Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 18: Pumpkin Bread

Recipe submitted by Annie Stockmal, Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library

Ingredients:

• 3½ cups flour.
• 3 cups sugar.
• 2 tsp baking soda.
• 1½  tsp salt.
• 1 tsp nutmeg.
• 2 tsp cinnamon.
• 2 tsp allspice.
• 1 cup oil.
• 1 (16oz) can pumpkin.
• 2/3 cup water.
• 4 eggs.
• 1 cup raisins (optional).

Instructions:

• Mix all ingredients together.
• Pour in two greased loaf pans.
• Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour (makes two loaves).

---

• 48 HERSHEY’S Kisses Milk Chocolate.
• ¹/₂ cup shortening.
• ³/₄ cup Reese’s Creamy Peanut Butter.
• ¹/₃ cup granulated sugar
• ¹/₃ cup packed light brown sugar.
• 1 egg.
• 2 tbsp milk.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• 1 ¹/₂ cups all-purpose flour.
• 1 tsp baking soda.
• ¹/₂ tsp salt.
• ¹/₃ cup granulated sugar, for rolling (additional).

Instructions:

• Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.
• Beat shortening and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet and onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Recipe via HERSHEY’S.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 16: Mézeskalács

Recipe submitted by Beaudry Allen, Preservation and Digital Archivist

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup honey.
• 4 tablespoons butter.
• 1/2 cup sugar.
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar.
• 2-1/2 cups flour.
• 2 teaspoons baking soda.
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon.
• 1-1/2 teaspoons powdered ginger.
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt.
• 2 eggs.

Instructions:

1. To start, melt the butter and honey in a small pot.
2. Eventually mix in both kinds of sugar, but don’t boil. Let the mixture cool before moving to step 4.
3. In a bowl, stir together 2 cups of the flour, the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
4. After cooling butter, honey, and sugar, beat the eggs and add them in.
5. Add the ingredients in your pot to the dry ingredients.
6. Mix dough well. If need be, divide into pieces for easier storage.
7. Seal in plastic or foil and refrigerate chunks of dough overnight.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
9. Taking one chunk at a time, roll out your dough on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters of your choosing.
10. Place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate cutouts for 10 minutes before baking.
11. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for about 8 – 10 minutes.
12. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack and cool completely before decorating.
13. Decorate Mézeskalács.

For more on these tasty treats click here. Recipe via Saveur.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 15: Cheesy Overnight Hash Brown and Egg Casserole

Recipe submitted by Meg Schwoerer-Leister, Access & Collections Coordinator 

Instructions:

In a 9×13 pan (greased):

• 1 (30 oz.) package frozen shredded hash browns.
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes (potatoes should be lightly browned and tender). Let cool.

Add:

• 1-½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
• 1-½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese.
• 1-½ cup bacon (cooked and broken into pieces) – can substitute ham cubes or sausage crumbles.
• Layer evenly over cooled potatoes (gently toss to mix cheeses and bacon).
• Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Whisk these ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight:

• 8 large eggs.
• 1-1/3 cup light cream.
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt.
• ¼ teaspoon salt.
• ½ teaspoon pepper.
• ¼ teaspoon dry mustard powder (optional).
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder (optional).

The next day, whisk egg mixture again and pour evenly over the potatoes, cheese, and bacon. It will soak in. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes–edges will start to brown, but make sure that center is not wobbly. If it is, cover pan with foil and cook for a few more minutes until center is firm.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 14: Cannoli Pie

Recipe submitted by Ethan Shea, Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1½ waffle ice cream cone crumbs (about 8-10 waffle cones) see note below for tips how to make crumbs if needed.
• 1 tablespoon sugar.
• 1/8 teaspoon salt.
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted.

Pie Filling:

• 1½ cups Ricotta cheese, drained for best results (see how to strain ricotta).
• 8 ounces Mascarpone cheese.
• 1 cup powdered sugar.
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla.
• 1 teaspoon orange zest.
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
• 1/8 teaspoon salt.
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips.
• Topping (optional): mini chocolate chips, whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and/or chopped nuts (pistachios).

Instructions:

Making Crust:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a medium mixing bowl mix together waffle cone crumbs, sugar, and salt. Then mix in melted butter.
• Press crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of pie plate. Use the back of a fork or measuring cup to firmly press the bottom and sides of the pie plates to form an even layer of the crust.
• Bake the crust at 350 degrees F for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Making Pie Filling:

• In a large mixing bowl, beat together ricotta, mascarpone, and powdered sugar, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until well combined. Beat in vanilla, orange zest, cinnamon, and salt. Then stir in mini chocolate chips.
• Spoon filling into cooled pie crust. Spread the filling in pie crust.
• Refrigerate pie for at least 3-4 hours or overnight before serving. Top as desired with whipped cream, mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts (pistachios), and/or maraschino cherries.

Recipe via Snappy Gourmet.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 13: Spanish Rice Pudding (Karlos Arguiñano)

Recipe submitted by Laurie Ortiz Rivera, Social Sciences Librarian 

Ingredients:

• 1.25 liters of milk.
• 115 g paella rice.
• 75 g sugar.
• 2 slivers of lemon zest.
• 2 slivers of orange zest.
• 1 cinnamon stick.
• 1/2 vanilla pod.
• Powdered cinnamon (optional).

