"Five" Minute Pita - For Real

 In my last post I glossed over the fact that I made pita to go with our amazing falafel dinner. Lest you think that I am some kind of baking guru, let me assure you that pita bread is so so so easy to make. The only "technical" piece of equipment you need is a pizza stone. But I think you could probably use a baking sheet and make it work.

Last spring I posted about the wonders of the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book. You can make a really good loaf of bread following their method. But you can make really incredible pita bread. What I mean to say is: You can make the best pita ever. And it really takes no time at all.

Here is their basic bread recipe with step by step instructions and photos. Once you have made a bucket, or pot, or big bowl of dough you can do all kinds of things with it. Obviously, you can shape a whole loaf of bread, or make bread sticks, or a pizza etc. But if you want to have fresh bread ASAP, make pita.

Here's what you do:
-Heat your oven with a pizza stone to 400. If you don't have a stone, put a heavy duty baking sheet in the oven and let it get hot.
-Scoop out a small handful of dough and roll it out to about 1/4 to 1/8 inch. You will need lots of flour.
-Use a pizza peel to slide the flattened dough on to the stone. Or, place the dough on parchment and use a pan or cookie sheet to slide it onto the hot baking surface.
-Turn on your oven light, call the kids and watch your flat dough bubble up and become pita. Takes about 7 minutes. Highly entertaining.
-BTW: If you prick the dough all over with a fork before putting in the oven, it wont puff and you will have lavash instead of pita. Equally delicious.

Best Ever Almond Butter

I have been a lame blogger of late. Dave took a new job that has him out of town three nights a week. Needless to say, we have been a little discombobulated around here. I have not exactly been a model of cooking excellence.

Until today.

Today I made Cinnamon Raisin Almond Butter. (That's right, this qualifies as cooking in my book.) I saw a post about this on the Tasty Kitchen blog and I decided to give in a try. It took about as long as it takes to play four Uno games with Kara. Not only did she have fun measuring the almonds, but watching nuts turn to butter turned out to be completely fascinating to both my kids.

I made the recipe as written by Eating Bird Food with two changes: She says that if you just process the ingredients long enough in your food processor, it will get smooth and creamy. Well, that might be the case, but I started to fear for the health of my Cuisinart, so I added about 3 tablespoons of peanut oil. Worked like a charm. Also, I added a couple squeezes of honey.

Can't wait to have this for breakfast tomorrow. Can't wait to share it with Dave when he comes home.

Homemade Challah

Challah is one of my most favorite things on this earth. Next to my family, friends, etc., of course. But seriously, challah is probably the yummiest bread I know. If you don't know from challah, you are missing out. Get yourself out to a good deli or bakery and grab a loaf. Sweet, rich and soft egg bread, challah is the perfect breakfast toast, the best pb&j bread and hands down the best French toast bread - it's not even a contest.

In my continuing quest to make my own bread, I made some challah a few weeks back. It wasn't quite as good as the bread my Grandma Bea gets for me when we visit, but it was a close second. It's really easy to make and looked gorgeous. This would be super fun to do with little ones too.

This recipe should make 2 loaves.

-In a large bowl mix 2 eggs, 1/4 melted butter, 2 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 1/4 cup honey, 1 1/2 tbsp yeast
-Add 3 1/2 cups flour and mix until combined. The dough will be wet and shaggy.
-Let rise for at least 2 hours.

This is what the dough looks like just mixed. (Nice bread bucket, right?) It expands quite a bit, so make sure you use a big bowl or pot to avoid a dough fiasco on your counter.

-At this point, you can make your bread, or refrigerate the dough for up to 4 days. I recommend refrigerating the dough for at least a couple of hours - cold dough is just easier to work with.

-When you are ready to bake: Divide dough in half. Divide each half in to three pieces and roll into long ropes - about 12 inches each. You will need to flour your hands and work surface to keep from having a sticky, frustrating dough mess. Line up the 3 pieces of dough and starting from the center braid out to one end and then repeat so that you have one big braid. Pinch the ends together. Place braided loaves on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Let stand for at least an hour.

