Sunday, February 23, 2014

Cookie Round Up Continued!

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So here are the rest of the cookies I have been doing.  Enough to keep me busy!  My sweet son has moved on to the real world after graduation.  Since he arrived in Chicago in early January, there have been about...NO days above freezing.  I know it has been a long winter.  I sent these cookies to his office, and he told me I am terribly popular!  That's fun.












I did the 2 types of hearts above in the Britto fashion.  Black outline, bright colors.  They were pretty fun.  Just to give you an idea of how, not interested, my family is in cookies, these are still under a dome in my kitchen, 3 weeks and counting.





I tutor a couple of kids in a school in town.  I made these for the kids in the class.  Needless to say they were a spelling challenge!  But they were thrilled to have a cookie with their name on it!  I love that





These are for my friends elderly mother.  She had a luncheon with a group she belongs to on Valentine's Day.  She asked if I could make her cookies the color of her robe!  No problem.



These snowmen made out of an ornament cookie cutter were my plan for Christmas presents for my friends.  But, Christmas came and went, and there were dozens of blank cookies in my freezer.  I decided it was still snowing up north even though it has been hovering at 70 here.  I decorated them and shipped them to some people I love!  My inspiration for these came from Glorious Treats.  She is an awesome cookier, and writer, and party planner and all kinds of neat stuff.  Also, one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. 




These cool swimmer graphics are for my friend's daughter.  The school colors are black and silver, and thought these were pretty hot! 



Finally these were for a bunch of teenagers.  My friend's daughter goes to Christina's high school (all girls) and they have a formal every winter.  She had a large group of girls coming over to get ready and thought these would be great to munch on.  Well, of course they would!  And I love those super bright colors.  

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Cookie Round Up

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So I have been baking lots of cookies, and thought I would round them up, in 2 parts...!  Thanksgiving seems like a good place to start!


These are for the Egg Bowl, cross state rival game in Mississippi played on Thanksgiving.  


Cross Country 

A Surprise Engagement!  Yea Doug!

My Baby's graduation!  Boomer!  

Happy Holidays!

Love these snowmen!


Happy New Year!

 I did a Super Bowl platter, obviously no particular team was a favorite.  The cookies were a bigger hit than the boring game for sure!  Stay tuned for part 2 of the Cookie Round Up!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Auntie Carmella's Chocolate Cake

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Cold milk and chocolate cake!


Of all my relatives, this is my only "Auntie".  I have lots of aunts mind you, but we always call this one Auntie Carmella DeSalvo.  She was actually my Dad's Aunt, she was his mother's sister.  I am desperately trying to make the old family recipes, and this one has been bugging me.  So when Scott said he had no cake preference for his birthday, I know Auntie Carmella would come in handy!  I suspect the recipe card is written in my mom's handwriting, and it is quite old.  I wouldn't guess chocolate cake was something my Italian relatives had in their lineage of recipes, but my mom said she remembers the day they had this cake, and Auntie Carmella said it was probably the best she could ever make.  My mom must have liked it enough to copy the recipe.

A surprise for her dad!  And yep, no birthday candles....


I have made other amazing cakes, and the most impressive was on a day we had a blizzard.  I just love the pictures.  A snow like this is so rare, go take a peek at the Snowstorm Mile High Birthday Cake!  The issue with Carmella's cake was that I had never had it, nor seen it, so I had to make it my own way.  It was pretty straight forward, and the buttermilk gives it a very tender crumb.  Her frosting recipe is similar to the one I made, but she had a raw egg in hers.  Now I can eat raw whites any day, but the whole egg didn't sound right.  My frosting was delicious.  I hate cream cheese frosting, but the addition of chocolate meant you couldn't taste any cream cheese.  Works for me!


Auntie Carmella's Chocolate Cake

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/12 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Impromptu double boiler


Melt chocolate and set aside.  Cream butter until fluffy, and gradually add sugar and beat until light.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs until fluffy and then beat into creamed mixture, and add chocolate.  Stir in dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.  Don't overbeat.  Bake 30-35 minutes at 350º for 2 layers.

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup powdered sugar
1 package cream cheese
6 T butter

Have ingredients at room temperature.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  Set aside to cool.  Whip the butter and cream cheese well.  Add a pinch of salt, and then add the confectioner's sugar and chocolate.  I added more confectioner's sugar to make a bit more frosting, and thinned it with a little milk as needed to get it to spreading consistency.  Spread on cooled layers, and decorate as you please.  We just dusted it with  a few sprinkles.  Happy Birthday!  What are you waiting for?  Get in there and bake!


Monday, February 10, 2014

Iron Rich Beef Stew

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Dinner.  Mine has fresh spinach at the bottom, but this bowl was all we needed for dinner, with a little wine!
Cast iron cooking is said to impart a little iron.

I went to give platelets today.  They are essential to cancer patients, and I have given blood for as long as I can remember.  However, I have been rejected over and over as of late.  Low iron.  I have blogged about it before, trying high iron foods foiled in a soup, which was pretty tasty.   But I rescheduled my appointment in 7 days, and we are going to see if I can make it come up at all.  Beef, spinach, iron water and red wine.  That's on today's menu.

