We’ve pulled down all of the Christmas lights and packed up all the Christmas decorations. The mantle has been cleared of all of the cards sent to us by our loved ones. The goodies and leftovers are gone. The kitchen has been quiet for a week. It seems things have finally settled down and life’s returning back to normal.

One of my goals for the new year (not a resolution, mind you, because I don’t do those) is to find more ways to put a little good back into the world… to stretch “the season of giving” across all twelve months of the year. As I was thinking about this a few days ago, I stumbled onto a little meme over at Dine and Dish. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling, so I signed up with Kristen and now… I’ll be sharing the meme here so that you, too, can play along. Here’s the deal…

Pay It Forward…

I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment on this entry requesting to join this Paying It Forward Exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days… which is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

See? Easy! And fun! And an excellent way to spread a little cheer even after the holidays are over.

And, in the spirit of sharing, I want to share with you a little something that I found over at Straight from the Farm. It’s the easiest… and most wonderful… dulce de leche recipe. No, my friends, this is not what you think. This is no slow cooked sweetened condensed milk. This is just a simple pairing of milk, sugar, and vanilla (and baking soda) that’s slowly reduced to a beautiful deep caramel treat that’s just as good by the spoonful as it is on a warm roll (or sandwiched into a cookie, or in your morning coffee, or on a cake… I could go on and on). And it’s perfect for giving… if, of course, you can bear to let it go. Personally, I’m going to have to let the next batch go… because I’m keeping this one!

I made the smaller batch as posted at From Argentina because I need to go get some jars that I can use for giving. But next time I’ll most certainly be using Jennie’s adaptation so that I have enough to share. I also pulled this batch off the heat pretty early, because I have plans to use this as a filling for a cake (stay tuned) and for mixing into my coffee. Next time, however, I think I’ll let it go a little longer so it’s darker and of a more “spreadable” consistency.

Make enough for yourself or spread the joy and make enough for people you love (you’ll find both recipes behind the jump) - either way, I promise that you won’t be disappointed!

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Just a little recap of our Christmas Eve in pictures. Happy Holidays everyone!

Dinner…

Sauerbraten, rotkraut, and pasta (because I didn’t make potato dumplings).

Drinks…

Chocotinis (chocolate martinis).

Dessert…

Creme brulee.

And a movie…

A Christmas Story, circa 1983… Don’t forget to drink your Ovaltine!

May your holidays be filled with much love and laughter!

I enjoy my time in the kitchen. I particularly enjoy playing with new recipes and discovering yummy new things to add to my repertoire. However, I’m also a big fan of my old favorites. The things that I’ve been making for years. The recipes that are well worn and highly trusted and are always a success. And, at this time of year, the recipes that remind me of loved ones. No matter how many Christmas cookies I can churn out of my kitchen during a holiday season, it’s not truly Christmas until the Peanut Butter Blossoms are done. You may be wondering what magic there is to these cookies. Sure, 75% of the population is already very well acquainted with this kicked-up peanut butter cookie. It’s not complicated or involved, and it doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. It’s not particularly glamorous.

What’s magical about this cookie is that it’s the one that my wonderful husband requests every year. Though he’ll tell you that most of the things that come out of my kitchen are pretty darn good, and he’s my biggest fan when I’m experimenting with recipes and making him sample everything, it’s this cookie that he really looks forward to every year. And because this old classic is his favorite, this is one of those cookie recipes that will always be on my holibaking list. Because it makes me think of him, and because it makes him happy. Who needs better reasons than those?

So, if you haven’t made any cookies for Santa yet, pull out your mixing bowl and preheat the oven. There’s nothing better with a glass of nice, cold milk than a little peanut butter and chocolate.

Recipe behind the jump…

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For those of you who have regular food blogs that you read, I’m sure you’re already familiar with the amazing group of bloggers called The Daring Bakers. However, for those who don’t, allow me to enlighten you a bit. The Daring Bakers is a large group (explosive, actually, at over 400 members) of food bloggers who conspire each month to challenge ourselves in the kitchen. Everyone uses the same recipe, which remains super-secret within the group until the appointed posting day. Then, on that day, everyone posts their big reveals along with their thoughts, opportunities, challenges, and pictures of the designated project.

This being my first month, I was really feeling the pressure to perform. After all, I’m now among the ranks of some pretty amazing bakers. Add to it that every component of the chosen recipe was new to me, and I found myself worrying over the recipe and the execution for weeks before ever mustering the courage to give it a go.

