Eggnog! With printable recipe cards

I was a bad blogger last night and didn't take any photos of the eggnog. Instead, I enjoyed eggnog with my family.

The recipe from my childhood? Turned out to be just as good as I remembered. Just as creamy impossibly thick. Of course, I probably got the seasonings all wrong, but it worked!

Um.. this? Not for the faint of heart. If you're on a diet, I recommend half cups, or giving yours to someone else. Or realizing that dieting can be a resolution for 2013, or even that the world might end tomorrow. (written 12-20-2012)

My Favorite Eggnog (and now Michael's and my kids favorite too!)
What makes the difference is whipping the cream. A lot of eggnog is made with just straight cream and milk, using very cold cream and whipping it makes a frothy, foamy, thick eggnog. When you're 10, it's impressively good. When you're *coughcough* tyone, it's still very good, and you can add rum!

This recipe is made to serve 4 if you pour full cups. If you do half cup servings, it will serve 8. Why so small? Because one of my friends was very sad there were no small batch recipes for eggnog she could find, and I tested the recipe just for my family of 4.

So first, the cooked part:

4 eggs- separated, you'll use the yolks, refrigerate or freeze the whites to use in meringues or something else later
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla - or 2 if you love vanilla like I do!

Combine milk, spices and sugar in saucepan, bring to a light boil, and whisk constantly. Let simmer for about 10 minutes while whisking. Turn off heat, and stir in vanilla.

Pour 1/4 cup of milk mixture SLOWLY into the egg yolks while whisking to temper the yolks. This keeps them from cooking on contact with the rest of the hot liquid. Pour that mixture into the pan and whisk it to mix in the egg yolks completely. Chill milk mixture.

While the milk and egg mixture is chilling, whip
1 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. sugar
in a chilled bowl. Whip it to soft peaks (when you lift the mixer, whisk or egg beater, peaks will form and slump). Fold in the chilled milk mixture.

If you want to add rum, decide first if you're going to be serving some to kids. If so, just add the rum into individual cups, and stir it in well. Otherwise, you'll put the rum into the milk mixture before folding it into the whipped cream. If you just want a bit of rum flavor, use 2 Tbs, for a lightly alcoholic drink (about 1 ounce per serving) use a half cup of rum, for a stronger drink, use a full cup of rum. If you're doing individual drinks, I leave it up to you. A shot is 1.5 ounces. If you are going to use rum, please, please use a good one*. Because this is a bit of time to make and you're worth it! (Always drink responsibly!!)

So here's the printable recipe card- click on the images for larger versions.

Peppermint Printables!

I could probably modify the recipe above into a good jar gift for people like the Turnip Girl (also known as Dea occasionally) who look forward to this time of year just for all the places that have peppermint chocolate things. More about that in a minute. First, a printable peppermint themed gift box, and some blank printable cards you can use as recipe cards, gift tags or just as very festive note cards!
Click on the images for the larger version, print on card stock. For the box, cut, score, fold, glue. For the cards, cut them apart using the crop marks as guides.
More peppermint printables

The Turnip Girl has peppermint in common with her great-grandma. Grandma always had peppermint candies on hand. TG may be 17, but peppermint chocolate love goes back years for her. As far as cocoa goes, she loves the stuff, but only drinks instant very occasionally. She has a definite preference for homemade. She also always wants to whip the cream for it herself. She'd rather I make the cocoa, but whipped cream is her domain. She uses either a whisk or an old-fashioned hand operated egg beater. We have a stand mixer, and it gets used only very rarely. She suggests adding in the sugar and peppermint near the end, that way, if you accidentally break the cream, you have a good plain butter that just needs to be washed and have salt added.  In the winter, she chills her bowl and whisk by putting them out on the porch for a few minutes. BRR!
She requested more peppermint printables after seeing 1D on a peppermint stage recently on TV. She's not a 1D fan really. She kind of likes their music, but she loved that peppermint stage.

Avocados and Halloween- Ghoulishly Green

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Avocados from Mexico for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Halloween and avocados from Mexico are a great combination for parties and get togethers. Tomorrow is Halloween and "Spookamole" recipes are fast and wonderful to serve to adult guests while children go out trick or treating.
At the end of this feature are some free printable Zombie Apocalypse recipe cards for your own favorite Halloween recipes. 
Halloween recipes are available at Avocados from Mexico. My personal favorite is the

Lump Crab Guacamole:

2 avocados from Mexico, halved, pitted, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion

1 Serrano chile, seeded and minced

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, divided

1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided

8 ounces lump crabmeat

1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Lump Crab Guacamole: 

In a medium bowl, coarsely mash avocados. Add onion, chile, 3 tablespoons of the lime juice and 1 teaspoon of the salt; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine crabmeat, lime zest, chives, remaining 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; toss gently. Mix crab mixture into the guacamole. Serve with tortilla chips. 

