"Bowl"ed Over with Snacks for Football and New Year's Eve

Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! K-S-U!

Let's hope our signature K-State chant leads to victory over Navy at the AutoZone Liberty Bowl game today. We didn't make the trip to Memphis, but we'll be watching the 'Cats from the warmth of our living room.

 

And we just might be dipping into some tailgate-worthy snacks from the comfort of our own home. Whether you're cheering for the Wildcats or just looking for a quick appetizer to help welcome the New Year, this Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip is a contender.

I've made it for our family's Christmas Eve celebrating for several years now. My sister, Lisa, initially brought it to the gathering, but I liked it so well that it has become a permanent fixture. Jill also served it as an appetizer for our family's Thanksgiving gathering.

It's easy to put together. I find it makes less of a mess if you freeze your cranberries and then chop them in a blender or food processor. Just chop up the rest of the ingredients, stir together and let it marinate to blend the flavors. Then pour it over cream cheese and start dipping the crackers for a tangy taste treat.

There are some other K-State (or New Year's) snacks at the bottom of this post. They are easy to make for a last-minute football bowl or New Year's snack.

Happy New Year to you and yours from The County Line! And Go 'Cats!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Recipe from my sister, Lisa Bauer

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 package (12 oz) fresh cranberries (Freeze and chop in the blender or food processor)

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

2 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro

1 tbsp. diced jalapeno (or more, if you like it hotter)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

Dash salt

Combine all ingredients except cream cheese.  Mixture needs to sit for 4 hours or so. Garnish with additional chopped green onion and/or cilantro.

Spread cream cheese in bottom of serving plate. Top with cranberry mix. Serve with Wheat Thins or other crackers.

Try these other snacks for bowl games, tailgates or parties. You can always tailor the colors to fit your favorite high school, college or pro team. 

Pretzel Snacks

Toffee Snack Mix

  White Chocolate Cinnamon Pretzels

'Tis the Season for Cranberry!

'Tis the season for fresh cranberries. The tiny fruit packs a punch of tart and flavorful goodness and just tastes like Thanksgiving and the fall, doesn't it? During this time of year when cranberries are on sale and abundant, I always stash extra bags in my freezer. In fact, I bought four bags of them last night at my hometown grocery store!

Before the South Central Community Foundation awards night, I found a new way to use these colorful bursts of flavor - Frosted Cranberry Drop Cookies. I used frozen cranberries because I find it easier and less messy to chop the frozen variety using a food processor.

 

These are soft, moist cookies - more cake-like than crisp. The yummy Brown Butter Frosting enforces that cake-like reputation. And speaking of brown butter! Yes, it deserves an exclamation point. I've seen other recipes where brown butter was called for, and I thought, "Surely, it doesn't make that much of a difference." Simply put: I was wrong. It adds a whole other dimension to the frosting and is the perfect accompaniment to this flavorful cookie.

If you'd like to reinforce the orange flavor, you could add a bit of orange zest to the batter. 

For the cookie platter, I decorated the frosted cookies with dried cranberries on some and walnuts on others (see the photo at the top). This "dresses up" the finished cookie, making it fancy enough for holiday trays. Holiday sprinkles would also add a festive touch. I highly recommend them for your Thanksgiving or Christmas get-togethers. Or they'd make a perfect gift from your kitchen this holiday season.

Frosted Cranberry Drop Cookies

From Taste of Home

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 egg
2 tbsp. orange juice
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
Brown Butter Frosting
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 to 4 tbsp. hot water or milk

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add milk, egg and orange juice; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in cranberries and nuts.

Use cookie scoop and put 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool and then frost. (My cookie scoop size made 3.5 dozen cookies.)

Frosting:
Heat butter in a saucepan over low heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes; transfer to small bowl. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency. Frost the cookies.

Winter Pear Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette

Soup is one of my go-to meals during the winter months. This was a busy week as we gathered, sorted and loaded feeder calves to prepare for the cattle sale in Pratt today. (More on the cattle sale next week on Kim's County Line ... no time to write it this week!)

So on Monday,  I made Pasta e Fagioli to warm up quickly for noon meals. But no matter the temperature outside, we also love green salads.

This salad made its first appearance at our Moore Christmas gathering. It was a novel way to use the ubiquitous cranberry during the holidays. Though cranberries aren't in the produce case any longer, you can often find them in grocery or discount store freezer cases any time of the year. And, if you can't find fresh cranberries, you can top this salad with a raspberry vinaigrette, poppy seed dressing or another favorite fruit-friendly salad dressing.

I also served the salad for our immediate family's Christmas celebration. But with presents to open and fun to be had, I didn't get any photos taken.