But… I persevered. And, I’m happy to say that, for my first time out of the gate, I did okay. I definitely had fun. And I absolutely learned a lot. So, without further adieu, I present to you the December Daring Bakers Challenge…

THE YULE LOG

While the tradition of the Yule Log is most closely associated with Christmas, the practice of burning a Yule Log dates back to celebrations of the Winter Solstice in Scandinavia. The burning of the Yule Log became part of the celebrations of Midwinter. The Yule Log came to represent life, prosperity, warmth, protection and light during the dark winter.

Over the centuries, this tradition was carried on in some form by virtually ever European culture. At some point in the 18th or 19th century, the French transformed the tradition into an edible version with the Bûche de Noël.

And, so… our lovely hostesses Ivonne and Lis challenged us to get into our kitchens and fill them with warmth and light!

Going into the challenge, I was most worried about the buttercream and the meringue mushrooms. However, the component that proved to be the most challenging for me was actually the genoise. I took for granted that I had it in the bag and, as a result, I didn’t watch it like a hawk while it was in the oven. Because it’s so thin, it bakes in no time and I let mine go too long. And, when you let your genoise go too long, it dries out. And when it dries out, it cracks when you roll it. I was a sad DB’er.

Luckily, the beautiful (!!!) swiss buttercream came to my rescue and pulled it all together pretty nicely. Had I frosted the ends of my log, no one would have been any the wiser, but I really liked the added visual texture the exposed ends gave to the log. And the mushrooms? They stood up like troopers to complete the dish.

Would I do it again? Knowing what I know now, I’d absolutely do it again. I’ve run out of time this holiday season, but this may become an annual tradition in my house.

As it’s long and involved, I’ll post the recipe - as some of the pictures that I took along the way - behind the jump for those who are interested in reading the rest of this already very long entry. If you’d like to see how the other Daring Bakers fared with the Yule Log challenge, check out the DB Blogroll!

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There are Christmas goodies everywhere I turn these days… all over my regular haunts on the web, in my inbox, my magazines and, of course, tucked away in every available nook and cranny of my kitchen (which we began correcting yesterday as we started delivering batches of holiday goodies to our family and friends). I know I should stop, but I’m tempted at every turn to make “just one more thing.”

I’ve already talked about a couple of great cookies - and I have another one or two to share before the holiday season slips away -but for tonight I thought we’d break away from the sweets and talk a little more about cooking for one.

As I mentioned before, my husband travels quite a lot and I find it difficult to really get excited about cooking just for myself. But a girl cannot (or… should not) get by on cereal for dinner ALL the time and I’m trying to make a more concerted effort to work in some easy and balanced meals on my nights as a bachelorette.

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that it’s another one of those nights. And, after sampling too many sweet treats over the past few days (quality control is important, right?), I knew that I needed to work in a healthy meal tonight. So, what to fix that won’t fill the fridge with leftovers that I’ll find myself eating for a week?

Skillet Chicken with Orzo and Peas comes together easily and only requires dirtying up one pan. It’s perfect for a light dinner for two… or dinner for one with leftovers for lunch the next day. And, of course, it can be easily multiplied to serve how ever many you need to feed. This one’s just as wonderful with a glass of wine at the dinner table as it is with a coke on the couch… enjoy it either way!

Skillet Chicken with Orzo and Peas
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 teaspoons Montreal chicken seasoning
1/3 cup orzo
1 1/3 cup low sodium chicken stock, divided
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon grated parmesan
salt, pepper and fresh basil to taste

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just beginning to smoke. Add chicken and Montreal seasoning, sauteeing until  just cooked. Add 1 cup of chicken stock and deglaze pan. Add orzo and bring to a slow boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, adding remaining 1/3 cup of stock as needed until pasta is al dente and sauce is creamy. Stir in peas, cream and parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and allow peas to warm through. Sprinkle with basil. Serve hot.

What happens when you wait too long to take part in a blogging event? Well, if it’s Food Blogga’s wonderful “Eat Christmas Cookies” event and you have the opportunity to review (and drool over) all the entries as they come in, you find that many of the Christmas cookie recipes you had thought about making were, in some form or another, already covered.

Stupid procrastination.What to do, what to do? This meant serious business. I clicked over to our “Sounds of the Season” cable music channel and dug out one of my cookbooks (The Complete Cookie Book by Elizabeth Wolf Cohen, in case you were wondering) for inspiration. I was looking for something different than everything else on my baking list and I found it just a few pages in… Swedish Almond Wafers. Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and tweaked the recipe just a bit, but either way they’d be wonderful. These thin little cookies are delicate and lacy, but pack a lovely, buttery taste. Such a nice contrast to the thick, chewy cookies I’ve been baking lately.