Instructions:

• Put all the ingredients except the sugar and powdered cinnamon in a heavy pan. Bring to a simmer, then cook over a low heat, stirring every 5 minutes or so to stop it sticking. It will take 45 minutes or so to reach the correct creamy consistency — you’ll need to stir more frequently towards the end.
• Once it’s done, stir in the sugar and cook for five minutes more. If serving Spanish style, allow to cool, and serve sprinkled with powdered cinnamon. Otherwise, eat it however you like…feel free to garnish with jam, maple syrup, or brown sugar.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 12: Cheese Borek

Recipe submitted by Linda Hauck, Business Librarian

“Every few years, my Armenian grandfather showed up unannounced at our home for a stay for a couple of days…or weeks. My mother didn’t grow up living with her father so she wasn’t particularly familiar with Armenian culture, but my grandfather did make an effort to introduce us to Armenian cuisine, by going into the city (NY) to purchase sacks of pistachios, making yogurt and sweet dishes with katayef. He made cheese borek too. During one of those visits, on a walk around the neighborhood, he noticed an Armenian name on the post box. He wasn’t a shy man, so he knocked on the door and introduced himself to the family that lived there, the Cherovians. My parents became friends with the Cherovians.

Years later when I was my last year of high school, Mr. Cherovian had passed and Mrs. Rose Cherovian was unwell. Mrs. Cherovian invited my mother and I over for an afternoon to make cheese borek. She was too weak to do the work herself, so she talked my mother and I through process. We assembled a huge pile of cheese borek to be shared and made a lasting memory. Every time I make cheese borek, I appreciate Mrs. Rose Cherovian’s kindness and my mom.”

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Phyllo Dough* (Phyllo dough from the supermarket sometimes isn’t fresh, cracks and breaks apart. Armenian Delight in Broomall consistently has fresh phyllo dough).
• 1 lb ricotta cheese.
• 12 oz jack cheese shredded.
• 12 oz feta cheese crumbled.
• 2 eggs.
• 1 bunch dill chopped.
• 1 bunch parsley chopped.
• ¾ lb butter.

Instructions:

• Combine the cheeses, eggs, and herbs to make the filling.
• Melt the butter.
• Cut the phyllo dough in half.  You should have two rectangular sets of dough.  Wrap half the dough and return it to the refrigerator. Place the second half on the counter and cover with a clean dish towel.
• Place two pieces of dough side by side on the counter.  Work quickly because the phyllo can dry out and become difficult to work with.  Sprinkle the dough with butter and quickly brush it out a bit.
• Fold the right side of the dough 1/3 over and the left side 1/3 over so you have a strip of dough about 2-3 inches wide and maybe 10 or 11 inches long.
• Place a generous table spoon of the cheese mixture 1 or 2 inches from the bottom of the strip of dough.
• Fold or tuck the dough over the cheese mixture into and triangle and repeat until you have used all the dough.  Tuck the end of the dough into the last fold and add a bit of butter to seal.
• Bake in the oven at about 350 degrees until they are golden brown.
• You will have many of these tasty appetizers.  You can freeze them, but be sure to use wax or parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 11: Vegan Molasses Cookies

Recipe submitted by Luisa Cywinski, Director of Access Services

Ingredients:

• 2/3 c vegetable oil.
• ¼ c blackstrap molasses.
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds whisked into 3 tbsp warm water.
• 1 c brown sugar.
• 2 c flour.
• ½ tsp salt.
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon.
• 1 tsp ground cloves.
• 1 tsp ground ginger.
• 1 tsp baking soda.
• ½ c crystallized ginger, diced.
• Granulated sugar for coating.

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together oil, molasses, flax seeds mixed with water, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, sift together remaining ingredients (except for crystallized ginger and granulated sugar).
• Combine wet and dry ingredients; mix well.
• Fold in crystallized ginger. Refrigerate, covered, until firm, about 1 hour. (It’s fine if some oil separates; you can just stir it back in later.)
• Shape cookie dough into 1″ balls, and roll in sugar to coat. Bake for ~6 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Yield: about 2½ dozen 2″ cookies.

Recipe via Vegan Cooking Blog by Claryn.

Advent Calendar Cookbook—Day 10: Cheddar Bay Biscuits (Red Lobster)

Recipe submitted by Shawn Proctor, Communication & Marketing Program Manager

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Bisquick.
• ½ cup finely shredded cheddar cheese.
• 2/3 cup milk.
• ½ stick butter.
• ½ tsp. garlic powder.
• 3-4 drops lemon juice.
• 3-4 pinches crushed parsley.

Instructions:

• Heat oven to 450°.
• Mix Bisquick, milk, and cheese (form into soft dough).
• Melt butter and add garlic powder.
• Roll biscuits size balls of dough in garlic butter. Place on non-greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 10-15 minutes.
• Add lemon and crushed parsley to remaining melted butter.
• Dip baked biscuits into the butter mixture. Serve hot.