With These Hands

Every year I convince myself that I’m going to make as many gifts as possible. Try new ideas. Search for exciting tutorials. Expand my crafty repertoire! And well, every Christmas comes and goes and I’m might eke out a few. Nowhere near the production I conjured in my head. It’s because I’m a blatant procrastinator. I’m not proud of it, but there it is.

And of course, this year was no exception.

A) I was sewing up until the last moment. (Many gifts were being mailed to faraway family.)
B) I had many more ideas that I didn’t have the time/energy to implement.

There were completed items that had to go RIGHT into the box for mailing, so I didn’t even have the where-with-all to photograph them. Which still bums me out. They included various pouches and hairbands (no big deal) to new items like this crayon roll (for Tai) and this pencil and notebook holder (for Ellie). I will make these items again though, so all is not lost.

On Monday night I was yet again closing in on my own personal deadline but still managed to produce these wristlet & tissue pack sets for Matty’s teachers. This was after I completed the cookie bags for his little class. Yep, I was up until 1. Sigh. The wristlets are of course my own tried and true design and the tissue packs were an idea from Skip to my Lou. Not too difficult, but very nice indeed.

But I did get photos this time!

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And lastly, the sweet cookies.

I’m almost positive I did something similar last year. (But who could remember?!) I like to keep it simple for the kids. No chocolate, no nuts, as I really do not know if there are any allergies or such. These are simple, 5-ingredient butter spritz cookies. I adore these cookies. My mom made them for many years when I was growing up and they still bring me Christmas joy. I used the tree plate and added some green food coloring along with red sugar. Easy but cute. My kinda deal. They went into small bags fastened with red ribbon. Attached you will see nametags that I printed from Emily’s offering over at the the black apple. (I just love it when she offers cute tags!)

And that was it for this year.
I would love to say that I will start early for next year and be all done and just breeze through the holiday season.
But we all know the truth.
C’est la vie.

December 24th, 2008 ★ No Comments »

This time, I made a basic sugar cookie, added pecans and dried cherries, then dipped them into some melted chocolate. Mmmmm.

It wasn’t ALL smooth going with this batch though.
It was new and kinda fudged a bit, so I guess that’s expected.
I have sugar cookies down pat, sure, but I wanted something a little more substantial, so to hold up to folding in heavier ingredients like nuts and berries. Also, I didn’t want anything too delicate once baked, as they were going for a swim post-oven.

So here we go:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar (I always use cane, so it’s not exactly white.)
1 egg
1 tablespoon whole milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped dried cherries (I basically just run my chef’s knife through them a few times.)
1 bag of preferred chocolate chips, melted. (I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate.)

Preheat oven to 375.
In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg, then milk, then vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Once the dry is incorporated thoroughly, fold in pecans, then cherries.
Spoon onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden.*

Melt chocolate over double-boiler and dip one side (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the cookie, any more chocolate than that, and really it’s just way too much.)
Place on wax paper to set.
(Mine went in the fridge for a bit, so we could enjoy them sooner!)

*Now, I left these cookies in the oven about a minute or so longer than I normally do, as I didn’t want them too soft for the dipping part.

More notes:

Once the raw dough was complete, I wrapped it and put it in the fridge for about an hour. (I was cooking dinner simultaneously and couldn’t attend to cookies in the oven at that point.) You can certainly drop the cookies immediately onto the cookie sheets, as I don’t think refrigerating them changed their outcome at all.

As with any other cookie, feel free to use whatever nut/dried berry you fancy. I just happen to ADORE cherries and pecans.

Tempering chocolate can be tricky stuff. As it happens, I had to deal with the dreaded chocolate seizing as moisture was introduced into my chocolate. I almost said screw it. But in talking with Mike and a little googling, we were able to save it. We added about 1/3 cup of whole milk and that did the trick. Maybe not as smooth and pure as you’d like tempered chocolate to be, but for this cookie-dipping purpose, I think we pulled it off.

They were chewy and sweet.
I love chocolate and cherries.
I might use even less chocolate next time though, maybe a drizzle instead of a dip.

December 11th, 2008 ★ No Comments »

Another yummy dinner courtesy of the very awesome Cooks Illustrated.
Mike first introduced me to CI way back when we first met.
It’s been one of my favorite cooking resources ever since.
Plus their companion television program America’s Test Kitchen is amazing too. Long live PBS!

So, this here soup, or stew really, is delicious and hearty.
Soon after the first time I made it, it became a part of our regular rotating dinner menu.
It makes a HUGE pot, so I always freeze half. (It re-cooks beautifully with about a cup of added broth.)