These definitely aren’t made for shipping, but I know they’re going to be a hit on the cookie platter! And so… let the Holibaking continue! (Dear Santa… please bring me a bigger kitchen!)

Sort of like a snowflake, don’t you think?

Swedish Almond Cookies
(adapted from The Complete Cookie Book)
3/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons light cream
2 dashes ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease (or line with silpats) two large baking sheets. In a food processor, process almonds until very finely ground (do not overgrind or they’ll form a paste). Add sugar and pulse a few more times to break down the sugar to a superfine consistency and ensure the almonds are evenly ground.

Combine the almond mixture, butter, flour, salt, cream and cinnamon in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, and cook over medium heat until butter is melted and the batter is smooth. Remove from heat.

Drop by scant teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet, 3-4 inches apart (the cookies will spread a lot). Bake 3-5 minutes, until lightly brown at the edges and bubbling in the center. Remove baking sheet to wire rack and cool slightly.

When edges are firm enough to lift, use a thin spatula (my offset spatula worked great for this) to remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter, cooling (and regreasing if necessary) between each batch.

Cookies should be stored in airtight containers with wax paper between layers. They are *very* fragile.

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01.02.07
By the way… what an honor to have this cookie make the top ten over at the cookie roundup! As a finalist, I’m in the running to win Sherry Yard’s Desserts by the Yard. If you feel so inspired, please jump over to the Food Blogga site and place your vote - for me (please!) or for any one of the other very worthy finalists!

The Holibaking Season has descended upon our house. The list of treats that I want to make to share with family and friends (and, of course, indulge in a little myself) is rather ambitious this year. That’s how it usually goes… my list starts out modestly - a few old favorites, a few newcomers - and then, the more food blogs I read, the more cookbooks I flip through, and the more Food Network shows I watch, the longer… and longer… my list gets. Most years, I run out of time before I get through my list. But this year will be different. I’ve got a little more time to holibake this year and, by golly, I’m getting through my WHOLE list! (Famous last words, I know.)

In addition to my overly ambitious holibaking roster, I decided that I wanted to enter a few blog challenges as well. Clearly I’ve got the crazy!

First up is this month’s Retro Recipe Challenge, hosted by Naomi over at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried. The assignment was to revisit a childhood storybook published before 1980 and find a way to recreate a dish from that story. I added to that my own personal challenge… I needed to be able to incorporate my dish into my holibaking endeavors. Ah. A real challenge.

Reviewing my list, I tried to find a correlation between something there and something from one of my childhood storybooks. Nothing. But then… I remembered one of the recipes that was on my “standby” list (put aside for the time being while I tried to decide just how ambitious I was feeling this year). Suddenly, one of my standbys was at the top of the list!

But first… the story.

I’ve always loved to read. As a kid, I had two full shelves of various Little Golden Books. I’d read all of them over and over again until I could recite them pretty much line by line. One of my favorites was a story about a little gingerbread man who escaped from the kitchen to embark on an adventure.

“Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

At first the boastful words of the Gingerbread Man prove to be true. No one can catch him, not the little old woman, the farmers in the field, or the gentle brown cow. It’s only when he encounters the wily fox that he meets the fate of all delicious gingerbread men.

The Gingerbread Man
(first published in the 60’s… this one in 1977)

And so came my inspiration for this challenge…

One of my favorite gingerbread recipes, one which I’ve had for a number of years, isn’t a true gingerbread recipe at all. I call it my un-gingerbread. It contains no molasses. The super-secret ingredient is, of all things, a box of butterscotch pudding. The cookies can be rolled and cut just like regular gingerbread cookies, and they have much the same color and a similar taste… but they’re a little more mild, which makes them a bigger hit with those who really don’t much care for the “bite” of traditional gingerbread. And? Bonus! I don’t have to keep molasses on hand!

These little guys won’t jump off your cookie sheet and go gallivanting around the neighborhood, but they’re quite the charming little cookie… perfect for gift giving, or sharing over a good book with your favorite kid, or leaving out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Un-Gingerbread Cookies
(Source: Allrecipes)
1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. (The dough might look a little dry and crumbly. If it does, get in there with your hands and you’ll see it come together a bit.) Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheets. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into shapes (man, star, tree… whatever!) using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks. Decorate if the mood strikes!

