One Of The Best Gingers I Know!

Hello Sweets,

How has your Tuesday been so far?  Mine has been absolutely wonderful :D, why you ask?  Well this morning I landed in the great state of Texas, which means Nathan and I have been reunited (and it feels so good lol). 

Not great quality, but you can feel the love <3

Even though I am EXTREMELY tired, feel sore, and a little sick, no of that matters as soon as I saw him as I was coming down the escalator.  Knowing that the hand I love to hold is now always in my reach is undeniably the best feeling you can have when everything seems to be going haywire.  Needless to say there will definitely be baking going on, although you may see some old recipes, I will make small changes to keep things fresh.  Not to mention that Nathan will be cooking too, so you will be privy to his delicious bites as well :)

As I promised yesterday, I have a longer post, and tonight you are going to get a yummy treat for your taste buds :)  So yesterday I made candied ginger so my tummy would have a tasty way to be settled which then got me thinking, could I make an even tastier treat that could possibly settle the tummy as well?  Then I came across an idea for the candied ginger, and giant soft and chewy ginger cookies.  When I was growing up, the mother of a childhood friend of mine would make ginger snaps, but they weren't your traditional ginger snaps because they were crisp on the outer edge but the center was chewy.  Now this recipe is not a ginger snap in any shape or form, but the soft and chewy centers of the childhood cookies are the entire embodiment in every sense of the word :)  So let's get to the deliciousness shall we?

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies (via The Baker Chic)

Ingredients

 2 1/4C all-purpose flour

2Tsp ground ginger

1 Tsp baking soda

3/4Tsp cinnamon

1/2Tsp cloves (I used allspice as a substitute)

1/4Tsp salt

 3/4C butter, softened

1/2C white sugar

1/2C brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbs water

1/4C molasses

1/2C ginger, candied (see previous post)

2Tbs raw sugar (for rolling, I used white and it worked just as well)

candied ginger not pictured

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F, positioning the racks in the center of your oven.  Mix together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a medium bow.  Set aside.

 

2)   In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3)  Beat in the egg, then mix in the water and molasses.

4)  Gradually mix in the sifted mixture to the molasses mix.  Stir in the candied ginger.

 

5)  Chill the dough for 15 minuted to allow for easier handling.  Shape dough into 1" sized balls, and roll them into the raw sugar.  Place the cookies 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet (lol I made mine a little bit too big as you will see), and flatten slightly.  Baking for 8-10 minutes.

6)  Allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an air tight container.

Don't they look delicious :)

There are a couple different things that make these cookies unique; the fact that they have the candied ginger in them gives them a spicy depth that most ginger cookies don't have, and they stay soft and chewy as long as you can keep them in the house (lol which isn't long).

So now I am almost caught up with my back up recipes, although I do have one more up my sleeve which is something of a traditional, old fashion treat but with a sweet little surprise to it ;)  Now that I've got you intrigued you'll be coming back tomorrow for yet another one of Canuckette's creations.  Until next time...........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

I'm Coming Home!

Hello Sweets,

I know what everyone is thinking, aren't you are home already?  But you know the saying "home is where the heart is"?  Well my heart is in Texas, and that is where I feel most at home, and since the Christmas season is upon us, I am heading down to visit all of my favorite Texans!

I'm going to have to apologize again for the short post, but I have a lot of things to get together before I leave tomorrow evening, and with a doctors appointment tomorrow and a visit with an old friend, I have a jam packed day lol.  I'm really looking forward to my visit for many reasons, the obvious being I will be reunited with the love of my life, soul mate, and best friend Nathan, but also because he enjoys holiday baking as much as I do, so we are planning a cookie extravaganza if you will ;)  Since we are going to be baking traditional Christmas cookies, I of course started thinking of what I wanted to make, then it was like a message from above, as I'm standing in the line at the grocery store what do I see.....

Life works in wonderful ways.

I am a HUGE fan of the Food Network and all their lovely players.  Some of my favorites are Miss Paula Deen (Southern Bell), Ron Ben-Israel (Sweet Genius), Guy Fieri (Diners Drive Ins and Dives), and my newest find Jeff Mauro (Sandwich King), just to name a few.  Lol I know I know I'm a complete foodie geek but hey, everyone deserves to have a passion.  So anyways back to the magazine.  I'm excited to try some new recipes and have them all ready for the family functions we will be attending (at least 2 so I need to make sure to make bundles to be fair!).  I have never loved Christmas as much as I do until I met Nathan, now it is definitely one of my favorite times of the year!

Well I know it feels like I haven't been posting a lot in the last couple of days and I feel terrible, but rest assured, since I am going to be with my love in less than 40 hours (EKKKKK) you can bet that there will be tons of recipes (because we all know I spoil him), and tons to blog about since he always spoils me :)  Now I am off to double check my luggage, and then run through all my other last minute to do/check lists.  