 I don't usually do the step-by-step photo thing, but I was 

pretty proud of myself during this cooking endevor.

-Heat oven to 350. Brush the tops of the bread with egg wash. Bake for 25-35 minutes.

 I made one plain loaf and for the second loaf  I improvised a cinnamon raisin version. I just rolled out each strand of dough, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and about a 1/2 cup of raisins. I closed up each strand and then braided as usual. It was fabulous!

One more tip: This is a dough scraper, a tool I had never even heard of until a month ago. If you ever make anything involving dough, you should invest. And by invest I mean plunk down the whole 5 bucks that this costs. It is great for cutting, measuring, dividing and, clearly, scraping up dough. Amazing gadget that I wish I had owned before a month ago.

Cupcake Catastophe

This is the week of Kara's birthday - the big 6. By our count, she will get to celebrate her big day four times: at the beach with Dave's family, at school with her class, at our house for our traditional family birthday dinner and at her birthday party with her girls this weekend. I am exhausted just writing about all that frolicking. Though this all could seem a little excessive, I am apt to shrug off those concerns. If you can't totally embrace the joy of birthdays as a six year old, I don't know when you can.

I will admit that one of my favorite parts about celebrating Kara's birthday is making the classroom cupcakes together. As I have mentioned before, I love box cake mix, so this is the perfect excuse to purchase and then sample some of Betty Crocker's finest. I also love the icing in a can. I know that objectively speaking it is a pretty nasty concoction of oil and high fructose corn syrup, but it tastes great and is super easy to use on cupcakes. (Box cake and icing exist in a special loophole of my basic philosophy that we should eat locally, sustainably produced whole foods. I embrace my hypocrisy on this one.)

Yesterday while Kara was at school, Jamie and I made the cupcakes in anticipation of decorating them after school. After applying a thick layer of icing, Kara got busy decorating each individual cupcake with a rainbow of sprinkles. It was darling and those cupcakes looked lovely.

All was well until we went out for t-ball after dinner. I "hid" the cupcakes on the top of the microwave which is about 5 feet off the ground. I was under the assumption that this would prevent our dessert-loving mutt from eating them. Bailey, the mutt in question, has quite a tradition of gobbling sweets off the counter, so we are pretty well trained to keep them out of harms way. Imagine my shock when Dave called to "mentally prepare" me for what he found when he got home. Bailey didn't eat all the cupcakes - turns out her limit is 15. Sometimes I wonder why we have pets at all.

Anyway...I ran out to the store for more Betty Crocker, whipped up another two dozen cakes, and this morning Kara decorated them all over again. All in all, we handled the cupcake incident with uncharacteristic grace and calm. Kara wisely commented, "I am bummed Bailey ate my cupcakes, mom, but at least we get to make them together again." Smartest six year old ever.

Power of the Pancake

Last year when Jamie was still mastering the art of eating solid food, we went through a phase where he would eat just about anything...if it was in a pancake. Who can really blame him? Pancakes are awesome. They can be sweet or savory. Obviously, they are a fabulous way to start the day, but they are just as good for lunch and brinner. And pancakes are just plain fun to make, especially with kids. These days when we have a pancake meal, I am flanked by Kara and Jamie for the whole cooking process. Even when they are fussing over who gets to stir or who can add the blueberries, I love every minute of it.

A box of pancake mix is great to have around. I am a big fan of Bisquick and the Trader Joe's multigrain mix. But if you find yourself out of pre-made mix, there is a 90% chance you have everything you need to make pancake batter right in your pantry. Here is Mark Bittman's recipe for basic pancakes. This is the one I use on a pretty regular basis. It makes a lot of batter; I almost always have leftover for another pancake meal. This is also a really flexible recipe. You can add more or less milk to get the thickness you like. You can easily add wheat flour, oat flour or other whole grains. If you like a tangy pancake, use some yogurt or buttermilk in place of the milk and substitute 1 tsp of baking soda for the baking powder.

Dave likes his pancakes straight up. Kara and Jamie love blueberry pancakes the best. Somehow I made it almost to 40 without putting it together that frozen blueberries work just fine in all manner of baked goods. I recommend keeping a bag in your freezer for the Saturday morning when nothing less than a stack of pancakes will do.