I’ve had a thing for Madeira wine since the time I first had it… many years ago on a work trip. I like to keep a bottle of it stocked in my kitchen - partly because it’s just tasty and good for a nip here and there - and mostly because it allows me to make Chicken Madeira anytime I want. And I do love Chicken Madeira.

This is such a classy, easy dish. It’s flexible and you can serve it with potatoes, rice, egg noodles… pretty much whatever you have on hand will pair nicely with it. It’s great to keep in your hip pocket for those evenings when you want to impress but just don’t have a lot of time to get terribly involved in pulling dinner together. I believe the “classic” recipe uses beef rather than chicken stock. I seldom have beef stock in my pantry, but I always have chicken stock. And, really, I find it just as tasty. The “classic” also employs the help of mozzarella cheese, but I like it fine without and skipping it lets me redirect those calories to mashed potatoes or a piece of crusty bread (or both!).

My Chicken Madeira
2 medium chicken breasts
1/2 pound portabello mushrooms*
1 1/2 cups Madeira wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper
crushed sea salt to taste

On cutting board, sprinkle chicken with cracked black pepper and sea salt, cover with saran wrap and flatten with mallet until approximately 1/4″ thick. Heat olive oil in pan and fry cutlets for about 4-5 mins each side. Remove from heat, cover and set aside (do not clean pan).

Melt butter in pan and saute the sliced mushrooms for about 3 minutes or until slightly wilted. Add flour and cook for about 2 minutes. Add wine and stock and bring to boil. Lower heat to medium/low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce will thicken and become dark.

Add chicken breasts to sauce; coating well on both sides. Cook for about 3 minutes to warm chicken through. Serve cutlets with sauce drizzled on top.

*Note: Baby portabellos are preferred; however, if you use regular portabellos, be sure to remove the black gills… they’ll just make your sauce muddy looking.

Do you know what this is? Go ahead… guess. I’ll wait.

Yes. It’s a brownie. But it’s not just any brownie. No, no… this, my friends, is a mascarpone brownie. Mascarpone cheese… one of the most magical foods on earth. In a brownie. And, it is… in a word… divine.

But, wait. Can you wrap your brain around the fact that it gets BETTER than this? Because it does.

What could possibly improve on the divinity of a mascarpone brownie? Are you ready?

That’s a honey chocolate sauce.

So, what’s a step up from divine? Because that’s what this brownie is once you’ve topped it with honey chocolate sauce. Perhaps heavenly is a good word.

And how photogenic is it?

Just… lovely. Who knew a brownie could be so elegant?

You cannot live your life a second longer without trying these brownies. Really. Put the Christmas cookies aside for a moment and make these little beauties. You won’t regret it for a second. I promise.

Recipe after the jump…

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I’m a pretty shy girl. I’ve always found it a challenge to push past my shyness and really get out there and make friends. It’s gotten easier as I’ve gotten older, but I still feel that twinge of shyness when meeting new people. It seems my shyness has transferred over to the blogosphere, too, as I find myself lurking around other food blogs trying to get up the courage to introduce myself.

I’ve been reading Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for some time now and she’s pretty amazing. So, I was very excited to see that she is hosting a virtual “housewarming” potluck and has invited all of her readers to join in the fun. Is there any more perfect way to say “hello” and meet some new friends?

Now, life’s been a little hectic here lately and I was worried that I wouldn’t get my act together in time to whip something up for the housewarming. Since I had a few spare minutes tonight, I thought I’d take the opportunity to rummage through the fridge and see what I could pull together. The inspiration was a leftover can of crescent rolls from Thanksgiving. The recipe (an old favorite) produces a quick but oh-so-tasty appetizer that’s rich and warm and perfect for a winter potluck. They balance perfectly on the side of a plate, they’re easy to eat with one hand while mingling, and did I mention they’re so tasty? Well, they are.

So, happy housewarming, Peabody! May you enjoy many happy years in your new home!

Bacon & Cream Cheese Crescents
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix cream cheese, bacon, parmesan, onions, parsley and cream until well blended and set aside.

Separate dough into triangles. Spread each triangle with 1 very generous tablespoonful of the cream cheese mixture. Roll each crescent, starting at the wider end. Place, seam-sides down, on ungreased baking sheet (line with foil or a silpat for easy clean-up).

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Mmmmm. Perfect for all those holiday parties!