It is a miserable day.  I know my Northern friends and Chicago son are totally over the snow.  But trust me, it is much better than this 33 degree day with pouring rain.  Relentless rain.  The perfect day to put on an amazing pot of soup and read a book.  Don't mind if I do.

I am making this soup recipe up as I go.  However, I have a confession.  I made this recipe through the tomatoes, and went to add the broth so it could simmer, and I could read my book.  I had a carton of broth in the fridge, opened, well, who knows when.  I gave it a sniff and didn't detect any off smell and so I dumped it in.  And dammit if it wasn't moldy.  So I scraped out what I could see and brought it up to a rolling boil, and gave it a taste.  I have a taste for mold.  I can taste it in ice at a restaurant, in a piece of bread days before you can see it, I am just sensitive to its taste.  And my stew?  No good.  I could smell and taste the mold, even though I had scraped out all signs after I poured it in.  Very sad.  Down the disposal it went.  And I went back to the store in the pouring, freezing, rain...

Round 2 went well, and don't be alarmed there are no spices, no Worcestershire, nothing added.  This stew is fantastic.  The short ribs released their meat and even the stew meat fell apart like a cheap suit.  The key here is the simmer.  No boiling, it should barely move.  You could even pop it in a 300º oven to simmer.  Also, I chose peanut oil because of its high smoke point.  I am cooking in cast iron and cranked the heat so I could get a good sear and the peanut oil helps avoid a burned bottom.  The best dinner!

The short ribs add a little needed fat to the mix, and cooking slow makes that stew meat tender.
2 onions, sliced and chopped

2 cloves garlic, 3 if you're Italian...

Fresh carrots and celery...never those baby carrots, and not frozen!
the chopped mushrooms added in...

Fire roasted adds amazing flavor.


Just a couple little reds, we are not potato eaters.
Demi glace adds incredible depth to cooking.  Worth finding.
Sweetie Petitti Beef Stew

2 T peanut oil
1/2 pound stew meat
1 pound short ribs
salt and pepper
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced, and cut smaller
2 cloves garlic

Heat peanut oil in cast iron skillet until good and hot.  Sear the beef, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Add the onions and garlic and turn the heat down and cook about 5 minutes.  The crowded pan should lend itself to a little moisture, otherwise keep the heat lower.

Add...

5  carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
8 oz.  mushrooms, chopped
2 small red potatoes, chopped
1 28ox can fire roasted, diced tomatoes (fire roasted is important...very flavorful)
About 20oz stock  add more as you need it (I only had chicken...)
Demiglace (see photo, I found it in the soup section, and it is worth the hunt, deep, rich, flavor)

Simmer on very low heat for a few hours, stirring occasionally.  I use a diffuser plate as my lowest gas setting will boil my precious stew!  Boiling is bad and will make your meat chewy.  After a few hours, the last hour covered, the meat fell off the bones, the stew meat fell apart, everything was perfect.

The diffuser plates keeps the heat tamed and keeps it from boiling.

To serve a low iron person like me, start with a little shot of iron water.  Yum  I mean yuck.  This is actually a little packet of iron rich water that your body is supposed to absorb better than pills and food.  It is a little harsh tasting, but reminds me a lot of my childhood and drinking from the well.

My latest iron supplement.  Iron water....

Then pour a generous glass of red wine, drop a handful of fresh spinach in the bottom of your bowl, squeeze a little lemon on it and then ladle the stew on top.  The spinach in the bottom of the bowl has been my go to to add greens, and the squeeze of lemon is supposed to make the iron easier to absorb.  Who knows, but a little lemon brightens everything...even beef stew.

We declared this the very best we have ever had.  I can hardly wait until tomorrow, I suspect there will be a lot of flavor marrying going on!  So, what are you waiting for?  Get in there and cook!


Wednesday, February 5, 2014

50 Chefs for 50 Years, Dom DeLuise and Orange Cookies

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Eat these...you'll feel better!

So the chefs continue, with the TV circuit.  A friend asked me how my 50 Chefs blogs were going and who was coming up?  When I said Dom DeLuise, he sort of snickered.  And I got to thinking.  I obviously made my list from the dog eared cookbooks I own, from favorite restaurants and cooking shows, but what really draws me to these people?  Crazy ingredients? Expensive meals? Celebrity endorsements?  No.  These are cooks and books and recipes that draw people and families together.  Meals that take time to cook and enjoy.  Meals that encourage wine, laughter and conversation.  Dom, like Dinah Shore, and Ina, and Richard Sax, and Chuck Williams, had long lists of friends that I am certain were thrilled that their friends were so talented and gracious in the kitchen.  That, is what I strive for.  That, is what I look for in a chef, cook, restaurant.  I am not a fan of egos, competition winners, and who gets press.  I want to make memorable food.  So Dom...