I don't think I have ever met a pancake product that I didn't like. However, one of my most favorite ways to have pancakes is to add corn, a little cornmeal, chopped green onion, garlic and chili powder to make a corn fritter of sorts. Serve them sour cream and salsa. A weeknight winner.

Kara, mouth full of pancake, pronounces them "delicious." (More on the hair accessory next week...)

Risotto - Easy Peasy

A few months ago, I read a post on Dinner a Love Story about using leftover risotto to make cheesy rice patties. Luckily, Jenny included her go-to recipe for risotto. As I read it I thought, "I should make risotto." I even went so far as to buy Arborio rice (bulk at Whole Foods). No sooner had I put the rice away in my pantry than I forgot all about risotto.

Maybe because it was cold and damp yesterday...

Maybe because I felt like making something nice for Dave after he had a crappy day...

Maybe because I was entertaining fantasies of my children eating rice..
(What kind of person rejects rice for gods sake?)

...Last night I made risotto. It was amazing. So good that I wondered out loud, "Why don't I make risotto every night?" To which Dave replied, "I have no idea!"

I followed Jenny's recipe from DALS. But now that I have made it, I don't think I would consult a recipe again. It's that easy. And to dispel a risotto myth, you don't have to stir constantly. I managed to wash a few dishes and get the frozen green beans out etc. Although if you have a older kid around, you can put him/her in charge of stirring. Just think of what you could accomplish?

In case you are intimidated by risotto, let me break it down for you:

-Get out your 4 cup Pyrex pitcher. Add 3 cups stock and 1 cup milk. Or just use stock. Warm it up in the microwave for a few minutes. It should be hot but not boiling hot.
-Melt a pat of butter and some olive oil in a heavy sauce pan.
-Add finely chopped onion, garlic and/or shallots to season the fat in the pan. (I added some chopped mushrooms too.
-Add 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice and stir until the kernels glisten.
-Add a glug or two of white wine if you have it. Stir for a minute.
-Start adding stock/milk about 1/2 cup at a time. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. Repeat. You may need to add more than 4 cups of liquid. If so, you can put in some water or more stock.
-Once your rice starts to look creamy start tasting until it is as soft as you want it.
-Add salt, pepper and a lot of Parmesan cheese.

Unless you are like my wacko kids, you will love this. One of the best things I have cooked in a long time. I can't wait to try the day two risotto cakes. Yum.

Two more takes on risotto:
Mark Bittman's Laid Back Risotto
Three Many Cooks Spring Risotto

Cheesecake Brownies

As part of my "impress Josh's girlfriend" dinner last weekend, I made cheesecake brownies. Not only was I craving something rich, gooey and chocolaty, but I had never made this version of the brownie before. I think I spent longer searching for a recipe on the internet than I actually did cooking. After viewing a ton of recipes, most of which were discounted for including a chocolate ingredient that I didn't have in my cabinet, I settled on this version by David Lebovitz. If you haven't checked out his blog, it is absolutely worth a look.

Even though they didn't come out as pretty as the ones in Lebovitz's picture, they tasted delicious and were easy to make.

After all of this searching and baking, I had an email exchange with Mrs. D, Josh's mom, who makes the best cheesecake brownies I have ever had.

Mrs D:  I haven't made them in a long time and they're from the side panel of a Betty Crocker brownie mix box...Dave Lebovitz would cringe!  I hope you're not too disappointed that the wonderful brownie recipe would qualify for that semi-homemade show on the Food Network; definitely not from Ina Garten!  

Me: Disappointed? Are you kidding? I am thrilled! I will make brownies from scratch, but I honestly don't think I get a better result than when I make them from a box. I am psyched to try out the Mrs D/Betty Crocker version.
  

Josh was over at our house again this weekend helping Dave re-insulate our house. (More on that another time.) Megan stopped by to join us for dinner. Since I was going to have the full cohort of brownie test subjects, I decided to make Mrs. D's version for comparison. The things I do for science, right? The unanimous verdict was that the semi-homemade version was superior to the Lebovitz from scratch version. We did extensive testing to back up our results.

