Old Fashioned Sand Tarts

   Husband's grandmother used to make these cookies for her family when his Mom was growing up. Ever since his grandmother passed away unexpectedly a number of years ago his Mom has continued the tradition with her family. Instead of Christmas cut outs they make turkey shaped cookies and we have them for Thanksgiving. I just love them and when our annual Christmas cookie exchange with my aunts was planned I decided to make these as my contribution. 
   The recipe says to decorate with cinnamon sugar, pecan and gumdrop halves. I had a lot of cookies to make though, so I thought that may a bit too time consuming, so I just used gourmet colored sugar on most of mine. For the gingerbread men I used cinnamon sugar. I was happy with how they turned out.

Old Fashioned Sand Tarts

yield: 4-5 dozen

 1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Sift flour. Add salt and baking powder, sift again. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix until a medium-soft dough is formed. Refrigerate for several hours.

Place onto a floured surface and roll into 1/4" thickness. Cut into desired shapes and place on greased baking sheet. Brush tops with whole milk and decorate as desired with either cinnamon sugar, pecan and gumdrop halves or colored sanding sugar. Bake  @ 400º for 8-10 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown. Cool on wire racks.

     
   All packaged and ready to be given to everyone today! I always look so forward to these exchanges each year. We normally have a brunch on the same day, but this year we are going to my great Aunt's house instead. She and another elderly lady live together and their health isn't the best so family take turns staying with them. We thought this would be a day brightener for them.

...................................................................................................

She will give birth to a Son, and

you are to give Him the name Jesus,

because He will save His people from their sins.

~ Matthew 1:21

 

Balsamic Roast Beef

  Hello again my friends! As you have probably noticed, it has been awhile since my last post. I wasn't really planning for the break, but it just sort of happened. Although I've felt rather uninspired the last few months, I have cooked numerous things with the intent to blog about it and then circumstances {usually not having or taking the time to photograph what I made} prevented that from happening. Well, now I'm back and hopefully I can be a lot more consistent with my posting. I have missed being here with you!
  This is a recipe I have been wanting to make for awhile now. Although we love just a plain ole roast beef, this sounded like a delicious version for a little something different. I wasn't disappointed. It is absolutely mouth-watering! You should definitely give it a try for your next roast beef dinner.

 Balsamic Roast Beef

(recipe from  Add a Pinch ) - Serves: 6-8

 1 3-4 pound roast

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

4 garlic cloves, minced 

Place the roast into your slow cooker insert. In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients. Pour over roast and cook on High for 4 hours, or Low for 6-8 hours. 

When roast is done remove from slow cooker and shred or slice then place on a serving dish. Ladle 1/4-1/2 cup of broth over meat and serve.
 

 ........................................................................................
One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple.
~Psalm 27:4

 

Angel Food Cupcakes with Black Raspberry Curd and 7 Minute Frosting

     Anytime I eat a fresh-picked black raspberry I am immediately taken back to my childhood. My grandparents who, for the younger part of my life lived just down the lane; had a raspberry patch that we would love to go and pick from. One evening myself and a few of my brothers, (I don't remember who anymore) decided to camp-out in our backyard. The next morning for our 'breakfast in a tent' we ate Cheerios with black raspberries. So that is what I think of the second a raspberry is popped into my mouth. Sweet memories!
   Now my in-law's who live just down the road, have a large patch that we are lucky enough to get to pick from whenever we want/need. Last evening we had stopped by for awhile and I decided while I was there to pick a few to bring home with me. While they are delicious just by themselves I also wanted to make something fun with some of them. Hubby is on shift at the firehouse today, so I thought I'd bake something to take in for him and his co-firemen. I had an idea of what I wanted to do and after combining and adapting a few different recipes this was the end result. Just like I had imagined....which was great, because unfortunately, it doesn't always happen that way.

Angel Food Cupcakes with Black Raspberry Curd and 7 Minute Frosting

yield:18-20 cupcakes

Cupcakes:

6 egg whites, room temperature  

12 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cake flour, sifted

Sift together sifted cake flour and 6 tbsp of sugar.  Set aside. In the bowl of mixer with whisk attachment beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tatar, salt and almond extract and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add in remaining 6 tbsp of sugar and beat until stiff  peaks form. Sift the flour mixture over the egg whites (about half at a time) and with a spatula gently fold in. Divide batter into muffin tins lined with paper liners. Run a knife through the batter to remove any air pockets and smooth out the top. Bake at 350° for  15-17 minute or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not over-bake! Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing onto wire racks. 

Black Raspberry Curd:

1 1/4 cups of fresh black raspberries

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tbsp water 

pinch of salt

7 tbsp butter, room temperature

Heat a medium saucepan over low heat. Add raspberries, sugar, eggs, water and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon. Dice butter into small pieces. When raspberries begin to break down and the mixture starts to bubble, add the butter and stir until it is melted. Increase heat and keep stirring until mixture is thickened. (It should coat the wooded spoon) Remove from heat and immediately rub through a sieve into a bowl. Cool thoroughly. This can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for several weeks.

7 Minute Frosting:

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup

1/3 cup cold water

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

Place all ingredients except vanilla in a double boiler, mix well. Cook, beating constantly with electric beater until mixture forms peaks, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in vanilla.

To assemble the cupcakes I used a wooden chopstick and poked a hole in each cupcake. Then pipe the black raspberry curd into the hole and partway over the top. Pipe the frosting over all and garnish with fresh berries and a mint leaf if you wish.

     

   Just a quick note; if you haven't already read or heard Google reader will be going away forever tomorrow (July 1). So if you use it you may want to consider switching to something else before it disappears. I switched to  Bloglovin and so far I 'love' it! It was extremely easy to switch over and you can also easily switch all the blogs you follow over at one time. I'd love if you'd follow my blog over there as well! =) You can do that by clicking  here or you can also just click on the 'follow with bloglovin' link in the side bar on my blog page. Thanks for your interest in my little teeny tiny part of the blogging world! I truly appreciate each and every one of you! =)

...........................................................................................

Because of the Lord's great love

we are not consumed,

for His compassion's never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "the Lord is my

portion; therefore I will wait for Him."

~Lamentations 3:22-24