A Fresh Start

I’ve been slouching on my diet lately.  I call it being in “The Cheese Condition” because I eat a little too much cheese and picture myself stuck in a pile of melted cheese, struggling to get out.  I’ve had a harder time finding that determination that keeps me set on my task of being healthy and fit and taking great care of myself and my family.  And it’s a slippery slope for me.  It starts with extra bites and turns into extra bowls of food I don’t need.  It starts with a couple excuses why I didn’t exercise and turns into daily laziness.  The holidays certainly didn’t help.  In my last post you saw me declare how much I was going to cook and eat. 

I once cut out a quote from a magazine that said, “Remember you can always take a U Turn.  Eating three cookies is better than three cookies and a piece of pie.”  That has always stuck with me.  I love the idea that, at any moment, we can stop in our tracks, let go of the negative storyline in our heads and just start fresh.  So, rather than make any grand proclamation about the New Year and make a giant list of things I plan to do, I’m making that my resolution. 

I’m going to start each day of 2011 with a fresh start.  And that means, for today, I’m not eating cheese.  Instead, I’m making a delicious pear and arugula salad.  I’ll post the recipe!

Double Chocolate Cherry Crackles

These cookies are really easy, really yummy and fun for kids to help make!  You can make the dough ahead and then just bake when you want them.  I got the original idea from Food Network and then added the cherries (I'm a genius baker, I know)!  The dough is really stiff, but they come out yummy, I promise!

Double Chocolate Cherry Crackles

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the melted butter and eggs until combined, then stir in the white chocolate chips and cherries. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls, then roll in the confectioners' sugar until well coated. Place 1 inch apart on the baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are puffed and the tops are cracked, about 10 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Celebrate Light!

     The sky is grey.  The light is shallow.  We are descending toward the shortest day of the year.  Our Vitamin D levels are decreasing.  The cold is causing our bones to ache.  Our children have got another round of seasonal viruses.  It gets dark at 5 pm.  We have every reason to feel hopeless and gloomy. 

     And that is why it is so important to celebrate!  It doesn’t matter what you believe or where you come from, there is a celebration for you.  I grew up with Christmas, but I also love the miracle of Hanukkah, the burning of the Yule log, and El Día de los Reyes.  During the darkest time of the year, we, as a human race, hang on the hope that light will return again.  We eat feasts and light candles and sing songs of joy.  We drink wassail or ponche or really great wine.  Children wait for Santa or Baby Jesus or light candles for the Sun Lord, all giving hope of wonder to come.

     I tend to be an over-thinker and focus on all the things I don’t believe in and don’t like.  But December, for me, is all about remembering all the traditions that our ancestors used to bring joy to their lives during the darkest of days.  So, I’m baking a ton of cookies.  I’m roasting a pork loin.  I’m mixing ginger cocktails.  And I’m sewing tiny gifts to remind my kids how much I love them.  Happy, Joyous Holidays to you and yours!  Seriously, eat, drink and Be Merry, the light will return again!

Easy Hanukkah Doughnuts & Best Ever Hot Chocolate

Easy Hanukkah Doughnuts & Best Ever Hot Chocolate

Fried food is typically eaten during Hanukkah because it celebrates oil and the miracle of the holiday.  The easiest doughnuts I know of are made using canned biscuit dough.  They are light and fluffy and oh so good.  This is my sort-of Mexican twist to make them taste a little like churros.  Eat these with the hot chocolate, and you will think you are in heaven.  

Doughnuts:

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (make sure you get some really great cinnamon - I personally LOVE Penzey's Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon)
• 1 container (8 large) store-bought biscuit dough
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Place sugar and cinnamon in a paper bag and shake to combine.

Place oil in a deep pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the pan. 

Heat oil to 350 degrees F.

Slice biscuit dough in quarters and roll into balls to form 24 donut holes. Working in batches, place donut holes in hot oil and fry until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the hot donuts to the paper bag and shake to coat with orange sugar. Serve immediately.

Best Ever Hot Chocolate:

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 ounce best-quality unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. granulated sugar
• Few grains of salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
Garnish
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Method:

In bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, combine both chocolates, sugar, and salt. Cover; process at high speed just until chocolates are finely ground. Set aside near stovetop.

In a one-quart, heavy-bottomed, nonaluminum saucepan, heat milk over low heat, stirring often with small whisk, until it is steaming hot. Carefully add chopped chocolate mixture (don’t let the hot milk splash you as you do this!).

Continue cooking mixture over low heat, stirring almost constantly with whisk and scraping bottom and sides of pot with rubber spatula frequently. Mixture will steam for several minutes before coming to a boil, and as temperature increases it will thicken slightly. When mixture achieves a boil, continue cooking and stirring for 30 to 45 seconds.

Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Divide among small mugs, top with whipped cream, and serve immediately with the doughnuts.  

Family Holidays!

As we gather together for the holidays, we often swell with expectations, with glorious ideas about how perfect the holiday will be.  We plan our menu.  We package our gifts.  We buy our plane tickets.  We are filled with grandiose ideas of a Normal Rockwell gathering of like minds and cheerful children.  But we’re often wrong.  The holidays are a huge stress, and it seems to bring out the worst in sibling relationships and child insubordination.  It’s a giant roasting pot of familial chaos.

I love my crazy family.  I love my brothers and sister.  We were somehow thrown into life together despite our obvious and riotous differences.  We had no choice in the matter.  We have staunchly different beliefs and parenting and political views.  We have different dietary habits and chemical balances.  We probably should not be friends.  But we are.  We love each other fiercely. 

And so, I’m setting a new expectation for this coming holiday season.  I’m expecting a little frustration.  I’m expecting an argument or two.  I’m expecting that everyone will bring to the table a little bit of crazy with their favorite dish.  But I still have high hopes for a delicious menu.  And I’m also expecting hugs and laughter and ridiculously competitive rounds of Trivial Pursuit.  I know I’ll bake a lot and hope they’ll love it.  So, I guess I’m expecting a much more fun party than a Normal Rockwell painting.  I guess I’m expecting a real family.

The Simplest Side Dish

I love sweet potatoes, and, recently, I started roasting them with garlic and onions and apples.  It's the easiest thing, but it is so ridiculously good.  The kids pick out the onions, but they chow down on the sweet potatoes and apples!  I love the sweet/savory mix.  I hope you do too!

Prep: 20 min., Bake: 35 min. 

Ingredients

• 3  pounds  sweet potatoes (about 5 medium-size sweet potatoes), peeled
• 2  large Granny Smith apples, peeled
• 4  tablespoons  olive oil
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  coarsely ground pepper

Preparation

1. Cut peeled sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Cut peeled apples into 1/2-inch-thick cubes.  Smash the garlic cubes to peel them, then roughly chop them.  Cut the onion into larger chunks, a little smaller than the sweet potatoes and apples.
2. Coat everything in the olive oil.  
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Place potato mixture in a single layer in a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
5. Bake at 400° for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes and apples are tender and lightly browned.  You can bake for less if you'd like your apples more crisp.

Enjoy!