A Mama With Flavor

Strawberry-Banana and Coconut Smoothie

2012-02-02T13:36:00.001+01:00

I am a smoothie fanatic. I make them after runs, for breakfast, and when I need an energy boost in the afternoon. Like most homemade smoothies, this is so easy to put together and it's so delicious- one of my favorites. Give it a try....now!!!!

Strawberry-Banana Coconut Smoothie

10 frozen strawberries (about 1 1/2 cup worth)

1 ripe banana

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup water or ice if you want it thicker

2-3 tablespoons honey (to your taste)

2 tablespoons flax seeds (optional)

1 tablespoon toasted wheat germ (optional)

Directions

Blend all together- enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Mommy's Mind is in the Gutter

2012-02-01T22:14:00.000+01:00

I love Pinterest. We've done a lot of crafts I've found on there. One was homemade playdoh. It's so fun and easy! And the kids play with it for hours leaving me toooooooo clean for hours. At least peacefully! Anywho, while I was resting, my children were making "croissants" with their playdoh (lil foodies). So they start showing me their masterpieces. All of the sudden I hear my daughter shriek, "Mommy Mommy, look what I made!!!"

It's supposed to be a tower. What did you think it was? Don't lie :)

How can I not document this. I love being a mom.

Have a great day all!!!

Sweet Potato Oatmeal with Honey Toasted Walnuts

2012-01-30T09:30:00.000+01:00

I love love sweet potatoes. You all may have noticed that from my some of my blogposts.
While checking out some healthy recipes out on www.Shape.com, I came across Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal from the Oh She Glows blog. It looked so delicious and beautiful I had to pin on Pinterest to try later.

Speaking of Pinterest- anyone else addicted to that site? I've tried so many crafts and decorating ideas from there. Not mention, the dinner I cooked last night were from pins I found there.

Anyway, back to the oatmeal. I changed a few things about this recipe to make to my own taste and it was great. It takes maybe 15 minutes to put together. However, I would use pecans over walnuts as pecans has a mellower flavor than the robust walnuts. It was still very good and not overly sweet. Perfect. If you don't like sweet potatoes, use canned pumpkin or pureed roasted pumpkin. Hope y'all try this :)

Sweet Potato Oatmeal
Inspired by Oh She Glows
Serves 3-4 depending on your appetite!

Ingredients
1/3 cup regular oats
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/3-1/2 cup sweet potatoes (steamed in microwave or roasted)
1 tablespoon flax seeds (optional)

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

For toppings:
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon honey

Pinch of salt
Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

Wash and dry a sweet potato, then prick all over with a fork. Then microwave uncovered for five minutes. If it's not soft by then, microwave 1 minute, check; if it's not soft, microwave* a minute at a time until it's done. Allow to cool slightly, scoop out the flesh, mash in a bowl until smooth.

*Alternatively, you can roast on 350 F for about an hour. Preferably the night before, you want something quick in the morning!

You can toast the walnuts in a dry skillet for about 5 minutes on medium. Remove from heat and stir in walnuts and honey. If you don't want to toast, just mix in a small bowl!

In the meantime, in a medium sized pot, heat the oats and milk over medium heat until it comes to a low boil. Stir in the sweet potato and flax seeds (if using) . Heat over low-medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the salt, sugar, spices, and vanilla, then heat for about 4 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Add topping and if you want, add a little honey or maple syrup on top.

ENJOY!!!

Late Sunday Ramblings- Brussels, Belgium and More

2012-01-29T23:13:00.000+01:00

Hey all!

My son playing my daughter's leap pad and my youngest playing his brother's DS. I definitely have to buy my youngest a kiddie tablet- he loves to ~~steal~~ play with his siblings'.

2012 has been an interesting one so far. It's only the end of January, but so much has happened!

My theme of the year and the rest of my life is "DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED." Saying something so so simple has brought me more courage than I've ever felt in my 28 years of living. I have a lot of new things planned and I actually plan to do them. You can't rise without falling...sometimes you will fall many times, but you will rise!

One of the most amazing things that's happened to me this month is spending nearly 3 days alone with my husband. It's the first time we've done so since we got married 4.5 years ago. We went to the gorgeous city Brussels in Belgium. One of the perks of living in Europe is visiting the surrounding countries. In the past I feared travelling because I have small children, but now that our youngest is nearly 3, the thought isn't so scary. I've done a good amount of travelling around Germany in 2011 alone with my 3, so I am ready for more exotic places further away. Plus it was comforting to know that my daughter really loves planes and does quite well on them! So where next? Stick around and find out!

Some photos:

Late night waffle snack? Of course!

Food Lion in Belgium- well the logos are very similar!

OMG. Nuff Said.

Loved this Lobster Soup on our first night there!

Light Lunch the next day

Waffle Truck!

After lunch we indulged and indulged on chocolate. I haven't eaten chocolate since....well I did make chocolate chunk cookies Friday. Two weeks later!

To keep the overindulgence going, we helped ourselves many times to this lovely Cherry Beer from Chimay. OMG. I haven't drank anything alcoholic since.

This statue is quite famous here. A lost child was found here peeing many years ago. As we were pissed (as our english speaking friends across the pond says for drunk), it was only natural we'd take a picture in front of it. Oh, I am soooo cultured ;)

A lil overdressed for breakfast, but I rarely get such an opportunity to dress up. The patrons were wondering who *I* was lol. Happens often here in Europe. Especially I am already tall and was wearing 4 inch heels. :)

Beautiful Ending at the Palace!

Thanks for reading! I have a recipe, yes a RECIPE to share with you all tomorrow. I hope you enjoy. Also look out for my favorite things from January this week. One of my favorite things has a lot to do with why I am blogging again!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Late Night Ramblings From a Unintentional Lucy Wannabe

2012-01-05T23:33:00.001+01:00

NYE 2011 I found my new-ish laptop's hard drive failed. I knew this almost immediately after my computer refused to reset and I had to manually reset it. How would I know that? Well, the same thing happened this summer to another computer I owned. I only had this computer for a month, a gift to me from husband who is so used to my gadget/technology klutzery. He expects us me to go through at least 2 laptops a year. Don't get me started on the other little gadgets around the house that my black index fingers touched (black index fingers are the black thumbs of technology....i made that up like I made up klutzery. *crickets* moving on). My husband laughs, a creepy laugh, but at least he's laughing?? Well, shortly after my laptop died, his laptop charger died....it wasn't me... OK it was. Sigh. BUT BUT. I found a solution, as both laptops are from the same company, I used my new laptop's charger for his. That should make up for me breaking my iphone's glass on my run today. WTF is wrong with me? Seriously..

I have a problem. Or is it? I'll let you all decide. When someone asks me, "How are you?" I answer honestly. I mean I TELL YOU. Lately I start tearing up, sometimes I go on laughing at my own lame jokes, or tell them about how I have to scrub the downstairs bathroom more than twice a day since my 2 year old son was potty-trained. I get smiles sometimes, others I get looks of utter shock. Why do people ask you, 'how are you' if they really don't want to know? Or do I am I just a mom who lack adult interaction? Either way, something's gotta give!

I am obsessed with Watch The Throne from Jay-Z and Kanye. I love it even more since I started running. Sometimes while I am running, I sing/rap (badly) along and start dancing. It's dangerous for me as a tall, black woman running at night drop kicking out of no where because Kanye says "i'm kicking ####### out like Pam, #####!" I can't be the only one having way too much fun on her runs?

Christmas crafts were fun(ish) with the kids and I've done my first of the year- a 3d picture frame 'drawing' with my daughter. I'll have to do a tutorial when I do one with my sons. Well if I don't break another laptop/iphone/camera before the end of the month. I probably will.

Looks like a 4 year-old did the cutting....not that would be me....I always got Cs in art.

Thanks for reading the randomness.

Happy 2012!

2011-12-31T20:33:00.001+01:00

Hope everyone has a great year and a great time bring it in! I'll be stuffing my face with grapes and screaming loud. Yes, I get incredibly superstitious new year's eve!

In the morning, I'm going for a run, may take family photos if time permits, and cooking and eating.

Our food traditions are black eyed peas and homemade donuts for breakfast, but will have more than that- stay tuned :)

Happy New Year to you and yours!!!

Some photos from today! This blogpost is from my iPhone. My laptop's hard drive failed yesterday, boo. Looking forward to seeing you all in the new year! I am serious about blogging more often! :)

Mama's Christmas 2011 via Instagram and Camera +

2011-12-26T18:45:00.000+01:00

For those of you who do not follow on instagram or twitter ~~and those who ignore me on either.~~ A little of my Christmas via my iPhone. Instagram is my favorite app, and I share a lot and the folk I follow inspire me tremendously. Hope you enjoy!!

Pre Christmas
1st day of Christmas Chewy Sugar cookies from www.cooksillustrated.com

So good they were gone in less than 2 days....

Mincemeat mixed up- I shredded the apple this year also added some of the syrup from my homemade candied clementine peels.

Rich Brioche Ingredients

My little man the Tony Montana of flour. Seriously the leftover flour after I kneaded the dough he went to town on...sigh

Made delicious Buttered Pecan Scones from Dessert for Two. Helped my husband get in the mood to wrap some pressies...he really enjoys wrapping presents.

Some truffle prep (before i covered them in chocolate) for How Sweet It Is's Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles. Soooo good. I used cocoa crispies as well as rice krispies in the dough. They were gone in an hour. Sigh

We did a lot of crafts and spruced up our living room this month. To reward my family, I made Joy the Baker's Red Velvet Christmas Cupcakes. Really good, so good I only got one!! Thank you family ;)

Random bath time 'take a picture of me mommy' flick.

Some of the interesting 'snowmen' from one of our craft night. We are proud anyway and display them...in the main bathroom, but still...people will see them.

Homemade Potato Thyme Rolls ready for the oven!

Cranberry anxiously waiting to be turned into cranberry sauce!

On to the goose aka Bertha Mae!

The toasted star anise, szechuan peppers, cinnamon stick, cloves, and fennel ready to be turned in a powder in the coffee grinder (i don't use it to grind coffee just spices!)

The goose all massaged with orange, lemon, lime zest, and my 5 spice powder! Inspired by Gordon Ramsey! Must work on my scoring technique, though!

I then stuffed the bird with a pricked apple, foie gras, rosemary, sage, orange, and of course seasoned with salt.

Put in the fridge, then sat at room temp about 30 minutes before roasting the next day

More prep
With my homemade brioche loaves, I made savory bread pudding with brioche, bacon and leeks!

First time ever making collard greens because they're usually ALWAYS out at the commissary! Not this year and I put my foot in them!

Oh Christmas tree

My Santa Man enjoying mince pie and a spiked mug of homemade eggnog!

Our living room featuring another craft!

As close to a white Christmas as we were getting this year...

Faking on Christmas Eve...can't fool santa!

LOVE my footed pajamas! Bought these from Walmart back in November and they actually fit my tall self!!! Santa likes them a lot ;)

Hamhocks and Collards....mmmmmmmmm. I put way more collards in, by the way, this is half way through.

Bertha Mae! If you enjoy the dark meat on an poultry, you will enjoy goose. So damn good and the fat that drips out is amazing. It's a gift that keeps on giving!!! More people need to get on the goose train ;)

Crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside goose fat roasted potatoes! We will make this again with the saved goose. If you don't have goose fat, use crisco. What makes goose awesome is that it has an insanely high smoke point so no disgusting fumes and it gets REALLY hot.

Dinner!

Spiced Goose w/ honey
Goose Fat Roasted Potatoes
Collard Greens and Hamhocks
Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole (i had a photo of the process the iphone literally died I had to run to the repair dude's house. Luckily he fixed it for me quickly!)
Savory Bread Pudding with Brioche, Leeks, and Bacon
Orange Cranberry Sauce
Potato Thyme Rolls

I also made A chocolate mousse pie, but we were too full to eat it. Still waiting for us in the fridge! I also took a lot of photos with my camera and a even more video. Look for a video from me after the new year!!

Thank you all for reading! I really hope you all are having a grand holiday!!!!

Love Sommer and Family

spent most of the day in our jammies! well my daughter in the play dress we got her for Christmas.

from my own camera- Me and my son. He's with his family again for Christmas :(

Wordless Wednesday- No no no no! Merry Christmas, though!

2011-12-21T17:22:00.002+01:00

The children had a chat with Santa last weekend. One was uber excited, the other uber reluctant, and the other wanted no parts of it.

My daughter never lets me down!

a smile!

ok i'll smile, just don't touch me again; i'm still a bit freaked out by this. deal?

my son loved Santa and wifey!!!

My holiday baking prep is in full speed! I can not wait to share and read about everyone's holiday!! Thanks for stopping by! And happy holidays!

Cookies and Randomness Christmas-Style

2011-12-14T17:20:00.001+01:00

Everyone in the Christmas spirit yet? I'm not really yet. I usually start feeling a bit festive after my husband's taken some time off. The whole time he's on leave I am usually in the kitchen, and I do not have a problem with that. So far our tree hasn't felt the wrath of our ninja baby. About 3 times a day we go through all of his favorite ornaments so he can play and get all giddy. EVERYDAY. This is the first year none of our children broke any ornaments (knock on wood!).

This Christmas we plan to finally visit some Christmas Markets hoping to get into the spirit. Not just Christmas Market hopping, I plan on tackling the ever so daunting task of Christmas crafts. I've been on Pinterest a lot lately looking for Christmas Crafts and Christmas Goose recipes.

Oh, did I mention I am tackling goose this year?

Not that one- the mean honking bird! My random husband asked me to make goose last year for this Christmas and then reminded me when I was making our Christmas menu. I am excited, nervous, and very ready for the challenge. I've been researching a lot and I've found a lot of helpful info! I plan on taking elements of 5 different recipes I found and hope it yields delicious results!

Oh, back to the crafts. I wanted to do Thanksgiving crafts, but couldn't so I am hoping to tackle some Christmas Crafts with the children Christmas Style. I am hoping they will be things the children ~~and I~~ won't get bored with after 10 minutes. I will definitely share with you all the results!

The closest I got to doing crafts with my children last year was when we baked cookies and wrote letters to Santa.

It was SOOO fun and the children enjoyed every bit of it as I did as well. I particularly enjoyed the royal icing soooo much better than store bought and very easy! recipe below!

Food and Wine's Roll and Cut Out Sugar Cookies

Floury fun!
2 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup(s) sugar
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
2 stick(s) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup(s) seedless raspberry or apricot jam, for jam-filled cookies
Royal Icing, (recipe below) for decorating
Sprinkles, sparkles, and dragées, for decorating

Directions
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, mix the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix at low speed until the butter is broken up into small pieces, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and mix until the flour and butter form small clumps, about 1 minute. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix at low speed until the dough comes together in a few large clumps. Pat the cookie dough into two 1/2-inch-thick disks, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate until chilled but not firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using 3- to 4-inch cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Reroll the scraps and cut out more cookies. (Alternatively, cut the dough into 3- to 4-inch shapes and, using a smaller cutter, stamp out the center of half of the cookies.) Refrigerate the cutout cookies until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies for about 13 minutes, until they are lightly golden around the edges; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through for even baking. Let the sugar cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then, using a metal spatula, carefully transfer them to a rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
For sandwich cookies, spread a thin layer of raspberry or apricot jam on the solid cookies and top with the corresponding cutout cookies to expose the jam. Otherwise, decorate as desired with the Royal Icing, sprinkles, sparkles, and dragées.

