Frosted Ginger Cookies

 Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, mix until light and fluffy:

• 1 c. sugar 
• 3/4 c. room temperature butter

Mix in:

• 1 egg
• 3 T molasses

In separate bowl, stir together:

• 2 c. flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 1/5 t. ground ginger
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. ground cloves
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to butter/egg mixture, and blend well.

Shape into balls, and roll in a bowl of:

• sugar

Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes, then cool

Drizzle with glaze, which is:

• About a cup of powdered sugar
• Either 1 t. lemon juice, or juice one fresh lemon
• Lemon zest (optional)
• Enough water to get the right consistency

Adapted from Sunset magazine

Blueberry Pie

You'll need 5-6 cups of fresh blueberries, and one baked, and cooled, bottom pie crust in pan.

3/4 c sugar

3 T corn starch

pinch of salt

1/4 c water

Heat on stove until smooth

Add half your blueberries, bring to a boil until it's thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat.

Add

1 T butter

1 T lemon juice

remaining berries

Stir until combined, and let cool for a bit. 

Pour into crust, and chill in the refrigerator.

Moussaka

The basic idea here is 

Top Layer            Bechamel Sauce

Fourth Layer       Meat Sauce

Third Layer         Fried Vegetables

Second Layer     Meat Sauce

Bottom Layer     Fried Vegetables

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Vegetables- peeled, salted, let sit in paper towels to extract moisture, and fried in oil:

Eggplant, Zucchini, Potato

Meat Sauce:

1 T. Olive Oil

1 finely diced onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 pound of ground beef

2 T tomato paste

1 c. tomato puree

1 c. beef broth

1/4 c. fresh parsley (or 1.5 T dried)

1 T. fresh thyme (or 1 t dried)

1 bay leaf (optional)

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. black pepper

Bechamel Sauce, thickened in pan

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup of flour

4 cups milk

1 t. salt

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. pepper

1-2 egg yolks (I think this is optional, depending on thickness of sauce you want)

Baked lemon pasta

 1 lb spaghetti

4 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of minced garlic 

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

2 cups sour cream

3/4 tsp salt

Grated Parmesan cheese

****

Preheat oven to 375

Cook spaghetti according to package

In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil in LOW heat. When butter is melted, add minced garlic . Squeeze lemon juice into pan. Turn off heat.

Add sour cream and stir mixture together. Add zest and salt. Add to drained spaghetti, stir, then put in oven safe dish.

Bake covered for 15 minutes, then remove cover and cook an additional 7-10 minutes (not too long or pasta will be dry). Remove from oven, squeeze a little more lemon juice over top and sprinkle with cheese.

Frosted Ginger Cookies

 

Ingredients

1 c. sugar (plus some for rolling)

3/4 c. butter, room temperature

1 egg

3 T molasses

2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. ground ginger

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ground cloves

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1 c. powdered sugar

2 T. lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

3. Mix in egg and molasses.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and spices. Add to the butter mixture and blend well.

5. Fill a small bowl with sugar for rolling. Make small balls of dough with hands, with about a diameter of a quarter, and roll the balls in the sugar bowl to coat. Place balls on cookie sheet.

6. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, then move to cooling racks a few minutes after they come out of the oven.

7. Meanwhile, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and lemon juice (you may need to add more lemon juice if it's not drizzle-able). You can use juice from a lemon, and add lemon zest, if you want it to be even better. Drizzle glaze over cookies.

Mexican coleslaw

 

German Red Cabbage

 This was really good. And easy.

• 1/2 large red cabbage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• fresh chopped  peeled apple 1/2- 1 cup. Optional.

Melt the butter over medium heat, saute the cabbage and onion until soft, about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle mixture with sugar. Add balsamic vinegar and apple (if desired). Toss to coat evenly. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium low. Cook until soft, approx 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper.