Sunday, May 27, 2012

Sunday Dinner

Mmm...my house smells so good right now.  It is  my turn to make Sunday dinner this week.  My siblings and I take turns each Sunday hosting dinner.  It used to be something my mother did every Sunday before she passed.  Since them we have been alternating amongt ourselves to keep up the tradition not only for us and our father but for our children.  Sometimes that is the only day our kids get to see and play with each other.  I think it is so important for the cousins to stay close.  My cousins were a big part of my life growing up and I'd like to have that for my daughter as well.

I'm trying out a few new recipes today.  A brisket which I saw Michael Symon make on the Chew and home made baked beans which I found on epicurious.com.  If they come out good (which it smells like they will), I will list the recipes and hopefully remember to take pictures.

The aroma has made my husband happy as a lark... is that the right saying?  What does it even mean?

...........speaking of recipes, here are two cookbooks I just ordered.  I can't wait to try out the recipes.  I love Anne Burrell!  I've made a few of her things from her tv show on food network and they've all been delicious!!!   I've been dying to get her cook book and can't wait for it to arrive.   Michael Symon is my new favorite.  Today is the first time I'm making one of his recipes but I've been watching him on The Chew (when I get a chance...ie when Maddy is napping), and all of his recipes look scrumptious!

     

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Chocolate Truffle Cookies


The first time I made these cookies was for Christmas.  I'm not sure what took me so long to make them again as they were really good!  My husband loves them and eats them up in one bite.  They are super quick to make..but they do have to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling and baking them.  They are a must try!  I won't take as long to make them again.   The recipe is from this fabulous book I picked up one day in Border's Book Store, which is now closed.  It's called The Cookie and Biscuit Bible and has many fabulous recipes from cookies to scones and more.  It's a must buy.  You can find the book on Amazon... here is a link.



And here is the recipe.  The only change I would make is to shave 1 minute off of the cooking time as mine came out a bit brown on the bottom.

This makes 15-18 cookies depending on how you roll.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar (the recipe called for superfine caster sugar but I didn't have any so I used regular granular sugar which worked out just fine)
2 tablespoon butter, diced
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon orange juice
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degreen F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (I didn't have any so I used cooking spray which may have resulted in my too brown bottoms).

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar.  Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles wet sand.  Mix together the beaten egg and orange juice and stir into the flour mixture.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Put the confectioners' sugar in a bowl.  Shape walnut sized pieces of dough into balls and drop into the confectioners' sugar (do this one or two balls at a time as the dough is sticky and it could get messy).  Toss until thickly coated with the sugar (if the dough is not coated enough the sugar will melt off in the oven) then place on the baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes, until just set.  Trasfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Next, enjoy with a tall glass of milk or cup of tea.  Yum!


Don't have time to make these yourself?  Buy them from me and I will ship to anywhere in the USA.  See my etsy link below. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100545327/chocolate-truffle-cookies-1-dozen

Even if you don't want to buy now, please view my shop and let me know what you think.  Right now these are the only edibles but there are other great things to view.

Parsnips


The other day I wanted something crispy to have with dinner.  I found a recipe in Martha Stewart Living magazine for Smoky Parsnip Crisps.   They looked yummy but I have never been a fan of parsnips, still I thought I'd give them a try.  I didn't use the smoked paprika called for in the recipe as I didn't have any and didn't feel like buying the spice for a something I wasn't sure I'd like. 

The result was fabulous.  I absolutely loved these!!!!  And so did everyone else including my 17 month old.  Here is the recipe adapted from the MSL magazine.

This serves 4 as a side dish.
Ingredients:
1 pound bag of parsnips, peeled
Canola oil for deep frying (I had an almost full bottle which is what I used)
Kosher salt, for sprinkling

Directions:
Use a vegetable peeler to peel long thing strips from the parsnips until there is almost nothing left to peel.  Toss the strips by hand to separate.
Line a baking sheet with paper towels...oh and here is a tip.  I didn't try this but I heard if you crumple the papertowels before to put on the baking sheet, they allow more of the oil to drain off of the food instead of remaining/sitting in it.
Heat the oil in a dutch oven until it reaches 365 degrees F.   Add parsnip strips to the oil in small batches (I did a handful at a time), and turn gently with a spider (a wire skimmer) until pale golden in color (about 45 seconds).  Take the strips out with the spider and put on the paper towel lined baking sheet to absorb excess oil... sprinkle with salt to season.  Before you do the next batch make sure you allow the oil to come back to 365 degrees F.   Then enjoy!  These are soooo good.  The frying takes the bite out of the parsnips which is usually what I don't like about them.  They had a nice subtle sweetness to them.  So good you must try.   Let me know what you think.

 If you don't know what a spider is or don't have one.. here is the one I use.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Invitations

Today Maddy is actually taking a nap; hooray! She usually doesn’t on days we go to Gymboree but today must be my lucky day! I decided to check on-line for Sleeping Beauty clip art as I have been looking for pictures to use to make garland from for her birthday. I found a website that gave me just what I need …here is the link http://www.disneyclips.com/imagesnewb4/aurora2.html

I was able to copy and paste into word for playing around with later (once I go buy ink for the printer). Anyway I was also able to cut and paste the image into power point to make this super cute invite. It’s not done as I may need to tweak the date and time…since it is quite a ways away but I think this is the general idea of what I’m going to go with.
Cute right? I need to tweak the alignment too but I think they came out cute and can’t wait to finalize and have printed. I hope she still like Aurora in a few months.