celiabreslin

Hi Blog Pals,

Happy Holidays!

Last month, I invited my newsletter subscribers to submit some of their favorite holiday recipes, with the promise to post them on my blog. Here they are, along with a few others from my collection. I’ve shared some of the latter before; including them again in case you missed them. 🙃

Aaaaand, I’ll be back next week with some fun holiday book sales for you all, because if you’re like me, there’s no such thing as too many books in the to-be-read pile. 😆

Bon appétit!
Xo,
Celia

First, some savory recipes…

Baked Tofu Cutlets

A tasty vegetarian alternative for holiday dinner, from subscriber Kathy.

16 oz. firm tofu
4 Tbsp. lime juice
4 Tbsp. light soy sauce (dark is okay, but sweeter)
1 tsp. honey (or maple syrup)
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. chili sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Slice tofu, lengthwise, into pieces about 1” thick.
Place tofu in a flat baking pan or other non-stick baking dish, and set aside.
In a bowl, combine lime juice, soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic, and chili sauce.
Pour marinade over tofu.
Place tofu in fridge for 2-4 hours, turning tofu over from time to time.
Remove tofu from fridge and bring to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake tofu for 45 minutes (turning is optional during bake time).

Serving suggestions:
Garnish with green onions. Enjoy alone, with a starch (such as rice), with sauteed or steamed veggies, or as a sandwich (with tomatoes, lettuce and vegan mayo).

Carina’s Holiday Brunch Cocktail and Snack

Carina Tranquilli, the star of my Tranquilli Bloodline series, mixes a wicked cocktail. Here’s one of her favorites, plus a savory appetizer she enjoys with it.

The Bloody Carina
1-2 oz. vodka (optional)
4 oz. tomato juice (Carina prefers V-8)
½ – 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce (Carina makes her own!)
dash of celery salt to taste
pepper to taste
Tabasco to taste
dash of lemon juice
twist of lemon as garnish

Pair your tasty beverage with…

Deviled Eggs

Carina likes Mary Nolan’s recipe on the Food Network

6 hard-boiled egg yolks (set aside egg-white halves for later)
¼ c mayo (Carina uses Vegenaise for an egg-free, dairy free option)
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard (or to taste. More, if you like it tangy like Carina)
1/8 tsp salt (optional in Carina’s opinion)
black pepper to taste
smoked paprika for garnish

Mash the yolks.
Add vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix until creamy.
Place mixture in egg whites.
Garnish with paprika.
Enjoy!

Sweet Treats Time!

Vegan Cheesecake

A dairy-free, egg-free holiday treat, from subscriber Holly.

Requires a 9-inch springform cheesecake pan

Crust:
1 cup smashed graham cracker crumbs (any egg-free brand)
2 Tbsp. soy margarine, melted
Cooking spray

Filling:
4 eight-ounce portions dairy-free cream cheese
1 cup sugar (white or turbinado)
½ cup soymilk (full fat is preferable to low fat, for consistency)
2 tsps. Vanilla extract
Egg replacer (the equivalent of 4-egg’s worth)
½ – 1 bag dark chocolate chips (not milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Crust:
Spray bottom of pan with cooking spray.
In a bowl, smash graham cracker crumbs and combine with margarine, until moist.
Press mixture into bottom of cheesecake pan.
Spray crust lightly with cooking spray.
Set aside.

Filling:
With a mixer set to high speed, beat cheese until smooth.
Add sugar, soymilk, vanilla, and beat again.
Add egg replacer, and beat again.
With a large spoon, stir in desired amount of dark chocolate chips.

Pour filling mixture onto the crust in the pan.
Sprinkle chocolate chips on the top.
Bake for 1 hour, 10 minutes, until cheesecake is almost set (should be soft brown color; cook up to 10 minutes longer if needed)
Tip: cheesecake is done when the center barely moves if pan is jiggled.
Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
Cover and chill at least 8 hours.

Pizzelle!

I love this cookie and was thrilled when subscriber Jean submitted her recipe for this Italian classic.

6 eggs
3.5 cups flour
1.5 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled
4 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Beat eggs.
Add sugar slowly.
Beat eggs and sugar until smooth.
Add cooled, melted butter and vanilla. Stir.
Add flour and baking powder slowly to egg mixture.
Drop onto heated pizzelle maker.
Bake time varies, approx. 30 seconds to 1 minute (consult instructions for your particular pizzelle maker).

Holiday Spritz Cookies

Recipe compliments of my mother. Requires cookie press.

3/4 cup regular sugar (some recipes call for “powdered”, but mom swears by regular!)
1 cup margarine, or butter, or shortening (mom uses shortening; I use butter. Both are delish.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a bowl, mix together margarine (or butter or shortening), sugar, vanilla, egg until fairly fluffy.
3. Stir in flour, salt, baking powder.
4. Optional: separate dough into bowls, add food dye of your choosing (see photo).
5. Fill cookie press; press dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes.
7. Remove from sheet and cool on cookie rack.
8. Eat. All. The. Cookies!
 

Holiday Caramels

Recipe compliments of my grandmother.

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups white sugar
2 cups white Karo Syrup
1 stick of butter (1/4 lb.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Mix together the first three ingredients (milk, sugar, syrup) in a large bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a large heavy kettle, pour in the mixture and bring to a boil.
3. Stir continuously while mixture boils until it reaches the temperature of 245 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer (can take up to 25 minutes).*
4. Once the 245-degree temperature is reached, remove kettle from stove.
5. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, then pour mixture onto a large buttered cookie sheet or flat pan.
6. Cut into pieces, wrap with plastic wrap or your candy covering of choice (or eat All The Candy, LOL).

* Note: If mixture overcooks, candy gets too hard.

Snickerdoodles

Recipe compliments of my grandmother. I like this one so much I had a character in Under A Mating Moon bake them for everyone.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup margarine, butter, or shortening (my grandmother uses shortening)
1 – 2 tsp. vanilla (grandmother uses 1 more often than 2)
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a small bowl, mix the tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Mix together margarine (or butter or shortening), sugar, vanilla, eggs.
Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt. Add to wet ingredients.
Form one-inch or 1 1/4 inch balls, and roll balls in sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet, cook for 8 – 10 minutes.
Remove from sheet and cool on cookie rack.
Eat. All. The. Cookies!

Happy Holidays!