A Busy New Year!

Paul and Adam having fun playing in the snow in the cul de sac!

We have had a very busy last couple of weeks! We enjoyed having a little bit of snow in our area which is a rare treat for us! We dashed outside as much as we could to play in it! Adam really got excited about the snow this year and we have even saved a very small snowball that he made in the freezer.

There are many celebrations and events coming up in February and March that I will cover in the blog as time allows. I have been having so much fun preparing for these events! I am realizing that I really love party planning. I get such a huge adrenaline rush from planning a big event and putting all of the pieces together from the food to the favors to the decorations. It is a very fun process that I really enjoy. For this reason I am considering including it in some way in my personal chef business.

Coming up with an original business idea that will work with my family and lifestyle is becoming quite a process. I am enjoying coming up with ideas and seeing how they will fit in. I am especially thankful that I have plenty of time to spend carefully executing my plan as I fit many other activities into the mix.

As soon as the major events of February and March subside I will once again focus a bit more on my business plans. In the meantime I continues to learn about myself and the skills I can use to create something truly wonderful and unique that I will enjoy sharing with others. Even though I have been very busy I have been taking moments to work on my business plans and ideas. It is important to always keep dreaming and planning for what really makes you happy and excited! This is what life is all about! Keep dreaming! Keep planning!

In the meantime, please enjoy these recipes from the meals that we have been enjoying lately:

Pennsylvania Dutch Corn & Chicken Soup

This is a Cook's Country magazine recipe. It is quick and easy yet has great flavor! I love how moist and juicy the chicken stays and then pureed corn adds a great texture and flavor to this soup!

A steaming hot bowl of homemade soup!

1 (16 ounce) bag frozen corn, thawed
8 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
1 celery rib, sliced thin
Salt and Pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut into 1/2 inch chunks
3 cups egg noodles

1. Combine 2 cups of the corn and 2 cups of the chicken broth and puree in a food processor until smooth. Melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook onion, celery, remaining corn, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Stir in remaining corn, chicken, noodles and pureed corn mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until noodles are tender and chicken is cooked through, about 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper! Serve with whole grain toast or muffins- delicious!!!

Enjoy!

Pork Fried Rice:

This is a recipe from "Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients" cookbook that I modified slightly. Instead of the sliced pork sausage I used a ground breakfast sausage. I also used brown rice. It was so yummy!

A wok full of delicious fried rice!

3 cups cooked brown or white rice (it helps to make the rice the day before and store it in the refrigerator)
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds (I used ground cumin because I didn't have the seeds)
1 small fresh red chili, chopped (I put in a small amount of chili pepper because I didn't want it to be too spicy)
1 pound of ground breakfast sausage-plain or 1/2 cup or more diced winter cured pork (I used a Jimmy Dean natural)
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen ( I actually almost put a whole bag of frozen peas in)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. With your hands, break the rice into grains and set aside.

2. Heat a wok or skillet and add the oil. When it is hot, add the cumin seeds or ground cumin and stir briefly.

3. Add the chili pepper or chili powder and the diced or ground pork sausage and cook, stirring, until the fat of the pork or sausage is translucent, about 30 seconds.

4. Add the peas and stir, then add the rice and seasonings. Stir and cook over high heat for 3 minutes or so- making sure the sausage is cooked through, serve.

This is a great main dish that doesn't really need any sides because you have protein, whole grains and vegetables all in one dish! This dish was fantastic!!


Cornmeal and Millet Bread:

This is another recipe from Great Breads. I like how light this bread is although it has many whole grains in it! It makes excellent toast- as James Beard would say! I enjoyed it with breakfast the other day with butter and jam on it! Yum!

A loaf fresh out of the oven!

For the sponge:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 cups lukewarm water
3 tablespoons mild flavored honey
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

For the dough:

1/4 cup canola oil or melted unsalted butter
1 scant tablespoon salt
3/4 cup flaked or rolled oats
1 1/3 cups millet flour
1 cup whole grain cornmeal (Bob's Red Mill is a good brand)
-About 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or a combination of whole wheat and unbleached white flours

For the loaves:

- 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water for an egg wash


Make the Sponge:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water, and stir in the honey.

2. With a wooden spoon or a large whisk, stir in the white and whole wheat flours, one cup at a time.

3. When all of the flour has been added, stir by hand about 100 times, changing directions every once in a while and scraping down the sides.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and set in a warm place for 1 hour, until bubbly. I am lucky that I have an oven with a "proof" setting for the oven. I always use this to rise the sponge and the dough and it works so beautifully! Once the hour is up the sponge will be very bubbly!

To make the dough:

1. With a wooden spoon, fold the oil or melted butter and salt into the sponge, turning the bowl between folds. Mix in the oats, millet flour and cornmeal.

2. Begin folding in the whole wheat flour, 1 cup at a time. As soon as the dough is cohesive, scrape it out onto a floured work surface.

3. Knead the dough, adding flour as needed, for 10 minutes, or until stiff and elastic. Shape into a ball.

4. Rinse, dry and lightly oil the bowl. Place the dough in it, turning to coat it with the oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

5. After 1 hour, punch down the dough; cover again in the same manner and let rise in a warm place for 45 to 60 minutes until nearly doubled in bulk.

6. Generously oil or butter 2 large loaf pans- 9x5 inches.

To make the loaves:

1. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Knead for a minute or two, then divide the dough in half to form two loaves.

2. Roll out each half into a long, rectangular shape. Then, roll it up into a cylinder.

3. Place the loaves into the loaf pans, first upside down, (seam up) then right side up, to coat with the oil or butter.

4. Brush the loaves with the egg wash. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20-40 minutes, or until the tops of the loaves curve above the sides of the pans.

