Christmas Holiday Baking

435.  This year's baking extravaganza was so enjoyable! This blog post is filled with pictures.

Hope your holidays are filled with good food, lots of joy, fun with families and a Happy New Year!

Mini Peach Pies

434.  Personal sized pies are a perfect treat any time.  These little beauties are filled with fresh peaches and a hint of cinnamon.  I follow directions for any two crust pie but divide the dough perfectly between 6 muffin tins.

I divide the dough into 8 equal pieces reserving 2 pieces for the lattice top.

Once I fill and place the lattice tops on, I brush with water and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the pies.

Bake as you would for a pie but reduce the time till you see the filling bubbling.

"If I'm going to have something rich and yummy, I'm not reaching for prepackaged brownies.  I'm going to make a pie from scratch."

~Marisa Miller

Browned Butter & Sage Pumpkin Ravioli

433.  It's Autumn and I love when the seasonal options are made available.  Trader Joes never disappoints with a variety of spice, pumpkin and squash flavored items.

The pumpkin ravioli in the fresh refrigerated section was a must have!  

In a large frying pan I melted 1 stick of salted butter and let it bubble away until all the foam disappears and the butter turns a nutty brown color.  All the milk solids drop to the bottom and toast to wonderful buttery bits.  I then placed my fresh sage leaves in the butter and they crisp up rapidly.  Then remove them to a paper towel to use as garnish.  The sage flavors the browned butter.

On the side I have water boiling and add the fresh Pumpkin Ravioli.  It is so brightly colored yellow on one side and orange on the other filled with pumpkin.

After the sage is removed I added chopped garlic, about 2 cloves.  It will simmer and cook quickly.  

Spoon the finished pasta into the browned butter and turn the ravioli over to coat with the yummy butter.

You can add any vegetable or no vegetable at all to the dish.

Then place the crispy sage on top as a garnish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  WOW!!!  

"Why are terms of endearment always food? Honey, cookie, sugar, pumpkin."

- Jodi Picoult.

Farmers Market and Used Books

432. On the weekend, our town hosts a great Farmer's Market with fresh produce, live music, baked goods and a variety of handmade vendors.

I was excited to stop by for basil to make pesto and any fresh produce.

The selection was beautiful and knowing they were all from organic growing farms made the price higher but worth supporting local growers.

Across the way is our public library that holds a book sale monthly.  That was our next stop.

I found a few books and they were only $1.00 each!  

We enjoyed our outing and came away with a variety of treasures.

"The farmer is the only one in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."

~ John F. Kennedy

"As long as there is a few farmers out there, we'll keep fighting for them."

~ Willie Nelson

Chicken Souvlaki

431.  There is a great diner, serving Greek dishes, located in Long Beach, New York.  It sits on a corner directly across from another diner.  Rumor has it, there were two friends who opened the Greek diner together.  They couldn't see eye to eye, so one of the friends quit, walked out and went directly across the street and opened their own diner. It's funny because each restaurant is great, but the one that serves Greek dishes is the original diner and always a favorite.  (Although, the second diner has better french fries, breakfast foods and coffee.)

So, the diner that serves Greek dishes makes a killer Chicken Souvlaki served over a large salad.  Each time I go I intend to try something else on the menu but inevitably will choose the Souvlaki.  Missing that great diner, I decided to try to duplicate the meal, impossible, I know, but I took the risk.  

What would I need?  Well, chicken of course, Romain and iceberg lettuce, red onion, feta cheese, pita bread, Kalamata olives, Tzatziki, and tomato. The marinade for my chicken was pretty simple.  I cubed two large chicken breasts and placed the meat in a ziplock adding salt, pepper, minced garlic, fresh thyme, fresh oregano chopped fine, juice from a whole lemon, a shake of garlic salt.  I let this marinade in the refrigerator for several hours.  I then placed it on wooden skewers that I soaked in water, then grilled them.  Trader Joes has a Tzatziki Dip that is very delicious and is a perfect compliment.  Here is a recipe from Yummly that is similar.

You could leave the pita whole and wrap all the items inside to eat like a sandwich.  I prefer everything over a salad.  And that is what we did.

"Yassas"  Meaning, 'To Your Health'"

"Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French.  Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek.  Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it (all) good.

