Peppermint Bark Cookies

This past year for Christmas, I wanted to make desserts that incorporated the flavors of the season:  peppermint and eggnog.  I really wanted to make one dish that took both of these flavors to a whole new level, and may wind up doing so next year.  I have made spiced sugar cookies for the past two years, and decided to add another cookie into the Christmas cookie rotation.  I used a basic homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe and then added a bunch of crushed peppermint candy twists (the hard ones, NOT the soft ones!), but you could use starlight bursts or candy canes as well.  I crushed the mints in the food processor, much easier to do than by hand!  I love the combination of chocolate and peppermint!  A perfect marriage of cookie and peppermint bark!  Sometimes, peppermint bark is just too rich!  I used white chocolate chips in half, and dark chocolate chips in the other.    They came out fantastic!  I doubled the recipe, making two balls of dough, and made about 4 dozen cookies, give or take.  This year as part of Eoin's gift to his family members, we made each (about 8 in total) little gift boxes filled with 2 kinds of cookies.  We also filled a bucket for each of his Grandparents with both cookies, made a tin-full for my landlord and still had some to keep for ourselves!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips (your preference as to white, milk chocolate or dark chocolate; or a mix of all 3!)
• Between 1/4 and 3/4 cup of the crushed peppermint.  Less if you want a more subtle taste, more if you want the flavors to be more prominent.

Directions:

1. Using an electric mixer, mix together the brown and white sugars and the butter, until it becomes incorporated and resembles wet sand.
2. Add the vanilla and egg to the bowl, and beat.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, flour and baking soda.  
4. Using your hands (because it's way easier), add the dry ingredients to the wet, a little at a time.
5. When your dough has become thoroughly incorporated, mix in the chocolate and the peppermint.  
6. Wrap dough in wax paper, and then wrap in clear plastic wrap.  Chill dough at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.
7. Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
8. On a parchment lined baking sheet, take approximately 1 tablespoon worth of dough and roll into balls.  Eoin loved helping with this part!  Just beware!  The dough is extremely sticky!  
9. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.
10. Cool on tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

I used to go out and buy pumpkin pie spice to use in my pumpkin breads, pies and pancakes.  However, for a small 1.5 oz container, you wind up paying between 4 and 5 dollars!  You can make your own at home, for literally cents a teaspoon!  When you look at the back of your Pumpkin Pie Spice, you will notice that on the list of ingredients, it says "allspice."  After careful research, I have found that all "allspice" is, is a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  The great part about cooking, is if you find one of the ingredients too strong, play around with the flavors until you find the best combination that suits your tastes!  Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves are all spices that most people have at the ready.  I save and clean out jars from sauces and condiments and then use them for various things around the house.  Right now my homemade pumpkin pie spice is sitting in one of these jars.  Why pay a fortune for something that you can get for literally pennies?  

This recipes yields about 10 teaspoons, but is easily doubled or halved depending on your needs.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1-1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1-1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

• Mix all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight container (tupperware or jar).

Zesty Zucchini Noodles

A few years ago my Mom made a really awesome zucchini dish, and never saved the recipe!  For years now, I have been searching the internet for similar recipes, and experimenting with tastes in my own kitchen. Sadly, it has been to no avail.  One day though, I hope to find it because the dish was just that good!  I am a big fan of zucchini, but sadly I am the only one who is in my household!  Sometimes I try and sneak it in, hoping that it will become a hit over time!  

This recipe is such a simple and basic recipe!  It also follows the school of knowledge that if you want a kid to eat a veggie, cover it in cheese!  Because of the cheese I used, and the use of black pepper, it winds up becoming a dish with bite!  Delicious!  

I usually designate my Sundays for any mass cooking I need to do.  I already knew that this week I wanted to do a zucchini dish and a cauliflower dish.  I didn't want to fully prepare the zucchini on Sunday so that by Wednesday it's limp and mushy!  Oddly enough, as I type this I am listening to The Chew and Clinton Kelly just said, "A limp noodle...always bad for the soul."  Couldn't have said it better myself Clinton!  

To make life a little easier, cut up and blanch the zucchini a few days ahead when you have the time.  I used 3 zucchinis, which rendered about 3-4 servings.  Take each zucchini, wash and cut each end off.  Cut into strips lengthwise.  With each strip, cut thinner strips from it making "noodles."  Put the cut up zucchini in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt.  Let sit for about a half hour to drain the zucchini of excess water.

  

While you wait for the zucchini to drain, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add the zucchini and boil for 1 minute.  Drain zucchini into a colander and run under repeatedly with ice cold water until zucchini is cold to the touch.  This is to shock the zucchini to prevent further cooking.  The whole process is called blanching.  I then put the colander over a bowl for about 15 minutes to drain the excess water from the zucchini.  

From this point:

1.  You could freeze the zucchini if you had cut it into round slices and spread them in a single layer on a wax-paper-lined baking sheet until frozen; then transfer to a ziplock to use in recipes in the coming months.  

2.  Or you can put it into an airtight container and put it into the refrigerator to use within a few days.

When ready to prepare the recipe, set the zucchini on the counter for a few minutes to bring it back up to room temperature.  

This recipe is SO simple, I'll just give you the whole recipe in a matter of sentences.  Heat about 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.  Add about 2 tablespoons minced garlic (more or less according to taste).  Immediately add the zucchini (you don't want the garlic to brown and caramelize, which makes it sweet).  Heat and stir until zucchini mixture is heated through.  Season with salt, ground black pepper and a dash of hot sauce and sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese right before serving!  I am telling you, it is DELICIOUS!

London Broil

I love when there's a good London Broil sale and you can buy the family pack which has two steaks in the package.  When I get home and unload the groceries, one of the first things I do is open all of my packages of meat, and re-pack them into zip-lock bags.  I'll buy 3lbs of chicken and then break it up into 1lb packages.  Not only is it economical to buy family packs, but I know how much my family eats so there's very little waste; and by taking them out of their original packaging, I also wind up saving space in my freezer! 

London broil is often referred to as a cheaper, tougher cut of meat.  This really depends on how you utilize it.  It is best if you marinate, I cut a few slits into the top of the meat, as to let the marinade penetrate the meat more sufficiently.  When you marinate, you can marinate for as little as an hour, or (and this is what I prefer) you can marinate for 24-48 hours.  The longer you marinate, the more flavorful your meat becomes.  

Since I only have indoor grills, I prefer to make London Broil in the oven.  For me, it's just easier.  But it can be prepared on an indoor or outdoor grill.  It can also be made in a slow cooker, which I have tried before and DO NOT recommend!  Let's just say that certain things really do sound good in theory, but the finished product is not quite up to par!   

This recipe is a pretty much how my parents have always made their London Broil.  Usually, they use the dried variations, but I just wanted to eat onions with my meat.  For this, you would use at least a 2lb London Broil which would serve about 4-6 people.   Usually, you figure a half pound of meat per person.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs or more of London Broil
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce

*YOU  COULD USE MORE OR LESS OF THE SOY AND WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCES DEPENDING ON YOUR DIETARY NEEDS AND BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE LONDON BROIL.  I JUST USE EQUAL PARTS OF EACH.

Directions:

1. Set your meat in a container that you have enough room to marinate.  Pour both of the sauces over the meat and then top with garlic and onions.  Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour and up to about 24 hours.  
2. Before cooking meat, bring to room temperature.  The easiest way I do this is take it out of the fridge and let sit for 15 minutes.  Then turn on oven to 325º F.  By the time the oven preheats, it's been a half hour since the meat has been out of the refrigerator.  Now you're ready to cook!  Transfer the meat to a roasting pan and pour the left over marinade over the meat.
3. Roast for about a half hour.  When you test with a meat thermometer, you want it to read 140ºF.  This will give you a little pinkness in the middle of the steak.
4. Let rest for at least 15-20 minutes after removing from the oven.  This will allow the juices to go back into the steak.  Then slice thin and against the grain!  Serve with the onion slices that you roasted with the meat.

♫♪I'm Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee...♪♫

Lucky for me, my son and I LOVE to do crafts.  Also lucky, is the fact that my boss loves my constant crafts with the kids, and will buy absolutely anything I need to complete another one of my ideas.  I had seen, in one of my parenting magazines, a bumblebee craft out of a water bottle; but it was definitely way too complex for little 2-year old hands.  This is my hands-on, step-by-step of what I came up with:

• After some thought, I figured I could do my own bumblebee craft, using an empty toilet paper roll for the body.  I had the kids finger-paint the roll yellow, but you could also have them glue yellow tissue paper or do it the opposite way and have them do the black first!  
• Next, take a sheet of black construction paper (yellow, if doing it the opposite way).  For each bumblebee, you will need to cut out 3 strips that will fit around the diameter of the roll.  Each strip needs to be from 1/2" to 1" wide.  Let each child glue their strips around the roll, one on each end, and one in the middle.  With the left over construction paper, cut out a stinger for the bee and wings for the bee.  Glue stinger at one end of the roll and the wings on either side of the roll towards the middle of the body.  
• I was initially going to construct the head out of construction paper, but couldn't find an easy enough way to do it while also having the kids contribute to it.  I then thought of foam craft balls!  PERFECT!  Use a foam ball at least large enough to fill the opening of the toilet paper roll, let the kids finger-paint it yellow.  After it dries, let the kids glue on 2 googly eyes, and let an adult stick in 2 cut pieces of pipe cleaner (for the antennas) and draw on a smiley face.  Of course, if your child is older, they may do all of these steps themselves.  Then glue the head of the bee onto the body.  I put glue on the rim of the paper roll and pressed down firmly.  Don't press down TOO hard, otherwise you will crush either the roll or the foam ball.
• Using a hole puncher, punch 2 holes onto the top of the bumblebee's body.  Thread string or ribbon through the holes with enough slack to hang the bumblebee for decoration.
• I have a tendency to try and put songs with the crafts we do, it's the daycare teacher in me!  For this craft, we used the song by the same name!  :)

