Candy Cane Cookies

So you like candy canes, and you love cookies, what then, is better than candy cane cookies. If you are anything like me then candy canes are good to eat sparingly, better appreciated for their festive appearance, and mostly cute as an accent on the top of a present. Cookies on the other hand, are the best snacks of all time that are always good to eat, especially when they have that festive appearance. Candy cane cookies then, give you the best of both worlds. And thanks to good old Betty Crocker, they have been the best part of my winter wonderland since I was a little baker in training, well, mom obviously did the majority of the baking, but I was always a good taste tester.

Candy cane cookies have always been a nostalgic element in my life. As I sifted through my mother's Betty Crocker recipe card library, in search of this very recipe, I could not help but be reminded of so many childhood visuals: me sifting through the recipe cards as a little girl, the image on the candy cane cookie recipe card, my mom's yellow tub of flour, the kitchen...all covered in flour, her rolling pin, my rolling pin, and me sneaking into the freezer to grab just one cookie several times throughout the night.
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Every Christmas holiday my mother and I put some days aside for baking Christmas cookies, in fact the discussion about making candy cane cookies this year has already come up. These memories cannot even be displaced by the ones of me opening presents on Christmas morning (especially not of the year I balled my little eyes out because Santa brought me ice skates instead of the toy TV and remote control I wanted...that did not exist). Christmas has always been far more about the moments shared with family, and not so much about what was under the tree. I hope I have a little girl one day who I can make candy cane cookies with, and I hope you can enjoy the experience as well.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon red food colour

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix your butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavourings (almond extract and vanilla). Blend in flour and salt. Once blended well, divide the dough in half, and add your food colouring to one half.

One cookie at a time: Shape about "1 teaspoon dough from each half into 4-inch rope". I recommend rolling your pieces back and forth on a floured board, for smooth ropes. Place your ropes (one white, one red...for us, the other usually turns out pink, you could try green food colour or any other as well) side by side, press together lightly, and twist. Curve the top of the cookie to form the handle, and you should have a candy cane cookie! Continue with the rest of your dough and it should make about "4 dozen cookies".

Place on a baking sheet, and bake for about "9 minutes", or until very light brown. The Betty Crocker recipe mentions sprinkling crushed peppermint over your cookies if you wish, however I recommend having them without.

I could not help but notice this recipe is Copyright 1971, well before I was born, but to this day beats any Christmas cookie around. For a time saving twist, try Betty Crocker's new Christmas Candy Cane Cookies (Cookie Mix) recipe, made with her cookie mix found in stores and just 3 other ingredients. But, I do recommend opting for traditional holiday baking!

Freeze your cookies (dividing each layer with wax paper), so you don't eat them all up at once before your guests arrive. Although, that might not stop you since they are just as good frozen ;)

Haley

An Early Christmas Gift

I would like to announce that I am a new member of the baking group Daring Bakers, and you can expect my name to appear on the Daring Bakers Blogroll this upcoming week! The group is basically a community of people with one main thing in common: we like to bake! And obviously, we like to talk about it! As an early Christmas gift, per say, I have received the groups logo:


...which you may have noticed me sporting on my blog (side bar). I hope to share with you some of the "challenging" recipes I come across while being a part of this group, and I hope that from the group's blogroll you will check out some of the active members' personal baking blogs. As the group welcomes non-bloggers as well, I encourage people to join!

We knead to bake,

Haley

My "Favourite Thing" this Christmas

While it is undeniable that everyone is still talking about Tuesday's episode of Oprah, the annual "Oprah's Favorite Things 2007" episode (where she shows off her 20 or so favourite gifts to give this Christmas), I am still talking about Giada De Laurentiis's appearance on the show just a week before. Sure all of the items that made Oprah's list, including the Samsung camcorder (approximate value: $800), Ugg crochet boots ($120), crystal watches ($150-$1500), KitchenAid Artisian mixer ($350) and panini press ($100), to name a few, were all amazing gifts. Even more, I am sure that all of the audience members who were given one of each item to take home felt just as amazing, especially considering that this year's gifts included the most expensive gift to make the list in "Oprah's Favorite Things" history: an LG stainless steel refrigerator ($3800), with a built in TV, DVD hookup, radio, digital photo display, more than 100 built-in recipes, and that is about enough to get a grasp on all the Christmas excitement that is surrounding the show.

But back to reality for a moment...

Holiday recipes, as seen on Oprah the week prior, is my favourite thing this Christmas.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner, just about one month away too be exact. With your Christmas tree, decorations, and lights already or nearly already up, it is now that time to begin preparing your holiday menus, and to be creative while you are at it. One of my favourite Christmas edibles is antipasto, the Italian equivalent to hors d'oeuvre, meaning before the meal (anti = before, pasto = meal). While I am used to delicacies, cheeses, and marinated vegetables, which never get old, Giada De Laurentiis's Easy-to-Make hors D'oeuvres may make your first creative steps in preparing your holiday meals that much easier.

