Cranberry Almond Bars

Cranberries make me happy. Do they make you happy, too? I actually smiled at them in the grocery store last week. {And then realized what I had done and quickly looked around to make sure no one saw me.}


These cranberry bars are cake-y, tart and wonderful. Actually, you could easily pass this off as coffee cake, but on a holiday dessert table, they would be so pretty!

Cranberry Almond Bars

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 & 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp pure almond extract
1 & 1/2 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp coarse salt
2 c. fresh cranberries
1/3 c. slivered almonds

Melt the 3/4 c butter and set aside (or in the fridge) to cool.

Reserve 2 TBSP of the almonds for the top of the batter and chop the remaining. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 8x 8" pan.

Beat the sugar and eggs for 3 minutes.

{Side note...I love when the expiration date on a carton of eggs is a holiday or birthday.}

Add the cooled melted butter and almond extract; beat until combined.

Whisk together the flour & salt. Add to the sugar/butter mixture and mix on low until combined.


Stir in the cranberries and chopped almonds.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan...spread evenly with a offset spatula (if you have one). :) Sprinkle with the reserved almonds.

Bake about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs, not wet. (Cover with foil the last 5 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning, if necessary.)


Cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Makes 12 bars.


Two sweet bakers asked if I would link up a recipe for their Christmas Cookie Carnivals. So, thank you to Shelly of Chic Craft Chick (today's carnival) and Liz of Hoosier Homemade (December 13th carnival) for thinking of me and asking me to play along! :)


Related posts:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
• Key Lime Bars
• Caramel Brownies
  

The Pioneer Woman . . . a book signing (& cookies, too)

Today was the day...the day of The Pioneer Woman's book signing in Houston. Yee-haw!


I have been looking forward to this for such a long time. Ree, the Pioneer Woman, is such an inspiration! Whether its food, photography or homeschooling, her blog is so full of joy and makes me smile (and usually laugh out loud) each and every day.


{Here's my orange ticket...}


{...and friends made while waiting. Lovely ladies!}


{I couldn't resist bringing Ree some cookies...}


{As one of the ladies sitting around me said, "she sounds just like her blog!" She does! Completely adorable and charming...I think all of us felt like we were listening to our lifelong friend.}

Finally, it's my turn to have my books signed. I think I said either...

• "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."
• or, "I love you,"
• or, "Here, have these cookies."
  

I was so nervous. And, the picture of the two of us...here it is...

{Yep...see those curls on the left side? That's me. The rest of the picture was so absolutely HORRID that it now sits in the Recycle Bin on my computer. On the bright side, Ree looks beautiful.}

So, more on these cookies...when Ree showed a picture on Twitter of the boots she was wearing on the Bonnie Hunt show, I had an ah-ha moment...Ree must have cowboy boot cookies!

After decorating, let the cookies sit overnight, then break out the vodka.


{Yes, you read that correctly.}



To make the stars and spurs silver, mix dry luster dust with vodka.


Paint the dry royal icing with the mixture using a child's paintbrush.


The alcohol evaporates, leaving you with, ta-da, silver. (The man at the bakery supply place swears by EverClear, but I just never seem to have that on hand.) :)

Thank you, Ree, for coming to Houston! Hope to see you again on your NEXT book tour! :)

---

My new friend, Joann, from the book signing just emailed this picture....

See...I was really there! :)

Want to be a Hip Hostess? (an APRON giveaway)

Get ready...this is the cutest giveaway EVER!

Let me introduce you to The Hip Hostess! If you cook, or know someone who does, you need to get to know these ladies!!!

Run by a mother & daughter team, The Hip Hostess makes the most stylish and adorable aprons!
I'm an apron girl; if I could wear one 24/7, I would. I have...hold on, let me count...fifteen aprons (and probably a few more in the laundry basket).

My newest addition: the demi style Black a la Mode. I wear it even when I'm not baking. :) And I feel oh, so hip!

So, guess what? The lovely ladies at The Hip Hostess are giving one lucky Bake at 350 reader the apron of their choice!
A winner will be randomly selected on Monday, December 7th at 8pm CST.

Here's how to enter:

• Pop on over to The Hip Hostess website and leave a comment with which is your favorite apron (I won't hold you to it),
• I'd also like to know (because I'm nosy)...how many aprons do you have?
• For an extra entry, tweet about the giveaway... "Adorable apron giveaway from @TheHipHostess at @bakeat350tweets ~ http://bit.ly/5zr5uK " Come back and leave a separate comment with your tweet link.
  

And just in time for Christmas shopping, The Hip Hostess is offering a 15% discount (!) to Bake at 350 readers through December 15th. Just enter the promo code BAKE (all caps). Happy (& hip) shopping!

---

PS...I'm guest posting over at We Are THAT Family tomorrow right now(!)...come on over for a DIY cookie project!

PPS...If you are making cookies (or would like to) for our virtual Drop In & Decorate event, please email me (contact button up top) with pictures and details by December 10th. I'll post a round-up of cookie donations mid-month. I've already heard from several of you and YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

Sugar can make you pretty . . . Works For Me Wednesday

It will come as no surprise to you that I have a great love for C&H sugar and Domino sugar. What I didn't know about them, is that they have websites full of recipes and a special section on homemade gifts. (They even provide printable gift tags!)