Zesty Lime Pork Chops

Recently, I've become a little obsessed with the pairing of meats with citrus flavors.  Although these are mainly lime-infused, there is a hint of lemon pepper seasoning in the breading.  The key to packing in the flavor to anything breaded is to season, season, season!  It's the same theory as seasoning your pasta sauce.  I never make pasta without generously salting my pot of water first.  Otherwise, your pasta is bland.  And, in my house, one of our favorite dishes is Pasta e Broccoli, so the sauce relies on the addition of a few ladles of pasta water.  

• Season the egg, I usually put a few shakes of hot sauce in my egg/water mixture.  I don't make it "spicy" as I would like for my son to eat as well.  The key to seasoning, is to add just enough, not to overdo it with any one flavor.  
• Season the flour.  You can season the flour a little more liberally.  I season with salt and pepper.
• Season the crumb mixture.  For this recipe I used Panko crumbs to give it more of a crunch.  Depending on what I'm making, determines what I'll season my breadcrumbs with.  In this case it was lemon-pepper, but it has been oregano, basil, parsley, red pepper, the list goes on forever.  Just season to your taste.  

***Since I have typed most of the recipe as is already, I've decided to ditch my usual format and just keep typing!  If you need the exact quantities for each item, I pretty much use a cup of each: flour and breadcrumbs to start, with around 1 tsp of each of the added seasonings and just add more as needed.  For my egg mixture, it's about 1 egg to 1/4-1/2 cup of water.***

Recently, I've only been using Canola and EVOO for any and all of my cooking needs.  In this recipe, I used Canola to cook my pork chops in, cooking them over medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes on each side.  You want your chops to become nice and brown and crunchy!  

After your chops are cooked thoroughly, a meat thermometer is one of the most useful tools in the kitchen; drain on a paper towel.  Squeeze fresh lime juice over the chops and garnish with lime slices.  This is great with rice and corn or any other summer vegetable.  The flavors are so tantalizing that even Eoin enjoyed it and he's not a huge pork chop fan!

"Orange-you Happy Carrots" from Parents Magazine

I feel absolutely terrible for not updating this blog in so long.  Work has been a bit hectic; and now that the summer is here, every weekend there's just something else going on!  I have quite a few recipes that I need to start typing up, and even some toddler crafts that I have done recently with the kids.  We have been so busy, averaging about 2 arts and crafts projects per week!  Right now we're on our bug-theme, so I hope to share some of my ideas relatively soon!  

While Eoin likes a lot of veggies, he does need some "encouragement" to eat a select few.  Carrots are not on his favorite list, and haven't been since he was an infant.  Usually, I will buy a bag of baby carrots for a recipe, use some and then have about 1/2-3/4 of the bag to find something to do with!  I found this recipe in my May 2012 issue of Parents magazine.  It's a quick and easy side dish that the whole family can enjoy!  I will post the original recipe for you.  I, of course, didn't have all of the exact ingredients on hand, so I substituted!  My substitutions are always in italics!  

I tend to read a lot of posts in cooking forums and the like.  One of the most common comments on some of these recipes are that "I really wanted to try out this recipe, but I didn't have such and such" (OR "I don't like such and such").  Recipes are merely suggestions.  Yes, you can follow them exact, or you can take the tips you learn from them and make it your own!  I think as time goes on, I get better and better at this, finding out what I can and cannot substitute for certain things.  For instance, white granulated sugar, honey and maple syrup can be interchangeable, depending on the dish.  This recipe called for honey, which I didn't have at the time.  But it was a carrot dish and had raisins in it, so I opted to sub in some maple syrup to give it the same glaze that the honey would have.  Cooking is a learning experience, and like a fine wine, you'll get better at it with age!  The key is to enjoy it!

Like I have always encouraged, if you do try on of the recipes posted on my blog, feel free to make it your own.  I welcome any and all feed back and comments! 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb packaged peeled baby carrots
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used the juice from about 2 oranges)
• 2 Tbs honey (I used roughly the same amount of maple syrup)
• 2 Tbs golden raisins (I used your run-of-the-mill, dark California raisin)
• 1 tsp finely shredded orange peel

Directions:

• In a large, deep skillet, bring 4 cups water to a boil.  Add carrots; return to boiling.  reduce heat; cover and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until tender.  Drain and return to pan.

• Stir in orange juice, honey (maple syrup), and raisins.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 8 minutes or until liquid is syrupy and carrots are glazed.  Serve topped with orange peel.