I use Alaskan Snow Crab of course, it's fairly inexpensive here, and it's my favorite. While I could weigh it out, generally I just buy a pound of clusters, and whatever doesn't get snacked on while getting it out of the shell winds up in the recipe! Snow crab clusters, like King crab are already cooked. Just thaw and go. 

2 of my favorite things in the world makes for a very rich dip that's just amazing.

Follow Mexican Avocados on Pinterest,  

Right click the image below and choose save target as or click on the image then hit the back button. The link will take you to a high quality 300 dpi layout that will print 4 cards on one page. I recommend using a black pen to fill them in!


Looking for more fun ways to Green your Halloween? Green Halloween has some EEK!-o-friendly ideas. (Green Halloween is a registered trademark of Green America.)

Pink Flamingo Printable Cards

More pink plastic flamingo printables! This time, it's cards that can be used as mommy cards or calling cards and printable recipe cards. Both are in fillable field PDFs. To use them, just open them in your browser if you've got Acrobat Reader installed, and highlight the placeholder text and replace it with your own text. For the recipe cards, they are all set up separately so you can put 4 different recipes on them. For the calling cards, when you fill in one field, that field on the rest of the cards will fill in. You can save them after they are filled in. I always do my test prints using the Reader instead of using Acrobat to make sure it turned out right.

Print on card stock then cut them apart using scissors, a paper trimmer or a craft knife and ruler following the crop guides on the sides and corners.

Pink Flamingo Recipe Cards
Pink Flamingo Recipe Cards with some of my family's rice recipes
Pink Flamingo Calling Cards

Cocktail Recipe Cards- PDF with fillable forms

I haven't done recipe cards with fillable forms in a while. If you don't know, a pdf with fillable form fields allows you to type in the forms and can be enabled to save what you've typed. So for this recipe card set, you can download the PDF, type in the ingredients (1 per line), type in the instructions, the recipe from and serves part and the title of the recipe, then save it or print it and cut it apart following the crop marks that are on the document. Or if you prefer, you can just print the PDF, the light blue form fields you'll see in Acrobat won't show on the print.
Download the recipe cards HERE.

Simple Black and White Pinstripe 4x6 recipe cards

Very simple black and white pinstripe designed recipe cards. These are in PDF format, and can be filled and saved using Acrobat Reader. Scaled for US Letter sized card stock.
The first set just has the open fields for filling in. Links will open in a new window or tab.

Pinstripe 4x6 Recipe Cards

The second set has a pair of recipes a couple people have asked for, my mom's stuffing recipe, and my French toast recipe.
Recipes on Pinstripe Cards

My mom's stuffing recipe always seemed very ordinary to me, it's what I grew up with after all. But my husband thinks it's the best food in the world and people have complimented it repeatedly. The apples give the stuffing a very nice tart sweetness.


Mom's Stuffing Recipe

1/2 breakfast sausage links
4 stalks celery
1 lg yellow onion
1 lg Granny Smith apple
8 c. dry bread cubes
1/4 tsp. crumbled thyme
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 c. chicken broth

Get a couple large bowls with plates the cover them.
Chop celery, onion and apple in a small dice, cut sausage links into 1/2 inch pieces. Put all in a large skillet and saute until the sausage is done cooking.
Split the bread and sausage mixture between both bowls. Mix well.
Mix seasonings into broth and heat
Stir a half cup of hot broth into each bowl. Cover with plate. The steam should soften all the bread cubes. If it doesn't, add a couple more spoonfuls of broth into each bowl.
Use one batch to stuff the turkey, bake the other batch in a 9x13x2 inch pan. At least in theory. Mine never gets that far.

Quick note- Because of the fat that comes off the sausage, I don't use butter. My family also seems to prefer the flavor of bouillon cubes to canned broth. I'd like to say I'm one of those very prepared people that keeps homemade stock in my freezer, but it's just not so. My stocks usually gets used quickly to make soups.


Holiday French Toast
3 lg. free range eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs. good vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 loaf stale sliced Italian bread
butter

Whisk together eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Melt a pat of butter in a medium high skillet and dip the bread into the egg batter. Fry on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with butter and choice of syrups and fruit purees. My family is very fond of Birch Breakfast Syrup, which is a mix of cane syrup and birch syrup. We use pure birch syrup in our cream sodas for lots of extra flavor.

Generally speaking, adding what seems like too much vanilla to sweet recipes makes people think you're a brilliant cook!

Zig Zag Recipe cards and a few other things

Hi Everyone!

In the last few days a lot of people using Blogger have noticed that they are using a new code for images. This code was implemented without a good way to turn it off and causes images to show up in something called Lightbox. I used the code snippet from HERE to revert DETP. The people at Blogger do realize that a lot of their users really dislike the new feature, and hopefully will offer an easy way to opt out soon. 