Now, we all know that sugar can make you irresistible in the kitchen, but did you know it can make you pretty, too? Take a gander at this Brown Sugar and Spice Body Scrub!!!

I whipped this up today to give to my sister. (You may remember she just had a baby and I thought if she ever gets a chance to take a shower again, she better make it count!)

There happened to be just a little of the scrub that wouldn't quite fit into the jar, so I tried it on my hands and arms. OH MY! My skin is now so silky smooth and I smell like gingerbread! I have been caressing my own hands and arms all afternoon...it's a little scary.

Here's how to make it:
1 cup C&H/Domino Light Brown Sugar
1 cup C&H/Domino Pure Cane Sugar
¾ cup almond oil (I found mine in the "organic beauty" section)
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 16 oz. glass container with lid


In a medium-sized bowl, whisk all dry ingredients until thoroughly blended. Be sure to break up any lumps from the brown sugar or from the spices.


Stir in the almond oil. Spoon into the glass container and secure with lid.


{I tied the jar with ribbon and added a spring of berries from our front yard....}

{...and, I'm including a little tag with the instructions...}

"Scoop a teaspoon or two of the scrub on your hands and gently massage in circular motions onto your skin. Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes before thoroughly rinsing. The scrub will tighten on your skin."

I am definitely making a few more jars for Christmas gifts and one for myself, of course!

♥Thank you C&H and Domino Sugar who sponsored this post with a $20 gift card towards expenses! You are so sweet, literally!♥

Please hop on over to We Are THAT Family; this week's WFMW theme is gifts!

Related posts:

• Brown Sugar & Spice Cut-out Cookies
• Little Pumpkin
  

Flavor-of-the-Month . . . Goin' Retro

For our "traditions" theme, I wanted to share with you guys this very retro Jell-O salad that my mom had on the table at Thanksgiving when we were growing up. Every year, my plate was filled with my dad's smoked turkey, mom's cornbread dressing and this salad.

It's really pretty and a kid-pleaser, too.

I tried to scan my mom's recipe card, but our scanner (despite much yelling and bad language on my part) is not cooperating. So...here is mom's recipe...

Strawberry Creme Squares

2 (3 oz) pkgs. strawberry-banana Jell-O
2 c. boiling water
2 (10 oz) pkgs sliced frozen strawberries (I could only find sliced in syrup, that's ok)
1 (13 oz) can crushed pineapple (only able to find 8 oz, so I guesstimated w/ 2 cans)
1 (8 oz) container sour cream


Dissolve jello in boiling water.

{Don't you love that RED?!?}

Add the frozen strawberries and stir occasionally until thawed. Stir in the pineapple.

Pour half of the mixture into an 8 or 9" square pan. Chill until firm.

Gently, spread with sour cream. (I used an offset spatula....I don't know how mom did it without!)

Spoon on remaining strawberry mixture instead of pouring so that it won't mix with the sour cream. Chill until firm.

{Pls ignore those floury fingerprints on the pan...I guess I was multi-tasking while taking pictures!}

I took a poll on Twitter and December's Flavor-of-the-Month will be...

Cookies!

Share any cookie: decorated, drop, bars, filled...you name it!

{As always, anyone is welcome to link to Flavor-of-the-Month; you don't have to ask. Click here to read through all of the previous posts for instructions.}

Ready to link up? I'll keep the linky open through December 2nd, then close it to avoid spammers.

Thanks for participating...wow...November was so much fun! I loved reading EACH and EVERY one of those pumpkin recipes!!!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

At our house, we eat these a lot as breakfast for dinner. For years, I told my son they were "fall pancakes" because I knew "sweet potato pancakes" wasn't going to go over so well. (He's 10 now, so he can handle the truth!)

Call them what you will...they are yummy!

These are made with canned sweet potatoes. They could certainly be made with fresh cooked & mashed sweet potatoes, but it makes me smile buying that can of Sugary Sam's. :)

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 ¼ c. all purpose flour
¼ c. chopped pecans, toasted
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
¼ tsp coarse salt
1 c. buttermilk (or regular milk)
¼ c. packed dark brown sugar
1 TBSP vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (16 oz) can sweet potatoes, drained & mashed

Whisk together flour, 2 TBSP pecans, baking powder, spices and salt.

Combine milk through vanilla; add to the flour mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in the mashed sweet potatoes.

Ladle about 1/4th cup batter for each pancake onto a non-stick griddle. Turn when edges are cooked and top is covered with bubbles.

Top with maple syrup....

...and maybe a little more syrup...

and sprinkle with remainder of pecans.


Related posts:

• lemon-blueberry pancakes
• homemade, whole-grain pancake mix

Flavor-of-the-Month link up is tomorrow, November 30th!

Little Pumpkin

I've made lots of what I call "baby face" cookies over the past several years....


In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to make a "little pumpkin" version. (As a matter of fact, I just tried to talk someone into them a few weeks ago for a fall baby shower.) :)

Well, my sister was kind enough to oblige me by having a baby on Wednesday!!! Isn't that nice?

Want to see him?

His name is Tony and he is the sweetest! He IS a little pumpkin!




I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was filled with new baby, family, lots of food and football. I am thankful to have a sweet new nephew and thankful for all of YOU. Thank you so much for joining me here on the blog!