Cherry Cakes (Brown Sugar Shortbread)

Cherry Cakes have been a family tradition in our family for  christmas.  A very festive cookie that disappear quicker than you can bake them.

It is actually a brown sugar shortbread, but dressed up for christmas with the red and green cherries on top.  You may want to double this recipe.  They do go fast.

1 cup Butter
3/4 cup br sugar
1 egg yolk
2 c flour
red and green Glazed cherries chopped

Cream butter.  My Mom always said cream it until it turns white.  You'll see the butter change color as it becomes whipped.

Add sugar and beat
Add Egg yolk and beat
Add flour 1/2 cup at a time. There may come a point where you will have to finish incorporating the flour with your hands.  Both my sister and I agree on this point so keep your hands clean.

Shape into small balls and place on cookies sheet.  Flatten them, either with a fork like you would peanut butter cookies, or, my personal favorite, with 3 flat fingers.

Add a piece of red and green to the top of the cookies and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.  Make sure you take them out before they brown.  They're great hot, and santa really likes them too.

Clams & Linguini

I am still in a swoon over this dish.  This is a personal interpretation of a dish that I've picked up from a review of Don Pepe's in NY.

We have been searching for a good Clams & Linguini dish for a few years now.  Everything that we have tried has come up short...Until today.

3 full bulbs of garlic.  peel cloves and snip off the ends
3-4 lbs of clams - shucked and juice saved
1/2 cup chopped italian parsley
~ 1 tsp Sea Salt
~ 1/4 tsp fresh ground Pepper
1 - 1.5 cups Olive oil
Fettucini pasta

1 really nice loaf of sourdough bread

Peel cloves, shuck the clams into a bowl, saving as much liquid as possible...this is the essence of this dish.

Put water on to boil for the pasta.  You will want to time the pasta with the completion of the sauce

Put oil in a shallow saucepan.  You will need all of it.  warm it to a medium temp and add all of the garlic cloves.  DO NOT cut the garlic up, full cloves are required.  You will need enough oil for the cloves to bathe in.  Slowly cook the cloves until the turn a nice rich medium brown.   If they are cooking too fast, turn your temp down a bit,  you want them soft, sweet and browned.

 Once the garlic is done, add parsley, clams, salt and pepper.  Bring up to a simmer, add ALL the clam nectar left, and one small ladel of pasta water.  Your sauce will taste a little salty but once you add it to the pasta it will even out perfectly.

Drain pasta, place in a serving bowl or deep plate, pour the clam sauce over top and serve with bread and wine.

Pictures to follow

This is a classic favorite
Cheers
Sherri 

Halloween cookie adventures!

Halloween is fast approaching.  Our family is in full anticipation mode.  Yard decorating will be in full swing this weekend.  OH how we LOVE Halloween!  I remember as a child, the air smelled electric on halloween.  Fallen leaves were exceptionally crunchy under foot.  Excited butterflies were tickling my tummy.  It was an exciting time.

Now with children of my own, I am hoping that their memories of halloween will be just as magical as mine were.  This year was the first year that my eldest son was keen on actually HELPING with making halloween cookies, and I have forced myself to harness my control freak nature in the kitchen so that we could enjoy the process.

This was my first experiment with royal icing, and I do think that it did turn out with a good consistency, though the recipe I used required me to dial back the consistency with water.

This is the one we used from the Joy Of baking:
Royal Icing Recipe

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:

2 large (60 grams) egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups (330 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. (The right consistency to cover or "flood" sugar cookies is when you lift the beater, the ribbon of icing that falls back into the bowl remains on the surface for a few seconds before disappearing. Another test is to take a cookie and place a small amount of icing in the center of the cookie. Using a small knife, push the icing to the edge of the cookie. If the icing runs off the edge, thicken the icing by adding a little more confectioners sugar. Conversely, if the icing is too thick, add a little water.) The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air.  Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

I used sandwich bags and snap clips for mini icing bags.  Reinforcing a corner with Tape so that the hole we cut would not expand as we used it.

