Advent!

Happy beginning of Advent! We're counting down to Christmas and as excited as we are, my family is also taking this time for prayer, reflection and resolutions among other things. No, New Years is not the only time for resolutions. Advent is a particularly good time as we are preparing for the birth of our Lord. And as redundant as it sounds, we did some preparation for the preparation. We have still to trim the hearth and set the table... and get a tree... but we did get the Advent wreath done! 

And by Advent wreath I mean a kid craft with my babies. Hey, I bake stuff. I haven't crafted since my wedding and before then I swear it was elementary school. So it's a little rough, but I'm still getting used to juggling the babies -- keeping my older from eating the glue or grabbing the scissors and trying to convince the younger (at all of 5 weeks old) to keep his hand still so I can trace it to make the "boughs" of the wreath. Not to mention I had to explain to hubs when he came home why his babies were covered in green marker, and convince him that they didn't have some weird skin disease. Don't worry the marker ink is non-toxic. So with the idea a cake board cut into a circle, some green construction paper, cardstock, tea candles, a little ribbon and a ton of Mod Podge we have an Advent wreath. ...it's the thought that counts. Please don't judge me by the picture of how the wreath is actually supposed to look. 

No matter what it looks like, the wreath still serves its purpose when it comes to evening family prayer. 

Next on our list besides getting a tree, is making ornaments so we don't have a ridiculous tree like we did last year. I basically took a bunch of our favourite pictures, punched holes in the tops, and strung ribbon through. We just didn't have the time or opportunity to get proper ornaments so I had to make do. This year we're doing something a little classier -- paper ornaments, pictures in frames hung from the tree, and other homemade ornaments. So... it will probably be as ridiculous as last year, but with more time and energy put into it. I'll be sure to post as I make progress, it should make for a few good chuckles. 

Grandpa's Birthday Dinner

My grandfather turned 88 on November 24th. You know what he said? "I feel so damn good it makes me feel bad!" He still takes roadtrips from Buffalo, NY to the DC area, or to Mobile, AL, or to central FL. He volunteers to help the elderly in his community, built houses for Habitat for Humanity for the 25+ years AFTER he retired from Union Carbide. He took care of my grandma at home with gentleness and compassion and gave everyone who witnessed his love for her a lesson in "til death to us part."

So for his birthday this year, I wanted to make him a fantastic meal with some of his favourites, and I wanted to do it all by myself and it was going to be perfect. I decided to bake him his favourite cake and then another one for him to try out. My grandmother always said I did everything to excess... I mean really. I'm delusional. Did I mention I'd be doing all of this in my mom's kitchen? Yeah... my mom and I love each other dearly but we can't cook in the same kitchen. Suffice it to say, my plans for grandpa to have a perfect birthday dinner didn't exactly fall into place... I did get all the food cooked and the cakes baked, but people did have to wait about an hour from the time dinner was supposed to be served. I didn't get to decorate the cake as I'd have liked either... and I was running around a bit like a crazy person. But! Grandpa enjoyed his dinner, loved his cake and that's all that matters. 

The menu:

- pork loin stuffed with apples, cranberries, corn bread, pecans all mixed together with a little maple syrup.

My dad had to filet the loins and my mom stuffed and tied them, it's something I'd never done before and didn't want to use this occasion to experiment. So I guess I can't really take credit for this particular dish except finding a recipe to base it off of and creating the stuffing mixture. 

- salmon baked in a foil packet with lemon and homemade herb butter (I didn't get a picture unfortunately... it was tasty though)

- broccoli and bacon quiche recipe found here. I used cheddar cheese not swiss though.

 - mushroom risotto made with Israeli cous cous. 

