It's beginning...

... to look a lot like Christmas! Or Christmas cookies, at least. I told myself I was going to get this post up before the cookies were gone and let's just say time is quickly running out. Now, New England has yet to see its first flakes of the white stuff, but that has not kept Boy and I from decorating a tree, listening to endless Christmas music, and making cookies! (Ok, it is more me threatening to cut fingers off if he tries to change the music away from Bing Crosby or Charlie Brown's Christmas on endless repeat, but Boy sure is a trooper.)

I dig this time of year. As someone who loves to cook as much as I do, there is no better excuse to continually crank out treats than the mere fact that it is "the Holidays"!

To kick off the season, boy and I made and decorated some Christmas cookies using the super-fun cookie cutters I recently bought. (Some of my favorite ones are the crab, the mushroom, and the penguin...) Now, I am a recovering sorority girl and if there is one thing I am good at it is crafts. Give me some sprinkles and frosting and I can make you your very own Mona Lisa cookie in no time. Obviously, Boy was not a sorority girl, so it was pretty hilarious to see the cookies we both came up with.

A sampling of our best...

Boy:

A simple, yet dashingly elegant yellow polar bear.

Me:

Not quite the Mona Lisa, but a fancy pants cactus if you ask me.

As for the recipes, I simply used a great sugar cookie recipe, but followed a friend's icing recipe.  I don't like to use names, obviously, but to you, my incredibly crafty friend, here is your anonymous shout out. This icing rocks.

"Royal Icing, Slightly Altered"
1c. powdered sugar
2t. milk
2t. light corn syrup
1/4t. almond extract (or vanilla if almond isn't your style)
assorted food coloring

Stir together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in the corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.

Enjoy!

Fruit Challenge #9: Pomegranate

Pomegranates are odd little suckers. Having the serious texture aversions that I do, they have never been something that is high on my list of go-to healthy snacks. I remember as a kid I would suck on the individual seeds to eat just the pulp. I would then spit out the remaining hard seed that was left - I wanted nothing to do with the crunch of eating the whole pod. I must say it was a lot of work for not a lot of eatin'. Now that I am all 'growed' up though, it's high time I try to eat a pomegranate the right way.

I have always loved sweet salsas, but it all started with one specific Rothschild Raspberry Salsa. One taste of this and there was no turning back - I was helplessly hooked. By this logic, pomegranate salsa would have to be amazing, right? I decided to find out. I picked up two pomegranates on our next trip to the grocery store. When boy and I got home I peeled one right away to start on the salsa. I made the mistake of tasting a seed (a whole seed!) and ended up eating a majority of the bowl right then and there. Oops. Let's just say my pomegranate texture aversion is a thing of the past.

I will spare you the details of how I cried like a baby while cutting the onion or complained while peeling the second pomegranate or swore anytime I touched my eyes for the next two days because of the jalapeño and just skip to the part where I tell you that this stuff is amazing. Pomegranates are in season through February so I highly recommend adding this to your holiday list of appetizers. Very festive looking, incredibly healthy (well, aside from the whole chips thing), and I can't imagine anyone not loving it.

Pomegranate Salsa
1 pomegranate, peeled and seeded
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
juice and zest of 2 limes
1/2 cup mint, chopped
3/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Prep all ingredients and toss together in a large bowl to combine. If you like heat, this salsa lends itself well to it. You could add a serrano or habanero pepper and the sweetness will counter it nicely. Enjoy!

One Last Pumpkin Entry: Pumpkin Roll!

I took this picture before I let mine chill long enough so the filling is still sticky. I got excited - sorry!

This post was inspired by a friend of mine - we will call her Molene. And, I suppose it wasn't so much inspired as completely and shamelessly ripped off.

We were celebrating another friend's birthday with all the traditional home-cooked brunch items a couple weeks back - bacon-wrapped Gorgonzola stuffed dates, carrot-ginger soup, fritatta, chocolate cake shots - you know, the essentials. (I roll with some pretty fancy-foodie ladies if I do say so myself.) In the planning email chain that took place the week leading up to brunch, Molene spoke of this pumpkin roll, but none of the rest of us had ever heard of it. She persisted that it would change our lives.

After completely gorging on an amazing brunch out comes Molene with what we would later know as Heaven in roll form. The rest is, as they say, history.

And, for all of you lactose intolerant folks out there (I know I am not the only one...) I used Tofutti in my rendition. The result? Ahhh-mazing almost dairy-free filling (I will never give up butter). This recipe is time consuming, but stick it out and you will be glad you did.

Almost Completely Lactose-free Pumpkin Roll
3 eggs
1c. sugar
3/4c. fresh pumpkin
3/4c. flour
1t. baking powder
2t. cinnamon
1t. ginger
1/2t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2t. salt

Filling:
8 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

4T softened butter
1 1/2c. powdered sugar
1/2t. vanilla
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F. In mixer, combine eggs and sugar and beat until light yellow. Add pumpkin and stir until blended. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Add to egg mixture and mix well. Spread into a well-greased 10x15 inch jelly roll pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit to cool for 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and place on a clean kitchen towel that is liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar. Let rest for another 10 minutes. From the short side, roll cake up in towel and let sit another 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the filling by beating together Tofutti and butter. Stir in remaining ingredients and beat until creamy. Unroll the cake and spread the filling completely covering one side. Roll the cake up again - sans towel this time - and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Put it in the freezer for at least one hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Fruit Challenge #8: Blueberries

Following recipes is fun. Completely and totally winging stuff is way more fun.

