Straight From Granny's Kitchen

Hello Sweets,

How are you all doing post holiday?  Are you all baked out?  Are you turkeyed out?  Or are you just finally getting to put your feet up?  Nathan and I are just finally getting to put our feet up, and I think we both forgot how much running around there is to do with Christmas.  Wrapping presents was pretty hard for me because of my shoulders, so I listened to my body and wrapped in stages lol.  Overall it was a great Christmas and everyone was happy as they could be :)

 How cute is Berries the reindeer?!?

I have a recipe today that comes from Nathans granny, Dora.  She is a sweet lady, born and raised in Texas, and is full of all sorts of kitchen knowledge (aka other uses for cream of tartar) :).  So when she stopped in with a recipe from Nathans late grandfather for me to recreate, I was flattered and honored to carry the torch in the family.  The only thing I didn't use from the original recipe was the icing, which I was making later at night so opted for the icing I used for Nathans birthday cake (you can find it here), with another Canuckette twist of course.  So let me share this gem of a family recipe with you now :)

Dede's Chocolate Sheet Cake

Ingredients

2C all-purpose flour

2C sugar

1/2C shortening

1C water

4Tbs cocoa

2 beaten eggs

1 Tsp baking soda

1 Tsp vanilla

1 Tsp cinnamon

 

I will apologize in advanced for the lack of pictures, Nathans uncle was over my shoulder the ENTIRE time

Directions:

1)  In a large bowl; sift together sugar and flour.

2)  Mix shortening, water, and cocoa in a sauce pan, bringing to rapid boil.  

3)  Pour over the flour and sugar mixture and stir until well mixed.

4)  Add the remaining ingredients; eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well.  Pour into a greased pan (large cake pan), I ended up using a cupcake tin instead and lined them with cupcake papers.

5)  Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Icing them once they are completely cooled.

*Side Note:  for the icing I added peppermint extract to give it a festive touch (use your taste buds for this part)*

 I ended up adding little candy cane sugar decals to make them even more festive :)

So there you have it, another family recipe passed down to the next generation.  What makes it even better is that I am getting them from both sides to create my own family recipes to share with my children :)

So now that the Christmas hoopla is finally over I can share with you the super fun gifts that I made for the ladies in the Texas family.  As you guys know I have a pretty kick ass pecan pie muffin recipe (click here). Well every time I make them, the family rants and raves about how tasty they are.  So I decided to make jars with all the dry, non perishable ingredients and completed it with the recipe written on a cute gingerbread man (add full recipe on the back).  I then finished it off with some festive ribbons, a silver bell, some fun Christmas stickers, and sticky tags to label for all the special someones.  I snapped a few pictures of the completed jar so you guys could see it for yourselves :)

   

The only road block I ran into was that the recipe calls for pecans to be added at the very end before placing into the oven, but thanks to Michael's, I got some festive zip lock bags that I placed on top and it filled the jars perfectly.  Now all the special family ladies in my life have the fabulous recipe for themselves always on hand, and they have a super cute recipe card now too!  I even had one extra left over so I decided to label it for Nathan, for when he misses me it'll be like I'm already there :)

So there you have it, all my Christmas recipes and super cute gifts, I hope you all enjoyed them as much as I did.  Tomorrow I will have a southern recipe to share with you and I will show you some of the super amazingly awesome kitchen gadgets I got from Nathans family, so don't forget to come back and check it out!  Until next time..........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas....In the Kitchen

Hello Sweets,

It's almost Christmas!!!!  Are you as excited as I am?  To be perfectly honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the Christmas season (personal reasons I'd prefer not to get in to), but Nathan has changed all of that for me.  The dynamic of his family, especially around the holidays is a prime example of family love and caring for one another.  Not to mention everything is better when I am with Nathan, lol ya ya I know I'm a mushy girl but hey I wouldn't have it any other way ;)

So today was my last day of baking, for a few days anyways, but I have baked so much in the last two weeks that I have a few recipes to get me through all the Christmas celebrations, plus I will finally get to tell you all about my super cute homemade gifts!  It's been hard to keep these fun gifts from all of you, because they really are very useful and I am extremely confident that everyone that is receiving will be very happy :)  So let me share the two recipes I made last night, because they are to yummy to wait any longer!

Pecan Shortbread (via The Food Network)

Ingredients

1 1/2C butter, room temperature

1C sugar

1 Tsp vanilla extract

1 Tsp almond extract

3 1/2C all-purpose flour

1/4Tsp salt

1 1/2C pecans, diced into small pieces

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar until just combined.

 2)  Add the vanilla and almond extracts.

3)  In a medium bowl; sift together flour and salt, then add them to the butter and sugar mixture.

4)  Add the pecans and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together.  Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

 

5)  Roll the dough 1/2" thick and cut into 2 1/2" squares with a plain or fluted cutter (or into any shape  you desire).  Place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.  Allow to cool to room temperature and serve. 

 

Okay everyone that was just the first half, now lets get to something a little more on the festive side shall we?

White Chocolate Peppermint Drops (via The Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients

6 ounces white chocolate, chopped

1 3/4C all-purpose flour

1/2Tsp baking powder

1/4Tsp salt

1/2C butter, room temperature

1/3C sugar

1 large egg

1 Tsp vanilla extract

4Tsp heavy cream

1-2 drops peppermint extract

1 candy cane or 6 hard peppermint candies, crushed roughly

  

Directions:

1)  Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place one-third of the white chocolate in a small microwavable bowl; microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring until melted.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. (sorry for the lack of photos)

2)  Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3)  Beat in the melted white chocolate until smooth, then beat in the egg and vanilla.  Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 2 batches and beat until combined.  Beat in half of the remaining chopped white chocolate. (again, sorry for the lack of photos)

4)  Roll heaping tablespoonfuls of dough into balls and arrange about 2" apart on the prepared baking sheets.

 

 5)  Bake the cookies, switching the position of the pans halfway through, until the edges are slightly golden, about 15 minutes.  Let cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack  to cool completely.

6)  Make the glaze:  Microwave the remaining chopped white chocolate (you can use the same bowl as before) in 30 second intervals, stirring, until melted. 

 7)  Stir in the heavy cream, and peppermint extract to taste. 

 

8)  Dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze and return to the rack.  Sprinkle with the crushed candy cane and let set, about 1 hour.

 

Well I hope you get a chance to try these delicious treats, because you won't regret it :) 

Well our Christmas celebrations start tomorrow, so I will be slightly busy but I will do my best to get some posts out to all of you (although, something tells me I'll need the break lol inside joke).  Merry Christmas faithful readers :)  Until next time..........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo