Chocolate, Need I Say More?

Hello Sweets,

Well it has been a long weekend of moving but it's finally complete, and again I am sleepy lol.  However, Nathan was in Canadia to help me with everything, he actually went above and beyond anything you'd expect!  He not only put up every shelf, and picture, he also assembled furniture and bought me a new tv :D  Seriously I am one lucky girl, well except he is now on his way home :(  The hardest part of our relationship has to be the "see you soon" goodbyes, it never gets any easier.  He was a HUGE help in making my new apartment a home, and even though it's almost done it just isn't the same.  I now consider this apartment "our" apartment because we did so much together, he'll be back sooner than later and until then I'll complete the look and it will be a home!

Even though I had lots of help on Saturday, it still was quite difficult for me.  On the bright side, this whole ordeal is almost over.  This process has been wreaking havoc on my body :(  Since I had family and some friends helping me move, I decided to give them food as thanks :)  Nathan and I marinaded a roast Friday night to serve Saturday, and I will threw it in the oven while all the moving hoopla took place so it wouldn't be long before we could eat.  Of course there were plenty of sweet treats as well.  The pumpkin pie bars made their debut appearance, the oh so delicious pumpkin spice cupcakes (happy accident not intentional for there to be a pumpkin theme), and of course today's recipe.  No today is not a pumpkin recipe, although with the left over pumpkin from the cupcakes I could have made something.  Nathan requested I bake these though, so I thought I would make sure there was something sweet for him when he got here.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2C flour

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

3/4C butter, melted

1C brown sugar, packed

1/2C sugar

1Tbs vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2C semi sweet chocolate chips

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

 

2)  In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended.

 

3)  Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

 

4)  Mix in sifter ingredients until just blended.

 

5)  Sift in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.

 

6)  Drop cookie dough 1/4C at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about 3" apart.

 

7)  Bake for 15-17 minutes in the oven, or until edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

 

  

These little bad boys are perfectly soft, not so soft it crumbles apart in your hand but that perfect way that I remember my high school cafeteria serving.  Normally this is not my first choice of cookie, but this recipe is so yummy even I can't stop from eating a couple.  The dough even reminds me of the cookies my mom used to make, and I love me some cookie dough.  It was hard to not eat all of them before Saturday lol.

Well I've got a few more things to try and tackle tonight, but to be honest I really just want to have a nap lol.  If Nathan was here he would tell me to take one, maybe I will since everything isn't going anywhere :p  Hopefully afterwards I will be more energetic and can tackle yet another good chunk organization done.  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Save the Date....for Cake!!

Hello Sweets,

I am very happy and excited to say I've had a wonderful day :D  I was worrying about somethings, but today I found out that everything will be just peachy keen and therefore I'm a happy camper.  I should have just listened to Nathan because he kept reassuring me that everything would work out, he's usually right about the things that worry me (although let's keep that between you and I ;) ).  I still have an ear to ear smile from being relieved *cue happy dance*

When I was growing up my grandmother would sometimes make date squares around the holidays, then my mom and I made a HUGE batch from Christmas a few years back.  I was craving them a few weeks ago and I decided I wanted to give them a go, thus the research began.  I only had raisins in the house and since I'm on a budget I decided they would be just as good.  I came across a recipe that looked pretty tasty (but I can't remember where I got it), and knew it would be a big hit.  A big reason I love to bake is to provide my nephew with some yummy treats, and since raisins are one of his favorites I knew this would be a hit for his little tummy.  During my research I discovered that date squares are what some Canadians call it, to the rest of the world it's called matrimonial cake.  It's not cake like at all, and I personally would not want this for my wedding dessert lol.  Don't get me wrong it's tasty, but it will never replace an actual cake.

Matrimonial Cake (aka Date Squares)

Ingredients

filling;

1 1/2C raisins (or dates)

3/4C sugar

rind of 1 orange, grated

1 1/2C boiling water (of half OJ and half water)

top/bottom;

1C butter, softened

1 + 1/4C brown sugar

1 + 1/2C all purpose flour

1Tsp baking powder

1/2Tsp salt

1 + 1/2C rolled oats

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325F.  Put the raisins (or dates), rind, sugar, and boiling water into a saucepan and gently cook until it becomes a jam-like consistency.