I modified the recipe only slightly.
Changes such as instead of chicken stock, I used veggie.
And substituting pecorino romano for parmesan.
Since I was making a vegetarian version for us, this also meant omitting the bacon and anchovy paste completely. (They were ingredients in the original)
And honestly, having never eaten it with it, I have no clue what I’m missing!

My modified recipe:

2 T olive oil
1 medium celery rib, diced
1 medium carrot, diced (my addition)
1 small sweet or yellow onion, diced
1 small shallot, minced (my addition)
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 (14 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes, with juice
1 (15 oz) can cannellini (or northern) beans, drained and rinsed
rind/block of romano cheese (approx. 5 in x 1 in)
28 ounces veggie stock/broth
2.5 cups of water
8 ounces small pasta
1/2 cup finely grated romano cheese for topping/garnish
salt
pepper

Everything is done in one pot, bonus!

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium/high.
Add carrots.
Add celery.
Add onion and shallot.
Cook until soft, about 8 minutes.
Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes.
Let cook for minute longer.
Add diced tomatoes.
Add rind/block of romano.
Add beans.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Add water and broth.
Bring to boil.
Add 1 tsp salt and pasta.
Let cook for another 10 minutes.
Take off heat, remove cheese rind, top with grated cheese and serve.
DELICIOUS.

I served this with our favorite garlic bread.
Not homemade though. (I somehow always get iffy results on garlic bread.)
The brand is Alexia and they make a lot of great organic/natural prepared foods.

And now I have a whole batch of it already made in the freezer!
Yay for instance meals!
I can’t wait to have it again.

October 21st, 2008 ★ No Comments »

I cannot remember where I came across this recipe, but it’s really one of my favorites.
There are so many delicious flavors happening, the cranberries, the oats, the pecans, and coconut!
If I put in chocolate chips, I might keel over.
I can say, with confidence, that pecans are now my number one favorite nut.
Isn’t that exciting?
Yes!

Before the oven:

And after:

And here is the recipe:

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups cranberries (or any dried fruit)
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sweetened coconut

Whisk together your dry ingredients, set aside.
Cream butter and sugars together.
After thoroughly combined, slowly add 1 egg/vanilla at a time.
After incorporated, gradually add dry mixture.
Mix.
Add oats to batter.
Add cranberries (or any other dried fruit).
Add pecans.
Add coconut.
Mix until all blended.

Pop into a 350 oven for 18-20 minutes (depending on size), rotating halfway through.

October 13th, 2008 ★ 1 Comment »

So I make strawberry scones.

This recipe was from the June/July 2005 issue of Cook’s Country magazine. The only scones I’ve had until these were dry, bland, and less than exciting. But these are like heaven. Light, lovely, sweet and delicious. I think the heavy cream in the dough makes all the difference. Mmmm…heavy cream.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (+ 2 T)
2 tsp baking powder*
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup heavy cream (+ 1 T)
1/4 buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
6 T unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped (then take 1/2 tsp flour and lightly dust strawberries)

Preheat oven to 375, rack in middle.
Beat 1 egg and 1 T of heavy cream together in small bowl. Set aside.
Whisk together remaining heavy cream, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla in medium bowl.
In food processor, blend together salt, baking powder, sugar, and AP flour.
Add butter and pulse for 1 second, 10 times. Mixture will resemble cornmeal.
Dump dry mixture into large bowl, make well in center.
Add buttermilk/egg mixture to center and mix together until well incorporated.
Add chopped strawberries and mix gently.
(To make sure your scones do not come out tough, do not overhandle the dough.)
On a lightly floured counter or board, place dough and knead until strawberries are evenly distributed.
Make into ball and flattened until you have an approx. 7 inch circle.
Take a knife or bench scraper (preferred) and cut round into 8 even wedges.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place each scone wedge onto sheet. (dust off any excess flour from scones)
Take beaten egg and heavy cream mixture and brush onto tops of scones.
Then sprinkle lightly with remaining sugar.
Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. (My particular oven turns them out at 18 minutes.)
Transfer to wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes.
Scones are wonderful warm, but can be put stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

I’ve also made this recipe substituting the strawberries for chocolate chips, and they are divine.
Or in keeping with fresh fruit, I’ve done blueberries, adding 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp flour to blueberries before mixing them into the dough. These are a favorite too.

