Holiday Baking-Round IV

I didn't have time to post my last night of baking before I left to head back to IA, so here I am now. I guess you could call these cookies my "signature cookie" as my family, Josh's family, and many of our friends love these chocolate chip cookies and request them often.

My mom found the recipe a long time ago and I've basically grown up eating these delicious cookies. For a long time, making these cookies were the only thing that brought me into the kitchen.

For the holidays I made 3 batches...all in one night...and that was a little TOO much baking for me to cap the end of my holiday baking spree. I remember despising cookies by the end of that night. (And, even now, I still don't want to bake for a while....) I should have counted them...but I'm guessing I made about 210 cookies as I think one recipe usually makes about 70 cookies.

Funny story (not really). Josh was eating some cookies while we were at his parent's house. He opened the container and set it on the dining room table. He ate one cookie, then left the room to talk to his Dad. While he was gone, his Dad's very naughty, disobedient, poorly trained (but really cute) dog, Hemi, jumped onto the chair and then onto the table and ate about 10-15 cookies! Geesh!

Josh's grandma doesn't like chocolate (yeah, I know), so I always make her a few without chocolate chips, too. When we went to her house for the big family celebration, I gave her a small tupperware with her cookies. She quickly hid them in her freezer so no one else would eat them! :-)

There is a "secret" ingredient. Here's a picture of "it" as I had just added it to the wet ingredients...do you know what it is???

Holiday Baking-Round III

Tonight's task was to make the very festive candy cane cookie (my Dad's request). This is another traditional cookie that my mom always made, too. I haven't made these since Christmas of '05. Tonight didn't go quite as well as last night's cashew nut cookies. *sigh* Read on and find out why! I made the dough first, halved it, dyed half of it red, and got it in the fridge to chill for an hour. As I was waiting, I unwrapped 34 peppermint candies. I had fun taking out any agression I had by crushing the peppermint candies for the topping. It was quite loud. I had fun using my hammer though.

I used a teaspoon to help me create equal size balls of dough, to then roll into logs, to then twist and shape like a candy cane before placing on the cookie sheet. I forgot how long that took. I also (briefly) forgot what a perfectionist I am and how I had to get over that for my own sanity tonight. In fact, the one in this picture bothers me and definitely isn't my best...but oh well. I had to work fast as the dough rolls and shapes easier when it's a bit chilled, so there wasn't a lot of time for "do-overs."

So, my first blunder...I BURNED the first sheet of cookies that I had so diligently and patiently worked on. :-( I made the mistake of NOT setting the timer...I thought I'd be fine. But, I lost track of time as I continued to work work on the second sheet and before I knew it...I smelled burning. I had forgotton that these cookies really only take 8-10 minutes, and that you have to watch them very carefully. I was mad that I wasted dough and time. But, then I got over it...and kept on rolling, twisting, shaping, and baking.



All went well for the rest of the dough. I set the timer for each sheet...hey, I learned my lesson...and I didn't want any more burnt cookies. I even managed to be patient when removing them from the cookie sheet (another opportunity for me to break the cookies if I wasn't careful). Then, I went ahead and sprinkled them with the sparkly and sweet peppermint/sugar mixture. They are so light and have a unique flavor with the almond extract. I forgot how much I liked these!

On to blunder 2. Towards the end, I had a bit more red dough left over once I ran out of the white. So, I decided to just make some red candy canes. I set the timer as usual. When one minute was remaining, I turned the timer off, and grabbed my camera to snap a few pictures of my finished product since I didn't think it would take too long. I started taking pictures for this blog...and before I knew it...it took more more than 1 minute to snap my pictures. So yes, I burned my SECOND sheet of cookies for the evening! :-( Oh well, the plain red ones were kinda ugly anyways...don't ya think?

So yes, I managed to burn not just 1, but 2 sheets of the cookies! Haha! But, what's new...when don't I burn something? Oh well. The majority turned out just fine, and I'm very glad I stuck with it. One more night of baking for me tomorrow...

Holiday Baking-Round II

Wednesday night I made cashew nut cookies (with a butter frosting). I decided to make these this year in memory of my mom. Cashews were her favorite nut and she loved these cookies. I have many memories of making these cookies with her as a child around the holidays. We always frosted half of them red and the other half green. Growing up, it was my job and favorite task to frost and add the cashew half to the top of each cookie.

I had no issues making these cookies and the process went smoothly. The recipe is easy, and the frosting is yummy! Let me know if you want the recipe!

Holiday Baking-Round I

I finally decided I would do some baking for the holidays. Since I'm done with class (Yay!) and have my evenings free again, I knew I'd have the time.

I started this last Saturday with something really simply...technically not baking, but I'm including it anyways because I still had to be patient and spend time in the kitchen. I made some "white chocolate" dipped pretzels AND to be festive, I sprinkled them with red sugar. I think they look pretty cute. However, I'm like addicted to them, and they will only be made once a year because once I start I can't stop! :-) And, Josh doesn't even like them!