Recipe Cards! 

The last couple of days, I've been playing with some PDF recipe cards. I'm still not completely happy with the results, but this is what I have so far. You should be able to type recipes directly into them using Acrobat Reader, and save the PDF to your hard drive with your recipes filled in and print them out. These are 4x6 inch cards formatted for US letter size paper or card stock.

Zig Zag Recipe Cards

This was my first version. I accidentally missed putting in some of the cutting guide lines. This is filled out using a couple of my grandmother's recipes. One for bourbon balls, the other for pecan balls.

Ball Cookie Zig Zag Recipe Cards

Eggs and Bacon Recipe Cards

Yay! Blogger is out of read-only mode. I've been trying to log in all day to post these.

3x5 inch recipe cards- print 4 to a page. Quarter ruled. 300 dpi, click on the image for the full sized version.

4x6 inch recipe cards, 2 to a page, 300 dpi, click on the image for the full sized version. Also quarter ruled.

8x10 page, unlined, good for recipe scrapbook pages, or if you prefer to keep a recipe looseleaf binder. 300 dpi.

The last few days have been *gorgeous*, so I've been outside working in my garden and reading. Yesterday I read a homesteading book that I'll review tomorrow. It's excellent. 

Today, looking at the "weeds" which have overtaken part of my yard, my son decided that a dandelion green salad was just the thing. He picked and rinsed a big bowl of tender leaves, and served them with a vinaigrette. I pointed out where the fireweed was coming in, and said "You can make something that tastes very like honey using that and clover flowers." My mom used to make it. He thought that was interesting. He loves honey. Then it occurred to me that Mom's old "Homesteader's Honey" recipe could probably be made in smaller batches using raw sugar for a decent honey substitute for vegans. So when the flowers bloom, I'm going to try that.  I'll also need to try it with other kinds of flowers. Not everyone is lucky enough to be living in an area with rampant fireweed.

I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as I'm enjoying it here. After all the rain last year, I'm determined to enjoy the weather while it lasts, and if it holds, I'll enjoy it all summer long. 

Calico Lace set- recipe cards and box

A small set, some note or recipe cards with a matching folder to keep them in, and a 3x3x1 box. All at 100 ppi. Click on the images for the full sized versions. The theme was inspired by A Prairie Girl's Guide to Life.

Racing Recipe Set for Rosemary

I love the alliteration.
I hope you like this set that I drew up for a dear friend. Click on the images for the full size 100 ppi versions.

July 4th Recipe cards and coloring page

As usual, click on the images for the full sized 100 ppi versions. 

The recipe card set also includes a matching folder for them. 

Two recipes from Grandma's recipe box today because I just couldn't decide which one to offer.

The first one is a basic recipe for tapioca. My Grandma had a serious sweet tooth and this was one of her favorite desserts.

Tapioca Pudding

1/2 cup pearl tapioca

3 C. milk

2 eggs well beaten

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla 

Soak tapioca 24 hrs. in 1 cup milk. Drain, using 2 qt double boiler, add 2 c. milk, tapioca, eggs, salt and sugar. Cook for 15-20 min. stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add vanilla and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

As a kid, I loved it when Grandma made tapioca. As an adult, I use the same recipe more or less. I like it with half white sugar, half raw sugar, 1 more egg, and a tablespoon of vanilla instead of a half tsp.

Salad Dressing

1 10 1/2 oz. can tomato soup

1/2 c. oil

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. cider vinegar

1 tsp. mustard

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 

1/2 tsp. pepper

small bell pepper and onion

Blend all in blender, Refrigerate over night before using.

*Vi says she uses prepared hot mustard with horseradish

This is pretty close to a French dressing prepared according to this recipe, but Grandma always made mine with a lot more vinegar and no sugar because I preferred vinaigrette type dressings. Vi was a friend of hers. I never tasted the dressing made that way, but I think I'll try it on the 4th this year. 