5. About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350F, with a rack in the middle.

6. Slash the loaves 3 times across the top with a sharp knife. Bake for 50-60 minutes, brushing halfway through with the egg wash.

7. Remove from pans and cool on a rack.

Enjoy!


Oatmeal Ricotta Pancake Sandwiches with Strawberries:

I love how light and delicious these oatmeal pancakes are! I decided to combine the filling for stuffed French toast with these healthy pancakes and add a splash of color with some strawberries. The pancake and ricotta filling recipes are from one of my favorite cookbooks "From Grandma's Kitchen" that I got as a gift from my dear friend Carol.

A delicious pancake sandwich!

Oatmeal Pancakes:

2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

1. Mix together milk and oats in a large bowl; let stand while sifting together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a separate bowl.

2. Stir eggs into oat mixture; mix in dry ingredients and oil.

3. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls into a hot, lightly greased griddle. (I like to use my large electric skillet) Flip the pancakes over when bubbles appear around edges. Cook on each side until lightly golden. Makes 10 to 12 pancakes.

Ricotta Filling:

One 8 ounce container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

--1 container strawberries, sliced

Mix the ricotta, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl and set aside. Once the pancakes are done you can spread a couple of spoonfuls of this mixture in between two pancakes and sprinkle strawberries on top for a fabulous breakfast treat!


Fun in the Snow:

We were fortunate to have a meeting at the Portland Zoo for an upcoming event for Adam's preschool during the time it was snowing. The zoo got a lot more snow because it is at a higher elevation. Adam really enjoyed making a lot of snowballs and throwing them around there! What fun! I also love the fact that this year he was really into wearing his winter hat which looks so cute on him!

Adam in the snow at the Portland Zoo.

Adam in his winter coat ready to go out in the cold weather!

Paul and Adam ready to go out to play in the snow.
We only got a light dusting in our area.

Adam's Artwork From Preschool:

As a small project I have been collecting Adam's paintings and artwork from preschool and taking photos of them so that I can make cards & prints from them. Also, it is a great way to catalog his work without saving every single piece because he does a lot of paintings at school. I ended up making some thank you cards out of some of his artwork that I had printed. I also plan on using them for other projects. Here are a few examples:

One of Adam's paintings from preschool. He described it as being a "dark cave."

I really love the use of white space and multicolored strokes on this painting.

This is a really neat black and white painting with hand prints!

Enjoy your day everyone and make the most of your time!

Moving Forward in 2012!

Paul and Adam making ice cream with his new little toy ice cream maker.

A Fresh New Year:

It is always exciting to start a new year with even more plans and goals than the next! I look forward to what 2012 brings us as a family and I am excited about the future! Adam has started preschool again and we are also working with him on potty training. We have been working on that for the past two weeks so it has been very busy, but he is having a lot of success so the extra time and effort is really paying off. I think it was the right age to really get going on the potty training!

I have also started teaching English as a Second Language classes again and now I am back to teaching the beginning level. I am really enjoying it so far. It is often challenging but very rewarding at the same time.

A More Solidified Business Idea and Plan:

For Christmas I got a book about running a personal chef business. I have read it and also I have started to work on plans for a business. I was told about a business start up website by a friend called Start Up Nation. On there they have ten steps to start a business. I have done step one, which is creating a Life Plan. I think that this plan was very helpful because it allowed me to focus on what I feel comfortable doing and what will work with my lifestyle.

I have decided that I will order a weekly supply of vegetables and fruits in the form of a local CSA (community supported agriculture) from a local farm. I will take what I get weekly and create meals and baked goods from it. My hope is that through this exercise I can create a personal chef business that helps people use their CSA boxes and support local farms at the same time. I like this idea because it combines my passion for food and cooking with my love of supporting local farms and businesses. I realized that I really enjoyed working with local farms in creating our baked goods when we ran the Farmer's Tea booth at the Oregon City Farmer's Market and that I could translate skills I learned there into a new business. This will be a long process, but it will be well worth the time it takes to create. I will enjoy each step along the way!

I wish you all the same joy in learning and discovering your true passions! It is well worth it!

Shrimp Chowder:

This is a delicious chowder! I got the recipe from the cookbook "Portland's Palate." I changed it a bit and added some pepper bacon to it.

Shrimp Chowder with bacon.

4 slices pepper bacon, chopped (uncooked)
1/2 cup butter (1 cube)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 cups celery (4 stalks) finely chopped (I omitted the celery)
3 cups mashed potatoes (3 potatoes, peeled, cut into thirds, boiled and mashed- do not whip)
2 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 pounds cooked bay shrimp (salad shrimp), divided
salt and white pepper
shrimp, green onion and bacon for garnish

1. In a large stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat cook the bacon. Take some of the grease out of the pan after cooking. Set the cooked bacon on a paper towel lined plate. Melt the butter in the same pan and cook the onion in it until softened- about 8 minutes.

2. Add potatoes and half and half and stir.

3. Stir in wine and season with salt pepper. Reduce heat to medium low. Heat 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Just before serving, stir in 1 pound shrimp and simmer 5 minutes. If soup is too thick, thin with 1/2 cup half and half.

Serve the soup with crumbled bacon, extra shrimp and chopped green onion.

King Cake:

This is a cake that I made for Three Kings Day. It is a Mexican holiday that is always on January 6th. It is customary to serve tamales with side dishes and then this cake for dessert along with hot chocolate or punch. There are plastic babies hidden inside the cake. The people who get the babies must throw the next tamale party on February 2nd.

Coconut Coffee Cake Ring.

Coconut Orange Coffee Cake Rings:

This makes two 9-inch coffee cakes

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 package (1/4 Oz.) active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water, (105-115 degrees)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup regular or light sour cream
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/4 cups bread flour

Filling:

3 cups flaked coconut

1 cup whole milk

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon orange rind

Icing:

1+ cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract (I used some pineapple extract I had)

+ Colored sugars if desired

Instructions- Cake:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in eggs, sugar, sour cream, melted butter, salt and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Gradually mix in remaining flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Wash and grease large bowl. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 5 to 8 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary to make a moderately soft dough.

Place dough in the large bowl, and turn to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place, 45 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled. Meanwhile, prepare filling and glaze. Coat 2 (9 inch round) cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Punch down dough and turn out on a lightly floured surface.

Divide dough in half; shape each piece into a ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Roll ball into a 12 inch circle. Brush with 1 tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkle half the filling evenly over the circle. Cut the circle into 12 wedges. Roll up each wedge starting at the wide end. Arrange in the pan, large end out and point side down. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover, let rise in a warm place until light, about 30-40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Let rest in the pans on a cooling rack 5 minutes. Then carefully turn out on cooling racks. Set racks on waxed paper to catch glaze drips. Glaze with the vanilla or coconut glaze. If desired, sprinkle colored sugar on top of the glaze.

Instructions: Filling:

Combine the coconut, milk, orange rind and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture is creamy. Remove from heat until you are ready to use the filling in the coffeecake.

Instructions: Glaze:

Mix the powdered sugar, milk and extract of your choice in a small bowl. Use a whisk to make sure the glaze is smooth. Add extra milk if the glaze is too dry and add extra powdered sugar if it is too thin.


Ponche Navideno:

This is a hot, fruit Christmas punch that I decided to make for Three Kings Day this January 6th. I got the recipe from my dear friend Miguel who I met in high school in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico while I was an exchange student there.

A delicious cup of ponche with a sugar cane stick.

You will probably need to go to a Mexican grocery store to find the guavas, sugar cane, tejocote, and the piloncillo (brown sugar cylinders)

5 quarts water
1/4 pound tamarindo pods, peeled and washed
2 apples, cored and chopped
5 small guavas, chopped (guayabas)
1 sugar cane, chopped and peeled (1 large cane or several pieces) (cana)
2 oranges, peeled and cut into sections
1/4 pound tejocote (kind of like small quince)
1/4 cup chopped dried plums or prunes
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 pound piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar cylinders)
1-2 cups granulated sugar
3-4 cinnamon sticks

1. Fill a very large stockpot with the 5 quarts of water.

2. Put all of the other ingredients listed in the pot. Bring to a boil and boil until the fruit is soft- about 1 hour. You may want to simmer this for quite a while before your party as the flavor improves with more cooking.

3. Serve hot in mugs and enjoy!!

This makes a lot of ponche, but it lasts a while and is very good over ice in a glass too!

Manicotti:

This is a Cook's Country magazine recipe. Even though the recipe is simpler it does take some time to prepare. It is surely worth the effort though. It is amazingly delicious!

A delicious serving of manicotti.

Meat Sauce:

1 onion, chopped
6 ounces sliced deli pepperoni
1 pound 85 percent lean ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste (I used one 6-8 ounce can- I like a lot of tomato flavor!)
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes



Manicotti Filling/Noodles:

3 cups ricotta cheese (I like to use the whole milk variety)
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded provolone cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil (I used 2 teaspoons dried basil)

16 no-boil lasagne noodles

1. Grind Meat: Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 375F. Pulse onion and pepperoni in a food processor until coarsely ground. Add beef and pulse until thoroughly combined.

2. Make Sauce: Transfer beef mixture to a large saucepan and cook over medium heat, breaking up mixture with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer 1 cup beef mixture to paper towel lined plate and reserve. Add tomato paste, garlic and pepper flakes to pot with remaining meat mixture and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Prepare Filling: Combine ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup provolone, egg, salt, pepper, basil and reserved meat mixture in a large bowl. Pour 2 quarts boiling water into a 13x9 inch baking dish. Soak noodles in the water until pliable, about 5 minutes. Drain noodles on a kitchen towel. Pour off water and dry baking dish.

4. Assemble and Bake: Spread half of the sauce mixture on the bottom of the 13x9 baking dish. Top each soaked noodle with 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture and roll it into a tube shape. Place the tubes side by side in the baking dish on top of the sauce. When all of the rolls are in place, put the remaining sauce on top. I ended up with a little extra filling and I put it on the sides of the rolls.

Bake, covered in foil until bubbling around the edges, about 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for about 5 more minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!



Multi-Grain Bread:

This is a recipe that I got from a lovely book that my mom gave me called "Great Breads" I love that you can use many different grains and mix and match ingredients in this bread. It is an incredible loaf! I love how soft it is in the inside and how nutty it tastes without being too heavy! It is a lovely bread for toast! Today I had some with peanut butter and also a small piece with butter on it! Yum!

My large loaves of multi-grain bread

This makes 2 large loaves of bread. The process takes about 5 hours.

For the Sponge:

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons molasses
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

For the dough:

1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup barley flakes (I used Scottish oats)
3/4 cup bulgar or cracked wheat (I used cracked wheat)
2/3 cup millet flour or cornmeal (I used millet flour)
1/2 cup soy flour, or chickpea flour (I used garbanzo bean flour)

+ about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of whole wheat flour to use in the kneading stage

For the loaves:

1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water, for egg wash
1 heaping tablespoon sesame seeds

1. Get out two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. Make the sponge: Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Stir in the honey and molasses. With a wooden spoon or large whisk, stir in the white and whole wheat flours, 1 cup at a time.

When all of the flour has been added, stir by hand about 100 times, turning the bowl as you stir. Scrape down the sides from time to time. The sponge should be about the consistency of thick mud.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and set it in a warm place for 1 hour, until bubbly.

4. Make the dough: Fold the oil, and then the salt, into the sponge, using a large wooden spoon and turning the bowl between folds. Fold in the grains and soy, chickpea or garbanzo bean flour, one at a time.

5. Fold in 1 cup of the whole wheat flour, the dough should hold together in a sticky mass. Place one large handful of flour on the work surface (counter-top or kneading board) and scrape out the dough onto it. Flour your hands and begin kneading the dough, adding flour as needed. Knead for about 10-15 minutes, adding more flour when the dough becomes too sticky. The dough should be dense, but still elastic and be smooth although a bit tacky when finished.

Form the dough into a ball and place into an oiled, large bowl. Turn the dough to cover all of the surfaces with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

After 1 hour, punch down the dough, cover it again and then let it rise for 45-60 minutes, or until almost doubled in bulk.

6. To Make the Loaves: Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead a couple of times and divide the dough in half. Form into 2 loaves (roll out each piece into a long rectangle with a rolling pin, then roll up into a log to form a loaf) and place in the loaf pans, turn the loaf to coat all sides with oil and then place right side up.

Brush the loaves lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle them with sesame seeds. Cover the loaves and let rise 20-45 minutes or until the tops of the loaves curve above the sides of the pans.

About 30 minutes before baking, heat the oven to 375F, with the rack in the middle.

Slash the loaves across the top with a razor blade or sharp knife. Bake for 50-60 minutes. The bread is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom of the loaf.

Remove loaves from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!!



Spiced Sugar Cookies:

This is a "secret family recipe" that Paul found for me online. I added a new twist by rolling the cookies in spiced turbinado sugar before baking them. They are divine! I love how they are crunchy and sugary on the outside but they are nice and soft on the inside!

Spiced Sugar Cookies.

Ingredients

2 sticks of softened butter
3 egg yolks
2 cups of sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour

For rolling cookies: 1/2 cup turbinado sugar +1 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg. Mix the sugar and spice together in a shallow bowl and roll the cookies in it until it sticks on all sides.

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl of a stand mixer. The mixture will be a bit "pebbly" but will come together the next day when you form balls and roll them in the sugar mixture.

2. Refrigerate the ingredients overnight (this makes it possible to roll the cookies). Roll into small balls, then roll the balls in the spiced sugar.

3. Bake on greased cookie sheets in preheated 325 degree oven. If you are placing two cookie sheets in the oven at once, bake them for 5-6 minutes, then switch the sheets from top to bottom for even baking. Check cookies after 12 minutes. They will look puffed but not golden brown. Let the cookies cool 5-6 minutes on the cookie sheets before you use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack. They will deflate after a few minutes and form cracks.

My baking helper Adam having fun rolling the cookies in the spiced sugar!

I wish you all hope, health and happiness for 2012! Here's to you!

Christmas and Holiday Memories and on to 2012!

Adam with his Christmas wish- a giant candy cane!

We had a very eventful Christmas and Holiday season this year! With 2012 now here I wanted to re-live and re-count our wonderful, happy times together as a family and share the special recipes that made our days amazing and delicious! I hope you enjoy this post! I will be back soon writing more about my many personal goals for 2012 including getting going on starting a business to do with cooking and baking that will work for me as well as my family and serve the community with delicious, local and healthy food! Here's to a wonderful year ahead as we look back on our celebrations of 2011. Enjoy!

A very serious baker Adam decorating a gingerbread man cookie.

Christmas Eve:

We had a lovely Christmas Eve here at our house with my parents, brother Stuart and sister in law Kim. We enjoyed our traditional Swedish dinner together and had many fun times! I made the meatballs and potato rolls Stuart and Kim made the potato sausages and the potato salad and my mom made the Swedish beans.

Adam sitting on Daddy's lap with a present.

Adam playing on Grandma Serena's lap.

Kim and Stuart at Christmas Eve dinner.

Me helping Adam unwrap some Christmas presents.

Grandma Serena with Adam and his Christmas bow tie.


Mom, Kim and Me on Christmas Eve. I got a really fun nostalgic cookie book!

Swedish Meatballs:

Swedish Meatballs or Sma Kottbuller.

Ingredients:

3/4 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 cup water and cream (I used 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup whole milk)
1 tablespoon onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter (for sauteing the onions in a pan)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper


Heat the oven to 350F.

1. Saute the onions in the 1 tablespoon butter until softened and golden brown. Let cool.

2. Soften the bread crumbs in the milk/cream mixture for 10-15 minutes.

3. Mix all of the ingredients together.

4. Form small meatballs and place them on greased baking sheets.

5. Bake the meatballs until well browned. You need to turn them over to make sure they brown on all sides.

Enjoy!


Sarah's Christmas Pie:

Our friend Sarah brought this pie to share with us this holiday season. It is so delicious! We served some more of it on Christmas Eve. I love the creaminess and lightness of this special pie. It is her family's recipe that she was very kind to share with me.

Sarah's spectacular Christmas Pie!

This recipe yields two pies.

