Better Get Busy

First I was sick for a week, then I was Recovering From Being Sick for a week (last week), then--

Holy Cow!  Christmas is next week!  Better get busy.  I'm off from work today and tomorrow, then it's a race to the finish line, with a Coffee concert, Holiday Pops concert, and 2 church services Christmas Eve.  So that adds up to 4 rehearsals, 4 orchestra performances, and 2 church services between Wednesday morning and about 1:00 a.m. Christmas morning (one of those church services is Midnight Mass).  Well, "tis the season", as the saying goes.

So there's a lot to do in the next few days.

  How about some cookies?

These ambrosia macaroons (recipe here) are my favorites.  They'll get a dollop of melted chocolate on top after they cool.

I'm also planning to make peanut butter kisses (the kind with chocolate kisses on top)

Homemade cookies make nice gifts for my colleagues at work.






Our tree is up but needs to be decorated.

There's a stack of gifts to be wrapped, although I think all of my shopping is done.













And one last thing:

hug my son extra hard, as often as possible.

Basting, and a Recipe

   

My basting floor has been busy lately.












Last week, Robbie from my quilt guild brought over a quilt top for us to pin.

It's a big quilt, about 96 x 105".

It's for her mom's king size bed.

Robbie said her mom has Very Conservative Taste, so this 3 fabric, rail fence quilt will be quite the Walk on the Wild Side for her.

I think it's beautiful and I'm sure she's going to love it!  Nice job Robbie!







Another large quilt arrived last night.

This is all you get for now.

Jackie's niece is getting married in November, and we basted her wedding quilt last night.  TRUST ME, it's a beauty.  But it's also a surprise.  So I'll post more ( and better!) pictures of it after the wedding.











As long as we were on the floor last night, we also basted a charity quilt.

Well, I don't know about all of you, but I find that crawling around on a tile floor for a couple of hours works up an appetite!  The dessert I made last night was a big hit, and couldn't be easier, so here's the recipe:

Frosty Orange Pie

1(8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (6 oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 (8 oz.) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 tsp. orange extract (optional, but good.  Look for it in the spice aisle at the market)
1 (9") graham cracker crust

Beat cream cheese and sweetened condense milk until smooth.  Beat in orange juice concentrate and orange extract. Fold in whipped topping.  Pour into crust and freeze.  I freeze mine uncovered, then cover the pie with foil once it's frozen.

yum!

What am I to do?

I have a beautiful new quilt to show you, one that I made on commission.  All I need to do is take some pictures of it.

Unfortunately, it was not the day for pictures.


It's been one of the worst weather days I can remember here in west central Florida-- severe thunderstorms, tornadoes all over the place, just a mess all day.  Luckily, I've been off from work this week so I didn't have to drive anywhere except to my son's school.  But pictures of the new quilt were just not going to happen today.

So what's a girl to do?

Make pie, of course!

Let's make this particularly ironic:  today's recipe is a SUNSHINE state favorite, Key Lime Pie.  The recipe is from King Arthur Flour .  If you have any interest in cooking, and especially baking, do yourself a favor and click on that link, AFTER you read through this recipe, and print it out or copy it down.  It's really easy and really good.

Key Lime Pie

     Crust:

preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine in the food processor:  10 Vienna Finger cookies, 4 slices plain white bread, and 6 tablespoons melted butter.

Process until finely ground, then dump into a 9" pie plate.

My Resident Master Pastry Chef demonstrates proper technique for pressing the mixture into the pie plate.

Bake the crust for about 20 minutes, until it's golden brown, then set aside to cool while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lime juice (from key limes or regular limes)
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon lime oil (that's the small bottle in front.  It's an optional ingredient.)

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft, then add the remaining ingredients and beat until well combined and smooth.  Pour into the cooled crust, then refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Bon appetit!!!

You can't have too many cookie recipes

And I saved the best for last.
This might be my favorite cookie.  It's definitely in the Top 5.

AMBROSIA MACAROONS

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. grated orange peel (from 1 large orange)
3 eggs
24 oz. sweetened flaked coconut

(Sorry for the bag of flour shown in the picture.  There's none in this recipe.)

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, for later.

First, go out to your backyard and get a nice big ripe orange.  What, no citrus at your house?  You can come over to my house.  Bring bags.  We have plenty.

Grate the zest off the orange.  A microplane grater does a great (grate?) job.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Using electric mixer, beat butter until smooth.  Add sugar and salt. Beat in grated orange peel then eggs, one at a time.  Mix in the coconut.  Drop batter onto cookie sheets by tablespoonfuls, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake 25-30 minutes until lightly browned in spots.  Cool on sheets.

While you're waiting for them to bake, might as well have a healthy snack (the orange, now zest-free)





Now it's time for the chocolate.  While the cookies are cooling, melt the 6 oz. of bittersweet chocolate

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cooled cookies.  If your kitchen is cool, leave them out and the chocolate will harden on its own.  Or you can pop them into the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Makes about 45 cookies.

These are maybe not the prettiest cookies ever.  But they are amazing tasting.  Something about the combination of orange zest, coconut and chocolate in one chewy package is really good.  And, by the way, if you're in the habit of eating the macaroons that come in a can, you MUST try these.  And kick that can habit for good!

There's an exception to every rule

The Holiday Cookie Extravaganza continues!

As a rule, I don't use alot of baking mixes.  I mean, once you go to the trouble of buying the flour, sugar, baking soda, etc., you might as well just bake from scratch.  It's easy enough, and have you read the ingredient list to a packaged baking item lately?  It's an absolute chemistry experiment.  Hydrogenated palm oil does not make anything taste better.

But of course, there are exceptions to every rule.  One is these cookies, which start with a package of pre-mixed sugar cookie mix.  They're really, really good, and super elegant looking.  There's something about a wedge shaped cookie that just looks fancy and festive.   And, they are REALLY fast and easy.  So if you need a festive looking cookie in a hurry, this is the recipe for you.

CRANBERRY ALMOND WEDGES

1 17.5 package sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
1 cup (6 oz.) dried cranberries
3/4 cup sliced almonds (one small package, about 2 oz)
1/4 cup milk or cream
About 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided






Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2  round cake pans (the 9" size) with foil.
Place the sugar cookie mix in food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade.    Cut the butter into a few pieces and place on top.

Pulse a few times until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
(If you don't have a food processor, you can just cut in the butter by hand with a pastry blender).

It will look a little dry and crumbly.





  Dump into a large bowl and stir in the cranberries.
Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake pans.  Press firmly to pack it down onto the pans.  Brush the tops with milk, sprinkle with the almonds, and sprinkle with the sugar (use about 2 teaspoons per pan).

Bake 18-20 minutes until centers are set and tops are lightly browned.

 Cool in pans, then use the foil to lift the cookies out of the pans.
I wrapped the whole cookies in foil to freeze and use later.  But to serve right away, cut each round into 16 wedges.







In other news, I finished the Bohemian Baby quilt.  It sold, and quickly!  A friend at work has a Hippie Artist relative who is expecting, so it will be a gift for their baby.  That was exactly my target customer for this quilt, so I was pretty happy about that.  And I have another, similar one in the works as well.

My last busy weekend of the holiday season starts tomorrow.  Between tomorrow and Sunday I will rehearse The Nutcracker ballet, perform The Nutcracker ballet 3 times, and perform the Christmas portion of Handel's "Messiah" twice.  That's alot of notes in 3 days.  But then it's no orchestra work at all for 2 weeks, and just one short church job Christmas eve.  So I just need to get through this weekend!

The Cookie Monster has Arrived

That would be me.  I love to make cookies, especially at Christmas!  I thought I would share a few of my favorite recipes.  Nothing fancy, or complicated, just really good.  So here we go:

Pecan Shortbread
makes about 60 cookies

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter.  (Yes.  I know.  We'll talk about fat grams at a later date.)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups small diced pecans (about 6 oz.)

Mix together butter and sugar with a hand-held mixer or a standing mixer with the paddle attachment.  Add vanilla, then the flour and salt.  Add the pecans.  The dough might seem floury and dry at first, but it will come together.  When it's well combined, divide in thirds, then make 3,  2" diameter logs on sheets of plastic wrap.  

Like this.  Mine were about 11" long.



Roll them on the counter a little to make a nice even, round cylinder.  Twist the ends to seal, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.  You can park the dough cylinders in the refrigerator for several days if you need to.


When you're ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Get out 3 cookie sheets.  You don't need to grease the cookie sheets but a sheet of parchment paper makes for easy pan cleanup.
Slice the cookie dough into 1/4" slices, and place on the cookie sheet.  You don't need to leave a lot of space in between the cookies-- there's no egg in them, so they won't spread out very much during baking.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Check them after 20 minutes.  They're done when they have just a little bit of light brown color around the edges.