In January, I made it again - just for the two of us at home. At that time, pears were on sale at the grocery store ... bonus! If you want additional color and nutrition, you could add other berries. Throughout the winter, my hometown grocery store has had different berries on sale. This week, it's pineapple, which would also be a flavorful addition. You could also add grapes, apples, mandarin oranges or any other colorful fruit to brighten up a winter day.

On Tuesday, we went to Wichita to attend The Illusionists, a magic show, at Century II. Attending the show was one of Randy's Christmas presents from me this year.

Beforehand, we ate at Avi Seabar and Chophouse. I had a similar salad, topped with grilled salmon. (I should have taken a photo of it, too. Too late now!) Let's just say it cost a lot more money than the salad I made at home. (The salmon, however, was better than I can make here. It probably wasn't discount salmon that came from the frozen food case. Just keeping it real, folks!)

Still, with a little effort, you can make a restaurant-quality salad at home for a fraction of the cost. Enjoy!

Winter Pear Salad

with Cranberry Vinaigrette

Recipe adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

Spring mix salad, bagged or boxed
Fresh pears
Pumpkin spiced pecans (see below)
Feta cheese crumbles
Dried cranberries
Cranberry Vinaigrette dressing (see below)

Use as much of the ingredients as you need for the servings you need. Combine all the ingredients and toss with vinaigrette to taste. (Or you can serve the dressing on the side and have people add their own dressing to taste).

Pumpkin Spiced Pecans

1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mix sugar and pumpkin pie spice in small bowl until blended. Add sugar mixture and pecans to a small skillet and heat on medium heat until sugar is melted, stirring constantly as the sugar starts to melt. Be careful not to burn. As soon as the sugar is melted onto the pecans, pour pecans onto foil or parchment paper to cool. Once cool, store in airtight container or plastic bag.

Cranberry Vinaigrette Dressing

1 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt

Combine cranberries, orange juice and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook on medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries pop. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Pour cranberry mixture into a blender. Add olive oil, vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth.

The dressing with be thick and creamy. If you prefer a thinner dressing, add small amounts of water (or orange juice), 1 tablespoon at a time, until of desired consistency. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Depending on how many people you are serving, you won't use all the pecans or dressing for one salad. Refrigerate leftover dressing and store extra sugared pecans in a sealed plastic bag.

I doubled the recipe for dressing, knowing that I could use it for other salads, too. 

"Berry" Good!

You could serve this butter sauce on cardboard and you'd think you were having a gourmet dessert.

But it'll be even better with the cranberry cake.

Cranberries say "holidays" to me. The beautiful red color and the tangy burst of flavor are a great alternative to pumpkin desserts this time of year.

I personally love pumpkin, but one of my sisters doesn't. From November through December, she often goes to meetings where the dessert of choice prominently features pumpkin. That's a great weight-loss plan at this time of year when the temptations are as plentiful as the proverbial "sugar plums dancing in your head."

When it's my turn to bring dessert to a gathering during the holiday season, I figure there may be one or two other people who join Lisa in the anti-pumpkin campaign. This is one of those desserts that still says "Merry Christmas."

Enjoy!

Cranberry Cake

1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. butter
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 cups raw cranberries

Cream together sugar and butter. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk. Mix well. Fold in cranberries. Put in greased 9- by 13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with butter sauce.

Note: This doesn't have eggs. In other words, it's not a misprint.

Butter Sauce

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring butter, sugar and whipping cream to boil. Let is boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Serve warm over cake. Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator and rewarm.

This dessert is great "as is," just the cake and the butter sauce. For a special treat, serve with a dollop of ice cream (For my Nu Lambda meeting, I used a caramel swirl ice cream.)

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And when you think about the flavors of Thanksgiving, pumpkin and cranberries probably top the list for traditional fare.

Both of these perennial holiday favorites - along with pumpkin pie spice - are central ingredients in this recipe.

I baked this for the first time before our church's annual bazaar. I used mini loaf pans, so I had more loaves to sell - and one to leave home at home, of course. You wouldn't want me to sell it without trying it, would you?

This one will definitely find a place in my recipe file. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups sugar
1 15-oz. can pumpkin
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup fresh, frozen or dried cranberries

Note: I used frozen. I always buy extra cranberries when they are on sale during the holiday season.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pans (I used cooking spray.) Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in another large mixer bowl. Beat until just blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans and bake until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove from pans and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

For two 9- by 5-inch loaves, bake for 60 to 65 minutes.

For three 8- by 4-inch loaf pans, bake for 55 to 60 minutes.

For five or six 5- by 3-inch loaf pans, bake for 20 to 25 minutes.