Experimenting with hors d'oeurves can be a lot of fun, and even more fun actually eat them. One of Giada's recipes that I have been exercising is her fried ravioli. Never had I thought of enjoying pasta this way, but having tried making mine with simply a basic cheese ravioli, I certainly did enjoy it tremendously. (While frying the ravioli I was reminded of a trick I learned to do with leftover pasta: instead of reheating your pasta in the microwave or in a saucepan, put your leftovers in a frying pan, add some oil and mozzarella cheese, and fry 'til crunchy. This is the one and only way I actually enjoy leftovers as much, if not more, than the fresh meal.) The concept of fried ravioli closely reminded me of fried won tons that you can get at your local Chinese restaurant, made from the traditional style of won tons used in won ton soup; both ravioli and won tons are a traditional stuffed pasta per say, now put to an entirely new flavour and given a new tasty texture. I am going to experiment with the fried ravioli again soon, with maybe a meat and spinach, sausage, or vegetable filled ravioli, which are some ideas I recommend as well, as I definitely recommend serving this recipe in general for a definite crowd-pleaser!

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The Recipe: Fried Ravioli by Giada De Laurentiis

I find this recipe quite straight forward and the process is similar to the breading and cooking of meats and vegetables.

Now, if only I had that LG refrigerator to store my ingredients in,

Haley

Haley's Pork Chops

I am not one to brag, but it has been far too long for my pork chops to have not made an appearance on my blog, being that I have never made pork chops without people preaching about how good they are.

To get your taste buds in motion...
This week a few of the ladies in my apartment were getting together for dinner, which is not a rare occasion, and being that it was at my place I decided to make a nice shrimp fettuccine alfredo and some greens. However, being that I am my mother's daughter the menu certainly could not stop at just that. And so I decided I would prepare some of my favourite pork chops because they are easy to make, and more importantly, they are always critiqued well. When making my alfredo sauce I experimented a bit, adding garlic and white wine, which I had never added to my original alfredo. This experiment was going to end up on my blog, however, once again, my pork chops out-shown what was supposed to be the highlight of the meal, and I thought it would be wise to just put the uninteresting alfredo on the back burner.

Now, I can tell you story after story about exactly how delicious these pork chops are, or I can let your try them for yourself. I hope your taste buds are at full speed, because I am letting my secret loose.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
boneless pork chops, thin fast fry
olive oil
garlic, diced
onions, sliced
red peppers, sliced
white wine
lemon, and fresh squeezed lemon juice
lemon pepper
parsley flakes

Note: Never be afraid to experiment by adding new flavours; this recipe began with only 3 ingredients aside from the pork chops (olive oil, onions, and lemon juice).

Marinate your pork chops in an olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon pepper marinade, for several hours. You can prepare them the night before, or the morning of. However, I sometimes marinate just several minutes before and they will still turn out tasty.

Line a large frying pan with olive oil, and saute a hearty amount of garlic, onions, and red peppers. You do not just want to add these ingredients for appearance or minimal flavours, rather, you want to be able to fill your pan.

Once your vegetables are soft, discard the marinade from your pork chops and place them in the pan. Allow the chops to cook on both sides, adding white wine and lemon juice to the pan to keep them from burning. Do let your pork chops brown, but keep adding liquids right before they are about to burn. It is almost like you are playing a game with them; you want to make sure your chops brown, yet you want to keep them fairly moist. Your juices should eventually be browning and have a rather thick consistency.

Add lemon pepper and parsley flakes to taste, and I sometimes add entire rings or wedges of lemon to the pan. Your final result should be browned chops, bathed in "sticky" juices and vegetables.

I was watching The Main tonight, on the Food Network, and Chef Anthony Sedlak referred to the mushrooms that he topped off a beautiful red snapper with, as having "a sticky texture that's kind of sexy". And that is exactly how I want to refer to the garlic, onions, and peppers that are smeared in with my chops.

Haley

*Read more about The Main, on a blog in conjunction with the Food Network, Food for Thought.

French Onion Soup

The weather lately has had me craving a nice hot bowl of french onion soup, and I got around to making some this week, one day at 3:00 in the afternoon. One thing I like about french onion soup is that you can have it as an "in between lunch and dinner snack", especially good when you are walking in from a chilly fall walk after a 2:30 class or appointment. You know, when an afternoon coffee just will not due.

