New Year's Eve in the Barbie Nation

Everyone in the Barbie Nation loves ham rolls.  We've been serving them at parties for as long as I can remember.  It is also a great use for some of that leftover holiday ham.

ham rolls

A top five party food!

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 sticks butter

Cream together butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Stir in flour until thoroughly mixed.

2 cups flour

Store in refrigerator an hour or so before rolling out. Roll about 1/2-inch thick and cut out in a rectangle.

2 cups baked ham, ground

brown sugar

1 cup grated cheese, optional

I grind my ham by cutting it in chunks and then giving it a whirl in the food processor with the sharp blade.  You can also use a meat grinding attachment on the Kitchen-Aid.  Dust the dough lightly with brown sugar. Sprinkle with ground baked ham. If you want cheese, add it now. Roll jelly roll fashion and cut into 3/8 inch slices. Bake 20 minutes at 400˚ on cookie sheet. Serve hot with mustard or just plain.

**If you make them bite-size, cook 13 minutes.**  Divide the dough in half and make two jelly rolls. This makes 60 one-inch rolls that are perfect for an appetizer tray.

Annette lucked out, as usual. She managed to snag this silvery dream of an evening dress AND a spot as a duchess at the Shimmer Ball when one of the participants backed out at the last minute.  She will be among the high-rollers at this event.  She'll probably come home in a Rolls Royce.  It makes playing dumb seem like a smart move.  Unfortunately for Annette, she really is missing some gray matter.

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

This is your little Christmas Bonus from me this year.  I finally worked out this recipe just in time for the holidays. I was looking for something not too chocolate and not mixed with nuts or chips.
chocolate caramel cookies
1 cup (two sticks) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
Cream the butter and sugars until they are completely combined and fluffy.  Then add:
2 eggs
Continue beating and add:
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
(It takes about 45 seconds in the microwave and then stir until smooth)
Add to mixture until combined.  Then add:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Thoroughly combine and chill 4 hours or overnight.  Allow the dough to warm a little if you cannot easily form it into 1-inch balls.  Make a little nest in each cookies and place 1/2 of a caramel in each nest.
Werther's Original Creamy Caramels - 2 bags or about 40 caramels
Place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Only 12 will fit on each sheet, as they spread during baking. Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes. Cool on pan until you can remove the entire parchment sheet and allow cookies to cool completely on the parchment. Makes 80 cookies.
While they are cooling, mix up the glaze.
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
Cook the butter in the microwave for about three minutes until the butter solids start to brown.  You can just melt the butter, but the browning adds to the depth of flavor.  Do Not burn the butter! To the butter, add:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup Trader Joe's Fleur de sal Caramel Sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
Beat until smooth.  Put the glaze in a Wilton Candy making container that looks like a squeeze ketchup bottle.  You need to do this while the icing is still warm.  If it gets too stiff as it cools, just remove the squeeze top and give it five seconds in the microwave. Drizzle over cookies in one direction and then the other.  You will have tons of glaze, so be generous.  After the cookies are cross-hatched with glaze, just raise the height of the squeeze bottle and fling the remainder of the glaze over the cookies in a spider web fashion. (see photo)

Christmas Kolaches

kolaches

My mother-in-law was famous for her kolaches.  This recipe does a good job of replicating her scrumptious treats. My family expects them every Christmas morning. Hope I'm not in trouble...I just made cherry-filled this year.

2 cups milk

Heat milk to 120°. Add butter and allow to soften.

1/2 cup butter

Add sugar and salt.

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

Put flour in bowl, add yeast.

4 cups flour

5 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Pour in milk mixture, stir and add eggs.

3 egg yolks

Add flour as needed.

1 cups potato flour

1 cup or less of additional all-purpose flour

Knead until smooth and let rise until double. Knead 10 more times and shape into 1 1/2 ounce balls on greased cookie sheet. Makes 30.

1 or 2 large cans pie filling:  cherry and/or blueberry

Drain excess filling from fruit by placing it in a strainer.  Season each filling with ½ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Flatten centers of the kolaches with thumb (make a good size hole) and fill with fruit filling. Let rise until double in size. Brush tops with melted butter.

Top with kolache crumble:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Cut ingredients together to make crumble and sprinkle on kolaches just before baking. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. You can also stuff with little smokies sausages instead of fruit filling. 



Let kolaches rise.



Ice with glaze when cooked.

Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cream (or enough to make smooth glaze)

Betty is ready to get off her feet!

After two shifts at IHop, Betty is just grateful to be sitting down and listening to some of her favorite 45's. The tips are getting better the closer it gets to Christmas.  She is hoping to make enough extra to give her mother, Jolene a new coffee maker. These delicious kolaches demand a really good cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

White Texas Sheet Cake

When the crowd gathers for holiday festivities, there is nothing faster and easier than a sheet cake.  You'll love this for Christmas or ringing in the New Year.

white texas sheet cake

This is very moist for a white cake and it serves a crowd.

cake

Heat butter and water in a glass bowl in the microwave for 2½ minutes.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup water

Stir in following ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix until smooth.  Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking pan.  Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.  Cool for 20 minutes.

icing

½ cup (one stick) butter

⅓ cup milk

Microwave the butter and milk for 1½ minutes.  Mix in remaining ingredients.  Spread on warm cake.

4½ cups confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Top with almonds.

2½ ounces toasted almond slivers

Our own snow queen, Lucy, is dreaming of a white Christmas.  She found this little item in one of the local over-priced tourist traps in Aspen.  Cha-ching on the credit card. What guy wouldn't like to find her sitting under his tree Christmas morning? Too bad she can't find someone worthy of the pricey negligee.

Thanks to My New Followers

I always love comments and appreciate my followers. It makes me feel connected to my audience. If you would like to become a follower, just sign up at the bottom of the page of blog entries.  It is that simple.  Then you can keep up with Fashion Plate without having to go to the website.
It DOES NOT give me access to your email, so relax and enjoy fashions from the Barbie Nation and delicious recipes from my kitchen and cookbooks and NO annoying ads!
It has been an exciting three months for the blog and I thank you for your interest.  I want to give a special shout out to my newest followers, Love Spirit and Audrey.  Welcome to the family!
Thanks to all of you who have checked out my new store on Etsy, Coco's Cache.  I'm glad you like the smock/aprons.

 Happy holiday wishes to my readers!                                                

In Defense of the Fig - Fig Crostada

When it comes to figs, folks are in the love them or leave them category.  If you're not a fan of figs, I think this recipe may convert you.  This was served at the Chocolate Decadence progressive dinner last year and it was a big hit.  I've tweaked the recipe a bit, but it is basically the same yummy appetizer.

Fig Crostada

This is one of the few times I will tell you to start with a refrigerated pie crust.  Enjoy the moment.

1 refrigerated pie crust

Spread the pie crust on a cookie sheet or pizza pan.  Top with:

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

Mixed with:

1 Tablespoon orange juice

Zest of one orange, finely grated

Spread on top of pie crust.  Top with:

(I dig out all the large fig bits and leave the jelly stuff behind.  It will also work if you want to use just one jar and use the entire 13 ounces.)

            2- 13 ounce jars Bon Maman Fig Preserves

            Top preserves with:

             4x6 piece of thin prosciutto, torn into pieces

 Move around the outside edge of the pie crust and fold in the edges just a bit to make a rustic       looking crostada.  Brush the edges of the crust with leftover jelly or a beaten egg, to glaze. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and cut with pizza cutter into desired sliced or squares.

Lucy is going skiing with her boyfriend of the moment, Kirk, the boys' hockey coach.  He is such a loser, but she won't find out until it is too late.  He has 2 ex-wives and lots of alimony.  Her credit card is already reeling from the purchase of the new ski togs.  Wait 'til she discovers she will be financing most of this trip!

Step-by-Step Directions for the Inflation Bars



Press crumbs into pan. It will seem like there are not enough, but just keep pressing them around.  I lined my pan with foil
and lightly greased the foil because the bars are easier to cut when not in the pan. Bake as instructed.



