Molasses Cookies

As promised, the molasses cookies recipe from the post “Guest Kitchen Weekend – Christmas Cookies (Day 1).

I got this recipe from my grandmother about ten years ago and every year I make these cookies for Christmas.  I love the texture of these cookies, a little crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside, making them the perfect companion to hot chocolate, a latte, coffee or whatever your favourite hot beverage is.  Plus the smell of these cookies.  Sometimes when I am baking, Matte has me step outside and then come back in to get the full smell impact and this is one of the cookies we do this with.

Guest Kitchen Weekend – Christmas Cookies (Day 2)

I woke up a little later than intended on day two.  I think I hit snooze three times before I dragged my still tired body and feet out of bed.  When I got out of the shower I had missed a call from my mom asking where my daughter and I were.  I covered my lateness, by calling and telling her I was on my way out of the door and asked if her and dad wanted me to grab coffee and tea on my way over.  Never underestimate the power of the promise of coffee/tea.  There was no mention of how late I was, just a “oh yes thank you”.  Sorry mom, if you are reading this 🙂

Guest Kitchen Weekend – Christmas Cookies (Day 1)

This was a busy weekend for holiday cookie baking.  I packed up my car with supplies and my cookie baking essentials (including my stand mixer) and traveled to two guest kitchens.  I spent one day baking molasses, shortbread and chocolate/peanut butter chip cookies at a friend’s house and the next day making peanut butter balls and assorted cookies at my Mom’s house.

Day 1:  Laura’s place, 9am and a car load of stuff.  The first order of business was to get some coffee.  Always be alert while making cookies.

Chicken/Turkey Pastries

A few weeks ago, I made a very large amount of turkey stock which became soup and pie filling (which I froze for later use).  I made two pies with the pie filling and wanted to do something different with the remainder.  I have never tried to make pastry before and was not about to start at 8pm on a Sunday night, so I bought some frozen pastry to speed things up.  For this venture, I thought I’d make individual sized pot “pie” pastries.  They turned out light, flaky and rich.  Some day I may try my hand at pastry dough to see if I can top this.

Chicken & Bacon Ragu Penne

Winter is coming and along with that comes heartier food, which can mean fattier food and bigger meals.  In my house, where pasta is always a favourite, it is time for some heartier pastas and sauces.  I decided to make a leaner ragu sauce using ground chicken instead of beef, and the not-lean-at-all bacon instead of pancetta.  If you really want to cut down on the fat, don’t add the bacon.  Though Matte would argue if you want to stay warm this winter, bacon will help you.  He’s always so helpful.

Oven Fried Chicken Drumsticks with Asparagus & Lemon Mayonnaise

Our daughter has been requesting chicken drumsticks for supper all week which left me with the decision “crispy or saucy?”  I chose crispy as the better companion to a side of asparagus and I am glad I did.  I stumbled upon the best breading I have ever made for oven-fried chicken, partially from laziness.  I did not feel like making the breading in the classic “flour, egg, bread crumbs” way.  It seemed like way too much effort mid-week.  Instead I used a egg and milk combo and then breading.  This means the breading went on lighter and was thin enough to get crispy, really crispy in the oven.

Swiss Steak

I was feeling nostalgic at the grocery store when I saw eye-of-round marinating steak on sale which reminded me of my grandmother’s braised Swiss Steak recipe.  Before my Nanny passed away a few years ago, she gave me a lot of her recipes and old recipe books.  These recipes always bring back fond and delicious memories of hanging out in the kitchen with my Nanny.  She was a great teacher and I miss her telling me how to get the right consistency in cookie dough or how to make the perfect meatball.  So today’s post is in honour of my Nanny.

Lemon & Herb Sea Bass (Whole)

Matte and I went to the Fisherman’s Market looking for a whole salmon but came away with a beautiful sea bass instead.  We made some newbie mistakes when we picked up this fish but these are the things we learned:

• Always make sure the fish has been gutted (this is the thing we remembered to ask for)
• Always make sure the fish has been scaled (you cannot eat the skin unless it has been scaled, also you can slice and dice your hand on the scales so be careful)
• Always make sure the gills have been removed (they can cause the fish to taste bitter)
• Always make sure the fins have been removed

Unless you know what you are doing and/or have the proper knives, I highly recommend asking your fish monger to do this for you.  Unfortunately, we did not realize you have to specifically ask for each of these things to be done.

Rosemary Lamb Lollipops

I have always been skeptical of cooking or even trying lamb.  Matte’s mom says lamb tastes woolly.  After some research, I think that is what happens to the taste of lamb when it is overcooked and dry.  I was encouraged by this knowledge and first made this recipe for Matte’s birthday as an appetizer since the Frenched lamb chops are quite small.  We were both surprised how much we like lamb.

Witch/Vampire Finger Cookies

I know Halloween is over but I have to post these cookies as they had such a great reaction from people and it will give you time to plan for next year.