We are using ... chestnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews, pinenuts, almonds......

Ihave to go to bed in a few minutes.I fixed all the food for the potluck.My DH is overdoing it.Tomorrow morning I have to make my salad for the cookoffon Sunday. I hope I win first prize,but I think maybe third. My DD just called me ,that she is flying in on Thursday.They will be at his father and stepmother at Thanksgiving and We and the rest of his family all together Christmas in Colorado.So I will be more than busy next week and I was supposed to meet the girls(former co-workers) on the 17. for lunch,but we have to drive DD to the airport.==============We had a German Corner=="'The German Corner is getting nuts".But thank you all for the great recipes you all posted.========Yes,I will write my story about Bamberg soon. Gute Nacht,Renate

 Hi Renate,

 

You've been busy with getting all your food ready for the Pot Luck and the Cook Off.  So you are making a salad for the Cook Off? I would love to hear what kind of salad you are making!  I really hope you win, Renate - whether you win first prize or third prize, it would be such an honor to win and I hope you do well - please keep us posted!!  How wonderful to look forward to being in Colorado for Christmas - sounds like fun and especially just nice to be all together.  Yes, you are right, you are going to be very, very busy!  This time of the year really seems to fly by. Don't worry about the story about Bamberg, you can tell me when things settle down for you - no hurry, I will remind you later. 

 

I hope everybody had a good day today.  I worked on little projects around the house and there were college football games on that we watched too.  Just relaxing a bit now on the computer before I go to bed. 

 

I wish each of you a good night's sleep!

 

Heidi

Hi

I keep all the nuts in the freezer and use alot of crushed pecan and pistachis as breading for chicken and fish....

Jav,welcome to our Corner. Heidi,great seeing you.I will be back at least tomorrow and I will tell you everything about the cook-off.My DH got sick last night-laryngitis and he is in bed.Had to call off our brunch with the friends,who are here from Denver.I had looked forward to it.==The party went great and our friends wanted to keep the rest of the salads.She is so sweet,she gave me a huge bouquet of roses,the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.All different colors.She wanted to thank me for all the food I fixed for them.================Twinkle,I hope her computer will be fixed in no time. Waving to Berny and Kathleen and all my other friends and wonder where Shannon has disappeared to again.========We have 75F here today,yesterday 80F.Great weather!!!===================Renate

Good Morning All!

 

Just popping in before work to say Hi!

 

I had a weekend totally unlike I had planned.  I still have not made it to the grocery store!

 Good Morning Everybody,

 

It is going to be up to 70º today - I'm so looking forward to having a nice, warm day.  I'm going to go for a walk in a few minutes.  I definitely want to spend some time outdoors with it being so nice out.  

 

Jav - I put all my nuts in the freezer too.

 

Renate - So sorry to read that DH is sick.  What a shame you had to cancel your brunch, but those things happen - I hope DH feels better today. I'm glad everybody enjoyed your salads & how nice of your friend to give you some roses - how thoughtful of her and nice for you!!!

 

picasso - Have a good Monday at work!   Some weekends are like that, aren't they?  You plan what you might be doing then other things come up - you'll get to the grocery store eventually.......LOL.

 

Hello to Everybody - I'll see you all maybe later today!

 

Heidi

 I haven't read through this thread yet so I hope I'm not repeating any recipes. I'll replace them if I am. I don't know if you saw it on the other thread or not but Twinkle isn't able to access the TOH website. It's rejecting her. She's working on getting it fixed and I'm probably going to contact Erik again for her to see if there's anything he can do. I told her we'd keep the threads going while she's away.

 

Homemade Peanut Butter

 

• 1 cup roasted, unsalted, shelled peanuts
• 1-1/2 to 3 tablespoons peanut or safflower oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Sugar to taste, optional

Preparation:

Blend in food processor or blender adding just enough oil to make it smooth. You can use salted peanuts and omit the salt, or omit the salt entirely with unsalted peanuts. Add sugar to taste, if desired.

If you want chunky peanut butter, add chopped peanuts after you have made the smooth version.

Store peanut butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Use within two weeks.

 Apricot Nut Bread

 

• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts or walnuts
• 1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped dried apricots
• 1/4 cup apricot nectar or apple juice
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 Tablespoons hazelnut oil or canola oil
• 1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or coat it with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a shallow pan, toast hazelnuts or walnuts in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the apricots and nectar or juice. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer the apricots and their liquid to a food processor and process until a chunky puree forms; set aside. (You should have about 1/2 cup puree.)

