Christmas Baking
It’s been a very busy fall, and it’s been difficult to keep up with all the canning and preserving I’d like to do while working. However, I think my favourite thing canned this year has been the pickled beans. The addition of a pinch of cayenne pepper to the brine makes them zesty but not too hot. My friend Jackie was visiting from Kingston and helped out. This was her first time canning anything and she was a terrific help.
Pickled Beans
Also in the cupboard, blueberry jam and spiced blueberry jam. I am lucky enough to have a friend who has a blueberry processing operation, and my oldest son worked there this summer. Brett dropped by one day with a box of berries, Cayden’s bonus, which I promptly turned into jam. And several jars of pickled jalapeno peppers have joined the pickled beets on the top shelf.
Then of course, comes Halloween. And you can’t not bake witch fingers cookies for Halloween! My husband’s friend Ricky delighted in telling Scott how I gave him “the finger”.
Witch Finger Cookies
But now it’s that time of year. The mad Christmas baking season. Last year, my friend Jeannie convinced me I should sell baking baskets since I do that much baking anyway. So, I did. And I was amazed how many orders I had! I’m back at it this fall, and have already filled some orders for people who don’t want to wait for Christmas to have cookies. Or truffles. Or miniature breads. Or squares. My kitchen is definitely getting a work out. And I love it.
Shortbread Fingers
Some of the things I’m baking this year are new, like the white chocolate lemon cookies. Crushed almonds, lemon zest and juice, white chocolate chunks. It’s a sticky dough that needs to be shaped and refrigerated, but then you can just slice and bake. Nice to be able to have a few logs of dough in the fridge or freezer for unexpected guests. They are light and delicate and delicious!
White Chocolate Lemon Cookies
But the scotch cookies are always a hit. I can never make enough of them. Tiny little buttons of yummy with a small dollop of icing and piece of a cherry on top. Those and the chocolate gingerbread men.
Christmas Cookies
And of course, truffles. Dark chocolate ganache, flavoured with anything from Grand Marnier to cinnamon to toasted hazelnut. My favourite is the ginger. Minced bits of crystalized ginger folded into the ganache. Then they are all hand dipped in more dark chocolate. Not for the faint of heart!
Truffles
But my absolute favourite: white chocolate and lime. Fussy, because white chocolate is fussy to begin with. And super rich. But oh so good.
White Chocolate and Lime Truffles
Now, off to the kitchen. I have a request for molasses spice, gingerbread men and scotch cookies for tomorrow. It feels like the perfect day for baking Christmas cookies, since we’ve got a blanket of snow on the ground. And I’ve got a new bottle of cardamom and my home made vanilla is ready. I thought I’d give it a try, and have soaked three vanilla beans in vodka for a few months. Today will be the test drive to see how well it turned out.
Rainy Day Baking
What is better on a grey and cloudy day than to turn on the oven and open a favourite cookbook? That was on my agenda today, along with laundry, since the cool, windy and wet weather was not condusive to outdoor fun. I decided to revisit a fav, which is The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. I have yet to make a recipe out of this book that isn’t a complete and utter hit. Today was no exception. I decided to try something new. The recipe is for chocolate marble chunk cookies. You make a dough, then take out half.
Then to the other half, you add some cocoa.
To each half, some chopped pecans and coarsly chopped dark chocolate. My cousin Maggie had recently brought me lots of great dark chocolate from Montreal when she visited, and this seemed like a wonderful way to enjoy some of it, so in it went. The next step was to take a teaspoon of the light, a teaspoon of the dark and roll them together.
Then pop them in the oven for about 8 or so minutes, and voila! Delicious!
If you are looking for a great cookbook with cookie recipes that will delight your family and dazzle your friends, I can’t recommend this cookbook enough. Mine has the hallmarks of a well loved and well used cookbook: crumpled and dough stained pages. And children’s artwork marking some favourite recipes. She describes techniques, has a list of speciality suppliers, and the whole book is extremely well organized. It’s got beautiful simple cookies, as well as the more time consuming but elegant recipes.
As well, I made some French bread, brushed with butter before I put it in. Darkens the crust, but it’s beautiful and soft and yummy. I made two loaves, but the kids found one cooling on the rack, and now I only have one. I consider that a successful afternoon in the kitchen. Now, a cup of tea, a basket of laundry to fold and a new book. That’s a good way to spend a Sunday.
