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Crinkle Cookies, Decorating And More Stuff

I have no idea where time is going, it’s already the end of the week, Christmas is a week from today. I haven’t really done anything except make a few gift baskets, I still have so much to do, I am way behind schedule.  Honestly, this year is very hard, I am trying, but my heart is not in it. I did sign up for Secret Santa/Wino on a wine blog I follow, The Drunken Cycalist and got a lovely gift.  Jeff organzes this every year and this time I decided to participate. It was fun and I get to try some great wine. Thank you to Allison who sent me this wonderful gift. I have not opened the wine yet, waiting to make the right meal to pair with. That prickly pear jelly is so good, must find it.

Secret Santa gift

Secret Santa gift, wine, sausage, candy, jelly

I have been baking, I made some gift baskets, have a few more to make, had our block association Holiday party and baked for that also. Last year I made fruit cakes and loved the recipe so I made them again this year, I really soaked them with the reserved cognac syrup. So delicious.

fruit cakes

fruit cakes

Made some thumbprints, again same recipe as last year. They are delicious.

Chocolate thumbprint

Chocolate thumbprint

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I am adding some cookies to my holiday repertoire I mentioned the biscotti in a previous post along with Pecan Chewiess and Vanilice. I also decided to make chocolate crinkle cookies. I think they look so beautiful and I love anything chocolate. They turned out so good, it’s another recipe from Fida at Sweet and Savory Pursuits. The cookies are as light as a feather and so delicious, I have linked to the site so you can try the recipe, It’s wonderful. I also made my cardamom, orange and chocolate ribbon cookies.

Packing the cookies

Packing the cookies

Last but not least I started to decorate, I dragged multiple boxes of decorations upstairs and started unpacking and one of the first things I came across were Izzy and Nando’s Holiday Stockings. It made me so sad,  I hung them on the mantle like I do every year. My sweet little dogs will always be with me in spirit.

decorated mantle

decorated mantle.

I hope you all have a great weekend and get all of your holiday shopping, baking and decorating done.  Are you the very definition of organization and efficiency? Have you done all of your shopping and decorating or do you make a mad rush to finish it all just in the knick of time?

A Guest Post, Mannele- Alsace Christmas Cookies

 

I have mentioned before (on more than one occasion) that I am a Air bnb host. One of the great things about doing this is the people I meet. One of my guests who lives in France happens to be a food blogger and EXTREMELY talented animator.  Ariana and her partner/friend Lucie have the beautiful blog Cosmic Tomatoes between these two very talented ladies we are presented with delicious recipes and brilliant animated art work. I was so happy to meet and get to know her while she stayed with me, she said that their collaboration is a happy marriage of art and food, Ariana is the artist and Lucie the recipe developer. The yeasted Holiday cookie is a Christmas tradition in the Alsace region of France, Mannele/Mannala is probably much like the cut out sugar cookies here in the US or the ever popular gingerbread people.  I hope you enjoy this guest post from our friends and neighbors in France. I follow Ariana’s blog she is also on Pinterest, FacebookInstagram and I am loving the Advent calendar they are working on. Show Ariana some love and give both Ariana and Lucie a warm welcome. Take it away Ariana….

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In Alsace starting from December 6th this brioche-man is offered to children by men disguised as Saint Nicholas. This is in fact a simplified representation of Saint Nicolas that can be found in all Alsatian bakeries during the holidays …

ingredients

. 1 kg flour
. 20 g salt
. 150g sugar
. 40 g yeast
. 2 eggs
. 45 cl milk
. 250 g butter

. 2 egg yolk
. chocolate chips or raisins

1/ Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast, milk and eggs.

2/ Beat for 5 minutes at low speed, then the second speed for 6-8 minutes until you get an elastic dough.

3/ Add the butter and start kneading until it is incorporated.

4 / Let the dough rest for 1 hour in ambient air, covered with a plastic film.

5/ Separate pieces of 70g from the dough and shape little men (or any other creature you wish to). Let them rest for another hour.