In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another large bowl, whisk egg, egg whites, sugar, yogurt, oil, lemon zest, vanilla, and the apricot puree. Stir the apricot mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined. Fold in raisins, hazelnuts, and the remaining 1 cup chopped apricots. (The batter will be thick.) Turn the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges and invert the loaf onto a wire rack to cool.

 Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

 

• Pastry for 9-inch one-crust pie
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 cup dark corn syrup
• 3 Tablespoons molasses
• 2 Tablespoons hazelnut liqueur
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups roasted hazelnuts
• 5 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Prepare pie pastry. On a lightly floured surface, form pastry into a ball and flatten. Roll pastry to fit into an ungreased 10-inch tart pan or 10-inch round cake pan; cut edge flush with top. Bake blind by covering dough with aluminum foil, filling with raw dried beans, and baking 20 minutes. Remove beans and foil; bake another 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add corn syrup, molasses, hazelnut liqueur, and vanilla extract; stir until well blended. In a small bowl, combine hazelnuts, chocolate, and flour; stir into batter until well blended.

Pour chocolate-hazelnut mixture into pastry crust; bake 20 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Make a tent with aluminum foil, supporting foil on either side of dish with an empty can.

Bake another 40 to 45 minutes or until edges are set but pie center still jiggles slightly when shaken. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before cutting and serving.

 Sweet Crunchy Nuts

 

 

• 2 egg whites, at room temperature (save yolks for other use)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 to 1-1/2 pounds shelled cashews, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts (or a mixture of your choice)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Have an ungreased 15-1/2 x 10-1/2 inch jelly roll pan ready.

Using an electric mixer, place egg whites into a large bowl big enough to accomodate the nuts. Beat until the whites form soft peaks when beaters are lifted.

Add brown sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is stiff and glossy. With a large spatula, stir in melted butter.

Gently fold nuts into meringue mixture until they are evenly coated, taking care not to break nuts.

Spread coated nuts evenly on ungreased jelly roll pan. Bake about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to keep nuts separate, until meringue is dry and nuts are crunchy. Let cool in pan, stirring occasionally to keep separate.

Pour cooled nuts into covered containers and store up to 2 months at room temperature.

Yield: about 3 to 5 cups, depending on size of nuts

Note: You may use just about any type of shelled nuts in this recipe, including peanuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and almonds. Mix them up for a special treat. Put these sweet crunchy nuts into a nice glass jar or tin, and they make a tasty gift from the kitchen for any occasion.

 Macadamia Nut Shortbread

 

• 1/2 cup salted macadamia nuts
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 stick (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and generously butter a 9-inch round cake pan.

In a food processor, pulse macadamia nuts and granulated sugar just until ground fine (do not grind to a paste).

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter with confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, nut mixture and 1/4 cup coconut. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture until just combined.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 5 to 8 times, or until it just comes together. With floured hands (dough will be sticky) press dough evenly into prepared baking pan and sprinkle with remaining 5 tablespoons coconut,pressing lightly to make it adhere. Bake shortbread in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until pale golden.

While shortbread is still warm, loosen edges from pan with a small knife and cut into 8 cookie wedges. Let shortbread cool in pan. Carefully transfer shortbread to a platter.

Yield: 8 cookies

Hey everyone!

Just wanted you to know I havn't left ya'll.....I have been really sick.....not sure what is in the future yet...have to get some more test done and possibly a surgery..?? we will find out after the next test...

 

Hope you all are doing good!

((hugs)) Jet

Jet,hugs to you. I hope you don't need sugery and that you have been so sick. Your one friend has to get some anatomy lessons, who posted at another place. You know what I mean.When do you find out about the tests???=========================DH is pretty sick with the regular flu and I am coming down with it. I am trying to clean my DD room.She is supposed to fly in on Thursday,but I don't know if she will ,since she can not get sick. She wanted to come to all kinds of celebrations of some friends,a birthday and a CD release party. I rather would like to go to bed,but I need to have her room in shape.================I will let you all know about the cook-off and post the recipe later.Things are always coming together. Waving to all of you,Renate

Hello Renate!

Yes she was quite mixed up! lol I have done a lot of research on the internet and knew what I was suppossed to eat...

I go at 6:30 tomorrow morning for the other test and after that will follow up with my Dr. and probably have surgery after that....there is no way I can keep going like this....can't keep anything down at all...

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Jet

 Shannon - Delicious looking recipes you posted!

 

Jet - I hope you feel better soon.  Good luck with the test tomorrow morning.  ((((HUGS)))) to you!

 

Renate -  Sorry to read you are coming down with something too - really too bad and bad timing with your daughter wanting to come out & all - feel better soon!

 

Hello to All!!!!!!!!

 

Heidi