Wordless Wednesday - Whipped cream, unplugged

(My balloon whisk is great for stuff like this.)

Wordless Wednesday - Letters to Santa

Blog party!

I'm still trying to figure out what was going on in December 2007 that prompted so many people to start food blogs.  It seems like I keep finding other bloggers that I feel like have been around forever that started their blogs right around the same time I did.  Today, I'm excited to wish Shelby of The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch a very happy 4th anniversary for her blog!  A while back, Shelby sent me an invitation to a virtual party to celebrate her blogiversary.  We're all bringing one of my favorite types of party food--appetizers and small plates.  What better way to get to sample lots of yummy dishes without getting full too quickly. =)

I decided to share a recipe that I've made a bunch of times, but somehow never blogged--Cheddar Cheese and Pecan Crisps.  They're flaky, buttery, nutty cheese crackers that are excellent with a glass of celebratory beverage. =)  You can cut out round cookies, but I like to do other shapes, like these stars. (Snowflakes are fun too, this time of year.) I've confused people a few times, when they thought they were picking up a sweet cookie and instead ended up with a savory mouthful.  Not a bad thing, of course, just unexpected.  The recipe suggests using a mix of cheddar and parmesan, but you can use other sharp cheeses as well.  I usually make mine with just cheddar.  I'm not a big fan of spicy things, but the bit of cayenne in these gives them a little kick that's very tasty.  One last note--the recipe calls for 7 ounces of butter--that's 14 tablespoons.  The first time I made these, I misread the amount, and used only 7 tablespoons.  The crackers actually turned out okay.  I'm not sure they really need the full amount (feel free to try it and see what you think), but I have increased the amount I use from 7 to 10 tablespoons, which I think works well.  

The verdict?  These crackers are always a hit whenever I serve them.  The recipe makes lots, so I usually even have a few left over to snack on for a couple of days.  I pretty much only make them for parties, otherwise I'd be tempted to eat the entire batch myself. =)  

You can find the recipe here on the Fine Cooking website.  For lots more great appetizers & snacks, be sure to check out all the other links to Shelby's blogiversary party.  Also, to celebrate her blog anniversary, Shelby is sponsoring a giveaway on her blog.  Here are the details:

• Receive one entry by leaving a comment on this blog post telling me about your favorite appetizer.

• For additional entries, visit the blog links that will take you to the blogs of others who have joined in the celebration party and leave a comment on each of their posts.

• The giveaway will end on January 7th at 5 PM EST. The winner will be announced on January 8th via a blog post on The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. 

• The winner will be chosen via a random drawing (drawing to be done by Grumpy). The prize will be a $50 gift card which can be for ONE of the choices listed here: Sears; Kohls; Amazon; Target; Wal-mart; Chili's; Uno's; Marshalls/TJMax; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Macaroni Grill; Olive Garden; Starbucks; Barnes & Noble

• The giveaway is limited to US and Canadian residents only.

Until we meet again (soon!)

I posted at the end of last week that I've been blogging for four years now.  I wasn't entirely sure how to begin.  I started by just posting some of our favorites, and assorted things that I decided to make.  So not that much different from what I do now. =)  That got me through the first month or so.  Then I decided to be brave.  After reading this post from Peabody, I decided to join a fairly new baking group called Tuesdays with Dorie.  At the time I thought I was crazy, but it's one of the best things I ever did. I've learned to bake lots of amazing things, and made some fantastic friends.  

In the beginning, I participated almost every week.  Over time, other things (work & family being two of the biggest) claimed more of my time than they used to, though I still tried to keep up.  For the past couple months, I've still been baking a lot of the time, but haven't always had the time or felt the inspiration to write.  And now, after four years, we've come to the end of the book.  Don't worry, you'll continue to see Dorie recipes here on my blog, since there are some that I haven't posted that I want to.  Not to mention the fact that Dorie has written other books.  But more about that in a bit.  

  

I was looking through some of my earliest blog posts and was amazed to see how much my girls have grown.  When I started all this, Brianna was about the age that Gillian is now.  Wow.  After getting a new baking book for Christmas, Brianna made us breakfast (mini corn muffins) on Monday pretty much all by herself.  I have to say, it's quite a change to be just a coach when you're used to being the baker.  I promised Gillian that she could help me with the TWD recipe, fittingly the Kids' Thumbprints.  She helped me measure things on the scale and add them to the mixing bowl.  When the dough was done, she helped me shape it into balls and did most of the thumbprints.  Her only complaint was that she doesn't really like peanut butter. =)

We mostly followed the recipe as written.  I did chill the dough for a bit after it was made, since it seemed kind of soft.  To make sure the dough balls were all the same size, I used my #70 disher to portion the dough, which we then rolled between our hands to form smooth balls.  We filled most of the cookies with a couple big chocolate chips, but left a few empty to be filled with raspberry jam after baking.  A handful of cookies ended up with both when I discovered that I had a little jam left over.  The size of cookies we made took 14 minutes to bake.  We did skip the chopped nuts on the outside of the cookies; I knew there was no way the girls would even consider eating them that way.

