Savory Chicken Pinwheels

 I'll try to get a picture of these soon. I made them Christmas Day and forgot to get one before they were all gone.

Savory Chicken Pinwheels

1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. finely chopped celery
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 green onion thinly sliced, blades and white separated
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 (10 oz.) can chunk white chicken, well drained
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
1 Tbsp. Herb Butter (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter in small saute pan over medium-low heat. Cook onion, the white part of green onion, celery, garlic and the herbs until onions and celery are soft. About 5 - 7 min. Be careful not to brown.

Combine the onion-celery mixture, the green onion blades, cream cheese and chicken together. Mix well.

Unroll crescent dough and divide into two long rectangles. Pinch seams together. Spread half of filling on each rectangle leaving 1/2" space around edges. Roll into a log with the short edges of rectangle as the ends.

Slice each roll into 16 equal pieces. Place on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately brush each pinwheel with Herb Butter and remove to a serving tray.

Makes 32 pinwheels.

Herb Butter

1 Tbsp. butter, softened
pinch of dried rosemary, crushed
pinch of dried thyme, crushed

Mix butter and herbs together. Refrigerate if preparing ahead. Soften before using. Yields 1 Tablespoon.

Cajun Spiced Nuts (My Favorite Holiday Recipe)

My new favorite recipe, Cajun Spiced Nuts, is one that comes from a cookbook that I bought in Hattiesburg, MS. We were there twice last year. The first time when Thomas was deploying and the second when I went to pick him up. Even though one of the visits meant that Thomas was leaving for his first deployment, the cookbooks represent a very happy chapter in my life. I went to the same place to pick him up as I did to see him off. And, it was the first "vacation" that I'd had in a long time. Since I picked him up on December 20th the place is linked in my mind to the holidays and probably the best Christmas that I've ever had. The cookbooks are from The Crescent City Grill, a restaurant where we ate when we were there in March. The restaurant happened to be closed in December or we would have enjoyed a good second helping of some of the best food I've ever had in my life. I like his food so much that I bought two cookbooks (along with some Blackening Seasoning for a Christmas gift) while we were there and absolutely love them for their Deep South recipes and the Southern Humor/Food articles that punctuate each chapter. I started making Cajun Spiced Nuts last Christmas. I gave little packages of them as gifts. They are salty, sweet and spicy with homemade Creole Seasoning (also in the book). Robert St. John is my new cookbook hero. Here is the link to his website.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday filled with successful new recipes and the "oldies-but-goodies" that remind you of the joy of Christmases past.

Amber

Creamy Pumpkin Dip

Wheatlessness has become more like Less Wheat around here. I've cut back dramatically. With varying results. Being the experimenter that I am, I randomly try a wheat laden food item, mentally record the results and mark it off my list. Surprisingly, I don't have a physical lab notebook or list. Yet.

So far, I've decided that I should not eat most things containing wheat. However, very small quantities -- bread crumbs in meatballs, for example -- seem to be alright. I even ate two chocolate chip cookies the other night. I would have eaten them anyway, that lady makes the best chocolate chip cookies EVER.

I am still adapting recipes and adopting others. I made some banana nut bread the other night that was pretty awesome, but it turned out a little flat and a little burned. I suspect that it was because my otherwise multi-talented broiler-oven is incapable of cooking two items requiring different temperatures. Really, what was I thinking? So the next time I have some almost rotten bananas, I'll try again. Baking one thing at a time.

In the meantime, here is the recipe for Creamy Pumpkin Dip. I whipped this up last year after an attempt at a Slow-Cooker Pumpkin Cheese Cake. The Cheese Cake was a flop, but the dip that I made with the leftover pumpkin was a hit at my son's preschool. Enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin Dip

8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1/2 can 100% pure pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon  nutmeg

In a medium bowl, cream together sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add sour cream, pumpkin and spices. Mix well.

It's delicious served with with graham crackers sticks and even better with gingersnaps. For those of you who prefer gluten-free, try Gluten-Free Girl's gingersnaps recipe.

Wheat Free Pumpkin Yummies

I adapted this recipe from one I found at Libby's Pumpkin. I halved the recipe and used cream cheese frosting from a can. I also made some other adjustments typical of my Recipes are Only Guidelines Philosophy. Please note that these cookies are not gluten free because I used rye flour.












Wheat Free Pumpkin Yummies

1/2 cup soy flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin Puree*
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



*1/2 of a 15 oz. can is 1 cup minus 2 Tablespoons. I just eyeball it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger in a medium bowl. Beat shortening and granulated sugar in a large mixer bowl for 30 seconds. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture into pumpkin mixture at low speed until combined. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; removed to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. (I didn't get an exact count. They were disappearing off the wire rack right before my very eyes.)

As always, I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as we did. I took a plate of them to school for the teachers at the Preschool. They all thanked me for them, so maybe he'll get good grades on his report card!