Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Grandma's Coming to Town

With Maiyo rapidly growing, as baby's do, my mom decided to come and visit us for an overnight stay. I was so grateful for her giving us a "date night" (we went out for sushi btw:-) that I made her a batch of her most favorite cookies in the world, Mexican Wedding Cookies.

I got the recipe from my friend Jennifer over at Food Gourmet the Healthy Way. Actually, it's kinda fitting that these are my mom's favorite, as Jennifer made these for me when I was in the hospital giving birth to Maiyo. Now Grandma & Grandson can share this little connection through cookies.

The only problem with these cookies is that they are TOO EASY to make! Yup, only a few minutes and voila, there goes the waistline! Especially cuz it's physically impossible to just eat one, or five. So I've made it a rule that I only make these for my mom when she's visiting or vice versa, this way I'm not tempted to make them at any other time and stuff my face with their yumminess.


Mexican Wedding Cookies (aka Russian Tea Cakes)
Makes 2-3 Dozen

2 C Pecans (Chopped Fine or see Note below)
2 C Flour 
3/4 Tsp Salt 
1 C Butter (Room Temp)
1/3 C Superfine Sugar (Baker's Sugar)
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 C Powdered Sugar

-Whisk 1 cup Pecans, Flour & Salt in medium bowl; set aside.
-Using food processor process remaining Pecans to the texture of fine cornmeal. Stir into flour mixture and set aside. (NOTE: I process ALL of the pecans to a coarse grind rather than half chopped/half fine. I do this for my mom who doesn't like the texture of chopped nuts.)
-Beat Butter & Sugar until creamy then add Vanilla. Mix in Flour Mix, scrapping sides of bowl to blend.
-Scoop out about 1 Tbls dough, roll into ball and place on prepared cookie sheet. Continue with remaining dough placing 1.5 in apart. (Here I like to press the balls down with two fingers but you can shape them however you like!)
-Bake at 325 for 8-15 minutes or light gold in color.
-Let cool on sheet for 10 mins then transfer to cooling racks and cool another 30-45
mins.
-Once cooled, roll cookies in Powdered sugar for a generous coat.
-Either serve as is or re-coat with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Cookies Pre-Bake

Cookies Light Gold




Sunday, February 26, 2012

NRW 8: Potato Leek Soup

New Recipe Week 8: Potato Leek Soup

I've always wanted to try making potato leek soup and finally got around to it as I've been on a soup kick this last month. I've never cooked with leeks before so I was doubly interested in this recipe and it came out ok. I did get to use my new immersion blender so that made me very happy cuz its such a fun and easy kitchen tool!

Unfortunately I didn't have the last ingredient (Spinach) on hand and I think the soup would have been much better with it. As it was, it tasted ok, a little overpowered by the bay leaf, but I'll be trying this again, definitely with the spinach added and the bay leaf omitted.

No picture cuz it was a bland light green looking soup and didn't photograph well with my plates. Don't let that deter you though:-)

4 Tbsp Butter
3 Leeks (white and pale-green parts only, coarsely chopped)
1/2 Tsp Crushed Garlic
4 Russet Potatoes (cut into 1-inch cubes)
6 C Chicken Broth
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1 C Spinach (coarsely chopped)
Salt & Pepper

-In a large pot, heat the butter over medium low heat. Add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring, until the leeks are tender, about 15 minutes.
-Add the potatoes and cook another 8 minutes. 
-Add the broth & nutmeg and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
-With an immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth and creamy. Add the spinach leaves and pulse to blend.
-Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Arroz con Leche

Arroz con Leche was my favorite dish growing up, I couldn't get enough of the stuff. Now that I'm older, I try not to make it too often cuz I will eat the entire batch in one sitting! Looking around the web for some tamale recipes I often came across arroz con leche recipes, so of course I started craving some.

Many of the recipes online are sugar heavy, by a lot, so I hope you like mine which is light on the sugar and heavy on the cinnamon.