A funny man, a good cook!
His cookbook is called Eat This...It'll Make You Feel Better.  How hilarious is that?  And if you have any Italian relatives, you know this is quite true.  I bought this book about 23 years ago.  The title sold me, and I am a child of the 70's and Dom was everywhere.  Always smiling, always cooking.  The book is full of family photos and stories and recipes that make you want to be a DeLuise.  I have so little family history on my Italian side that is documented with photos and recipes that I sort of fell into his book.  I have read it many times, like a novel, and made many soups and entrees in the book.  When I needed to find a recipe to make for the butter substitute I was trying out, I knew that post-it sticking out of his book would lead me to the perfect cookie for Super Bowl Sunday and the threat of snow.

The ingredients are ready to go!
With zest in the glaze
I made them as written, but next time, I will make much, much smaller cookies as they are fluffy!  I also used some orange zest on the glaze.  Next time I will put it in the glaze and in the cookies.  These are not sweet cookies.  They get their sweetness from the glaze.  And if you believe everything you read, orange is a natural antidepressant, so indeed, Eat These....You'll Feel Better!

Bright flavors, dreary day.

Orange Cookies with Orange Glaze

1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/3 cup sugar
6 oz Melt (1 1/2 sticks of the other stuff)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put all the above ingredients in a blender and mix well.  Put into a mixing bowl, and add:

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder

Mix well, dough should not be sticky, but you should be able to roll in your hands.  You can make pretzels, flattened balls, long sticks.  Whatever you like.  They should sit about 10 minutes before baking at 350º.  They should bake about 15-18 minutes until golden brown.  They really don't spread, but do get quite puffy, so resist making big cookies.
While the cookies are baking, make the glaze.

1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 pound confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well.  You want the glaze thick enough to dunk a hot cookie in, but not too runny that it's thin.  When the cookies come out, dunk into the glaze and allow to dry.  You can sprinkle them with confetti, nuts or zest.  I prefer the orange zest.  A perfect pick me up on a dreary day!  So what are you waiting for?  Get in there and bake!

If you missed any of my previous 50 Chefs for 50 Years posts, here's an easy way to catch up!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Orange Cookies for a Snowy Day Using Melt!

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Orange Cookies with Orange Glaze

I am a big fan of orange in the coldest months.  I don't drink orange juice, but I eat lots of those little clementines, burn my favorite orange candle, and today, with the threat of snow, I am making orange cookies.  Just the smell of the zest brightens my mood, and I have some juice left over from holiday company.

These cookies are especially interesting, because I am using a new butter.  I get approached by a lot of people and products that want me to speak their praises on my blog.  I usually don't, as you may have seen.  When I got an email about a butter replacement called Melt, I was intrigued.  I use only real butter for my famous cookies, but I have been using a coconut oil spread for my popcorn and toast.  And as much as I love my coconut spread, I gasp every time I buy it, as the price is ridiculous.  I agreed to try Melt, and see if it really was the healthiest butter for me, and happily tucked my free coupons in my purse.

I could only find Melt at Whole Foods here, and that is not a convenient place to shop for me.  I generally make a trip once a month to buy the only almond milk I really love, so perhaps Melt would become another cross-town staple for me.  They sent me 2 coupons, and I decided to tackle healthy baking with one square, and try the other on my popcorn.  Here's how things went down.

Delicious!
My Whole Foods recently went under a large renovation.  As lovely as it is, it is not anything like the stores built from the ground up.  I had no trouble locating Melt, but they carry just the original, although there is plenty of space to branch out.  Perhaps the Chocolate and Honey could find a home there.  The price was right at $3.99 a square (13 oz) , a full $2 cheaper than the one I currently buy (10 oz).  The ingredients start out similar, but Melt has ghee in it (real butter!) as well as the virgin coconut oil and the tropical oils that are being touted as good for you.

bright ingredients for a dreary day!
I weighed the Melt since it doesn't come in sticks.
I generally would not choose any sort of margarine, spread or blended product to bake with, but I was really kind of excited about this.  You can find all their nutritional info at this link.  The cookies were delicious, and baked beautifully.  No issues at all.  The popcorn? Also delicious.  I use this amazing organic popcorn, locally grown and Whirly Pop it in coconut oil, so Melt was the perfect accompaniment.  Melt will make my Whole Foods shopping list for sure.  I am looking forward to making more things with it, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Italians like confetti on their glaze!


Orange Cookies with Orange Glaze

1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/3 cup sugar
6 oz Melt (1 1/2 sticks of the other stuff)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Put all the above ingredients in a blender and mix well.  Put into a mixing bowl, and add:

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder

Mix well, dough should not be sticky, but you should be able to roll in your hands.  You can make pretzels, flattened balls, long sticks.  Whatever you like.  They should sit about 10 minutes before baking at 350º.  They should bake about 15-18 minutes until golden brown.  They really don't spread, but do get quite puffy, so resist making big cookies.

Dough should not be sticky.

While the cookies are baking, make the glaze.

1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 pound confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Weighing the confectioner's sugar....
Mix well.  You want the glaze thick enough to dunk a hot cookie in, but not too runny that it's thin.  When the cookies come out, dunk into the glaze and allow to dry.  You can sprinkle them with confetti, nuts or zest.  I prefer the orange zest.  A perfect pick me up on a dreary day!  So what are you waiting for?  Get in there and bake!