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/JHousimt 38m% WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2006 The Home Journal’s DINNER TABLE wf* Eggnog and punch Jean Rea winds up the Farmers Market Season and starts to think about holiday entertaining. On Page 3C, she shares some of her favorite recipes for hot and cold punches, eggnog and wassail. / IV 'C L * hr-'-- d Oklahoma, OK! This week’s state in the “Sea to Shining Sea” series is Oklahoma, the Sooner State, which is notable for having an Official State Meal that’s high in calories and makes great use of the state’s produce. See Page 2C. I &ms & n i Cinnamon Dreams One of America's favor ite spices, cinnamon has a long and rich history, as well as many delicious uses. Check out the story and reci pes for some scrump tious desserts and sides on Page SC. Holiday Giving Make someone’s holi days happy with some delicious homemade treats. Try out our reci pes for cookie mix in a jar, brandied fruit, rum cake and more. See 6C. Festive Flavors See Page 4C for some festive new approaches to cooking steaks and chops. Hold the fries! How many calories are you getting when you stop at the fast food drive-thru window? See the Dieter’s Corner on Page 3C. Three new pie recipes that could become holiday traditions Special to the Journal This year, why not try some pies that combine the season’s best-loved flavors - ginger, cranberry, vanilla, and cinnamon - in delight fully unexpected ways? Here are three festive reci pes suitable for now, and for your fanciest holiday feast. Developed in the kitchens of McCormick Spices, they include timesaving short cuts, and taste so great you may just start some brand new traditions. Vanilla-Walnut Pie Vanilla-Walnut Pie is a novel take on two tried and true holiday desserts: pecan pie and cheesecake. Vanilla’s unmistakable fla vor is the star, while a layer of smooth cream cheese is a perfect complement to the walnuts’ satisfyingly sweet, nutty crunch. (Editor’s note: pecans could be used instead.) 1 refrigerated pie crust (from 15-ounee package) 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 3 large eggs, divided 3/4 cup sugar, divided 4teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract, divided 1/2 cup light corn syrup 3 tablespoons butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups walnut pieces, toasted Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare crust as directed on package for one-crust pie using 9-inch pie plate. Beat cream cheese, one of the eggs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and one teaspoon of the vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medi um speed until well blended and smooth. Spread evenly on bottom of crust. Bake Jump for joy! The classic is back and better than ever By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Journal Lifestyle Editor As all cookbook collectors know, there’s hardly a cat egory of food or a type of diet, a region of the country or a national cuisine that doesn’t have its own cook book. And as most cooks know, with most of those cook books, you’re lucky to find more than a couple of reci pes that make their way into your daily meal plan ning. The exceptions, of course, are the basic cookbooks, those thick compendiums that explain everything from boiling eggs to making puff pastry. That’s what “Joy of Cooking” has been for gen erations of American cooks - and now it’s been revised again for its 75th anniver sary, with 4500 recipes “for the way we cook now.” At S3O for 1,132 pages, it’s a great Christmas gift. Yes, that’s 4,500 recipes: 4000 of the all-time favor ites retested and updated, and 500 new recipes that include more on half-hour meals, grilling, smoking, cooking for crowds, enter taining and high altitude baking. There are illustrations, too, but they’re limited to concise drawings illustrat ing the way to dice a mango or carve a pork shoulder. There’s a story behind Food ' am * - is jk .Ay JMI s <£ ” Jd, f vjH BlHfts -Mr Hr jj C. McCormick’s Weary of mincemeat and fruitcake? Vanilla-Walnut Pie, above, and Mile-High Ginger Pie are easy to make and will be standouts for your holiday entertaining. Also see below a recipe for Pear and Cranberry Crumble Pie. 15 minutes. Beat remaining two eggs and 1/2 cup sugar with wire whisk in large bowl until very smooth. Add corn syrup, butter, remaining three teaspoons vanilla and salt; stir until i Gw Wj i * j. yr * ;O J i i>J ! • i .» jL. inMniiTiiiffuUrrit & 9 - V ■ i ■■ ui at J Ufr 4 \ I ■*)! Atl r;<", MB Journal/Charlotte Perkins New and revised editions over the years have kept “Joy of Cooking” up-to-date. When the first version came out in 1931, nobody had a home freezer or a microwave, and convenience foods were few and far between. “Joy of Cooking” that goes back to the days of the great depresion.. Irma Rombauer, whose husband committed suicide because of financial losses, took the money she got for his life insurance, and self-published a cook book for a generation of women who could no long well blended. Sprinkle nuts evenly over baked cream cheese layer. Slowly pour corn syrup mixture over nuts. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until just set in center. Cool completely on wire afford to hire cooks, and were on their own in the kitchen. The book, which offered clear instructions for good home-cooked dishes, was a success and the first com mercial edition was pub lished in 1936. There have been revised rack. Makes 10 servings. Mile High Ginger Pie Nothing evokes the spirit of the season quite like gin editions almost every decade since. Rombauer’s daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker joined in, and with this edi tion Becker’s son Ethan Becker is carrying on the family tradition. Cooks will find comforting casseroles, basic meat and vegetable cooking instruc tions, countless desserts, and chapters on cooking game, making preserves, baking bread and even mak ing baby food at home. You can find directions for cooking and cutting up a lobster, cleaning fish, mak ing a hollandaise sauce or for turning out a meatloaf or an Apple Brown Betty. Want to make your own bagels, pretzels or dough nuts? This is your book. There’s a lengthy glos sary in the back explaining ingredients and techniques, and the index itself goes on for nearly 50 pages. In short, if you want to cook it, it’s probably in this cook book. Here are two good exam ples: Bread Pudding Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Trim the crusts and cut into 1/2 inch cubes 12 to 16 ounces sliced white bread, stale but not hard. You should have 4 to 5 light ly packed cups of cubes. Spread the bread in the prepared baking dish, then scatter over the top, if desired: 3/4 cup raisins or other SECTION c ger. For cooks too busy to make traditional ginger bread cookies, Mile High Ginger Pie is the perfect alternative. This easy, no bake recipe is a welcome departure from the stan dard chocolate cream pie. 1/4 cup caramel des sert topping 1 prepared vanilla cookie crust (6 ounces) 2 cups half-and-half 2 packages (3 1/2 ounc es each) instant vanilla pudding mix 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Ground Ginger 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Ground Cinnamon 1 tub (8 ounces) fro zen whipped topping, thawed 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted Spread caramel dessert topping evenly in bottom of crust. Set aside. Pour half-and-half into large bowl. Add pudding mixes, gin ger, and cinnamon; beat with wire whisk two min utes or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick.) Let stand 5 minutes. Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight until set. Spread remaining whipped topping over filling just before serv ing. Sprinkle almonds around edge of pie. Store leftover pie in the refrigerator. Makes 8 servings. Pear and Cranberry Crumble Pie .Change the fruit pie selection with Pear and Cranberry Crumble Pie, a delicious treat featuring the season’s other favorite SEE PIES, page iC dried fruit. Whisk together thor oughly in a bowl: 4 large eggs 3 cups whole milk 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg Pinch of salt Pour the mixture over the bread and let stand for 30 minutes, periodically press ing the bread down with a spatula to help it absorb the liquid. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the pud ding in a water bath until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Serve warm with whipped cream. Pecan Puffs Rich and devastating, this recipe makes about 40 1 1/2 balls Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Beat until soft 1/2 cup (1 stick melted butter) Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and blend until creamy Add 1 teaspoon vanilla Measure 1 cup pecans and chop very fine Sift 1 cup cake flour Stir the pecans and flour into the butter mixture. Roll the dough into small balls. Place balls on a greased cookie sheet and bake about 30 minutes. Roll while hot in confectioner’s sugar. Cool and serve.