Skillet Biscuits

Risotto takes attention. I've only ever made it with Israeli cous cous for this very reason. It cooks more quickly and it's not as hard to screw up the texture. For this risotto I used white wine, porcini mushroom liquid, and chicken stock. My mom had reconstituted some dried porcinis for Thanksgiving stuffing and she saved the liquid for me. It's quite strong, so I only needed a little to add some depth of flavour here. Start by sauteeing the mushrooms in half olive oil half butter, set them aside and throw in the cous cous and a little more olive oil and stir to coat. Half a cup of white wine goes in next stirring constantly until it's absorbed, then half a cup of the porcini liquid. Stir again until the liquid is absorbed, then chicken stock half a cup at a time, and one more half cup of porcini liquid until the cous cous is cooked. Throw the mushrooms back in, season with salt and pepper and you're ready to eat.  

- Skillet biscuits

Some thing my dad, grandpa and I all have in common. I.Love.Biscuits. Skillet biscuits are one of the best things ever. 

1 c flour

1 T baking powder

1 T sugar

1 t salt

8 T unsalted butter

3/4 c buttermilk (or sour milk)

Sift together dry ingredients, add the cubed butter and work it into the flour mixture with your hands until it resembles corn meal. Make a well and add the buttermilk, mix by hand until a sticky dough forms and DO NOT OVERMIX. Overmixing results in the demise of fluffy biscuits. Roll out gently to 1/4 inch thick and cut into rounds. I don't have a biscuit cutter, so I use a wine glass. Gather your scraps together for a second batch of biscuits, but only do it once. After working the dough this much any further biscuits will be tough. Put the biscuits in a greased skillet (bacon grease works best) and bake 12-14 minutes @ 400. 

- German chocolate cake. 

I don't particularly like coconut, and we all know about my aversion to nuts in baked goods, so I had never tried a German chocolate cake before, so it makes sense that this was the first time I'd ever baked one. But I have a confession... this was pretty tasty. I think I've been misjudging German chocolate cake all these years. Recipe found here. For the record, my parents didn't have 9" rounds and all I had to work with was an 8X3" and a 10X3" so that's why the cake looks like that. I also only had time to dirty ice it and didn't get a chance to decorate. 

- Pumpkin Spice cake with bourbon glaze

2 c flour

2 t baking powder

2 t cinnamon

2 t pumpkin pie spice

1 t nutmeg

1 t salt

4 eggs

1 2/3 c sugar

1 c vegetable oil

1 can pumpkin pie filling

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin together. Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Bake in a well greased bundt pan at 350 25-30 minutes. The bourbon glaze was a few tablespoons of Maker's Mark mixed with some powdered sugar until I got glaze consistency which I poured over the cake right after I turned it out. This works better for breakfast than for dessert, but it was still tasty. 

My Thanksgiving Appetizer Contribution

So a little backstory about Thanksgiving... For as long as I can remember, we've gone to Buffalo for Thanksgiving. The whole family gathers, it's the one time of year we all see each other at the same time, in the same place. It's better than Christmas because we all focus on each other, making good food, spending time with each other, and no presents to interfere. My grandmother used to do much of the cooking, and my grandfather had turkey duty.

Thanksgiving tradition picture with the bird,

Since my grandmother's passing, my mom and aunts have taken up the apron and my dad shares turkey duty with grandma. We split the work, one of us plans and executes Thanksgiving day appetizers and desserts, Grandpa's birthday dinner which is always within a day or two of Thanksgiving, day before Thanksgiving dinner, and leftover duty. Hubs had his first encounter with our hard core Buffalo Thanksgiving last year and luckily survived his food coma. This year however, hubs and I decreed that we were not traveling anywhere for Thanksgiving, as our original due date for baby John was Nov 30. He came on Oct 27, so although we were unable to travel I was able to help with the cooking. It ended up being my parents and grandmother who live down the street, my siblings came home, and my grandfather and one aunt from Buffalo came down. And us of course. We had Thanksgiving light, and my mom took Thanksgiving dinner and I did appetizers, desserts and grandpa's birthday dinner.

