Category Archives: Sage’s Kitchen

Christmas Cooky #5 – Candy Cane Cookies!

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These delightful cookies are the crown to my cooky trays. They have a nice texture and are almond flavored.

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 room temp. egg

1 & 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

Red gel food coloring

1/2 cup crushed candy cane (use the “puff” peppermints for easy crushing. I get them at Dollar Tree)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Mix Crisco, butter, sugar, eggs, and flavorings until fluffy.  In another bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Blend the flour into the butter mixture. Divide dough in half.

Blend red gel food coloring into one half.

Cover your dough with a damp tea towel to keep it from drying out while you work.

Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the crushed candy cane and sugar.

On a lightly floured board, roll small amounts of each dough into strips. Sprinkle with the candy cane mixture. Roll,  gently twist, and shape into a candy cane shape. Please be sure to use half Crisco or the rolling experience will not go smoothly.

Bake around 9 minutes, till just the lightest golden at the edges.

I always use and recommend sea salt for cooking and baking for a brighter flavor.

A silicone mat is very helpful too. These cookies look spectacular on top of the cooky trays, and they are quite delicious.

We topped each cooky tray with The Candy Cane Gospel tract  from Moments with the Book! 

Merry, joyous, peaceful Christmas to you!

sage

Christmas Cooky #4 – Ultimate Chocolate Crinkles!

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These are absolutely the best chocolate crinkles you will ever try! 

1/2 cup regular olive oil + 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons melted butter

12 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use Hershey)

2 room temp. eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, butter, & cocoa powder.  Blend in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.  Mix well. 

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into oil mixture. 

Place the mixing bowl into a larger bowl filled half way with ice.

Let the dough chill for half an hour like this. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Get a smaller bowl, and put the powdered sugar in it. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.  Remember, insulated cooky sheets topped with parchment produce superior cooky bottoms! 

Using two spoons, drop dollops of dough into the powdered suger, then roll into balls and place on prepared sheet. I estimate a level  tablespoon of dough is ideal.  This dough, for me, is too soft for a scooper.  

Your sheet should look like this. Bake at 350 for 10-12  minutes. Be careful, because chocolate baked goods do not show their browned edges. I always check the cracks on these cookies. If they look at all wet in the crack, they are not done. When done, the exposed cracks will look dry with a slight sheen.

Remove from oven to cooling rack. Cool on the sheet for four minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

sage

Christmas Cookie #3  – Christmas tree cookies!

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These cookies are the favorites of children, as well as any adults who love sprinkles on everything!  They are rolled and cut with a tree shaped cutter.

1/2 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 room temp. egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 & 1/2 cups unsifted, all purpose-flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Frosting…

1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon softened butter

1 tablespoon butter flavor Crisco

2 tablespoons 2% milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Green food coloring and sprinkles

Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in large mixing bowl until fluffy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together everything except the frosting. Add to creamed mixture in three increments until well combined.

Depending on how warm your kitchen is, you may need to chill this dough if it is too soft to roll. 

Roll dough to about 1/4″ thickness.

When I roll these cookies I use a combination of cocoa powder and powdered sugar on a silicone mat. Dust your surface lightly with my mixture or lightly with flour.

Dip your cutter each time you cut, knocking off any extra.  This helps make nice edges on your chocolate trees.

I use a very flexible plastic bench scraper I got from King Arthur.  It is ideal for getting these cookies on the baking sheet.

Place cookies on parchment lined sheets, and bake in pre-heated oven for 5-9 minutes. It is 8 & 1/2 minutes in my oven due to the size of my trees. Cool 2 minutes on the sheet, then carefully transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.

While cookies are cooling, prepare frosting and sprinkles.

Combine all ingredients except the food coloring. Beat until smooth, and add color till you reach the desired intensity. Gel coloring is preferable to keep frosting consistency. Make sure the color is fully mixed in. Have sprinkles at the ready, as the frosting dries quickly! 

Use a butter knife or small icing spatula, and swirl green icing onto one cooky at a time, quickly adding sprinkles on top. This year, I added edible glitter for a sparkly effect! 

Place the trees back onto the wire racks until the frosting is dry.

“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2

sage

Christmas cookies #2 – Shortbread cookies! 

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These tender, buttery delights contain zero leavening. They would even pass, Passover muster!

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cups sifted, powdered sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup oats, quick or old-fashioned, not instant

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup 2% milk

Sprinkles, jimmies, or colored sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla till well combined and fluffy.

In seperate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and oats. Add the flour mixture to the butter and combine well.

With fingers, take about a half tablespoon of dough, and shape into a semblance of an ornament. You do not want round balls, so don’t roll the dough. Just shape it. Because of the oats, they will not be perfectly smooth. But that is part of real shortbread! 

