This is what I’m making tonight for my office bake sale tomorrow.  The bread is JUST sweet enough without being overpowering.  Great for breakfast or brunch, but really… it’s yummy bread.  You can eat it anytime. And of course, with the berries coming into season, now’s the time to go nuts with it.

This recipe makes enough to fill one loaf pan.  The dough is very sticky, so use a hand or stand mixer to blend things.

The original recipe calls for the walnuts, but I’ll be honest – I don’t use them.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar (use if you want a sweeter bread)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups strawberries, fresh & coarsely chopped (do NOT use frozen) OR fresh blueberries (whole)
3/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In small bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beat 1 minute or until light and airy. Add brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.
3. Stir into flour mixture only until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Fold in strawberries and nuts.
5. Pour into a greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350°F for 60 to 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let stand 10 minutes in pan.
8. Turn out on rack to cool.

Supposedly serves 10 – but really, no.  It doesn’t go that far.  :)

For Emily… who’s looking for a good recipe.

Cream Cheese Baked Mashed Potatoes

This is a basic recipe – and fun to play with. I’ve mixed in garlic, other cheese, chives, etc. with this, and it all comes out wonderful.

5 lb bag yukon gold potatoes
8 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons onion salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
paprika (optional)

1) Peel and cut the potatoes into large cubes and boil in salted water until tender. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, then stir in the sour cream, milk and spices.

2) Drain and mash the potatoes in the pot, then stir in the cream cheese mixture.

3) Spoon into a casserole dish or a 9×13 pan. Dust top with paprika. Note: You may cover it and refrigerate for 24 hours, or proceed to baking right away.

4) Bake covered with foil at 350 for 45 min. Increase the time if the dish has been chilled.

Additional Notes:
a) You CAN serve these without baking them. They just seem to come out extra soft if you do the additional step.

b) My family likes a lot of garlic, so I generally add the minced equivalent of 9-12 cloves to the pan when I make them.  I generally do some liberal shaking of pepper, too (often Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Pepper).

c) Feel free to substitute less-fat or fat-free for the cream cheese or sour cream. I generally buy the store brand Neufchâtel cheese for the cream cheese, which is the lower fat alternative). I’m a high-test traditionalist with sour cream, though.

With the cold weather outside and a need to have an easy to make dinner, I decided to grab what ingredients I could remember off-hand for the Turkey Tortilla Soup I made after Thanksgiving. Only this time I wanted to try making it a bit fuller-bodied.

The variation tonight turned out great. As planned last time, I doubled the batch. I also used chicken thighs instead of turkey since it was cheaper at the store.

2 medium onions, chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 cans chicken broth
2 pounds chicken, shredded or cubed into small bits.
2 large tomato, chopped
1/2 – 1 cup frozen peas or corn
8 oz fusilli pasta
4 tablespoons lime juice

1) [skip this step if using leftover chicken] Spray skillet with olive oil and cook cubed chicken until cooked through. Set aside.
2) Spray bottom of large stockpot with olive oil. Saute the onions, celery & chilis until tender, but not brown.
3) Add broth, chicken, noodles, and peas. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Add additional time if needed until pasta is soft.
4) Add tomato. Simmer 5 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice.
5) Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
6) Ladle into bowls and serve hot.

So now that we’re a few days past Thanksgiving and the full T-day plate of turkey and sides is getting old, it’s time to start using the leftovers in different ways. We have TONS of turkey, so I’ll be working through a few of these by Wednesday.

Today’s soup sounded just meh to me, but I know that Erich loves the chicken tortilla soup from Au Bon Pain, so I figured I’d try one.

I found this on Recipezaar to use with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. Very quick (30 minutes!!!) and stupidly easy to make. It has just a slight sweet spicy kick with surprisingly robust flavor for such a simple soup.

The recipe stated that this was four servings, but all was used up in our house between three bowls. I’d recommend doubling it, once you know if you like it.

I was lazy and didn’t do the tortilla browning – we just crumbled tortilla chips over it.

2 corn tortillas, cut into 2×1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (approx 1/3 cup)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (approx. 1/4 cup)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (2 cans work fine)
1 cup shredded turkey or chicken
1 large tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 slices lime (garnish – optional)

1) Spray a skillet with light olive oil and fry the tortilla strips until brown & crisp. Drain on paper towel.

2) Spray pan again and saute the onions & chilis until tender, but not brown.

3) Add broth and turkey/chicken. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

4) Add tomato. Simmer 5 more minutes. Stir in the lime juice.

5) Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

6) Ladle into bowls. Add tortilla chips and garnish with a slice of lime.

Personal notes:

I’ll be experimenting next time with adding some chopped celery and possibly more jalapenos. It may be good as a slightly spicy turkey noodle soup, too.

Enjoy!