One note would be to be careful with Black dye.  I did purchase some proper Wilson dyes for the project, but they didn't seem to be of the consistency or potency that I remember my mom used.  They were more Jelly like as opposed to the paste that I was used to.  I will have to research this.  Anyway, we ended up with inedible Black icing because it took so much dye to arrive at a proper black.

Oh well Lesson learned, and it did not hamper the cookie decorating experience one little bit.

We used a simple sugar cookie recipe as well...perfect for decorating!

This is the one we used:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Here is the end result:

I especially love the mummies... created and designed by my little guy.

Have a Goulish Halloween!
Sherri 

Canadian Thanksgiving

We just saw another Canadian Thanksgiving come and go.  It was wonderful to be able to experience it in Canada this year.

My memories of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays of my childhood always had a glimmer of excitement.  Mom and Dad cooking in the kitchen, wonderful smells permeating throughout the house, special place settings with the 'Good China', and it was the only times that we, as children, had the opportunity to drink out of tiny wine glasses that were usually stored high in the china cabinet so that we could join in the 'toasts' around the table.

One particular year, after a very filling meal and dessert, my mother declared that we should have a toast.  My brother, about 4 at the time, jumped up from the table and ran to the kitchen and proceeded to pull out the toaster with excitement.   We all looked on quizzically, and asked what he was doing.  He declared that he was getting ready to make the toast!...it was very hard to fill his hollow leg!

Whether it was just our immediate family, or whether relatives were visiting, it was always seemed to be a magical time.

This year we would be celebrating our thanksgiving with just our small young family, so we planned to make it a special time for our boys.  Since there are only 4 of us we were hesitant to buy the big bird.  My husband happened upon this recipe that would add a bit of magic to our day without having to eat turkey for the next few weeks:

Baked Chicken in Sugar Pumpkin

Here is what the final product looks like:

This was a very low maintenance bake as the pumpkin top seals closed and the chicken bakes sealed in its own juices.  Remember to put the pumpkin on a pan rather than directly on the oven grate as some juices will seep out from the bottom close to the end of the cooking time.

The Jus from this pumkin, including the juice that seeps out, is the best part of this recipe.  You will want to save every last drop.  I did have to add salt to it in order to boost the flavor, and I would probably be more generous in seasoning the bird with salt prior to cooking.

We served this dish with a basic Parmesan risotto, Maple baked Acorn squash, Cranberry, sour cherry & Red onion compote, Glazed carrots, Wild Mushrooms, and toasted pumpkin seeds (homemade from the pumpkin) .  The pumpkin seeds were the perfect last touch to this delectable meal.

Now on to Halloween!  Our favorite time of the year
Sherri 

Great food link

I was looking for a recipe for Laksa paste today and found it at this interesting blog by Miles Collins.  After  exploring his blog I felt compelled to post his link here.  There are a quite few recipes that scream to be tried. I hope you find it useful as well.

Miles Collins food blog

You are what you eat.

If you are concerned about your health this documentary is a must see.  We can take control of our own health if we understand how the human body works.  This documentary will explain it all to you and show you how accessible your solution can be.

Food Matters

Mac - N - Cheese Epiphany

One of my comfort foods from when I was growing up was my mom's homemade Mac-n-cheese with tomatoes casserole.  I've made it a few times for my own family but the reviews have always been negative.  Why?  Even the Mac-n- cheese that i've made for the kids isn't really a hit.

I've been totally put off by the finding that Kraft Mac-n-cheese contains Tartrazine (Sp?) which is the yellow coloring for the cheese.  This is known as having a direct link to Cancer.  Why they would continue to put it in their product is boggling to me.

So I try to opt for homemade.  My Hubby always says that my version tastes flour-y in texture.  Sure I put a spoon of flour for thickening...that's how my mom always did it.

This week I had an epiphany.  We made Alfredo sauce from scratch this week at home.  Oh soooo easy and quick and Really Yum! And...you guessed it... No flour.

