Hooray, winter is here and it’s time for Cranberry Bliss bars! Chunky white chocolate, tender dried cranberries, moist cake-like cookie, frosting, icing, what more do you need?

My husband and I are devouring these, you don’t have to go to Starbucks and pay $2 a bar or $14 a box, these aren’t exactly the same, but after lots of experimentation, they’re pretty close.

I used to work at Starbucks and tasted more than my share of their bars. These aren’t as sweet because I wouldn’t be able to eat as many if they were! I think I use a lot less sugar than they do. Because of that, my frosting is not as stiff as theirs, so if you want it more like Starbucks, add another couple cups of powdered sugar to the frosting (and prepare for a diabetic coma).

Cranberry Bliss Bars
Ingredients

Base
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup of packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 TBS candied ginger (minced)
1 cup white chocolate chips

Frosting
1 /2 cup cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp orange juice (orange zest is great too although I didn’t use it this time)

Toppings
dried cranberries
1/4 cup melted white chocolate chips
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9×13 baking pan.

Make your base by mixing the butter and brown sugar together. Once well mixed add vanilla, eggs, ginger powder, and salt. Mix in flour a little bit at a time. Finally mix in the cranberries, candied ginger, and white chocolate chips.

Pour into baking dish using a spatula to smooth it out evenly. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden. Stick it in the fridge to cool while you make your frosting.

Combine frosting ingredients well and spread over top of cooled cake. Sprinkle with however many cranberries your heart desires, and drizzle with melted chocolate.

Store in the fridge and serve cold. Hooray for winter!

This recipe is by Shuna Fish Lydon, and it is SWEET! Our lovely hosts were Dolores, Alex, Jenny, and Natalie.

The rules were to make both the cake and frosting (which include making the caramel syrup that goes in both of them). There was an optional challenge of making caramel candies but I’m not really a candy person and Eric is trying not to be, so I passed on that.

I waited until about halfway through the month to make my cake, so I was able to read the feedback of Daring Bakers who did theirs earlier. The biggest feedback was it is insanely sweet! I’ve said before, I’m not big on sweets. In fact, most sweet things I can’t have more than one bite of. So I knew I would have to alter the recipe a bit, but that’s part of being daring, right?

Check out the original recipe if you have a major sweet tooth, this recipe incorporates my changes. For instance, I cut way back on the sugar in the frosting, and added cream cheese to help thicken it and make it a little more savory (besides, I love cheese!). I also used salted butter rather than unsalted since the salt helps cut the sweetness. I used less sugar in the cake, which made it rather dense like cornbread, but everyone really liked that texture (especially Eric who normally doesn’t like cake). I made only half the frosting, went light on the caramel syrup, and topped it off with lemon soaked apple slices.

If I had an occasion to make a cake, I’d probably use this (adjusted) recipe for two reasons: 1. It’s the only cake I’ve ever made from scratch and it worked 2. It’d be fun to play with more flavors in it. But honestly I really prefer savory so that may not happen. I am having fun with the leftover caramel syrup though. It was yummy in my winter drink concoction.

CARAMEL SYRUP

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for “stopping” the caramelization process)

Instructions

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back. (I used foil to make a funnel that I sealed around the edge of the pot so I didn’t have to step back)

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMEL CAKE

Ingredients

10 Tablespoons butter at room temperature
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons caramel syrup
2 TBS Cream Cheese
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Instructions

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time. Add cream and or caramel syrup. Add cream cheese, mix till smooth, add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

One of my favorite quick dinners to make is fried rice. There are so many different ways to make it, and the only ingredient you really HAVE to have is day old rice. We had Spam, Eggs and Rice one night, and so I made extra of all three so we could have fried rice the next night. As you can see, I like my fried rice a little chunky.

Basically you need day old rice, some veggies, a protein (SPAM, chicken, shrimp, etc) and scrambled eggs (though I have made it without them). For veggies I usually like bell peppers and onions. You can also use carrots, peas, corn, or whatever you feel like.

My SPAM was already marinated and cooked, as were the eggs, so I didn’t have to worry about those. Here’s how simple it was.

SPAM Fried Rice

Ingredients

Day old rice
cooked SPAM cubes
scrambled eggs
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1/4 red onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 TBS olive oil
1TBS shoyu
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

Sautee peppers, onion and garlic for a few minutes in the olive oil on medium-high. Add rice (try to declump it before adding to the pan). Mix it with the veggies and then leave it be. Don’t stir it too often, just every once in a while. I probably flip it every 2 minutes and cook it for 8 minutes total. Once it’s fried and getting crispy add the SPAM and eggs. Mix it again and let cook another couple minutes.

In a separate bowl mix the shoyu, vinegar and sugar. Add to the pan. Cook for one minute and you’re done!

I am definitely a carnivore, and although I think being a vegetarian or vegan is wonderful, I happen to love meat, in fact steak is my favorite food. So I’m always excited to find new recipes for steak. We typically use flank steak because we can get such a good deal on it at Sam’s Club.

I usually incorporate it into salads, pasta, curries, or stir fries to able to use less steak and more grains and produce (cheaper!). I had some Napa Cabbage left over from making eggrolls and wanted to make an Asian slaw. I decided to make an Asian style marinade as well. Basically combing four tastes: Salty, Sweet, Tangy and Spicy. I had a small portion of Flank Steak that I froze sprinkled with McCormick grill seasoning (I find freezing it in some kind of marinade or seasoning and then thawing overnight has led to more tender flank steak). It was perfect in my marinade.

Asian Steak

Ingredients

One small flank steak preseasoned with grill sesoning
1 TBS Shoyu (dark soy sauce)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp honey
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

Mix marinade ingredients. Pour into a ziploc bag with the steak and marinade on the counter for 10 minutes. (For best results marinate in the fridge overnight and then place on counter 10 minutes before ready to cook).

Grill steak for about 5 minutes for medium (or does it look medium rare? Anyway it’s how I like it) on a George Foreman grill (if you live in an apartment like us).

For the cole slaw I don’t really remember the exact measurements ( I don’t measure anyway, I eyeball everything) but hopefully this is close. Go by taste!

Asian Slaw

Ingredients

1 tsp sesame seeds

about 10 walnuts slightly crushed or chopped

1 tsp butter

1 cup chopped Napa Cabbage

1 carrot

2 TBS Shoyu

1 TBS rice vinegar

1tsp sugar

a couple drops of sesame oil

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1 clove of garlic minced

2 TBS chopped green onion

Instructions

Melt the butter in a skillet and toss in sesame seed and walnuts. mix well and toast for about 4-5 minutes.

Chop cabbage and use a vegetable peeler to make thin slices of carrot. Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl, then toss with cabbage, carrots, seeds and nuts. Enjoy!

Poor Eric has to work today. It’s a blessing financially, but a bummer for trying to hang out with family. He gets off at 2 and we’ll rush over to my parents (about an hour away). I’m bringing cranberry sauce and cranberry bliss bars. Hmmm, I must like cranberries! Then we’ll try to leave by 5 or 6 because Eric works at 3am Friday morning. The holidays are tough in the grocery business, and the long hours are definitely getting to him.

But we have lots to be thankful for. By really cutting back on a lot of things (driving, eating out, no shopping!, planning free dates, etc) we’ve been able to continue living (barely) below our miniscule means and give a lot to people less fortunate than us. We not doing gifts this year with ourselves or family. So, that’s helped a lot. Really, we don’t need more stuff, and we’d rather creat great memories and help others. We’re also thankful for being near family who love and support us. We are thankful for the freedom of religion we have in the U.S., and for the many other freedoms we often take for granted. We have tons more we’re thankful for, but I’ll stop there. Here’s an easy yummy side dish.

I had a fresh zucchini and was thinking of trying out some zucchini fritters a couple nights ago, but wanted something with less prep work since I was pretty tired and Eric and I are both fighting off getting sick. Less prep is better when you feel lousy. I was searching Foodbuzz and found this recipe. Check out Almost Turkish Recipes, she’s got some great dishes there.

I adjusted it to work with what I had, and I didn’t quite boil the zucchini long enough. Only 10 minute I think, so I’d suggest 15. But we were hungry!

Zucchini Cheese Boat

Ingredients

1 small-medium zucchini

1/8 cup feta

A few small pieces of fresh mozarella torn up small

1 egg white

1 tsp dill weed

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp black pepper

olive oil, approximately 1 tbsp or less

Instructions

Wash zucchini and boil until tender but firm. Let cool down. Cut it in half lengthwise to make boats. Scoop out the seedy part and save half of it to use for stuffing.

In a bowl, mix egg, feta, mozzarella, dill, parsley, black pepper, and half of the seedy part of zucchinis until creamy. Load zucchini boats with the stuffing. Sprinkle a couple of drops of olive oil and red pepper flakes on each.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 10 to 15 minutes until cheese melts. Then broil for a couple of minutes to have a crispy top. Serve hot.