Pretzel-and-Peanut Cheese Ball

Super Bowl parties make some us think as much about food as football. A Southern Living recipe for a Pretzel-and-Peanut Cheese Ball piqued my interest. I strongly recommend using The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg's super large blistered Virginia Peanuts. 12 (serving size: ¼ cup)

Ingredients:                                                               
1 cup miniature pretzel twists
1 cup salted roasted peanuts
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Crackers, for serving
Directions:
1. Place pretzels and peanuts in a ziplock plastic bag. Seal bag, leaving a 1-inch opening at one corner. Lay bag flat on a work surface, and lightly crush pretzels and peanuts with a skillet, meat mallet, or the flat side of a measuring cup. Set aside.
2. Combine cream cheese, mozzarella, dill, mustard, salt, and pepper in a bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir or beat on low speed until combined. Shape mixture into a ball, and chill 15 minutes.
3. Place pretzel mixture in a shallow dish. Roll cheese ball in pretzel mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Serve with crackers.

National Pie Day - January 23

National Pie Day was born in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado, thanks to a school teacher named Charlie Papazian. On January 23, his birthday, he declared that this day would be forever remembered as National Pie Day. Why did he do that, you ask? Well, for one good reason: Charlie really loved pie. In fact, he loved it so much he would have a “birthday pie” instead of a birthday cake. Since then, his idea for a National Pie Day has spread all over the United States.

Enjoy a slice of your favorite pie or try this staple of any Southern gathering: Crunchy Peanut Pie

Virginia Handcooked Peanuts

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped Virginia Handcooked peanuts
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Instructions:
First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Next in a medium-sized bowl, beat the eggs until foamy. Now add the sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and vanilla. Continue to beat until thoroughly blended. Now stir in the peanuts. Place the pie shell on a cookie sheet, pour in the filling, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool in the refrigerator and serve!

Pie can trace its roots all the way back to the Greeks. The Greeks created what is believed to be the first pastry shell by mixing together water and flour. They would then fill these pastries with a variety of different things – everything from honey to fruits to meats. The Romans adopted these pies and began to improvise with them by filling them with a variety of fruits and nuts, meats, fish, and even mussels.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the Ancient Greek and Roman dishes evolved into a more modern version of a pie. These dishes were called pyes and they were usually filled with meats. These meats could be filled with either beef or lamb, wild duck or even pigeons and vegetables. The whole dish was then spiced liberally and was baked in an oven. Encasing the meat and vegetables in a pie kept them from drying out during the cooking process. It also made it easier to transport and preserve the dish as well.

Of course, while the pies of the Middle Ages were closer to modern pies than what the Greeks and Romans offered, they would still probably be unrecognizable to most Americans or Europeans today. That’s because these early pies were covered in a ton of dough. This kept the food inside from drying out and preserved the food once it was done, but it made the pie crust just about inedible. No one would eat the dough of the pie, it was pretty hard so they just ate the fillings. Another interesting thing about these early pies is that sometimes the crust would be reused for another dish. Yes, that’s right, Medieval crusts were that tough.

During the 17th century, the pilgrims made quite a few pies – namely pumpkin and pecan. Like their Medieval fore bearers, they did so to preserve their food. As the colonists began to spread across the American continent, they took the idea of pie with them. This led to many new pies being created as the colonists used the natural resources around them. From about the 18th to the 21st centuries, there would be an explosion in the number of pies made in the United States and around the world.

Some of Betty Crocker’s Favorite Holiday Ham Glazes that Make Them Shine

Baked ham just isn’t ham without the glaze. Here are some super easy delicious glaze recipes that you can make up from scratch that have four ingredients or less and can be made in less than five minutes from Betty Crocker. You can brush the glaze on the entire time the ham is in the oven or add the glaze towards the end of your ham’s cooking time. Each of these recipes makes enough glaze to coat a family sized ham (6-10 pounds). One final tip: Cutting a criss-cross diamond pattern into the top of your ham will ensure that the glaze soaks all the way through, making the meat extra flavorful and tender.

