Cold Mornings...warm treats

I know (from watching the Weather Channel) that a lot of the country is enthralled with cold, bitter temperatures and of course, snow. Happily, and I say that with a big sigh of relief, we're not in Seattle, but I remember all too well last winter when we were experiencing the same thing. This morning's post is from a new cookbook I added to my collection: The new best of BETTER BAKING.com by Marcy Goldman. I have several of her books and I love her website (betterbaking.com). The first recipe I tried is called, "Perfect Grilled Cheese Bread". I made it to make paninis the other night and go along with a bowl of my Vegetable Soup. What a great texture and very easy to make in the Kitchenaid with the dough hook. The author suggests for the grilled cheese sandwiches, using a combination of Monterey Jack, sharp cheddar and a hint of raclette cheese, but I opted for good old American and it was yummy. It makes two loaves and unless you can eat that much bread, you can freeze one, since there are no preservatives, for another time. This morning, I toasted up a slice and spread my homemade Raspberry Jam on it for my breakfast. I had, along with it, a cup of "Best-Ever Hot Cocoa" which I found a recipe for at Cook'sCountry.com to make up a mix that will easily do 20 servings. (A lot of cocoa for those cold mornings and nights!) I can share the recipe for the mix and I will tell you, it's delish!

Best-Ever Hot Cocoa Mix: 3 cups nonfat dry milk; 2 cups confectioners' sugar; 1 1/2 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder; 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips; 1/4 tsp. salt. Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Working in two batches, pulse ingredients in a food processor until the white chocolate is finely ground. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To make hot cocoa, stir 1/3 cup of this mix into 1 cup of hot milk. Top with whipped cream or marshmallows (try making homemade...even better).

Lastly, from the same cookbook, I came across these bars. They're called "European Apple-Blueberry Squares" and they're also very good and comforting on these cold days. The recipe incorporates grated apple with frozen blueberries for the filling. I froze several bags of blueberries when they were in season just for recipes like this.

The bars have a "sugar cookie-like" dough for the base and as a twist, you freeze half of the dough so you can easily grate it for the top. A little sprinkle of confectioners' sugar and you have a wonderful dessert that will keep your cabin-fever loved ones happy until the Spring thaw.Enjoy!

For more delicious drinks to starve off the cold, go to Kelly and Kandyce's blog: http://notions&threads.blogspot.com/