So, if you are in the mood to make brownies from scratch, go for it. But if you have a box of Betty Crocker around, make this version of the cheesecake brownie. Just to be clear: Best. Brownies. Ever.

Here is Mrs. D's recipe:

Philly Cheesecake Brownies
Prep time:  20 minutes
Baking time:  40 minutes

1        pkg. Betty Crocker Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix
1        pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
1/3    cup sugar
1        egg   
1/2    tsp. vanilla
*I added 1/2 bag of chocolate chips to the batter as well.
Prepare brownie mix as directed on package.  Pour into greased 13x9-inch baking pan.
Beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium until smooth.  Add sugar and vanilla;
           mix just until blended.
Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie mixture; cut through batter with knife several
           for marbled effect.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until cream cheese mixture is lightly browned.

Changes to original recipe:  I use an 8x8 pan, pour a little more than half of brownie mixture into prepared pan, dollop the cream cheese mixture over that (without spreading it), then pour rest of brownie mixture over the cream cheese and marble it very lightly.  I think we decided we didn't like too much of the cream cheese getting browned.  In my oven, the 8x8 pan takes 50-55 minutes.

Quick Breads

I am not by any means an accomplished baker. I can make cookies, brownies and the occasional cake, but my lack of precision in the kitchen does not really lend itself to baking. I may scoff at recipes that suggest that you weigh the flour instead of just using your fingers to brush off the excess in the measuring cup, but it turns out that attention to detail really does make a difference when baking.

Quick breads, I have found, are the exception to this rule. Make one, you can make them all. Make one, and you can make a dozen variations. Make one with your kids, they will have the pleasure of eating a snack that they cooked with you.

Banana bread is the gateway quick bread. It is nearly impossible to mess up and can be a template for countless iterations of baked goods (like the apple sauce raisin bread I wrote about a few weeks ago).

My favorite banana bread recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

• Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan.
• In a small bowl mash 3 super ripe bananas. (Tip: If your bananas go dark brown before you are ready to use them, just toss them in the freezer and defrost when you are ready to bake. Also, if you are dying to have banana bread, but your bananas are actually fresh, you can ripen them in the oven.)
• Add 2 eggs to bananas and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl combine 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda.
• Combine wet and dry and pour into pan. Bake 1 hour. 

This will all take about 10 minutes to prepare.

Some variations to consider:

• Only have one brown banana? Use pureed pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, zucchini (grated) or apple sauce to supplement. No bananas at all, just pick a different fruit/vegetable.
• No fruit or veggie to add in, you can use dried fruit instead and add more liquid to the batter (milk, juice, soy milk, water, yogurt, kefir, sour cream etc.) You may also need to add a little more sugar if you want to keep the bread on the "fruity" end of the spectrum.
• Add some wheat germ, ground flax or quick oats for a little more texture. 
• Experiment with different sweeteners: honey, molasses, agave, brown sugar etc.
• Add chocolate chips and make it sweeter.
• Add some fat - butter or oil - to make a richer loaf.
• Top it with streusel.

Homemade Ricotta

At some point last summer, I read a recipe that called for fresh made ricotta. And I remember thinking that recipe writers should really avoid making readers feel inadequate while cooking their food.Like when a recipe includes lines like, "Grate a 1/4 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg. If you must use pre-ground nutmeg from a jar, use a bit less." Or "Spoon in 1 cup of ricotta. Freshly made works best." If I am in a grumpy mood, I am likely to utter some variation on, "Who the hell keeps an actual nutmeg around for baking cookies?" or "Get over yourself!"

Despite my knee jerk reaction to be snarky in the face of recipe writers who inflect their writing with a decidedly superior tone, I was intrigued by the idea of making ricotta from scratch. Turns out it is incredibly easy.