Food and Wine's Royal Icing

My husband thinks he's fancy. He nearly preserved that cookie for decoration!

Ingredients
1 egg white
1/2 pound(s) (2 1/4 cups) confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon(s) water

Directions
In a medium bowl, beat the egg white at medium speed until foamy. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating between additions, until the sugar is completely incorporated. Add the water and beat at high speed until the icing holds its shape, about 5 minutes.
Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and use at once; thin with water if necessary.

Thank you for reading!!!

Jam Crostata

2011-12-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

Randomly I will post some foods I made this summer. I cooked a lot with intentions on blogging, but I just never had time to.

Here's a great recipe for Crostata which I got from the ever so awesome website Cook's Illustrated. Their recipes are pretty much foolproof, and you can follow it to a T or use it as a guide. I am a die hard fan! As it's the season to be merry, fill it with cranberry jam or even mincemeat! The delicious, buttery, fragrant, Pasta Frolla (pastry) is not hard to whip up and will surely impress with it's beautiful lattice top. I am a lattice-phobe and mine came out better than expected. Try this and look for the mincemeat recipe here!

Raspberry Jam Crostata
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

INGREDIENTS
Pasta Frolla
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
2 - 3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (11 3/4 ounces), plus more for dusting work surface
1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 cup raspberry jam or mincemeat
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large egg white, beaten with 2 tablespoons water

INSTRUCTIONS
For the Pasta Frolla:

1. Whisk egg, 2 tablespoons water, and vanilla together in small bowl and set aside. Place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and process to cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal, about seven 1-second pulses. With machine running, add egg mixture and process until liquid ingredients are incorporated. Squeeze handful of dough; if it forms moist ball, no more water is necessary. If mixture is crumbly and dry, add 1 more tablespoon water and process just until incorporated.

2. Remove dough from food processor and transfer it to large bowl. Gently knead until cohesive, about 30 seconds. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Shape one piece into 5-inch disk and other piece into 5-inch square. Wrap both pieces in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

3. To Assemble and Bake: Mix jam and lemon juice in small bowl.

4. Remove both pieces of dough from refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Roll round dough disk between 2 large sheets of lightly floured parchment paper to 11-inch circle about 1/4 inch thick. Peel off top sheet of parchment and discard. Using 11-inch pot lid or cardboard round as guide, trim first piece of dough to perfect 11-inch circle with pizza wheel or paring knife. Reserve scraps. Slide dough, still on parchment, onto baking sheet. Spread jam on dough, leaving 1-inch border around edge.

5. Roll square piece of dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 11-inch square. Peel off parchment. With pizza wheel or paring knife, straighten edges of dough (reserve scraps), then cut dough into ten 1-inch-wide strips (illustration 3). Brush strips with egg wash and place them over filling, 5 in each direction in diagonal lattice, using spatula to help move and position strips. Combine scraps and knead them together slightly. Roll this dough into 3/4-inch-thick rope about 30 inches long. Brush rim of pastry with egg wash, then press dough rope into rim. Brush border with remaining egg wash. Refrigerate crostata on baking sheet for 1 hour.

6. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Slide crostata (still on parchment paper) onto wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and serve

Wordy/Wordless Wednesday. Dedicated to my Daughter

2011-12-07T15:48:00.001+01:00

Last month my younger brother died. It was devastating for me. It still is. I am a lucky woman to have the family I do. While everyone in my home were fantastic, my daughter sticks out. When I made the decision to go back to the states- with much urging from my older brother- I decided to take my daughter. Why? She's funny and honest.

When we boarded the airplane, she was so excited. Not nervous about anything. She's 4, and never flew so I am not that surprised. However, as soon as the plane took off, taxied the runway preparing for take-off she was ecstatic! When were wheels up, she was screaming excitedly like she was on a roller coaster. It made me feel more at ease, because I was laughing so hard!

As most of you may know, my husband is white and I am black. Doesn't matter yeah? Well, I told her we were meeting her grandparents at the airport in Baltimore. So once we landed there from New York, she was asking every white elderly man if they were her grandfather. I didn't think much of it until she met my father. I told her who he was and she was silent for a few minutes. Then she finally said, "you're black?' Too funny. I told her that I am black so my parents will be, too. She might have thought since she's black and has a white father, she maybe thought my father would be white, who knows. Her brain is a funny one!

She took to her family like she's known them all of her life. Everyone loved her because she genuinely loved everyone from first sight. It was a joy and helped us not think about why exactly we were all there for.

Mawa and Grandpa

4 generations

Amara and grandma

Being home for me was very emotional. I was reunited with my brothers and sister after nearly a decade of being apart. I wanted this, but not like this. But I am not going to go there, maybe in another post. Right now it's about my lil curly sue.

The day before the funeral, my daughter asked to go to Chuckee Cheese's. I told her that we couldn't because we had to say goodbye to her uncle. She went over the process, and thought he'd come back and dance with us like the zombies did in the Thriller video from Michael Jackson. It was so random it made laugh out loud in Walmart.

My daughter dancing to the music in her head....lol

After we've been home in Germany for a week or more, I had a huge breakdown.
She looked at me kind of like she was annoyed and said, "Are you still sad about your bruhvah (brother)"
I said, "yes, I am."
She said, "don't worry mom, I'm yo best fwiend." And gave me a big hug and kiss. It really helped me feel better almost instantly. Like my brother had her be there for me right at that moment.

I miss him immensely and I don't know if or when I will be OK. But with my babygirl and my family around. I know I will not be down for long.

Yesterday we watched the A Christmas Story. As soon as we saw a pole on our walk, this is what she does. I love her randomness....it's disgusting sometimes, but mostly funny!

Kiss your family and squash any unnecessary drama you have between family members NOW. Life is way too short.

Thank you for reading!

My 7 Links- slowly getting back into blogging

2011-09-25T12:50:00.000+02:00

Hey y'all! How's Autumn going for ya? I know we're only 2 days in, but it's been freaking beautiful here!

Anyway, I've been tagged by my lovely friend Amy Kim over at www.kimchimom.com to participate in an online blogger's game My 7 links started by TripBase to unite is whatever you blog about. I am so happy that Amy tagged me, because I've been so nervous about jumping back in the blog scene. Also good as I didn't do a 1st year anniversary post! #slacka. So allow me to start:

Your Most Beautiful Post: Still Have Leftovers? Try these Turkey Day "Pasties"

I woke up early on my birthday to get just the right amount of light to photograph this recipe. If I was going to make my own take of pasties, I wanted to make sure they looked as awesome as they tasted. Living in Germany I've been more inspired by British cooking than German...weird. But look out for some more German recipes soon- have been experimenting on my hiatus :D
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Your Most Popular Post: Chicken Broccoli Penne Alfredo

This is the first blog post that was ever accepted by Tastespotting. After learning more about the photo sites, I tried my hand and had several declined so I stopped. Then I submitted this recipe to Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen and Cook Eat Share and it got a lot of attention so I thought? Why not share this with Tastespotting and holy crap they accepted! This is one of the first recipes I shared on my blog when I really blogging on and off, so it had maybe 45 views which was a lot for even then as I averaged maybe 12 hehe. Thanks mom!

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Your Most Controversial Post: Confessions, Nipples and Other Random Nothingness

While most of my blog posts are recipes, I started this blog to get myself to get motivated about things. Whether food, getting into shape, being a better mother, venting etc, I wrote about it. I am not a great writer, I do love this blog to express myself. Some stuff isn't wholesome lovey dovey stuff, I curse, I talk about masturbation being a military spouse, rarely, but it's in here. I try to please, but I am not going to be fake to please others. I am really open in person, this blog is really a G rated version! Anyway, this is controversial because of the content and you can see boobies! You will see booty soon! This photo was taken 5 months after giving birth to my 3rd baby- yeah super brave!
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Your Most Helpful Post: Homemade Ricotta

As a budding foodie or whatever the cool word is for loving all aspects of food, as soon as I read that I could make my own ricotta and how freaking easy it was? I was ALL over it! Had a few friends try it themselves and it always nice to hear some tried something because I did! My goal in blogging about food is to get others inspired to cook period.

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A Post Whose Success Surprised You: Parsnip Fritters with Blue Cheese Walnut Whip

These were really really really good, but I didn't think they'd garner much attention. But as soon as I posted I got 3 comments. I was flabbergasted! I didn't think there were many parsnip lovers out there, but I am happy to know there are many apparently!

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A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved: Santa's Mincemeat Pies

A lot folk doesn't like meat and sweet in the same sentence. I am not going to lie, when I first heard about mincemeat, I thought GROSS! But the more I learned about food, and I actually read the ingredients I thought. YUM. So I had to try this. I couldn't find suet as it was a last minute decision so I went with a David Lebovitz recipe for Quick Mincemeat and it ROCKED! This will be a holiday tradition! The pastry was perfect everything- lucky santa!!
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The post you're most proud of: Peach Barbecue Personal Pizza

So happy I took a chance and it garnered amazing results loved by the whole family! My children normally hate peaches, but they loved this so much. Since then I've tweaked and made even more fruity versions. Taking chances with food is particularly difficult with children in the house sneaking in goodness and them liking it is always awesome! Same with my Autumn Mac N Cheese made with hokkaido squash :)

Well I hoped you enjoyed! Was cool reading through some old post to find these. A big thank you to all who still follow my blog- the support is amazing. I love the blog community xxxxx

Tagging:
Jessica- Mommyhood Next Right

Peggy- My Fiance Likes so it MUST be good!

Becca- Living Wright at Home

Trininista

Celeste- Cooking Creations

Have fun with this! This was definitely fun reading the archives and going back in time. Inspires me to challenge myself even more. And it's so fun reading others' thoughts on their own blog posts read hidden gems!

Sorta Wordless Wednesday- It's Autumn, y'all!

2011-09-21T14:30:00.000+02:00

I love Autumn, it's my favorite time of the year. The clean-ish crisp air, the beautiful auburn leaves, the chilly breezes, wearing jackets again (well we were wearing coats this summer, but let's not get into that we're talking about fall!), pumpkins, sweet potatoes, women walking around in cleavage revealing dirndls and men in leather overalls, beer and wine fests and a shit load of orange stuff! I freaking love this time of year! We have 3 birthdays in this house from Sept-Nov, we have Halloween where the children work.....erm go trick or treating so mommy and daddy can pig out on their hard earned candy, and my favorite holiday THANKSGIVING! The last few autumns we had some hard times, but for whatever reason, we never let it get us down. From September to December 31st I am pretty much happy most of the time. Anyway, this is supposed to be wordless Wednesday. Please forgive me, I don't have my dSLR right now, this summer along with a bunch of other electronics in my house, it suddenly stopped working. So we're working on that, in the meantime, check out our fall decor. It's not really looking like autumn outside, so be bought it in, plus I am not creative enough to go out and make real sticks and leaves looks nice.

I should be posting more regularly! I have so much to share. I may do a Deployment Sunday so I can share stories and photos from our eventful 6 months without the husband. The children and I traveled all over Germany so look out for that :)

OK I'll shut-up!

Starting School is a sign Fall's a'coming! My son started Kindergarten at the DOD school here. He is so ecstatic. His father is German and he is fluent in the language, but he didn't like the German kindergarten he went to. He complained that no one spoke English, I told him that you can speak German and we live in Germany! Oh, well. He is a lot happier in the Elementary school on base and he has a little girlfriend. She'd always give him hugs which he "hated" and now he loves her to chase and she's his 'favorite' best friend. So sweet. Anywho, here's his first day off the bus.

It's not really looking like Fall yet....yeah I know today is the first day. But we've been buying autumn stuff for the house since August when they were first on display. I have issues. I really freaking love Fall.

Yes a Mass (beer glass) is totally fall decor :) Who am I fooling, it's there year around- #lazy.

We used to keep a pumpkin outside our door, but every year someone steals it after Halloween. I was thinking about putting some kind of firecrackers inside and they'd get a bit surprise, but I think keeping it inside would result in significantly less jail time. :D

This is from the parade preceding the Wine fest in my town. We didn't go because we had other plans and the days following it was rainy and cold. I have photos from when I went last year on this blog:)

Blocked street! Yeah, lets go the other way.

I hope to post more frequently soon. Thank you for reading! Next up, check out my fall recipes! I've only been blogging little over a year so it's not totally overwhelming. A lot of sweet potatoes, though! Tschuess!!!

Quickie Update

2011-09-09T22:50:00.001+02:00

Hi all! Are you still waiting on that update?

Well, I've starting really working out in July, and man, I have a lot of work to do. In my own opinion anyway. I can be a bit of a perfectionist when I want to be.

My husband has been home for a week now. We are so happy to have him home! I have a few of you on my personal facebook page and annoy many of you on twitter, so that's sort of why I haven't blogged any updates. Sorry.

I've been testing lots of recipes, and have finally found Truvia- a natural sweetener from the Stevia plant. I am excited to try some sugar-free baking as I am addicted to all things sweet. This has been inspired by Rocco Dispiritio's cookbook, "Now Eat This!" I've cooked a few recipes from it, and it's pretty frickin' delicious! Also a great blogging pal, Carolyn from All Day I Dream about Food.

My camera is kaput at the moment, so no recipe sharing until it's fixed. By then it will be Autumn and my photos will suck anyway....but you're not here for the perty photos, you're here for the food right? I can not wait to share. Been testing and remaking some of our family favorites. I also been extreme-from-scratch mama. I want to show you all that anyone can do it. Plus share my fitness journey! I LOVE the gym and I enjoy feeling good after running, I still have a hate-love thing for running even though I do it all the time. The first 5 minutes is what I hate really. Anyway, sorry about the rambling, I feel I need to say something.

Oh and I finally have a laptop. My last one's hard drive died and I was without all summer....sigh. I am a shit magnet. Anyway, I have lots of stories to share! Not ALL of you are on my FB friends list....I think....so stay tuned!!! Many besos! Thank you for reading my ramblings.

I've been inspired by so much over the past 6 month and I am still contemplating how to share it all. Y'all care right? The blog posts will not be long. I have no time. I have a kindergartner now with tons of homework!
Sommer J

Of sex shoes and butt cheeks

2011-05-13T22:27:00.000+02:00

I know I am not the hottest chick on the blog block...but I know some of you kind folk are keeping me in your thoughts and it's much appreciated, thank you. The husband is OK and we're steadily approaching the halfway point. I've been busy trying to stay busy and not go crazy.

For example, today I went from searching through sex toy sites for the perfect sexy shoe, yes shoes and nothing else..~~today~~. The sex toy shops had some interesting choices, however, my fingers seemed to wonder to Neimen Marcus's site.....and I found the perfect shoe, only this shoe is 2 sizes too big. I know there are women out there who are willing to risks their balance for the perfect shoe, but I am too clumsy and have way too many kids to falling on my face and end up with more concussions than Deon Sanders in his '49ers hey day. So I went to another site suggested by a friend. It's an outlet site and has EVERYTHING...I am in love and have found the perfect shoe. I shall reveal this shoe when the photos are done....you may see a bit of butt cheek....but the shoes are hot. Oh let me explain the butt cheeks..

The hookah shoes are for my husband's Father's Day present. A many a posts back I mentioned that I was going to have boudoir photos shot again and that's what I am preparing for right now. I am excited and I really need to do something crazy and daring. I love my babies to death, but doing kid friendly things all day everyday is driving me nuts! So I need to mix in a little crazy...because I am a lil cray cray.

