Quality Time, Quality Food

Hello Sweets,

I am tired, how about y'all?  I couldn't sleep last night because my head felt like it was going to explode, thanks to my injections :(  I had to be up early for my landlord to come by, and then do some quick grocery shopping for the dinner tonight.  Thankfully I got everything taken care of pretty quickly, and since I did all of the clean last night I managed to relax before prepping the food.  Tonight's post is going to be a short one because I didn't take any process photos (oops), and I'm feeling a little lazy lol.  But as I'm sitting here I'm thinking about baking something tonight, lol maybe muffins?  Who knows, but one things for sure, I'll have a new recipe tomorrow ;)

My grandparents picked a Mediterranean salmon as the star of the dinner, so I was tasked to prepare it and prepare some delicious sides too.  I chose to leave the salmon as it was, because it was already seasoned and didn't want to muddle the flavors up.  I personally love brussel sprouts, I know most people don't and it seems those that do cover them with cheese.  Yuck!  I stemmed them just enough to soften them, and then finished them off in the frying pan.  I added a little butter, salt, and pepper, then tossed them a little more.  I also made some brown rice for our starch, I didn't do too much to it.  I just made sure that it wasn't too dry, then added butter and salt.  It was a very simple dinner, but it was delicious.  My grandparents were very happy and satisfied.  Again my grandma ate a good helping of food, which is something she doesn't do enough.  We finished dinner off with the Chocolate Molten cake that I made last night, they both finished everything on that plate lol.  I really like making food for them, but it's even better now that I can have them here at my apartment :)

Now I'm going to go through some of my recipe books to see what delicious treat I can make tonight.  Until next time....


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxo

Healthy and yummy!

In Grandma's Kitchen

Hello Sweets,

(This was supposed to be posted Monday evening, but health stopped that, so there will be multiple posts on one day to catch up with what I've done :p )  Did you have a manic Monday?  Mine although not busy felt manic, and I think that was largely because of my wonky sleep schedule.  I didn't sleep on Saturday night and tried very hard to stay awake, to the point that my roommate was worried about me using a stove lol, but then around 2 o'clock I knew I had to have a nap and then I didn't wake up until midnight.  When Nathan heard this that night he thought for sure I would not be getting back to sleep, but thankfully my eyes got tired around 2am and I snoozed off and on until the morning.  I am hoping the tonight my body gets back to normal, or as close as possible because clearly the schedule I am on is not healthy :(

As I told you all a few days ago I am going to be making my wonderful grandparents dinner every few nights, and tonight was the first time!  They choose chicken to be the protein and left the rest up to me, which had me thinking all weekend about what I wanted to create for them.  One of the first ways I learned to cook chicken was with vegetables and mushroom soup in a casserole dish, so that is what I decided to do something simple and delicious (starting to think that is my signature).  I knew what they had in regards to rice and some veggies but I wanted some green veggies in there as well, and on Sunday I picked up a head of fresh broccoli and knew it would make a perfect addition.  So this recipe is one that is very versatile, you can add or change the veggies  and soup, and serve with rice, potatoes, or even a salad.

Canuckette's Tasty Chicken

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

1 can mushroom soup

garlic powder, to taste

roasted red peppers, to taste

broccoli, handful

red and yellow peppers, handful

2Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2C rice, made as directed (2Tbs butter and pinch of salt)

1/4-1/2C milk

milk not pictured, oops!

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 400F.  Season the chicken to your preferences, preheat a skillet with the olive oil in it.  Brown the chicken on each side, do not cook thoroughly, this will make your chicken flavorful and juicy.

 

2)  Line the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish with your veggies (fresh or frozen works), and place the chicken on top.  Mix the milk and mushroom soup in a bowl, and pour over the chicken.

3)  Place in preheated oven, uncovered for about 40 minutes (until the chicken is fully cooked with no pink in the center).  Plate on top of a bed of rice and enjoy!

I am glad to say that the grandparents enjoyed the dinner very much, so much that they both had cleaned plates at the end :)  As a loving granddaughter I'm happy to give something back to them, of course it never feels like enough but a smile goes a long way.