So we tried the Mac-n-cheese version today with great success

Here's the recipe:

1 cup of dried macaroni

1 cup of Milk or cream
1/4 cup butter
1 cup (or more) of grated cheddar cheese
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp prepared mustard
a dash of garlic/onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Make sure your macaroni is mostly cooked by the time you start the sauce.  Melt butter and milk/cream together.  Add remaining ingredients and combine until the cheese is melted.

Drain macaroni, and put back into the pot, add the cheese sauce, combine and warm. It will start to thicken with the starch from the pasta.

Enjoy!
Sherri

Lets go Bananas

I am Bananas for baby bananas!  One thing I haven't made since being in India is Banana Bread!  This thought struck me just recently as I was eating a baby banana.

In Canada one the main ingredient in banana bread - Bananas - are pretty bland comparably, and any good baker will tell you that the more over ripe your bananas the better because they will give you a better more richly banana flavored end product.

I do buy banana bread here.  It is a pretty standard recess snack for my eldest child.  But He always picks out the raisins and the nuts and brings them back home in his lunch pail.  *Sigh*

I always had a problem in Canada of not having the time to make banana bread when the bananas were sufficiently ripe, or saving the bananas long enough to get ripe enough!

Baby bananas here have a very sweet strong banana flavor even when they are still yellow, which means I don't have to time my baking on the ripeness of my ingredients.

I think some baking is in order...I will let you know how it goes, and post recipe and pictures soon.

Wish me luck!
Sherri

Master Cleanse

It may seem somewhat Ironic that I am posting on my food blog about not eating.  But really, Cleansing is a great way to keep your body looking and feeling great.

My New Years resolution this year was to do another Master Cleanse.  It has been 6 years and 2 babies in the making, but I was finally able to cleanse this year.

I lasted a whopping 14 days, and I can say that cooking for a family was what got me through it.  The first cleanse I did (6 Years ago) did not require my cooking prowess.  My husband did his own cooking.  I lasted the requisite 10 days, but by the end of 7 I was bored with not thinking, working with, eating food.

Do we really realize the amount of time we spend focused on food?  As I sit here great smells of chicken curry are wafting from our kitchen where my father-in-law is hard at work.  Supper will be great tonight.

We can't get away from it.  I believe this was the first thing that I noticed on my first cleanse....Food is everywhere!  On tv, on the radio, in magazines, as you walk down the street.  We talk about what we are going to buy at the store, how much it was, what we are going to make with it, we critique it as we are eating, we reminisce about it after we've finished the meal.  We Buy it, we cook it, we clean up after it, we prepare for our next encounter with food.

Finally, we Digest it.  which expends 60 - 75% of the energy we burn on a daily basis

So when we remove all of those things from our lives what we are left with is more than double the energy and nothing to do with it!

Mom's Famous Pancakes

Pancakes have always been our eldest child's favorite breakfast choice since he was able to eat solid food.  When we got to India however finding Maple Syrup was like searching for a needle in a haystack.  There was no having Pancakes without it...it was that simple.  Up until a few months ago there was none to be found...and then BINGO! We found a source, and the much loved pancake was added back into the breakfast menu...or should I say, it became the breakfast menu because he will now settle for nothing else.

I have been working with a certain Pancake recipe.  Tweaking it over the past few years.  Here is the current recipe with variation.  It is a very wholesome recipe that you should feel happy to feed the kids.

1 large egg
2/3 cup plain yogourt
1/3 cup milk

Combine these ingredients with a whisk.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp Baking soda
1tsp Baking Powder

Whisk together until smooth.

Depending on the consistency of the yogourt that you are using you can sometimes end up with a very thick batter with the above wet ingredient list.  In this case add extra milk as necessary to make it the right consistency.  It needs to be smooth but not too runny.

When in Canada I usually substitute 1/4 cup of the flour for bran or wheatgerm or oat flour or another grain.