Boy and I had family coming over for dinner last Friday night. Standing in the middle of the produce section at Whole Foods, I decided that the occasion called for dessert. An ice cream sundae dessert. Those of you that know me know that it is not yet the season for my (Mom's) famous bourbon hot fudge, but the next best thing is a fresh fruit sauce. I grabbed some amazing looking blueberries - ridiculously out of season, I know, I am ashamed - and was on my way.

"Make It Look Like I Planned This" Blueberry Sauce

2 pints fresh blueberries

2T. sugar

Water
Vanilla

In a saucepan, combine first three ingredients. Add enough water to just barely cover the blueberries. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken and stir periodically to prevent burning. Once blueberries have "popped" add the vanilla and let it reduce for 10 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving so it has time to cool a bit and thicken even more. Serve with ice cream and warm brownies, obviously. Enjoy!

Veggie Challenge #11: Butternut Squash

I think one of the reasons I love fall and winter so much is that I live for soups and stews (well, and because I can start sleeping under the blankets instead of on top of them, but - unrelated). I added another dimension to this love last fall with the purchase of my immersion blender. I must say, if you don't have one - buy one. With a nominal investment you can change your life. Leftover veggies in the fridge from last night's dinner roast? Oh, I think I will blend those into a soup. Too many carrots this week in your farm share basket? Make a soup.

This week's challenge began as an obscene picture message I got from a friend. Trader Joe's had the biggest butternut squash I had ever seen as part of a fall display a couple weeks ago. I went to pick one up and while checking out, the woman ringing us up told me that the squash was not edible. Umm. Lady, what do you think squash are for? Your aesthetic pleasure? [She must be one of those people whose kids think the only way to make cookies is from a Pillsbury roll, but I won't get started.]

Next to a medium-sized onion for scale.

At first I was going to make a risotto with the squash, but then quickly changed my mind and decided I would rather kick off blended soup season instead. I also had some sweet potatoes around that needed to be used. Oh the beauty of pureed soups. :)

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
Sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
Chicken broth
Chicken sausage, cooked and chopped
Salt
Pepper

Combine squash and sweet potatoes in a large stock pot. Pour just enough chicken stock over them to cover. Boil until fork tender. Blend in the same pot until smooth. Add chicken sausage and salt and pepper to taste. [I prefer to leave my soups "un-messed-with", but this soup would happily take some spices so experiement away!] Let simmer for 10 - 15 minutes more. Enjoy!

Veggie Challenge #10: Ginger Root

There was nothing that was a challenge about this. Not even a question, really. You have mass amounts of ginger and a sweet tooth. What do you make? Ding ding! Ginger-Molasses Cookies from scratch.

My love affair with ginger cookies started a long time ago. I remember one specific story from my early high school years that involved them. We were in the Flats in downtown Cleveland celebrating my little sister's birthday and had parked the car in a meter spot on the street. Now, for those of you that are not familiar with my hometown, "the Flats" is an area of downtown that straddles the Cuyahoga River that used to be home to some of the craziest nightlife in Ohio. (I know, for some that is not saying much, but it was wild.) These days, though, you don't want to be anywhere near the Flats when the sun goes down, but there are still a handful of things worth venturing down to see while the sun is up.

We parked long enough to eat a nice lunch and when we came back to the car the front driver-side window had been shattered. This was back in the day when cell phones were far from commonplace so we were not surprised when both the phones that had been left in the car were gone. (It's also how you know this was forever ago. Who leaves their phone in the car now when there is constant Facebooking and FourSquaring to be done?) The thief made off with only one other item. What was it you ask? My bag of gingersnaps. Two cell phones and my Gingersnap cookies. The nerve, I tell you. (I only just realized what a fat girl that story makes me out to be. Who travels with gingersnaps?) Anyway, I digress.

I cannot take credit for doing anything fancy with this recipe. Well, aside from executing it perfectly, of course. These were some of the best cookies I have ever made.

Just another night at our house...

Boy and I had friends coming over for a casual dinner on Saturday night and I decided last minute that this required a dessert.  So, without further adieu, here is what I whipped up.  That's right, I am pretty fancy.

Impromptu Berry Crisp
Assorted berries (My choices were obviously grossly
out of season, I know)
2T. white sugar
1/2c. brown sugar
1/2c. oats
1/2c. chopped walnuts
4T. melted butter
1T. flour

Toss berries in a bowl with white sugar. Once coated, let stand for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients until a crumble forms. Place berries in individual ramekins. Sprinkle crumble over the tops. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until berries are bubbling. Yumm.