Sometimes the Dulce de Leche is too thick to pour.  Heat in the microwave for about 45 seconds.



It will look like this.





Drop in dollops over the toffee bits or just mix in the toffee bits and spread it around.  It too, will be a very thin layer.



Toffee/dulce de leche mixture.



Smooth melted chocolate/cream over the top. 



Allow to cool and/or chill in refrigerator.  Lift the foil from the pan and cut into serving pieces.  I cut these into 1-inch pieces and it yielded over 140 bites.  These would be great for a cookie exchange.

Inflation Bars Will Sooth Your Economic Woes

inflation bars

These used to be known as millionaire bars, but in a volatile economy, I have elevated them to inflationary status. You need to find Nestle's Dulce de Leche, which is available at WalMart and my HEB.  At WalMart it is on the aisle with Hispanic foods and at HEB it is with the other canned milks.  Beware...Nestle's also make a sweetened condensed milk which is in a very similar can.  You need to make sure you have the Dulce de Leche.  Also, they sell Dulce de Leche in a squeeze bottle, like Hershey's syrup, but this is too runny and will not work in this recipe.

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, room temperature

1½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cups confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine ingredients in a mixer until they form smooth dough.  Place the dough in a greased, 10x15 inch jelly roll pan.  Press out to form a crust.  Bake at 325° for 19 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with:

1 cup toffee chips

Pour over chips:

13.4 ounces Dulce de Leche

In the microwave, melt chocolate in cream for 1 minute.  Then stir until smooth.

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

¼ cup heavy cream

Pour the chocolate/cream mixture over the top of the bars, smoothing with an offset spatula.  It may take a little work to spread this around without dipping into the caramel layer, but there is plenty of chocolate to accomplish this. Allow chocolate to set before cutting into bars. In a hurry?   Pop these in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate.

Despite Veronica's family wealth, she is a down-to-earth woman and a confirmed chocoholic.  She makes these bars for her friends every Christmas.  She is off to deliver her baked treats decked out in her lovely patterned swing-coat suit.  Of course, the dash of the gold purse adds a little festivity to the ensemble. All of Veronica's friends look forward to the arrival of these delicious bars.  Your family will rave, too.  You'll be happy because they are so simple to make!
(See photos above for step-by step directions for all you neophyte bakers.)

Fudge Toffee Cookies

It is officially the holiday season now that cookie baking has begun.This is our top favorite from all the years of Christmas cookies...my gift to you.

fudge toffee cookies

filling

Combine:

1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted

¾ cup sweetened condensed milk

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix until smooth and set aside.

cookie

Cream:

½ cup (one stick) butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

Add:

½ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Set aside. In another bowl, combine:

2¼ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Add to creamed mixture. Stir in:

1½ cups toffee bits

⅔ cup chopped pecans

Shape into 1” balls and place on cookie sheet.  Make an indention in the center of each.  Spoon 1 teaspoon of filling into the center. Top each cookie with one of: 

1¼ cups pecan halves (optional)

Bake at 350˚ for 12-14 minutes.  Makes 5½ dozen.





Lucy just added to her credit card debt by purchasing this lovely knit dress for the holidays.  Her kind heart gets her in trouble in more ways than one. Not only is she always adopting some stray man, she thinks she needs to buy a gift for everyone she knows. You'd think she'd take a look at her father and realize even the best woman can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Visit Coco's Cache at ETSY

Today, the Barbie Nation is celebrating the grand opening of my ETSY.com store, Coco's Cache, featuring my reversible smock/aprons.  I have yet to make them in Barbie size, so you'll just have to put up with a real person size photo. I featured the apron/smock entitled, Chocolate Garden, because you know how much we LOVE chocolate!
Check out the other apron/smocks at Coco's Cache at Etsy.  You can check out securely with PAYPAL or credit card, all handled by Etsy. It is a super, one-of-a-kind gift for cooks, new moms or teachers.