Jolene's Recipe Journal

V is for Vanilla Bean Paste! This year I'm participating in a bi-weekly challenge with some blogging friends to post recipes using all of the letters in the alphabet.  It can feature a food that begins with the letter of the week or the recipe name can contain the week's letter. When it came time to choose this week's recipe I had two things steering the way- I was craving cake and my wonderful friend had gifted me some Bourbon Vanilla Bean Paste. I didn't want the hassle of making a whole cake so I grabbed this Vanilla Mug Cake recipe from the Taste of Home site. First, spray the mug with cooking spray and then add the "wet" ingredients, milk, melted butter, and an egg yolk.  My first attempt the butter was still really warm and the milk very cold so it was difficult to get it all to come together.  The second try I cooled the butter slightly and used room temperature milk. Add in the room temperature egg yolk and this is the time to add the flavorin

Whether you're taking your little ghosts and goblins trick or treating, leaf peeping or sitting around the fire pit, nothing hits the spot like warm apple cider.  Combine apple cider, frozen orange juice concentrate, brown sugar, salt and spices in a large saucepan. I went with cinnamon sticks and allspice berries but other options are nutmeg or cloves or ginger. The spices are piled onto cheesecloth and then tied into a bundle and add to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it simmer for about an hour.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Carefully ladle the mixture into mugs and garnish with blood orange slices if you like. For a 21 and over beverage, add dark rum or vodka and give it a stir. Thank you again to Angie for hosting #HalloweenTreatsWeek and to all of the other bloggers sharing their recipes!  You can find them by using the links down below.    Vanilla Citrus Cider Print With Image Without Image Ingredients 8 cups apple cider 1/4 cup packed brown s

There are lots of spins on mummy themed treats out there and they've always been a hit here. This time around I'm doing something with a bit more of a kick to them, Mummy Jalapeno Poppers from Taste of Home. You start by mixing together the cheesy spicy filling using softened cream cheese, shredded cheddar, honey, lime juice, salt, pepper, cumin and some adobo pepper. Whenever I need to fill a piping bag I always put it into a large glass and then fold it over the outside rim.  Spoon your cream cheese filling inside, remove the bag from the glass, twist the top closed and snip off the bottom of the bag. Another great hack is using a tomato corer to clean out the jalapenos. No, I don't wear gloves.  Yes, I regret it every single time. I cut the tops off before splitting the peppers in half. Once they're all nice and cleared out, line them up on a tray or cutting board all facing in the same direction, it makes filling them so much easier. Pipe the filling into the peppe