6 / Cover the Manneles with eggs yolks and decorate them with chocolate chips or raisins.

7 / Bake at 180 ° C for about 15 minutes.

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Holiday Gift Baskets And Some Biscotti For Fiesta Friday #98

cranberry pistachio biscotti

cranberry pistachio biscotti

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, the first line and title of Andy Williams great Holiday song. It’s also the busiest time of the year. As a general rule I don’t really buy gifts for most friends or relatives, I am not a grinch really I just prefer to make my gifts at least for the adults, clients and friends.

I make the same cookies pretty much every year along with mini loaves of banana or other fruit loaves, including fruit cake. I always add a new cookie recipe or two to the line up, last year was a chocolate thumbprint with a hershey’s white striped kiss on it. This year I am adding biscotti, a wonderful recipe from Fida and her lovely blog  Sweet and Savory Pursuits. I love biscotti, they are crunchy and I am a sucker for anything that can be dipped.

Ready for 2nd bake

Ready for 2nd bake

Gift boxes for clients

Gift baskets for clients

Since I am in the throes of Holiday baking I decided to bring some biscotti to Fiesta Friday this week. Angie decked the halls making for a beautiful and festive party. We have two brand new co-hosts this week  Sadhna @ Herbs, Spices, and Traditions and Natalie @ Kitchen, uncorked

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Brussels Sprout And Bacon Frittata For Fiesta Friday #97

Frittata

Frittata

I bought the Huckleberry cookbook months ago and never got around to making anything from it, life got in the way and the book sat on my shelf with the other cookbooks I’ve meant to use. I do have a method to my madness I mark the recipes with a bookmark and place them on the top of my book case not in the shelves so I see them constantly and am reminded that this book has a recipe I need to make. Huckleberry has multiple book marks, the food looks gorgeous and sounds delicious and I am tempted to cook my way through the entire book but honestly don’t have time and I certainly can’t eat my way through the book. How many of you have cookbooks you bought (because you love them) but have not made anything from them? I would venture to guess at least of few of you fall into this category along with me.

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This recipe for a bacon and brussels sprout frittata immediately jumped out at me. I am a huge fan of eggs and frittata’s in general but adding the sprouts and bacon and cheese just made me happy.

I normally would not publish a recipe in a cookbook unless it has already been widely published online, thats the case with this recipe. It is wonderful, but then all the recipes in Huckleberry Cookbook are great, drool worthy, beautifully written and photographed.

I am bringing this delicious frittata to Fiesta Friday this week, Angie, get some rest you have been burning the candle at both ends, thank goodness she has some help this week with two amazing co hosts Johanne@French Gardener Dishes (who is co-hosting for the first time) and Liz@spades, spatulas & spoons. Thank you Ladies!!

Brussels sprouts and bacon frittata

From Huckleberry Cookbook, serves 6

Filling

8 slices thick bacon, chopped

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs unsalted butter

1 onion chopped

1 tsp kosher salt

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups brussels sprouts thinly sliced plus 1 cup leaves from the sprouts

1/2 tsp black pepper

Custard

10 eggs

2 tbs creme fraiche

2 tbs grated parmesan

1 tbs chopped fresh parsley

2 tbs unsalted butter

2 tbs grated gruyere

Pre heat oven to 475

In large saute pan over medium high heat saute the bacon in 2 tsp of olive oil and the butter until browned. Add the onions 1/2 tsp salt and the thyme and saute until soft, should take about 1o minutes. Add the sliced brussels sprouts and saute for another 5 minutes longer until soft. Transfer the vegetable mixgture to a bowl and set aside.

Toss the brussels sprout leaves in the remaining 1 tsp of olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs. creme fruit, parmesan and parsley and set aside.

In a 10 inch cast iron or oven proof saute pan melt 2 tbs butter over medium high heat. Pour the custard into the pan and stir, lightly scrambling the eggs. Slowly add the vegetables to the custard and continue to scramble. When the eggs are about 30% set sprinkle the brussels sprout leaves and sprinkle the gruyere on top. Transfer to the oven for 8-10 minutes. If it is not browned on top place under the broiler for 2 minutes but watch it like a hawk.

Immediately transfer to plate or serving piece by running a spatula around the edges and underneath to free the frittata from the pan. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Mine did not brown on top for some reason, even under the broiler, probably too far from the heat source but it doesn’t matter, the frittata is perfect and delicious albeit a bit pale.

Delicious

Delicious

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Bread Poha

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This is the recipe for Bread Poha that I saw on Sonal’s site Simply Vegetarian777  and  fell in love with. Bread, spices, pea’s, simple comfort food and a delicious Indian dish. I saw the photo’s and immediately saved the recipe and then sweet Sonal sent me the  spice packet so I have everything I need to put this dish together quickly. I decided to serve it with a 5 minute egg, a little runny, that golden yolk flowing on that delicious bread, well my friends it doesn’t get much better than this. Make this dish, you will be glad you did, really  you have to try it, the recipe is linked above!

Step by step instructions and spice mix

Step by step instructions and spice mix

Bread Poha literally takes minutes to make and is the very definition of Indian comfort food it can be used as a side dish, snack or main dish. I did a little research and saw many variations one showed the Poha with paneer (that looked delicious) among other things. Sonal masterfully mixes the spices,  she sent me a packet that contained everything you need to properly spice the dish, It could not have been easier and I feel totally spoiled.

The Poha was breakfast with a medium soft egg (5 minute egg), I had some leftover cubed brioche that I had used in my Thanksgiving dressing the bread was oven dried and held up nicely during the cooking process but you can use any stale bread torn into bite size pieces.  Thank you Sonal for sending me the spices you are so sweet and it opened up a new breakfast avenue for me, I think I could eat this every day!

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I have had several people ask about the egg, how to do it. It is in between soft and hard boiled. I call it a medium soft egg. It is boiled for exactly 5 minutes. The egg has to be warmed first, not straight from the refrigerator, a room temperature egg is perfect. Bring lightly salted water to a rolling boil, gently lower the egg into the water and time it, at 5 minutes remove the egg and place in a pot or bowl of cold water. Let sit for 1 minute in the cold water then gently peel. The yolk will still be runny but the white of the egg will be firmly set. It works every time and yields a perfectly cooked medium soft egg.

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The Winner Of The Holiday Giveaway

Farmers board

Farmers board

Thank you all for the sweet comments and entering this contest. Full Disclosure, I put the wrong photo up on my post, this is the board Michael made. It is a beautiful board, I have one and use it all the time to serve my rectangular tarts and for cheese and bread. It’s just gorgeous, thank you Michael for sharing your time and talent with us.

The winner of the giveaway is Lynn who has a wonderful and inspiring blog, Lynz Real Cooking, there are fantastic recipes and her stories of raising 9 children in the Middle East is absolutely amazing. Lynn, I am so happy that you won the board. I will send you an email.

But wait, the number 2 slot went to Teagan an incredible author and her blog Teagan’s Books is one of my favorite reads, although she will not get a cutting board from Michael in the spirit of the season I would like to send Teagan a gift basket from me, homemade goodies for her to enjoy.

Thank you all for participating in this giveaway and for being such wonderful readers and friends. Happy Holidays to all!!

Cocktail Turkey Meatballs In Cognac Cream Sauce For Fiesta Friday #96

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I hope everyone had a wondeful Thanksgiving and is spending today relaxing. This is not made with leftover turkey,  I have plenty of that but with ground turkey and this is a recipe I posted in May 2012. I tweaked it for Fiesta Friday, making the meatballs cocktail size and adding some cognac to the cream sauce to make it festive. I actually made these a week ago and they were so good I wanted to bring them to the party. Great on their own or with bread, rice or roasted potatoes.

After probably the biggest food holiday of the year Angie still manages to host this party, you are amazing Angie!! This week there are no co hosts everyone is recovering from the big day. Follow this link to join the party!

Meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
1 shallot or small onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
2 thick slices of bread soaked in milk
salt and pepper to taste

I added chopped parsley, it’s optional and if you do just a few tbs is all you need.

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The Sauce:
2 cups chicken stock
3 tbs flour
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
3 tbs cognac or brandy  and 1 tbs worcestershire sauce

Heat some olive oil in skillet, saute onions until they are soft. In mixing bowl add the turkey, bread soaked in milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper, when onions are done add to the turkey mixture. Stir to combine all ingredients and form into meatballs. In same skillet fry the meatballs, browning on all sides but don’t cook them through. Remove from skillet, using the same skillet with the drippings add the flour, you are making a roux, stir so that its mixed with the pan drippings and let it cook for about a minute. whisk in the the stock, cream, milk,cognac and worcestershire, season with salt and pepper and let it cook so that it thickens.
Place meatballs in baking dish and pour cream sauce over them. Bake in 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

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Happy Thanksgiving And A Holiday Giveaway

Ha!

I wish each and everyone of you a totally awesome and wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you will be enjoying the day with family and friends. The food is important it’s what is the driving force behind the holiday but without our loved ones and friends to enjoy it with we might as well just have a bowl of cereal. I have a lot to be thankful for, family, friends, great job, the sweet memories of my pugs.  I am also thankful for each and every one of you, YES YOU, without each others support and inspiration what would be the point of having a blog. I am thankful for each of your wonderful and uplifting comments, thank you so very much. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, not just because of the food but I love a holiday where there is no pressure to gift anyone, it is a day when we all come together to enjoy each other, catch up (if you haven’t seen each other for a while) eat, drink and be merry.

I start cooking in the morning, it’s a busy day and usually by the time all is said and done I am exhausted but in a good way. The day after Thanksgiving is also the official start of the Holiday Shopping season, I avoid the stores like the plague on Black Friday.

As a holiday gift to you I asked the UBER talented Michael of Michaels woodcraft to make a cutting board which will be given away to one lucky reader. Michaels workmanship and devotion to his craft is inspiring. Thank you Michael!! This is open to US residents only, again, I am sorry that we cannot ship to my international friends. All you need to do is leave a comment and you will be entered. Thank you all for being there and putting up with me and for being so supportive. I truly appreciate it.

Farmers board

Farmers board

This board is gorgeous, made with love by Michael and will last a lifetime if cared for properly. I have to admit I have an addictiion to his boards, everytime I see a new one I have to have it. They really make a gorgeous presentation on the table.

The drawing will be on Wednesday December 2nd, Good luck my friends and have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!!

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Bracciole For Fiesta Friday #95

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The other day I was reminiscing about the Thanksgivings of my childhood and was thinking how much work my Mom put into the meal. My Dad was Italian my Mom American and on holidays we had a bit of a culture clash. Dad wanted Italian food and Mom a traditional Thanksgiving meal so in order to please everyone she made both, she roasted a capon, made dressing and the sides and homemade pasta and bracciole. If you have never heard of or had bracciole you should seek it out, it’s delicious, Round or flank steak cut and pounded thin and made into a roulade or rolled with a stuffing, The stuffings vary a bit but my Mom stuffed with bread soaked in milk, grated romano cheese, pine nuts, raisins and hard boiled egg. Roll and tie, sear and cook low and slow in the tomato sauce. It’s amazingly delicious and brings back memories of home and the holidays, My Mom’s always looked perfect and made a gorgeous presentation mine is not as beautiful but tastes almost exactly the same as hers. I lived in Italy years ago, in Napoli and one of my friends made this one day and I loved that she made small individual rolls, I thought it was a wonderful idea but opted to make it like my Mother and do one big roll.