Yesterday I gave it a try and the results were amazing. Seriously delicious. So good, that I wonder why I buy ricotta from the store - what I made is so much better than any store bought product I have ever tried. Granted my ricotta purchases are generally from Trader Joe's or Genuardi's, so my sample is limited. That being said, this handmade ricotta is unbelievably good. I used it in lasangna, and I can think of so many other uses: spread it on crusty bread, use it to make ricotta pancakes, roll it up in your burrito or quesadilla, put a thin layer on your pizza crust, add some sugar and top with berries, put it in a pretty jar and give it as a gift. Endless possibilities.

A few other pluses of making your own ricotta: It would be really fun to make with your kids. You can use locally produced, organic milk and make a cheese that costs a fraction of what you would pay in the store for a comparable product. You can brag to your friends and neighbors that you actually made the fresh ricotta that snooty recipe called for. 

This recipe is originally from Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa).

• In a large sauce pan combine 4 cups whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream and 2 tsp salt.
• Heat until the milk comes up to a rolling boil.
• Remove from heat and stir in 3 tbsp vinegar. I used just plain white vinegar. (Ina recommends using the best white wine vinegar you can find - again, requirements like that make me get kinda snippy.)
• The milk will start to curdle almost immediately. I let it stand in the pot for about 5 minutes.
• While the milk is curdling, line a large colander or sieve with cheese cloth. Tip: Wet the cloth first so it molds to the sieve. Place the colander/sieve over a large bowl.
• Carefully pour the milk into the colander. Let stand until it becomes as firm as you want it. I let mine drain for about an hour. 

Here is what it looked like. Forgive the mediocre photography -- it is challenging to take picture of white cheese, on a white counter top on cloudy day.

It is tough to see, but that is the milk starting to curdle. 

My pot looks like that because the milk boiled over - bad chef!

This is right after I poured the milk out of the pot.

 This is about 45 minutes later.

 

Here is a bowl of fabulous ricotta cheese.

Cinnamon Buns

I wanted to make Kara's teacher's something for the holidays. Something other than cookies. So I decided to make them each a tin of cinnamon buns. I figured they would be a good holiday treat, or they can be easily frozen for a time when we are not quite so inundated with sugar and baked goods.

I have been wanting to try Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll recipe for a while and this occasion offered me the perfect excuse. A few notes on her recipe:

•  I made the dough the night before which worked great. If you do the same, make sure you check on it before you go to bed. It definitely needed to be punched down. I  recommend making the dough ahead of time and refrigerating it for at least several hours - the cold dough is much easier to deal with.
• I added raisins. You could also add nuts or apples.
• I didn't have "maple flavor" for the maple icing - I just added about a tbsp of dark maple syrup.
• I did add the 1/4 cup of coffee, and I also added about a tsp of vanilla extract.
• The icing isn't really that maple-ish. It it, however, unbelievably delicious.
• She calls for 1/2 cup milk for the icing. I needed more like 1 to 1 1/2 cups to make it thin enough.
• This makes a TON of cinnamon buns. I got 8 round tins out of it.
• This would be very fun to make with kids.

Let me say, that this recipe entirely lives up to the hype. They looked so pretty. I had so much I gave a tin to my sister in law and mother in law, too. Christmas carbs for everyone!

Here is a pan right out of the oven.

Here they are after I dumped a healthy portion of the maple icing on them.

Goodness gracious! Yum.

Christmas Cookies

This weekend, Kara and I made Christmas cookies. This is one of my favorite holiday pastimes.Christmas cookies are not especially easy, quick or neat, but I find them immensely satisfying to make, especially now that I have a little helper. I know it is probably not on any pediatrician's list of milestones, but I think that it is pretty remarkable when your child actually helps you in the kitchen. I have made cookies with Kara since she was three, I think, but this was the first year that she basically worked at it on her own and produced some really lovely looking cookies. See that candy cane in the center of the picture? That was all Kara.

This recipe comes from my stepmother, and though I am not at all close with her now, I have fond memories of making cookies with her. Cooking together was one of the few ways that we could spend conflict-free time together. So in the spirit of not just conflict-free but joyous holiday time with your family, I give you the best Christmas cookie recipe ever.