Here you see my shaped cookies on an insulated cookied sheet lined with parchment paper. This method gives the most beautiful cooky bottoms you will ever see! 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until just the lightest golden brown at the edges. Be careful!  These can overbake very easily!  Remove from oven, cool on sheet for 4 minutes, then to wire rack to cool completely.

While cookies are cooling, assemble the fixings. I like to use a “Little Dipper,” that came with a big Crock Pot from Costco. I just put my chocolate in there, plug it is, and soon the chocolate is melted and stays warm the whole time! 

sage

Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the milk.

Dip the tops of the cookies into the warm chocolate, then into your choice of toppings. Return to wire rack and leave undisturbed till chocolate dries, about 1 hour.

These are completely delicious, melt in your mouth, buttery goodness, Christmas cookies! 

Happy homemaking!

Christmas Cookie #1 – Fruit Drops!

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These are old fashioned cookies that store well, much as a fruitcake does. They are not difficult to make, but do get a comfortable seat for all the chopping! 

1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco

1/2 cup softened butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 room temp. eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk

3 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 & 1/2 cup broken, not chopped, pecans

1 cup chopped red candied cherries

1 cup chopped green candied cherries

2 cups, chopped, pitted, dates

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the Crisco, butter, suger, and eggs well. Stir in the buttermilk. 

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture.

Next, add pecans, dates, and cherries. This is better accomplished with a large, sturdy spoon or spatula.

Next important step!  CHILL!  Do not skip chilling for this very soft cooky dough. My favorite method of chilling is the ice bowl method.

Fill a very large bowl half way with ice, and nestle the dough bowl inside it. Even the softest cooky doughs will stay chilled and workable with this method.

Use a cooky scoop, and drop onto parchment paper lined cooky sheets. My preferred sheets are insulated, covered with parchment. This makes for a perfect cooky bottom.

A dozen cookies per sheet, and bake about 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden brown as shown in the picture. Cool on the sheet for 4 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Happy homemaking!

sage

Saturday Bake!  Perfect bread for gravy!

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The classic comfort combination of bread with gravy is global. Biscuits with gravy are served all over America now. In our home, the post – Thanksgiving hot turkey sandwich is an institution!  For many years I have strived to make the perfect bread.  One that is soft and absorbent, yet stands up to piles of turkey and gravy.

Here it is! 

I simply call it “Hot sandwich bread.”

Bread machine friendly!

In the baking pan of your bread machine:

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup regular olive oil

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 & 3/4 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon bread machine yeast (make a well in the flour for your yeast)

Set the machine to 1 & 1/2 pound loaf. Light crust! 

This makes a very soft loaf of bread, with a velvety texture. It holds up to gravy without disintegrating. 

Happy, happy home-making! 

sage

Sage’s Kitchen – Pizza!!!!

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Here is my super thrifty pizza procedure! 

For the crust, I use my bread machine. It saves me time, and makes a wonderful pizza dough. 🍕

In the baking pan of your bread machine:

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (NOT bread flour!)

1 & 1/4 teaspoon bread machine yeast

Set the machine to dough cycle. When it is complete, dump the dough in the center of your pizza pan. I use a 16″ perforated pizza pan to achieve super crispy crust.

Oil your hands with olive oil, and spread, press, and stretch the dough to fit the pan. You can use two smaller pizza pans. 

IF you like a softer crust, skip this part and go straight to the toppings.

IF you like a super crusty crust, place the pan on the lowest rack in your cold oven. Close the door and set oven to 425 degrees. Leave the pan in the oven until the preheat  is complete, and take it out. This “pre-bake” makes for a crusty crust and prevents the sauce from soaking into the crust. My husband loves this. Leave the oven on while you top the pizza.

Topping the pizza!

The best, cheapest sauce is homemade. I use a a pizza seasoning blend from http://www.atlanticspice.com.

Many other companies sell this blend. In a small sauce pan: one 6 ounce can tomato paste, one tablespoon pizza seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Heat the sauce for a few minutes till it smells like pizza! 

Next, generously sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Mozzarella  (about 2 cups)

Pepperoni or whatever you like. About 1 cup.

Place the pizza back into your still hot oven (425 degrees) and bake for 20-25 minutes.

sage

Saturday Bake – Corn Bread! 

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There are many recipes out there. I offer mine here, in the spirit of sharing what is foolproof for our home.

This is skillet cornbread, made in a 10 ” cast iron pan. Cast iron and cornbread are classic. The cast iron gives cornbread the famous, delicious crust we all love.

You will need: a 10″ cast iron skillet, a medium  mixing bowl, a  small mixing bowl or large glass measuring cup, measuring cups and spoons.

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees, making sure the rack is set to the middle.

In the medium bowl, whisk together:

1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 & 1/4 cups corn meal

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

In the small bowl beat together:

1/3 cup honey

1 cup 2% milk

1/3 cup olive oil

2 large eggs

Add liquid ingredients to dry, and hand mix with a fork until it is just blended.

