Have you started gathering gift ideas for the holidays? I like to gift vanilla to my cooking friends and now is the time to start a batch. Here is my recipe below.

Split seven to eight good quality vanilla beans lengthwise down the center to expose the seeds, keeping the ends of the beans intact. Place beans in 750ml of high-quality vodka, rum or brandy. Store extract in a cool, dark place such as a cupboard or closet for at least four weeks. Shake the bottle several times a week.
To use, either remove four of the beans for another purpose (you can add them with a fresh bean to make more extract, or you can use them for cooking), or let all the beans remain in the bottle, and periodically, add more alcohol to keep the bottle replenished. Eventually the beans will lose their strength but they should contain flavor for many months.
* I use vodka and have had great results. I also leave the vanilla beans in the extract and add more alcohol when I have used about ¼ of the extract. The batch I brewed last year is still going strong and I have not had to remove the old beans and add new ones yet.
* When I gift the vanilla, I pour the extract into a large measuring cup and divide into smaller containers. Then I split the beans up between the smaller containers and label so they know they can add alcohol when they have used about 1/4th of the extract and keep the bottle going.

The key to an Outback style steak is searing the steak on both sides, in a mega hot cast iron skillet. you can adapt this some what to your outdoor grills by starting the steaks over the hot coals just till the outside gets that seal, then move the steaks or, move the coals from under the steaks and let them finish cooking over indirect heat.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 dash coriander
1 dash turmeric

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

To prepare steaks with this seasoning: Preheat a flat grill or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle some of the seasoning blend over both sides of each cut of beef.

Grill the steaks on each side to your desired level of doneness. Be sure to use tongs to sear all the edges of each steak to a rich brown color.

This recipe yields about 4 teaspoons of seasoning.

For a gourmet variation, add couple tablespoons of red wine to the pan on high heat after removing the steak. Stir the wine around to remove the browned residue from the pan (deglaze it), and when the sauce has reduced by a third or so, pour it over your steak -- flavor bonanza!

Ingredients:

7 T mayonnaise
2 T chopped sweet mixed pickles

Mix and stir well! easy enough!

1 Tbsp chopped green olives.

Makes about 9 - 10 pints

Ingredients:

• 9 quarts of Applesauce, fresh or canned
• 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon of allspice
• 4 cups sugar, Splenda or frozen concentrated grape juice.

Directions:

Fill the crock pot to within an inch of full with applesauce. You will add the remaining applesauce later. Add the cinnamon, cloves, allspice and 2 cups of the sugar (the other 2 cups of sugar are added later).

Set the crock pot on low or medium heat. Cover it loosely or use a large pot splatter-guard. (I prefer a splatter-gaurd) It will spatter as it boils slowly, so I place a large towel under the cooker to protect my counter. You don't want to seal it tightly with a lid because you want the steam to escape so it can reduce in volume and thicken.


Leave it to cook for 6 - 12 hours (my Crockpot is quite large so mine cooks about 12 to 16 hours). I set mine to cook overnight, so I could finish it the next day. It will reduce in volume by about half overnight.
After it cooks down by about half, add the remaining applesauce and 2 more cups of sugar. Then let it cook a couple of hours more.

Here it is pre-canning process.

Sanitize your canning jars, heat your lids, and keep jars hot.

If you have a hand held blender, at this time you could mix the simmering sauce a bit to make it have a finer consistency.

Turn the crock pot to high to get the sauce boiling hot. It takes mine about 20 minutes and I stir frequently, it gets it boiling. But be careful not to burn the bottom of the sauce.

Fill the jars to within 1/4 -inch of the top, wipe any spilled apple butter of the top, seat the lid and tighten the lids.

Process them in a canner covered with at least 1 inch of boiling water.
Depending on Sea level:
up to 1,000 ft - boil pint jars for 5 minutes and quart jars for 10 min.
1,000 to 6000 ft - boil pints for 10 min and quarts for 15 min.
Above 6000 ft boil pints for 15 min and quarts for 20 min.
Unsure? No problem! there is no harm in using one of the longer times.

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down, it is not sealed. If it doesn't seal, refrigerate and use quickly.

Notes: I made mine this time with fresh no sugar added apple sauce and about 2 cups of sugar since the apples where so naturally sweet.

This recipe (minus the onions and egg) was also the "secret sauce" on the burgers they made. No it isn't any chain burger joint you have heard of, but one I worked at during high school. Great salad dressing, great on burgers!

1 c. mayonnaise
1/3 c. ketchup
1/4 c. pickle relish

Can also add:
1 tbsp. chopped onion
1 hard cooked egg, chopped

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you and yours are having a wonderful Christmas!

Ingredients:

• ¼ C fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, thaw cranberries first)
• 2 T balsamic Vinegar
• 2 T sherry Vinegar (if you can’t find sherry vinegar, can substitute red wine or rice vinegar)
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t Dijon Mustard
• ¼ t dried rosemary
• 1 c canola oil
• ¼ t salt
• ¼ t fresh ground pepper

Directions:

In the work bowl of a food processor, puree cranberries until smooth. Add vinegars, sugar, mustard, thyme, and rosemary. Pulse to combine. With food processor running, gradually add the oil and process until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Before serving, bring to room temperature and whisk the dressing again.

So some of my friends will say, "There she goes, using liquor in a recipe again!", and I say "Why not!", cooking with the spirits adds great flavor to many recipes. And who doesn't enjoy a nice glass of wine or brandy on occasion?

Ingredients:

• bag (12 oz.) fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup brandy
• tablespoons finely shredded orange zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Discard any soft or decayed cranberries.
Mix cranberries, sugar, brandy to taste, and orange zest in an 8- or 9-in. square baking dish. Bake, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 1 1/4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Ingredients:

• ½ C Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 t Honey
• 1 t Dijon Mustard
• 4 t Cold Water
• 6-8 t Olive Oil
• ¼ t each of Salt and Pepper
• (Optional) ¼ to ½ t herbs such as dill or basil

Directions:

Warm vinegar and honey in microwave for 20 seconds or more until honey dissolves in vinegar. Add remaining ingredients and whisk well. Shake vigorously after pouring into a bottle and chill before serving.

November Guest Cook is Tonia from NC and she is sharing with us her Pumpkin Butter recipe, which she so kindly prepared and brought for us at work today. It was great!
I love the holidays!

• 4 cups pumpkin or (2 cans)
• 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• 1 box of brown sugar

Cook over medium heat until the color is dark brown (as apple butter). I normally cook this in a slow cooker for a couple of hours. The room/house smells wonderful. Serve warm or cold.

It is particularly good served on graham crackers or chocolate flavored graham crackers.

Ingedients:

• 1 C Olive Oil
• ½ C balsamic Vinegar
• 3 to 5 cloves of garlic – minced
• 3 T Parmesan Cheese – grated
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Whisk together vinegar, garlic and cheese. Gradually add the olive oi. Salt and pepper to task. Chill. Shake well at serving time.
Note: I find that if you put the dressing in a blender with an ice cube and whirl until the cube is incorporated that the dressing doesn’t separate as much.

Ingredients:
• ½ C butter
• 1T chopped parsley
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 ½ t Worcestershire
• 1/8 t salt

Directions
In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat thoroughly. Serve over fish or vegetables.