Edible art

My 4-year-old and I had a blast painting these cornmeal cookies. It is such a fun idea -- use paintbrushes and food coloring to make edible works of art! You could do it with sugar cookies, too. All you need is a cookie that can be glazed so you end up with a flat, smooth, dry, nonporous surface. Use clean craft brushes or makeup brushes, nothing too thick. The fine-tipped ones work great. You only need a tiny dip into the food coloring. The glaze recipe is below, along with the cornmeal cookies.

THE RECIPE:

2/3 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 c. flour

Beat butter and sugar. Add baking powder and salt. Beat in egg, lemon peel and vanilla, then cornmeal and flour. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill in refrigerator for a couple of hours. Work it with your hands until it is easy to handle, then roll out dough on floured surface until it's a fourth-inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown very lightly. Dip fronts of cookies into glaze or spread glaze with a knife. The glaze is self-leveling. Let dry before painting.

Glaze:

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. milk

Stir together ingredients until you reach spreading consistency.

Use your leftovers

If you need a great way to use leftovers from a holiday ham, try this -- ham fried rice. It's easy, and it tastes wonderful. Plus, you can adjust the ingredients any way your sweet little heart desires. There's no need to add salt, though, because there's enough in the soy sauce and ham.

THE RECIPE:

3/4 c. uncooked white rice
3/4 c. uncooked brown rice
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. diced ham
1 c. peas
4 green onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. oil (I used canola)
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Cook rice according to package directions. (Remember, brown rice takes more water than white.) In large frying pan or electric skillet, scramble and cook eggs. Add cooked rice, ham, peas and onions. Toss with oil and keep frying. Add soy sauce, spices and sugar, and keep frying until you feel good about it. The ham and eggs will get a little browned on the edges. Turn off the heat and let it sit until you're ready to eat. It tastes best if you let the flavors mix for a little bit.

Polly want a cracker?

Have you ever thought of making homemade crackers? I hadn't, until I ran across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen. These Parmesan cream crackers are a nice little treat. They are thicker than a store-bought cracker and extremely easy to make. After rolling out the dough, I cut it with one of my kids' playdough accessories to make the crackers look more like the real thing. Feel free to get creative. You could spread something on them or serve them with soup.

THE RECIPE:

1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. grated fresh Parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter*
1/4 c. cream or half-and-half

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly dust with flour. Put flour, salt, cheese and butter in bowl of food processor. Pulse until combined. (You could do it by hand with a pastry blender.) Add cream and mix until dough forms. (You'll probably have to finish combining it by hand.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface until it's a fourth-inch thick or less. From into individual crackers -- mine were about an inch and a half long. Place on baking sheet and poke with fork. Bake until moderately browned, about 12 minutes. I think mine took longer. Cool completely on rack before eating so they will be dry and crisp. Makes about 30 crackers.

*If you are using salted butter, reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by half.

An ingredient you might not expect

My husband loved eating these butterscotch jumbles when he was growing up. He was excited for our little family to make them this year. The ingredients may seem a little strange, but they are really quite good and have a nice crunch. Plus, they are incredibly easy to make.

THE RECIPE:

1 package butterscotch chips
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
6 ounces roasted, salted peanuts
5 ounces chow mein noodles

Melt together butterscotch chips and peanut butter in microwave on reduced power, stirring frequently. Add peanuts, then chow mein noodles. Spread on foil-lined cookie sheet, then refrigerate until firm. Break into pieces.

A marvelous mistake

I started out making fudge -- white chocolate cherry cheesecake fudge. I had seen the recipe in the Deseret News and had to try it. It was the easiest thing ever to throw together. The problem is, my fudge didn't set. Instead, it was more like thick frosting, but it tasted delicious to say the least. All I can figure is that I didn't drain the cherries well enough. Anyway, I got creative and decided to use my "fudge" as a filling for mini tarts. I thought about giving some to the neighbors, but then I ate them all. Give it a shot. If you end up with fudge, great! If not, you know what to do. Or just eat it with a spoon. It's that good.

THE RECIPE:

1 pound white chocolate in chunks, or real white chocolate chips
8 ounces cream cheese
1 c. drained maraschino cherries, quartered

Carefully melt chocolate in double boiler or in microwave on half power, stirring frequently. Place cream cheese in bowl and microwave about 1 minute to soften. Beat cream cheese, then add white chocolate and blend well. Fold in cherries. Spread in 8x8 pan that's been buttered or lined with foil or plastic wrap. Chill several hours or overnight, until firm. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Tart shells:

1/2 c. butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 c. flour
1 Tbsp. sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until combined. Add sugar, then flour. Press pastry evenly into bottom and up sides of ungreased mini-muffin tins. Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes (I think -- maybe start watching a few minutes early and get them out when they are golden). If you don't have mini-muffin tins, maybe just try regular ones. I bet it would be great. You'd just put a lot more filling in them, but it would be delicious that way!

Fill tart shells with "fudge" and refrigerate until ready to use.

A surprise inside

These pumpkin cupcakes are divine. I stuffed myself with them. They have a sweetened cream cheese filling and a crispy streusel topping. I can't imagine anyone not liking these. Plus, 'tis the season for all things pumpkin. As is the case with much of the food I make, I got this recipe from My Kitchen Cafe.

THE RECIPE:

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar

Cupcakes:
3 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. cloves
3/4 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/4 c. oil (I used canola)
2 c. sugar
2 c. pumpkin puree

Streusel:
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
4 Tbsp. cold butter, cut up
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

To prepare filling, whip cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or greased foil, ensuring that diameter is small enough to fit into well of muffin tin. Wrap tightly and freeze about 2 hours, or until slightly hardened.

To make cupcakes, mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix together until just combined.

To make streusel, mix ingredients with pastry blender or fork until you have crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners. Fill each well a third of the way with batter. Remove cream cheese log from freezer and cut into 24 slices. Place each slice on top of batter in wells and press down gently. Divide remaining batter over tops of cream cheese slices. Sprinkle with streusel. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into top part of cupcake comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely before serving.

It's OK to eat with your hands

These chicken taquitos make a fun, quick and delicious dinner. I am a huge fan! Even kids seem to like them. Plus, they're baked instead of fried, which increases their health value. You could make the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it. I got the recipe from My Kitchen Cafe, although I tweaked it according to the ingredients I had on hand. Dip them in salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

THE RECIPE:

4 ounces low-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. green salsa (I used red)
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro*
1 green onion, finely sliced
2 c. chopped cooked chicken
1 c. shredded cheese

Corn tortillas
Salt
Cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Mix filling ingredients in order. Place three tortillas between damp paper towels and microwave for 45 seconds until really pliable. Place about 3 Tbsp. mixture near edge of tortilla and roll up fairly tightly. Place seam-side down on baking sheet. Spray tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. (The original recipe recommends kosher salt.) Bake about 15 minutes, or until crispy and golden on edges.

*I didn't have cilantro, but they were still delicious. I love cilantro, though, so I will try it next time.