• With a hand mixer or in a stand up mixer, cream 1/2 cup margarine.
• Add 3/4 cup sugar and beat until fluffy
• Add 2 egg yolks and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Reserve the whites.
• Add 1 tbsp cream, half and half or whole milk
• Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder and combine into wet ingredients
• Divide dough into 4 quarters, wrap in wax paper and freeze until ready to use. You can make the dough days ahead of time.
• When you are ready, roll out the dough to scant 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface. It may take some additional flour to prevent sticking. Cut out shapes and place on non-stick or greased regular cookie sheet. Use a pastry brush to wet the cookies with the egg white. If you want to use sprinkles, sprinkle away. If you plan to ice your cookies, pop them in the oven. Don't skip the egg wash, it make the cookies look much prettier.
• Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.
• Note: I usually double this recipe. Also, you can reserve part of the dough and add 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder, depending on the amount of dough you saved, to make chocolate cookies. You can also add food coloring to make red/.green cookies. You can also add a little cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to make a spicier cookie. These are flexible cookies.

I really love using icing to decorate the cookies. Here is a basic Royal Icing recipe. (You can find about a million more on the web.)
-Mix 1 box (1 lb) confectioners sugar with 5 tbsp meringue powder, 1/2 cup water and a squirt of lemon juice. Use a hand mixer to beat until icing is thick and smooth. You can add more sugar or water to achieve the thickness you are looking for. You can also use 2 egg whites instead of meringue powder. I have done this many times and no one has died of salmonella, but when I am decorating with kids, I usually don't risk it.

Cute gel colors - I even saw these at Target last week.

-Divide the icing into small bowls and add either food coloring or invest in gel pastes. I made this leap last year, and it was wall worth it. Gel coloring makes much brighter colors and there are a wide variety of color choices. You can buy them at craft stores like Michael's or online at any baking supply company. Yes, they cost more than the food coloring that you get in your local spice aisle, but they last a long time and can be used with any white icing to decorate your next batch of cupcakes.

-If you are cooking with kids, definitely let them do the addition of colors to the white icing. Good times were had by all.

When you have the colors you want, spoon icing into plastic sandwich bags and cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner. Use the bags to pipe icing on to cookies. You can also leave the icing in bowls and use paint brushes, Popsicle sticks, or toddler utensils to spread it on the cookies.

Holiday Faves: Buckeyes & Rum Balls

I am all about holiday baking these days. I will admit to getting a little obsessed at this time of year. What can I say? I love making cookies, and I especially love decorating them with Kara. But folks can't live on cookies alone. So over the years I have added two holiday candy-like treats to our repertoire - buckeyes, which are peanut butter balls covered in chocolate, like a Reese's cup on steroids, and rum balls which are pretty much what they sound like. Not only are these candies delicious, they are easy to make and require no baking.


By the way, when this part of the holiday sweets fest is going on, we are all about the ball jokes - after the kids are in bed, of course. I know, it's very highbrow around here. I think we were inspired by one of my all time favorite Saturday Night Live skits where Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Alec Baldwin spoof NPR cooking shows. If you haven't seen it recently, or ever, check it out. I believe it is called "NPR's Delicious Dish - Schweddy Balls". It's basically one long series of pastry ball innuendo - it is really funny.

All lewd jokes aside, try these two recipes when you are making holiday treats.

Buckeyes
-With a hand mixer, cream

• 1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter (not the natural variety - think Jiff, Skippy, Safeway brand etc.)
• 1 stick of butter softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups confectioners sugar. You read that right - these are serious business.
• 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs. You can use vanilla wafer crumbs too.

