The Day After

Ahhh, yes, it's December 26th, and Christmas is over.  Sigh.  I always feel a bit blue on the day after Christmas.  Maybe it's because the big day has been much anticipated these last few weeks, and there's been so much prepping, planning, wrapping, and baking, and then it's finally Christmas, and then...poof! It's over.  Well, time to plan for Christmas 2015, right?!

Today's post will be about the things I baked for Christmas 2014 and maybe you will want to put these on your list for gift giving for next year.  Or better yet, why not make these now and you can enjoy them as we look forward to celebrating the New Year?

Homemade Granola

This is a recipe I've been making for the last 7 years, maybe.  It's super easy and relatively healthy because there isn't any added oils at all. You just throw some brown sugar, dried fruit, nuts, and oats together, bake it, and voila! The recipe is one I adapted from Alton Brown and the Food Network and you can find it here:http://tastetestedrecipes.com/better-breakfasts/626-granola-time.html


Kipfel (German Crescent Christmas Cookies)

Cookie dough shaped into crescents

Cookies baked and allowed to cool

Shower these babies with powdered sugar!

Oh, this is one of my go-to and favorite recipes for the holidays.  I've been baking and giving these cookies for the past 18 years.  This year I made the dough a few days prior to baking, rolled the dough into logs, and wrapped them in plastic wrap.  You can keep the dough frozen for 6 months!  When I knew I was going to gift the cookies to someone, I simply let the dough thaw out for a few hours and baked them the same day.  This made my baking schedule so much easier and less stressful. It's a win-win!

Ingredients:
2 cups unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups (9 ounces) whole almonds
1 tsp salt
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until well blended
Combine 1/4 cup flour, almonds and salt in a food processor and grind until almonds are finely chopped.
Add almond mixture and the remaining flour to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
(at this point, you can roll the dough into logs and freeze in plastic wrap)
Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, form into a crescent shape.
Place cookies on ungreased baking sheets, spacing evenly.
Bake until golden brown at edges and firm to touch, about 17-20 minutes.
Cool cookies for about 10 minutes on sheets; place cool cookies on a large plate or parchment paper and sprinkle them with powdered sugar.
Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Candy Cane Truffle Brownies

Shhhh...don't tell anyone but I actually used a brownie baking mix for these.  My favorite one is the Truffle Brownie Mix from Trader Joe's.  It tastes just as good, or even better, than homemade, in my opinion.  I got about 12 candy canes, placed them in a large plastic freezer bag, and pounded them with a metal spatula to break up the candy canes into bits and pieces. I stirred in about half the candy cane pieces into the prepared brownie batter, baked it, then once it was out of the oven, while still hot, I poured the other half of the candy canes on top of the brownies, and then let the whole thing cool in the pan.

Do You Charcuterie?

Charcuterie is truly an art form.  French in origin, charcuterie is a "branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as sausage, bacon, ham, pate..." (Wikipedia).

Last weekend I hosted a wine tasting party at my house.  The theme for the evening was South American wines.  I served two whites and three reds.  The first course was this charcuterie platter:

Chardonnay from Chile was a lovely accompaniment to the charcuterie, which consisted of several types of salamis, fresh and dried fruits, homemade chicken liver pate, hummus, nuts, breads, olives and several cheese.

Have you served a charcuterie platter? If so, what was on yours? 

I'm looking forward to throwing my next party, wine tasting or just a get together, the charcuterie platter will surely make another appearance!

Ever Hear of Everlane?

Seems like everybody and their brother (or sister) has done one review or another about the online retailer, Everlane.  I myself had never even heard of this company until about 3 months ago.  Since then, I've been an Everlane-addict!

I love the clean lines of their clothing; nothing fancy, just simple basics that I can wear every day and pieces I can dress up or down.

The reason I'm even mentioning Everlane today on my blog is because this company did something simply unheard of, in my opinion at least.

Let me first give you a brief "back story"; a few weeks ago I was pining over one of their tank tops, called the Langley Drape Tank.  I no longer saw this item on their website so I emailed their customer service to ask about it.  Lisa Pham, their customer service representative messaged me back to inform me that they had sold out on this particular tank top and Everlane wouldn't be producing any more of them.  Bummer.

Fast forward to this afternoon.  I looked out on my porch to see a large brown envelope which I quickly recognize as the Everlane packaging.  I didn't recall ordering anything again after my most recent purchase which was just last week.  I quickly (and excitedly), open up the package only to find the Langley Drape Tank inside, and a note from Lisa herself telling me that she looked high and low for me and was able to find one of the tanks I had wanted so badly.  Plus, it was a gift from Everlane!

I was happily surprised.  I already loved Everlane but now I love them even more.  I've been an online shopper for maybe 10 years now, shopping some pretty great and not so great sites.  Never once have one of those companies given me a gift of any sort (not that I expected them to)!  I can't praise Everlane enough.  Not only because I got a free tank top from them, but really, because the tank top represents their thoughtfulness as a company and how they will go out of their way to please their customers.

Anyways, here's my tank top as it was packaged in classy Everlane style:

and here's the tank...it's made of a cozy slub cotton and the cut is a little longer in the back.  I love it!

Everlane

The Kiddos in their Costumes!

Here's a preview of my two honeys in their Halloween costumes.  I'm not sure if I'll take them trick or treating or not this year. We will definitely be passing out candy though.

Our Trip to Julian

The bulldogs and I recently visited the old mining town of Julian, CA.  I rented a dog-friendly cabin there and the boys had a blast exploring the almost 1 and a half acres of property.  A trip to Julian is not complete without trying out the apple pie there.  Julian is well known for their apple orchards, apple picking during the fall, and the apple desserts.

One morning we stopped by the Julian Bakery and I got a slice of boysenberry-apple crumble a la mode.  The a la mode part was half cinnamon ice cream, half vanilla.  YUM!!

Our second pie stop was to Mom's, also on Main Street.  My friend Deb had recommended this place to me so of course, I had to check it out.   I got the strawberry-rhubarb pie and also a caramel apple.

Here are some photos of Tate and Finn exploring the cabin grounds, and some shots of the gorgeous Julian scenery...

Breakfast is probably my most favorite meal of the day.  There's just something extra satisfying about digging into something delicious after your body has had a chance to fast for several hours. Usually I wake up pretty hungry but this morning, because I knew I'd be meeting my friend at 10am to "break my fast", I decided to drink my usual black coffee with a dash of condensed milk and had some nuts and raisins to munch on.

I met my friend at a coffee shop called Hill Street Cafe in Burbank.  This place has got an old school feel to it with its cozy booths and very friendly staff.  The breakfast menu was pretty extensive but I zeroed in on what my body was craving: strawberry waffles topped with whipped cream,  eggs, and extra crispy hash browns (yes, I had a big appetite)!

The waffles were absolutely scrumptious--crispy and light with loads of fresh strawberries and just the right amount of whipped topping.  The hash browns and over-medium eggs were also excellent.  I washed everything down with their passion fruit iced tea...ahh...refreshingly good!

If you're ever in the Southern California area, head over to Burbank and the Hill Street Cafe. I'm looking forward to my next visit!

Hill Street Cafe

3301 N. Glenoaks Blvd

Burbank, CA

Summer Cooking--Asian Style Short Ribs

It's so DANG HOT here still that cooking anything other than toast is a bit of a turn off.  But, I did manage to make this Asian Style Braised Short Rib dish a couple months ago (I know, it took me THIS long to post it)!
I ordered the grass-fed short ribs from US Wellness, an online meat supply store. I love short ribs and was really excited when I found this recipe on Terry B's site, http://www.blue-kitchen.com.

Yes, the short ribs do take some time to prepare and cook but the end result is totally worth it. I loved the juicy, tangy flavor of the ribs, and they went perfectly with steamed rice.

(Recipe adapted from Blue-Kitchen dot com)

Ingredients:

3 1/2 to 4 lbs bone-in short ribs
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used duck fat)
6 scallions, cut into 2-inch sections (reserve the green tops of one)
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
2 cups water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5 Whole Star Anise (Note: I substituted this with Chinese 5 Spice Powder--about 1 teaspoonful)

There are so many ingredients in this recipe that Mise en place is very important, otherwise, I'd be going nuts with all the prep work and cooking at the same time.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Trim any excess fat from short ribs, but no need to trim ALL the fat as the fat adds the flavor! Season generously with black pepper (but not salt). Heat a heavy dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil and brown short ribs on all the meaty sides for about 8 minutes total. Work in batches if necessary to avoid over-crowding in the pot. Transfer ribs to plate with tongs. Reduce heat to medium and add scallions, carrots, garlic, and ginger to pot. Cook, stirring frequently (note: you want to sweat the veggies, not brown them), for about 5 minutes.

Add orange juice, soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes to dutch oven, stirring to combine. Scrape up any browned bits. Rterun short ribs to dutch oven, arranging in a single layer, if possible (don't worry about over-crowding at this point). The liquids won't completely cover the ribs and that's okay. Sprinkle the ribs with the Chinese 5 spice powder. Place parchment paper over ribs and braising mixture. Cover pot with lid and place in oven on middle rack. Braise until ribs are tender, about 2.5 hours, turning ribs once half-way thru cooking.

Serve the short ribs with white rice and top with scallion tops and sesame seeds, if you wish.