Beef Wellington - Christmas Eve Dinner

 Individual Beef Wellingtons

Served with Wild Mushroom Risotto and Sage Roasted Turnips & Beets

From the Ross Family to yours, Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

Eggnog Pancakes - Merry Christmas Eve

Now that we're married and settled in our new post wedding nest in Alameda (I'll post pics after I paint) we're discussing our favorite family holiday traditions and making our own holiday traditions. This recipe could easily be added to our traditions along with our recipe for beef wellington. Light fluffy and delicious, I ate two and wanted more. Thankfully the syrup ran out. :)

                                                                        Eggnog Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups eggnog
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg if desired. In another bowl, beat eggs, eggnog and butter; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until second side is golden brown. 

* I had to thin this down a touch and did so with a little milk. Enjoy!

Neglected Dog

Someone found a creative way to get her food bowl filled.

She brought the dish to Adam's feet, hopped on the ottoman and started pouting. Too Cute!

Bring on the Remaking of Leftovers

Creative Ways to use up Turkey Leftovers, after you've exhausted your love for sandwiches.

Turkey, Quinoa And Persimmon Salad With Warm Cranberry-Maple Dressing

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Prep started on Monday and ended at 4:30pm Thanksgiving day. All my pre-planning granted me a late start. Adam, Peanut and I watched the parade.

 Took Peanut for a walk around the neighborhood, before coming home and starting the day.
Adam's family arrived around 2pm and we had appetizers all layed out. This picture was taken a little late :)

We broke out the wii and played a few games.

Here's Adam's Mom playing on the wii fit.
Then the main affair started. We made sure to get pictures before we dug in this time :)

Sweet potato casserole, maple cider brine turkey, Boursin potato au gratin, pork pie, garlic brocolli, onion bacon kale, herbed chestnut, apple, cranberry stuffing, & Cornbread. *Cranberry Jelly not pictured.

Dinner was delicious, even if I do say so myself. I took the largest plate of food I think I have since getting my thyroid treated. What a glutton!! After dinner, I took to the kitchen and knocked out dishes. Adam packaged up leftovers and I made sure my In-laws had Stuffing and Turkey to make post-Thanksgiving Sandwiches, and a little Sweet potato Casserole (which I think was the best dish!)
Afterwards we all beached ourselves around the TV, watched a Miracle on 34th Street before diving back into dessert.

Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie and Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Cheese cake, Vanilla & Dulce de Leche ice creams

Everything was great and everyone was happy with the meal. I had so much fun planning and cooking for the family and too hear and see everyone was so pleased, made it all that much more special. Hope everyone else had an amazing Thanksgiving too!

Thanksgiving Prep

This year my in-laws are in the middle of a kitchen remodel, so I took the reins and offered to host Thanksgiving. Today I spent the majority of the day planning our menu and creating a shopping list.

Here is what we plan on serving for Thanksgiving 2011:
Appetizers:
Parmesan Rosemary Crackers
Cheese Platter with Jalapeno Jelly
Chopped Liver 

Salad:
Roast Beet, Chimichurri Steak Salad

The Star:
Maple Cider Brine
Maple Bacon Turkey

Sides:
Herbed Chestnut, Cranberry, Apple Stuffing
Potato au gratin
Sweet Potato Casserole
Bacon, Onion Balsamic Kale
Garlic Broccoli
Small Pork Pie (Mostly for me, since I'll be the only Canadian attending)
Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Dessert:
Apple Pie ala mode
Pumpkin Pie*

Mighty Ambitious for such a small kitchen, but I'm hoping to make a lot a few days in advance and make sure I'm prepped for the day before and day of.

Peanut spent the day outside on the deck enjoying the sunshine.

Ding Dong Ditch?

The door bell rang this afternoon, which is really uncommon at our currently location. The only thing that might tell people some one lives in the rear of the front house is a small white door bell. (The doorbell was only installed after I spent 2 hours locked out of the house, while Adam slept. Peanut on the other side of the gate did not approve.) So the doorbell rang and I weathered the elements to answer it, but no one was there! Well, I thought if they're not going to answer, "Who's there?". I'm not opening that door! I walked back inside to an angry puppy, who wanted nothing but to patrol the area to make sure we weren't "under attack". Then it dawned on me it was Thursday... Once a month on Thursday we get a CSA box! Woot! Our first box.