Easy Maple-Mustard-Rosemary Ham Glaze
This sweet glaze, packed with earthy rosemary, mustard and maple flavors, will make your holiday ham a star.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup real maple syrup
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons coarse-grained mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Steps:
1. In small bowl, beat all ingredients with whisk. Brush over ham the last 45 minutes of baking.

Easy Brown Sugar-Mustard Glaze

Made from common ingredients you probably have on hand, this deceptively simple brown sugar glaze for ham adds deep, complex flavor to a baked ham dish. It adds a touch of sweetness and an extra punch of flavor to grilled or baked pork chops or pork roast, too. The key to this glaze is the brown sugar and honey, which caramelize on the surface of a ham or pork roast as they bake.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey

Steps:
1. In small bowl, mix all ingredients with whisk until well blended.
2. Brush glaze over ham during last 45 minutes of baking.

Here’s one with some heat: Easy Honey-Sriracha Ham Glaze
Honey, garlic and Sriracha come together to make a sweet and spicy glaze—the perfect foil to a salty ham.
Ingredients:

½ cup honey
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Steps:
1. In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients. Brush over ham the last 45 minutes of baking.
One more, with a sweet kick: Easy Root Beer-Barbecue Ham Glaze
Creamy root beer adds a perfectly sweet kick to this three-ingredient barbecue-inspired glaze that pairs perfectly with ham.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup root beer
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Steps:
1. In a small bowl, beat all ingredients with a whisk. Brush over ham the last 45 minutes of baking.

Peanut Pecan Pie

It's only fitting that pecans are joined by another product of the South, peanuts, in this holiday pie recipe. Peanut butter gives an additional peanutty boost to the sweet filling.


Ingredients:
1 unbaked piecrust for a 9-inch pie
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Fit pastry into pie plate. Decoratively flute edge. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk corn syrup, peanut butter and eggs until smooth. Whisk in granulated sugar and vanilla, then stir in pecans and peanuts. Pour into crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes or until browned and center is set. Let cool completely at room temperature on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before slicing an serving.

Servings Per Recipe: 16

We recommend extra large style blistered Virginia Peanuts.
We recommend The Peanut Shop of Williamsburg All Natural Peanut Butter

All Natural Peanut Butter

Graves Mountain 2019 Apple Harvest Festival - Celebrating 49 Years

Graves Mountain 2019 Apple Harvest Festival - Celebrating 49 Years

Oct. 5-6, Oct.12-13, and Oct. 19-20

One of the longest-running apple festivals in Virginia is the Graves' Mountain Apple Harvest Festival, now in its 49^th year. The area is surrounded by rolling mountains, and during the fall, the hills are blanketed in gorgeous fall colors. You can pick your own apples at the festival or purchase them pre-picked.  Graves' orchard features: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Empire, Stayman, Rome, Mutsu, York, Winesap, Granny Smith, Fuji. In addition to fresh apples, you can get every kind of apple dish imaginable at the festival, such as apple butter made right in front of you. Take an educational tour of the farm property, get through the hay maze, jump on a hay ride, or climb the festival’s famous “hay mountain” with the kids.

Graves Mountain Apple Butter

Graves Mountain Lodge established its cannery in 1980. They use family recipes to make their old-fashioned preserves unmatched for their quality and goodness. They cook their preserves in open kettles. The batches are kept small and each product is made as needed. They use the finest quality fruit, pure cane sugar and all natural seasonings in creating a product they feel is as good as "Grandma used to make." Graves Mountain Apple Butter is incredibly smooth and perfectly spiced. 

September is National Honey Month

National Honey Month is a celebratory and promotional event held annually during the month of September in the United States. Its purpose is to promote American beekeeping, the beekeeping industry, and honey as a natural and beneficial sweetener.