-Chill for 15 minutes or until the peanut butter mix is firm - the colder it is, the easier to roll the balls. Roll into 1 inch balls and set on parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet.
-Freeze for 10-15 minutes until the balls are firm. If you live where it is cold, just set the sheet outside for a bit.
-While the balls are chilling, melt 6 oz (1/2 a bag) of chocolate chips with 2 tbsp shortening. I usually do this by placing a glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Microwave works too.
-Dip each ball into the chocolate and set on sheet to cool. Check out the picture. You don't want to totally submerge the pb balls - you want them to look like buckeyes, which are actually a kind of nut. I use a toothpick to do this and smooth over the little hole with my finger. Better yet, get your kids to help out on this part - and stifle all urges to make inappropriate jokes.
-Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Boozy Rum Balls 
-In a food processor finely chop 1 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup dried, unsweetened coconut. Pour in to mixing bowl.
-Finely chop 1 package worth of chocolate wafers in food processor. I use Nabisco's wafers. Transfer to mixing bowl with nut mix. Note: If you can't find chocolate wafers, you can use about 2 cups of vanilla wafer crumbs plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder.
-Add about 1 cup confectioners sugar,  1/2 tsp allspice, a dash of nutmeg, 2 tbsp light corn syrup and 1/2 cup rum - dark or light or whatever is languishing in your liquor cabinet from last summer's cocktails.
-Mix until combined. It should be very moist.
-Chill bowl for 30 minutes in the fridge and when mixture has firmed up, roll out 1 inch balls.
-Pour out about another 1/2 cup confectioners sugar in a small bowl. Roll each ball in sugar. Set on cookie sheet to rest - store in fridge or freezer until ready to serve. They get better over time.

Frolicking Food

No one is more into Christmas than Dave's father. We actually call him Captain Christmas...to his face. Dave's family, and our family now, like to partake in the holiday "frolic." No we don't dress up like elves or anything, but during the month of December, we look for ample opportunities to hang out together. Frolicking for us is synonymous with the pleasure of being together as a family - no real agenda is necessary. The main requirements to for frolicking are family, cocktails, and food. Lots of food - particularly appetizers and desserts.

Captain Christmas and Jamie high fiving after an awesome tree trimming.

Last weekend, we hosted the clan at our house to trim our tree and generally frolic together. The dinner I "served" was basically just assorted cold cuts, rolls and salads. Nothing special. But I knew that people would fill up on the "pigs in a blanket" (also known as "cocktail franks in puff pastry") and spanikopita that I purchased at Costco. If you have not tried either of these holiday hor d'oeuvres, you really should. And if you are tempted to look down on a dressed up hot dog, I strongly encourage you to rethink your position. Sure, hot dogs are mass produced and of questionable nutritional merit, but they taste really good. And hot out of the oven wrapped in buttery pastry, they are even better. Spanikopita, a Greek pastry, are marginally less bad for you - they contain a vegetable at least - and taste equally amazing. (If you are hosting a vegetarian at your holiday gathering, spanikopita are great as they can pretty much be a meal in and of themselves.) Basically you take phyllo dough, coat it in butter and wrap it around a mix of spinach and feta cheese. You could make these from scratch. (My mom and I have done it on many occasions.). But you could also buy them frozen. I recommend the latter.

Since the meal I was serving was pretty much pre-fab, I felt the need to actually cook something. A perfect opportunity to try out a cookie recipe that caught my eye. Pioneer Woman posted this recipe for "Cleta Bailey's Toffee Squares" and it looked delicious. But contrary to the title, it didn't seem very toffee-ish. The general idea is to make a cookie dough without any levening agent (ie baking soda) and then cover it with melted chocolate and chopped nuts. I am not a big fan of nuts in my cookies, and I also wanted to up the toffee taste. So I made her recipe but covered the chocolate in Heath "Bits o' Brickle." Yep, I found pre-chopped Heath bar in the grocery store. They rock.


These bars are wonderful. They are so easy to make, freeze well, are good for kids to help with, and look lovely. I think I will try them with white chocolate on top, and maybe chopped dried cranberries?


PS: Sorry about the poor photo quality on the family pics. Our living room has about the worst light ever in the winter.

J playing peek a boo with his great grandfather.

Beer Bread

It's cold here. Really cold. Winter cold. Perfect weather for making soup, goulash, or, Dave's specialty, chili. And if you are going to serve a pot of spicy, hot deliciousness, I believe you need fresh bread to go along with the meal. How else will you mop up the juice at the bottom of the bowl?

You can, obviously, buy great bread. (I recommend the artisan breads at Trader Joe's and Costco makes really yummy Italian loafs, both whole grain and traditional white.) But with minimal effort, you can make your own bread. I will admit to often feeling intimidated by the prospect of baking bread - which is why I now have a bread machine. But I am quite brave when it comes to making quick breads. Quick breads don't require yeast; they use baking powder/soda for leavening. Quick breads are easy to make, easy to adapt and, yes, they are quick. You can have the whole thing done in under an hour, baking time included.

There are lots of quick bread recipes out there, but my favorite variety for serving with winter stews and soups is beer bread. Here is a basic recipe:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Sift into a bowl: 3 cups flour (white/wheat or a combo), 3 tsp baking powder, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
• Add 12 oz of beer at room temperature and stir gently until just combined. (Get your kids to help with this part - lots of bubbles = fun times in the kitchen.)
• Pour into a greased loaf pan and cover with 2 tbsp melted butter. (Don't wimp out and skip the butter!)
• Bake 35-40 minutes. 

You can do all kinds of things to customize this recipe. Add some spices, shredded cheese, jalapeno peppers, bacon, honey or molasses in place of some or all of the sugar. Try different beers. We like Dogfish's Raison D'etre, any pumpkin beer, Magic Hat's #9 and pretty much anything by Victory.

And if you are looking for a cute, cheap and creative holiday gift, combine the dry ingredients in a ziploc bag or mason jar, put the bag/jar in a gift bag with a bottle of beer and a card with the cooking instructions.

Make This Now - Donuffins!

To cap off the events of American Education Week, a mom from Kara's class offered to host a parent coffee today. Perfect excuse to bake, right?

Tasty Kitchen is the recipe sharing site attached to the Pioneer Woman website. It is great place to find recipes, especially in the realms of comfort food and baked goods. I was perusing my "recipe box" and found a recipe called "Muffins that Taste Like Donuts." Seemed like the perfect parent coffee offering.

Thanks, Lemanada, for this recipe and pretty picture, too.

The basic idea is that you bake a muffin and when they are cooked, you dip them in butter and coat them with cinnamon sugar. Kara, Dave and I tested them out and determined that they rock. The only complaint: "Muffins that taste like donuts" is a little unwieldy as names go. Dave suggested "Donuffins" - I think that one's going to stick. (And since this is a family friendly blog, I wont share the other contenders for new name.)

These things are awesome. Make them now.

PS: These were so good, that made a pumpkin muffin version. Just add about 1 cup of pumpkin puree and reduce the milk.

PPS: If you make these as mini-muffins, they are pretty much like munchkins.

Got Apples? Make Apple Pie Bars!

A couple of weeks ago, the four kindergarten classes at Kara's school went on a field trip to a local orchard. By the way, kudos to the teachers and staff who took 80 5 year olds on a school trip only two months in to school - Teachers really need to be paid more to organize and then endure days like that. But I digress...the trip, from what I could gather, was a chance to see how a real orchard works. They got to ride the tractor, pick apples and pumpkins. Plus they learned a bit about how the farmers make all of these delicious things come to life year after year. At the end of the day, each student got to bring home a pumpkin, gourd and several apples.

One of the parents who volunteered to go on the trip gave each student in Kara's class a little card with a recipe for apple pie bars. Such a great idea!  Kara and I decided to give this recipe a try last weekend. Our family declared it a smashing success. This is a very kid-friendly recipe and, of course, a great way to use some of fall's finest apples.

-Defrost or take out of the refrigerator 2 pre-made pie crusts. (I suppose you could make 2 crusts from scratch, but I generally don't have the energy for that unless it is a special occasion.)
-Peel, core and slice 4-5 apples. You could use anything you have around, but if you want to see what kind of apples work best check out this chart from PickYourOwn.org.
-In a large bowl, toss apples with 3/4 cup sugar (We used 1/2 cup white and 1/4 cup brown.), 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a dash of salt.
-Roll out one crust onto a sheet pan. Cover with 1 cup of crushed corn flakes.
-Pile apples on top of corn flakes and cover with second crust.
-Pinch or roll edges to seal. Brush the top with egg white to give it a shiny look.
-Use a small knife to make several vents in the top.
-Cook at 350 for 50 minutes.
Yum! It's like a big apple dumpling.