This month spoils: red grapes, pomegranates, apples, radishes, carrots, collard greens, spaghetti squash, lettuce, dill and sweet potatoes.

I'm really excited to figure out some recipes, but it's a small sign of normality for me. While we lived in Santa Barbara we got a CSA box twice a month and enjoyed coming up with menus together. :)

Whole-Grain Blueberry Muffins = ♥

In our house breakfast usually lasts 5 minutes, before we rush off to start the day. I made these the other morning and after 2 weeks they've become a favorite breakfast staple. I love finding healthy things to feed my family. Peanut would also eat these, if only we loved her enough to share ; ).

• 1 1/4 whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
• 3/4 cup oat flour (Or use 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats*)
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal (or use unleveled 1/4 cup flaxseeds*)
• 1/4 cup pecans (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup non-fat blueberry Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (or one 8-ounce bag frozen blueberries)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375* F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. *In a food processor, process the flours, whole oats, flaxseeds, pecans until finely ground (I skip this extra work by just using flours or meals instead).
3. In a small bowl combine Wheat and Oat Flour, flaxseed meal, Peacans, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a large bowl whisk together the yogurt, sugar, butter, juice, egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated (do not overmix). Fold in the blueberries.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out clean, 22-25 minutes. ( I find these don't rise too high, I think it might be the density of the flours, so don't be afraid to pack them in).
   TO MAKE AHEAD: The muffins will keep at room temperature for 3 days and in the freezer for 1 month. Warm in the microwave, 1 to 2 minutes.

Egg shell seedlings

I'm definitely a throw-caution-to-the-wind kind of gal. I learn best from my mistakes and I think that makes me a foolish/wise person. I'm working towards wise...

 Empty Egg Carton

Trimmed up carton with seeds to plant.

Carton with each space labeled. Along with labeling the carton, I label the shells.

This batch of seedlings I'm sprouting Chives, Parsley and Scallions. 

In the shells I take a tapestry needle (any needle will do) and poke 1-3 holes large enough to let water out and small enough to still retain the soil.

In a mixing bowl add 1/2 cup "jiffy-mix" with water, until you reach a wet breadcrumb consistency. Add about 1 tbsp into each shell and lightly pat down. You want to form a seed well into the center of each shell. (Note: Do not try making cornbread with this mix.)

Add 3-4 seedlings of the appropriate plant to each shell. Then I added another 1/2 tsp of soil mix on top and lightly patted down. 

Here they are planted.

 Electrolytes, it's what plants crave! Ok, I just reuse this for tappé water. The spout makes it sprout friendly. I add 5-8 drops a day and keep covered in this gallon sized zip-lock bag. It lets the sun through, but doesn't let the moisture out. It should stay on for 1-2 week or until the sprouts are too large.

You'll want to replant in about 21 days or when you see the second set of leaves sprouting. Different plants take longer to germinate than others. Good luck and happy gardening.

Gardening

The good thing about living in California is long growing seasons and this year I've thrown caution to the wind. I'm trying my hand this fall at gardening some greens.  I started by sowing seeds in egg shells to see how it worked.

Here they are after they started to sprout!

I did find that after they started sprouting, it looked as if they were quickly running out of room in their shells. I lifted a few shells up after a week of sprouting and the little white (healthy) roots were starting to emerge from the drainage hole in the shell. 

It was important to get my little seedlings in a new home. As luck would have it, I recently took an edible container gardening class at the Garden for the Environment... and Johanna Silver of  Sunset Magazine gave a very useful lesson. I built a self watering container garden. 

 

I went to home depot to buy some supplies, a black cheap ($2.89) planting pot. I drilled some holes in 8 places. Using a 1/2 inch hole bit I also drilled a hole on the bottom (top) for the watering spout

 

I found this "watering spout" in the plumbing section. Originally intended for an extension pipe for under sink plumbing, it included a threaded section. It worked out well for the purpose it was intended to do.

 Large Container (Hole Drilled about 2" below total height of black pot) I think the black pot was 8" depth, which would make the hole, which is really hard to see about 6" from the bottom.  

Shown here with 1 bag of  potting mix

This pot took 3 bags of 8 qt organic potting mix (potting soil is too heavy for container gardening) Since my seedlings were still a little young the 1-2" top level of soil I mixed in some seedling "jiffy" soil.

 The bane of gardening is weeding, so lets add a "weed barrier" (a.k.a trash bag). I trimmed it all around about 2" from the edge and tucked it into the soil.

 Here is an image of the planted seedlings in their pot. It shows the tucked in bag, and re-homed seedlings. I cracked the shells near the bottom, smooched them a little to fit in the X cut holes. I kind of ignored suggested guidelines to how close they can be planted, but I'm willing to sacrifice one or two to figure it out. Once the seedlings take to their new home, I was going to add some stones on top of the bag. I sprouted and planted Dwarf Kale, Neon Chard and Gai-lan.

As it turns out:

Peanut also likes to garden.

Making Apple Sauce

 With our apple picking spoils, I decided to make some apple sauce. Here we have about a dozen smallish honey crisp apples.  I washed up the apples, peeled, cored and diced.

 I added about 2 cups of water and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. I did not add sugar, I didn't think it needed any. Obviously, this is personal preference.

Cook  over medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until the apples start breaking down when you stir them.  Once they were cooked down I used an immersion blender to puree the apples. This can also be achieved using a food processor or blender.

Caution: When blending warm things in a standard blender, don't overload and use a towel to hold the lid down.
 
Served with some grass-fed beef meatloaf, and roasted delicata squash.

Peanut Poppers

After a month of some random scrap treats we had lying around, I finally made Peanut what she loves, Peanut Poppers. She'll do anything for these treats and will whine under the jar after I make them. So here are the photos and recipe from our day.

Recipe:
1 (14oz) Can Pumpkin Puree (Not Pie Mix)
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 egg
3-4 Cups Flour. I usually use Oat Flour, but this time we were out and had an over abundance of wheat flour. ( I found the wheat flour yielded a slightly more elastic, due to it's higher glutens)

Mix together and roll out, we roll them on the thick side. These are harder for Peanut to get out of her Kong Genius. Here Peanut is making sure her treats are kosher and standing in as the puppy rabbi.

Bake 275* for 2-3 hours. Until hardened. If they smell like they are slightly browning, just leave them in the oven and turn off the heat.

Peanut found the baking process to be cruel and unusual puppy punishment, and made her feelings known by looking sad and too cute. Thankfully 3 hours later, the treats were hard enough to put away...

Notice the Rabbi in the background. She over see's the whole process! Such dedication.

Final results: Two Paws up for a sitting pretty!!

Goat Cheese Class

 Being the new kid on the block always stinks, even more so when you don't have a job to at least meet new people. So I found an interesting place to take some classes at : Garden for the Environment. Last week Adam and I took their free composting class and it was pretty informative. 

This weekend I went ventured out on my own and took a cheese making class. The instructor, Nicole Easterday was really funny and incredibly informative. We made some pretty yummy goat cheese and she had some that she made the other day with herbs in it. Yummy, but we were in for another great treat. Jalapeno Jam made by INNA jam. I came home raving about this amazing jam I had, and then figured I had to make some! 

We were both pretty tired and didn't want to do much this weekend, so we walked peanut to the store and picked up some ingredients to make our own Jalapeno Jam. 

We couldn't get our hands on any crack, which I insist is the secret ingredient in the INNA jam (SO TASTY!!!). We opted to make a Calico Jalapeno Jam, which uses Green Jalapenos and mixed colored bell peppers.  I blended up the peppers and used 2 cups less sugar than the recipe called for.  

Careful not to spill any on your hot burner, it'll fill your kitchen with a lovely burnt sugar smell followed by a pepper heat that hits you.

Here are our Pepper Jam Bounty, I really love the little Jars for Jams, it makes it more manageable, but you use what you have. :)  I've got a small container setting up, I'll let you know how it turns out.

The Butterfly Project LTC - Rare

Limited, These cards fell far too close to our wedding date and I was only able to make a few. It was to be made for The Butterfly Project LTC ring hosted by my friend Turtlegirl19.

Tricks & Treats: Noir Stalker

My Favorite Pet: Peanut the Puggle

It's true she really is my favorite pet!

Spring Faries!: Giggles in the Garden

Bountiful Bouquet: Narcissus

This stamp was recycled from a Postal Letter Boxing Ring: Be My Valentine.

Bountiful Bouquet: Buds and Beauty

Rare

Winter Wonderland: Let it Snow

I really loved how this stamp detail came out I used it for my 2010 Christmas Cards.