Now, my french onion soup is one that is easy, and fast! To me, an onion and beef broth based soup should not be time consuming and should be able to wear the title of a homemade soup that can be thrown together nice and quick, on days when it is a snack well-needed. It is a "cup of tea", that sure beats - a cup of tea.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

2 to 3 large sweet onions

butter (few tbsp)

black pepper, to taste

red wine

beef cubes (or french onion soup mix)

french baguette

garlic powder

parmigian cheese

olive oil (or Swiss or Gruyere cheese)

In a large saucepan, melt butter and saute your onions until golden, adding pepper to taste. I like adding a lot of pepper, making sure my onions are visibly seasoned, which will give your soup a noticeable bite. Add red wine, to taste, which will also give your onions and final result of your soup some colour.

Add water to the pan, enough so that your onions are paired with a good amount of broth. Bring to a boil, adding your beef cubes (or french onion soup mix). Once your broth has gained its deep colour, turn to low heat and allow to simmer.

While your soup simmers, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut your baguette into slices just about 1 inch or so thick, keeping it on the thinner side. Lay your slices on a baking tray and add a spread of butter to each, topped with a sprinkle of garlic powder, and a generous amount of parmigian cheese. Add an additional cheese of choice if your appetite prefers, otherwise just drizzle over with olive oil. If you are adding another cheese besides parmigian, you may not necessarily need or want to add oil.

Bake you baguettes briefly, until the cheese is melted and they are browned and crispy. Once they are done, remove your soup from heat. You can eat your baguettes alongside your soup, or for the more traditional experience, place them directly atop your soup and eat directly from the bowl.

Who knew what was historically known as "food for the poor people" could be so good,

Haley

The Pastabilities are Endless

Pasta, pasta salads, and pasta casseroles - from greek pasta salad to pasta pizza casserole – the possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can do with pasta in the kitchen. Enough said, let's get busy!

I would like to share a favourite of mine, as well as some simple substitutions that can be made to turn the dish around. You might even gain your own ideas for substitutions as we go along.

What I am starting with is a tuna pasta salad, which I will guide toward turning this dish into a tuna pasta bake, as well as toward a traditional pasta salad and a vinaigrette pasta salad.

The Recipes

Ingredients (Tuna Pasta Salad):
pasta noodles, of choice
white onion, diced
celery, chopped
one can white chunk tuna in water, drained
Hellmann’s mayonnaise
salt, to taste
lemon pepper, to taste
oregano, to taste

In a saucepan, boil your pasta noodles, adding salt to the water. Cook el dente, and drain. Allow your noodles to cool, you can hurry this process by running them under cool water, or by putting them in the refrigerator momentarily. Once your noodles have cooled, add your onions, celery, and tuna, mixing well. Mix in Hellmann’s mayonnaise and add salt, lemon pepper, and oregano to taste. Lemon pepper is my not-so-secret ingredient that gives this dish a beautiful taste. You can never go wrong when pairing seafood and lemon flavours.

Turn your tuna pasta salad into a tuna pasta bake by substituting the mayonnaise for one can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup and milk, enough so that your pasta will not dry out as it bakes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and place in an oven-safe casserole dish. Mix in cheeses if desired, and top with bread crumbs (or I have even heard of people using potato chips), and bake until thickens and topping is browned.

Note: Accordingly,
you will not need to cool your noodles, and your noodles should be cooked a little less than el dente as they will continue to cook in the oven. Lemon pepper may also be substituted for a regular black pepper when making your cooked version.

Turn your tuna pasta salad into a traditional pasta salad by substituting the tuna with sliced red peppers and carrots.

Turn your traditional pasta salad into a vinaigrette pasta salad by substituting the mayonnaise for oil and vinegar, of your choice.

One thing you should not feel with all these substitutions, is confused. There are so many combinations that you can never truly go wrong,

Haley

Fast, Fresh, Fabulous Fish

I understand that not everyone is a seafood lover, but I do not understand why. My dad and I have always been the only two in our immediate family who will eat almost anything - I can remember as just a young girl, my dad coming home from work and often surprising me with octopus salad, which we would share right from the container until he would leave the last piece for me - let me just say I can count the number of foods I do not like on one hand. And if I do not prefer a food, it is usually not a distaste for the food itself, but rather for the way in which it was prepared. "Distaste", what an awful word, I can't believe I just said it.

Being that Lake Erie is practically my backyard, it is no surprise that there is great fish in this area. So, it is inevitable that my mom, and older brother and sister, have become accustomed to some seafood and I do not just mean shrimp. This recipe, in fact, is one that even they will taste on the occasional Christmas Eve when, for us, meat is not an option.