~Alice May Brock

Mango Salsa

430.  Cool, fresh, satisfying; these words describe fresh-made mango salsa.  When a break is needed from the standard tomato based salsa, fruited salsa is perfect.  Fruits that work well would include mango, peaches, plums, or pears.  When the fruit is softer or more ripe, the sugars develop in the fruit making the sweet/savory balance so much better.

"Salsa is something I never get tired of.  How could I, when there are so many different flavor combinations to try?"

~ Megan Myers

Baked Zucchini

 429.  Summer time always provides us with plenty of beautiful vegetables and zucchini is always at the top of my list.  They are lovely and so versatile to work with as well as the flavor that will compliment any  pairing whether sweet or savory.  This is a savory dish, although using some of the same methods as my classic recipe HERE, the recipe was adapted from Antoni Porowski's cookbook for "Baked Zucchini".  

His recipe is vegan but I use ground beef in my recipe.  I followed each step but made a meatball-like filling for the deep well you create by scraping out the seeds.  Often times I will chop up the seeds and flesh removed and mix it with the filling, if the seeds are young and tender.  A light marinara sauce was a perfect base for this recipe HERE.

The breadcrumb topping was a really nice addition, although, next time I would use a finely ground parmesan cheese.

Topped off with chopped basil leaves and a side salad, this was a beautiful summer meal.  Thank you zucchini...you've done it again.  Made it on my "Summer Favorites" list.

"When I pass a flowering zucchini plant in a garden, my heart skas a beat."

~ Gwyneth Paltrow

Ice Cream

428. While scrolling the other day, there was a posted video of homemade ice cream made at home in a ziplock bag that only takes 20 minutes!  What is it about these videos that create the craving and desire to have that burger, or cupcake or pair of shoes right now?!!!  Well, you guessed it...I had to have ice cream now!  

Here is a recipe.  Collecting my ingredients, the adventure began.  Ziplocks, check, half n half, check, fruit, check.  I chose strawberries.  

Now for the shaking and squishing and tumbling of the smaller ziplock bag inside the larger bag of ice and salt.  Placing it into a large plastic bowl with a lid does help!

It wasn't a perfect bowl of ice cream, but it sure satisfied my craving!  This method is so much fun and would be a great energy user for kids.  Thanks to Meta-Madness we all have ordered something or eaten something that we really didn't need, want or even thought about.  But that is advertising persuasion working.

Oh, and, eat the ice cream right away.  Out of the freezer the next day it turns rock hard.  FYI

"Particularly Instagram, people look like they have a much better life than they really do.  People basically seem like they are way better-looking than they really are, and they are way happier-seeming than they really are."

~Elon Musk

Sushi

427.  Sushi is such a delight.  It is savory flavors coming together on your pallet exploding with surprising nuances. Salty, smooth, cold, crunchy, textures popping with spicy, tangy, toasted, yummy experiences.  Some would say "fishy" too but, that depends on the seafood that you use.  Of course, raw fish is involved but the health factor far outweighs the off-putting thought of "raw fish".  Once I tried sushi,  I always walk away satisfied.

We have our favorite rolls and favorite restaurants that serve sushi, but, I decided to make sushi at home.  I purchased a sushi kit, which you can find them at William Sonoma online here.  And, it comes with instructions that are so easy to follow.

I purchased fresh water salmon and sliced it paper thin, toasted sesame seeds, sliced an avocado, julienned cucumber, sautéed shrimp and cut it into chunks, cream cheese pieces, mango sliced thin, coated onion slices with egg and flour and fried them in hot oil till crispy.  I also found black caviar and made sticky rice.

And then we started the process.  It took a couple tries accomplishing the rolling and tucking skill, but, we each gave it a go.

We also made spicy mayo and pickled ginger, my recipe here.  And who could forget wasabi!!  

What a pleasant surprise and we ate sushi for hours.  Some rolls were with seaweed outside and others with seaweed inside and rice on the outside which was tricky.

I also made nigiri with the extra salmon, shmear of wasabi and rice.  More reasons to say yum!

What a great experience and delightful dinner!  So, no, it was not expert quality but it satisfied.  I will leave that to the masters!

If you web search "Sushi" you will be amazed how many recipes, hints, tutorials and videos you will find. My favorite go-to is on PBS and my rice turns out perfect every time.  PBS Sushi Watch Here

"I've been making sushi for 38 years, and I'm still learning.  You have to consider the size and color of the ingredients, how much salt and vinegar to use and how the seasons affect the fattiness of the fish."

~ Masaharu Morimoto