*Oh and in case you ever find yourself without baking powder, use this substitute:
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking powder
(Who knew? I love the internet! And weird that I should have cream of tartar but no baking powder. Sheesh.)

Eat scones and enjoy!

Yum.

March 19th, 2006 ★ No Comments »

Somehow over time Mike has become the maker of our yummy buttermilk pancakes. It used to be all me, but rather unceremoniously I’ve passed the flapjack flipper over to him. And he does not disappoint. I attribute this to his skill as well as the recipe we use.
More Cook’s Illustrated love here. And the buttermilk really, really makes it, so don’t scrimp and substitute with anything.

2 cups buttermilk
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
2 T sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3 T butter, melted (you can use salted, or un, your preference)

Whisk dry in medium bowl, set aside.
Whisk egg and melted butter together, slowly as to not curdle the eggs.
Add egg and butter into buttermilk. Stir to combine.
Make well in dry ingredients and pour buttermilk mixture into it.
Mix very gently with spatula. DO NOT OVERMIX, it will toughen up your pancakes.

Lightly oil pan and heat over medium.
Add 1/4 cup of pancake mixture to pan. Give first side about 3-5 minutes. (Watch for bubbles, they’ll tell you when to flip.)
Flip and give second side about 1-2 minutes.
Serve with butter and syrup if desired.
In between batches, you may need to lightly oil again. Don’t over oil!
This recipe yields about 16 4 inch pancakes.

Here they are in all their yummy glory!

February 3rd, 2006 ★ No Comments »

I’ve been making homemade pizza for quite a while.
It’s always tasted good, but somehow not really lived up to what I thought was a totally awesome pizza.
We used to purchase our dough from our local pizzeria. (So cheap, like a buck, which is so awesome.)
This worked for a while, but then we came across a recipe in our Cook’s Illustrated. Now this recipe was for calzones, sure, but it worked so well for pizza, that I adopted it as my standard pizza dough recipe.

4 cups (22 ounces - it’s best to weigh) bread flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 cup hot water (from the tap is totally fine)

All dry goes into the mixer with a dough hook, then slowly add the water and olive oil.
Allow to mix for about 10 minutes (on low).
Dough should be a cohesive ball.
Remove from mixer, place in bowl that is lightly lined with olive oil (my preference) or cooking spray (ew).
Cover with saran wrap and put it aside in a cool, relatively dark place for at least 1.5 hours.
When you go back to it, it will have tripled in size. Cool!
I split this huge dough ball up into 4 smaller balls.
Each one makes a medium sized personal pizza. Thin crust.
Now to bake, make sure you have heated up your stone for at least an hour. (At 500)
Place rolled out pizza dough onto parchment and place in oven, on pizza stone, for 6 minutes.
Take out and do it for all 4 crusts.
Now, since we’re only 2, I take 2 of the prebaked crusts, wrap them well, and place them in the freezer for another night.
The other 2 will be dinner now.
Take the prebaked crust and add to it whatever you like, cheese, sauce*, mushrooms, meat, whatever. The thing to keep in mind though, since this is thin crust, don’t make it too heavy. Keep your ingredients to a minimum, you want the crusts good flavor to come through and to not be broken or soggy.
If you’re adding fresh tomatoes, which we do often, seed them first, so their water content has been decreased.
After you’ve added your ingredients, put the pizza back in the over for another 7-8 minutes, depending how crispy you want your cheese and crust.
And there you have it.
Sprinkle with fresh or dried basil if desired and you’re good to munch!
It will be the best pizza ever, seriously.
Just look!
(I am circular-pizza challenged for sure!)

*Here is my homemade sauce recipe. It’s based on Giada DeLaurentiis’ Everyday Italian simple tomato sauce.

1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced (or pressed)
2 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

Heat olive oil, add vegetables.
Add tsp each of salt and pepper.
Cook veggies for about 5 minutes.
Add crushed tomatoes.
Lower heat to simmer, cover.
Let simmer for 1 hour.
After one hour, remove from heat, and using stick blender (preferred method), blend sauce to marinara consistency. (You can do this in a blender too, in batches.)
There you have it.
Simple, delicious, healthy tomato sauce. And it goes great on the pizza.

This recipe will yield quite a bit. It freezes perfectly and it’s wonderful on any pasta.
For extra flavor and creamiess, take 4 cups of the sauce, add 1/4 cup of heavy cream, 1/3 cup of freshly grated pecorino romano cheese, and stir over very low heat.
Add pasta and fresh basil and serve. Delish!

February 1st, 2006 ★ No Comments »