Texas Pralines

When I tasted these candies, I knew I've had them before. They were creamy and delicious. This recipe was picked by Shawnda from Confections of a foodie bride for The Project Pastry Queen. I will say I love The Pastry Queen Cookbook but the cookbook doesn't always have pictures. My oldest daughter helped me drop the candy onto the waxed paper. I said to her, "Do you think this is how they are suppose to look?" She wasn't sure so I went and goggled images of Pralines. I had done it correctly and then I saw some chocolate covered Pralines. I took a few of the candies when they had cooled slightly and formed them into squares. Then I just dipped them into melted chocolate. These candies are great without the chocolate but the chocolate make them oh so much better.

 I have been giving these candies away to anyone who has been over to visit. My Dad just stopped by and I offered him one. After some, coaxing he said he would try one but only one. I saw him take two more. I offered him one of the chocolate covered ones and he preferred them without the chocolate. My husband who is not a fan of nuts liked them a lot. The majority liked them with the chocolate. Besides adding chocolate to a few of the candies, I substituted the corn syrup with agave syrup. (My grocery store sells agave syrup in the baking aisle. I purchased my pecans from the whole food bins in the grocery store since it is cheaper then purchasing them in the prepackaged bags.)

Texas Pralines
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups sugar
2 Tbsp agave syrup
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
 2 1/2 cups whole pecans, toasted
(chocolate, melted if desired)

Directions:

1. In a 4 quart pot, combine the buttermilk, baking soda, sugar, agave syrup, and butter.
2. Cook slowly over medium heat. Stir occasionally.
3. Cook until the mixture reaches between 234 and 240 degrees F.
4. Remove the pot from the heat.
5. Add the vanilla and pecans.
6. Using a mixer, beat the candy for about 3 minutes or until the candy starts to lose its shine and starts to become creamy.
7. Drop the candy by the tablespoon onto wax paper.
8. Allow the candies to cool thoroughly before wrapping them individually in plastic wrap or dipping in chocolate.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen.

 Did you already know...
- French Pralines have almonds in them.
-The French settles in Louisiana substituted the almonds with pecans.
-The American Pralines are softer than the European versions.

Taco Seasoning

Do you prefer crunchy tacos or soft tacos? Growing up, we had tacos often. My parents always bought the crunchy shells. Since my husband does not like the crunchy shells, I normally serve soft tacos. The kids just love tacos and they don't care if their shells are crunchy or soft. The best thing about tacos is my oldest daughter will volunteer to make them. It is a food we do not order out but make at home often. (Pizza however is a different story.)

I use to buy the taco seasoning and use half. The packet seemed high in sodium. I have purchased the lower sodium packets and they taste fine. Then last year I saw a blog about making your own taco seasoning. I thought it was the coolest idea and have not purchased the packets again. I make up a batch of the homemade seasoning and store it in my spice cabinet. I prefer the taste and none of the kids have made any comment about noticing a difference. I guess tacos are tacos. It is also a great way to use your spices. I did change it a little since I prefer chili powder to cumin but adapt it to your taste.

Taco Seasoning
5 Tbsp. chili powder
3 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

1. Mix the spices together and store in an air tight container until ready to use.
2. When ready to use, brown the hamburger or chicken.
3. Add 3 Tbsp of taco seasoning with 1 cup of water.
4. Allow the meat to simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve with soft or crunchy shells.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats and Use Real Butter.

Did you already know...
-Taco Bell is named after the founder Glen Bell.
-In 1962, Mr. Bell opened the first Taco Bell in Downey, California.
-In 1978, Pepsi purchased Taco Bell.

Lemon Tassies

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We saw my husband's Mom and my Mom this past weekend. We are fortunate because we do see both Moms frequently. I wanted to make my Mom and my husband's Mom a special treat. I knew they liked lemon desserts so I decided to make Lemon Tassies cookies.

Sometimes when I make a lemon dessert, they are too sweet or too sour. I think these were the right combination. The other nice thing about these cookies are they transport easily. I even stacked them and it didn't affect the filling. Next time, I may use the left over egg whites to make meringue to top the cookies. This recipe will make about 12 medium size cookies or 24 mini cookies. I actually made 18 cookies.

Lemon Tassies
Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
10 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1/2 tsp salt
cooking spray
Filling (recipe below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat 1 muffin tins with cooking spray.
3. In a food processor, process the flour and butter until fine crumbs.
4. Add the sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt.
5. Process until just combined and sandy in texture. Do not over process.
6. With the dough, form 12 balls.
7. Place each ball into the muffin tin and press the dough into the tin to make a cup.
8. Bake the crusts for about 8 minutes and then rotate the pan.
9. Bake the crust for another 8 minutes or until lightly browned all over.
10. Remove the crusts from the muffin tins and allow to cool onto a wire rack.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3 Tbsp lemon zest, finely grated
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract together until smooth.
2. Fill each cooled crust with the cream cheese filling.
3. Place the cookies onto a cookie sheet.
4. Bake the cookies for 6 minutes and rotate the pan.
5. Bake the cookies for another 6 minutes or until the edges of the filling begin to color.
6. Transfer the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Did you already know....
-Tassies are little cups with a filling.
-Tassies should be bite size.
-Other fillings for a tassie are pecan, peanut butter, caramel, etc.

Mini Apple-Cinnamon Loaves with Glaze

I buy apples all year long. My oldest daughter loves them so much that her friends give them to her. She eats them all the time. So, I always have them in the house and I really should cook with them more. I tend to only bake with apples in the fall when we have an abundance of them. I guess that trend may just change especially since this recipe.

This week's pick on Project Pastry Queen was by Emily of A Gilt Nutmeg. My family loved them. My husband doesn't like nuts so some loaves were nut free. The original glaze is suppose to have Calvados in it but there were no nips available and I didn't want to have a large bottle when only 1 Tbsp was needed. My family liked the apple juice substitute. I purchased a can of frozen apple juice. I let it defrost in the refrigerator. After opening, I used 1 Tbsp of the concentrate for this recipe and then made a pitcher of apple juice for the kids.

Mini Apple-Cinnamon Loaves with Apple Juice Glaze
Bread:
1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups apples, peeled, cored, and diced
Glaze (recipe below)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Arrange the nuts on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast for about 7 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Grease 5 (6"x4"x2") mini loaf pans with cooking spray.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
6. Stir the flour mixture into the oil mixture until incorporated.
7. Fold in the apples and pecans.
8. Fill the loaf pans with batter about three quarters of the way to the top.
9. Bake the bread for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the bread comes out clean.
10. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes before moving them onto a cooling rack. 
11. Spoon the glaze over each bread.

Glaze:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 Tbsp agave syrup
1 Tbsp apple juice concentrate

Directions:

1. Melt the butter, brown sugar, syrup, and apple juice over medium heat.
2. Simmer the mixture for 2 minutes or until it thickens slightly.
3. Spoon the warm glaze over the loaves of bread.
4. Allow the glaze to cool for at least 1 hour.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen.

Did you already know...
-Calvados is an apple brandy.
-It is traditionally drank after dinner.
-There are many different Calvados brands available and they are ranked like cognac.

Fresa Agua Fresca

Several years ago, I had a family portrait done of us. I keep it on the computer as the wallpaper. My youngest son wanted to us the computer but could not connect online. While he waited, he leaned forward to study the photo. He said to me, "Boy, do I look young." I started to laugh and I replied, "Son, you are young." My seven year leans forward and says so kindly, "Alright, boy do you guys look young." Thanks Son!

 As you can guess, I will be having an entertaining weekend with my son and family. Sunday is suppose to be beautiful. Tomorrow, I will visit my wonderful Mom. Then next day, I will be relaxing! (I have to take advantage of this since the only other day I am pampered is my birthday!) I wish you a Happy Mother's Day weekend too! If you are planning to make a meal for your Mom, I highly recommend this drink. If your Mom doesn't like strawberries, you can try maybe blueberries and lemons. If your Mom likes some rum, it would be a nice addition. The kids couldn't get enough of this drink. The pitcher was gone within minutes. I have already said this is a must on our menu for the picnic. 

Fresh Strawberry Water Drink
2 cups water
15 oz. bag of frozen strawberries, unthawed
2 limes
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. In a blender, add the water and strawberries.
2. Process until smooth.
3. Squeeze the juice of the two limes into the strawberry mixture.
4. Add the sugar to the desired sweetness.
5. Blend well and drink!

Recipe adapted from Myrecipes website.

Did you already know....
 -Fresca is the Spanish word for fresh.
-Agua is the Spanish word for water.
- Fresa is the Spanish word for strawberries. It also is a slang word for a preppy person.

She is making faces in the background!

Happy Mother's Day!