Tiny Christmas/New Years post

A photo of my Christmas booty- 

The Christmas Turkey - only the second turkey I have ever cooked in my life. Not the best photo, but it was gorgeous and delicious. 

We had a traditional Christmas dinner this year, as one of our guests has some newly imposed dietary restrictions. We had roasted potatos, carrots, mashed turnips, stuffing and the most delicious brussel sprouts.

Sprouts with Pancetta 

2 lb brussel sprouts, cleaned and trimmed and cut in half 

2 tb oil 

4 tb finely chopped onion 

100g pancetta, chopped 

Steam the sprouts until just tender. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and pancetta and cook until the onions are softened and the pancetta is crisp. Add the spouts and raise heat to medium high, toss until combined and heated through. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

I'm sitting down with some cookbooks, trying to find something for dinner on New Years Eve and New Years Day.  No luck yet.  Something fun, delicious, easy.  That perhaps all 3 of us (ok, the baby) would eat.

New Years Resolution time!
Have you made yours?
I have 3 this year, although 2 are the same as always.
Lose weight
Become more organized
Plan at least 2-3 meatless meals per week.

Happy Saturday. 

Baking with Robin Hood

The other Friday night we were sitting in the living room, relaxing.  The TV was on, I was flipping thru a cookbook, Scott was reading the paper, and Pax was playing with his cars.  Suddenly Pax stood up, threw his arms wide, and said "I have idea!  LET'S MAKE COOKIES!!!!!"

Who can argue with enthusiasm like that?

As Pax has gotten older (3 now!) he is showing more interest in what happens in the kitchen, much to my delight.  So when he wanted to do some baking, I was all for it.  And fortunately we had just received a promotional box from the lovely people at Robin Hood, full of baking goodies to try and write about.

Robin Hood All Purpose Flour, Robin Hood Quick Oats, Eagle Brand Dulce de Leche, Crisco Shortening, a lovely wooden recipe box, and a bag of baking goodies, including a spatula, snowflake and round cookie cutters, sprinkles, and cupcake liners.

We read through the enclosed recipe booklet to choose what we wanted to bake.  We started with the Classic Linzer Cookies.

They were surprisingly easy to make, and once assembled, very impressive! We took some to a holiday brunch, and gave some as gifts. They were a hit.

I adore the cupcake lines that were in the package.

I couldn't wait to try them out with the Pumpkin Spice Muffins.  So good.

We also tried a savory dish from the booklet - Tuscan Inspired Pesto Pasta.

This was a real hit for dinner.  We loved the flavors, and the basic white sauce used in the dish was simple to make.

My final baking project and another winner were the  Millionaire's Shortbread Bars.  A lovely shortbread covered with ooey gooey delicious Eagle Brand Dulce de Leche, and topped with chocolate.  One of my co-workers declared it "The Perfect Dessert".

I was thrilled with all the recipes and products that we tried.  Everything was delicious and easy to make.

Head over to the Robin Hood website for lots of delicious recipes for the holidays and every day.  I've joined up to Robin Hood's Baking Hour - a project on the website designed to get families in the kitchen cooking together.  There are tons of recipes, ideas, crafts, and hints for having kids working in the kitchen safely.  Definitely worth checking out.  

Thank you, Robin Hood!

my father's daughter

I read a few strong reviews about Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook - my father's daughter. Strong enough that I put it on the top of my wish list. And then I was lucky to receive a book store gift card, and you can probably figure out the rest. 

I really like this book - I have cooked more out of it in the past couple of months than I have out of any book I own, probably ever. The recipes are well written and solid, and her stories are intriguing and heartfelt. 

 For me, this is not the perfect book. Gwyneth and I have differences in our palates - she eats a lot of seafood, which I don't. She also eats duck, but not beef or pork, and I am the complete opposite. But we have enough in common that I declare this book a winner, and one of my favorite cookbooks, ever. Hands down. Here's what I've made so far- 

Blythe's Blueberry Muffins

Roasted Cauliflower

Slow Roasted Tomatos (the extra crispy ones were my fault, not the recipes)

Vietnamese Prawn Sandwich

Best Stir Fried Chicken, and Kale Fried Rice with Scallions

White Bean Soup

Fried Sole Sandwich with Spicy Sauce and Pickles

Ten Hour Chicken

I love, love, LOVE this book, and have nothing but good things to say about it. I have a ton more recipes picked to try out, so you may see more photos of amazing dishes later, but for now here's what you need to know - buy this book.

Baci di Cioccolati - the best chocolate cookies

I rarely look at "stats" for my blog, but every year starting in November, my daily visitor numbers start to climb, when everyone begins looking for cookie recipes for holiday baking.  My number one post each year is always for shortbread - here - but I want to share another recipe with you today, in case you are looking for a simple, amazing, knock your socks off cookie recipe. 

My mom makes these every few years, and I made them a couple of months ago for a work potluck and handed out the extras to some co-workers, and the next day I had to make about 15 copies of the recipe to hand out, they were so popular.  These are delicious and truffle-like and gorgeous.

This recipe comes from the book Dishing: Calgary Women Cook.

Baci di Cioccolati

Rosemary Harbrecht

Makes 4 dozen

10 oz semi sweet chocolate

2/3 cup butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

   pinch salt

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dried apricots, choppped

1 cup white chocolate chips

Gently melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler or microwave.  Let cool.

Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick.  Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and butter.  Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well.  Fold in the dried fruits, and then the while chocolate chips.

Preheat the oven to 325'.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased or lined cookie sheet.  Bake 12 minutes, until the tops are crackly, puffy and shiny.  They will remain soft after baking. 

3

My boy turned 3 last week.

 3!

We had dinner at home with my parents. I made Just Jenn's Teri Beef Chop Steak (love), with mashed potatos, steamed broccoli, and pineapple coleslaw.

All Pax was interested in though, was the cake.  

I am not artistic or good at decorating at all. But I was pretty happy with how this turned out. And Pax loved the toys and the smarties.

 3!!!!!