New Years Eve 2011

What are your plans for this New Years Eve?? Ours are as follows, family will be at our home to feast on many appetizers, punch and as much Wii dancing as we can stand. I almost forgot Ransome will be popping off some big ammo at the stroke of midnight too!! As many of you know I am a early to bed early to rise kinda girl but this year I am staying up!!! Tell me what are you doing to ring in the new year?

Stuffed Mushroom & Swiss Burger Mushrooms

I have always had a secret mushroom & swiss burger addiction. Sean thought an appetizer that tasted like this would be an excellent idea. So to thinking I went....This is pretty darn close and enough so to call it good. I made them for our New Year's Eve feast and they were pretty tasty. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
12 button mushrooms
1 pound baby swiss cheese-shredded
1 pound hamburger-browned
1 can golden mushroom soup
1 stick butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Remove stems from mushroom caps and chop the stems. Brown hamburger with chopped stems, salt, and pepper. Drain grease and then add in golden mushroom soup. Cool completely. Now add in swiss cheese and stir. Place mushroom caps on a parchment lined baking sheet. Stuff caps with hamburger mixture. Place stick of butter in bottom of pan. Cook at 325' for 20 minutes. Serve hot.

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Yule Log

My mother has fond memories of Christmas as a child and the family always having a Yule Log on the big day. I decided to surprise mom this Christmas and make one especially for her. This is the first one I have ever made and to be honest, it was one of the best desserts that I've ever made. There is not a crumb left so I believe it is safe to say that all enjoyed. I used vanilla beans in my whipped cream this time and will never make it with vanilla extract again. Try a Yule log this Christmas and maybe it will become a tradition for your family also. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek...Merry Christmas!

Needed:

2/3 cup flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate

2 T water

1 pint whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 vanilla bean-scraped

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 T milk

Preheat oven to 350' . Grease a 15x10 jelly roll pan with butter and line with parchment paper, grease it also (I used my Silpat and still greased it).

Sift flour, soda, and salt together and put aside. Beat eggs on high speed until thick and light, this usually happens in about 5 minutes. Now add in your sugar a little at a time and beat until thick. Melt chocolate and add to the egg mixture with the 2T water. Fold in dry ingredients and mix gently. Pour into a prepared pan and bake for 15-17 minutes. Remove from pan onto a powdered sugar coated tea towel, I use about a cup of powdered sugar to do this. Now roll tightly into a roll and cool completely. Once roll is cooled, unroll it. Now whip your cream on high and when it begins to thicken up, add your powdered sugar and vanilla bean. Whip until thick. Now spread evenly on your unrolled cake. Roll cake bake up and place seam side down and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in fridge. Now is the time to make your icing, Take softened butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, milk and mix until smooth. Slice two ends off and place on each side of "log". Ice cake all over and then take a fork to make ridges to resemble a log. I sprinkled mine with powdered sugar.

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Cherry Cheesecake

I admit it, I could easily eat a whole "good" cheesecake. This has not been a problem for me because I have never really made a "good" cheesecake. Yes, the pumpkin cheesecake that I make is really "good" but this cherry cheesecake is the one. Now with that being said......This cheesecake recipe is "GOOD" and must not be made very often in our home or I will have to roll every where I go. Give this a try and you will love it, I promise! This is What's Cookin this cold December morning.

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup margarine-melted
1/4 cup sugar

Mix all of the ingredients together and then press into a 9-inch spring form pan. Cover bottom of spring form pan tightly with foil since it will be sitting in a water bath to bake.

Now fill a large baking sheet with hot water (I have about 2 inches of water in my baking sheet) and place into a 475' degree oven. This is where your cheesecake will bake.

Filling:

4 8-ounce packages cream cheese-softened to room temperature VERY IMPORTANT
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans-scraped
5 eggs-room temperature VERY IMPORTANT

Make sure that your cream cheese and eggs are room temperature. I have made a lot of cheesecakes and this is the MOST important hint I can give you. Mix your cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Now add in your scraped vanilla beans. Now you will add in 1 egg at a time until you have added all the eggs. Make sure each egg gets mixed in before adding the next. Now pour into prepared pan. Place pan in water bath and bake in a preheated 475' oven for 12 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350' and continue to bake for 55-60 minutes. Do not be tempted to open your oven before the time is up. Remove from water bath and let cool completely.




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One of the best cranberry sauces I have ever eaten!

The first time I had this cranberry sauce was when I was preggo with Raine. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. My friend, RaeAnne, is a Martha Stewart woman. She even dressed as Martha at a Halloween party we had. I like my cranberry sauce but this one rocks!!! Thank-you RaeAnne and thank-you Martha Stewart!! This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek this Thanksgiving, actually the day before.

Needed:

1 bag cranberries
5 ounces dried Calimyrna figs-halved-chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dry red wine or cranberry juice


In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients; cook over low heat until most of the cranberries have burst, about 15 minutes.
Transfer cranberry sauce to a small bowl. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.


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Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake

I love being part of the Foodbuzz family! I was picked to receive Duncan Hines coupons last week and I was really happy! I use Duncan Hines products all the time and free coupons are just an added bonus! I really like gooey butter cake so why not add a little pumpkin? Now you have Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake! This would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving buffet. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
2 eggs-I use free range
1 stick of butter-melted

Filling:
1 package cream cheese-softened
1 can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 stick butter-melted
4 cups powder sugar
1 t cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix cake mix, eggs, and butter very well in your Kitchen Aid Mixer. Smooth the mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 pan.

For the filling in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Now add eggs, vanilla, and butter. Beat together. Next, add in the powder sugar, cinnamon, and mix well. Pour pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake at 350' for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't over bake, the middle should still be gooey when done. Serve with Cool Whip.

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Sweet Potato Cake

Sean's Aunt gave us some sweet potatoes from her garden the other day. I love sweet potatoes baked, mashed or fried. I decided to try out a new recipe and make these babies into a cake. They smelled so good baking that they almost did not make it to the cake. Raine at one time loved sweet potatoes, but now has decided the she doesn't...Good, more for me haha..... The cake on the other hand was a favorite! Make this for Thanksgiving and you are sure to be the most talked about cook, in a good way too. This is What's Cookin on this COLD Fall morning.

Needed:

1 cup butter-room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 t cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
16 ounces sour cream
1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato-2 medium sweet potatoes
1 vanilla bean
3 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t nutmeg

Sift your dry ingredients and set them to the side. Now combine the dry and wet ingredients together and blend well. Now pour into a greased bundt cake pan. Bake at 350' for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it after 1 hour, my oven took the extra 15 but yours may not. Ice when completely cool with the following icing.

Cream Cheese Icing
2 package full fat cream cheese-softened to room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2 vanilla beans scraped
3 T milk

Mix cream cheese until smooth. Now add in your vanilla bean scrapings, and powder sugar. Beat until smooth. Now add in milk a T at a time until it is smooth hand easy to pour. Now pour over cooled cake and enjoy with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk!

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