Can you believe me, a girl, can pack only in carry-on? I know it's a gift lol

Until next time.......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Chocolate Trials

Hello Sweets,

It's finally the weekend :)  Do you have anything excited planned for this weekend?  I don't have any other plans beside; going to the gym, packing my bags, and laundry (yes I know I live an exciting life).  What am I packing for you ask?  Well it's the Christmas season which means I am heading down to Texas to spend it with Nathan and his family.  I have some family in the neighboring state of Oklahoma, so we will be heading their way as well.  I've never been one for the Christmas season, but seeing Nathan and his family together celebrating with laughter and smiles has really changed my view :)  I've even thought of a great gift idea.  Now I can't go into too much detail because I have readers who will be getting this gift, but lets just say it will definitely have the Canuckette spin on it ;)

A couple of days ago it was my love's birthday, and sadly I was not there to celebrate it with him, but I am going to make up for it.  He LOVES chocolate cake, so I am going to make him one from scratch.  Now it sounds pretty simple right?  Well anyone who knows me, knows I put the pressure on myself to produce the best baked good, and with cakes that means moist deliciousness!  So for the last five days I've been researching, researching, and researching lol to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe.  Even after finding one I went looking for others just to have as a back up in case there was something off.  Then I started researching ways to ensure it was as moist as I could get it without ruining the balance of the recipe.  Of course there's the obvious, don't over mix the final batter mixture, but did you know that beating the egg whites and the yolks separately then adding them one at a time creates little air bubbles?  Or replacing white sugar with brown, because it holds moisture easier?  I learned all sorts of fun things about baking moist cakes today!  So get your beaters ready, because we are going to chocolaty moist cake town with a pit stop in icing island ;)

 Canuckette's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 3/4C all purpose flour

2C brown sugar

3/4C cocoa powder

1 1/2Tsp baking soda

3/4Tsp salt

2 large eggs

1C buttermilk (or substitute 1 Tbsp vinegar, then fill up to 1C with milk waiting 5 minutes to thicken)

1/2C butter, melted

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1C freshly brewed coffee (or 2Tsp of instant in 1C of boiling water)

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325F, line muffin pans with papers and set aside (if making a cake there is enough batter for 2 9" pans, either grease and flour or line with parchment paper).

2) In a large mixing bowl; combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.  

3)  Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla, beat until just smooth.  

4)  Stir in hot coffee with metal spatula, mixture will be very runny.

5)  Pour batter into muffin cups 3/4 of the way full (makes 24), bake in the middle rack for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Leave in pan for 15 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack.

In the meanwhile let's make some icing!

Decedant Chocolate Buttermilk Icing

Ingredients

1/4C butter, softened

2/3C cocoa powder

1-2C confectioners sugar

1 Tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1/3C milk

Directions:

1)  In a medium bowl, combine butter, cocoa, salt, vanilla, part of the confectioners sugar, and part of the milk, mixing until well blended.  Adding in the remaining milk with the additional confectioners sugar, until you reach desired sweetness.

Once your cupcakes (or cake) are completely cooled, place icing in a piping bag (or my go to make shift sandwich bags lol) and decorate, then of course enjoy!

The chocolate icing is so decadent you don't need a lot :)

These cupcakes turned out exactly what I was looking for; light, fluffy, and moist!  I think I found a recipe worthy of my birthday boy, and I think he will be very happy with these little treasures.  Oh who am I kidding, he loves everything I make him lol just a bonus as to why I love this man :)

Well now that I have a treat for my birthday boy, I can shift my attention back to finalizing the Christmas surprises.  Well that and taking care of everything that needs to be done before I go, ahhhhh never enough time (or perhaps my organization is lacking lol).  Until next time.........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Canuckette's Passion

Hello Sweets,

I hope you all are having a relaxing Sunday :)  Did you do anything fun this weekend?  Maybe you baked a special little treat? I would love to hear from all of you.  Me, well today hasn't been too great, I feel pretty awful so I don't have the energy to whip up something creative in the kitchen (I know, no recipe I'm sorry :( ).  With my migraines sometimes it's best for me to take a break from the kitchen because I never know what sound, smell, or even temperature will make things even worse.  You would think after more than a year of this I would be used to it, but sadly no, I'm just as big of a suck now as when it all first started lol.

So I started thinking to myself, what should I write about today?  The idea was all too clear to me, why not write that post about passion I was going to do earlier this week!  This won't be a super long post, rather quick and to the point, but I really want to make sure I tell you guys what passion means to me, and what it has done for my life. 

Dictionary Reference website defines Passion as;

passion ~ noun

1.  any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.

2.  strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor; lust.

4.  an instance or experience of strong love.

