Raspberry Caves

A raspberry cave is a Swedish short bread cookie filled with jam. I made these for an international-themed potluck at Mia's preschool several years back, and I have made them many times since. They are a favorite with Mr. J.

14 T butter, at room temperature
½-3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
raspberry jam (or use lingonberry, which is a Swedish favorite)
30 medium paper cups (I use regular muffin cups)

Heat the oven to 375° F.

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the flour, combined with baking soda and cinnamon. Divide the dough into 30 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and put in a medium sized paper cup. With your finger, make an indention and fill it with jam.

Bake on a cookie sheet in the middle of the oven for about 12 minutes.

What We Ate - Christmas Around the World

Back to life, back to reality. We had a very enjoyable two weeks with the girls out of school. We spent Christmas at home, then headed to Disneyland for a few days, visited family for another few days, and then came home.

We call one of our Christmas food traditions "Christmas around the World." Every Christmas Eve we make food from a different country or culture. In past years we've done Switzerland (fondue--yum!), Greece, and India. This year, we did France. What is not to love about French food? (The answer is NOTHING, in case you were wondering.)

We made Supremes de Volaille a Blanc (Breast of Chicken with Cream), pasta, and French baked beets. We purchased the baguette and the brie, and we received the sparkling cider as a gift.

We topped it all off with these delicious cream puffs (minus the heart shape) for dessert. There are several steps to making the cream puffs, but they weren't too tricky, and the results were worth the time.

I love our Christmas around the world tradition, but I think this is going to be hard to top next year. Maybe we should quit while we're ahead and just make it a Christmas in France tradition??

Divine Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

{Sorry about the lousy pic. It was an afterthought when the pie was mostly gone. If you want a pretty picture, go to the original.}

This has to be one of my favorite pies ever. I've made it several times, and I never get as many pieces as I want because it goes so fast. It was the most popular out of four pies at our Thanksgiving dinner. If you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover, just trust me and make this pie. Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Graham Cracker Crust:

12 to 14 whole graham crackers, crushed (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups crumbs)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3 T sugar

Dark Chocolate Layer:
¾ cup heavy cream
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Peanut Butter Mousse Filling:
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups milk
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

Topping and Decoration:
Sweetened whipped cream (I used Cool Whip)
2 tablespoons crushed peanuts
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter, then press into the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9- or 10-inch pie plate. Bake in the center of the oven for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the crust turns lightly golden. Set the pie crust on a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the chocolate layer: In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it just comes to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate, and stir until melted and smooth. Pour the mixture into the cooled pie crust, smoothing it over the bottom and slightly up the sides. Freeze for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the chocolate layer is firm.

Prepare the mousse: In a heavy medium-size saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add ½ cup milk and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining milk and the egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Set the saucepan over medium-high heat and whisk constantly until the custard comes to a boil. Still whisking, boil for 1 minute until very thick. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peanut butter. Pour the mousse into the baked pie crust. Chill for 1 hour, or until firm.

Before serving, decorate the pie with whipped cream and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and mini chocolate chips, if desired.

Southern Peach Cobbler

The peach cobbler was a success! Here is the recipe I used (taken from here):

Ingredients

For peaches:

• 8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

For topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water

To sprinkle on top:

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Notes:

The only things I did differently were: only including 6 peaches (that's all I had - it would have been even better with 8); and not sprinkling ALL of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top - it seemed like a bit much so I will make less of it next time.