Tomorrows post I'm going to share a recipe of my grandmothers with you, but you'll have to come back to see what this delicious healthy and tasty treat with a twist of my own of course ;)  Later this week I'll make my grandparents dinner again and that will be a dinner post too!  Until next time.....................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Grandma's Christmas Kitchen

Hello Sweets,

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  :)  Perhaps you're as fortunate (unfortunate in my opinion lol) as my city is and you've got some snow to get you into the festive spirit!  Now personally I do not care for snow, but it is only a little sprinkle so I think I'll be okay ;)  Do you guys enjoy snow?  Or are you a sun bunny like myself?  What is your favorite winter activity?  Mine is snuggling up next to a warm fire with a cup of hot cocoa, and my love Nathan by my side (well now I just made myself miss him more hmph! :( ).

I actually find it really coincidental that it snowed today, because my grandmother and I are baking her famous Christmas cake :), and I don't think we could have asked for a more pretty back drop.  My grandma has been making these cakes every year since before I was born, although when I was young she would have to make two; one adult (w/ brandy) and one children's (w/o brandy).  But now since everyone is grown, she just makes one batch of her famous cake, although we will have to make sure little Miguel doesn't get his hands on this.  I asked her today if this was one of my great grandmother's recipes, but she couldn't remember (I'm pretty sure it is).  Either way it is a family recipe that I now have to carry on with me.  :)   It is a two day process and total time in the kitchen (with baking) is around 4-5 hours depending on your speed and organizational skills, so be prepared to spend some quality time with your counter tops lol.  Now, shall we get to the festive delight of a dessert?

Grandma's Dark Christmas Cake

Ingredients

1lb candied pineapple

1/2lb candied cherries

1/4lb candied citron

2oz lemon peel

2oz orange peel

1lb golden raisins

1/2lb dark raisins

1/4lb currants

1/2C brandy liqueur

1/4lb almonds

1/4lb walnuts (or pecans)

2C flour, sifted

1/2Tsp mace (can substitute w/ nutmeg)

1/2Tsp cinnamon

1/2Tsp baking soda

5 eggs

1 Tbs milk

1 Tsp almond extract

1/4lb butter, softened

1C white sugar

1C brown sugar

(makes 2 loaves)

Directions:

Day 1~ Mix all candied fruits and soak overnight in the brandy in the refrigerator.

Day 2~

1)  Coarsely chop nuts, and mix in with the fruit.  Set aside.

2)  Grease two loaf pans, and line with parchment paper (tinfoil can be substituted).  Preheat oven to 275F.

3)  Sift flour into a medium bowl, remove 1/2C from the bowl and set aside.  With the remainder of the flour sift in baking soda and spices, set aside.

flour check, spices check!

4)  Take 1/2C of flour and mix thoroughly with the brandied fruit and nuts.  Set aside.

5)  Beat eggs slightly, add milk and almond extract.  Set aside.

6)  Cream butter with both sugars until light and fluffy.  Mix in egg and flour mixtures thoroughly.

7)  Pour batter into prepared loaf pans, be sure to press the batter down and evenly distribute.  Bake for 3 hours and 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let stand for 30 minutes, then turn it upside down on a wire rack and remove paper (tinfoil).  Most importantly, enjoy!

YUM!

Today has been a really great day, being back in the kitchen with my grandmother filled me with nostalgia of when she first taught me how to bake.  Believe it or not, my favorite thing to do when baking with her, a close second is licking the beaters (what kid doesn't), but for me it was sifting!  I'm not kidding lol, I would go to town sifting every last grain of flour :) making sure I got every last piece through.  Even still to this day when I am sifting, I find myself smiling and seeing that little girl standing on a kitchen chair sifting over the giant mixing bowl.

Do you have a favorite holiday baking memory?  Or maybe your favorite holiday memory with your grandparents?  I know I have a ton of great memories with my grandparents over the holiday season, and I will do my best to share as many as I can over this holiday season :)  As always, I love hearing from you guys, so please don't hesitate to contact me about anything!

Now I have to convince my grandmother to make homemade Christmas pudding, which apparently is a 20 hour excursion O_O.  But it is oh so yummy, and she makes this delicious brandy sauce from scratch, so I figured why not the pudding too this year!  Wish me the best of luck, as I go to state my case ;)  Until next time........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Pastizzis: the grand finale!