Ingredients:

Two 9.5 inch baked pie shells

1 c milk
1 c sugar
3 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1 envelope knox gelatin
1/4 c water
1 pint whipping cream
marascino cherries, rinsed
nuts (pecans or walnuts are good)

1. Mix milk, sugar, and beaten egg yolks together and cook in double boiler. Stir constantly about 20 minutes until mixture thickens a bit.

2. Dissolve gelatin in 1/4 cup water. Add gelatin to mixture. Stir, then set aside to cool. (Just long enough to cool; not long enough to gel.)

3. Beat whipping cream and egg whites together and add to first mixture when cool. Beat the whole thing for about 3 minutes. Put in baked pie shells. Put in fridge.

4. When the pies have gelled a bit, but not completely (after, say, 2 hours in fridge) top the pies with cherries and nuts. Don't add the cherries too soon, or they will sink to the bottom. Don't add the cherries too late, or they won't flavor the pies properly. Keep refrigerated.

Note: If the pies fail to gel, or if they separate into two layers, next time try cooking the first mixture even longer, and beating the two mixtures together longer. It can be a rickety recipe, so minor flaws can cause it to fail to gel.



Potato Sweet Rolls- Cinnamon Rolls and Coconut Rolls:

These are my Aunt Jean's recipe. They are so moist and divine! This year I even made coconut rolls with them so that we could all enjoy some for dinner as well as Christmas morning breakfast.

Potato Cinnamon Rolls.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups sugar
2 cups milk (warm up the milk in the microwave and then place the butter in it)
1 cup butter
3 eggs
2 cups potatoes, mashed
4 tablespoons yeast
8 cups flour, plus up to1 cup additional if necessary
2 teaspoons salt

For cinnamon rolls:

-melted butter
-cinnamon sugar
-raisins

1. Mix the mashed potatoes with the yeast and sugar.

2. Add in the milk/butter mixture and then mix in the eggs.

3. Mix in the flour and salt. Knead with a dough hook in a stand mixer for about 4-5 minutes, then add 1/4 cup of flour up to one up if needed in the final kneading stage. The dough should be sticky and soft.

4. Cover and put in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

5. Deflate or punch down dough. Turn out on to a flour surface and prepare according to your desired recipe.

6. For rolls and cinnamon rolls- bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Check in between the rolls with a knife to check for doneness.

To make plain rolls for dinner:

Roll small balls of dough. Place them, touching each other in a round cake pan. Brush tops with butter and bake as directed.


To make cinnamon rolls:

Take a portion of the dough (one half or one third of it) and roll it out into a rectangle. Brush the dough with melted butter and sprinkle it with cinnamon-sugar. If desired, sprinkle the dough with raisins as well. Roll up the dough and cut rounds. Place the rounds together in round cake pans, touching each other like the rolls above. Brush with more melted butter and bake until golden brown.

To make coconut rolls:

Filling ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup milk
¾ cup coconut flakes

Mix the ingredients together and cook over low heat in a small saucepan until it turns into a slightly creamy sauce. Do not over cook.

Make these rolls the same way as cinnamon rolls except spread the coconut filling thinly over the dough. Roll up, slice and bake the same way as the cinnamon rolls.

I love how soft and moist these rolls were. This was my first time making the coconut rolls and I love them!


Christmas Day:

We had a very special Christmas morning with Adam. He was very excited and aware of Christmas! He had the best time opening his stocking gifts as well as his big gift of a new wooden train set! He was so excited about everything! It was so special to see the light in his eyes on this special morning!

Paul with Adam opening a Christmas gift on Christmas morning.

Adam happily playing with his train set.

Me with Adam and his candy cane he got from cousin Helen.

Rachel and Rein, Kim and Stuart on Christmas Day.

Helen with her beautiful orange almond cake on Christmas Day.

Uncle Mark, Lauren and Mom.

Dad and Mom by the Christmas tree.

Paella:

We had a Spanish theme to our Christmas dinner this year and my Mom pulled out all of the stops for this dinner with her paella! It was amazing and really delicious! She even made a small vegetarian portion with mushrooms as well.

The huge paella dish that my mom made for Christmas Day. It was so delicious!

The delicious salad that my Aunt Debbie made on Christmas Day.

Empanadas:

I found the recipe for the dough and fillings online. I changed the pumpkin recipe a bit and added a bit more spice. I baked these empanadas following the directions on the pumpkin filling recipe below. I also brushed them with an egg wash before baking to add a nice sheen to them. I made these for our contribution to the Spanish theme dinner.

Pumpkin and Chorizo Empanadas.

Flour Dough for Empanadas:

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (plus a little more for kneading)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons shortening

Preparation:
1. In a bowl, beat the water, egg, egg white and vinegar together. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the 3 cups of flour and salt.

3. Cut the shortening into the flour mix with a pastry blender or two butter knives. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.

4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a fork until it becomes stiff.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth.

6. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but never more than 24 hours.

When you are ready to form, fill and bake or fry the empanadas, follow these steps:

1. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick on a floured cutting board. Cut out three-inch circles.

2. Place 1 Tablespoon of the chorizo or pumpkin mix in the center of each circle. Fold into a half-circle.

3. Crimp the outer edge with a fork to seal.

If you want to fry the empanadas, follow these instructions. If you would rather bake them, follow the baking instructions after the pumpkin filling recipe below.

1. Heat canola oil in a heavy skillet.

2. Add the empanadas and brown lightly on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Tip: If you want to keep the dough longer than 24 hours, you can freeze it.

Servings: Makes approximately 10 six-inch empanadas.

Chorizo Filling:

Note: This makes a lot of filling. Unless you are making empanadas for a crowd you may decide to halve this recipe.

