Jolene's Recipe Journal

Though I'm a big vegetable lover I live with two people who have limited favorites, corn, green beans and carrots. I always have a few of the steam in bag variety in the freezer at all times. They're quick to make and easily dressed up with a compound butter or glaze. I was inspired to make this dish from a recipe I saw on the Taste of Home website, Cider Glazed Carrots.  I used two 12oz bags of steam in bag carrot coins and partially cooked them in the microwave before moving them to a skillet with some butter.  I had light brown sugar on hand but dark brown would work as well. Be sure to move the carrots around so that the sugar dissolves.  Process shot failure ...  Next you add cider and water to the pain, and bring it to a boil.  I used leftover  Vanilla Citrus Cider , which had orange juice, brown sugar and spices added to it.  Then lower the heat and cook the carrots, covered for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, toss them gently around the pan until they're all nicel

We're pretty basic when it comes to side dishes but during the holidays I try and step it up a little bit. Usually I take something that we normally like and just elevate it a touch.  We do lots of bread and rolls so a step up would be these Easy Popovers. All you need is six ingredients, eggs, milk, butter, flour, salt and shortening. You definitely want to use whole milk and you want to let your eggs come to room temperature. I like to make the batter in a 4 cup Pyrex because it makes pouring the batter out super easy.    First up, preheat the oven to 450.  You want it screaming hot when you pop the pan in. Then beat the eggs. I just use my silicon whisk but you could use a hand mixer. You could actually make the whole batter in the blender if you like, just be sure not to over process it. Next up, add the milk and the melted butter and whisk them well. Add the flour and salt and whisk together.  Small lumps are okay, you just don't want big clumps of unmixed dry ingredien

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 or juice 1/4 cup packed