Healthy comfort food

I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and boy am I glad I did! It served three purposes: 1. It was delicious! 2. It forced me to learn how to make cream of "whatever" soup from scratch and 3. It got the picky toddler to eat something other than animal crackers, fruit, or waffles! Success all around!

You can find the recipe here.

Though, I did make some changes. I didn't add any Parmesan on top (it didn't need it), I used olive oil mayo, I added more broccoli than it called for (4 cups instead of 2).

Even with making my own cream of broccoli soup, this was a quick an easy meal. The only complaint I heard from the husband was that I created too many dishes.

Daring to go back to Daring Bakers

Well, I've come full circle; I have decided to once again participate in what started my very first blog -- The Daring Bakers!  This month's challenge was to make a Dutch pastry called Gevulde Speculaas.  I was excited that my first challenge back in the Daring Baker's saddle was a pastry from Holland, one of my favorite countries that we visited during our European travels!  I did not, however, sample any authentic Speculaas while in Amsterdam, so I had nothing with which to compare my homemade version.

I have to say, this was a very simple pastry to make, despite the fact that we were required to make from-scratch almond paste and Speculaas spice blend, which sounded a little intimidating.  One of the coolest things I learned while making these was that almonds can be easily stripped of their brown casings by simply boiling them in water for 1-2 minutes.  They just slip write out of their skins!  And, they are much prettier to look at when they are naked!

I wouldn't say that these were my favorite dessert that I have ever made, but they are definitely tasty.  I think they would go really well with a cup of tea, if you are into that sort of thing. ;)  I wish I were, but, alas I have not yet developed my taste buds into the tea drinking sort.

Almond skins

Naked almonds

Speculaas pre-bake

Speculaas post-bake

Francijn of Koken in de Brouwerij was our January 2013 Daring Bakers’ Hostess and she challenged us to make the traditional Dutch pastry, Gevulde Speculaas from scratch! That includes making our own spice mix, almond paste and dough! Delicious!

Silhouettes on the tree

Every year I am going to try to make (or have him make, when he's older) a new Elliott ornament for the tree. Last year we made Santa out if a clay hand print. This year it was a felt silhouette. I like the way it turned out! We made one for my parents and one for Chris' parents as well! Thanks to dear Ocky, for the three embroidery rings!

Still here, still creating

Over the holidays the whole family had a bout of stomach bug, yuk! That made it difficult to do much, or want to do much! I did, however, complete two batches of multigrain bread with my natural starter. It turned out pretty tasty the second go round when I used 3/4 bread flour and 1/4 whole wheat, as opposed to all whole wheat! It is a very dense bread, and very chewy, with a nice crisp crust. I don't think I would make it again, though, as it isn't my favorite homemade bread. Wanna hear a sad story? Whilst living in the house of the plague, I neglected my lovely starter. It is no longer lovely, unless you are one who thinks mold is beautiful. It went down the drain. I can make more! I am now a pro at starting starters; just not keeping them.

Starter Update

Well, my first batch of starter was a fail.  I thought that there was some action happening at one point.  I could see bubbles, however, my parents later opened up to me in saying that they really had to squint to see the bubbles I was talking about.

So, I decided to give it another go, since we still have almost a week until Christmas (when I wanted to make a loaf of bread with the starter).  I thought about it, and realized that the whole wheat flour I had used was pretty old, and maybe had a stale smell to it.  This made me think that any yeast particles in the flour would probably be dead.  So, I started a new batch of starter a couple nights ago using brand spanking new flour, and guess what?  I think I already see action 48 hours in.  No, for real this time.  No squinting!  AND, another good sign is that it smells sort of sour, just like the informational video said it would (it did not smell sour with my first batch).

So, I am really excited that I may have successfully captured some live, natural yeast!  Hooray!  It's alive, it's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

Cookie Monster

We did our annual cookie bake this pat weekend. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, my mom, and I typically spend a full Saturday whipping up batches of cookies and candies. We have a few favorites that we do each year, but we also really like seeking out new and exciting recipes. Elliott and his cousins enjoyed "decorating" gingerbread men (by placing sprinkles, frosting, and cookie directly into their mouths.

This year we made:
-chocolate coconut balls
-gingerbread strips
-gingerbread men
-Nutella and pretzel no bake cookies
-cherry rum balls
-graham cracker candy bites
-browned butter crinkle cookies with salted caramel frosting (my favorite)
-candy cane blossoms
-coconut snowball crisps
-shortbread bites
-Christmas "crack"
-Andes mints chocolate cookies
-buckeyes
-chocolate overload cookies

After baking cookies all day, the family packed into our cars and drove to the St. Louis Zoo's annual Wild Lights display.  Upon seeing the huge lines of cars and people, most of our family (driving separate cars) bailed on the event.  But, my mom and dad, Chris, and Elliott and I stuck it out (the lines went very quickly).  Elliott wasn't incredibly impressed with the light display.  He did, however, absolutely LOVE watching a high school glee club perform holiday songs and dances in the Zoo's cafe.  He would watch them intensely, mesmerized, and then shout "hooray" with his arms in the air at the end of each performance.  It made the whole event worthwhile!

Whew, and if that wasn't enough baking and holiday festiveness for you, I also made peppermint Chex, fruit cake cookies, and Brutti Ma Buoni for a friends cocktails and cookie exchange (pictures below)!

Magnetic

Pinterest threw up all over my Christmas this year. I made these rubber animal magnets that I saw on Pinterest. I think they were well received by their new owners.