I am bringing my childhood favorite, bracciole to the party this week which is hosted by Angie and the lovely co hosts  Loretta @ Safari of the Mind and Petra @ Food Eat Love

Bracciole

Serves 6-8

1 1/2-2 lb round or flank steak cut thin and pounded with malet

1 cup bread soaked in milk or water

2 hard boiled eggs

1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese grated

1/4 cup Italian parsley chopped

2 tbs toasted pine nuts

raisins a scattering- optional

salt and pepper to taste

your favorite recipe for tomato sauce or marinara

  1. Bring steak to room temperature, lay on cutting board and pound thin but don’t over pound it so that it tears. Set aside
  2. Squeeze the water out of the bread, hard boil the eggs peel and slice, grate your cheese, toast your pine nuts and chop your parsley.
  3. Lay the steak out on the cutting board season with salt and pepper. have butchers twine ready to tie it up once rolled. Place a layer of the soaked bread on the steak at one end, not all the way to the long ends, leave about an inch on each end. sprinkle with romano cheese, parsley and some pine nuts and optional raisins. Lay the egg slices on top and season with some pepper. Fold each long end to the edge of the stuffing and start rolling making sure the ends are tucked in. Once it’s rolled tie it with butchers twine to keep it together.
  4. Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven on high. Sear the meat on all sides, Remove from the pot and prepare your tomato sauce as you normally would. When sauce is ready to cook Place meat in sauce and simmer for at least 2 1/2 hours so that it’s very tender. To serve remove string or twine and slice in rounds, spoon sauce and grated cheese on top and enjoy.
bracciole

bracciole

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Thanksgiving Preparation

Photo by James Ransom

Photo by James Ransom for food52

I don’t know where the time went, next week is Thanksgiving. It dawned on me today so I started prepping. I make the same thing every single year, no change there would be a coup if I did. Part of me didn’t want Thanksgiving to get here even though it’s my favorite holiday, it’s my first without Izzy and Nando and I feel sad.  That said I have started prepping, write the shopping list, order the turkey, make what I can in advance, bread cubes are drying in oven as I type this. Took a whole chicken out of the freezer to make stock. There is a lot of work and planning that goes into one meal and I do what I can in advance. Is that what you do? I usually have 8-10 here for Thanksgiving. How many do you have over?

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What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Do you cook/host the meal or go to friends or relatives. Have you started preparing? Would love to know what everyone does, I know that some of you from other countries do not celebrate Thanksgiving. What is on the menu at your house? Traditional or non traditional or a mixture of both. Here is my menu with links to the recipes.

Butter and herb roasted turkey

Dressing

mashed potatoes- yukon gold, sour cream. butter salt and pepper

brussels sprouts- oven roasted

corn – steamed and served with some butter

homemade potato dinner rolls

cranberry sauce- use the recipe on the ocean spray package but sub fresh squeezed orange juice for the water and add some orange zest.

pumpkin and pecan pie – I usually just use the pumpkin pie recipe on the can of LIbby’s pumpkin, may do something different this year from my good friend Johnny at Kitschen Flavors.

I have a pretty strict time line making as much as I can in advance.

Done in advance:

Make chicken stock (need for dressing)

Make cornbread and air dry (2 days before I make the dressing)

Dry bread cubes for dressing (doing that today)

Cranberry sauce made ahead and refrigerated (making it this weekend)

Make compound butter for turkey (Monday)

Make pie dough and refrigerate (Tuesday)

Day before:

Prep the turkey putting the compound butter under the skin, and refrigerate.

Make dressing cover refrigerate.

Make the bread dough, form into rolls, cover and refrigerate until a few hours before baking them.

Make the pies plus an extra for a friend, the apple and pear tart

Thanksgiving Day:

We eat late around 5:30 or 6PM. I’ve heard that most eat early like lunch time. This is actually the easiest day, I have already done a lot of the work. Set the table, get the wine ready, refrigerate the white, let the red breathe/decant.

Turkey goes in at around noon – I get at 18-20 lb turkey and it’s done in 3 ish hours because of the fast cooking method I use in my graniteware pan.

Peel potatoes and cut and let sit in cold salted water until ready to boil. (Usually around 4PM)

Make the corn and brussels sprouts.

Bake the dressing

Bake the rolls right before dinner is served so they are hot.

Whew, it’s a lot of work but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Love Thanksgiving!!

Izzy And Nando

Izzy And Nando