Monkey Bread

Now, when my family cooks we cook for serious, and it takes quite some time. Because of this, we implemented Thanksgiving day munchies (same applies for Christmas) so that we could have controlled amounts of tasty food for everyone without spoiling appetites for the actual meal. I started my munchies early after Mass with Monkey Bread -- a perfect bite to go with some coffee and provide a sugar rush to get us through football helping Mom cook, clean, set the table etc.

 Later on, I brought out sausage stuffed mushrooms, stuffed sweet potatoes, and brie and pear tartlets. The brie and pear tartlets are just cubed d'anjou pears tossed in brown sugar, topped with a slice of brie and a dab of honey, baked in home made pie crust in mini muffin tins at 400 until the crust is done and the brie is bubbly. Just enough to get everyone through their drinks the day and to the dinner table.

My Thanksgiving Dessert Contribution

So the desserts I made for Thanksgiving:

Mini Dutch Apple Pies

A muffin tin recipe made up on the spot:

- diced Granny Smith apples tossed in cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, and butter
- home made pie crust
- oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon streusel streudel ...Dutch apple pie topping
Pop them in the oven at 350 until the apples are cooked and the topping is browned and bubbly

Mini Pumpkin Pies
Based off a recipe I found here except I used home made pie crust and mine were bigger because they were standard muffin size.

Now I don't like pumpkin pie... I don't like pie in general. But these were awesome.

Mini Pecan Pies

Pie filling:
- 5 T unsalted butter
- 1 c brown sugar
- 3/4 c light corn syrup
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 bag whole pecans
- 2 T bourbon
- 2 t vanilla
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves

Candy the pecans in the butter and spices, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Again, home made pie crust and a muffin tin, bake at 350 until set. They're not as elegant as the normal sized pecan pies, but the trick to excellent pecan pies is still the same: caramelize the pecans.

Last dessert on my menu was chocolate pots de creme:

I loosely based my recipe off of Alex Guarnaschelli's, and don't take that to mean I think my recipe is better than hers. I just didn't have things like almond extract in my pantry at the time, and these are so rich my dad asked that this time around instead of making them in tea cups I use mini ramekins. The ingredients list I've used twice now is as follows:

1 c whole milk
1 c half and half
1 T strong coffee
1 t vanilla
1 c chocolate
6 eggs
1/2 c cocoa
1/3 c sugar
1 c coffee tied into a cheesecloth

When I was making the custard I threw the coffee filled cheesecloth into the pot along with the dairy etc. to make a stronger coffee presence as it sets off the chocolate so well. I only had to bake for 20 minutes because my portions were smaller and I chilled them overnight. Super rich, very thick, extremely chocolaty and oh so tasty. Mmmmm chocolate...

And my last offering for dessert was a beverage -- eggnog, amaretto, coffee ice cubes, sprinkle of nutmeg. I personally hate the way melting ice makes my drinks taste, and there's no better combination than eggnog and coffee, so bam -- coffee ice cubes. I've tried this both with amaretto and with Baileys, and by far the Baileys is better than the amaretto.

Thanksgiving Dessert Sneak Peak

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but we're still all running around kind of crazy. Grandpa's birthday is tomorrow and I'm still prepping and cooking and baking and will be doing so all day tomorrow as well. I thought I'd post a dessert teaser from last night until I get the chance to really write about the whole day and the cooking etc.

I was in charge of appetizers and desserts again this year and from left to right I made mini Dutch apple pies, mini pumpkin pies, chocolate pots de creme and mini pecan pies. The drink was eggnog and amaretto with coffee ice cubes. Yummy! Mini desserts keep better than whole pies with pieces taken out of them. This also enables people to have one of everything as the portions are smaller controlled. When you slice pie there's a tendency to slice a big piece and this way everything is muffin sized.

When I get the chance to actually write about Thanksgiving, I'll share the appetizers I made too: sausage stuffed mushrooms, stuffed sweet potatoes, brie and pear tartlets with honey and homemade pie crust, and monkey bread.

For now I'm working on tomorrow's feast: German chocolate cake, stuffed glazed pork loin, baked salmon with herb butter, asparagus, broccoli, salad, and a small chocolate cake to celebrate my youngest son being with us for one month tomorrow. The cakes will be made, the pork loin stuffed, glazes and herb butter made, and general mis en place. I hope everyone had a wonder Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and fabulous food!

Daily Realizations: Giving Thanks for Family

Sometimes in the middle of a crazy hectic day, there is a moment that makes time stand still and makes you slow down and take a breath and really appreciate life and what's most important to you. Today in between fetching an aunt from the airport, getting babies fed and changed and napped, picking up a brother from college and reminding myself that nursing mothers cannot live on coffee alone, the moment I captured in the picture below stopped me in my tracks.

I took the moment to give thanks for all of the great grandparents, grandparents, great aunts and uncles, aunts and uncles, that my kids are so blessed to have. Someday I hope they realize just how truly lucky they are, and that hubs and I can teach them to appreciate the unconditional love that their large extended family has for them. In this moment I also realized just how much love and support that hubs and I have in our families. Life would be much harder without all of their help, and as grateful as we are we don't spend enough time thanking them. 

Nothing warms my heart like seeing my grandparents and parents love on my kids.

My boys and their grandfathers, the grandfathers and their namesakes. 

I hope my boys realize just how many good men they have to look up to and from whom to learn.

 My boys have two great grandfathers, one great grandmother, all four grandparents, three uncles and three aunts who are all involved in their lives. I understand now why they say it takes a village... luckily our village lets us parent without interfering and instead focuses supporting, loving, and praying for our nuclear family.

Baking Adventures in Detail

As promised, here are my latest kitchen trials. I have been slowly working through my stockpiled Pinterest recipes, even though we all know that for every recipe I try I pin five more. Pinterest will probably be the death of me someday... or at least the death of my diet. Three experiments, here we go...

Experiment #1

Cinnamon Swirl Bundt Cake

Recipe taken from Mom's Who Think:

I had some anxiety about getting the darn thing out of this particular bundt pan, but buttering and flouring the heck out of it worked wonders. I should have adjusted baking time though, it turned out a little crispy but still delicious.

Perfect with a cup of coffee, the cake wasn't too sweet but the cinnamon brown sugar filling more than made up for it. I decided against the walnuts though, I'm kind of a weirdo and texture is huge to me. For some reason to me nuts ruin the texture of baked goods.

Experiment #2

Pumpkin Bread with Pumpkin Buttercream and Salted Caramel Drizzle

Recipe taken from Nancy Creative:

"Naked" bread before being iced. It was moist and pumpkin-y and definitely yummy. I didn't use either zest and didn't have canola oil so I used vegetable oil and it still came out pretty well. The buttercream wasn't that sweet and was definitely pumpkin-y as well and complemented the loaf quite well.

As you can see I left out the nuts. Again. I probably have some childhood trauma having to do with nuts or something, my dislike of nuts in baked goods runs deep. But I have no problem eating dark chocolate covered almonds, go figure.

Instead of nuts, I drizzled the iced and finished loaf with salted caramel sauce. And yes, I tend to get impatient and spread my icing before things have cooled completely. Mea culpa. It still tasted good. I discovered how easy it was to make salted caramel sauce again while on Pinterest, so now I've always got a jar of it in my fridge. Always. It goes on ice cream, I use it to make salted caramel buttercream, it gets drizzled on chocolate chip cookies, I use it to fill chocolate cupcakes, and can pretty much go on anything. It went perfectly with the pumpkin loaf.

Experiment #3

Vanilla Cupcakes filled with Manjar and a Manjar/Vanilla Buttercream swirl icing

I made these for the sole purpose of learning how to do a dual icing swirl, and to practice filling cupcakes. I get a lot of recipes from Brown Eyed Baker and the vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream recipes came from her blog.