5.  a person toward whom one feels strong love.

6.  a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music.

7.  the object of such a fondness or desire: Accuracy became a passion with him.

8.  an outburst of strong emotion or feeling: He suddenly broke into a passion of bitter words.

Now I removed a couple of points that referred to sexual desire, anger, and religious references because they were not applicable to my reference to passion, but you can find the complete definition through the link above :)

What I take away from this definition, and what I know applies to my passion for everything about being in a kitchen, is that I absolutely love creating and making food for others.  I can't even begin to explain the sheer emotional feeling I get inside when I see someone smile, or that they absolutely love what I have made for them.  I guess the closest I can describe it to is when I volunteer, for any organization, knowing that I can make even the smallest impact on someones life and be a little ray of sunshine for them.  It's that warm feeling you get when your with the ones you care about the most, laughing and smiling, being in that moment and not caring about anything else that is going on.  It's been this passion for baking, cooking, and blogging that has really helped me deal with all the stress of my illnesses and to have a sense of normalcy to my life, and even bring me back over to the happy side when I am feeling down.

When I am in the kitchen, I want to be there, actually I love being there, it makes me forget about all the other things going on in my life and I can just create and explore new things.  I can make mistakes and be okay with them,  or even laugh about them because it is all part of the experience for me.  I love trying new recipes and flavors.  I have that unmistakable desire of wanting to better myself at each task.  I take the utmost pride in what I create, and I put some much care into my work because I want to see people enjoying what I create for them.  I can get lost in the moment when I'm baking and cooking, and forget about everything else that is going on in the world.  Now I'm not perfect, nor do I claim to be.  I will have my moments where I can get frustrated when something is not going according to plan or even get overwhelmed (Nathan will tell you!), but there are definitely more smiles, laughs, and silliness that tend to take place in whatever kitchen I am in :p

For me, my passion is baking and cooking for others, almost nothing feels better then that.  It is something I've always loved; from helping my grandmother at Christmas (I started out on the cheese and veggie platters lol), to creating yummy treats so I can watch my cutie nephew Miguel dive right in, and most importantly learning to make the things that my wonderful other half loves :)  I mastered coconut meringue pie (find the recipe here) just for him, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it perfect, but I put even more love into it because I have this need to create and master.  The feeling of when what you are trying so hard for something, then it comes out exactly or even better than you planned, is beyond words.

Kid knows how to eat a cupcake lol!

He loves auntie Jemmy's Peanut butter chocolate chip banana muffins 

These are the things that make life worth while.  I do it all for the smiles :)  What are you most passionate about?  I would love to hear from all of you, anytime, so please feel free to contact me.  Now I am off to relax with my trusty ginger ale, one thing I always reach for when I'm sick :)

Until next time.......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

A meal to cure my home sickness :)

Hello Sweets,

Well sadly it is Sunday night, and that means the weekend is over :(  Last night I went to see the movie "Flight" with Denzel Washington by myself, and I must say the movie was fantastic, and seeing the movie by myself was quite empowering.  I never thought I would be comfortable seeing a movie by myself, but Nathan encouraged me to give it a shot, and I'm glad I did (he is usually right lol).

In yesterdays post, I talked about how I was thinking of maybe doing a biscuit recipe, and then after I posted it, my roomie Tereza told me she had bought some steaks for me to cook for her son and I (she prefers chicken over red meat).  So I decided to include the steak in my biscuit post, and it sort of worked out for the best, because as I am sitting here typing, I'm in my Texas Longhorn sweatshirt and slippers being homesick, and yes I think of Texas as my real home, because that is where I am most comfortable.  So for dinner tonight I baked some fresh southern inspired biscuits to go with my yummy steak and baked potato.  I was more excited than normal to make steak for John (Tereza's son), because this time he was willing to try it with a little pink in the middle (normally had to be thoroughly cooked).  I am very proud to announce that not only did he like the "medium" cooked meat, but I didn't scrape off the seasoning, and I didn't hear a peep out of him, other then to say he liked it and thank you.  Nothing gives me more pride then when a child likes what I make, they are some of the hardest taste buds to please :)  Now on to my southern meal that helped with my homesickness.

Southern Biscuits(courtesy of my Aunt Jan)

Ingredients

2 1/4C All-purpose flour

3/4Tsp Salt

1Tsp Sugar

4Tsp Baking powder

1/3C Butter, very cold

1C Milk, very cold

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 450F.  Place flour, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl and combine.

2)  Cut butter into small pieces (pea size), add to mixture and blend with a fork, pushing into the butter pieces.