I never in million years would think I would dedicate a whole blog post about sex shoes and butt cheeks. Well, one more item off my bucket list me thinks...

Love you all!!! Hope everyone's well

Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Waffles: The Ultimate Comfort Meal!

2011-03-22T18:58:00.002+01:00

I remember being a snooty little rugrat when I first heard of chicken and waffles...it was actually when I was watching an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". I remember thinking, "Why the hell would you eat fried chicken and waffles together?" I thought that because my mom was old school, I wouldn't be here making this blog post if I had said the "H" word out loud. Back to the story, I was just weirded out by this strange combination. Waffles- ONLY eggo waffles for me- were breakfast with pork sausage, bacon and or scrapple. And fried chicken was only for lunch or dinner. NO way can you combine the 2!

Fast forward to my adult years as the microwave queen, I still couldn't stomach it. Then when I got into cooking and being the from scratch gal that I am, I could dig the combo. In fact, I wanted to try this last month before my husband left, but was distracted. Then last week, I asked my eldest child after his 2 week stay with his father, what he wanted for dinner and he asked for chicken, waffles, rice and something else in a soup. I liked the idea of chicken and waffles together so I went to work.

I marinate my chicken up to 12 hours prior. First I season, then pour buttermilk over for the juicest most flavorful fried chicken you will evah eat. Adding cornmeal makes a nice crunch, but a little goes a LONG way. No need for more than a scant 1/4 cup or you'll break yo' teeth. The waffle recipe I found on www.cooksillustrated.com. I wanted a great recipe and you can not go wrong at all with America's Test Kitchen! These were some AMAZING waffles, too. It uses powdered buttermilk which is different, but it made the lightest dry mix! I also like it because you don't get the sour buttermilk taste.

Also oil instead of butter was used for a crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle waffle. It's damn good! Definitely a hit with my children and my German friends! All you chicken and waffle virgins must try this and pour some good grade b maple syrup on both waffles and chicken! Don't look at me like that, I know you like BBQ chicken and one of the main ingredients is some kind of sweetener! Give this a shot!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Waffles
Printable Recipe here!
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken about 4 pounds, cut-up (alternatively you can purchase your favorite chicken pieces totaling 4 pounds)
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
Pre-floured seasoning:
1- 2 tsp salt
1 tsp Seasoned Salt (I love McCormick's Season All)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning or dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 onion powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper or white pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal

Flour seasoning:

1- 2 tsp salt
1 tsp Seasoned Salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning or dried thyme
1/2 onion powder
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper or white pepper
1/8 cayenne pepper

24- 36 ounces peanut oil

Directions

If you're using a whole chicken, cut up into 8 pieces- remove backbone two breasts, two wings, two legs, and two thighs.

Place chicken in a large resealable bag or large bowl. Season chicken all over. Pour buttermilk over chicken and allow to sit in the fridge 12 hours to overnight or as little as 30 minutes.

While marinating or next day, add flour, additional seasonings and cornmeal to a large bowl.

Once marinated, remove chicken from bag or bowl allowing excess buttermilk to drip from piece. Dip chicken into flour and place on paper towels or a cooling rack with paper towel under.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet (I prefer a cast iron skillet!) 350 degrees using a good thermometer or candy thermometer.Once heated, place as many pieces in the skillet as possible. The reason is so each piece cooks evenly and crisp. Cook about 20-25 minutes. Wash or use another cooling rack lined with paper towels to place cooked chicken- to avoid any sogginess. Remove each piece except breast. I usually let the breast cook another 5 minutes since they're the biggest pieces.

Allow to rest about 5 minutes.

Buttermilk Waffles

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup dried buttermilk powder (can be found in the baking aisle)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup greek yogurt* (see note)

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup peanut oil or vegetable oil

1 1/4 cups unflavored seltzer water

*I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in the original recipe. I allowed it to thicken by placing a paper towel on a slotted spoon on a bowl to catch the whey.

Directions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet and place baking sheet in oven. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and baking soda in large bowl to combine.

Whisk Greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla, and oil in medium bowl to combine.

Gently stir seltzer into wet ingredients.

Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients.

Using a rubber spatula, gently stir until just combined.

Batter should remain slightly lumpy with streaks of flour.

Heat waffle iron and bake waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions (use about 1/3 cup for 7-inch round iron).

Transfer waffles to rack in warm oven and hold for up to 10 minutes before serving with butter and maple syrup.
Place waffles and chicken on plate and add some good grade B maple syrup to both! You'll be sent to comfort heaven for sure! Eat Sparingly or every Saturday morning I don't care it's really good!

Enjoy!!!!!

Also check out Salty Seattle's GENIUS take on this classic American dish: http://www.saltyseattle.com/2011/01/chicken-and-waffles-meet-modern-gastronomy/

Fotografie Fridays: Mama's Babies

2011-03-18T19:46:00.000+01:00

When I started this blog, it was mostly cooking, but I also rambled about my life and photography from time to time. I used to do Fotografie Fridays which was just a cheesy spin on Wordless Wednesday since I live in Germany. Haven't done it in a while but thought it'd be fun to start again :)

So last night I told you all that I was going to purchase a new lens today and that I did. My children accompanied me from store to store as I searched for a new 50 mm lens. This time I wanted 50mm f/ 1.4 instead of the 1.8 I had before. This lens is a bit more sturdy for someone like me with curious children and me being very erm..forgetful! I LOVE it! Can not wait to take more photos with it.

I treated my children to lunch at Pizza Hut after a week of long boring errands. I NEVER sit down at any restaurant because my youngest can't sit down anywhere longer than 10 minutes. Today he sat for 15 minutes. That's a bit of progress!

Standing up on the chair. Don't let the smile fool ya.

My sweeties sharing :)

My little Iron Man at his Fasching Kindergarten Party a couple weeks ago.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!!! Am planning to cook up a recipe with my son's chicken, waffle, rice, soup idea...only it will not be that, but close! Stay tuned :)

Mama's Not in Rehab

2011-03-17T19:54:00.001+01:00

Do you have a muse? You know someone who inspires you to go that extra level?

Well, my husband is the that person. I know I've said many times here about how after I got married he inspired me to get in the kitchen- because he wasn't going to! He was honest when I made some messed up "food", is willing to try meals/ingredients he can't spell or never heard, just supportive and a huge confidence boost for me. I've been in a confidence funk and with everything going on, I needed a break.

I don't blog everything I cook and bake, if I did I would never spend time with my family. In fact, there are days where I bake or cook and take photos of everything but never publish a post. During this time, I cooked and baked so much. I was surprised the husband could fit into his uniform! Maybe subconsciously I was trying to fatten him so he couldn't go haha. But friends, I cooked up a storm. I made Thanksgiving look like a snack. As I was packing my husband's snack- homemade brioche loaves, Homemade Chicken Burgers (made my own spice blend), and Peanut Butter Heath Bits Cookies, it hit me pretty hard. He's left before and I cried...but this time I was Florida Evans mad. Must have to do with having 3 young children who miss him dearly, the lack of quality time we were able to spend with one another prior. Who knows. On top of the husband leaving- we were incredibly unlucky from February 11th on. It felt as if someone put a hex on us! We got through it and learned so much from it. I am almost happy it happened, and know I will do everything I can to keep it from happening ever again.

During the last day of the hellish month of February, my lenses broke, yes plural (only have my telephoto lens which is not good for food flicks), so I am going shopping tomorrow. Plus my eldest son made a dinner request that I've been wanting to do for a while. To be exact he said, I want chicken, broccoli, waffles, rice in a soup...er OK. Guess what's coming out of that ;)

Plus my little Ninja turns the big TWO this month. He started the terrible twos at 9 months, and we are hoping it will end soon hehe. Anyway, I have a great cake in mind for him and am planning a Peppa Pig/ Toy Story Party for him at his favorite place! Peppa Pig and Toy Story? A lil ghetto because I could only find some pieces of each hehe ;) He loves both at the moment so why not? Can you guess what's on his face? It's the star ingredient of his cake ;) I may regret this a few days after....

Also HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Mr. Flavor Bakes? Fudge Brownie-Banana Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae

2011-02-14T20:02:00.001+01:00

First off, Happy Valentine's Day! It's important to show love all 365 days of the year, and we all know it's a Hallmark holiday- but it nice to be a bit more gushy on this chocolatey romantic day! We honestly do not have anything planned. We worked, paid a ginormous bill, and budgeted- how romantic! Paying bills is sexy to me...ok not really...

Saturday, my daughter wanted ice cream after a cold day's out at the playground. She really does ask for random things at random times. She asks for sausages when she first wakes up, or asks where's my doughnut before we kiss her goodnight. Haha...food is always on her mind! Anyway, she asked for ice cream- BANILLA ice cream to be precise. For some reason when she asked for it, I became nostalgic for Baskin Robbins Hot Fudge brownie Banana Sundae. Not sure what the name is exactly, all I know is I ate it by the bucket-loads during my first pregnancy. When we told the little ones about the dessert plan, they were most certainly down.

The brownie recipe was my first successful baking recipe a few years back. It's posted here with some changes. This time, my husband and I agreed thinner brownies are better for this and we also added about 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter. Use any brownie recipe you like. This one is a good one, though! Also, if cooking in a 13 by 9 pan bake for about 17-23 minutes.

The husband took the lead on this one and he didn't do bad at all :) Great way for us to spend some much needed time together, too. Happy Valentine's Day! This is great for anytime of the year if you ask me ;) We forgot to buy heavy cream to make whipped cream, but you don't really need it. Unless you're kinky like that ....

You will need:
A Brownie Recipe
Vanilla Ice Cream- homemade or purchased (we bought Haegen-Daaz)
2 ripe bananas
Your choice of toppings such as melted semi-sweet chocolate, toasted walnuts, whipped cream cherries, etc

Directions:
Once brownies are slightly cooled, cut 'em up, top with ice cream, sliced bananas, melted chocolate and nuts (or whatever you want)

And voila! Easy peasy husband pleasy ;)

His toes are curlin' ;)

Enjoy!!!

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-02-11T11:36:00.001+01:00

Warning: These cookies are highly addictive.

While shopping for some quick dinner ingredients Wednesday afternoon, I happened to find a display for Heath Bits on sale. I've never eaten the chocolate bar before, but for some reason, I really wanted to try it. So I grabbed it quickly before I could change my mind hurried my shopping thinking of what to do with the chocolate and toffee bits. When I got home, I checked out the recipes on the back of the bag for some ideas for baking, but when I saw the recipe for the cookies, I couldn't go on any further! I wanted to make them soon after dinner, but the husband told me to be patient, he has a Physical Training test Friday morning. I did however make them first thing the next morning...he wasn't here and those bits were all "try me....try me NOW!"

The cookies tasted out of this world good. I mean, really, how can you go wrong with peanut butter, chocolate and toffee? The soft chewy cookie along with the slight crunch of the toffee was divine.

If you don't have these Heath Bits in your area and you live in Europe please let me know via e-mail (my e-mail is under contact me). I'll send a package to the first 5 folk who asks...I need to make it to the post office anyway. But really this can be made with any toffee chocolate bar, just crush it into small pieces.

So no excuses not to try this people!

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies
From the back of the bag ;-)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 T milk
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/3 cup Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits

Directions
Heat oven to 375°F.
Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup bits; reserve remainder for topping.

Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet; top each with reserved bits.

Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely. About 3 dozen cookies.

Strawberry Cornmeal Muffins

2011-02-09T22:27:00.001+01:00

I first saw Cornbread Jam Muffins while reading one the first blogs I discovered and fell in love at first sight, The Foodinista. I saw these and thought, dang my little ones would love this! My eldest son isn't a fan of red foods unless they're gummy/hard candy form. I don't get it either. So he didn't even want to try these, which was fine- more for me...er the rest of my family!

I found a similar recipe on Joy of Baking and made some small changes like adding whole wheat flour and using frozen, chopped strawberries. My little ones, who does love "bewwies" really enjoyed these and was angry when they were eaten up! The main culprit is Curly Sous herself.

These were very nice- good for any time of the day! My husband and I think that any other berry as the original recipe states would go very well with this! The strawberries were bursting with goodness as well! Give em a shot. They're extremely easy to put together and your little one can take the lead....

Strawberry Cornmeal Muffins

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
4 t baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of one lemon
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup safflower, corn, or canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Garnish:
2 tablespoons white sugar (coarse or granulated)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Position rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a non stick cooking spray 12 - 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups. Can also line with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl combine 2 tablespoons of this mixture with the strawberries.

In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.

With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Gently stir in the berries. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Sprinkle with the white sugar.

Place in the oven and bake until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 - 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Note: If using frozen berries you may have to bake the muffins a little longer than the stated time.

Enjoy!!

Chorizo and Pork Belly with White Beans

2011-02-06T22:13:00.002+01:00

Farmers hide your piggies and vegans/vegetarians beware! This soup is all about the delicious, flavorful and juicy pig. Pig in 3 different ways: we have the Spanish chorizo (from wiki): Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped pork and pork fat, seasoned with smoked pimentón (paprika) and salt. It is generally classed as eitherpicante (spicy) or dulce (sweet), depending upon the type of smoked paprika used. Then we have my favorite part of the pig, pork belly, and dry cured form of pork belly called Pancetta. However, I can not find Pancetta here to save my life (Friends/Readers in Germany help a mama out, bitte?) I asked another food lover which subsitute is best, and found that Bauchspeck is a great replacement. Like Pancetta, Bauchspeck is from the pig's belly and then dried, cured, but unlike pancetta, is smoked. To compensate for flavor, the friend suggested that I add more garlic, chili flakes and nutmeg to the recipe. It worked a treat!

I am not sure when or why I stumbled across the recipe on the BBC Good Food's site, but I am so happy I did. We love chorizo and pork belly on their own in different ways, putting them together is perfection! I don't have much experience with pancetta given that it's harder to find here from my own experience, but if the substitute bauchspeck is any indication of pancetta's awesomeness? I am a big big fan.

This stew or pork convention-in-a-bowl is hearty filling and the beans adds a nice texture and believe it or not taste. You can use Cannellini beans or haricots (as the original recipe)I don't think I would love this as much without them! Even better it's simple, as it's delicious. Chop some aromatic/bellies/sausage and some aromatics add a good glug of wine, spices and water let it slow cook and infuse your home with lovely aroma and you're pretty much done until you add the beans at the end! This is definitely a man pleasing meal, but I could have ate the whole entire pot on my own. I love me some pork and beans.

Chorizo & Pork Belly with White Beans
Adapted From BBC Good Food's site
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb piece of boneless pork belly , skin removed
1 T olive oil
1/4 lb pancetta or any dried cured belly meat (I used bauchspeck) thick bacon may work, too
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tsp hot smoked paprika

1/2 tsp nutmeg

pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 lb chorizo, roughly chopped
1 -14oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
2 14-oz cans of Great Northern Beans or cannellini, drained and rinsed
a bunch coriander

Directions
Heat the oven to 160C/310F. Cut the pork belly into large chunks. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large, ovenproof casserole and fry the pork in batches over a high heat until browned all over, then remove with a slotted spoon.