Arroz con Leche (Rice with Milk)
Serves 6

1 C White Rice
2 1/4 C Water
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Cinnamon Stick
3 C Milk (Skim)
1/2 C Sugar + more for garnish
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon + more for garnish

-In a Medium sauce pan, bring Rice, Water, Cinnamon Stick & Salt to a boil then simmer for 15 mins.
-Remove the Cinnamon Stick then add in Milk, Sugar & Ground Cinnamon. Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 mins.
-Remove from heat and cool or serve warm, garnish with a dash of ground cinnamon & sugar.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Rag Quilt for Me

Well I finally did it, I made a quilt just for me.


This lap size rag quilt took me two days and was simple and fun to make. If anyone wants one, just let me know and I'd be happy to make it!


Once again inspired by Quilting in the Rain, I made this quilt lap size (46x53) out of flannel material. It made for a very heavy quilt, perfect for La Selva foggy days.


Sunday, February 19, 2012

NRW 7-Baked Mushroom Chicken

New Recipe Week 7: Baked Mushroom Chicken

I sign up to receive daily recipes from allrecipes.com and every now and then there's a winner. I like that these recipes come from everyday people as opposed to test kitchens and chefs that have endless time and supplies at their disposal. Most of the ingredients are from everyday pantries and are on the easy side to make, only problem is most of the recipes are duds, but I think this Baked Mushroom Chicken is a keeper for sure.

Another plus is that allrecipies.com allows you to adjust the recipe per servings! So I followed the recipe for 1 serving cuz I only wanted to cook 2 thighs. Of course I made a couple of adjustments, here it is:

2 Chicken Thighs
1/2 Can Cream of Chicken & Mushroom Soup
1/3 C. Heavy Cream
1/4 Tsp Ea: Dried Parsley, Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper
1/3 C. Bread Crumbs
1/2 Tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 Tbls Butter (Melted)

-Preheat oven to 350. 
-In a medium bowl combine the Soup, Cream, Parsley, Onion Powder, Salt & Pepper. Mix well then divide mix by leaving half in a bowl and pouring half in a small saucepan. 
-Place Bread Crumbs in a shallow dish and mix in Italian Seasoning; dip Chicken Thighs in soup mixture in the bowl, then in crumbs, and place coated pieces in a lightly greased baking dish. 
-Drizzle with Melted Butter and bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or until chicken is done.
-Meanwhile, heat remaining soup mixture in a small saucepan over low heat until heated through. Pour sauce over chicken & serve. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hearts & Chocolate, Strawberries & Bananas, X's & O's

Happy Valentines Day!

My lovely S.O. gave me a gift of plumeria earrings & necklace, which I love, while my son gave me a gift of crying & fussiness all day. The one thing I was able to do during his 40 minute nap was a quick batch of chocolate covered strawberries & bananas dipped in pecans. Hope you get a yummy treat today!

 Lots of Hugs & Kisses to all of you!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

NRW 6: Champagne Strawberry Cake BonBons

New Recipe Week 6: Champagne Strawberry Cake BonBons

When Maiyo was born we were given Champagne to celebrate by the maternity center we had him at. Since we aren't champagne drinkers, I held onto the mini bottles waiting for something sparkly to catch my attention. Then new years rolled around and I found this recipe, though it would be a while before I actually tried it.

Not a fan of using box mixes, I was hesitant to try this out. Finally I was invited to co-host a party and I decided to make these as a little treat to celebrate our friends', The Worthington's, new house.

The recipe was pretty easy, only a bit time consuming in the rolling and then dipping of the bonbons. I added a little homemade strawberry preserves to boost the flavor which was a really nice addition. Also of note, I only used 2/3 of the cake & frosting and made 48 bonbons. And yes due to the cake interior, these are bonbons, not truffles as the original recipe suggests.

These were a hit and I couldn't stop eating them myself:-) Next time I might change it up and use lemon curd as a binder, yum!


