More Recipes

I have given out all of our holiday musts except for aebleskivers. For that you need a special pan and everyone that has the pan, has the recipes or so I thought. But because we have so many people coming over for aebleskivers - we are finding out they buy the pans! Here are two recipes. The first one is the one I use. It was my grandmothers and the one I grew up with. The second one is one that I am not sure where it came from. It is supposed to be quicker and cheaper.

Grandma Brugger's Aebleskivers
6 eggs 1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/2 cups flour

Separate eggs and beat egg whites until stiff and dry. In a different bowl, mix together milk, egg yolks, salt, sugar, baking powder and flour. Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Cook in an aeblskiver pan that has been heated over medium heat that has been touched with butter in each cup (you don't want the pan too hot or the centers won't get cooked through). I turn the aebleskivers with a bamboo skewers for two reasons - I don't scratch my pan and I can check to see if the puffs are cooked through before taking off the heat. Cook until golden brown and cooked through.

Serve with a choice of whipped cream, fruit jams and jellies, maple syrup and cinnamon sugar. Everyone has their own choice that is their favorite combination.

This has been breakfast for Christmas and New Years Day for generations in the Brugger family. (It is also a special occasion breakfast throughout the year!)
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Bisquick Aebleskivers
5 eggs
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
3/4 cup milk
Separate eggs and beat egg whites until stiff. In separate bowl mix egg yolk, Bisquick and milk. Fold in egg whites. Cook in the Aebleskiver pan and serve as above.
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A couple of years ago I served these vegetables at a friends house. By the time Clyde and I left - there was nothing to take home. We had all just nibbled at these vegetables all day. I have since found out that roasting vegetables makes them sugary sweet and delicious - but this is the recipe that got me started.

Jewel Roasted Vegetables
4 medium Beets
3 Tablespoon olive oil divided
1 1/2 pounds carrots
1 1/2 pounds Brussels Sprouts
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put the beet in a small baking dish and rub them with 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil. Cover the dish with foil and put them in the oven for 30 minutes. (I just put them in a foil package - that way my dish doesn't get stained for the next 3 months).

In the meantime, peel and cut the carrots into 1-inch pieces (or buy baby carrots), trim the Brussels Sprouts and halve them lengthwise. Put the carrots, Brussels Sprouts (and if desired several whole garlic cloves) onto a large baking dish and toss with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

After the beets have been cooking for 30 minutes, add the large pan of vegetables and continue cooking all of the vegetables for 1 hour more. Stir the large pan of vegetables once during the cooking. (Since I didn't add the garlic - I only cooked my vegetables in the large pan for 45 minutes. Brussels Sprouts become bitter when they are overcooked - which is why people don't like them. Beets have to be cooked completely to release all of their sugars.)

Remove the beets from the oven and transfer to a cutting board to cool. Wait until the beets are cool enough to handle. Peel them and the cut them into 1-inch pieces. (You might want to wear rubber gloves so hands aren't stained). Combine all vegetables and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve in a pretty bowl. Makes 6 servings.

Notes: What I did was prepare the beets ahead of time. I gave this recipe to friend and she actually used some bottled beets that she had for this recipe - just adding them to the rest of her vegetables the last 15 minutes of cooking. Her family loved it. This is a pretty dish and the roasted flavors are incredible. Since then I have started roasting all of my vegetables.
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Roasting Vegetables
Take a pound of fresh green beans or fresh asparagus and clean them. Break the ends off of the asparagus and clean for any strings in the green beans. Set your oven at 400 degrees. Sprinkle about 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil over the vegetables and place on a cookie sheet or large baking pan. Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. At the end of baking - salt and pepper to taste and serve.

I promise you that once you fix the vegetables this way you will not want them any other way again. This is the only way Pam and I eat asparagus any more and we have always like the vegetable. I am surprised at people that claim they don't like vegetables - at how they eat these. That is what happened with my Jewel Roasted Vegetables. Todd, one of the men, told me he hated cooked vegetables, and yet he was the one that licked the platter clean. I know at Thanksgiving that oven space is at a premium. These vegetables are not hurt too much by being cooked ahead and then re-heated in the microwave. They are little softer but not mushy.

Things I am thankful for: Patient family members that let me try new recipes on them, as a young girl and a mother; Good friends; honesty; patience; quiet moments.