Julia Child Brownies, Squared

My favorite brownie recipe is by Julia Child from her cookbook, Baking with Julia. They are moist, chewy, and full of intense chocolate flavor. I posted the recipe a while back and it is here. The reason I posted it again is because I tried them in a new pan. The pan on the left is one I found at Target. It is the equivalent to a regular muffin tin. I have used it for cornbread, brownies, muffins (peach), and individual meatloaves. The square shape just makes it more fun.

The pan on the right is a new one. I found it at Michaels in the Wilton section. It would be the equivalent to a mini-muffin tin and it is made of silicone.

Silicone pans are easy to use, help prevent overbaking, and can even fold for storage.


If you haven't tried a silicone pan yet, one thing you need to know is that you have to place it on top of a cookie sheet to stabilize it.

These are the brownies after I baked them. It's good to let them cool a few minutes before you try to pop them out.

Then let them finish cooling on a rack.

A sprinkle of confectioners is essential.

These are so good, and perfect for any occasion that calls for chocolate, which is every occasion.

Shrimp Cocktail Salad with Horseradish Dressing

This is my adaptation of a recipe I found in Good Housekeeping, the August 2010 issue. My main alterations were in the dressing ingredients, and I actually don't have exact amounts I ended up using. I toyed with it a lot. It turned out to be so delicious and unusual that I still wanted to post it, even without precise amounts.

Shrimp Cocktail Salad

lettuce (I used shredded iceberg, but use your favorite)
4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
2 lb cooked, peeled shrimp (I boil my shrimp like this)
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

Line each plate with lettuce. Top with sliced tomato, shrimp, and celery. Drizzle with dressing.

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
3 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp horseradish

I added the following ingredients to the dressing and they are approximate. Adjust to your personal taste:
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp Caribbean Jerk seasoning
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp Worchestershire
salt and pepper
a few drops of hot pepper sauce

Whisk ingredients together.


The result was a fresh, colorful, light salad, and the dressing has a zingy, tasty kick.

Pies Baked in a Jar

I found this very cute idea on Not Martha. It is a great blog and it has a very thorough tutorial on this. You will need All Ready pie crust, pie filling, and small Ball jars. One package of crust and one can of pie filling made 6 pies.

These short, wide-mouth jars were my favorites.


Press pie crust into the jar.

Fill 3/4 full with desired filling. (This is more than 3/4 full and I don't recommend it)

Cover with more pie crust and seal edges. Do cut-outs if desired. You can put the tops on the jars and freeze them at this point if you want to. You can then give it as a little gift for the recipient to bake themselves.

I also tried it in ceramic heart baking dishes.


You can brush the tops with beaten egg if you want to in order to give them more of a golden crust. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden on top and inside.


I served them warm with Breyer's vanilla ice cream.

If you place the tops on them while they are hot from the oven, they will seal and keep for several months unrefrigerated. How cool is that??

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup: The Ultimate Comfort Food

Who doesn't love chicken noodle soup? Especially on a frigid December night like tonight. Gil has a cold and really has felt bad for the past couple of days. I decided to make chicken noodle soup to help him feel better faster. I served it with Roasted Red Pepper Cheese sandwiches. He is now completely cured.

Vickie's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

aka Miracle Cure for the Common Cold

4-6 chicken breasts
2 cans Swanson chicken broth
3 cups water
1 stalk celery
2 tsp salt
1- 1/2 tsp basil
1- 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1- 1/2 cups dry pasta (I used fusilli)

1. Simmer chicken in a medium saucepan until tender, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool and shred.

2. Strain the water from that pan into a larger saucepan. Add remaining ingredients except for pasta. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

3. Add pasta and cook on medium high until pasta is done, about 20 minutes. You can cook the pasta in a separate pot if you want to. I liked the simplicity of cooking it all together. Just be sure and taste the pasta and make sure it is cooked through.

Enjoy and be comforted!

Christmas Quiche

Ham Quiche

2 Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crusts
6 individual pie pans
1 - 1/2 cups cooked, diced ham
1 - 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 eggs
about 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped and sauteéd until tender
2 cups 1/2 & 1/2
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 -1/2 tbsp dried dill
3/4 of a 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1. Line pans with pie crust, trim with a scissor, then leave enough to crimp the edges. (1 crust fills 3 pans, with leftover pastry for cutouts).

2.Layer with ham, cheese, and bell pepper. Beat eggs with a whisk and add 1/2 & 1/2, spinach, and seasonings. Pour over ingredients in pie shell.

3. Make cutouts with leftover pastry and place on top of each quiche. Brush cutouts with beaten egg.

4. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until firm.

Yield: 6 individual quiches. I actually had some of the egg mixture left. You could make a couple more if you had enough of the other ingredients.


Line pie pans with pastry:

Trim and crimp the edges. Place diced ham in first:

Then layer with cheese and bell pepper:

Pour egg mixture over the ham and cheese. Place cut outs on top:



Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes until firm.

Serve with soup, salad, or all by itself! It is also great to serve for breakfast. I served it for a Christmas lunch that I had with some wonderful friends.

A Layered Christmas Tablescape

In a previous post, I mentioned the Caroline House, a beautiful home that I toured in which each room was decorated for Christmas. One trend that I noticed throughout the house was, not only the use of gold tones, but the use of layering on the tables. I decided to go through all my table linens and see what I could come up with.

As a base, I used a cream colored cloth:

On top of that, I placed a bronze colored cloth which was actually for a round table:

On top of the bronze cloth, I placed a chocolate brown suede-like cloth:

As a finishing touch, I placed a gold throw diagonally on the top. I also used this throw on my Christmas table last year.

To pull in all the colors, I used this place mat as the base for my centerpiece:

Then I placed a charger with candles that I decorated with beads and ribbon in the center. (I posted how to do this in my post called Candles with a Sparkle). I grouped several vintage-looking ornaments with a beaded garland around the candles:

I wanted something different for my napkins, so I folded them into thirds lengthwise and pulled them through the napkin ring:

Then I flipped the napkin over and tucked the ends in between the dinner plate and the charger. It made it look like a bow:

The result was dressy and elegant, yet warm and cozy.