1 1/2 pounds Chorizo sausage, ground
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/2 cup salsa


Directions:

Brown the chorizo in a heavy skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is just soft.
Drain off any excess fat. Mix in the salsa. Set aside.


Pumpkin Filling:
Ingredients:

2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground gloves

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, thoroughly mix the ingredients together, then cook in a saucepan over medium low heat for 20 minutes.

2. Allow the mix to cool before filling the empanada discs. While the mix is cooling, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Place the filling by the spoonful into your prepared empanada dough, or store bought discs*.
Fold the dough and filling into a half circle shape and crimp the edges with a fork. If the edges won't stay sealed you can dip the fork in water before crimping or use an egg wash. (I used an egg wash which is 1 whole egg mixed with a teaspoon or two of water and a dash of salt. You brush this on the empanadas before baking them.) Do not overfill the empanadas. They will tear and you will lose your filling.

4. Bake the empanadas on a greased cookie sheet until golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. To avoid burning, watch them closely.


Rachel's Coconut Granola:

Our cousin Rachel gave us a container of her homemade granola along with many other goodies in a gift basket for Christmas. I thought it looked so yummy I ate a small bowl of it that night. I love that it is very light and crunchy and I especially love the coconut in it.

A small bowl of the coconut granola.

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 (14 ounce) package flaked coconut
6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
6 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/4 cup raisins


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet with sides, or a large cake pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the oats, almonds, wheat germ, and coconut. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, brown sugar, oil, water and salt. Pour the liquid over the oat and nut mixture, and stir untilevenly coated. Spread out on the prepared cookie sheet. If you want some chunky bits, squeeze some small handfuls into little clumps.

3. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally until evenly toasted.

4. Mix in raisins. Cool, and store in an airtight container at room temperature.



A Hannukah Dinner:

This year we celebrated Hanukkah with our Jewish cousin Helen. It was a special event! We hosted the dinner at our house and enjoyed the various delicious foods together and had fun taking part in Helen's traditions. What a fun night was had by all!

Helen and her menorah at our dinner.

Mom, Helen, Stuart, Dad and Kim playing the dreidel game.

Me with the lemon filled doughnuts for dessert.

Southern Brisket:

This is a recipe from Southern Living. I love how tasty and tender the brisket turns out. I especially love to serve it with the pan drippings as gravy. Yum! We enjoyed this for our Hanukkah dinner.

Southern Baked Brisket.

Ingredients:

One 12-ounce bottle of chili sauce (I ended up using a bottle of sweet chili sauce)
2 cups ketchup
1 1/4 cups cola soft drink
1 1.9 ounce package dry onion soup mix (both envelopes)
1 (3-4 pound) beef brisket flat, trimmed

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together first 3 ingredients and both envelopes from soup mix package in a large bowl.

2. Place brisket, fat side up, in an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan. Pour chili sauce mixture over brisket.

3. Bake, tightly covered at 350F for 4 to 4 1/2 hours or until fork tender. Remove from oven; let stand 20 minutes. Cut brisket across the grain into thin slices using a sharp knife. Pour pan juices over slices.


Sweet Potato Latkes:

This is another Southern Living recipe. I love how tender, soft and yummy these latkes were. I used my Kitchen aide mixer shredder attachment to shred the sweet potatoes for these and I used the small shredder. I think it worked well in that the latkes browned up nicely and cooked through quicker.

Sweet Potato Latkes.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled.
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil

Accompaniments:

horseradish condiment
applesauce (or I used spiced apple butter)

1. Grate potatoes using a box grater, food processor or a Kitchen aide mixer with a grater attachment. Stir together potatoes and flour. Stir in eggs and next two ingredients until blended.

2. Pour oil to depth of 1/2 inch into a large heavy skillet or an electric fry pan. Heat to 350F.

3. Gently press 1 rounded tablespoonful potato mixture into a patty. Repeat procedure, making about 2 dozen. Fry in batches, 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with horseradish condiment and applesauce or apple butter.



Lemon Filled Doughnuts:

These are made using a Bon Appetit recipe. I made the dough as called for in the magazine but I filled the doughnuts with lemon curd that my mom, Kim and I made and froze a while ago. This was a special, traditional and sweet ending to our Hanukkah dinner.

Lemon Filled Doughnuts

This recipe makes about 30 small doughnut balls.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for bowl
1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
1 1/4 ounce envelope active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling
2 tablespoons sugar (plus extra for rolling doughnuts in after frying)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon finely grated grapefruit zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt


Extras needed:

1 cup sugar for rolling doughnuts in
canola oil for frying doughnuts
a plate covered with paper towels
lemon curd for filling
1 pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch metal tip for filling the doughnuts


1. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil.

2. Heat juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until an instant read thermometer registers 110 to 115F. Remove from heat; whisk in yeast. Let stand until mixture becomes foamy, about 10 minutes.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix 3 1/2 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, eggs, grapefruit zest, salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and apple juice mixture until a sticky dough forms- 4-5 minutes.

4. Transfer the mixture to the oiled bowl. Turn to coat;cover with a kitchen towel. Let dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

5. Gently roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter. Place on lightly floured baking sheets. Let rise until doubled, 30-40 minutes. ( I just cut them slightly before dinner and then let them rise until after dinner. That way we had freshly fried doughnuts right after dinner- so fresh!)

6. Pour 1 cup sugar into a shallow bowl and set aside.

7. Attach a deep fry thermometer to the side of a heavy pot. Pour vegetable oil into the pot to a depth of 2 inches and heat over medium heat to 350F.

