Basic Overnight Oats

This isn't a traditional Eriksson Conspiracy recipe. Nonetheless, it's become popular in our household for a make-ahead breakfast, especially on mornings where there isn't time to cook. This recipe produces an oatmeal with a different texture than the usual porridge; it's more like a creamy pudding. And who doesn't want pudding for breakfast? Try it and see.

BASIC OVERNIGHT OATS
⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
½ cup (heaping) rolled oats
⅔ cup unsweetened milk of choice (you can use dairy or nondairy milk)
1 T. chia seeds or ground flaxmeal
½ t. vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
up to 2 T. honey or maple syrup (optional)

The night before you want to eat this, whisk together all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Pour into a glass pint jar (or two half-pint jars), cover with tight-fitting lid(s) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Oats will be ready to eat in the morning.

Makes 1 large or 2 small servings, depending on how hungry you are when you wake up.

And if you get bored, here are some Variations!

Carrot Cake Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: 1 carrot, peeled and shredded; 2 T. softened cream cheese; ¼ cup raisins; ½ t. ground cinnamon. Mix and refrigerate.

Chocolate Chip Banana Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: ½ ripe banana, chopped or mashed; 2 T. chocolate chips. Mix and refrigerate.

Tropical Overnight Oats: Make the original recipe, substituting ⅔ c. coconut milk (the kind from the can) for the milk. Then add: ⅓ c. chopped fresh or canned pineapple; ⅓ c. chopped ripe mango; ½ ripe banana, chopped or mashed; 2 T. unsweetened flaked coconut. Mix and refrigerate.

Strawberry Cheesecake Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: ¼ cup chopped fresh strawberries; 3 T. softened cream cheese; zest and juice of ½ lemon. Mix and refrigerate.

Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: ½ cup plain pumpkin puree; ½ t. ground cinnamon; ⅛ t. ground cloves; ¼ t. ground nutmeg. Mix and refrigerate.

German Chocolate Overnight Oats: Make the original recipe, substituting ⅔ c. coconut milk (the kind from the can) for the milk. Then add: 2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder; ¼ cup unsweetened flaked coconut. Mix and refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Cup Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: 2 T. natural peanut butter; 2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder. Mix and refrigerate.

Key Lime Pie Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: 1 T. key lime juice (regular lime works, too); 2 T. softened cream cheese; ½ t. key lime zest (regular lime works, too). Mix and refrigerate. Top with crunched-up graham cracker crumbs before serving.

Lemon Poppyseed Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: 1 T. lemon juice; ½ t. lemon zest (just the yellow stuff, not the white pith); 2 t. poppy seeds. Mix and refrigerate.

Chai Latte Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: ½ t. ground cardamom; ½ t. ground allspice; ½ t. ground nutmeg; 1 t. ground cinnamon; ¼ t. ground cloves (or less – cloves can be strong!); ½ t. ground ginger. Mix and refrigerate.

Blueberry Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: 1 T. lemon juice; ½ c. fresh or frozen blueberries. Mix and refrigerate.

Chocolate Peppermint Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: 2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder; ⅛ t. peppermint extract; ¼ cup chopped dark chocolate (optional). Mix and refrigerate.

Cherry Toasted Almond Overnight Oats: To the original recipe, add: ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted; ¼ cup dried tart cherries, preferably unsweetened; ¼ t. almond extract. Mix and refrigerate.

Contributor: Soozcat

World Domination Sugar Cookies

Let's be honest: I stole this recipe from the back of a Wilton's cookie cutter container. It produces an exceptionally good cookie, tho. Grown men have been known to fight each other over a plate of these things, so proceed with caution.

WORLD DOMINATION SUGAR COOKIES
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (but not melted)
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1½ t. vanilla extract
½ t. almond extract
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Preheat oven to 400° F. In mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture a little at a time, mixing after each addition.

Do not chill dough. Divide dough into 2 balls. On a piece of parchment paper cut to fit a cookie sheet, roll a ball out into a rectangle about 1/8" thick. Cut cookies on parchment, spacing them out a bit to allow them to grow during baking. Carefully remove excess dough from parchment and reserve to roll out again, leaving behind cut-out cookies. Move parchment with cookies directly onto cookie sheet (see, this way you don't have to worry about the dough toughening up from too much flour, or transferring the cookies to the cookie sheet with a spatula and having the soft dough deform into weird shapes! Yay for keeping things simple!).

Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until cookies are very lightly browned. Repeat process until dough is gone. Allow cookies to cool, then frost with homemade buttercream frosting and decorate as desired. Give to your friends, or to people who will soon be your friends, because COOKIES.

Makes about 4 dozen small and tasty cookies.

Source: Soozcat. OK, and Wilton. Sheesh.

Spaghetti with Red Clam Sauce

Apologies in advance to anyone trying to eat kosher. Or to Curtis and Jenny, who don't like spaghetti and red sauce, respectively. MORE FOR THE REST OF US.

SPAGHETTI WITH RED CLAM SAUCE
2 cans (each 7½ oz.) chopped or minced clams
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T. chopped parsley
¾ t. dried oregano leaves
¼ t. dried basil leaves
½ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
1 can (1 lb. 3 oz.) tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 lb. dry spaghetti

Drain clams, reserving 1 cup clam liquid; set aside.

Slowly heat oil in medium saucepan. Add garlic and cook until golden.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add parsley, oregano, basil, salt and pepper, tomatoes, tomato sauce and reserved clam liquid; mix well.

Simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. 15 minutes before the sauce is done, start the spaghetti in salted boiling water with a bit of oil on top. (Or just follow the package directions for how long to cook the spaghetti. I dunno, I'm not a mind reader.)

Add clams to sauce and heat through. Drain the spaghetti and serve hot with sauce on top (don't mix it in! What are you, a Philistine?), dusted with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Goes very well with a fresh lettuce and tomato salad or marinated vegetables.

Contributor: Soozcat (who stole it from her mom's '60s-era McCall's cookbook)

Salmon or Tuna Patties

Curtis didn't like fish patties growing up. His mom would make them for a quick meal on busy nights and I think he thought they were gross. But V loves these, and Curtis actually likes them too. Try them on a busy night!

SALMON OR TUNA PATTIES
1 small onion, diced
1 T. butter
15 oz. salmon or tuna, drained and flaked, any bones or dark skin removed
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs (preferably panko)
¼ cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 T. oil

In a small frying pan over medium heat, cook onion in butter until soft but not browned, about 6 minutes; remove from heat. Transfer onion to a large bowl to cool completely, then add salmon or tuna, eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well and use hands to shape the mixture into 4 to 6 patties about ½" thick.

Heat oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add patties and cook until browned on one side, about 5 minutes, then carefully flip and cook the other side until browned, another 5 minutes. Serve hot with tartar sauce. Goes especially well with creamed potatoes and peas.

Makes 4 to 6 patties.

Shamelessly stolen from Look and Cook by Tina Davis.

Fruktsoppa (Fruit Soup)

This stewed fruit soup is traditionally served hot for the Christmas julbord, and is also good for a fruity, if sweet, breakfast treat. We make this frequently at Soup Nights at our house.

FRUKTSOPPA (FRUIT SOUP)
1 package mixed dried fruit
Water to cover
1 cinnamon stick
Orange or lemon zest (not traditional, but nice)
Grenadine syrup or fruit juice
Raisins or dried cranberries

In a saucepan, combine mixed dried fruit and water; bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer. Add cinnamon stick and allow to simmer for several hours, adding water as necessary, until fruits become a soft puree. Add a bit of grenadine syrup, or if you find grenadine too cloying, a little fruit juice such as orange, apple or pomegranate (anything that goes well with the mixed fruit you've chosen). Near the end of cooking time, add some raisins or dried cranberries and cook until they just rehydrate. Also remove the cinnamon stick and, if desired, add a little orange or lemon zest to brighten the flavor.

Serve hot or cold, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I've also made a summer fruktsoppa variant, only instead of mixed fruit I use the same amount of mixed dried berries and dried white peaches, and toss in a pint of fresh blueberries just at the last instead of the raisins. Oh, and cherry juice because YOM.

Contributor: Karl Eriksson, with tweaks by Soozcat

Geschtomtepot

Mashed root vegetables are Dutch soul food. This is a variant of stamppot, one of the most common side dishes in the Netherlands. I have no idea whether I've spelled the name of this dish correctly (probably not, since I can't find the name in ANY Google search), but I've approximated the way our family pronounces it. If any native Dutch speakers know how to spell it properly, please drop me a line.

Grandpa Kest used to tease Grandma whenever she made this, claiming (in his usual politically-incorrect fashion) that it was "Jew food." Well, guess what. This is apparently a Jewish-Dutch dish. And it is DELICIOUS, so yay chosen people!

GESCHTOMTEPOT
2 or 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 or 2 carrots, peeled and cut into medium-sized chunks
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic (not traditional, but tasty)
salt and pepper to taste
butter to taste, plus more for serving
a splash of milk, cream or evaporated milk
ground allspice for serving

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. When it's boiling, add the carrots and cook five minutes, then add the potatoes and onion (and the garlic if you're using it). Cook until the potatoes and carrots are soft. Drain water, then return vegetables to pot. Chuck in a good dob of butter and some milk (preferably heated), then MASH IT LIKE MAD, venting your frustrations and scaring the bejabers out of the cat! Don't forget to add some salt and pepper to taste during this process.

Once you've shown those veggies what for, scoop your mashed roots into a nice serving bowl. Make a small well in the top and add some butter, then dust the whole thing with a little allspice for presentation and a dash of flavor.

Serve with gusto, knowing Grandma Kest would be proud of you. ("Ja, kind!")

Contributor: Catharina Kest

Cranblue Pie

I'm not the only one who has come up with a recipe like this. But I'll happily take credit for it!

Cooking the pie filling beforehand, rather than just loading the pie up with raw berries tossed with sugar and cornstarch, means you don't have to worry about whether the filling will set up properly.

CRANBLUE PIE
2 cups sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
the juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
16 oz. fresh or frozen blueberries
a bit of lemon zest from the lemon
crust for a double-crust pie

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and berries; cook over medium heat until mixture boils and cranberries begin to pop, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture is very thick, then allow pie filling to cool for 15 minutes. Add zest and stir to combine.

While pie filling cools, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Fit the bottom crust into a 9" pie plate. When the oven is ready, pour pie filling into crust, top with second crust, flute edges and cut vents in top crust. If you wish, you may give the crust an egg wash at this point, but I usually skip it. Delays after filling the pie are likely to produce a soggy bottom crust (and no one likes a soggy bottom, amirite?), so get that pie on a cookie sheet and into the oven ASAP. Bake 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. (If it looks like the edges of your pie crust are getting too brown, cover them with strips of foil during the last few minutes of baking.)

Cool pie for several hours before serving. Dish up with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and scarf gluttonously.

Serves 8 or fewer, depending on levels of gluttony.

Source: Soozcat (and others)