You can also add a mashed banana if your kids like a little sweetness in their pancakes, or if you want to make it even more healthy for them.

I usually fry them in Butter with a little olive oil to keep the butter from burning.  I make 2 to a pan which is the perfect 'Kid' size pancake.  Maple syrup for your topping and you have got yourself a great nutritious breakfast that your kids will love.

Until next time!
Sherri

Chicken Terragon Casserole

Whenever I roast a chicken, invariably there are leftovers that will end up going to waste.  Here is a great  chicken noodle casserole recipe that the kids LOVE.

3 cups bowtie pasta

Boil water and add Pasta.  Cook until al dente and drain, then place in casserole dish

1 Tbsp Butter
2 Cups Chopped fresh mushrooms

1 carrot chopped however you like

2 stalks Celery Chopped

3 spring onions chopped

1.5 cups chicken or Veg Broth

1 tsp Minced Garlic

1 bay leaf

In a Wok melt butter on high heat and add mushrooms.  Cook until the liquid evaporates.
Add Carrot and Celery and stirfry for another 3 minutes.  Add onion, Garlic, Bay leaf.  Stirfry for another minute then add the broth cover and simmer until carrots and celery are tender.

Remove from heat, Strain and set aside 1 cup of broth.  Discard any remaining liquid or add more water if less than 1 cup remains. Put veggies in a casserole dish and cover

1/3 cup Flour

2 tbsp Cornstarch

1 cup Milk
1 Cup Reserved broth
1 tsp Terragon
1 tsp Salt
1/3 cup White wine
1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

Wisk together four and cornstarch to combine in the wok.  Slowly add milk whisking briskly to avoid any lumps.  Once combined add stock, Terragon and Salt.  Place over medium heat wicking constantly until the sauce thickens.  Add wine and continue to whisk until thick.  Remove from heat.  Add cheese and combine.

1.5 Cup Cooked chopped chicken

Combine chicken, veggies, Noodles and sauce in casserole dish.

1 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup bread crumbs

In a small pan melt butter and add bread crumbs,  combine until evenly coated and sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 375 for 30 - 45 minutes or until it is bubbling.

Keep those Kids Happy!
Sherri 

My new favorite Vanilla Icing recipe

Buttercream Icing has been the staple cake covering in our household since I was a child.  Now that I have kids of my own, and I have to say I probably make more cakes and cupcakes than my mom ever did, I have been looking for an Icing that isn't as sweet.  And with a little modification, as usual, we have a new favorite.

Let me also say that though my mom didn't bake a lot, she has superb cake decorating skills.  Our birthday cakes were second to none, and you would be hard pressed to find a shop today that output her calibre creations without shelling out some serious Dough.  I think this is where I have formed my love for the almighty cake.  Like her my favorite flavoring is of course Chocolate.

So far I've only attempted this as a strictly Vanilla Icing, but I will post about my experience with 'Chocolatizing' it soon and what I think are the requirements to get it there.

I know when it comes to baking 'Lard' or 'crisco' tend to be major players.  Wherever I can I replace this tasteless fat/filler.  Butter is always better in my books and is a no brainer switchout when I see crisco in a recipe.  You will probably never see a recipe on this blog that includes the dreaded Crisco.

Here is the ingredient list:

1 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1.5 tsp vanilla

1 cup butter (room temp)
1 cup granulated white sugar

In a small saucepan put the flour.  slowly add the cold milk whisking constantly to ensure that you don't get any lumps.  Once you have achieved the non lumpy combo add the Vanilla and place on the stove over medium low heat.  Whisk or stir constantly until the mixture starts to thicken. Once it starts it will thicken really fast.  Once it starts to coat your spoon remove from heat. Allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cream together butter and sugar using beaters for about 5 minutes.  Once you have cooled the milk mixture  as directed, add to the butter/sugar and beat for another few minutes.  The sugar should totally dissolve and you will have a smooth creamy not too sweet frosting for your next great cake.

Happy Baking
Sherri