Add grease to skillet: 2 tablespoons of bacon grease, or suet, or butter, or olive oil. Place the skillet into the oven for a few minutes, until the fat is melted and skillet is hot.

Take the hot skillet out of the oven, and swirl the melted fat around to cover the bottom thoroughly.   Immediately add the cornbread batter to the skillet, scraping with a rubber spatula so nothing gets wasted.

Place the filled skillet back into the oven, making sure it is centered. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes, cut and serve. The honey in my recipe keeps the cornbread from being dry and crumbly.

For true cornbread joy, top it while hot, with more honey, and butter.

sage

Saturday Bake! Custard Berry Pie! 

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This is NOT a dump cake!  But it is definitely worth every bit of effort you put into it.

This pie has a tender shortbread crust.

Tender Shortbread Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons cold butter

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons 2% milk

In a workable bowl, whisk together the flour,  sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter till it’s crumbly.  Combine egg and milk; stir into flour mixture with a fork.

This dough is very sticky, so oil or spray your hands, and press the dough into a 9 inch pie plate that has been sprayed. Be sure to bring the dough up the sides. It should look like this:

Next, bake the empty pie crust for 8-10 minutes or until it is set. This crust may bubble up in the center due to the baking powder. Gently deflate any bubbles with the tip of a sharp knife.

Custard Berry Filling:

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups 2% milk

3 egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 & 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

1 & 1/2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

1 pint strawberries, halved

1 cup blueberries

In a large saucepan, whisk together sugar, flour, and salt.  Add milk, stirring till smooth.  Cook and stir continually until thickened. This takes some time, so be prepared. It’s usually about 10-15 minutes stirring for me. It should be quite thick.

Ladle a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolks and stir.  Then add the yolks to the sauce pan and cook and stir for two more minutes.   Remove from heat, and add butter and vanilla. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Gently use a rubber spatula to add the cooled custard to the baked pie shell. Smooth it out, and set in the refrigerator for at least four hours.  Better overnight. Whip the cream and powdered sugar, spread over pie evenly. Arrange berries on top. I have for special occasions,  made extra whipped cream, and piped it around the edge of the pie.

sage

Saturday Bake!  Cottage Cheese Dill Bread!

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I usually alternate between sweet and savory. Today’s daily bread is savory.   It is bread machine friendly,  complete protein, and makes a great accompaniment to soup, salad, and is splendid for grilled sandwiches. I like it for cheese toast made in the toaster oven.

3/4 cup warm water

2/3 cup cottage cheese

1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil

1 tablespoon white sugar

1 & 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

3 cups bread flour (if you make it by hand use all purpose flour)

1 tablespoon dried onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon dill seeds

1 teaspoon yeast. I have been getting good results using bread machine yeast.

Add all ingredients ingredients to baking  pan in order listed. I ALWAYS spray the inside of the baking pan first.  

Be sure to make a well with the back of a spoon to put the yeast into. You do not want the yeast sinking into the wet ingredients! 

Place the baking pan into the machine, and set it to basic bread, 1.5 lb. loaf, regular crust, and turn the machine on. You will want to check after about 10 minutes to see if you need to add water or flour. Even with the add-ins, the dough should be smooth and rounded. If your dough is too wet, add flour, one tablespoon at a time. If it’s too dry, add warm water one tablespoon at a time. Smooth dough makes a better loaf.

Here is the beautiful cottage cheese dill bread, still slightly warm.  The aroma is mouth watering.

You can see my crumb saving bread cutting board. Homemade bread has a wonderful crust, which makes a lot of crumbs. I save these crumbs in the freezer to top casseroles of all kinds. And as a wonderful addition to meat loaf 

sage

Sage’s Kitchen – Perfect Pantry Pasta Sauce! 

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This sauce is thick and rich.  Our favorite. It makes the exact amount of sauce for a one pound package of spaghetti. Many of us will have the ingredients on hand. It is pantry and crock pot friendly.

1 lb. Italian sausage or meatballs

Granulated onion – just shake it in! 

Granulated garlic – just shake it in!

Two, 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes

One 15 oz. can tomato sauce

One 6 oz. can tomato paste

One tablespoon brown sugar

Two bay leaves

Two teaspoons dried oregano

Two teaspoons dried basil

One teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme

If you are using sausage, brown and drain first. Add all ingredients to crock pot, stir to combine, cook on high for 4 hours. Do NOT add water to this sauce!  So very good with homemade garlic bread.

We always keep a bag of Sam’s Club frozen meatballs in our freezer. Always. Fifteen go into this recipe. They can be used in this sauce, as well as for many Pinterest recipes using meatballs. Very, very thrifty.

sage