Add the pancetta and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden, then reduce the heat slightly and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Stir in the paprika and chorizo also nutmeg and chili flakes if using and cook for a minute or so. Return the pork to the pan and tip in the tomatoes. Pour in the wine and enough water just to cover - about 1 cup.

Season, cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours. Stir in the haricot beans and return to the oven, without the lid, for 20-30 minutes.

Stir in the coriander

I served with a family favorite- Buttermilk Cornbread from All Recipes. I substituted 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 cup with a teaspoon on white vinegar for buttermilk. I also used 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1 cup of flour, then baked in 13 by 9 baking pan. Turned out delicious and went very well with stew. Serve with any bread you like, my parents would have used a slice of good ol' white bread. That's how we rolled. This stew and bread was enjoyed by my whole family.

Enjoy!!

Homemade Bagels and Mawa's Raspberry Cream Cheese Spread

2011-02-02T21:53:00.001+01:00

While thanking a friend for "liking" my Facebook page, yes I am cheesy like that, the subject of homemade bagels was briefly discussed. Last year I wanted to try it, but somehow it got put to the back burner. Since the conversation, I was looking around the interwebs for a bagel recipe and this recipe seemed to fall in my lap because I saw a link for "Bagels are a Breeze!" on my Facebook news feed. I found a recipe I thought I wanted to use, but I loved the look of this one and had all the ingredients on hand.

Like anytime I make homemade bread, my kids were impatiently awaiting the finished product. The only one willing to help was my little Curly Sous (chef) and I think she and I did a fabulous job. They have great flavor, slightly chewy but fluffy texture and was truly a breeze to make. My daughter aka Mawa made up her first recipe today as well. She ~~demanded~~ delegated when it came to the cream cheese spread. She told me how much raspberry sauce, sugar, and lemons to use and ya know what? She did pretty damn good. I am proud of my Curly Sous.

Bruce Ezzell's Bagels

From Michael Ruhlman's blog

Sponge (4 to 12 hours before baking; do this before you go to bed if you want fresh bagels for breakfast or brunch, only takes a minute)

Ingredients:

500 grams flour/18 ounces/ 3.5 cups
500 grams water/18 ounces/ 2 1/4 cups
3 grams active dry yeast/3/4 teaspoon

Combine the ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix with a spoon till the ingredients are combined. Set aside at room temperature for at least 4 hours. Do this before going to bed if you want fresh bagels in the morning.

To Make the Bagels
18 grams kosher salt/.6 ounces/1 tablespoon
18 grams honey/1 scant tablespoon
18 grams malt syrup/1 tablespoon (you can substitute molasses if you wish I used molasses)
446 grams flour/16 ounces/ 3 cups
Baking Soda (1/2 tablespoon for every 2 liters/1/2 gallon water)
Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coarse salt or other garnish (optional but recommended) I used onion seeds and salt

Add salt, honey, malt syrup (molasses), and flour to the sponge, the flour last.

Attach dough hooks to your mixer and mix at low speed for 8-10 minutes. This is a stiff, bucky dough so don’t walk away from the mixer if it has a tendency to walk across your counter top. I've had more than one mixer hit the floor and it is distressing. (This can also be mixed by hand.)

Once the dough is mixed remove it to your counter and cover with a cloth to let it rest for 5-10 minutes.

While the dough is resting place a wide, fairly deep pot filled with water on the stove to heat (measure the water so you know how much baking soda to use).

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees.
Divide the dough into 12-13 (4 oz) pieces. Round each piece and set aside to rest for a few more minutes, covered.

To shape take each ball of dough and flatten out slightly using the palm of the hand, making a disc approximately 3.5 inches wide. Make a hole in each using your thumb and place back on the counter, covered, to rise.
After 10 minutes flip each bagel over so the bottom is now facing up. When this side begins to get slightly puffy and rounded it is time to boil. This may take as little as 5 minutes, but depending on the temperature of your kitchen, how cold your countertop is, etc., it might take longer. When the bagel looks and feels a bit puffy, it’s ready to boil.

While your bagels are in their final rise bring your water to a simmer, then add the baking soda.When I boil I typically use a pan like a wok filled with water.

Drop the bagels 3-4 at a time into the simmering water (depending on how large your pot is). They should float immediately or within a few seconds. Let them simmer for one minute, then flip them over using a chopstick or spoon and let the other side simmer for one minute.

Remove from the water using a skimmer or large spoon. I like to bake them on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper. They can also be baked on a pizza stone.
Sprinkle them with sesame, poppy seeds, salt or whatever you prefer immediately after removing them from the water, or alternately, brush with an egg wash and sprinkle after that.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 12-13 minutes or until golden brown.

These were so easy, and it didn't take long to do at all. I am very pleased and will be adding another homemade bread on my regular baking repertoire. If you don't have a scale, just measure everything as precisely as possible. The dough can be easily kneaded by hand as well!

From these bagels I made my son a quick lunch of ham and swiss

For dinner I made "pizza sandwiches". Made from the bagels with black onion seeds. I made a quick sauce using tomato puree, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, bay leaf, a splash of vinegar, red pepper flakes, a little sugar and salt and pepper. I parboiled sausage, sliced, sauteed. I added a heaping 1/2 cup of organic shredded mozzarella cheese, and broiled. Was GOOD.

I also seved them with those smiley faced potato fries. I can eat my weight in those!

Mawa's Raspberry Cream Cheese

My daughter directed me with this recipe and it yielded delicious results. I won't type the directions in Mawanese, though haha.

For Raspberry sauce

1 16 oz bag of frozen raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon juice

For Wazbewwy (Raspberry) Cream Cheese Spread

1- 8 oz pack of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened (leave out at room temp for a couple hours prior)

1/4 cup raspberry sauce

2 T sugar

Juice of half a lemon

Directions

Simmer sugar and raspberries over medium low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes until thickened. Strain juice from skins and seeds through a fine mesh sieve.

In a separate bowl, stir softened cream cheese until light. Add lemon juice, sugar and raspberry sauce; mix thoroughly.

Enjoy!!

Wordless Wednesday: Slurp!

2011-01-26T20:09:00.000+01:00

Can you tell she really loved the soup?

Spiced Tomato and Coconut Soup

2011-01-25T11:56:00.001+01:00

Growing up you couldn't get me near tomato soup. My parents would warm up a can and serve it to us. Nothing else, no cream, chives, crusty bread, just tomato liquid as I called it. My disdain for tomato 'liquid' carried on until I met my husband. He loves tomato soup and would buy the canned version regularly early on in our courtship, because I was for damn sure was not going to make it for him! But the more I learned about food, I knew I had to face past food dislikes of certain foods. One of the first I tackled was tomato soup. I made my first tomato soup from scratch about 2.5 years ago and it was amazing. This soup had body, flavor, and not just a wet red glop o' liquid. My husband was very pleased and impressed as was I! So since then, I've made all kinds of different versions of tomato soups, including another favorite I made this past summer I blogged about. No more canned soups went inside my kitchen cupboards.

This soup is by Gordon Ramsay from his book and series on Channel 4 Great Escape. Where he journeyed throughout Indian exploring one of England's favo(u)rite cuisines, Indian food aka curry. I caught a few episodes of this and it was a great learning experience and man it made me hungry. This book was also a Christmas present from the husband. I just cracked it open last Friday night, and when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make this tomato soup ASAP. I also found a few dishes for my upcoming and first Indian-themed dinner party with my pal Becca!

This soup is delicious, bursting with flavor and it can be made very quickly. To cut prep time, substitute canned whole tomatoes (drained) and use hot madras curry powder instead of the ground cumin, fenugreek, chillies, turmeric. I made this recipe almost exactly as he did, only I added less chili peppers as my daughter loves soup but can't stand heat!

This would make a great starter or a main course. Easily doubled and tastes even better leftover.

Spiced Tomato and Coconut Soup

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb Tomatoes

2 T vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped

2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

Kosher/Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (add more peppers or don't deseed for more spice)

1/2 dried fenugreek, crushed with a pinch of salt

1 bay leaf

1 t ground tumeric

1 t ground cumin

1/3 cup tomato puree

1 can of coconut milk (i used light coconut milk)

1T cumin seeds

pinch of asafoetida (optional)

handful of coriander/cilantro leaves for garnish

toasted coconut for garnish

Directions

Bring pan of water to the boil. Lightly score a cross at the top and base of each tomato then lower them into the boiling water for 15 to 20 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and refresh in a bowl of iced water. Once cooled, peel off the skins of tomatoes and then roughly chop.

Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan and add the onion, ginger and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and sweat for 4 to 5 minutes until onions begins to soften. Add the chillies, fenugreek, bay leaf, turmeric, and ground cumin and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Tip in chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and stir well.

Pour in coconut milk and use the can to measure out an equal amount of water. Add this to the pan and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about 15-20 minutes until tomatoes are very soft and have broken down.

Puree the soup using a stick blender, or pour soup into a blender. If you really want a smooth result push puree through a sieve. I didn't do that, I like a little body to my soup :) Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

When ready to serve, reheat the soup. In a small saucepan, heat oil (coconut or vegetable) and add cumin seeds and asafoetida if using. As they begin to pop, take pan off the heat and pour spiced oil in soup. Stir well!

Ladle into warm bowl and garnish if you want. This photo shoot was quite short as this soup was too hard to resist!!! Hope you try this!! It's perfect for this weather. The best thing is you don't need perfect tomatoes which you will not find this time of year in Germany. The sourness of the tomatoes adds good flavor to the soup :)

Enjoy!!

Why I love Twitter, Awards and Pinwheel Cookie Recipe (finally!)

2011-01-21T12:28:00.003+01:00

First off, I would like to thank Christina over at Being Mrs. Jones and Visual Luxe for the new design layout. On Twitter, she asked if I would like a knew blog design and I typed (and said as I typed) YES!!! So happy with the new brighter look. Thanks again, Christina!

On to the awards. Was awarded the Stylish Blogger from Wendy and Faith! Both are two blogs that I thoroughly enjoy reading on a regular basis.
Wendy has delicious recipes from her amazing cookbook finds and her own glorious creations. Her latest post is something I will certainly try! Check it out: Smoky and Spicy Rice Pilaf- NOMNOM!
Faith has everything from marriage, fashion tips, funny to real life stories that I am anxious to read every time I see she has a new post. One of my favorite blogs! Her post on Martin Luther King Day was incredibly touching and definitely something I can relate to and appreciate! Check it out here!

I always giggle when I receive the Stylish blogger award because I am the complete opposite! As you can see here...ahem. Even when I try, I suck!

Also was awarded Versatile Blogger from my real-life friend and blogger buddy Tessie. Her adventures in homemaking, motherhood, being a full-time student are quite a read. I call her Supermom because the lady does it all, but she doesn't sacrifice what she's loved before children and school! Great inspiration!

And last, but certainly not least I received the Lovely Blog Award from fellow European Expats Alisha from Ardent Epicure and Nancy of Spicie Foodie! They have lovely recipes that are so exotic, healthy, and damn amazing!
Nancy has done what most foodies dream of and has released a cookbook called "An Epiphany of the Senses available on Amazon. If you haven't read her blog, please do. She has certainly inspired me! One of my most popular posts, "Autumn Mac and Cheese: Mommy's Little Secret" was inspired by her. Also, Alisha has the most creative recipe and they're almost always healthy with a great story and description of ingredients used attached! Her latest post featuring azuki beans had me so intrigued! Hoping to find some soon! Check out her post here!

Now, why I love twitter. Twitter is awesome because it's great for people like me who have random thoughts! Also, great for finding inspiration for recipes. The blog love amongst the bloggers on Twitter is remarkable, from congratulating one another for Top 9 on Foodbuzz, retweeting blog posts it's nice to see such a nice community that I am proud to be apart of!

I also love twitter because Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman tweeted the cookies I tweeted about for cookie week back in November. I tweeted a photo of cookies and thought a couple people would see them, but then I saw that SHE retweeted them I was really surprised and excited. I did "The Cabbage Patch" aka my happy dance! The only thing I was sad about was I made the cookies when my internet was out so I didn't blog about them- dang it! I got a few extra followers on twitter and the blog so I felt bad there was no cookie recipe here for them. Those cookies got over 1000 views from that retweet alone...that lady is the woman! haha.

The other sad part is that I took photos of process and it's all saved on the computer that my ninja baby destroyed. Sigh. But these cookies aren't difficult, give them a shot!

So here is the recipe finally. It's from "Cooking" by James Patterson. I love this book, it's taught me so much about techniques and cooking. It's one of my cooking bibles.

Black and White Swirl Cookies
Ingredients
For Basic Butter Cookie Dough:
1/2 pound cold butter, sliced
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour or 1 cup all purpose flour and 1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt

For Chocolate Dough:
2 cups flour
2/3 cups confectioner's sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, butter sliced
1 egg
cocoa butter for dusting

Directions
Butter Dough
Make sure butter is as cold as possible. Put flour in bowl and sprinkle butter over the top. Make a well in the center then add egg, sugar and salt.and with the fingertips of one hand, move around the inside of the flour wall, moving around until the flour mixture and egg mixture blends together. Keep mixing until there is no loose flour. Try not to over mix. This can easily be done in a food processor, blending all ingredients until consistency of lumpy mashed potatoes. Or stand mixer, add flour and butter mixture, then pour in eggs, salt, and sugar while mixer is running at medium speed.

Chocolate Dough:
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt very well in a large bowl or food processor. Mix in butter well, until you have large crumbs, then add egg to bind.

Roll out a rectangle of each dough 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, lay one rectangle on top of the other, roll up tightly, and chill 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Once dough are chilled, slice about 1/3 inch thick. Arrange on baking pans, and chill for another 30 minutes.

Once chilled, bake for 12 minutes, or until only the very slightest bit of browning is visible on the edges of the cookies. Let cool until set and then transfer to cooling rack. Once cooled store in tightly sealed container for up to a week. They didn't last 2 days in my house!

Enjoy!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Mama's Little Helper

2011-01-19T18:44:00.000+01:00

Curly Sous (chef)
My daughter loves to help in the kitchen. From cooking, to setting the table to even washing the dishes! I love my little curly sous :) Here she's stirring pasta for her and her brothers' lunch.

Pomegranate Nutty Granola

2011-01-18T22:39:00.001+01:00

I love granola. The first time I made my own granola was last year and I've been hooked ever since. There are so many different ways to serve this fun mix. As cereal, over yogurt, mixed in ice cream (though the husband isn't convinced), alone as a snack, over top muffin batter etc etc.

I wanted to make our favorite Nutty Granola from Ellie Krieger, but I was ready for a change yet still quite nutty, in fact, nuttier. While out at the grocery store, I strolled past the pomegranate juice and thought, using a pomegranate syrup was a bit more...er sexier. I am a mother of 3, I gotta get my kicks some how ;). Excited, I put my creation to work and came out with some very delicious results. My little ones really loved it, and of course the husband did as well!

Note: I like my nuts coarsely chopped, but you can chop them a bit finer if you'd like! If you do not want to make your own syrup, buy some (if available) or use maple syrup, honey or any other syrupy/gooey sweetener.

Pomegranate Nutty Granola
Print Recipe

For Pomegranate Syrup
2 cups pomegranate juice
1/4 cup sugar
squeeze of lemon

Granola
Pomegranate syrup (above) about 3/4 cup
1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
2.5 cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1/2 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 300F
Add pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and white granulated sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and stir until sugar's dissolved. Decrease temperature, then simmer over medium to medium low heat until reduced by a little over than half. This should take about 45 minutes together. EYE IT. Allow to cool, juice will have a syrupy texture. Once cooled, stir in brown sugar well.