 

2)  In a mixing bowl; cream together the butter and sugar.  

 

I accidentally melted the butter :(

3)  Then add the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing until crumbly.

 

4)  Pat half of the oat mixture into the bottom of a buttered 9" square pan.  Spread the date mixture over the base, then cover with the remainder of the oat mixture.  Bake for 45 minutes.

These are soft and chewy, and not sweet at all but I find them very filling so a small piece should do just fine.  Miguel loved them so much that I ended up sending a second little batch over with my sister, I can't say no to his little dimples!  This was the first time I've made them with raisins and I actually prefer them this way, it's a milder flavor than the dates can be sometimes.  But I still say this is not a cake or a wedding cake!!!

For a change tomorrow I will be posting a recipe that is gluten and processed sugar free O_O  It's not something I would normally make for myself but I did a trade with my mother and that's what she requested.  I did try what I made and it wasn't bad, but alas I am a flour junkie so it just wasn't the same to me.  I've also been toying with the idea of making tiny fruit tarts, but not sure what or how yet just another thought rolling around in my big ol' brain lol.  Until next time.....................................


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Little Bites of Love for My Monkey

Hello Sweets,

Ugh I've been having one of those weeks that makes it tough for me to get anything done, including my passion of creating in the kitchen, but let's take a detour for just a moment shall we? One good thing that happened to me this week was I got a new bed! Lol I know it seems like a mundane thing to be excited about, but with my health (and everyone else for that matter) a good night sleep makes a world of a difference. I went from having an old small , no make that tiny bed (not by my choice GRRRR), and now I have a over sized double bed with an extra mattress topper to make it that more comfortable! The funny part of this whole story is that as a child my mother always read and referred to me as "the princess and the pea", and now I have a bed that I may need to buy a step stool since its so much higher lol. You make think I'm over reacting but I'm 5'8" and when I sit on the side of the bed my feet don't even touch the ground lol, true story :)

Okay enough of my comfy new bed lets get to the tasty and fun stuff, as I mentioned in my last few posts I have been given the honor to create signature cookies for my sisters wedding. Now Nathan will confirm I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my baking, and you could imagine the pressure I'm putting on myself for this. I'm not sure if I explained what my vision is for the cookies with all of y'all so I'll do so now ;) My sister wanted them done with their initials, so I took it even further and this is my game plan by making the cookies their favorite types;
The letter A (for Asha my sister) - chocolate chip cookies
The letter J (for Josè my brother in-law) - peanut butter cookies
The letter M (for Miguel my cutie nephew) - banana cookies
The letter Z (for their last name) - I'm doing a combination of all three to signify them coming together in marriage.

I know I'm going a little crazy but it's my little sisters wedding so I wanted to do something nice for them :) The one cookie I was slightly worried about was Miguel's cookie, as I have never had or seen a banana cookie, but divine intervention worked its magic and on my news feed on Facebook (I think :/) was a recipe for cookies known as banana bites ! Now I know one of my nephews favorite snacks are bear paws which are basically soft banana cookie breads, so I figured I would make some tweaks to the recipe and hopefully it would be kid and bride approved :) I'll share with you my take on the recipe, and show you how difficult it was to make the dough cooperate in to the letter "M".

Banana Bites

Ingredients

1C sugar

1/2C butter

2 eggs

1 1/2C bananas, mashed (I used 3)

1Tsp vanilla

2C all-purpose flour

1Tsp baking soda

1/4Tsp salt

1 1/2Tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray (I used coconut oil).  In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2)  Add eggs and beat thoroughly.  Beat in mashed bananas and vanilla until well combined.

3)  Gradually blend in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Mixing until just combined.

4)  Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls on to baking sheet.  I used my "m" cookie cutter and spooned the batter into it.

5)  Bake for 10-15 minutes (mine were closer to 10), or until lightly golden.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

As you can see my "m"'s actually look like crazy blobs of cookie, and of course I was panicking, so I threw the remainder of the batter in the fridge to see if that would help them hold more.  It didn't :( so I decided to sleep on it and think about how I was going to remedy the problem.  The next day I decided to go over them blobs with the cookie cutter again and it cleaned them up perfectly :D

 

aren't they perdy lol 

All that was left to do was the taste test.  Tereza my roommate tried them the night I made them and she said they were good and different.  Normally when someone hears different you think it's not that good, but I knew exactly what she was talking about.  If banana bread and cookies had a baby this would be it lol!  Next I texted my sister to come and try them to see if she liked the taste and look, and of course she brought the real judge along too Miguel :)  She liked the look and she even liked the taste (success!), and when we went to see if Miguel liked them too we saw that he had gobbled the cookie up.  I think it's safe to say that this will be the recipe to represent my cutie nephew, so that's one down only three more to go!

I am very happy that this turned out exactly like I had envisioned it :) now to create the others and make sure they are just as spectacular as these were.  So I am in full on research and creating mode, how much am I into this you ask?  So much that I am in full on study mode with my chic geek glasses lol.  Until next time.................

hehe cutest nerd around ;)

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

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

Needing A Little Me Time?

Hello Sweets,

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, I won't get into mine as it has been full of......turmoil lets say :/ .  I am hoping that writing this post will help shake this feeling again, but with the extreme shoulder pain, migraine, and inner turmoil I fear that may be easier said than done.  None the less I will give you all as much as I can and try and keep it upbeat and happy (ugh this is not going to be easy :().

So as I told you guys yesterday that I'd have something for you today that is pretty unique as it is food but not in the conventional way that I've based my blog on.  As I've told you guys eating has become a huge hurdle for me this week, for example yesterday all I had was 1/2  of a banana muffins (ya the super moist and yummy ones), so I had to start thinking outside the box "so to speak" to using some already ripe produce.  So I put my thinking cap on and thought about what I needed to use and what I could use in this un-hungry time.  For those of you who may not know I live in Canada, and it is damn cold here right now lol and even worse thanks to mister Nemo *fist shake*(storm not the fish lol)!  The one thing that happens to me every year when the climate changes is dry skin which annoys me to no end, but I do love to have facials so............(see where I'm going?)  I found an avocado website to help me with the ingredients (if you have sensitive skin you'll want to try it on a small patch of skin first in case of irritation), I'm going to share the one I choose and loved!  There are other concoctions there too depending on what you are looking for.  I've made face masks from other kitchen ingredients as well, but this is my first avocado adventure.  Oh and I am posting a very vulnerable photo of me wearing the mask so please be kind :)

Avocado & Honey Face Mask (dry skin)

Ingredients

1 avocado, pitted

1/2C honey

Directions:

1)  Mash the avocado in a bowl.

 they're easy to pit, just slice on one side it will open and then use a spoon to remove the meat from the flesh

2)  Add the honey and mix well.

3)  Then apply to your face, avoiding eye area, for about 10 minutes.

not the the best pic (or flattering lol), but you get the jist of it

4)  Remove with warm water, then cleans skin a final time with cold water.

Now it's not the prettiest, or even nicest of feelings but I did this three days ago and the dry skin I did have on my face is still gone!  Success :), now I am not a girly girl by any means but I do love a nice facial, although it is better when someone else is doing the dirty work.  But this is SUPER cheap and easy, and with plenty left over I can do it again in the next week if need be.  I can still remember my very first facial, it was the week before my prom and it left my skin feeling like a babies bottom lol.  Then for a long time I never did them again, that is until a friend and I moved in together.  We would go to Lush, a great store that has all natural beauty products that are amazing, we'd pick up a couple different little containers depending on what are needs were at that time.  Then we would have a girly Saturday or Sunday looking silly, eating pancakes (we made the most crazy, creative, and delicious ones), and laughing.  The best part is we lived with a male friend of ours (yes, we totally were like 3's company...."come and knock on my door" lol sorry had to, plus you probably just sang it in your head), and the first few times we scared the bejesus out of him, but in the end we could recruit him from time to time.

Well my lovelies, that did "busy" my mind for a little while but now that I'm starting to stray I'm going to end the post knowing it's fun, informative, and even gave me a small smile from time to time.  Oh, before I go I want to share with all of you the face that had me smiling for a good 45 minutes today (and I really needed the change of emotion :( ).

 

This is Callie, and she reminds me sooo much of my old dog Roxy when she was a pup!

She loved me, and now I need to figure out how to keep her lol jk

Until next time....................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo