Tag Archive for: Southern Living

Best Holiday Gift- Hot Fudge Sauce

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I was looking around for easy fun gift ideas for friends when I saw in Southern Living (www.southernliving.com) the idea of gift jars of hot fudge sauce.  I had a few nights before fixed Corby and Walker ice cream for dessert and had found some hot fudge in the refrigerator.  I heated it up and poured some on Corby’s ice cream.  This is not something that we have very often at all, and I am wondering now why we don’t have it very often because it is awesome.  For some reason, it is just not something I think about adding to ice cream, and it makes ice cream- especially oreo ice cream so much better!  So, this gift idea really appealed to me, and of course they had an awesome recipe to go with it.  Find some mason jars and fill them with hot fudge sauce- which by the way is super easy to make, tie a ribbon around them, and you have become the hero of Christmas!

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (8-ounce) package unsweetened chocolate baking squares
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter in a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add milk, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. (Do not boil.) Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Cover and chill leftover sauce up to 2 weeks.
To reheat: Microwave sauce in a glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute. Stir and microwave at HIGH 1 more minute or until sauce is thoroughly heated.

She Crab Soup- A Charleston Classic

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We are finally back in Charleston and are not going anywhere for a long time.  It definitely has been a summer full of great travel.  Trying to get back into a routine with Walker before he starts school in a couple of weeks, I asked him what he wanted for dinner. I was expecting the usual answer of pasta with pesto sauce of vodka sauce or if he was trying to be sneaky an answer of pizza.  His answer, “Umm, you know I would really like some crab of some sort.”  This was a little surprising.  I know that Walker loves mussels and oysters and lobster, but he has never requested this for dinner unless we are at a restaurant because he knows that I am allergic to shellfish.  I feel like I am depriving him of great seafood meals because mainly I don’t like seafood and a little because of my allergy.  I have never been officially tested for a shellfish allergy but one time I ate some shrimp and my eyes swelled closed, and since I don’t like seafood anyway- this self diagnosed allergy seems to work out rather well for me.  In realizing I am depriving Walker, I also realized that I never put any recipes with shellfish up on this blog, so while I might not eat them, there are still some fantastic dishes to be shared.  And She Crab Soup is definitely one of them.  I found this great recipe for it in an old copy of Southern Living.  Hope it is tasty!

She Crab Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter 

 2 celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, diced (1 cup)
2 pounds fresh crab meat, drained and picked
1 quart whipping cream
1 quart half-and-half
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
Dry sherry (optional)
 
Directions:
Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat; add celery and onions and saute for 5 minutes or until tender.  Add crab meat and next 4 ingredients; cook over medium heat stirring often until thoroughly heated.
Stir together cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water;  stir in 2 tablespoons of hot soup.  Stir cornstarch mixture and salt into soup; cook 5-7 minutes until thickened stirring often.  Top each serving with 1 teaspoon of sherry if desired.
 
 
 

Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake

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I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  I am still so full, but it was all worth it.  I remade a lot of recipes that I have put on this blog this past week for family members that I have not seen in a while.  We started off on Wednesday night having my parents, all of my siblings and nieces over for dinner.  Corby served up his now famous BBQ with coleslaw and a potato and bacon hash that was out of this world.  I made a salad and used the Pimento Cheese pop-overs instead of croutons.  Since we were having BBQ, my brother and his wife brought Bourbon Banana Pudding- I don’t have the recipe yet, but apparently it is from Joy of Cooking, and it was so so so good.   The next day,  I made the Prosciutto Cheese Straws for a pre Thanksgiving dinner snack- fantastic and a huge hit with my brother and father, and for Thanksgiving Day dessert, I made the Chocolate Bread Pudding that was the Le Creuset recipe contest winner, and it was just as good as I remembered it!  We also got an Apple Crisp from The Co-Op on Sullivans Island (www.thecoopsullivans.com).  The Co-Op is a great little grocery/deli that serves up great sandwiches and amazing homemade desserts- definitely check it out!

So despite the fact that it is 80 in Charleston today, I am now gearing up for Christmas- how is that possible!!!  We are headed to NYC this weekend for a visit, and I am so excited to get some cold weather to get into the Christmas spirit.  We are also going to my sister’s annual gingerbread house building party on Sunday before we head home which we have not been to in a long time and should be so fun!  To also help get into the Christmas mode, here is recipe I love from Christmas with Southern Living from back in 2005- Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake- enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3 cups sifted cake flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Powdered sugar
  • 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon whipping cream

Preparation

  • Generously grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan; set aside.
  • Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
  • Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with 1 cup eggnog, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla and, if desired, brandy.
  • Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Stir cinnamon and next 3 ingredients into remaining batter. Spoon spice batter over plain batter. Swirl batters together, using a knife.
  • Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.
  • Place cake on a cake plate; dust with powdered sugar.
  • Combine 1 cup powdered sugar and whipping cream, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake