Homemade Vanilla Extract

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

A couple of friends and I got together yesterday with some bottles of booze and had a great time. We sloshed a little vodka, rum, and bourbon into bottles with vanilla beans and made our own Vanilla Extract.

My hubby the auction freak (buys everything at an auction that is a good deal) had several small bottles that we used.

We cut the stem of the vanilla bean up the middle leaving the top together for easy removal, filled the 2 and 4 ounce jars and added one bean to the small jars and 2 beans to the bigger jars.

Homemade Vanilla Extract - Day 1

The house was alive with the smell of Vanilla.  It reminded me of baking sugar cookies and made me want to bake a  batch.

Viki and Denise would do the filling of the bottles and poke the stem of the vanilla into the jar.

We had  a lot of smiles, a bit of the spirits leftover and lots of Holiday unique gift prepared.

Mmmm Good.

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Shortbread Pie Crust – You’ve gotta try this!

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy
At my office the other morning, one of my co-workers brought in an apple pie made with 
a shortbread crust his mother’s recipe.  I have never had such a great pie.  The buttery, flaky, thick cookie like crust has won me over.
Now, I am not a fan of plain shortbread cookies. And yet, when paired with the spiced fruit of apple and I am thinking pumpkin for Thanksgiving, I think it will steal the show. 
Once I make it, I’ll post the picture.  Since Thanksgiving is sneaking up quickly, I felt the need to share this recipe so you can too experiment.
(Please close your calorie counter otherwise you will not make this recipe.)
Original Recipe Yield 3 – 9 inch pie crusts
 

Ingredients

  • 3 cups butter, softened
  • 5/8 cup light brown sugar
  • 5/8 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • Pie filling of your choice

You will want to prepare the pie filling on the the stovetop so that it will cook with the short baking time of the shortbread.   One crust on the bottom, filling, crust on top. Bake.

I am thinking this is a winner.  Bake in a tart pan or pan you can remove the pie easily. 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
  2. Using your hands, mix butter, brown sugar, white sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Squeeze and work dough until it holds together. Press into three 9 inch pie pans and chill for 2 hours.
  3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly brown around the edges.
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Table Decorations – Christmas

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

A special snowman cupcake for each place setting adds to the theme.I use decorations and wrapping paper as a table runner.

Christmas moose and pomegranites. A woodsy Christmas.

These chorus ladies are made out of bottles.

Christmas Dinner Table

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Beef and Broccoli Stirfry

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy
From the Christmas dinner  ribeye roast, I cut the ribs from the roast, removed the eye of the roast and what was left looked like a flank steak once I remove the extra fat.  I saved this flank piece of meat for later – this is later – and tied the eye back onto the ribs and cooked the roast for Christmas Eve dinner. 

If you are planning on serving your stirfry with rice, start it now.  (See no fail rice.)

Slice the flank steak against the grain into small 1/8th inch slices.  My roast yielded about 5 cups. 

Oil for stirfrying.

4 cups of broccoli flowerettes

Mix the next five ingredients together for the sauce.

1 cup teriyaki

1/4 cup pepper jelly

1 tsp hot mustard1

1 tsp red pepper flakes

3 T finely chopped scallions

1 T corn starch and 1 cup water mix together

salt and pepper to taste.

Turn your wok on to heat while chopping the flank steak.  Prepare the teriyaki sauce

and the thickening agent in separate bowls. 

You are now ready.  Drizzle two Tablespoons of oil in the bottom of the wok and add 1/2 the beef.  Cook until almost done, remove from pan.  Cook other half of the beef until almost done and remove from pan.  Add broccoli to the wok and add a lid covering the broccoli, add about 1/4 cup of water. Allow to steam for 60 seconds, then stir.  When the broccoli is fork tender, add teriyaki mixture and finish cooking the broccoli, add the beef mixture allow to heat for 60 seconds.   If the teriyaki sauce needs thickening, add the corn starch, allow to cook until the broth is clear.  Salt and Pepper to taste.

Remove from the heat.  Check your rice, when it is tender serve your meal.

You can not order this meal and have it delivered quicker than cooking it yourself.  Enjoy.

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Italian Lemon Meringue

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

This Lemon Meringue pie reminds me of a Lemon Chiffon, beautiful creamy lemon yellow. Yum. Easy in the sense you mix and  bake the lemon chiffon in the pie shell instead of the stovetop method used for Southern Style Lemon Meringue. 

If you like tart pie, use regular lemons, otherwise use Meyer’s lemons.

A more tart version is the Southern Style Lemon Meringue Pie, where the filling is cooked on the stovetop first, and then added to the pie. 

For presentation purposes, go big with the meringue.  Make it pretty!