The verdict?  Well like I said, G doesn't like peanut butter, so she isn't a huge fan of the cookies.  B thought that they were okay, but nothing great.  Fortunately, Jamie liked them a lot.  And I'm sure I'll be able to find a home for any extra cookies.  I was surprised to find that I preferred the jam ones.  I think it's because the chips didn't melt to fill the thumbprints (which makes sense, in retrospect).  If I make these again, I'll used chopped chocolate instead of chips, or just fill the holes with ganache after baking.

If you'd like to try the recipe, you can find it in Baking From My Home to Yours, of course.  For this final week of this incarnation of TWD, Dorie herself is our host and will have the recipe up as well.  If you're not currently a member of Tuesdays with Dorie, membership in the group will be opening up again very soon.  The next book will be Baking with Julia.  I've had a copy of the book for a long time, but haven't really baked from it.  I'm hoping that this will be the push I need to pull it off the shelf.  

I'm sure there will be lots of participants this week, so be sure to check out all the Links!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday!

Retrospective

Happy blogiversary to me!  It's amazing what a difference 4 years can make.  I've been having a hard time deciding what I wanted to write about my blogging adventure so far, and it occurred to me that I just had to include this picture from yesterday morning.  One huge thing that has changed is my girls--when I started blogging, Gillian was just over a year old and Brianna was not quite 5.  Now, they're both very capable of assisting me in the kitchen.  Yes, that's ravioli that Brianna is making.  She asked me for advice on how to shape them, but that was it.  Well, I did also let her borrow my pastry wheel, on the condition that it got thoroughly cleaned afterwards.  I couldn't resist her sad face because she couldn't figure out how to make the edges look right with the tools she had. =)

I love the fact that both my girls want to spend time in the kitchen, probably way more than I actually let them (still working on that patience thing, even after 4 years).  They just assume that I can make anything, or can figure it out pretty quickly.  They don't know it yet, but they're both getting baking cookbooks and some kitchen tools of their own for Christmas (color coded--blue for B, purple for G).  I love the fact that they won't think it's odd that I didn't get them measuring cups--they're used to using a scale to measure ingredients.  I've made so many things in the past four years--puff pastry, croissants, bagels, sourdough bread, amazing cakes, scores of scones, caramel, ice cream... I could go on and on.  But the best thing to come out of my kitchen is showing my girls it can be done.  I set out to write a blog about baking, but many of my favorite posts are also about my life and family.  I look forward to filling many more notebook pages with notes and share many more stories (in words and pictures) with all of you.

Tradition

As I was making my 4th batch of fudge in about as many days, Brianna asked me why I only make fudge at Christmas.  She's right--I don't really make it any other time of year.  It's not a conscious decision to reserve it for the holidays; it just doesn't really occur to me to make it during the rest of the year.  I'm like that with certain cookies, too.  Chocolate chip cookies are not Christmas cookies (though my husband would probably disagree with me there, since his grandmother made them during the holidays).  Spritz cookies are Christmas cookies.  My cookie press came with about a dozen different plates for various shapes, but the only one I've ever used is the Christmas tree.  What sort of treats do you only make during the holidays?

I don't usually make four batches of fudge, though.  The first one I made didn't turn out.  It was a recipe I hadn't tried before.  It's frustrating when something doesn't work--I always want to know why.  In this case, I think I didn't cook it quite long enough; it never got all the way firm.  I didn't like the flavor very much, either.  The second batch was one I've made before, a great recipe from Fine Cooking.  The third was this interesting cookie dough fudge that my friend Tracey posted recently.  It doesn't have quite the usual fudge texture, but it definitely tastes like cookie dough.  Batch number four was a repeat of the Fine Cooking recipe--I gave away most of the first batch and needed more.  It was one of the key components in my treat bags this year.  

I first made this fudge a couple years ago, when it showed up in the magazine.  It was the first fudge that I'd made that didn't use marshmallow cream or other shortcuts.  It starts off as sugar, unsweetened chocolate, corn syrup (helps keep the sugar from crystallizing the wrong way), cream, and salt.  Everything gets brought to a boil, and cooked until it reaches about 238ºF.  Then you remove it from the heat, add some butter (without stirring it in any way), and let the mixture cool until it's 110ºF.  This takes a while, so it's a good thing to make when you have other things going on in the kitchen to keep you occupied for a while.  Once the mixture gets to the right temperature, you beat the heck out of it.  I did try once to do it by hand, but my arm got too tired before I could get it to the right texture.  What the recipe recommends is using a hand mixer, and that works quite well, though I do usually worry that I'm going to overheat my mixer.  Once the fudge starts loses its shine and starts to thicken, you put it in a pan and let it finish setting up overnight (or at least for a few hours).  

The verdict?  I just love this fudge, both the recipe and the final product.  I've made it several times, and it always turns out great.  The texture of the fudge is very smooth.  I think the bit of salt in the recipe makes all the difference in the flavor--the new recipe this year tasted flat and just sweet without the salt.  I shared this fudge with lots of people, and while I'm not sure yet how they all liked it, but my girls seem to be big fans.

If you'd like to try the recipe for yourself, you can find it over at Fine Cooking.  If you're looking for ideas for goodie bags, I found my supplies at a variety of places.  The treat bags are from Target, the snowflake stickers are address labels that I got at Office Depot, and I find that Michael's is a great place to buy ribbon.  The papers are just standard mini muffin cups.