The Gift of Giving

From Casual Brunch to Formal Feasting and everything in between, Holidays are the time of celebrating, getting together with friends and family, but before I share a recipe or two... a two hour power failure made me realize just how much I take for granted... running water... electric power to cook and enjoy all the techno toys we own... a great home protected from all the extreme weather.   From that extreme... no matter how short, it was a great reminder of just how fortunate I really am... to the other extreme of holiday gift shopping with hordes of people at the malls, buying a bazillion gifts and spending a fortune... more often than I care to think, putting them further into debt.

Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities in 1859 and his opening paragraph could have been written yesterday....

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair..."

World economies are collapsing, unemployment is high and yet shopping malls are full of people buying gifts for friends and families.  And so often I hear the question..." What do you buy for the person who... has everything/wants nothing?"   Are you the type who gives gift cards?  Apparently more than 80% of them go unused.  Or are you the type who buys a gift that will ... best case scenario... be "regifted" or sit in a cupboard or garage until the next lawn sale they have?

I have the perfect solution... one that's a win/win for everyone.  With so many people doing without this year... Make a donation in their name to your favorite charity.   Not only will your donation make a difference to a total stranger in need, it will put the spirituality front and center in the Holiday Season.   

You can... 

• send a card in their honor to a charity of particular importance to you or whoever you're sending holiday wishes to.  (One of my favorites is FEED NOVA SCOTIA.) 
• host a different kind of party where, instead of Host/Hostess gifts... how many bottles of wine or funky gadgets do we need anyway?... have your guests donate to a charity of your/their choice or even a change jar at the door.   Admission = the loose change in pocket or purse.  
• volunteer at a community food drive or soup kitchen
• check out websites & Facebook pages of wonderful organizations that will donate money for every click/like you do.   Kraft Canada donated $50,000 to food banks across Canada,  Red Rose Tea donated 10,000 pots of tea... and there are many more wherever you live. 
• bring your canned goods & cash to local food drives
• join a Habitat for Humanity project
• visit a lonely senior and bring a home cooked treat ( a couple or more of frozen dinners would be appreciated)

And since holidays center around food in my world...and with all the pre-holiday stress of shopping and cooking and baking for those upcoming feasts... here's an easy recipe for some intriguing

 Spicy Fusion Chocolate Crackled Cookies

I so named them because the secret ingredients come from very different parts of the world... Saigon Cinnamon - which have a very distinctive scent and flavour - think red hot cinnamon candies as opposed to the more traditional cinnamon I associate with hot chocolate and apple cakes, etc.... and Ancho chili pepper, from Mexico, which I think of more for savory stews and chili dishes or as a grilling rub.    It takes less than 10 minutes to make, 10 to bake and 10 to cool.   .. a perfect "kick off your shoes and chill" break in between holiday tasks.  

A Tale of Two Peanut Butter Cookies

When the cutest four year old says "Grandma... can we make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?"... What else could I do? I took out my copy of Norene's Healthy Kitchen ( a great book) and found just the one. Especially good, because by the time we got to my house, he forgot that WE were supposed to bake cookies. He preferred hanging out at the computer in the kitchen and chatting while I baked and he played games.

The amazing thing about Norene's recipe is the fact that it only had 3 ingredients - 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 large egg... we added the chocolate chips. Admittedly, I was sceptical... no flour? ... no baking soda? As you can see above... by the time I got the camera out, there were only 2 cookies left.... out of two dozen! I obviously needn't have worried.
That said, the cookies got me thinking about the ones my mother used to make when I was a kid and in flipping through my cookbooks, I found one that, although it has oatmeal and chocolate chips, it does come closer to mind. Perhaps it's the flour & baking soda. The book... Kitchen Sense (another awesome book) .

Peanut Butter Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

How do you like your peanut butter cookies? Actually... I really prefer oatmeal cookies without the peanut butter. That said, I still managed to eat a half dozen in the writing of this post. Oh how one suffers for their art!

First Trip to the Farmers Market 2011

First trip to the Halifax farmers markets in 2011. I was so excited, I forgot to check in with 4square or take any photos. It's still a "winter" market, meaning lots of the fresh produce vendors are still missing and the ones that are there are mostly selling root vegetables.

That said, I still managed quite a score... some of the packages are chuck stewing beef for the Hearty Beef Stew with Preserved Lemons & Olives I'll be serving it to our friends tomorrow night for dinner. They're from Getaway Farm. The smoked turkey from Sweet Williams Country Sausage will make a great lunch - grilled sandwich with bread from Julien's Bakery and Garlic Gouda from Foxhill Cheese House . The Turkey Fennel sausages (also from Sweet Williams) is for a terrific looking pasta dish in my Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast (I wrote about it almost a year ago and just flipped through it again - two dishes coming up this week - the pasta & a hot spinach dip).