Cooled cupcakes, vanilla buttercream, manjar icing and manjar in the piping bag read to fill the cupcakes. I was introduced to manjar by my husband, he had a lot of it when he lived in South America. I didn't understand the difference between manjar and caramel until I tasted it and realized it was dulce de leche. I guess the name "manjar" is a Paraguayan thing. I had it for the first time when hubs had picked up a can of sweetened condensed milk on a whim while we were at the grocery store, and when we got home he stripped the label off, poked two holes in the lid and put the can in a sauce pan of water. He watched the stove for four hours adding water to the sauce pan until he declared the manjar done and we had it on toast. When I made his mom's birthday cake she wanted chocolate with a manjar icing, and I knew that with a toddler I wasn't about to be watching the stove for hours on end. After a quick search I discovered that I could get the same result by submerging the cans in water in my crockpot and leaving it on high for 8 hours. I also discovered that I could make the manjar into a beautiful icing by whipping it in my stand mixer on medium high for a minute to loosen it up and then adding a tablespoon or two of milk and a little powdered sugar. That's what's in the bowl on the top. The piping bag just has the whipped manjar in it. In hind sight, I should have added a little milk when I whipped it because I got the worst hand cramps trying to squeeze the thick dulce de leche out of the bag and into the cupcakes. And as for the dual icing swirl...

 

I did it! Vanilla buttercream in one piping bag, manjar icing in another, cut the bottom half inch off each bag and put them into a third piping bag that was already tipped and voila! Icing swirl accomplished. Helpful hint though -- don't over fill the piping bags in the middle, in fact only fill them up about halfway. I discovered this the hard way, and by cleaning up all the excess icing that came out the top of the bags and fell all over my parents kitchen floor, stove, sink, counters... you get the idea. But it worked!

So there you have it -- my last batch of Pinterest recipe trials. I try to keep track of all my trials here but I'm a little behind... working on it.

Sneak peak into tonight's baking adventure

I can embark on new kitchen adventures when my brothers come home from college and other family comes into town or when i've got willing guinea pigs other than my parents, the amount of times they've been part of my test kitchen directly correlates with their waist sizes... i tend to try several new recipes all at the same time.Lucky for me one of my brothers came home tonight, and my mom is providing munchies for this year's RCIA class every Monday night so i was able to really get into it this time around. Tonight i tried three new recipes as you can see, and during my late night nursing marathons i'll give details and recipes.

Where to start...

So... my first blog post. And I have too many directions in which I want to go, so I don't really know where to start. I was going to start with a recipe, but I don't have any good pictures to go with it so let's start with some background and go from there.

I'm a stay at home mom with a career during naptime. I met my husband on the school bus back in 2000. It happened to be the only year that the bus went to two different schools -- the all girls' school I attended, and the all boys' school where he went. After highschool we both lived in Florida for six years, I lived down the street from his family and we never crossed paths. We both moved back to Virginia within a week of each other and our moms put us back in touch.

My husband and I have two beautiful sons, our oldest is 16 months old and our youngest was born 3 weeks ago. We are a Catholic family, and look forward to expanding our family further. When I'm not working or wrangling children I love to cook and bake -- this is truly my most favourite labour of love. Hopefully I can share some of that with this blog. I keep a recipe journal and make notes in cookbooks, and theoretically I'll be able to record my kitchen undertakings if for nothing else for posterity's sake.

I used to be a fairly good writer but I seem to be out practice, so hopefully I'll be able to reignite my writing with this blog as well. I love taking pictures of everything and documenting all milestones (major or othewise) but I'm no professional, I just have a really good camera thanks to my brother. I'm sure my family's other interests will end up coming to light at some point while I'm on here.

Well... they say the hardest part of starting something is actually starting, and after writing and re-writing this post a few times I think that's true. I'll probably stick to recipes for a while until my writing comes back to me.

For now, suffice it to say that family means the world to me and some of the best ways I can show my love and dedication to my family are through food, the little things in life, and by giving them my time and attention. If that means that cleaning my oven takes a back seat to pushing my son on a swing set, or that I forgo my ironing for a few hours while I watch the Bills game with hubs and my boys, I'm ok with that.