Cool on a metal rack for a few minutes.

Break out the cold milk,(or hot chocolate or coffee or tea) and enjoy!

You can of course make these using any nut you like or have on hand. I've made these with pistachios and they're delicious, as are walnuts or even pine nuts.  Just make sure whatever nut you use is unsalted.

These also freeze well.

Time for a snack

I've been in a frenzy of quilting for the past few days, trying to get as much done as possible before the orchestra season begins on Tuesday.  Pictures will be following shortly!  But for now- - -

Quilting is hard work.  I'm hungry.

Time for a granola break.

But not just any granola!  It seems there are 2 choices at the grocery store:  the reasonably priced stuff in the cardboard box that tastes like, well, the cardboard box (and often terribly sweet).  Or, the better stuff (usually in a bag of some kind), still sometimes too sweet, that costs a FORTUNE for a few ounces.

OK.  You know where this is going.  You will be amazed that a ready-made granola industry even exists after you make it yourself, it's that easy and tasty.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Get out your largest cookie sheet or sheet pan.  For easiest cleanup, line it with foil and spray it with non-stick spray.

Assemble the dry ingredients:

  4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts, but you can use any kind of unsalted nut that you like)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
pinch salt

Set aside the dried fruit for later

Now the wet ingredients:
1/3 cup each:  molasses, maple syrup, and honey







It will all fit in a 1 cup measuring cup, like the picture:

Put the cup in the microwave just until it's warm enough to stir the liquids together ( it takes only about 20 seconds in my microwave).  Add 1 tablespoon of  vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the mixture in the cup, and stir thoroughly.


Pour it on top of the oat mixture, and stir to combine.  Spread evenly onto the sheet pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

At the end of 15 minutes, take it out and stir.  Put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Let it cool completely, then add 1 cup (or more if you like) of dried fruit.   Today I'm using dried cranberries, raisins and apricots.  But use whatever you like.


Yield:  About 6 cups of granola

Bring on the fruit and yogurt!

The granola will keep in a tightly covered container (like the tupperware one I use) for at least 2 weeks.  You can freeze it for long term storage.

Some recipes add flaked coconut to the dry ingredients, which I think is really good (I didn't have any on hand today).  A lot of granola recipes also add wheat germ, which I've never liked-- it seems too much like sawdust.  But feel free to experiment, and I'd welcome any ideas or recipe variations here!

Happy 5771!

Whether you celebrate Rosh Hashanah or not, it's a nice opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  Why should new beginnings be limited to once per year, anyway?

My dad likes to host a big family dinner for Rosh Hashanah.  He's providing the main part of the meal.  I'm bringing the challah, which I made this morning.   The recipe is from King Arthur Flour, it's called "No-Knead Challah".

I made the dough last night.  No kneading required, just a quick spin in the Kitchen-Aid, then an overnight rest in the refrigerator.
The dough has an unusual texture coming out of the fridge, kind of stiff and lumpy.  No worries though; it's supposed to be that way.

Divide into 3 strands and roll them out.

Then braid the strands, just like hair.

Coil into a greased 9" cake pan; let rise for about 1 1/2 hours, brush with egg wash and sesame seeds, and bake 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Yum!  Now that's what I consider a good start to the New Year!

Chocolate Mousse

Hah!  That got your attention, right?
This recipe is so easy and so delicious that this post counts as a Public Service Announcement.  Make this soon.  Yes, you have the time; it takes less than 5 minutes to assemble.  Give it an hour (or more) in the refrigerator to chill and set up.  This recipe makes 6-8 servings.
Here are the ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
a splash of liquer, or other flavoring (see note)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 12.3 oz. packages firm silken tofu, drained.  This is the type of tofu that's in the sealed cardboard box that can be stored at room temperature.  Do NOT substitute with the tofu that's packed in water and refrigerated.
3 oz. good bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted in the microwave, or you can use chocolate chips.

Throw everything in the blender,  and blend until smooth.  Pour into a container and refrigerate at least 1 hour, although you can do this well in advance if you like .  That's it!

I served mine as parfaits with berries, so I added a splash of Cointreau:

But other flavor possibilities include instant espresso powder, grated citrus zest, cinnamon, almond extract, all sorts of liquers (rum, Amaretto).   So I guess I'll be making this alot to experiment with all the flavor possibilities.  And how about a tiramisu-type application with soaked lady finger cookies layered with mousse.  Or trifle with pound cake?  OK, I'm getting all excited now.  So enjoy!