Now, add nuts, oatmeal, and salt to a large bowl.

Pour syrup mixture over nuts and oats then stir in well.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and spread mixture evenly on sheet. Bake 35 to 40 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. Doesn't it smell divine?

Allow to cool 30 minutes on cooling rack, then have your way with it!

Enjoy!!!

Parsnip Fritters with Blue Cheese-Walnut Whip

2011-01-17T01:06:00.005+01:00

The Baltimore Ravens, my hometown team, are out of the playoffs. Oh, well. There's still snacking to be done and I have the perfect recipe- Parsnip Fritters!

Parsnips are one of my favorite root vegetables. They're slightly sweet, pleasantly aromatic, and full of flavor with a hint of anise! My husband, again, picked out this recipe and I was more than happy to get my fry on. These fritters are so light that your will be absentmindedly popping one in your mouth after the other. Pair it with the Blue-Cheese Walnut Whip and you've definitely gotta party. Blue-Cheese and walnuts is an incredible pairing that I shall try again soon. The family adored these and they were gone very quickly.

Sneaky baby!

Try a new appetizer at your Super Bowl Party, shoot any occasion! Warning: They're highly addictive!

Parsnip Fritters with blue cheese walnut whip

Gary Rhodes' Cookery Year: Autumn into Winter

Note: I halved the recipe. Below is full recipe makes 32!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/4 lb parsnips, peeled and cored

salt and pepper

1/2 onion

2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons flour

For Blue Cheese

3 oz blue cheese, room temperature

2/3 cups mayonnaise (homemade or purchased)

juice of 1 lime

8-10 walnut halves

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/3 cup cream

oil for frying

Directions

Rinse the chopped onion in a sieve, dry very well, then set aside.

Quarter the parsnips lengthwise and remove the central woody core, then discard.

Cook parsnips in boiling salted water until completely tender then drain. Place the parsnips back in th pot over low heat, allowing them to dry. Then puree with a potato masher for a coarse finish or blitz until smooth in a processor. Add to parsnips along with onions, eggs and butter. Add flour, beating it in well. Season with salt and pepper.

While the parsnips are boiling, make the whip. Whisk th cheese into the mayonnaise, breaking it down until reasonable smooth. Add the lime juice, walnuts, and season with with a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Lightly whip cream until soft peaks form.

Then gently fold into cheese-cream mixture until it's a whipped consistency.Can be served chilled or at room temperature.

Preheat the oil for deep frying between 160C/325F to 180C/350F in a deep fryer or in a large skillet with using a thermometer to read the temperature. The parsnip mix can be spooned with spoon ( I used a tablespoon) into the hot oil. Oil the spoon first to make it non-stick!

Turn the fritters from time to time until deep golden brown. Once they are cooked, remove them from hot oil, drain on paper towels and lightly salt, if desired.

Enjoy!

http://spiciefoodie.blogspot.com/2011/01/ybr-your-best-recipes-of-january-2011.html

Blueberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2011-01-14T13:26:00.002+01:00

Spring is certainly on my mind. After 4 consecutive days of rain and gloom in my town in Deutschland, I want something sunny, bright and of course delicious. Spring seems to have had a tag team match with winter recently. We've had some warm temps here, even reaching in the 60s. However, we have a common feature of spring that I am not so tickled happy about.....rain. Lots of it. So what's the best thing to do after a long puddle jumping marathon with the little ones? Bake some CAKE. A cake featuring a not so winter time fruit- blueberries. I used organic frozen blueberries, which are typically frozen at their peak of freshness, and some very seasonal lemons so I didn't feel so guilty. Besides, from the crumbly lemon scented cake base, the full sweet, bursting flavor of the blueberries, to the light cream cheese filling and the crunchy almond topping, you may end up running to your closet and put some shorts on. My daughter the "bewwy lovah" nearly ate all of the berries while I preparing the cake!

Blueberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

From Sunset Magazine

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed, or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preparation

In a 1- to 2-quart pan over medium heat, bring blueberries and apple juice to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until blueberries have released their juices, about 3 minutes. In a small bowl, blend cornstarch and 2 teaspoons water. Add to blueberry mixture; stir until it simmers and thickens, about 1 minute. Let cool to room temperature.

In a bowl or food processor, mix or whirl flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Add butter to flour mixture. Cut in with a pastry blender or pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Reserve 1/2 cup; pour remaining into a large bowl. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon peel.

In a bowl, mix yogurt, vanilla, and 1 egg until blended; stir into flour-baking powder mixture until incorporated.

Spread batter in a buttered 9-inch round cake pan with a removable rim.

In a bowl or food processor, beat with an electric mixer on high speed or whirl cream cheese, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, remaining egg, and lemon juice until smooth.

Spread over batter in pan, leaving a 1/2-inch border bare. Gently spread blueberry mixture over cream cheese mixture, leaving some visible. Stir almonds into reserved flour mixture and sprinkle over cake, concentrating most around edge of batter.

5. Bake in a 350° oven until center of cake barely jiggles when pan is gently shaken and top of cake is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then remove pan rim. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Hope you all enjoy and are staying nice and warm....preferably by an oven ;-)

Cream Cheese

Braised Lamb with Hokkaido Squash and Swiss Cheese Mash

2011-01-10T17:42:00.000+01:00

The name of the recipe sounds more intimidating than it really it is. It's actually pretty simple. For Christmas, my husband bought me two cookbooks, one of the two was Gary Rhodes Cookery Year: Fall into Winter. Whenever my husband gifts me with a cookbook, it's sort of a present for himself as well, because he's the first to dive in looking for recipes he'd like for me to try. It's perfectly fine, though! I love to try new things and the recipes he usually chooses are very different from anything I would think to try myself.

The cut of lamb that I actually braised was the shanks and arm chops. Why? Well, originally I just wanted 4 lamb shanks, but my local butcher, a halal butcher, only had two left. There were also some lamb arm chops available which I read are actually really good to braise so I bought two of those. Lamb shank is cut from the arm of shoulder, contains leg bone and part of round shoulder bone, and is covered by a thin layer of fat and fell (a thin, paperlike covering). This cut of lamb is pretty tough, so one of the best cooking method for it is braising or slow cooking to get that meat nice and fall from the bone tender! It's also a very cheap cut, so this meal looks fancy, but it's pretty cheap! Perfect for an elegant Valentine's dinner on a budget!

The flavor of the lamb was perfection, but not as strong due to long simmering, made fancy with a red wine, and aromatics. The squash with the gruyere cheese was truly a delight. I am not a fan of swiss cheese, but the delighful collaboration on the nutty, slightly sweet squash and the bold, creamy gruyere was absolutely divine. This would make an heavenly side dish with any meal. Originally this recipe called for pumpkin, but from the time I read through the recipe I knew I was going to use hokkaido squash instead! Please give this a try if you want impress your loved ones, lover(s), friends hell anyone. You're welcome ;)

Braised Lamb Shanks With Hokkaido Squash and Swiss Cheese Mash
Slight changes from Gary Rhodes: Cookery Year, pg 59
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
4 lamb shanks
Salt and Pepper
2-3 tablespoons cooking oil
Large knob of butter (heaping tablespoon)
2 onions, each cut into 6 wedges
2 carrots ut into 1/2 inch slices
3 celery sticks, cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 garlic cloves
Large sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
Juice of 2 oranges and rind of 1
1 bottle full-bodied wine
600ml or 1 pint water
Generous pinch of turbinado sugar
Cornstarch, optional

For Squash
2 1/4lb hokkaido squash, peeled, seeded, and diced about an inch wide
Large knob of butter (heaping tablespoon)
1 heaping tablespoon shallots, chopped finely
Freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoon greek yogurt
2 or 3 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

Directions
Preheat oven to 325F (160 C). Season lamb with salt and pepper. Heat the cooking oil in a large frying pan. roasting pan or dutch oven with cover. When at a medium heat, place the lamb in pan and slowly fry until golden brown all over. This will take up to 15-20 minutes and a good percentage of the lamb fat will be released. Remove from pan keep warm on plate covered in aluminum foil. Discard any lamb fat and return pan.

Add knob of butter and then add cut vegetables, garlic cloves, thyme, and bay leaves in the pot. Cook over moderated heat they begin to soften, about 10-15 minutes.

At this point, add orange juice, orange rind, red wine, 600 ml or 1 pint water and turbinado sugar. Bring to a simmer.

Add lamb to the pot, cover, and put pot into preheated oven.

The secret to really good lamb shanks is to cook them very slowly. This will take about 2-3 hours, be sure to check every 30 minutes, turning and basting the lamb joints, and checking their tenderness. This will quite easily be identified by applying slight pressure by hand or with a spoon- the meat should give, almost wanting to fall from the bone. During the cooking time, should the simmering process be too lively, simply reduce temperature of the oven. After 2 hours have a good check. If still slight firm, leave for another 30 to 60 minutes to achieve perfect carve with spoon texture.

Once cooked, carefully lift the shanks from the pot and keep warm to one side, Strain the liquid through a sieve. If you wish, to serve th vegetables, garlic and herbs, they can be kept with the lamb. The cooking liquid can be served as thin or thick as you want. Be sure to skim impurities from top of liquid during simmering and not to reduce more than half or else wine flavor with be too intense with the lamb. If your looking for a thicker consistency, simply add a tablespoon of cornstarch and whisk briskly until combined, then thickened. Return shanks and vegetables (if desired) to liquid and warm through for 10-15 minutes.

For Squash

The last 30 minutes the shanks are braising, prepare squash. Add large knob of butter to saucepan, and once bubbling, add shallots. Cook for a few minutes then add squash. Gently cook with out covering, then add 4 tablespoons of water, then cover with lid.

Cook for 10-15 minutes gently stirring occasionally. Once cooked, drain, then add to serving dish and mash. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; then add greek yogurt. Spread out nicely, then add grated gruyere cheese. By this time, shanks should be out of oven, so preheat the broiler, then broil squash until cheese turns golden and bubbly.

Serve along with lamb and veggies. Enjoy! preferably with a glass of red!

Peach Barbecue Chicken Personal Topped Pizzas

2011-01-05T16:18:00.006+01:00

For a sunny winter's day a sunny dinner is the perfect fit!

I was craving mangoes, but I wanted to make pizza the following night. I looked in my fridge hoping to have some mangoes left over from a previous dinner. None they were eaten. Looked in my freezer for frozen mangoes. None. However while scrummaging, I found some frozen peaches and had an awesome idea. I love pizza with barbecue sauce and it's my son's favorite way since he isn't keen on tomato sauce. So I had the great idea of making a peach barbecue sauce. I've made mango barbecue sauces many times and the whole family thoroughly enjoys it, so I thought peaches would be a great as well. My son doesn't like peaches, or at least he THINKS he doesn't like peaches so I thought this would be a great way to sneak him some.

The peaches were completely thawed, still had specks of ice. My daughter kept sneaking chunks while I was looking the other way!

Sauces are the perfect way to sneak healthy veggies or fruits your children wouldn't at at first site. Check out how I got my son to eat a Hokkaido Squash this past autumn. I am a sneaky Mama. But hey, a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do.

This sauce has a great kick and you and your children will love the slight sweetness of the peach paired with the shredded chicken. It's certainly a treat for your taste-buds!! Using whole wheat flour in the makes this pizza less guilty and more healthy. If you don't like spice, use a dash of red pepper flakes or none at all. My spice hating daughter gobbled these down! Hope you give these a try!

Peach Barbecue Chicken Topped Personal Pizzas

Printable Recipe

For dough

From Cuisine at Home Specials Simple, Healthy & Delicious

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour (i used this!)

1t kosher salt

1/2 cup warm water

2 1/4 t or one pack of active dry yeast

2 T honey

1 T olive oil

For Peach Barbecue Sauce

Adapted from Epicurious

1 lb frozen or fresh peaches

1 medium red onion, chopped about 3/4 cup

1/2 t scotch bonnet pepper finely chopped

1 T canola oil

1/4 cup bourbon

2 1/2 T honey

2t dijon mustard

1 t dark brown sugar

1/4 t chili powder

For Chicken*

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cups chicken broth (homemade or less sodium) or water

1t whole peppercorns

1 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 dried bay leaf

*Leftover chicken or deli rotisserie chicken may be used here instead

For Pizzas

1 cup white cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano

Directions

Proof yeast in water with honey until foamy, 5 minutes; add oil

Combine flours and salt in a large bowl making a deep well in the center

Add yeast

Stir with fork until mixture and flours come together. Once together, knead about 5 minutes until smooth. Oil a bowl and cover for 2 hours in a warm draft-free area. Or do as mama did and allow to rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Meanwhile, make BBQ sauce. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add onions and peppers, cook, stirring occasionally for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
Place in blender and blend until liquefied or use an immersion blender. Place in bowl or jar and set aside. This can be made up to 3 days in advance!

Now on to chicken. In a small saucepan, add chicken, garlic, pepper, and bay leaf. Cover with water or broth. Bring to a boil then, turn down to low cooking for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat and allow and sit in water for 10 minutes. Once slightly cooled, shred with fingers or fork.

Preheat oven to 475F. If you have a pizza stone, warm that as well on lower rack.

Once dough is doubled in sized, punch down dough (if you did it over night, allow to come to room temp for about 15 minutes first), shape into two balls. Cover balls with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free area for 30 minutes to rise.

Once risen, shape dough into 8 inch circle with hands or rolling pin.

Scatter cornmeal on cast iron skillet or baking pan. add dough.

Add BBQ sauce

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Cheddar Cheese

Chicken.

If desired add a few pieces of chicken to BBQ sauce and place on top. Then top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano and olive oil.

Cook for 10 minutes or desired crispness. Allow to cool slightly and remove from pan. Then ENJOY!!

This will also taste amazing with some green veggies such as broccoli florets and some crispy shallots! Hope you enjoy this as much as my family did!!!

HAPPY PIZZA MAKING!

Homemade Glazed Donuts and Apple-Pecan Muffins

2011-01-03T07:18:00.003+01:00

One tradition I read about whilst making my New Year's Day dinner menu was that round or ring shaped desserts are considered lucky foods. So round cakes and pastries are generally ate on the first day of the New Year. So what round dessert did I go with?? DONUTS!!! Yeah, I want to eat healthier, but how can you NOT want want to make your own donuts? I love challenges and I took this one on.

I immediately googled 'Homemade Doughnut Recipes" and saw that Ree Drummond of the amazing blog The Pioneer Woman had a recipe. I read on and I didn't just want, but NEEDED to try this recipe.

They turned out even more amazing than I thought they would be! They're so light and airy and not overly sweet and dense like a lot of donut places. I HIGHLY recommend you make these whether you're on a diet or not. Make them for a pot-luck, birthday, Martin Luther King Day, a good hair day, because it's Tuesday just do this!!!! I posted the photos of these lovely rings of awesome on my personal Facebook, flickr, and twitter pages and got so much positive feedback so I had to share with my blog friends and readers!!! Check out the full recipe with amazing photo tutorial HERE.

Please check out Ree's post so you can share her delicious donuts with your friends and family....hell don't share them. You have my permission!