September is significant for honey producers as it is the month that marks the end of the honey collection season for many beekeepers in the United States. The awareness month was initiated by The National Honey Board, a U.S. Department of Agriculture founded and overseen organization in 1989. The story of honey is older than history itself. An 8,000-year-old cave painting in Spain depicts honey harvesting, and we know it's been used for food, medicine and more by cultures all over the world since.

Honey starts as flower nectar collected by bees, which gets broken down into simple sugars stored inside the honeycomb. The design of the honeycomb and constant fanning of the bees' wings causes evaporation, creating sweet liquid honey. Honey's color and flavor varies based on the nectar collected by the bees. For example, honey made from orange blossom nectar might be light in color, whereas honey from avocado or wildflowers might have a dark amber color.

On average, a hive will produce about 65 pounds of surplus honey each year. Beekeepers harvest it by collecting the honeycomb frames and scraping off the wax cap that bees make to seal off honey in each cell. Once the caps are removed, the frames are placed in an extractor, a centrifuge that spins the frames, forcing honey out of the comb.

After the honey is extracted, it’s strained to remove any remaining wax and other particles. Some beekeepers and bottlers might heat the honey to make this process easier, but that doesn't alter the liquid's natural composition. After straining, it's time to bottle, label and bring it to you. 

Honey Benefits:

1     Honey is a health aid

Dating back to ancient times, honey has been used throughout the world for its medicinal purposes. The next time you have a cough, try reaching for a jar of honey since the World Health Organization reports that honey is able to coat and soothe throat irritation. Honey is even known to help heal canker sores and relieve dry skin.

Research has shown that honey contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants. Flavonoids and phenolic acids, which act as antioxidants, are found in honey.

Honey is a natural source of carbohydrates, providing 17 grams per tablespoon, which makes it ideal for your working muscles. Since carbohydrates are the primary fuel the body uses, honey can help maintain muscle glycogen, also known as stored carbohydrates, which gives athletes the boost they need when they need it most.

 I    Its a natural sweetener

Honey is excellent for curing almost any sweet tooth. Unlike some highly processed sugars and sugar-like substances out there, honey is chemical free and found directly in nature.

           Honey might help you sleep better

In short, honey causes insulin levels to rise, and when this happens, serotonin gets released throughout the bloodstream. Serotonin gets converted into melatonin, and melatonin has been known to aid in getting you off to dreamland.

The honey sold at The Virginia Marketplace is Monastery Creamed Honey, from the monks of Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville, Virginia. Holy Cross Abbey is a monastery of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (Trappists) sheltered by the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It is a natural product made of the finest all natural honey, slowly mixed until it has light creamy texture, the consistency of butter. These refreshing spreads are great on toast, crackers, bagels, muffins, scones and other baked goods. Also try it in hot beverages such as tea or cider. It comes in Natural, Cinnamon, Lemon, Brandy, Almond, Blueberry, Orange and Raspberry flavors. Hard to decide on just one favorite!

Monastery Creamed Honey

Summer Ham Salad Recipe

Ham salad is one of those retro Southern dishes that never goes out of style. It makes a satisfying lunch or snack. Instead of having the usual ham salad at your next family gathering or picnic try a new recipe from Southern Living magazine. Start with good-quality Smithfield Smoked Ham, chopped. To make the salad, the chopped ham is mixed with finely chopped scallions, finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, Creole mustard, ground cayenne pepper, and black pepper for a hint of heat, and one unexpected ingredient: cream cheese. Instead of the usual mayonnaise or sour cream dressing, we combine all of the ham salad ingredients with cream cheese for extra richness. Be sure to use full fat cream cheese and make sure that it is at room temperature when you’re ready to make the ham salad so that the cream cheese is soft enough to work with. This ham salad can be made up to five days in advance. Store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.

Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 scallions
2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp. Creole mustard
¼ tsp. black pepper
8 oz. smoked fully cooked ham, finely chopped

Stir together 4 ounces of cream cheese, 2 scallions, 2 tablespoons of parsley, 1 tablespoon of Creole mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper in a medium bowl. Fold in 8 ounces of ham.