Vintage Holidays

I decided that since I have four kittens in the house this year that I would be crazy to put a Christmas tree up.  Even if it is an artifical tree, I wasn't sure I wanted to wake up every morning/come home from work every evening/run a few errands and come home to 1) ornaments rolling across the floor; 2) kittens balanced on branches; 3) the tree laying on its side, a few times over the season or every day.

What I did do was stop at Lowe's one Saturday morning and ask the fellows trimming trees if I could raid their cut branches bin and take an armful.  I made a swag for the front door and dug out a vintage Mason jar where I have half a dozen or so boughs draped in vintage red velvet ribbon and a handful of ornaments.  All out of kitten range, of course, on top of a small bookcase.

The 'no Christmas tree' was a wise decision as I discovered that within seconds of taking the photo below, I heard the first ornamnent hit the floor and a walnut go 'swoosh' out of the bowl and onto the tile.  Kitten paws have impressive batting power.  The attention a makeshift tree garners from out of kitten sight to within kitten range is huge.

There was not a huge amount of baking done this year.  Enough to get treats out to family and friends and a very small handful left for myself, though I'm thinking a half recipe of bourbon balls might be coming to fruition in the next few hours.  Every year, I try to make something new, something different among the many batches of biscotti and other sweets made.  I picked up a slim cookbook a couple of months ago, 'Treasured Honey Recipes' from the California Honey Advisory Board. The Honey Walnut Date Bars was this year's new recipe.  I've made them four times this month.  And each time they've been devoured.  I'm always so happy when a vintage recipe still works after 40+ years.

Merry Christmas!

Star Bright

There has been a lot of biscotti baked this past week.  A LOT.  Not all for me.  Most of those cookies have been packaged and shipped across the country to (hopefully) delighted customers.  But I am still looking at half a dozen containers holding what's left.  As much as I love biscotti, I had it in my head that I really, really wanted to make something that hinted at Scandinavia.  Whatever I made had to have cardamom.

I flipped through a couple of my Scandinavian and Danish cookbooks, I scrolled through the holiday baking list on the Sweet Paul website, and I did a little Googling.  I wound up at the Cooking Light site, reading the recipe for Swedish Almond Cardamom Stars.  They came together pretty easily and the almond and cardamom flavors shine through.  The Cooking Light recipe calls for a glaze, but I opted for a sprinkling of confectioner's sugar instead.

So, here we are at another Christmas.  Stay safe, eat well, enjoy the time with family and friends.  I wish you all a wonderful holiday!

Swedish Almond and Cardamom Stars
From Cooking Light
Makes about 4 dozen or more

2 cups flour
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup almond paste, crumbled
1 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup orange juice, fresh
3 tbsp vegetable oil

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the orange juice and oil together, set aside.  In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking soda, cardamom, and salt.  Whisk to combine.  Add butter and almond paste, and with a pastry cutter, blend into flour mixture, creating a pebbly texture.  Add half the orange juice and oil mix and continue blending to bring dough together.  Scrape bowl as necessary.  Add remaining liquid and mix to combine.  You should have a dough that lifts easily away from surface of bowl.  

Split dough into two equal sections.  Lay down a large piece of plastic wrap and flatten dough into circle.  Fold over plastic wrap and roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Repeat with second piece of dough.  Chill both for about an hour.

Cut out cookies with star cutter (or whatever you like) and place about an inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.  [I used a small star cookie cutter, about an inch and a half across.]  Bake for 6-8 minutes until edges begin to turn golden brown.  Cool on rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  

Christmas Cookie Crack

There is joy and happiness in having wonderful friends.  Friends who come to your aid when you need the help.  A friend who loans you her old laptop so you don't have to be a Luddite anymore.  Or at least a Luddite that has only been armed with her smartphone for the past two weeks.  I know...not a Luddite at all...but it charmingly felt that way for a few minutes.

So...a proper post.  A Christmas gift from me to you.  But let me preface it and tell you that the recipe is not mine.  It is an absolute find from the Food 52 website and if you make these cookies, I have no doubt you will be beyond pleased.  You will hopefully also be as addicted to these cookies as I am, because seriously...the reaction to this cookie this must be the same reaction an addict has to crack.  The first bite into one of these hooks you, makes you want more, and you find yourself reaching into the cookie tin again and again...hiding the tin in the back of the pantry.  When someone asks where the cream cheese cookies are you feign ignorance, having no idea where they could have gone.  You will quietly creep into the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning, enjoying one in the complete darkness...just so you don't have to share.  These cookies rock. 

Cream cheese cookies are so simple.  So pure...no fancy add-ins, no fancy technique.  Flour, sugar, salt, butter, and cream cheese.  Almost as simple as shortbread.  Chewy and tangy.  If you read the comments for the recipe, you'll see lots of suggestions for tweaks.  While they all sound good, I have never wavered from the original.  Maybe someday I'll add a little lemon zest or almond extract, but for now, I'll keep my crack pure and unadulterated.

Merry Christmas, kiddies...if you've been good, I hope you get everything you've wished for and if you've been naughty, you had better hide before Krampus seeks you out.

Cream Cheese Cookies from Food52

 

Stockings Are Hung

Another Christmas is almost here.  Four days to get cards in the mail, plan the big Christmas dinner, wrap the presents, and bake up a batch or ten of cookies.

I haven't been hiding behind that mound of flour in the kitchen (too much), though I have been doing quite a bit of baking and think the last batch of cookies has just come out of the oven.

Truth is...my laptop died a couple of weeks ago.  I've been doing most everything that takes use of a computer on my phone.  What did we do before smartphones? What did I do before smartphones?

A proper post will be coming before you know it.  Maybe even before Christmas.  Stay tuned.  Enjoy the Christmas lights.

Out of Sorts...

...I know, I know...it's been a few weeks since I posted. Here we are nearing the end of yet another holiday season and soon we'll be saying 'hello' to a new year. Another Christmas season and I wasn't in much of a holiday mood. The past few months of not having a job, coupled with the holidays, just kept me in a down mood. Some days, very down. I did end up finding a full time job (albeit, temporary) and a part-time job (also temporary), both in retail. While I'm thankful for both, it's not alleviated the constant knot of worry and anxiety in my stomach, since both jobs pay close to only half of what I was making earlier this year. I listen to all the news reports about the country about to go over the fiscal cliff as I stand precipitously at the edge of my own, trying to scrape together the money to pay rent.

 It's made me think about the service industry, one of the fastest growing sectors and one of the poorest paid. Living on minimum wage or just above is not easy. Low pay, no benefits, and you're expected to put a smile on your face and sell, sell, sell. Someone said to me recently that working in retail is corrosive to the soul. Not a bad way to put it. For the sake of my soul...it's time to get out.

 Why am I sharing this? I tend to throw up a lot of smoke and mirrors around myself to keep how I feel and what I'm going through close to the breast. But ultimately, how I feel affects what I cook, how I cook, and even whether or not I cook. For the past couple of months, I've done very little cooking and baking. A lot of what I cooked I put in the 'baby food' category. It was a need for comfort food. Think mush...grits, polenta, rice...and that's if I decided to turn on the burners. There were a lot of sandwiches in there too. And there were a lot of days when eating was just an afterthought because I needed an energy intake. I did bake for the holidays, though not nearly as extensively as I have in the past. But it's my way of showing love and appreciation to my friends and family...and those brief times made me feel better.

 So today I pushed myself to start the break-out...out of my mood, my depression, my cloudy day, and my unfocused mind. I started small; I roasted a couple of eggplants the other day and made an eggplant and roasted red pepper dip, which led to making ricotta, then digging in the fridge and finding carrots and cauliflower, which became a roasted carrot soup. Pita bread became Parmesan-black pepper pita chips to go with the soup. Tonight I will make wine biscuits from the dough I made this morning. This is the most action my kitchen has seen since before Thanksgiving.

 Now it's up to me to keep the black clouds and cold at bay, with the warmth and glow from the oven. Let's bring 2012 to a close, welcome 2013 with open arms, and seek the opportunities a new year brings.

  Roasted Carrot Soup 

 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks 
2 cups cauliflower florets 
1/2 medium onion, sliced 
2 tbsp olive oil 
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock 
1/4 cup heavy cream
 salt pepper 

 Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large casserole dish, toss carrots, onions, and cauliflower with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 35-40 minutes. 

 Transfer vegetables to a stock pot and add the chicken stock. Heat until stock is simmering. Turn off heat and with an immersion blender or regular blender, puree vegetables. Add heavy cream and blend to incorporate. Salt to taste.

Bourbon Pecan Truffles

Cranberry Pecan Shortbread

Double Chocolate Marcona Almond Biscotti

A Little Holiday Cheer...

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas...Happy Holidays...Happy Hanukkah...Fabulous Festivus or whatever it is that you happen to celebrate at this time of year.

Enjoy the time you spend with your family or if you can't be with your family, then the friends who have become your family.

May it be filled with joy, love, lots of laughter, and of course, good food with even better company.

And because I like it old school...it doesn't get much better than this...