Summer Baking
The weather has been hot and humid, which doesn’t lend itself to great baking weather. Fall and winter are usually lovely for that, the extra warmth in the kitchen is welcome during chillier times of the year.
However, I just started work with a new group of people, and Micheal R has seen the pictures of my cream cheese chocolate chip coffee cake on my Facebook page. He’s been asking since I started when I would be bringing one in. So, I spent an afternoon in the kitchen last Sunday to bake one up.
It’s from the cookbook Perfect Cakes, and my goal is to bake every single cake in this book. I have yet to come across one that hasn’t been terrific, and this is no exception. The topping is a cinnamon crunch, which is a lovely addition to this rich, dense coffee cake. And it did go over well with my new co-workers.
Then, for my husband, who says I am always baking for everyone else, I did up a batch of devils’ food cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing. Always a hit with the family. Which I’m glad about. I just wish I wouldn’t find cupcakes papers in my teenage son’s room, ick!! No matter how many times I get angry about it, it still seems to happen. Are cupcakes a solitary food, something that makes people feel the need to sneak away and eat it privately? Or is it just Cayden would like to eat more than he should, so he has to hide the evidence? Hummm…..
Then on Friday, I found a recipe on the ‘net for a red velvet cake. Reason being, my sister in law Stephanie had requested one for her birthday. She is celebrating a new beginning this year and is looking forward to what it will bring, and wanted her favourite cake to help usher that in. I had never made a red velvet cake before, and not really worked with a cream cheese icing. On a hot and humid day, I don’t think there is any working with a cream cheese icing. It was frustrating, thank goodness it tasted good. The cake recipe was alright, but I think I would look for a different one if I were to make it again.
Yesterday was a great morning for lemon blueberry muffins. Blueberries are starting to come out in full force in the land behind my in laws house. There are beautiful wild berries all over the place there, and Linda is always bringing me some, which I truly appreciate! That, along with two batches of banana bread (a mainstay for my family), were out of the oven before noon yesterday, before it got too hot.
And last but not least, today I made focaccia bread for my cousin Maggie, who is visiting from Montreal. I have a bottle of the spice blend from Epicure, which is very good, so I was off to the races. It has just come out of the oven, so I think in a moment it will be time for a little bread and some balsamic vinegar to dip it in.
Hopefully the humidity will let up and I can get a little more baking in. But this afternoon will be all about firing up my Big Green Egg and smoking some meat for supper, a little spinach salad, and a chickpea salad with harissa. That’s something that’s great about this weather, I get to bbq a lot more. Perhaps I should throw some bread on there soon for a wood fired taste?
Father’s Day Treats
Last weekend was Father’s Day, so I wanted to make some things Scott would like. And I had a great big bunch of bananas that needed something done with them. So I started off with a double batch of banana bread. Chocolate chips are always a hit in banana bread, and I always add a bit of cinnamon. I ended up with enough batter to make eight mini loaves in my silicon mini loaf pans. Which I love. When I first go them, I went on a mini loaf binge. We had over 250 mini loaves of gingerbread, banana bread, chocolate cinnamon bread, chocolate pecan bread, beer and cheese dill bread, and the list goes on. And they are perfect for individual meat loaves.
After those were full, I divided the rest of the batter into my stoneware crocks. These are also great. Non stick. Fun round shape. And the top bakes up like a muffin, something the kids think is worth fighting over.
But still, there were more bananas. So, it was banana pecan chocolate chip muffin time, with cinnamon sugar on the top. I brought some into work (very willing guinea pigs when ever I want to try a new recipe. Their opinions on the lemon lavender cookies: lavender is not to be eaten.) The muffins were popular with Cathy and Allan. So another keeper recipe.
Finally, last but not least, a Scott favourite. Macaroons. Some people call them haystacks, others call them frogs. We call them chocolate macaroons. So easy. Melt butter and cocoa, add milk and sugar, boil for two minutes, then add oatmeal (I like large flake) and coconut. Spoon out onto waxed paper, and voila! Like magic, they disappear. Into Scott’s stomach. We have actually hidden half the batch because Cayden is a midnight moocher and would have had them gone inside of 24 hours. Scott was happy to see the counters full, and the macaroons made him really happy. He literally smiled and said “for me?” If any man deserves treats, it’s my husband.