On to a less guilty recipe. And it's from you guessed it....Ellie Krieger! This woman is phenomenal and she really gets me into the idea that eating healthy should be normal not something you do occasionally. Every recipe I've tried by her has been amazing, and I've developed my own delicious healthy recipes because of her.

Since school is starting back soon, I thought a healthy energizing muffin would be excellent. Great for breakfast, after school snack, with coffee; anytime you need a picker upper! They're sweetened mostly with no sugar added apple sauce, tender apple chunks and the deep molasses flavor of brown sugar. Topped with my favorite pecans and brown sugar, you will for sure have a big hit with your friends and family!! My whole family loved these gorgeous apple-filled treats. Give these babies a shot!!!

Apple-Pecan Muffins
Ellie Krieger
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cooking spray
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (i used regular whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, stir with a wooden spoon the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and oil until combined.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla.

Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Stir just until combined.

Gently stir in the apple chunks.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pecan mixture.

Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

Crab Stock and He Said Yes!

2011-01-01T02:38:00.001+01:00

Happy 2011!!! Hope everyone rang/is ringing the New Year in with a bang! Here in Germany you don't have much choice. The fireworks starts going off at least a week prior. It's nice, but I have 3 sleeping babies! Or babies who SHOULD be asleep.

Me? Found out my kitchen sink has a leak. So besides that, I am happy to see another year and to have a lovely healthy family.

So you're wondering who said yes? What are you talking about NOW Mama?

I proposed to my husband (well I did last month)! We've only been married for 3 years and together for 4 years, but our union was not romantic one bit. We were just trying to get the paperwork done and be together which all should matter in the end. I literally went to the Justice of Peace, said my vows, ate a Doner Kebap then went back to work not the sexy work, but work work. Not so romantic, so I want a nice party. Not a big party, but a little party with us and a couple friends. I want to make the cake and the food and even have my hand at the designs with the help my good friend Becca.

I am SOOOO nervous, but I am going to do it.....by November. Now that I've posted this on my blog, it better happen! Shit! What inspired this was the amazing wedding/post wedding blogs I follow. Their wedding days looks so amazing and I felt guilty that I don't celebrate love. We don't even have a photo from the day we got married. We're too laid back and I want to change that. Not in an extreme way, but instead of babysitting friends children on my anniversary, I will have others babysit my little ones so I can spend quality time with my amazing husband.

Our SECOND date. That was a shirt I swear, mom.

So to do that I have to tap deeper into my creative side. I've been inspired by the craft blogs I read, I started with my New Year's Day table. Probably not AMAZING. But it was cheap. Most of the decor came from the 1 Euro store!!! The wreath in the middle was 1 euro cent!

I am starting small. I am not a resolution kind of girl. Last year my New Year's resolution was "not to get pregnant". My husband had a vasectomy a few months prior so...yeah I better not have gotten pregnant for many reasons!

Another way I am challenging myself this year is of course in the kitchen. Looking to blow your minds with delicious recipes that's range from easy to "DAMN I'm good" challenging. So be ready :)

If you ever make a seafood stew or creamy sauce using homemade stock will make it amazing. I've made chicken and turkey stock, but not seafood. And it's difficult to find here in Germany (even at the commissary). Besides, homemade stock is far more amazing than store-bought anyway!

For my New Year's Day Menu, I am making a dish featuring crab meat and I be damned if I use the canned crab. So instead I used frozen crab legs which I boiled, cooled, removed meat and saved the shells. Instead of throwing away those shells, I had just enough to make stock!

Awesome foodie Salty Seattle suggested over twitter that I add mirin or fish sauce to flavor the broth. I used fish sauce. This broth is rich, flavor, delectably fragrant and I am excited to put use to this amazing stock!
HI!
Crab Stock
Adapted from epicurious.com
2 pounds picked-over crab shells (cracked or chopped) and /or crab bodies (cut into 1-inch pieces, carapace discarded; see Cook’s Notes), crab tomalley, and, if necessary, shrimp shells or lobster carcasses 2 quarts water
1 medium to large onion, coarsely chopped
1 to 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (tomato "guts" or canned or fresh)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 dried bay leaves
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
4 sprigs fresh thyme
Splash of mirin or fish sauce
Kosher or sea salt

Directions

1. Place the crab bodies, shells, and tomalley (and optional shrimp shells or lobster carcasses) in a 6- to 8-quart stockpot and cover with the water. Bring to a boil, skimming the white foam from the surface of the stock. (Using a ladle and a circular motion, push the foam from the center to the outside of the pot, where it is easy to remove.) Reduce the heat so the stock cooks at a fast, steady simmer.

2. Add the onion, celery, tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and thyme, and let the stock simmer and cook down for about 1 hour. The liquid should just cover the crab shells as the stock cooks; if it doesn’t, just add a little water.

3. Season the stock lightly with salt, mirin/fish stock. Taste for a rich flavor; if it seems light, simmer for about 20 minutes longer.

4. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer. If you are not going to be using it within the hour, chill it as quickly as possible. Cover the broth after it has completely cooled and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Crispy Pork with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce AND Triple Chocolate Cookies

2010-12-29T16:17:00.001+01:00

I had intended on making a blog post on just the Crispy Pork with Dipping Sauce last night, but when I was trying to set up the shot, my daughter knocked over my tripod and broke my new lens! I was gutted, but it was an accident and just material things. I seriously did cry (don't look at me like that) but I did forgive my daughter almost instantly. She was genuinely sorry and very apologetic! My husband was able to fix it, but the auto focus is kaput. Makes it a bit more difficult, but still doable :) Anyway, the photo isn't the best, but this recipe is damn good and easy.

Crispy Pork with Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce
Inspired by BBC Good Food
Can be doubled but I recommend you triple this- it's that darn delicious!!!
Ingredients
1lb pork belly
2t 5 spice powder (I made mine homemade)
Coarse Salt such as Kosher or Sea Salt
For Dipping Sauce
4 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 T honey (optional)
1 scallion finely chopped
Directions:
Rub the pork with the five-spice and 2 tsp sea salt then leave, uncovered, in the fridge for at least 2 hrs, but preferably overnight. When ready to cook, heat oven to its maximum setting. Lay the pork on a rack over a roasting tin, making sure the skin is exposed. Roast for 10 mins before turning down the heat to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4, then leave to cook for a further 1½ hrs. Have a look at the pork - if the skin isn't crisp, turn up the heat to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7, then cook for another 30 mins until crisp. Leave to rest on a board for at least 10 mins.

To make the dipping sauce, mix all the ingredients together with 2 tbsp water. Cut the pork into small pieces, then serve with the sauce, plus boiled rice and steamed greens, if you like.

Next recipe!
Since we're trying to eat a bit healthier after a smorgasbord of cakes, cookies, cakes, rich meat and cheese, cakes, pies, drinks AND cakes I thought I'd make one of my favorite "healthy" or rather healthier than your normal cookie cookies. This recipe is courtesy of Ellie Krieger. I tried this recipe last summer and the whole family loved it. They couldn't believe it used whole wheat flour and canola oil for butter! Great if you have a sweet tooth you just can't kick if you're trying to eat a bit healthier. The addition of nuts and dried fruit is optional, but it gives the cookies a but body and crunch. I made them without nuts and fruit last year and they were still amazing....tasted like mini brownies actually.

For this recipe I recommend you use valrhona or natural cocoa powder :)

Triple Chocolate Cookies
Ellie Krieger
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour, as I did!)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/3 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (2 ounces)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped milk chocolate (2 ounces)
2/3 cup chopped pecans, optional
1/4 -1/2 cup dried cherries, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash together the butter and sugars with a fork until well combined. Add the oil and egg and beat until creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Stir in the dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and the pecans and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Mama's Christmas

2010-12-26T20:49:00.001+01:00

Growing up we didn't make a big thing out of Christmas. I never believed in Santa and we never ever had a tree, though my father would throw some multi-colored Christmas lights on the balcony.

To me Christmas was about Christmas music on the radio, bigger crowds, Christmas movies, and waiting impatiently on Christmas eve for 12 am so we could open the presents our parents gave us (so we didn't feel left out at school after winter break). We also spent time with extended family, however the older we got, the less 'Christmassy' things got. By the time I was a teenager Christmas was just another day.

So after I met my husband, he shared a lot of his Christmas traditions with me and my son. I didn't know A LOT and it has been so much fun learning from him. It was so much fun decorating a Christmas tree for the first time with him. I don't know why, but I was extremely nervous about it. I actually have a video of it, but it's on a broken laptop that my husband is now tinkering with!

So every year my husband and my children are making our own little traditions, and trying to ensure our children have fond memories of Christmases and pass it on to their own children. This Christmas my eldest son is with his biological father so it was a bit sad, but my 3 and 1 year old were a lot of fun and very appreciative!

We didn't bring the presents out until the very early hours on Christmas morning so the kids would think Santa brought them loads of gifts, but the first thing my daughter said was "THANK YOU MA AND DAD!" She's too clever and funny ;)

Some photos:

Christmas Eve

A simple dinner- Baked Penne with Sausage and Ricotta with a side salad from vegetables and apples from the crisper and a balsamic vinaigrette

Mince Pie and spiked eggnog for Santa and a carrot for the Reindeer....yes 1 carrot- we ain't got it like that ;)

Discovered this Christmas morning! Looks like Santa didn't wipe his feet- rude!

At least he's appreciative!

Definitely a White Christmas

Kids woke up late but they got into the presents quickly!!

Peppa Pig obsessed baby was quite happy with this :)

Homemade Vanilla Hot Chocolate to kill the morning chill

Daughter getting ready for Christmas Dinner

The "princess dress" she's been asking for since her birthday :)

Christmas Dinner thanks to Cook's Illustrated Holiday Issue:

Ultimate Stuffed Beef Tenderloin (stuffed with mushrooms and spinach)

Candied Sweet Potatoes (not too sweet- just perfect)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans with Mustard Vinaigrette

Rolls from Rachael Ray. Those rolls were a hit 2 years straight. They're f##king awesome. Excuse my freedom. ;)

Tunnel of Fudge cake! Soooooo rich and perfectly fudgy! Also from Cook's Illustrated Holiday Entertaining Issue!

My friend's son said the dinner was the best he's ever eaten. I love this kid even more now ;) The dinner was a big hit and we hardly have any leftovers! We still have cake and that's all that matters ;)

Husband aka Santa

Santa's Mincemeat Pies

2010-12-23T23:12:00.001+01:00

My children watch a cute British show called Peppa Pig. I can remember the first day I watched it with my husband's son and it instanly became a favorite. After each 5 minute episode he'd shout, "Again! Again! I want to watch Peppa Pig AGAIN!" Since then my son, then my daughter and now my baby are hardcore Peppa Pig Fans. In fact, just mentioning going to England to watch Peppa Pig Live this March, someone tweeted to me that there is actually a Peppa Pig amusement park! If you're in England in April and your children are Peppa Pig fans check out Peppa Pig World (www.peppapigworld.co.uk).

OK what does mince pies have to do with Peppa Pig? Well...last Christmas and this Christmas we watch the first Peppa Pig Christmas Special on DVD on almost continuous rotation. Peppa and George (her brother) leaves Santa a mince pie and a drink. The kids ask for it, but I never really thought it was something we should do. After all, it's a British tradition and for the past couple years we've left cookies and truffles. This year, they urged me a bit more....as well as my husband so I added it to my Christmas baking list.

Since we do not have proper canning jars, I made David Lebovitz's Quick Mincemeat and left it on the countertop at room temperature for 3 days. Every day my husband and I would take a whiff, and my husband got twinkle in his eye and say, "This smells like Christmas!"

Besides the delicious filling of raisins plumped by brandy, homemade candied orange peel, warm seasonal spices and Clementines, I used a pastry from Ainsley Harriot. A simple sweet pastry was made even more remarkable with its crunchy ground almonds, fresh flavor from Clementine zest, and warm flavor of my absolute favorite spice, cinnamon! Give this a try any time of the year it's worth it. If you have proper jars, jar this amazing mincemeat for years to come and all you have to do at Christmas is make this delicious filling! You can also make the traditional mincemeat using suet and there is also a vegetarian option available!

Santa's Mince Pie

For Mincemeat

Adapted from David Lebovitz's Quick Mincemeat
2/3 cup coarsely chopped raisins, dark or golden
1 Honey-crunch apple, small dice ( i debated whether or not to grate or dice, but my gut said dice you can grate if you want)
1/2 cup chopped candied orange peel
1/4 cup brandy, plus more, if necessary
grated zest of one orange (preferably unsprayed)
1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice (i used a lime as its all I had!
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon (each) ground cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1. Mix everything together and put in a jar.

2. Let stand for at least one to three days before using. If the brandy absorbs quickly and the mixture appears dry, add another pour, just enough so the mixture is thoroughly moistened.

For Pastry- this can easy be done with shortcrust or puff-pastry as well

Pastry dough adapted from Ainsley Harriot

1 cup/7oz unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup/3 1/2oz Superfine sugar
1/2 cup/2oz Ground almonds
1/2 cup/4oz butter chilled and cubed

Zest of 1 clementine
1 egg yolk + 1 beaten egg, to glaze
1 jar luxury mincemeat (or mincemeat recipe above!)
1 packet juicy dried cranberries (optional)
4 tablespoon cold water approx
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Raw/Turbinado sugar

Directions:

Place the flour, ground cinnamon, sugar, almonds and butter in a bowl and mix with a pastry cutter or your fingers until fine crumbs form.

Add the egg yolk and cold water and mix until it just starts to bind together.

Tip onto a lightly floured surface knead gently until smooth then wrap in Clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas6

Lightly dust the work surface with flour and then roll out the pastry to about the thickness of a coin.

Cut out 12 circles measuring 8cm/31/2in wide and 12x 7cm/3in (for lids).

Use the large pastry circles to line an 12-hole non-stick or buttered muffin tray tin. Put a spoonful of mincemeat in each case (dont over-fill or it will boil over and burn the pies)

Sprinkle over a few cranberries if using, dampen the edges of the pastry with a little water and then top with a lid and seal the edges. Brush tops with the beaten egg, make one or two slits in the top of each pie and then bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. You can also cut out any designs that can fit into each tin.I used stars and op some or all with turbinado sugar for a sweet crunch!

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

"Santa" Approves!!!!

Give these babies a shot! The pastry is perfectly flaky with a bit of crunch from the almonds! Paired with the sweet, but not overly sweet mincemeat, this is definitely a great way to get extras from Ol St. Nick!

HAPPY BAKING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!!!!!

Chocolate Bourbon and Pecan Biscotti

2010-12-14T13:16:00.002+01:00

Chocolate, Bourbon and Pecan Pie; oh how I love thee. It's a great combination that must be tried out again in yet another form- Biscotti. The twice-baked Italian cookie.

I am going to be completely honest here, I was not a fan of biscotti the first time I tried it. It was just too damn hard and flavorless. Of course the Biscotti I tried was store-bought from a brand that shall not be named....not because I don't want to name it, but because I can't remember the name of the brand! Anyway, I bought it thinking I was being all fancy and was seriously let down. Three years later, I thought maybe I'd give it another chance. After baking and ravenously eating the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie at Thanksgiving, the only thing on my mind was replicating this. I already had the fantastic idea of gifting friends with this awesome pie, but I also wanted to take it to another level. So my old cookie foe biscotti popped in my head for some reason.