3)  Add the cold milk, toss together gently until it is barely mixed.

see the butter chunks

4)  As soon as the dough starts to hold together, place it onto a lightly floured counter.  Gently "knead" the dough a few time until it is a cohesive ball.

pre-kneading

5)  Roll the dough into a rectangle 1/2-3/4" thick, all depends on how tall you like your biscuits.  Cut into 2" circles, I used a drinking glass and twist when applying pressure to severe from the dough.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.

the kneading breaks the butter down to even smaller pieces

6)  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Butter and eat while warm, and enjoy!

a house that smells like fresh biscuits, so good

Canuckette's Steak Marinade

Ingredients

1 can of Cola

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder (use fresh if you have it)

Red Chili flakes

Your favorite cut of steak

Directions:

1)  Pierce the meat with a fork to allow the marinade to really soak into the meat.  Add the cola first as to not wash the spices off, then add your seasonings to your pallets preference.  Do this on both sides, then top up the cola so the meat is almost completely immersed in liquid.

2)  Place in the fridge overnight to get a really juicy piece of meat, or very least a couple of hours.

3)  Preheat your oven to 350F on broil, place the excess liquid in the bottom half of the broiler pan along with some water.  Place in the oven for about 15 minutes (depending on your cut/cooking preference).  

4)  Remove and serve with your favorite side dish, and most importantly enjoy!

So yummy with my fresh baked biscuit

So my roomie brought me home a fresh coconut today from the grocery store, and I am not sure what I want to make with the meat but I did enjoy a small glass of coconut water, mmmm!  

haven't had a fresh coconut in a while

So while I take tonight to research a new yummy recipe I decided to do the hard work of getting the meat out of the hard shell, and found an amazing and super easy way to get it out :D  First I hammered a nail into the "finger" grooves to remove the juice.  This is the softest part of the coconut so if you want the juice, this is the place to go.  Then I wrapped the coconut in a kitchen towel and took a hammer to it out back to break it open, I then placed it into a pot and boiled it for 5-10 minutes.

my coconut bath

This allowed the husk to slowly start to pull away, then you soak it in cold water for about 5-10 minutes.  Then all you need to do is pry the meat off by wedging a butter knife between the shell and the meat, and tada!! it just pops off super easy :)

So proud of myself

Now all that's left to do is figure out what to do with it, and I'm not going to lie, I am very excited to do something new and out of my comfort zone.  Until next time.........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Baking and Cooking is best done with the heart

Hello Sweets!

I'm sure everyone at some point in time has baked or cooked for that special someone in your life, and I am sure even if we messed it up by burning, misreading instructions, or just something tastes off that same person will either try to make you laugh about it or eat it regardless (these are why they are the loves of our lives right?).  I will be the first to admit both parts; a) I love to bake and cook for the love of my life, Nathan, and b) both him and his father got to witness me dumping a bowl of ingredients into the garbage because I swapped two of the ingredients measurements lol (mine was flour and it was WAY too much) and not to mention the cupcake debauchery (no tins lol needless to say they were a little flat and sad looking).  Hopefully when it happens you can do what I did and have a  good laugh at my silly error, and of course when you do it in front of others you might not hear the end of it, like I still do LOL!!

Nathan and I 

I tend to go a little crazy with Nathan, I bake cookies every time I visit (maybe it's because we are 2,083 kms away from each other that I tend to spoil him), on his birthday I told his mother and grandma that I would be baking his cake and there would be no more store bought cakes(ick!), and I even have made a flank roast with all the fixings for him and his brother (considering I had never made one before it was DELISH!).  But every time he always tells me "you know you don't have to do that right?", of course I know and I always say that I want to do it.  I have always baked and cooked for the end  result in watching someone enjoy the delectable morsels, more often then not I won't really eat much of what I make (which is probably good or I would be going to the gym more then doing what makes me really happy :)).  

Needless to say when he comes to see me there are goodies already waiting when he walks in the door.  The reason I tried a new recipe on Sunday was because he will be here tomorrow!!!!!  My roommate knew as soon as the house smelled like pumpkin and allspice that his visit was right around the corner (her and her son also benefit when I bake).  So after baking his pumpkin spice cupcakes I was left with pumpkin puree which got me thinking, I don't want to waste the leftovers so what can I make while he is here (I hate wasting anything)?? 

Mmmm pumpkin puree

Since he is here for a few days I of course picked up breakfast food to make for him like fruit, eggs, and bacon (I'm a granola girl, just cannot get enough of my cereal hmmm maybe I should make my own!!).  Then it dawned on me, I always make pancakes so why not pumpkin pancakes!!  Of course I had to run this past him as he can sometimes be picky (oddly enough not usually anything I make him ;)), and he is game!  So guess what I'll be preparing tomorrow for Fridays breakfast......yup you guessed it Pumpkin Pancakes!  That also means a blog with a recipe and step by step pictures, I'm very excited.....and clearly a newbie lol.

Stay sweet,


Jennifer  xoxoxo