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It is breaded, oven fried perch. Do not tell me that does not make you hungry. And my trick here is slicing your perch fillets into small pieces, that way you do not have a huge piece of fish merely coated with the the breading flavours, but rather a bite size piece that does not allow for the fish to overpower the tasty seasoning. Do not get me wrong, the breading is not your typical thick, beer battered deep fry, and I guarantee you won't eat just one!

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The Recipe

Ingredients:

perch fillets

dry bread crumbs, of your choice

grated parmesan cheese

thyme

milk

Cut your fillets into small pieces, not too small, enough to allow for a couple bites worth. Combine your bread crumbs, parmesan, and thyme. Dip your fish pieces in milk and coat with bread crumb mix.

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Lay your breaded perch pieces on a greased, flat baking pan. Drizzle melted butter over the pieces or I sometimes just slice some shavings of butter to put atop each piece, which will melt on its own once in the oven.
Bake at 450 degrees, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. The length of time will depend on the thickness of your fish.

Once cooked, eat as is or add lemon, pour on tomato sauce, or add slivers of parmesan or parsley flakes.

Serve as an appetizer or meal,

Haley

Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese and Cucumber wrap

As a current University student, I know the feeling of constantly being "on the go" and I am sure that these days almost everyone can relate to leading a busy lifestyle. And wouldn't you know, one of my favourite parts of the day is taking a solid hour or two or more to indulge in a relaxing and tasteful dinner experience, which is usually a late one. Needless to say, lunch breaks do not always, realistically never, allow for a fabulous, homemade, sit-down meal.

Therefore, I have an "on the go" treat, which involves one of the few tricks I keep up my sleeve - who said "trick-or-treating" had to end last week? I have never been the type of person to get used to take-out or having fast-food "meals" on a daily basis, and so this is where these tricks come in handy. On the go? Looking for something quick, easy, and healthy? I don't mind if I do: The Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese and Cucumber wrap.

The Trick to your Treat of a worthwhile Lunch a.k.a. The Recipe

Ingredients:
pita (whole wheat for a healthier option), I recommend using Lebanese pita for a wrap as opposed to the thicker Greek pita; Lebanese pita is thinner and about 2 inches longer in elongation
garden vegetable cream cheese
cucumber

Lay your pita flat and spread your vegetable cream cheese over the surface, to your liking. The amount may determine the wrap's health factor. Slice your cucumber, and place the slices in a row as you would for a taco or fajita. Then wrap as you would a fajita, and you are all set.

You may be wondering "is that it?", but what seems like nothing special will prove otherwise to your taste buds. This wrap is extremely refreshing for an afternoon lunch. The crunchy cucumber slices allow for an added texture that pairs well with the cream cheese. You might even try adding feta cheese as well, but I recommend keeping it simple, allowing for the cucumber to be the prominent taste.

When I am running out the door, 15 minutes to where I have to be, who would guess that something so simple is one of my regular cravings. Forget that you forgot to have lunch, with that being said, this craving is possible to satisfy in those mere minutes.

That someone who occasionally walks down the street with a wrap in hand, say lunch time, (eyes shut, going mm mm) is me,

Haley

Viva Las Vegas: The Cheesecake Factory

This past weekend some friends and I stayed at The (Venice inspired) Venetian in Las Vegas! Similar to previous visits, one of the most memorable aspects of Vegas to me, is the food. Instead of trying to mimic one of The Venetian's fabulous Italian dishes, I would like to focus on a smaller plate, in a bigger place (with big taste!) - cheesecake at Caesar's Palace.

Dinner at Caesar's The Cheesecake Factory was a spectacle from beginning, with an incredible 200 item menu, to end. With portions so large they could be shared by two, it was still a must to save room for one of their more than 40 flavours of cheesecake. The cheesecake of course, shared by one.

After contemplating between my top three cheesecake choices, which I was finally able to narrow down to a white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake, a Kahlua cocoa coffee cheesecake, and a tiramisu cheesecake, I opted for the tiramisu. Now you are probably wondering why I settled for a traditional tiramisu flavour, however, I was convinced on the tiramisu cheesecake when I discovered it was not just tiramisu flavoured cheesecake, but a deliciously flavoured cheesecake layered on an actual tiramisu cake bottom. Literally combining tiramisu with cheesecake. Oh God.

Along with this fantastic idea, I am going to give you my very simple, yet delicious, cheesecake recipe, which you can try pairing with any of your own dessert foundations, whether it be a tiramisu base, brownie base, cookie base, and the possibilities are endless.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

3 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

Mix cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed. Once blended, and there are no clumps, add your eggs mixing on low speed. Pour over your choice of crust, and bake until centre is almost set.

One thing worth placing my bets on in Vegas?

You can bet I cashed in this idea, and took it home,

Haley