8. Working in batches, carefully add doughnuts to oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side, allowing oil to return to 350F between batches. Using a slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to a plate with paper towels, let drain and then roll the doughnuts in sugar.

9. Transfer lemon curd to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 metal tip and pipe around 1 teaspoon lemon curd into each doughnut.

Enjoy immediately! These doughnuts are so light and tasty when they are fresh!


Lemon-Lime Bars:

I made these for a New Year's Day party. I made a gluten-free/dairy free version which I outline here. You are welcome to use regular flour and butter as well. These are a Cook's Illustrated recipe that I converted to make it gluten/dairy free.

Delicious lemon-lime bars.

Crust:

1 3/4 cups gluten free flour mix (King Arthur has a very good mix) or all purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra to decorate finished bars
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons dairy free margarine or butter (softened and cut into 1 inch pieces, plus extra for greasing pan

Lemon-Lime Filling:

4 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons gluten free or all purpose flour
2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lime and 1 small lemon
2/3 cup juice from limes and lemons
1/3 cup rice milk or whole milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum (you do not need to use this if you are not making the gluten free version)

Crust:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish and line with parchment paper. Grease the top of the parchment paper as well.

2. Pulse the flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch and salt in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add margarine or butter and process to blend, 8-10 seconds, then pulse until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1 second bursts.

3. Sprinkle mixture into the pan and press firmly into the pan to form an even layer of crust. Refrigerate 30 minutes, then bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Filling:

1. Meanwhile, whisk egg, sugar and flour in a medium bowl, then stir in zest, juice, milk and salt to blend well.

2. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F. Stir the filling mixture to re-blend; pour onto warm crust. Bake until filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to at least room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

3. Grab the edges of the parchment paper and lift the bars onto a cutting board. Use a pizza wheel (I found this to work very smoothly) or a very sharp non-serrated knife and cut into bars. Wipe the pizza wheel or knife between cuts. Sieve confectioners' sugar over the bars to serve.

Enjoy!!!

I will be back soon to share my new goals and plans with you. I hope you enjoyed your holidays as much as we did!

Fun at Christmas Time!

Adam by our front door with our Christmas wreath.

This year since Adam is older we have been enjoying taking him to all kinds of fun Christmas events around town. It is great to see what is offered in our community. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! What a special time of year to spend with our son, we are so fortunate!

Reindeer:

A couple of weekends ago Paul took Adam to see live reindeer at a local nursery. It was such a special event. They had several reindeer that you could observe in a large pen so it was safe. What a fun holiday outing!

Adam watching the reindeer at Seven Dees Nursery.

Adam and the reindeer in their pen.

Alpenrose Dairyville:

This is an event that I recently heard about and it is free to all! Alpenrose Dairy nearby in Portland has a Christmas village that you can visit with lots of fun things to do. They had two large model train displays, a theater where you could watch holiday movies, "Storybook Lane" with live animals and beautifully lit, flocked trees, pictures/visit with Santa and more! We had a great time exploring this village with Adam!

Me with Adam on one of the old fashioned carts in Dairyville.

Adam having fun in one of the circus carts.

Paul and Adam in front of the sleigh full of presents in the theater area.

Inside Storybook Lane at Dairyville.

Macy's Santaland:

This is a very special place that reminds me of my childhood because we would take a special trip here to visit Santa and ride the train around the ceiling of the top floor of what used to be Meier and Frank and is now Macy's. The train no longer is in place but they had part of it for kids to climb in and explore as well as a large scale model train display and other fun displays. Adam did visit Santa and tell him "I want a candy cane" when prompted what he wanted for Christmas. He was a little shy about sitting on his lap or taking a photo, so we didn't end up doing that. He really loved the model trains and the big train though. What fun!

Paul with Adam looking at the train at Santaland.

Me with Adam at the downtown Portland Macy's Santa-land train display.

Adam in the front of one of the train cars that used to run on the ceiling at Meir and Frank's Santaland.

Adam's First Preschool Christmas Ornaments:

This year was Adam's first time making ornaments in preschool. I was amazed at how wonderful and precious they are! I especially like the face on the gingerbread man!

A gingerbread man ornament that Adam made at school.

The sparkly ornament Adam made with beads.

Making Christmas Cookies:

The other day I made some sugar cookie dough and Adam helped cut out the cookies and decorate them. We had so much fun. He even told a story about the cookie cutters which I wrote down and pass along to you below. He was very patient with the cutting out process and had a great time picking out icing colors and sprinkles. His favorite decorations were the hot cinnamon "buttons." He loved to combine those with green sprinkles for a festive flair! Here are a few pictures of our cookie making adventures. Also, here is the link to the recipe we used. I like how the cookies were sturdy but still had great flavor! I also liked how pretty and shiny the glaze recipe was!

http://www.food.com/recipe/roll-out-classic-butter-sugar-cookies-christmas-or-holidays-223477

Adam cutting out a star sugar cookie.

Adam decorating a sugar cookie.

Adam telling a story about the cookie cutters.

This is the story that Adam told about the cookie cutters:

"Goodnight Moon" said the girl and the angel. "It's bedtime."

They were scary from that scary noise.

"Girl Angel are you there?" said the girl.

"Come on out, it's bedtime."

"Don't be scared. The moon is not going to be scary from those girls and the angel."

"They better fly to the moon."

I love this story and I am so happy that I wrote it down. It was a special memory that we made that day together making and decorating cookies and I love that Adam told a story using the girl, angel and moon cookie cutters! So creative and fun!