Tea and Crumpets review and a printable recipe sheet

Tea and Crumpets is a new book by Margaret M. Johnson . It's a collection of recipes from famous tea salons, hotels and restaurants all over Europe
It's a gorgeous book for adults who want to impress at tea parties with friends.I love the ritual of tea and snacks in the mid-afternoon with friends and family. The introduction is a little about the history of tea, both as a tradition and the origin of tea and how it spread world wide. There is more tea trivia interspersed through the book.
Then you get into the recipes. It's a mouth watering collection of sweet and savory things to serve with tea. From the very traditional cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches which are livened and colored with a bit of arugula to a savory and rich wild mushroom that's flavored with truffle oil, the sandwiches and savories offer a nice selection. Made less petite, many of the recipes would be good packed for a lunch as well.
The next chapter is more of what you expect with tea. Crumpets, scones and fruit quick bread recipes as well as instructions for traditional toppings like clotted cream and strawberry preserves. The Irish recipe for fruitcake looks especially wonderful. I think my daughter will enjoy making the chocolate scones because she thinks chocolate improves everything.
The next recipe chapter is the largest. Tea time sweets. Shortbread, cakes, mousses and other sorts of sweet treats that are certain to impress guests.
The last recipe chapter is the French Art of Tea for when you want something very special and very beautiful. The Creme Caramel Saint-Petersburg is a custard with caramel that anyone who loves flan or creme brulee will appreciate, and I absolutely recommend the chocolate-hazelnut pots de creme.
Most of the ingredients are simple to get at a well stocked super-market. The few things that are harder to find, a good specialty shop should carry.
Margaret Johnson also has some Irish cookbooks and I think I should get them too. I loved this one and I've been interested in learning more European cooking.
You can find this book at the publisher's site, Chronicle Books or from Amazon: Tea and Crumpets (affiliate link)

I was talking to a friend who uses a 3 ring binder and page protectors for her recipes instead of using recipe cards. I'm a recipe card user so pages for recipes never occurred to me. These are the first ones I've ever done and I hope you like them! Click on the images for the full size 100 ppi versions.

Forget Me Not Set- printable boxes and recipe cards

I used to do a lot of sets, not so much anymore and I'm afraid I lost a lot of the old ones in a computer crash about 8 years ago. This is a mini set. 2 box types and a recipe card set with a simulated offset silkscreen forget-me-not. Click on the images for the full sized versions. Print at 100 dpi on card stock.
Forget-me-nots sum up the feeling of For Old Long Since (Auld Lang Syne) for me.
I hope 2010 brings everything you wish.

 

 

 

Last night was my eldest child's b-day. Since our car is still being repaired we had to postpone a lot of what we had planned. We ordered Chinese in and the kids got to use their new Chop Sabers. E and I plan to make him my mom's favorite apple cake this weekend. It's a German apple cake recipe that I modified a bit for my mom's 39th birthday that became her favorite pretty quickly.
I still need to write up the nano pouch I made for E this weekend for her new nano.

Honey Shortbread with printable recipe card

Down to crunch time for holiday gifts. Hopefully this helps!

I made this shortbread using a locally produced honey from Chugiak Heights Alaskan Honey. It's a wonderful wildflower honey with lots of flavor. You can either buy good local honey or gourmet honey and tie on the recipe cards or you could bake a few batches of shortbread and package it prettily with the recipe cards. I love shortbread and I'm working on an e-book of different recipes for it. This is one of my favorite variations. I used a combination of honey and white sugar, the honey adds a subtle warm flavor to the shortbread.

I used a white whole wheat unbleached flour for mine because it's one of the flours my family likes best.

Honey Shortbread
makes 8 wedges
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour
Preheat oven to 300° F or 150°C
Cream butter, honey and sugar together.
Add half of flour, then add in the rest in increments until
dough is crumbly. Knead in the rest of the flour making
a soft workable dough. Pat into an 8 inch round cake pan.
Decorate edges with a fork and pierce with fork.
Score the wedges with a sharp knife. Bake for 20 minutes.
Turn off oven and let rest in hot oven for 10 minutes.
Take it out and cut wedges while still warm.
To decorate the shortbread with a fork, go around the edges with the flat of it to make pretty little score lines all around, then pierce the shortbread with the tines of the fork. Cut into 8 pieces.

For the recipe card, click on the image for the full sized version and print at 300 dpi or I have put it in a layout of 3 cards on one page in a PDF file you can download HERE

Happy Holidays!

Chocolate Recipe Card Set

There is something about pink and brown together that just suggests chocolate and yumminess. A while back I did a box using the elements in this recipe card set. I saved the elements because I really liked the way they looked together and planned to do something else with them. You can find the box here.
Click on the image for the full sized versions. Print at 100 dpi. One of the cards is a folding card for extra room on a recipe.
I'm going to a bead show today, but when I get home I'm going to type out a very special recipe from my grandma's recipe box with the story behind it.

 

 

Grandma's Recipe Box- Printable

Recently I found my grandmother's recipe box, and I'm slowly working through scanning the recipes and transcribing them for my kids. I posted her cranberry bread recipe.
The art on her 40 year old recipe box is a pretty Pennsylvania Dutch design that I decided I wanted to put on a recipe card set for everyone. The company that made it is Syndicate Mfg. Co in Pennsylvania. Her recipe box saw a lot of active use in her kitchen for many years, it's rusted, beat up, and yellowed.

 

You can download the 300 dpi PDF file here 

Reduce your waste with these fantastic upclycing ideas.