Champagne Strawberry Cake BonBons

Cake:
1 Box White Cake Mix
1 1/4 C Champagne
1/3 C Vegetable Oil
3 Egg Whites
2 Slivers of Pink Food Coloring Gel

-Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.
-Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until well combined, about 2 minutes.
-Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
-Set on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Frosting:
1 Container (16 ounces) Vanilla Frosting
1 Tbsp Champagne
3 Tbsp Strawberry Preserves

-Scoop out 3/4 of the Frosting into a bowl. Stir in Champagne & Preserves to combine.

BonBon Centers:

-In a large bowl, crumble the cake and then add most of the frosting. Using your hands, incorporate the frosting into the cake until well combined.
-If the cake is dry add frosting 1 tbsp at a time, until it forms nicely into a ball when rolled.
-Use a small cookie scoop to pack in cake batter, making sure to level it for a flat bottom, and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
-Refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 20 minutes to firm.



Coating:
1 1/2 C White Chocolate Chips
3 Tbsp Shortening
Edible glitter or sparkling sugar

-In a double boiler melt Chips & Shortening, stirring regularly.
-Use a fork to dip the bonbon cakes, 1 at a time, in the chocolate to coat.
-Return to wax paper and repeat with remaining bonbon cakes until done.
-Use remaining chocolate coating to drizzle over tops of bonbons then sprinkle with Edible Glitter.
-Chill 1 hour then enjoy!


Makes 60-70 BonBons


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Veggie Broth

In case you were interested in the Veggie Broth I used for my Turkey Black Bean Chili, among other yummy dishes, here's the simple recipe:

-Keep a Gallon size Freezer Ziplock Bag in the freezer and fill it with veggie trimmings when prepping various dishes. (I fill mine with squash tops/bottoms, onion trimmings, carrot tops, greens & shavings, beet greens, etc.)
-Once bag is full (it takes me about a month to fill the bag) combine with 6-8 quarts of water in a large stock pot, bring to a boil then simmer for about 2 hrs.
-Strain broth & veggies, making sure to mash the juice out of the cooked veggies, into a large carafe or bowl.
-Pour 4 Cups of strained broth into quart size freezer ziplock bags labeled with type of broth & date. (make sure to check the seals as about every 8th bag or so tends to leak!)
-Freeze then use when needed!

This produces about 24 cups (192 oz.) of broth or 6 Quart bags! Much cheaper than buying a 16oz can for $1!!!


Sunday, February 5, 2012

NRW 5-Chewy Dark Choco Cookies

New Recipe Week 5: Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

I actually made 2 new savory dishes for this weeks NRW but they both weren't very good so I'll pass on reviewing those...Instead I made a third dish-Cookies!

I had a craving for cookies, surprise, surprise:-) Now I have my own chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe that I love (I'll post it another time) but am always up for trying out a new recipe. So I thought to try this one from one of my favorite bloggers the Brown Eyed Baker.

I loved how simple this recipe was and all the tips Michelle gives her readers. I hope my little tips help you along too. The only change I made was to use Dark Chocolate Chips and I would suggest to lower the salt content to 1/4 Tsp as it really announced itself in every bite just a little too much. Also, I think it would help if the dough was refrigerated for about 30 mins prior to forming cookies but is not necessary.

2 C & 2 Tbsp Flour
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
12 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (melted and cooled until warm)
1 C Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 C Sugar
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 C Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

-Prep 2 cookie sheets with parchment and pre-heat oven to 325
-Whisk Flour, Baking Soda & Salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
-Mix  Butter & Sugars until thoroughly blended.
-Beat in Eggs & Vanilla until combined, add the dry ingredients also until just combined, then stir in chips.
-OPTION: Refrigerate dough for 30 mins.
-Roll scant 1/4 C of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.
-Bake 1 sheet at a time for 16 to 18 minutes until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, rotate the sheet midway through baking.
-Cool the cookies on the sheets.