To Make the Lemon Meringue Pie

Start with a Blind Baked Pie Crust (See other post on Pie Crust)

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. Put the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice and zest in a glass bowl and mix gently with a balloon whisk until all the ingredients are very well incorporated. The mixture will thicken naturally.
  3. Pour into the partially blind-baked (10 minutes)  pie crust and bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes. The filling should be firm to the touch but still very slightly soft in the centre (not wobbly!). Leave to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight if possible.

To Make the Simpler Meringue Topping:

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. Put the egg whites in a freestanding electric mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk until frothy. Gradually add 2 tablespoons of the sugar at a time, whisking well after each addition. Once you have whisked in all the sugar, add the vanilla extract and whisk again until stiff peaks form.
  3. Spoon the meringue on top of the cold pie, making sure you completely cover the pie filling. Create peaks and swirls in the top of the meringue with the back of a tablespoon.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown and crisp to the touch.)
  5. Leave to cool completely before serving.

To Make the Italian Meringue Topping:

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. Put the sugar in a small saucepan and just cover with water. Set over medium heat and bring to the boil.
  3. While the sugar is on the tovetop, put the egg whites in a freestanding electric mixer with a whisk attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed. Whisk until the egg whites are light and foamy.
  4. When the sugar has been boiling for a short while, it should reach soft ball stage. (This is when the bubbles go more syrupy. To check, dip a spoon into the sugar, then drop it directly into a glass of cold water. The sugar will firm up on contact with the water. You should be able to form a soft ball out of the sugar. If it sets to hard to be able to form a ball, it has been boiled too long and has reached hard ball stage. Be careful, as the sugar goes from soft ball to hard ball stage very quickly. Don’t touch the hot syrup with your bare hand until you have dipped the spoon into the glass of cold water, otherwise you will burn your fingers.)
  5. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites. Once all the syrup is incorporated, turn the mixer up to maximum speed and whisk for about 10-15 minutes, or until the meringue has tripled in size and is very white and fluffy.
  6. Turn the mixer back down to medium speed and continue to whisk for a couple more minutes until the meringue has cooled down slightly.
  7. Spoon the meringue on top of the cold pie, making sure you completely cover the pie filling. Create peaks and swirls in the top of the meringue with the back of a tablespoon.
  8. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown and crisp to the touch. Leave to cool completely before serving. 

Note:  This is a great cupcake frosting!

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Abby’s Posole – Pork and Hominy Stew

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

Christmas Eve, family and friends get together to have dinner and exchange a few love notes and gifts.

Abby made Posole for the buffet table.  Even though she was a bit late, the stew is completely gone since everyone wanted to take some home.  Excellent. 

 Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless pork loin or pork roast, cubed
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans white hominy, drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
  • 4 dried hot red chile pepper pods, seeded and diced or use red enchilada sauce 

Directions

  1. Place meat in a large kettle and add about 5 quarts of water and the enchilada sauce, enough to cover meat. (Abby says she cubes the meat after it has cooked, but you can start by cubing it first.)  Add approximately 1 tablespoon salt and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for about 1 1/2 hours.
  2. Remove excess grease and set aside. Reserve liquid.
  3. Wash the posole very carefully until the water is clear so as to remove lime from kernels. Put in large kettle and cover with water. Boil until posole has popped.
  4. Mix meat, posole. Add oregano, garlic, onion, and chile pods. Let simmer for about 1/2 hour.

Serve with garnishes:  sliced radishes, lemon slice, shredded cabbage, fried tortilla chips

I think you should make the day ahead so the flavors blend. Delicious.

Abby's Christmas Posole Soup

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Roast Beef – Beef Tenderloin, Sirloin, Ribeye, or New York Strip

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

I love prime rib, but you can easily use sirloin.  I remember reading in one of my cookbooks, if you want to cook better, start out by buying better quality food.   That holds true for a wonderful roast.  So, if you want to splurg, go with Beef Tenderloin.  Meat should be out of the refrigerator for 1 hour so it can be at room temperature before roasting.  Rinse it and trim as necessary.  Pat it dry with paper towels. 

Trim of all fat and silverskin.

Heat your oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Season the Prime Rib Roast with your favorite salt and pepper and garlic rub. I use a little olive oil and rub it on the meat, then use pat on your rub of salt pepper and garlic or use the mustard rub that follows. 

LOW HEAT METHOD: Sear the meat on the stovetop prior to roasting in the oven.  Smear mustard rub over the meat and place on rack of roasting pan.  Reduce the heat in oven to 225 degrees.  Bake until temperature probe reads 135 degrees.  Turn down your oven to it’s lowest setting 140-200 degrees and keep warm until ready to serve.

