La Bûche de Noël

I finally made my first La Bûche de Noël (for New Year's Eve) and the kids utterly enjoyed the process. Madeline was licking the beater and E came in the kitchen. He started saying, "Oooohhh... ooooohhhh" excitedly, and I told M that I thought he might want to share the beater. She said, "OK" and pulled his pacifier out of his mouth and held the whisk out for him to try. He tossed his milk on the floor and dove right in. He was literally buzzing with happiness.
Later, after chilling time for the "log" as Joel called it, and a short hike and time at the playground for us, I assembled and decorated the La Bûche de Noël while everyone else in the house napped. Yep, I'm crazy. While my family slept, I fashioned tiny mushrooms out of mini marshmallows. It was fun. It's not really that bad. I did several other things too instead of napping, but this was the most fun. Here's the recipe, although I made some changes (two candy canes instead of five and 1 Tbs. of peppermint syrup). This recipe makes a lot of extra filling, so you could cut back on that (maybe just 1 cup of whipping cream), have to go to sleep now since E is finally settled again and it's way late, hmm... or way early I guess. Happy 2008!!

Christmas Cookies

Made Chai Krumkake, Date-filled Oatmeal and Gingerbread cut-outs(decorated with apricots, raisins and mini chocolate chips), plus Cherry-Coconut Bars today with Edith.

Warming Up!

So, we're all better and back on track with some holiday cheer. I wrapped some presents yesterday, and went in to work today (didn't want to infect anyone earlier in the week), but when I got home we had an excellent lunch and then made gingerbread houses with the kids. You can get gingerbread-flavored graham crackers this season... I think the brand is Honeymaid... Madeline and Gavino did a great job decorating with just a little help from the Mamas "gluing" with icing (Wilton ready-made baby!) Oh, and they both ate a decent quantity of candy too. Two-year olds are so fun, and creative, and... always full of surprises!

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Today was my Lil' Grammy's birthday—I know I've posted this pic before, but it's one of my favorites, and she was (and continues to be) one of my favorite people ever. She did things from teaching me cool words like "davenport" to how to really have fun. She also did crazy things like driving herself to the hospital while in labor (but she had to since no one else was handy-Grampa was working). She's dearly missed, but Madeline's definitely got her spunk, and will learn lots of cool things about her as she grows up. Here is her excellent recipe for fudge. Mmmmm...

Grammy's Fudge

3 c. sugar
3 T. cocoa
1 t. salt
1 c. whole milk
1 T. butter
1 t. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients well, dry mashing out lumps. Add 1 c. whole milk and boil, but don't stir, until it forms soft ball in cold water. Remove from heat. Add 1 T. butter and 1 t. vanilla. Cool just until you can stick your finger into it. Stir until it loses its gloss. Spoon on a buttered plate and spread fast with a knife.

Love Your Veggies

I found organic heirloom tomatoes at Trader Joes today, and although I'm certain that they can't be local, I couldn't resist making the salad from the Best of The Harvest cooking class I took several weeks ago. I did use organic rosemary from my backyard for the rub on the eggplant though...

I also had some good little helpers in the kitchen tonight, especially Sophia who helped make the salad dressing, and learned how to chiffonade basil—she seemed impressed with my knife work and the "rainbow tomatoes".












Roasted Eggplant Tomato Salad

Salad
3 T. finely chopped, fresh rosemary
3 T. olive oil
1 t. kosher sea salt
1 medium eggplant, sliced in 1/2-inch rounds
1 large or several small tomatoes, sliced
8 oz. mixed greens
2 T. toasted pin nuts

Mix rosemary, oil and salt, then rub on both sides of eggplant rounds. Roast on cookie sheet in 375-degree F oven, flipping once. Cook until golden and soft. (If eggplant is old, salt the slices first and let rest on the counter. Towel off the moisture that's drawn out. This draws out bitterness.)

Dressing
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove finely minced garlic
3-4 T. chopped fresh basil
2 t. prepared dijon mustard
1/2 t. kosher sea salt
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1 t. champagne (or tarragon) vinegar
2 t. agave nectar (or honey)

Combine all dressing ingredients and mix well. Toss greens with dressing and immediately serve.