I scoured the web for a good starter recipe and found David Lebovitz's Chocolate Biscotti. Of course I had to use his recipe. The one thing that he said would make this cookie even better is using Valhrona chocolate powder. I usually use it in all my chocolate baking, but I didn't have any in my cabinet. I thought, ah that's an easy fix I'll just go to the French shop at the local mall and purchase some. Erm, none. I went back almost everyday for the past 2 weeks and they did not have any! So I bought some Organic/Bio Chocolate Dutch Processed powder and hoped for yummy results. Luckily this powder did the trick! I am still going to look going to bug the folks at the shop for the chocolate powder though!!!

This treat was perfect for the "First Day of Christmas" anyway!

So it tasted excellent and tastes even better dipped in coffee, tea, or milk. Try these out!!

Also, I prefer twice-baked to once baked. Though my children and I destroyed almost a whole log of the once baked biscottii :)

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Biscotti

Adapted from David Lebovitz Chocolate Biscotti

Ingredients

For Biscotti

2 cups flour

3/4 cups top quality cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, room temp

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon bourbon

1 cup pecans, toasted and very coursely chopped

3/4 cup chocolate chips

For the glaze

1 large egg

2 tablespoons of course sugar (raw sugars like turbinado)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F (180C)

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, beat together the 3 eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and bourbon.

Gradually stir in the the dry ingredients, then mix in the nuts and chocolate chips until the dough holds together.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat ( i want one!). Divide dough in half.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into two logs the length of the baking sheet. Transfer the logs onto the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Gently flatten the tops of the logs.

Beat the remaining egg and brush the tops of the logs liberally with the egg- not all!

Sprinkle the tops with the course sugar and bake for 25 minutes until dough feels firm to touch.

Remove cookie dough from the oven and cool for 15 minutes. On a cutting board, use a serrated bread knife to diagonally cut the cookies into 1/2 inch slices.

Lay cookies cut side down on baking sheet. And return to oven for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until cookies feel mostly firm. When the cool they'll firm more.

Once baked, cool the cookies completely then store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Dip in melted chocolate for more indulgence! Half dip into melted chocolate, then cool allow to cool until chocolate hardens.

Hope you all enjoy these as much as my family did!!!

Happy Baking.

Grilled Brioche, Bacon, Egg and Cheese Sammich.

2010-12-12T20:02:00.002+01:00

Simple, delicious sandwich.

Usually I put tomatoes on this sandwich, but the tomatoes 'round these parts are hard has rocks.

How's your weekend been? Mine has been stressful. My little man, who has asthma, had a nasty attack. It started of with a bit of wheezing and coughing, then come Friday evening he got a full fledge attack. Saturday morning I had to rush him to the hospital as he was literally struggling to breathe. He was more than happy to to go to the doctor so he and mama could use the hard as rock tomatoes as a baseball and play catch outside. Seriously, those tomatoes are that hard.

Anywho, the doctors hooked my baby up with some medication and he had X-rays done and was diagnosed with RSV. He's been diagnosed this many times. He was born premature and has always had issues with his lungs. It's tough on him as well as me. I blame myself for everything. What I could have done, what I shouldn't have done. Luckily, I have supportive friends, an amazing husband and my son's grandparents are gifts from God. I swear, my son isn't just lucky to have them his life, I am, too.

My son was released with a trunkful of meds and he's doing well. I promised him he didn't have to go to preschool for the rest of the month, and he was more than happy with that. Hopefully he'll forget I said that hehe.

Last night I needed comfort food not just for me, but him also. Lil man was starving. He even regretted refusing bacon for breakfast! So I made some burgers and oven roasted fries. My normal burger hating son gulped them up after I assured him that mommy never puts onions in her burgers. Just salt, pepper and love. Check out this article in the Washington Post for tips on making the perfect burger. It's super simple. I made mine in a skillet, as it was too cold and I was too lazy to fire up the grill. It's all about the condiments, so I made my own spicy ketchup. THAT had onions so I omitted that from his. Twas good simple eatin'! I cut some potatoes up into matchsticks,let them sit in water and vinegar for about 1 hour. Dried them completely added salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven. Simple delicious grub!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/22/AR2007052200352.html

Now, let's get to the real reason you're here. The awesome breakfast sandwich I made. As you guys may know, I made my own bacon! Thanks to a link David Lebovitz posted last month, I was inspired to make my own bacon. Diana from Dianasaur Dishes made it look so simple and I love the video, too. I had to make this immediately. The next day I ordered my cure and waited only 2 weeks! That's great as I live in Germany and it wasn't expensive at all!

It was done curing Thursday night and my goodness it was amazing. I was hooked luckily I didn't cook the whole lot that night; though I really wanted to. I was telling a friend that I need something amazing to go along with this bacon, and what popped in my mind was an amazing sandwich I made for myself this Mother's Day- Grilled Brioche, Smokey Bacon, Tomato, Herbs, and Egg Sandwich. It was so delicious and I thought I'd do something simple with my first batch of homemade bacon. Though it wasn't smoked bacon, it was still delicious. Perhaps I will try smokey bacon this summer when we purchase a smoker...hint hint Papa with Some Flavor ;-) So I wanted this sandwich to be even more special, so I made my own Brioche to go along with it. I searched Food Buzz for a recipe and happened across Brian's site, A Thought for Food which had an article for Basic Brioche. The photos looked amazing, and the directions simple and to the point. So I had a happy little project on my hands.

The bread turned out perfectly, and good for me that there were two loaves because the first was eaten in 5 hours!!!

It doesn't matter if you have homemade bacon or bread, you must try this sandwich. Most bakeries carry Brioche! It's a delicious, buttery, sweet egg bread that is almost like an airy cake! My daughter's favorite bread and mine. And a nice pack of smokey bacon is just as perfect!! So please, try this sandwich. Your family will love you for it!

Here's the first time I made it using store-bought brioche, store-bought bacon and seasonal tomatoes!

Grilled Bricohe, Bacon, Herby Scrambled Egg and Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

A loaf of Brioche

Bacon (as much as you want to use on your sandwich)

Eggs (how much you want)

Heavy Cream/Milk/Half n Half/Water

Herbs of your choice

Course Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Tomatoes (if they are in season in your area) Sliced

Butter

Cheddar- Shredded (I used Cathedral Cheddar or you can find organic cheddar- it's awesome trust me!)

Directions

Fry your bacon to desired crispness in a cast-iron skillet or any heavy bottom skillet.

In the meantime, in a bowl, add eggs, 1 tablespoon of heavy cream or liquid of choice per egg, herb and salt and pepper. In a nonstick skillet, melt butter on high, once the butter is melted, decrease heat to low. Add egg mixture and allow to sit for 30 seconds then lightly stir. stir every minute or so until done to your preference, but be sure to know eggs cooks after their removed from the heat. So remove sooner than later!

Now slice your bread if not pre-sliced, then add Bacon

Egg

Cheese

Then top with another slice. In another skillet, preferably a non-stick, 'grill' your sandwich just until cheese melts.

EAT!

Hope you enjoy this as much as my family does!!!

Pale is Bon! French Chicken in a Pot

2010-12-09T12:47:00.003+01:00

Kind of looks like my chicken is doing a Martial Arts stance- its flavor is kicking!!! (I'll get me coat)

It's flipping cold, so warm comforting dishes are staple around these parts. Recently I bought Cook's Illustrated's Holiday recipe special. How could I not with the AMAZING Stuffed Beef Tenderloin on the cover calling my name whenever I glance at the magazine section at the shoppette?

While relaxing in the tub, where I do my best thinking, I read through this issue and decided to use most of the recipes in my Christmas Day meal and some for baking. There was also this amazing French Chicken in a Pot recipe that I had to try. What I love about Cook's Illustrated is that they test everything and write all about it. Not only do I love reading about the history of a dish, I also love to read about different techniques that makes recipes work; one of the many reasons why I love this magazine.

When I saw the French Chicken in the pot recipe I was intrigued by the subtitle: Taking cues from a French technique for cooking chicken in a covered pot we forgo crisp skin for succulent meat and unforgettable flavor.

I must say my favorite thing about Roast Chicken is the crispy skin. My 5 year-old's too. He always ask for plenty of skin whenever I roast chicken. With this chicken, what you get is a wonderfully aromatic dish full of bold flavor. Nothing bland, but the lack of of tan *zig zag snap*! The amazing flavor of this chicken will make you forget all about crispy golden skin. Heck, I lost my summer glow (all of my base make up is a shade darker! Don't buy foundation in the summer) my chicken did, too!

French Chicken in a Pot
Adapted from: Holiday Entertaining From Cook's Illustrated, pg 12-13

1 (4 1/2 to 5 pound) whole chicken (mine was about 3 pounds) giblets remived and discarded, wings tucked under the back
2 t of kosher salt or 1 t of table salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped medium (about 1/2 cup)
1 small celery rib, chopped medium (about 1/4 cup)
6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary- optional (i used thyme!)

Directions
Adjust the oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Pat Chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

(dont forget to tuck those wings!)

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until just smoking.

Add chicken breast side down; scatter onion, celery, bay leaf, and thyme (if using) around chicken. and vegetables are well browned, about 5 minutes.

Using a wooden spoon inserted into cavity of the bird, flip chicken breast side up and cook until chicken and vegetables are well browned, 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove Dutch oven from heat; place large sheet of foil over pot and cover tightly with lid. Transfer pot to oven and cook until instant read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted into thickest part of the breast and 175 degrees in the thickest part of thigh. It took my chicken about 50 minutes as it it was smaller!

Transfer to a carving board, tent with foil, then allow to rest for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, strain juices from pot. Allow to stand then skim fat from top of sauce with a spoon.

Allow liquid to settle, then simmer over low heat. Add any accumulated juices from rested chicken and lemon juice. Douse chicken in delicious sauce!

I hope you try this delicious dinner. It's so fragrant full of flavor. Not your typical roast chicken with crispy skin, but the taste is just as amazing, if not more!! This was loved by everyone in my family! Serve it with a veg and my Skillet Potatoes and you're golden! Bon Appetit!

Santa Husband to the Rescue!

2010-12-08T01:47:00.000+01:00

So, I was pretty sure that I would be without a computer for a good 2 months. With the holidays and birthdays, I didnt think one was in my near future so I got comfy with the iTouch and called it a day. However, yesterday while cooking dinner, my husband rushed in the kitchen and confiscated my iTouch, which was blasting Queen of course, and secretly went off on his own. I was wondering why, thought it had something to do with work. He then came back and said that he found a nice inexpensive laptop and that we were getting it tomorrow. He felt bad about my blog and photos and thought it was important to get one sooner than later. I was ELATED! But didn't get too excited, because, things change quickly---obviously!!

So we picked up a new laptop and router (ours sucked) and I was a happy mama. Even though it took me 5 hours to use it finally, I was happy :)

This weekend, I also got a late birthday present- a new lens! A canon EF 50mm f1.8 II!! I had a stock lens since I purchased mu camera this summer and I've been dying for a new one. I really love it and hope to get better! It's cheap, but everyone I know who has one raves about it.

. Also check out my friend Serena's Blog for some photos I took of her and her husband. They are such a sweet, fun couple and their first baby is due in a week and a half!! Wish her well :)

Some photos from the weekend.We finally put some Christmas/Winter Decorations up. Am I the only one not really feeling Christmas this year? I've bought presents, baked, been to Christmas Markets and I feel nothing. Not a bah humbug feeling but meh. I don't know, hope it passes. My daughter, is my lil Santa Baby. She is so excited- it's so sweet :)

Mama and Technology Don't Mix

2010-12-05T19:36:00.000+01:00

Due to 2 laptops crashing out on us during the holiday season, I will not be blogging until......we get a new one? My lovely friend has offered up her computer on the weekends, so maybe I will post again then. I am able to read and comment on blogs on my iTouch so I will most certainly be around reading. I had so many recipes I've been excited to share with you all, too. Hopefully I will be able to blog the results of my homemade bacon this weekend! It's been curing away in the fridge since Thursday, December 2. I will be around, but my blog will not be updated until further notice. Oh how I could use a real Santa Claus about now. This has been a crazy year!!

Love you guys!!!

PS: I will update Twitter and my Facebook Page as they are a bit easier.

Still have some leftovers? Try these Turkey Dinner "Pasties"

2010-11-28T15:27:00.002+01:00

So yesterday was my 27th birthday! A friend told me that since my age and birth date are the same it's my Golden Birthday! Never heard of that, but I thought I'd try to make it special.

The night before I was brainstorming what to do with the leftovers. Turkey salad, turkey soup, turkey pot pie, turkey sandwiches, etc etc ran through my mind. All sounded amazing, but I wanted something different. So remembering back to a post I read on an online expat forum I visit, a girl asked about how to make the perfect cornish pasty (the 'a' sounds like the 'a' in cat). Cornish Pasties orginates from Cornwall, England and is also known in Michigan, USA. It's an amazing dough typically made with lard or suet as the fat and filled with steak and vegetables, and the pastry is crimped all pretty-like. I did not have any lard as I planned this last minute. I thought maybe I could do butter and shortening, but I was all out of shortening as well. Luckily I had 4 stick of butter in the freezer! Instead of using steak and veg, I used some leftover Thanksgiving sides and turkey and thought I combine those and made a bacon gravy, and leftover compound butter. I also SUCK at crimping. Something I will continue to practice at, but for now, pinching and a fork will do!! So these are not traditional pasties hence the quotation marks! It was fun making my first meat pie, though!

They tasted amazing I only wish I had made mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes to complete it!!!

If you don't have time to make the pastry, use puff pastry dough. This dough can also be used for pot pies!!! If Santa buys me pots I will use this dough recipe. It's so delicious, buttery, and flaky! nomnom

Turkey Dinner "Pasties"
Pasty Dough adapted from Emeril Lagasse

For the Short-crust Pastry:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon salt

7 ounces cold butter ( shredded frozen butter)

1 egg yolk

12 tablespoons cold water (more as needed)

Filling
3 cups worth of leftovers- i used turkey (white and dark meat) stuffing, cranberry chutney, and vichy carrots

About 3/4 cup of gravy of choice- I made bacony-herb gravy. Recipe follows

Herbs of your choice- i used fresh thyme, sage, and chives

Compound butter- optional

Bacony Sage Gravy
2 tablespoons bacon fat

4 tablespoons flour

1 cup hot chicken/turkey stock

salt & pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon dried sage

Directions

Sift the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl

Add the butter. Using your fingers, 2 knives, or a pastry blender, cut the butter and lard into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and water together

Add to the flour mixture

Mix quickly, but thoroughly, until mixture just comes together to form a dough.

Knead briefly until pastry is smooth with no cracks; the trick to making this delicate pastry easy to work with is kneading it just enough so that it can be rolled out and manipulated without breaking but yet retains its lovely crumbly texture. Press into a flattened disk shape and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight before proceeding.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and unwrap. Allow to soften slightly, then place on a lightly floured work surface and roll the pastry to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Using a small plate or saucer as a guide, cut out 6 (6-inch) rounds. (Scraps may be combined and reformed if you cannot get 6 rounds out of the first batch.)

Stack the pastry rounds onto pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper (with pieces between each round to keep them from sticking together) and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Filling & Gravy

First prepare gravy by mixing fat and flour in a small saucepan. Cook over medium low until mixed well and a little browned. Add hot stock slowly whisking vigourously until smooth. Mixture will thicken as it cooks. Add salt and pepper, heavy cream and sage. Allow to cool.

