled around, this was the super delicious treat she would make to share with all the neighbors.  It's unbelievably quick to make and it makes a generous 9X13 pan.  When you're making gifts for lots of friends the large pan is SUCH a bonus!  It's a fabulous combo of chocolate, chunky peanut butter and mini marshmallows.  Well, hello YUM!!!

My Mama's Rocky Road Fudge

Butter

12 ounces semi sweet chocolate pieces

1 cup chunky peanut butter

4 cups mini marshmallows

Generously grease a 9X13 pan with butter.  Melt chocolate and peanut butter in a double boiler.  When mixture is cohesive, fold in marshmallows and pour into prepared pan.  Refrigerate until fudge is set.

Super Buttery Butter Pecan Cookies

Today, I'm super exciteded to be guest posting over at  The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch.  I'm sure most of you are familiar with this fabulous blog.  If it happens to be new to you, then let me tell you, you're in for a treat cuz you're sooo going to love Shelby the author!  She is always cooking or baking something I'm dying to try.  Moreover, shes a wonderful gal that you are sure to really enjoy.
So, for my guest post, I made a special cookie that is perfect for this holiday season.  It's a Butter Pecan Cookie that is deliciously decedent and literally melts in your mouth.  If you have room on your baking schedule to make one more cookie, try to add this one to your list.  It's honestly really fabulous and I'm sure you won't be sorry!!!
I would really love it and appreciate if you dropped by Shelby's and gave her some comment love.  Please tell her I sent you.  Let me know if you try these cookies!  They soooo ROCK!
12-20-11 Update: I'm going to post this recipe here now.  I love having all my recipes in one place!

BUTTER PECAN COOKIES: FROM TASTE OF HOME

INGREDIENTS

• 1-3/4 cups chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 cup butter, softened, divided
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pecan halves

In a large bowl, cream brown sugar and remaining butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Gradually add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.

• Place chopped pecans and 1 tablespoon butter on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes or until toasted and browned.  Set aside and cool.
• Roll into 1-in. balls, then roll in toasted pecans, pressing nuts into dough. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Beat egg white until foamy. Dip the bottom of pecan halves in egg white, then gently press one into each ball. (If you get the foamy egg white on the top of the pecan it with remain after baking and not be attractive)
• Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. 

Today's Christmas Baking

This Saturday, hubby and  are have a little soiree to celebrate Christmas!  Yay!!!  I'm trying to put together the menu.  So far, it's looking like it's going to be, baked ziti, my favorite Minestrone soup, garlic bread and Ceasar salad. For dessert, I wanted to serve Christmas cookies. I want to have lots of different cookies. For some reason, I always feel like the more food, in this case cookies, I serve the more festive my party will be. So today I decided I'd better get myself in gear and start baking.  I wanted to start off with some of my favorites that will freeze well so they'll be perfectly delish on Saturday.  What do you think?  Good plan?

So here's what I'm baking today:

Coconut White Chocolate Cookies.  Tender, delicate and killer DELISH!

Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars. These will knock your socks off!!! I also love that this recipe makes a really big batch!

Chunky Chocolate Gobs.  These are so yummy, honestly, words fail me. 

Oatmeal, White Chocolate, Cranberry and Pecan Cookies!  Oh MY!!! I'm sooo making a double batch of these babies!

Porcini Mushroom Pot Roast

I saw this recipe last year on my friend Kim's blog and I couldn't wait for the weather to cool so I could make this. It is originally from the incomparable, Giada De Laurantiis.  Well, let me tell ya, this is sooo delicious it will blow your mind.  The roast is cooked slowly so it becomes tender and succulent and the sauce....oh my, the sauce.  The sauce is rich with earthy, delicious porcini mushrooms, other veggies and red wine.  I mean how could this be anything other that Fab-u-lous?!?  
I served this with an herbed cheese polenta that was equally incredible.  Of course, it too, was from Giada.  Here's the recipe.
Do yourself a favor and check out Kim's blog.  I swear she's always cooking something delicious that I can't wait to try at home!

Porcini Mushrooms Pot Roast: Adapted from Giada's Family Dinners as seen on Stirring the Pot blog
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 (5 pound) boneless beef chuck roast
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1-3/4 cups canned low-sodium beef broth 
1/2 ounce dried Porcini Mushrooms
1 large spring of fresh rosemary 
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Pat the beef dry with paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Heat the oil in a heavy, 6-quart pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes.  (Don't rush this step, which is what creates the deep rich flavor in the finished dish.) Transfer the beef to a plate.

2. Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the onions to the same pan and saute until tender, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add the wine and boil for 1 minute.  Stir in the broth and mushrooms.  Return the beef to the pan and bring the liquids to a boil.  Cover the pot and transfer to the oven.  Braise until the beef is fork-tender, about 3 hours, turning the beef over halfway through.

3. Transfer the beef to a cutting board.  Tent with foil and let stand for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, spoon any excess fat off the top of the pan juices.  Using a stick blender, puree sauce until smooth.  In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the sauce and rosemary sprig.  Bring to a boil, then season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Cut the beef across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices.  Arrange the sliced beef on a platter.  Spoon some of the sauce over and serve, passing the remaining sauce in a gravy boat.

Oatmeal White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yay!!!!  Today is the second time I've participated in the Secret Recipe Club. This month I was given a really fun blog to pick a recipe from.  It's called Everyday Sisters and is written by four sisters.  What a great idea is that?!?  They seem like a really fun group of gals and, let me tell you, their blog is packed with yummy looking recipes.  In fact, it was honestly really tough to choose just one.  Good news is, now that I've found their blog, I will be back often.
My family loved these cookies.  They had a nice crunchy exterior and chewy interior.  Don't you just love that combination?  They were loaded with lots of goodies that really made them fab-u-lous!!!  I had a kinda hard time getting the dough to come together well.  Not sure exactly what I did wrong but I just compressed the dough in a ball and flattened them slightly before baking.  It worked out very nicely!  I made mine with white chocolate chunks (from a Lindt white chocolate bar), dried cranberries and pecans.

Oatmeal Cookies:from Everyday Sisters
Ingredients:
12 Tbls (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
2/3 cup granulated sugar 
1 large egg 
1 teas vanilla extract 
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats 
1 1/4 cups flour 
3/4 teas baking powder 
3/4 teas baking soda 
1/4 teas salt 
1 cup of dried cranberries or raisins 
1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts 
1 cup of chocolate chips 
Instruction:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. 
2. Stir together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the batter until just combined. Stir in the dried fruit, nuts and chocolate. 
3.Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto 2 large baking sheets (no need to grease them), leaving 2 inches between each ball of dough. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for several minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool further.

Herbed Cheese Polenta

Do you like polenta?  I do!!! The thing that sometimes holds me back from making it is that some recipes have you stirring it constantly like a risotto.  This recipe, from Giada, has you stirring occasionally.  That works for me!  It makes this oh so much more doable.  The flavors in this polenta are really wonderful.  I love all the fresh herbs, cheese, butter...I mean "Hello YUM".This recipe makes a very large batch so I generally cut it in half and it generously serves my family of four. I first saw this recipe over at my friend Kim's blog.  Check her out.  She's always cooking up something really amazing!!!


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Herbed Cheese Polenta Adapted from Giada's Family Dinners
8-10 servings
Ingredients:
10 cups water 
1 tablespoon salt
2-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal or polenta
1-1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups whole milk (I used half and half)
10 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary 
1 tabelspoon chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
1.Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy pot.  Add the salt.  Gradually whisk in the cornmeal.
2.  Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, about 15 minutes.  
3.Remove from the heat.  Add the cheese, milk, butter, herbs, and pepper.  Stir until the butter and cheese melt.  Transfer the polenta to a bowl and serve.

Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cake.  It's delicious, moist, dense, rich, easy to make, and, if all that wasn't enough, it's low fat.  Ya, seriously!  How amazing is that?!  It's  a wonderful treat anytime but yummy enough to grace your holiday table.  The glaze is very cinnamon-y so feel free to cut back the cinnamon a little if you want the glaze to be a bit more subtle.  When you make this cake be sure to use an electric mixer.  The batter is really thick and would be a nightmare to mix well by hand.  Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Glaze: adapted from Allrecipes

Cake:

Ingredients:

1-18.25 ounces spice cake mix

1-15 ounce can pumpkin

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup sugar

Glaze:

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a bundt cake pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all cake ingredients together with an electric mixer until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.

3. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

4. Meanwhile make glaze by combining all glaze ingredients in a small bowl and mixing until smooth.

5. When cake is cooled, drizzle with glaze and serve.  Store any left overs in the fridge.