To plate, put a handful of greens on plate, one or more eggplant slices (depending on size) and tomato. Top with toasted pine nuts if desired.

Blissed Out

This recipe is a "cover" of Starbucks' Cranberry Bliss Bars, and I think it's actually better. There's more cake and less frosting (making them not so excessively sweet), and both the cake and frosting layers are lighter. The orange-flavored cranberries are the perfect crowning touch, plus I added cardamom and a little excellent Penzey's Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon, making the cake layer far more interesting.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Cake Layer
2 sticks softened butter
1 and 1/4 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 t. finely ground cardamom
1/4 t. Penzey's Cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1 1/4 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
1-1/2 c. flour
1/2 T. dried orange peel (or fresh zest from one orange)
1/3 c. finely chopped dried orange-flavored cranberries
1/4 c. coarsely chopped Ghirardelli white chocolate

Frosting Layer
2 T. softened butter
4 oz. softened Nuefchatel (light) cream cheese
1-1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla

To Finish
1/3 c. finely chopped dried orange-flavored cranberries
1/4 c. melted Ghiradelli white chocolate chips mixed with 1 t. cream

Bake in 350-degree F oven in greased 9x13 pan. Beat butter and sugar together, add eggs and vanilla beat until light and fluffy. Add all dry ingredients (except crans and choc) and beat well. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate, spread evenly in pan and bake about 25 mins or until golden. Cool cake completely, then spread with frosting, sprinkle with crans, drizzle with melted chocolate (use a plastic Ziploc with corner snipped off or a pastry bag), cut and serve!

Little Turkeys

This idea is adapted from the Family Fun website: we used cranberry orange muffins instead of cupcakes, and Stretch Island (real) fruit leather instead of "fruit product" Fruit Rollups. The bodies are still Nutter Butter cookies and the eyes mini chocolate chips (and we used chocolate frosting as they did). We used the toothpicks for the fruit leather as Family Fun did, but with the Stretch Island fruit leather, you don't really need them—it's so thick you can just poke it directly into the muffin. M & G did a great job with assembly, and as for the eating... they loved 'em.

Puh-shockka-lakka

Madeline helped make Pain Au Chocolat this morning... and did a pretty fine job. She said, "Mama I love the Puh Shockka Lakka!" Even the ones she rolled fairly wonky baked up gorgeous.

Anyway, not exactly a "recipe"—just refrig crescent dough filled with about 8 Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa chocolate chips (we did 6 chips, but 8 would be a tad better) and baked at 350 until golden. Enjoy with some Cafe Au Lait and a good buddy—like Aunty Karen who hung out with us today!

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

You Are a Chocolate Mocha and Orange Cheesecake

Enthusiastic and intense, there's so much you love in the world... it's hard to do it all. You are good at getting things to mix - friends, flavors, hobbies. You're the master of fusion!

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

Vegan Cookies?

Yes, vegan. And, yes, they are fabulous! Egg-free, dairy- and animal-free and tasty as can be. Jamie and I used to buy these at the co-op in Bellingham across the street from the Y after working out... I asked for the recipe at the Swan Cafe (the cafe in the co-op) and RuthAnne Muller from Member Outreach gave it to me! It was scaled for about 12 dozen cookies, so I divided it (which is why the measurements are a bit strange). If not making it strickly vegan, you can sub butter for soy margarine and 5 eggs to sub for the egg replacer.

Swan Cafe Trail Cookies

Whisk together:
1-1/2 T. EnerG Egg Replacer
1/2 + 1/8 c. water

Beat until creamy:
2 c. soy margarine
2 c. Florida Crystals cane sugar
2 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Blend liquids with margarine and sugar mixture.

Mix together:
2 c. organic pastry flour
1/2 + 1/8 heaping T. baking soda
1/2 + 1/8 heaping t. baking powder
1 t. sea salt
1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
4 c. rolled oats
4 c. corn flakes type cereal
1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Combine dry and liquid ingredients and mix well. Using a #10 scoop (about 1/4-1/3 c.) or a generous standard ice cream scoop, place dough on cookie sheet.

Bake at 350-degrees F until cookies develop cracks and are solid in the middle.

This recipe makes about 3-dozen 4-inch diameter cookies.