Make filling using whatever herbs, sides, and meat you want. Make sure its about 3 cups worth!

Add gravy and mix

Assemble

Remove the pastry circles from the refrigerator.Place the pastry circles on a clean work surface and place about 1/2 cup of the filling in the center of 1 side of the pastry. Add a knob of butter if you like!

Using the beaten egg, brush the edges of the pastry and then bring the unfilled side over the filled side so that edges meet.Press edges together to seal and then crimp using your fingers or a fork.

Repeat with the remaining turnovers and then transfer to a baking sheet. Brush the tops of the turnovers with the remaining egg and then cut several slits into the top of each pastry.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown around the edges. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake until the pasties are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

The Husband enjoying. He says he looks goofy here hehe

Of course I made myself cake. Well more like Peanut Buttery Chocolatey Cupcakes with....a Peanut Buttery Chocolatey Drizzle...

Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie and Leftover Thanksgiving Grub Sliders

2010-11-26T19:53:00.002+01:00

Happy Black Friday Everyone!!! I, myself, have never been out there, but I know some hardcore shoppers. You all be safe out there. Every year, I remind everyone to wear extra padding and a slingshot just incase folks get a little crazy.

So, there was this big American holiday yesterday. We ate so much food and my children decided to use ME as a trampoline afterwards:

I've been preparing for this meal all month as my husband has been away so I wanted to be prepared and not skimp on anything! And for the most part, everything went smoothly. My first virtual stress-free Thanksgiving since my first one. This year, everything but the pound cake and cookie topping used in the Pumpkin Tiramisu was from scratch!

If you follow me on Twitter you've seen all my ~~annoying~~ informative turkey day prep tweets! It was nice, because I was communicating others what I was doing it kept me on track! Especially my husband was awayand most days there were no one to talk to. I talked Thanksgiving to death with my friend Becca- poor thing hehe. Anywho, my husband arrived home early this Monday morning. He was pleasantly surprised and suddenly very hungry after seeing all the preliminary work I did!

This year I am also proud to say I got my first organic, free-range turkey. It was 5kg of awesomeness! It was also a pretty penny, so an early birthday present for me (it's tomorrow!). I also butterflied this massive bird by removing its backbone and breast bone! This mofo did NOT want to give up that breast bone, but I needed to remove it to ensure a flat bird! I also brined it the night before, then rinsed and dried it, made a butter/spice mixture and massage the lovely bird all over and under its skin. I then covered it, let it sit and dry, outside as it was COLDER than my fridge and there was no room left in my fridge (Thank goodness we do not live next door to The Bumpasses' hounds, heh), then brought it to room temp, grilled it over indirect heat for about 2 hours. The most difficult part was flipping the bird, and I was pretty sure I was an expert at that (i hate traffic). This resulted in a perfectly cooked bird, tend er juicy, amazing flavor and I would most certainly do this again!!!

Finished

After reading all the POMs posts, I decided to to try something using pomegranate. I made a pomegranate glaze using pomegranate molasses, soy sauce, dijon mustard, and dash of salt and a lil dark brown sugar. My daughter could have ate the glaze alone! It was amazing! And it complimented the turkey very well!

Dinner was delicious! The menu I ended up going with was:
Grilled and Butterflied Pomegranate Glazed Turkey
Apple-Sausage Cornbread Stuffing - I made my own sausage!!!
Green Bean Casserole with Herbed Onion Ring Topping
Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Potato Chip Topping
Vichy Carrots
Sweet Potato-Thyme Rolls from scratch
Pear-Ginger-Cranberry Chutney
Pumpkin Tiramisu
Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie with Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I have to say my faaaaaaave of everything was the Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie. I usually make pecan pie and leave it for the hubby. He's a southern boy who loves pecans and pie. However, after seeing him eat 5 slices, I asked for one. OH MY GOSH. The flavors were incredible together and I just needed more. I woke up thinking about PIE. I ate the last slice...how lady like! So here is the recipe, by my main man, Tyler Florence. This man never steers me wrong, I tells ya.

I made the crust two weeks in advance and froze, thawed overnight, then let sit at room temp about 20 minutes so it wouldnt crack when I rolled it out.

I am making this again next week!

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Tyler Florence

Ingredients:
For Pie Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup finely ground pecans
1 T sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
2 T ice water, plus more if needed

For Filling:
1/4 cup butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate--i used 72% cocoa
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 t vanilla extract
3 T bourbon
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 cups pecan halves

To make the pastry: combine the flour, ground pecans, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Carefully roll the dough up onto the pin (this may take a little practice) and lay it inside a 9-inch pie pan. Press the dough into the pan so it fits tightly and trim the excess around the rim. Place the pie pan on a sturdy cookie sheet so it will be easy to move in and out of the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the filling: melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, remove from heat and let cool. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy and then blend in the sugar. Stir in the syrup, vanilla, bourbon, salt, and the melted butter mixture until well blended.
Arrange the pecans on the bottom of the pie crust and carefully pour the egg mixture over them. Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 45 minutes. Test for doneness by sticking a thin knife in the center of the pie, if it comes out pretty clean, you're good to go. Transfer the pie to rack and cool completely before cutting.

I served this glorious pie with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Recipe here or just purchase some nice stuff.

Post Turkey Day Sliders

NOW a quick idea for those leftovers. You all know I love sliders from previous posts, they're mini with a big bite! I made sure I had just enough rolls leftover to make these. I basically used my compund flavored butter to spread across the tops of the rolls, warmed turkey, chutney, stuffing and rolls in the oven, split the rolls in half crosswise, chucked in the goods and added some fresh sage. UH-MAZING!!! This will be a post huge dinner tradition!!!

Thank you for reading this!!!

My Children Cleaned Their Plates Thanks to YOU.

2010-11-11T14:00:00.005+01:00

I read blogs because I love being inspired. I only discovered the blogosphere after creating my own blog, and boy am I happy I started this! I read many different blogs almost everyday, but of course my favorites are food blogs as cooking is my passion and stuff. The following bloggers has helped my little ones join the clean plates club two nights this week.

Monday night, I cooked Ramen, Steak with Mushrooms. I was inspired to make this from reading one of my favorite people in the blogosphere, Lazaro Cooks. His Ramen with Two Bean Ragout & NY Strip Steak had me drooling! He has a plethora of recipes that are utterly beautiful and amazing. He's very knowledgeable about everything he posts about. He's also brought to my attention many other fabulous blogs with his regular guest posts. Check him out fo sho.

My children prefers mushrooms over beans so I cooked some cremini mushrooms I sliced, sauteed until softened, added some minced garlic, after about a minute, added a little wine then let the wine cooked down a little, The mushrooms were softened, but had a bite.
For the steak, after I seasoned it with soy sauce, then I cooked it the exact way Lazaro said he did. I cooked the steak in a low oven (100 Celsius) in my cast iron skillet for 40 minutes, then dried the skillet with a paper towel, and seared the steaks on both sides over high heat; I then let them rest for about 10 minutes then sliced them. They came out PERFECTLY. The meat was so juicy and had flavorful. My baby loooooved the steaks as did my other children My baby never ate steak before, by the way. First I plated the ramen that I seasoned with salt, pepper and a little garlic powder, placed the sliced steak and mushrooms over and together and it delicious and easy. Thanks man!

Yesterday I cooked a recipe from Gourmet's Kitchenette called Lemon Chicken. She put a curry spin on a classic and man was it delicious! All 3 of my children loved them and asked for seconds! We are currently eating more for lunch!!! I doubled the recipe as knew this recipe would be good just from reading it. The only thing that confused me was that it's called Lemon Chicken, but Lime juice was used. Doesn't matter, this chicken was so flavorful and the meat fell from the bone. It was AWESOME. Give her blog a look 'round. Her exotic flavors will have your stomach rumbling and tastebuds very intrigued! Yes, taste buds have a mind of their own. Don't wiki that.
To make this healthier, remove the skin and use skim milk.

More Randomness Confessions with Less Nipplage

2010-11-08T17:40:00.000+01:00

I think that the military should fund spouses sex toys and/or batteries for such devices. Ok, before you unfollow me or quickly exit this post, hear me out. Yeah, we miss our husbands or wives for their sheer presence, hugs, helping with kid, etcs...but also making love is a big deal. I know I am a much happier person when I've had a big dose oh my hunk of man. What do you think? Ok, maybe not, but I am writing my congressman to see what happens....

To make housecleaning a bit more interesting, I tap my inner Freddie Mercury and housework becomes more fabulous, sexy, and flamboyant. One of my faves are "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. My children are BIG Queen fans now. We sang "We Are the Champions" at the top of our lungs while shopping yesterday. It was awesome.

"Come on Mama, when are you going to post an actual recipe?" That will be covered here I promise. As you all may, or may not know, my husband is away doing the military thang. I have been cooking like crazy still, some of you may know this from my Facebook Page. I use it as yet another outlet to talk as much as I want about food. My friends who know me personally know I don't really talk about food openly on FB, because I don't want to come off as being snobbish or bragging. Yeah, that's weird, I figure on Twitter I can do it because most of my 'followers' love food. And my friends who fanned my page of Facebook know I love to cook, and don't mind the posts. Yes, I am a paranoid weirdo. Most the recipes are my own creation that I am aiming to perfect for you all to read and maybe even try.

I made this Saturday evening from basically boiling Italian sausage for 10 minutes just before it's cooked through then sliced. Then sauteed sausage. Add a little red wine to the pan, then make sauce using tomato puree and sun-dried tomatoes, fennel seeds, thyme, oregano lots of garlic, lil chili powder and a lil pasta water. Add sausages, then linguine, and add loads of cheese, I used Pecorino Romano. I made a small amount of tomato sauce as my son does not like red sauces with pasta, but even HE enjoyed this. So I am quite proud. This is inspired from reading an Italian Sausage burger with Sun-dried tomato pesto that read from Food and Wine.

When I blog, I have to listen to this song. Not sure why. It keeps me focussed and I type the beat while be-bopping my head like a spastic woodpecker. Yes, I am black, and don't have much rhythm. Myth busted!

So, I've been cooking like mad, but haven't posted recipes. For me it's harder. My husband usually takes care of the children while I blog. Because usually when I blog food recipes I must be in a zone and focussed. Plus, I know a recipe is really good from my husband. Children are so fickle about things, so when all 3 enjoy a recipe I usually post about it. So lately I've been typing thoughts, inspirations and aspirations. My husband will be home in 2 weeks, so after that time, be prepared for at least 4 recipes a week again!

I am a very open person. I say outrageous things.

Ghosts of Thanksgiving Past

2010-11-04T00:06:00.001+01:00

Is it me or is Thanksgiving Dinner the "What I've learned about cooking this year' test? If so, I've failed. Miserably. I am sure I am the only one who feels its a test because the menu is large, expectations are high, and hell, it's Thanksgiving the most important cooking day for us Americans!

I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my own little family for 4 years now. I remember the first time I was so nervous! I even wrote down emergency Turkey day phone numbers! We cleared our fridge, and made sure we had enough room for the mass amounts of food thawing and eventually leftovers. The meal was only for me, my husband, and 2 little ones (at the time was 2 months old and 2 years old). I baked all the pies in advance and cooked everything else the day of. I took A LOT of shortcuts. My focus mainly was having a juicy turkey and not those dry turkeys you usually have. Having such a small oven, I only roasted the breast. I also roasted it in those bags. I really didn't want a dry turkey!

That year I made:

Roast Turkey breast

Glazed Spiral Ham

Stove-top Stuffing

Canned Collard Greens

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls

Mashed Potatoes (from scratch)

Macaroni and Cheese (from scratch)

Canned Cranberry Sauce

Sweet Potato and Pecan Pie (with store bought crusts and homemade fillings)

Candied Yams with Marshmallows and Pineapple

My really lowcut housewife dress, husband, and then 2 y/o and 2 month old

FOOD

Though I did take a lot of shortcuts, it was all delicious and made with love. It was also the least stressful Thanksgiving I've ever had!

My second home cooked Thanksgiving took place on my birthday. Great day, yeah? Er no. I broke our 'good' plates, our landlord cut off the hot water and oh yeah I was 5 months pregnant cooking up a mostly from scratch Turkey day menu. Stressed out? HELL YEA I was. I planned everything so it would be easy for my pregnant self, but it all backfired from the time hot water went out. Luckily I cooked a lot of food in advance! All that was left to do was assemble salads, make toppings, Turkey (bagless yet VERY MOIST!) gravy and veggie sides. Sounds easy, but my small kitchen, small oven, not hot water, 5 inch heel wearing when I am already 6'2 AND pregnant did not make it easy. I was so stressed by the end of it all that could not eat. I cried actually. I got over it, and happily ate leftovers for days afterwards.

The menu that year was....

Roasted Herbed Turkey with Mushroom Gravy

Roasted Broccoli and Tomatoes

Stuffing- homemade!

Hawaiian rolls

Green Bean Casserole

Apple Salad

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue Topping

Pecan Pie

Five months pregnant with my 3rd. I hated that stupid roof. I slanted down and me feel even more like a giant.

Now last year. Last year was uber stressful. We were going through so much personally and financially (always around the holidays!!!) that Thanksgiving almost never happened. I had a huge breakdown, a lot of tears were shed. That was probably one of the toughest times in our marriage. So bad that I refused to cook the day of. Even after I prepped a lot through the week. Sigh. In fact, I did not cook on Thanksgiving. My husband scraped up every piece of cash we had and went to the commissary and bought all the food from my mass amount of lists. How could I let him down? I cooked my ass off even brined my turkey for the first with excellent results.

My menu

Bacon Wrapped Turkey

Homemade Stuffing - same as previous year

Green Bean Casserole- same as previous year

Macaroni and cheese

Candied Baby Carrots- boiled in 7up!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Pecan and Pineapples

Sweet Potato Pie with marshmallow meringue

Pecan Tart

Day after Turkey Day

This year, I plan and hope to plan, plan, plan a lot better. This time of year I have my holiday notebook. I write in detail every single thing we're doing it. It's much more detailed at Christmas time, and I plan to do the same with Thanksgiving. Especially as my husband comes back the week of Thanksgiving. So I must be prepared! I've made my menu and I am hoping for the best. It's a mix of our favorites, and new dishes! Here's that menu.

Deep Fried Turkey---Heard nothing but raves. Plan B. If there is a problem I will cut up the Turkey and grill. Gotta have a plan b!

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage- Who doesn't love pork and cornbread?

Green Bean Casserole- I am putting my own spin on my husband's favorite Turkey Day side dishes from the past 2 years.

Macaroni and Cheese with Topping- Deliciousness we ate this summer must be incorporated in our menu

Cranberry Chutney- I made my own cranberry sauce for the first time last Christmas. I've always loved canned, but fresh is best!!!

Mashed Sweet Potato with topping- I love sweet potatoes

Sweet Potato Rolls- I love sweet potatoes and bread together hehe

Pecan Pie- with a lil this and that

And something special with pumpkin!

I sort of left out some details, because I want it to be a surprise. Plus I am even more nervous after revealing my plans. This dinner, again, is for me and my family. I just go all out for my babies :)

Also, the great news is my husband will be home with us until March after he comes home in 3 weeks! But that also means he will be away until September. But I am happy he won't be leaving so soon!!