Next on my list of cookies to try is her Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie:-)

Saturday, February 4, 2012

1st B-day Quilt

We have 3 different 1st birthdays in a week! Jaxon, Christopher & Mason. Jaxon's Grandma makes him the most adorable quilts so I'll be getting him a book instead. But Christopher & Mason will each get a blanket from me. Because I missed Christopher's baby shower, I decided to make him a baby quilt out of flannel material. As for Mason, I bought this super cute panel for Maiyo and decided to make it into a blanket for Mason instead.

The quilt will be made out of these flannel prints:


Even though Christopher's already 1, I'm sure he'll be able to use this quilt as a play blanket. I'm following this Simply Charming Quilt pattern by Quilting in the Rain. As you can see in the pic above, I've cut 40 (5x5) blocks and 4 (5x36.5) rectangles. Then I sewed the blocks together in strips of 8 then sewed the strips and rectangles together.

I then sandwiched the quilt top with a natural cotton batting and a plain yellow flannel back fabric. Instead of binding the quilt, I used the quilt back (yellow fabric) to make a boarder. I pulled the fabric forward, pressed then refolded and pressed again. Here's a pic of the pinned quilt & boarder:


Next I stitched the Boarder by hand then tied off the quilt using purple embroidery floss. Here it is completed:


For Mason, here's a part of the panel I mentioned and the backing is an already quilted fabric that my friend Sheila Moon gave me from her clothing company leftovers!


With this blanket I just pinned the top panel to the quilted fabric and used the back fabric to make the boarder like the quilt above then sewed together.


Instead of quilting this blanket I also decided to tie it off with orange embroidery thread so that it would pop a little more. This blanket will be a great for many hours of play time. Hope he likes it!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Apple Cajeta Empanadas

Craving Empanadas, I really wanted to make something different. I had some Fuji apples that weren't too great for eating plain (a bit watery) so I decided to try turning them into something caramely. Not wanting to actually make caramel sauce, I had some cajeta in the pantry which would do just perfect!

Cajeta is from my childhood and is actually a Mexican version of caramel. It's caramel sauce made from goats milk. It definitely has a stronger taste than regular caramel sauce, but it's one I've always loved.

This recipe is experimental...meaning it needs some further refinement, but really, I ate two of them at my taste testing and didn't even realize, so its pretty good as is.


Apple Cajeta Empanadas by Mamma Mary
Makes 12-6" Empanadas

Empanada Dough:
3 C Flour
1 Tsp Salt
3 Tsp Ultrafine Sugar
3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Shortening
1/2 C Ice Water
1 Egg + 1 Egg White (save Egg Yolk for Wash below)
1 Tsp White Wine Vinegar

-Measure 1/2 C Water (in a 1 C measuring glass) and place in freezer
-In a large bowl whisk Flour, Salt & Sugar. Cut in Shortening with a pastry knife (or fork). Make well in center.
-Remove Water from freezer and whisk in remaining ingredients, then pour into flour well.
-Mix dry & wet ingredients until ball forms then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling:
2 lbs Apples (Peeled & Diced 1/4")
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 C Cajeta
1/2 C Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 C Water
3 Tsp Corn Starch
1 Tsp Pie Spice
1 Tbsp Butter

-Mix Apples & Lemon Juice, place in a medium pot with remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 mins occasionally stirring.

Assembly Ingredients:
1 Egg Yolk mixed with 3 Tbsp Water

-Cut dough into 4 parts then roll 1 out onto floured surface.
-Cut desired size disks from dough.
-Fill middle of disks with filling, brush edges with Egg Wash and fold over.
-Crimp edges with fork.
-Bake at 350 for 20 mins (rotating half way) then cool on racks.

Optional Glaze:
1 C Powder Sugar
2 Tbsp Milk (room temp)
1/4 Tsp Vanilla

-Whisk Sugar, Milk & Vanilla in small bowl then glaze over slightly cool (or completely cooled) empanadas.

Enjoy!