Best of the Harvest

Took a cooking class "Best of the Harvest" with Margo this afternoon. It was so amazing. The chef was great, and I'm excited to try the recipes in my own kitchen soon! Just need to pick up some ingredients (although not squash, thanks to Peggy and Ken)! And, I learned about a new natural sweeter with a low-glycemic index (even OK for people with diabetes) - blue agave syrup and she used Nutiva coconut oil in the dishes today, and it turns out coconut oil is not bad for you - it lowers cholesterol, is shelf-stable, has a high burn point and helps speed up metabolism (because it's 50% lauric acid - a rare fatty acid found in breastmilk). Also got good pointers on sea salt/Kosher salt and really, really good olive oil, and a tricky fast way to juice a lemon... stay tuned for the dishes!

Wicked Corn!

The most excellent caramel corn ever. Easy and delicious—the quintessential Fall treat!!

Wicked Good Caramel Corn

3 bags popped SmartPop! 97% Fat Free Kettle Corn popcorn
1 cup sliced almonds (or your favorite nut)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (see why you need the fat free popcorn?)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Scoop the popped popcorn off the top of the bags so you get all popcorn and no unpopped kernels (it's a pain to pick them out later and even worse to bite into one!) into your largest baking pan. I use a roasting pan, but you could use two pans as well. Add the nuts to the popped corn, and put the pan(s) into a preheated 300-degree F oven for about 2-3 minutes while you measure out the ingredients to make the caramel. (This toasts the nuts a little and keeps the popcorn crisp). Then remove pan from the oven.

Stir together the syrup, sugar, butter and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and bring to boil. Once boiling, cook and stir constantly for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir in the vanilla then the baking soda. The caramel will go lighter and foa up. Pour over the popcorn in the pan(s), and stir to coat as well as you can (as you bake it you'll be able to cover more of the corn).

Bake for about 45 minutes stirring the corn every 10-15 minutes. Pour out to cool on counter on freezer paper, grocery bags or waxed paper. Store in Ziploc bags to keep corn crisp (otherwise it'll get soggy and sticky!)

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

You Are Tiramisu

Light and lovely, you pack a punch. You never overwhelm... but you always leave a lasting impression.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

Just for fun... Apparently, I'm tiramisu (excellent, since I love tiramisu)! Got this quiz on Jerrie's site.

Pretty Sweet...

I'll admit that I'm usually fairly snobbish about buy-and-bake cookie dough. Much of it is not worth the money, and tastes fake and chemically (one exception is Tom's Cookie Dough—really good). I'm loving Pillsbury's Sugar Cookie Dough Sheets for Halloween. They are great (I found them in the fridge section by the eggs at QFC). We did some with Aura and Miki on Friday and more today with Grammy and Ukki. No rolling, no mixing, easy with kids, very tasty, and they come with good white and orange icing (in bags that you just snip the corners off of to pipe!). Two sheets to a package—about $3.50 for two (or more) dozen depending on the size of cookie you make. "Scraps" from cut-out cookies can be rolled into balls to bake. You'll have way more time and energy to get into decorating if you don't have to make dough or do the clean up!

Genetic

So, maybe my propensity for "cooking by feel" is genetic. My mom is constantly altering recipes, making them amazingly better, and then having to recall what she changed. And I catch myself doing the same thing all the time. Sometimes because I don't have the "proper" ingredients for a recipe (or more likely, just can't find them in my pantry) and sometimes just because I feel like it. There's a scone recipe in The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook that I have never made exactly according to the recipe... and they're always great. Anyway, Great Gramma Sartor's "recipe" for corn bread reminded me of this particular trait I share with mom...

Corn Bread

Dehlia Sartor

I don't have a regular recipe for cornbread just do it from scratch. This is what I do. Beat 1 egg, add tsp salt & 1 cup milk then sift 1 1/2 cups cornmeal and 1/4 cup white flour and mix all together. I melt about 1/2 cup margarine and bacon fryings in the pan I take it in and pour that in your cornbread mixture. Mix well & bake between 1/2 & 3/4 hr. in a 350 oven. Wish you were close so I could show you don't know if I make it plain in writing. Good Luck. Mom