Cooking:

Since the holidays are approaching I have not done quite as many varied dinners as I usually do because I have been fitting in extra baking and other activities. I still made a couple of dishes we really enjoyed and also some amazing cookies! Enjoy them all!


Shrimp with Grits:

I made this dish upon request from my husband Paul. We all really loved it! This is a recipe from Paula Deen. I love how simple it is yet how amazingly delicious and fancy it seems!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup stone-ground grits
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, left whole if small and roughly chopped if medium or large
• 6 slices bacon, chopped into tiny pieces
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts
• 1 large garlic clove, minced

Directions:

1. To make the shrimp and grits recipe, bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the grits and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well with a whisk. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook the grits until all the water is absorbed, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Keep covered until ready to serve.

2. Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned and crisp, then drain on a paper towel. Add the shrimp to the bacon grease in the skillet and saute over medium heat just until they turn pink, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook! Immediately add the lemon juice, parsley, green onions, and garlic. Remove the skillet from the heat.

3. Pour the grits into a serving bowl. Pour the shrimp mixture over the grits. Garnish with the bacon bits.

Note: If you are serving this as an appetizer, spoon 1/4 cup grits onto a bread or salad plate. Top with 1/4 cup of the shrimp mixture. Garnish with a sprinkling of crisp bacon bits and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Nachos:

This is a twist on a dish I grew up with. We always had nachos as a bean casserole which we would dip chips into. It was one of our favorite dishes growing up. Recently I talked to my mom and found out the origin of the recipe. She said that it was from a "Sunset Magazine". The original was served in an oval dish with corn chips placed all around the rim. In our family we always had one small "section" of the nacho that had hot salsa on top reserved for my parents. This is a vegetarian version I made of the nacho dish I love. I made these for my husband's holiday potluck at his work.

The nachos before I put the cheese on top.

Refried Beans:

1 pound dry pinto beans
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3-4 tablespoons butter
salt to taste
water

1. Place the beans, onion, garlic and some salt to taste in a crock pot. Pour enough water over to cover the beans. It should go 1-2 inches above the beans. Cook overnight or for 8 hours on the low setting.

2. In the morning, or 8 hours later, place the beans and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the bean liquid in a large saucepan along with the butter.

3. Mash the beans with a potato masher while cooking them over medium heat. Add salt to taste. Mash and cook the beans until they are fairly smooth. It is okay to have a few beans that aren't mashed.

4. Place the refried beans in a 13 x 9 casserole dish.

Casserole toppings:

1 package white button mushrooms, sliced
1 Anaheim pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
Adobo seasoning to taste
Pico de gallo seasoning or chili powder to taste
1 package whole milk mozarella cheese, grated
salsa- if desired
olive oil

1. Heat your oven to 400F.

2. Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Saute the mushrooms, peppers and onion together until they are soft. Add seasonings as desired. Make sure to taste and add according to what you like.

3. Place the sauteed vegetables on top of the refried beans in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the grated mozarella cheese on top.

4. Place the nachos in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes. Make sure the edges are bubbly.

Enjoy!

Carol's Ginger Molasses Cookies:

My dear friend Carol perfected this recipe for these delightfully spiced cookies. In my book, they are absolutely perfect and everything I could want in a cookie! It is an amazing recipe and I love to make them for Christmas!

One of my favorite cookies ever- they are soft, spicy and crunchy-sugary!

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Extra sugar for rolling the cookies in before baking

1. Mix the ingredients in order given with a stand mixer or a hand mixer.

2. Chill the dough for around an hour.

3. Roll into small balls and then roll in sugar. Place the cookie balls on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

4. Heat your oven to 375F.

5. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes.


Pretzel Caramel Peanut Bars:

This is a new recipe I tried this year. It is spectacular! It is from a Christmas cookie magazine I could not resist buying a few years ago.

The delicious caramel peanut cookie bars!

Ingredients:

Cookie Base:

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup crushed pretzels
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Peanut Butter Layer:

1 7 ounce jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup salted cocktail peanuts

Caramel Layer:

One 14 oz. package vanilla caramels, unwrapped
3 tablespoons milk


1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13x9x2 inch pan with heavy foil, extending foil over edges of the pan, spray the foil with cooking oil spray; set pan aside. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour, pretzels, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour mixture. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, in a medium microwave safe bowl, combine marshmallow creme and peanut butter. Microwave on 100 percent (high) power for 1 minute or until softened and slightly melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Stir in powdered sugar. Spread mixture over crust. Sprinkle with salted peanuts.

4. In a heavy, large saucepan , combine unwrapped caramels and milk. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth. Pour caramel mixture evenly over peanut layer. Cool in pan on wire rack. Using the foil, lift the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into bars.

Makes 48 bars.

Enjoy!


Gingerbread White Chocolate Chip Bars:

This is a Martha Stewart recipe. The original asked you to make the bars in a jelly roll pan and pat them out thin. I read several comments that said it was better to put them into a regular 13 x 9 pan and bake them like brownies. I am very glad I did because they turned out soft and delicious! I also used white chocolate chips that I had on hand instead of the chopped white chocolate. My husband said these are like gingerbread brownies and he is right!

These bars are soft, chewy, buttery and spiced just like gingerbread!

Ingredients:

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 bag (11 to 12 ounces ounces) white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
2. Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate chips.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape.

Enjoy!

The beautiful Christmas wreath we put up this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you and I am looking forward to continuing this wonderful journey of wonder and discovery with you in 2012! I am continuing to discover who I am and what lies ahead for me and my family. I know that there are some amazing times coming up!