Peanut Butter Shortbread Kisses

This cookie is an egg-free peanut butter shortbread cookie topped with a Hershey's kiss. Denny and Tim can eat a whole plate of these.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 pkg Hershey's kisses

Mix the butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla together until blended. Add the dry ingredients. Roll dough into 1" balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 min. Top with a Hershey's kiss while warm, pressing it down slightly.

Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Appetizers

It's a ham and cheese sandwich in puff pastry, a cute appetizer for a dinner party or perfect for lunches.  The flaky buttery crust is irresistible.

Ingredients:
1 box Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (2 sheets)
2 T dijon mustard
1/4 lb. thinly sliced ham
1/2 lb. thinly sliced gruyere cheese

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  Defrost the puff pastry, then roll to make two, 10"x12" rectangles.  Place parchment paper on a baking sheet, and layer one sheet of the puff pastry, followed by the mustard, ham and cheese. Top with the second puff pastry sheet.  You can brush the top with an egg wash, if you like (1 egg mixed with 1 T water).  Bake for 20-25 min. until golden brown.  Cut into squares before serving.

Bea's Waverly Cookies

This recipe originally came from Bea and Denny's Aunt Teru Kiyohara. Waverly Wafer crackers make up the crust for this cookie, which is then topped with buttery sugar and almond slices.  It is flaky, salty and sweet at the same time.  We enjoyed them at Bea's talented daughter, Joby Shimomura's glass show in West Seattle in August.

Ingredients:
1 box Waverly Wafer crackers
1 cube butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Almond slices

Stir the melted butter, sugar and vanilla together until blended.  Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.  Add the Waverly Wafers in a single layer in the pan.  Pour the sauce over the crackers and spread evenly.  Top with almond slices.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

Joby Glass:  https://www.facebook.com/jobyglass/

Corinne's Crispix Mix

Another great recipe from my buddy, Corinne Gooden (on the left)...I could not stop eating this snack.  It's a sweet-salty-crispy cereal mix with a Japanese accent.  It is a local favorite in Hawaii. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup light corn syrup

3/8 cup sugar

2T soy sauce

1/2 cup canola oil

2 (12 oz) boxes of Crispix cereal

1(2-oz) bottle of nori goma furikake

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Heat butter, corn syrup, sugar, soy sauce and canola oil until sugar is dissolved and mixture is blended. Pour syrup over cereal and mix well. Sprinkle furikake over cereal and mix until evenly coated. Spread in a shallow roasting pan and bake for one hour, stirring every 15 min.  Cool and store in an air tight container.

Spinach Strata

I first tasted this dish at the Blue Dot Cafe in Alameda and was able to locate a similar recipe on the Once Upon a Chef blog, one of my favorite places to hunt for recipes.  It is like a savory bread pudding with gruyere and parmesan cheeses, spinach and bread cubes. Simply delicious as a side dish or by itself!

Ingredients:
1-lb frozen spinach, thawed and lightly squeezed
3 T butter
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
12-oz bread, cut in cubes (sourdough or French bread)
1-1/2 cup gruyere cheese, shredded
2/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
9 eggs
2-3/4 cup half anf half (can substitute milk)
2 T dijon mustard
1-3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper

Saute the onions and garlic until tender. Add the spinach for just a minute or two.  Cut the bread into 1" cubes.  Mix the eggs, half and half, mustard, salt and pepper together in a small bowl.  In a buttered 9x12" casserole dish, layer the bread, spinach mixture, cheeses, repeat bread, spinach, cheeses. Pour egg mixture over all. Wait one hour or refrigerate overnight. Bake at 325 degrees for 70-75 min. (if refrigerated).  Adjust timing 10-15 min. less if not refrigerated. This recipe can be halved and made in a 10" square pan for a smaller quantity.

Mountain Bar Candy

I located this recipe on Dorothy Kern's Crazy for Crust blog. You can only buy Mountain Bars in the northwest, so for those of us who enjoy them and who live out of the area, you can now make your own with Dorothy's recipe.  Kudos to Dorothy for re-inventing them and for posting the recipe on internet.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (from a 14-oz can)
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 bag chocolate melts or almond bars (12 oz)
1/2 cups finely chopped peanuts

Beat the butter, vanilla, salt and milk in a large bowl. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Drop tablespoon sized balls (rolled) onto wax paper lined cookie sheet.  Chill 30 min.  Line a new cookie sheet with wax paper. Melt chocolate according to package directions. Place 1 tsp of chocolate evenly spaced on the cookie sheet, one for each ball of candy you made. Spread it slightly. Place a rolled ball of filling on each chocolate circle. Mix the chopped nuts into the remaining melted chocolate. Cover each ball of filling with 1-2 tsp of the nutty chocolate. Use a spoon to spread it so that the chocolate covers the filling completely. Chill to harden.

New Year's Day 2017 at the Obatake's

We are so fortunate to be invited to Hide and Reiko Obatake's New Year's Day Feast in Renton,Washington, an annual event for us and the highlight of our holiday trip to Seattle.  Each year surpasses the year before in the assortment and variety of traditional Japanese osechi. Hide is such a talented chef, and we cannot wait to see what he chooses for his menu each year. His food is a pleasing balance of color and taste with vegetables in designs of seasonal shapes.  Many food items represent prosperity, good fortune and health, the perfect meal to start the new year.

Cabbage Casserole

A family favorite!  It is a rich, cabbage-bread-cheese casserole that is filling and a meal in itself.

Ingredients:

5 slices buttered sourdough bread, quartered

3 cups cabbage, sliced and roughly chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 T pimentos, chopped
1 T instant onion flakes
1 tsp regular mustard

1-1\2 cups each Jack and Swiss cheeses, shredded

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
5 T Chardonnay white wine (dry)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Butter 5 slices of bread and cut in quarters.  Set aside.  Mix the cabbage, mayonnaise, pimentos, instant onion flakes and mustard.  In a small bowl, mix the eggs, milk, wine, salt and pepper. Place the ingredients in a buttered casserole dish in layers -- half of the bread, half of the cabbage-mayonnaise mixture, half of the cheeses.  Repeat. Pour egg mixture over all.

Bake 45  min at 375 degrees.