Hello Sweets,

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a fantastic day, I've been busy in the kitchen with my grandfather, completing the pastizzi adventure :)  Did any of my American readers venture out for the crazy black Friday sales?  If you did you are a brave soul, I'm not sure I could handle all that craziness even for a good sale lol.

So today my grandfather and I were able to complete our pastizzis today!  I honestly didn't know that much work went into them, but they are definitely worth it.  One thing I thought I should mention is in regards to the dough, I would probably double it because the filling supersedes the amount of dough, apparently he will be making more next week to freeze (after today I feel I may be getting a phone call lol).  Okay lets get to the pastizzi finale!  Oh and remember I have the ricotta filling recipe today and how to put it all together :)

Ricotta Filling

Ingredients

1 container ricotta cheese

1 egg

dash pepper

Directions:

1)  Mix all ingredients together.  Set aside (yea it's really that easy lol)

bakes in the oven with the pastry :)

Remember the meat filling from my first post, put it on the stove to heat it up and add 3Tbs of HP sauce to it to add some zest to it.  Set aside.

Putting the Pastizzis together

Directions:

1)  Take you ball of dough and cut an inch and a half, then flatten it slightly with your hands and rub a little shortening on it.

2)  Take a  rolling pin and roll the dough until it is paper thin, it will start to stick to the rolling pin and pull apart, this is what we want.  Rub with more shortening (do not use flour at all, the shortening should prevent most of the stickiness).

3)  Repeat step two with another piece of dough, you are going to roll this piece over the first (creates a yummy flakiness).  Rub with shortening.

4)  Now start rolling the dough on to itself, rolling as tight as possible.  Try to keep it as uniform as possible, folding in loose ends as they form.  Rub with shortening and set aside, continue this until all dough is rolled.  You can do three layers, but make sure the dough is super thin.

5)  Have both fillings ready, now comes the messy but fun part!  Cut one and a half inch sections of dough, and flatten with your hand like a tiny pizza.  You want them ideally the size of your palm (size of a coaster).

6)  Place a tablespoons amount of one of the fillings and place it not quite center in the dough.  Then fold the dough over the filling and pinch closed like a little pocket.

 meat and peas

ricotta

7)  Repeat steps until dough is completely gone.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 375F for 20 minutes, or until the bottom are golden brown, then turn on broil for 5 minutes to brown the top.  Remove and let stand for a couple of minutes, then enjoy!

my grandfather said I had a beginners touch because his are the ones that look like a newbies lol

I don't think I could have thought of a better way to spend a dreary afternoon than being in the kitchen with someone I love :)  We had lots of fun, he got to pass the torch down to the closest to next generation, and we even had some laughs at our own expense.  I have loved these savory little treats for as long as I can remember, although when I was young I thought the ricotta ones were gross but not anymore ;)  And know I can make them whenever my little heart desires!

So remember a few posts ago when I said I was starting to think about Christmas baking?  Well the baking is going to officially start tomorrow, because my grandmother has decided to make her brandy Christmas cake early because I'm leaving in early December :)  Now I know what everyone is thinking, "fruit cake, ick!", but this is not a typical fruit cake.  It is much more moist and flavor full, and well it has brandy in it so it is more adult.  She doesn't ice it like the fruit cakes that get re gifted over and over lol actually there is never any left at the end of Christmas day, and if that doesn't scream yummy goodness to you well I'm stumped lol :)

Another yummy treat she always had on Christmas day was Christmas pudding with a brandy sauce (this is sort of making her look like a drinker, but she is not at all lol), but I found out a couple years back she bought this pudding at Christmas bazaars and only made the sauce.  I was shocked, because my whole life I thought she made this cake with forbidden sauce (that my mother would sometimes sneak me).  Well, I have convinced her to make a Christmas pudding with me, and I'll have that post for you in the next week or two :)  I'm just going crazy for Christmas, which is rare for me because I am used to a low key Christmas, but at Nathan's it is a couple days worth and I've got to say that I love it more like that ;)  Until next time.........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo