Roasted Green Beans with Walnuts and Cranberries

Since Thanksgiving is approaching soon, I'm trying out new side dishes. Do you always make the same dishes every year or do you change the menu? There are some traditional foods I always make but the sides plus desserts vary. I loved this recipe and it did have the great flavors of Thanksgiving. I will be adding it to my menu.

Roasted Green
1 1/2 lbs. green beans, trimmed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. On a baking sheet, toss the green beans with the olive oil and salt.
3. Evenly spread the green beans onto the baking sheet.
4. Sprinkle the walnuts on top of the green beans.
5. cook the green beans in the oven for 6 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and carefully mix in the cranberries.
7. Cook the green beans for another 6 minutes. 
8. Serve immediately.

Recipe aspired from Real Simple.

One year ago...........................I made Lasagna Soup.
Two years ago........................I made Roasted Chicken.

Did you already know............
-Early Settlers thought the flower of the cranberry resembled a cran hence the name crane berry.
-It is believed cranberries were served at the first Thanksgiving.
-Native Indians called cranberries either sassamanesh, ibimi, and atoqua.

Roasted Apple Bread

For some reason, my children love green apples. My son says they are yellow apples. Since I ate all my red apples, I needed a way to use up these yellow apples on my counter. I suggested to the kids to eat them but they still continued to be neglected. I was feeling a little bad for those neglected apples so I made some bread. This bread isn't overly sweet besides the pockets of the filling. My children agree this is a great way to use up those apples. Also, you can make toast with it the next day. This bread is started the night before you want to make it.

Roasted Apple Bread
3 apples, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp sugar
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 (.25 oz) package of instant yeast
1 3/4 cups cool water
3/4 cups chopped walnuts, slightly toasted
1/4 cups roasted salted sunflower (more for topping the bread)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Spread the apples onto the parchment paper.
4. Bake the apples for 10 to 15 minutes. The apples should be fork tender and not mushy. 
5. Remove the apples from the oven and toss with the cinnamon and 2 Tbsp sugar. Set aside.
6. In a large bowl, mix the flours, 1 Tbsp sugar, yeast, and water until a sticky dough is formed.
7. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. The sprayed side should be facing the dough.
8. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight.
9. Spray an approximately 9x5 bread pan with nonstick baking spray and set aside.
10. After the dough has rested, lightly flour a clean surface. 
11. Turn the dough onto the floured surface and work in the apples, walnuts, and sunflower seeds.
12. Shape the dough into a log and place in a bread pan. 
13. Sprinkle a few sunflower seeds on top.
14. Cover the top of the bread pan with parchment paper. 
15. Place the bread pan into a cold oven.
16. Set the oven to 425 degrees F. and bake the bread for about 40 minutes.
17. Remove the parchment paper from the top of the bread and back the bread for another 5 minutes or until the bread is a deep brown color.
18. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.
19. Allow the bread to cool slightly before slicing.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.


One year ago......................I made Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies.

Did you already know.........
-Apples come in red, green, and yellow shades. 
-In the U.S., the first apple trees were planted by the Massachusetts Bay colonists.
-It takes an apple tree 4 to 5 years to produce fruit.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

My youngest daughter came home and said she has a boyfriend. Since she is in 4th grade, I asked her what does this means. She said that they play basketball together. She also informed me that her two friends in class has a boyfriend too but it is with the same boy. I asked how they can have the same boyfriend. She said well he is bringing both girls to the dance today. Oh is all I could say. What does one say? I did encourage her to tell her dad this news. So, she decided to tell him quickly on the phone. I think some things are better left for the dad to handle.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and the unsweetened chocolate over medium heat. Stir occasionally. 
4. After the chocolate has melted, remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until fluffy.
6. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate. Beat until the dough is glossy and thick.
7. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until incorporated.
8. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
9. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes.
10. Scoop slightly less than 2 inch balls of dough and place onto the baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
11. Slightly press the cookies down.
12. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until the cookies began to crack and are cooked through.
13. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking pan before transferring to a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen.

One year ago........................I made Mango Strawberry Muffins. 

Did you already know..........
-California grows about 2/3 of the world's commercial walnut.
-The walnut is one of the oldest tree food know to man.
-Walnut trees are native to North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.

Honey Crostini

Recently, I attended an auction with some friends to benefit the Veterans. At the auction, my husband won some honey. Now, I love honey so it will be put to good use. Even if the kids have a cough, I give them honey and not medicine. My husband brought my son in for a checkup and he had a cough. Our doctor told Chris to give our kids honey and he said that is what Jen already does. Sometimes I impress my husband. 

Honey Crostini
1 loaf of french bread, sliced (my deli sliced mine)
1 apple, sliced very thin
12 slices of mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Toast the walnuts for about 7 to 9 minutes. Allow to cool.
3. Place the french bread on a cookie sheet.
4. Place the french bread in the oven and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until lightly toasted.
5. Place a thin slice of apple on top of the toast.
6. Top the apple slice with a piece of mozzarella cheese.
7. Place toast in the oven until the cheese has melted slightly.
8. Drizzle a little honey on top of the cheese.
9. Sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and serve.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago............................I made Breakfast Potatoes. 

Did you already know..............
-Today, I married my husband 10 years ago.
-We have a total of four children together, 2 boys and 2 girls.
-I still love him.

Happy Anniversary of 10 years!

Chock Full of Nuts Cookies

I love nuts in my cookies. So, I was very glad this recipe was not previously picked the members of The Project Pastry Queen. If you take a cookie and add four different types of nuts to it, this is the cookie you would have. Any other type of nuts can easily be substituted to your taste but why mess with perfection. Please check out the other members to see if they substituted different nuts in their cookies.

The hardest thing about making this recipe was keeping my children away from the toasted macadamia nuts. Alright, I will admit I did sample a couple of them but it was only for quality purposes. I did half the amount of the almond extract but added the omitted extract to the vanilla extract. 

Chock-Full-of-Nuts Cookies
3 cups pecan pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups slivered blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. On a baking sheet, arrange the nuts in a single layer and toast them for 7 to 9 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Allow the nuts to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Chop the nuts into smaller pieces.
5. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
7. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat for 1 minute.
8. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat for about 30 seconds or until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
9. Stir in the nuts until combined.
10. Scoop the dough about the size of a gold ball onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
11. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes and the cookies are golden brown around the edges with no raw looking dough in the middle. 
12. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

The 6 1/2 dozen cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container or frozen well wrapped for up to 1 month. 
Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. 

Did you already know...
-Hawaii grows 90% of the macadamia nuts worldwide.
-The macadamia nut is not native to Hawaii.
-A macadamia nut tree was first planted around 1881. 
-The macadamia nut originated from Australia.