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Cookies
So this weekend was all about cookies. Which are among my favourite things to bake. I’ve been working on cakes mostly lately, so it was nice to go back to small hand held snacks. Scott and the kids are big fans of full cookie tins. And I had promised Wyatt we would make chocolate chip cookies. So that’s where we started. He likes to crack the eggs, and pour in the ingredients. They are quick and easy, and a perfect way to spend some fun time in the kitchen with a three year old.
After that, I moved on to cranberry oatmeal cookies. The recipe is called saucer sized cranberry oatmeal cookies. I love the recipe, it’s always a huge hit. It comes from the book “Perfect Recipes for Having People Over” by Pamela Anderson. No, not that Pam Anderson. A really good book, lots of great ideas for feeding lots of people, and doing it well. I add cinnamon to mine, which is not included in her recipe.
Then, to the recipe I had been dying to try: lemon lavender cookies. I’m not even sure where I saw the recipe originally, and was intrigued because I had never baked with lavender. I ordered some from Epicure. I am crazy for their products! Great spice blends, premium baking items. Love it! (www.epicureselections.com) So it arrived on Friday, and Sunday, I’m trying them out. The recipe is basically a shortbread with lemon zest and lavender. Roll it into logs and pop in the fridge for a few hours, then slice and bake. The only thing was when I was slicing the cookies, the knife would catch on the lavender buds, and pull them through the cookie, leaving gouges. Hummm…I’ll need to figure that out for next time. The verdict? Scott liked them. If my husband will eat lavender, then it’s good. 
Rhubarb
I know rhubarb is not everyone’s favourite, but since I have a patch in the back yard, I decided I didn’t want it to go to waste this year. I picked some and make a couple of rhubarb orange coffee cakes, which went into the freezer. The kids were fans, especially the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on the top. Then, I found a recipe for rhubarb yogurt pie. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? And super easy. A pie crust bottom, four cups of chopped rhubarb in the middle, and then you pour over that rhubarb a mixture of yogurt, sugar and flour. A crumb topping, voila! Bake for about 45 minutes, and you have a terrific dessert. The yogurt and rhubarb tang against the sugar in the crumb topping and yogurt mixture was excellent! I made four of them. But what to do with all the rhubarb that was left? I searched the net and found a recipe for rhubarb ginger jam. I had some crystallized ginger in the cupboard, and lots of rhubarb, and of course, sugar. That’s it. Pretty easy. Boil it for 15 minutes, pour into sterilized jars, water bath them for 10 minutes, and you have jam! In my case, 41 jars of jam. 
The ginger against the rhubarb adds a little heat, and is delicious. I’m dying to try it as a topping on vanilla ice cream. I guess it’s time to pull out the ice cream maker.
Recipes
There is nothing as satisfying as searching through pages and pages, and stumbling upon what has the makings of a terrific recipe. You know that the basics are there, the structure, but with a bit of improvisation, and some creative flair, you’ll have something that is amazing and totally you. What about a dash of ginger, you think. Unexpected, a bit of a bite, but what a balanced contrast. Or, who in their right mind would put vegetable oil in that? Only real butter will do! You examine the recipe’s contents, smiling at some, wrinkling your nose at others. But the potential is there. You pull out your baking stones, plug in the Kitchen Aid, and start cracking some eggs, and sifting some flour. Before you know it, you can smell the goodness wafting out of your oven. And once it comes out, and you taste it, hot and steaming, you think, yes! That’s it! You pour yourself a cup of tea, admire your handiwork, and know that once everyone comes home, they will devour your new creation. And enjoy it. But never get the satisfaction from it that you did while you tweeked this and adjusted that. But that’s okay. For someone who loves to feed people, smiles and crumbs hanging from the corners of their mouths is the payoff.
Baking Away
As the rain continues to pour down, all I want to do is go home, snuggle up with a cup of tea, and paw through my much loved cookbooks. My husband says I need a twelve step program to deal with my cookbook addiction. But the pictures are beautiful! The recipes, inspiring! Sure, I’ve got some that I only ever use for one or two recipes, but aren’t they worth it? A cold, wet, rainy day is the perfect day to dream about what to make next, how to improve a personal favourite, or just indulge in something warm and chocolatey. It’s true, I admit it. I am a cookbook junkie.
Baking Fiend 