Tonight I tried a new, super easy recipe for chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. (I have to admit I found this recipe while riding the stationary bike at the gym...seriously, who works out and reads recipes for cookies? Only me probably...I'm a nerd.) The recipe actually uses a devil's food chocolate cake mix, so the cookies are very soft! I love soft cookies. The recipe also calls for some white chocolate to be melted and then drizzled over the cookies. So, I thought I'd try them for the holidays since they look a bit fancier in my opinion. Of course, I had to pull out the red sugar again and sprinkle some with the sugar...some without...I couldn't decide if I really liked the sugar accent or not. Thoughts?

Now, for my "oops" moment tonight. The recipe suggested using the baggie method for the frosting drizzle where the corner of the baggie is snipped off in order to do the drizzling. (Wow, can I use the word "drizzle" more?). I've seen this method used on FoodNetwork all the time...so I thought it'd be easy...it's not rocket science right? Anyways, the first few cookies went ok, even though I didn't really like the way they looked. Then, when I got to the 5th cookie...I guess I squeezed too hard...because the baggie totally split and a bunch of melted chocolate just plopped onto the cookie. See the picture?! Oh well. I scraped off what I could...then, I just used a fork and dipped it in the chocolate and then drizzled the best I could. Once again, that took patience, and I wanted to quit after I did about 5 cookies, but I didn't. Then, I decided to eat that cookie since it looked ugly from me scrapping off the glob. :-) So, in the end...I appreciated the glob.

Well, there will be more baking this week...on the schedule is candy cane cookies, cashew cookies, and my chocolate chip cookies. So...check back in later this week!

Smoked Turkey Sausage Over Brown Rice

Yeah, there's not really a creative name for this dish...and I couldn't think of one. So, sorry for the boring title.

I found this recipe in my "Cooking for 2" magazine (thanks, Dad for the subscription!). I thought I'd give it a try. What I love about this magazine is of course the recipes are for smaller portions (this magazine is also where I found my S'mores recipe). Although it's definitely similar to the Chicken Jambalaya I made in crockpot a while ago, I thought I'd give it a try anyways for something simple and "fast." Well, as I'm continually reminded, chopping veggies isn't as easy as it seems on FoodNetwork. At least not for me. I'm so slow at chopping the veggies, but I know I'll get faster as I practice more. However, the actual cook time was fast.

You simply sautee the veggies and turkey sausage in some EVOO until the veggies become a bit soft, add a dash of oregano and basil (yeah, I haven't quite made it to using fresh herbs...yet), then add the V8 juice and simmer until the sauce becomes a bit thicker. Add the mixtures to prepared rice, and done!

Overall, it was tasty and quite flavorful. I'm not sure if Josh would like it because of the green peppers...so I'll have to ask him.

"Churros"

So...if you've ever been to Costco, you might know that they sell Churros for $1. I LOVE them. And, since we no longer belong to Costco...I no longer eat them. Well, on Simply Delicioso (FoodNetwork) the host of the show, Ingrid Hoffman, made what she called "churrisimos" and they looked just like churros...maybe they are the same thing...I'm not sure. Anyways, I thought...why not? I've been wanting to make something with puff pastry for a long time since I've never used it...so I went ahead and purchased some at the store on Friday.

So, it started off well...I thawed the puff pastry like the directions said, and then I mixed the cinnamon and sugar together and prepared my working surface and baking sheet. Then...I re-read my instructions quick...and I was supposed to brush the pastry with water. Well... I have no "pastry" brush or any brush for any baking/cooking in the kitchen. What? Why don't I have that. I have lots of stuff I don't use...Uh. Ok. I'm bummed. So, Josh suggests I use a spatula. Oh. Ok.




Anyways, the spatula didn't work (thanks for the suggestion though, Josh). So, I ended up just using my fingers. It worked just fine and I tried to make them as "cinnamon-y and sugar-y" as possible...but I still want a brush now. (Hello...Christmas idea, Josh!)

Since Josh was around he took some "action" shots of me as I was twisting away at my churros and putting them on the baking sheet. Thanks, Josh!

My goal was to place them all on one baking sheet (there were 12). Then, I remembered..."puff" pastry. I figured they needed more room. So, I pulled out another baking sheet. I'm glad I did that. they looked fluffy and yummy out of the oven.

However...I'm NOT glad that I left the second sheet in too long...and ended up really burning that second sheet. Oops!!! (Geesh, it's so burnt the black totally matches my sweatshirt!) I was sad. Josh thought it was funny. I always burn stuff. Oh well. Overall, easy and fun, and I'd make them again...just not burn them again...

**Oh, and I have some new recipes to try for dinner soon...now that I have more time since classes are ending...so the blog should be updated within a week or so for sure!!!