Slice into 1/4 inch slices or serve from the buffet line.

Ribeye Roast

HIGH HEAT METHOD:  Place the beef on rack of roasting pan in a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes per pound at high heat.  For instance, after preheating your oven, a 3 pound roast should be at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then, shut the oven off.  DON’T OPEN THE DOOR.  Let the oven slowly cool down for the next 90 minutes.  You meat should turn out medium rare in the middle and perfect to eat

Mustard Rub:

1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. dried savory, finely crumbled
1 Tbs. dried thyme, finely crumbled
1 whole filet of beef (7 to 8 lb. untrimmed or 5 to 6 lb. trimmed)
Vegetable oil for sautéing
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, olive oil, savory, and thyme. 

Cut the filet in half to make two equal pieces about 7 inches long. You’ll have one piece with the broad double-pieced butt portion and a thinner piece that tapers to a small tip. Tuck the tapered tip under and tie with twine to fashion two equally thick roasts. Tie each roast at 2-inch intervals.Heat the oven to 450°F. Heat a heavy-duty roasting pan or large Dutch oven or skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in enough vegetable oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Pat the filets dry, salt them generously, and lay them in the pan; cook without disturbing them until the bottoms are a rich brown. Turn the beef and sear the other sides. It will take about 4 min. per side (there are three or four sides per roast) to get a good sear.

When the filets are seared, transfer them to a cutting board, brush them with the mustard and herb mix, and then generously grind fresh pepper over them. Put a rack in the roasting pan, lay the meat on the rack, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 120°F for medium rare, about 20 min. (Check after 15 min.; roasting time will vary depending on searing time.) Remove the filets from the oven and let them rest in a warm spot for at least 15 min. before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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German Hot Potato Salad

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

My mother-in-law’s favorite “Company’s coming dinner” was German Hot Potato Salad and Roast Beef served with a green side salad.  Jacque loved bacon probably since it was rationed or hard to come by during World War II.  When she died at age 83, she had about 20 pounds of bacon in her freezer. She never wanted to run out!  This is her recipe, and as simple as it is, it is always delicious. Chunk potatoes, bacon bits, scallions.  Perfect combination. 

6 Cups boiled potatoes, then either dice or slice potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes)

2 T chopped chives or parsley

2 T finely chopped scallions

4 slices of bacon, fried crispy and crumbled

2/3 cup mayonnaise

2/3 cup french salad dressing (Kraft is the type she used)

1/4 cup cider or wine vinegar or white balsalmic vinegar

Mix potatoes, chives, scallions, and bacon. Combine mayonnaise, dressing and vinegar: blend.  Pour over potato mixture.  Reheat in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 225 degree oven.

Serve hot or chilled, although my preference is straight from the oven.  Makes 8 servings.

Bacon lovers - Another great dish!

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Grandma Jacque’s Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

My children always remembered Jacque Nickerson, Grandma and differentiated her from everyone else in their lives because of these cookies.  These cookies have immortalized Jacque.  They are flat, crispy and nutty. Perfect flavor and wonderful with a cup of coffee or tea.

As Jacque needed a bit of help as she aged, she would still bake cookies and hide them in ziplock bags in her closet so the help would not touch them, they were for her grandchildren.  

1 Cup Shortening

1 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 egg

1 tsp Vanilla

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups of quick rolled oats

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

Cream together shortening and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Sift together all dry ingredients. Add to dry ingredients to creamed mixture.  Add oats and nuts. Chill 1 hour. Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Flatten with glass dipped in sugar. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

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Creamed Corn with Lime

Posted on August 22, 2025 by Sandy

Wow, this is good.  This is Tom Keller’s recipe for Creamed Corn from his Ad Hoc Cookbook.  The base taste is lime chiffon with sweet corn.  This is a keeper recipe. 

Fresh corn on the cob or quick frozen corn. 

1/2 Cup Sweet or sour Cream Cream (I happen to only have sour cream so I used it)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Cups of Corn either fresh cut from the cob or frozen or canned

1 large lime or 4 key limes

3 T butter

3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 1/2 T chopped chives

Grate the zest of the lime with a microplaner and set aside.  Cut the lime in half. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat,  add the corn and 1 T of lime juice.  Season with salt if needed.  Reduce to medium low and cook sauce until all liquid has evaporated and corn is sizzling about 5-15 minutes depending upon whether you are using fresh corn. 

Stir in 3/4 cup cream, cayenne, and lime zest continue cooking until cream has been absorbed by the corn.

Add up to 1/4 cup more cream if a more creamy sauce is desired.  Add salt to taste and chopped chives. 

Serve.

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