Red Food

On Valentine's Day, I described how I would honor the day with red food. That was it. No flowers, a little candy, a few cards, and a kiss here and there. Nothing more special than that.

Since I had already lined up Monday's post, I didn't respond to Aunt Amelia's suggestion to provide a menu, until now. Soooo, as one who aims to please and as one who needed a Tuesday post...



How's that for product placement? Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger tea is fast becoming a favorite around here. Since I am sipping on that very cup of tea writing this post, I can assure you that it is delicious.

And the sweet Valentine? Made by none-other than the very talented Miss Sandy of Quill Cottage!

The cookies? Oh, they're my "go-to" cookie anymore. You may have your chocolate chip, I'm taking Boggles. Boggles is a cookie recipe taken from a Hannah Swensen mystery written by Joanne Fluke called Fudge Cupcake Murder. Nan was reading it last fall and recognized an excellent recipe when she saw it. Well, as I say, it's incredibly delicious with just the right texture for me — crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. (The recipe will be at the end of this post.)

Nan has lots of ideas about good recipes. Not long ago, she told John and me that we eat "funny." She wondered about all the chicken. She didn't have chicken only once or twice a year before she landed here. Ha! She carried on about some recipe for tomato scallop from her childhood that she loved and fervently wished to have again.

Serendipity struck when I mentioned this to my mother and she gave me my grandmother's own recipe. I've been saving it for Valentine's Day. It was also amazingly good and Nan was very pleased. There's none left so that's a good indication of how wonderful it was.

Boggles
A *Hannah Swensen* recipe

Ingredients:

* 2 cups melted butter
* 2 cups brown sugar
* 2 cups white sugar
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 4 eggs (beaten)
* 2 tsp vanilla
* ½ tsp cinnamon
* ¼ tsp nutmeg
* 4 cups flour
* 3 cups Craisins or dried cranberries
* 3 cups rolled oats

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350°
* Melt butter
* Add sugars and allow to cool a bit
* Add salt, vanilla, and spices
* Add eggs
* dd flour and mix with electric mixer
* After the above ingredients are well incorporated
* Stir in cranberries and oats and mix all together
(Dough will be stiff)
* Drop onto parchment lined cookie sheet with a cookie scoop and bake for 12–15 minutes.
* Allow to cool on pan for two minutes
* Remove to cookie racks for further cooking.

This makes a nice large batch of cookies and good luck keeping them on hand!
Printable Recipe


Snappy Tomatoes
A Nana Recipe

Ingredients:

* 2 cups canned tomatoes
* ½ cup cracker crumbs
* 2 TBS chopped onion
* 1 tsp salt
* 4 TBS melted butter
* ½ cup finely grated cheese of choice...I used cheddar
* dash of paprika
* dash of pepper
* 1 well-beaten egg

Directions:

* Reserve some of the cracker crumbs for the topping
* Mix all together
* Place in a 6×9 inch pan
* Top with reserved cracker crumbs
* Bake in 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Now, as I took a lot of pictures for this post and didn't use them, I'm tossing in a mosaic. I can't waste them!



Enjoy a great Tuesday!