The mache and microgreens are from the Hutten Family Farm will star in tomorrow night's salad. I just have to figure out which dressing to make it really shine.

No time for more shopping because we had all day plans with kids & grandkids. We met up for a weekend brunch and then said bye-bye to mom & dad (who got the day off). And then it was off to the Museum of Natural History with Boaz & Dov. We missed out on T Rex and his friends... the dinosaurs will be arriving next week, but we still had a great time.

The second we got back to our place, Boaz (4) and I raced to the kitchen to whip up some of Norene Gilletz's amazing Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.

... to help keep our energy level high for the rest of the day. And I just had to share this picture of Dov (2) relaxing after his bath. How delicious an end to a perfect day.

Holiday Wrapping

Tis the season for cooks and bakers everywhere to be insanely busy. Like everyone else...at least I hope I'm not alone....I often intend to do way more than I actually achieve...case in point...

I'm ashamed to say that more than a month ago I received a box of great Hallmark goodies, in the hopes that I would share them with you. Naturally being into cooking and baking, the package contained foodie related items. The cake server that plays a Christmas ditty is particularly cute. And since my friends and family always laugh when I send them Hoops & Yoyo eCards, I knew someone would love to receive the singing paper card in the mail.

I intended to make some muffins or cupcakes to share and display on the "Merry Munching" box, but my cute little grandson, got to it first and turned it into giant confetti...oops. These Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing were delicious, but they had to make it to the party in a regular plastic container.
My favorite thing to do for gifts, is to bake some biscotti or cookies and package them in a pretty box...like the cute Gingerbread House in the picture at the top. Somehow, I ran out of time. Instead, I filled it with some of the cute tree trimmers - all with a baking theme instead.

My poll for the season...do you prefer gifts that are homemade or bought? And a second question...are you like my good friend Val of More Than Burnt Toast who is already done with gift buying and wrapping, or more like me, still rushing about at the last minute?

Hanukkah Means Kids

It is Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights , or in our house, the Festival of Latkes. Fifteen pounds of potatoes and this is the best photo I could get. "Helpers" were having to taste them as they came out of the frying pan and by the time we all sat down to eat...well...the camera was at the other end of the house.

Truthfully though, in my world, it's a holiday for children. It's even more wonderful if you have grandchildren. And I am especially blessed to have two very delicious grandsons. Dov, who just turned one a couple of weeks ago has just learned to walk and although he sort of looks like Frankenstein in his tentative steps, he's very proud of himself, as are the rest of us.

His big brother Boaz, is just about to turn three and hasn't quite mastered the concept of Dov's gifts and Bo's gifts, but hey... Last year Boaz helped his mummy and me make Hanukkah cookies. I love the shapes and design...

...- so artistic, don't you think? But my favorite photo from last year is this one...well someone has to taste the dough to make sure it's good. This year, though there was definitely more interest in the process and Boaz created these cookies with very little help from us. I have to thank Marcy Goldman for her kidproof dough. As you can see, though...tasting is still a requirement. This time it's the sprinkles. Happy Hanukkah, everyone and may you share whichever holidays you celebrate with lots of little ones...at least those who are kids at heart.

Back Home & Salmon For Dinner

Toronto was...well...TORONTO! Which means (for me, anyway) lots of delicious food...lots of delicious ethnic food...seriously easy access to every kind of food imaginable...plus a scrumptious over-the-top dinner at my cousin Arlene's. I've already mentioned my favorite desserts and then got too busy having fun, wandering around, drooling and meeting up with friends and family to write more.

One of the things I really miss about Toronto is the LCBO Food & Drink Magazine. Imagine the most beautiful foodie magazine complete with stunning photos, wonderful articles about wines, cocktails, interesting places (at home & abroad) and the recipes that go with them. Then...wonder of wonders...it's FREE!!!! You heard me. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario publishes these gorgeous magazines at least five times a year and you can only find them at local LCBO outlets. They run out quickly, so one needs to be checking often. If you live in Ontario (I can only assume that you can find them in all Ontario cities with LCBO outlets), take advantage!

If you're like me, and live away, you can still take find the recipes for food , drinks and even "mocktails" (no liquor) but it's not quite the same as curling up with a paper issue I can bookmark with lots of little papers waving out at me. Lucky me, Arlene usually picks up a copy for me and this time I had two to take home. I'll be sharing many a recipe with you. To start things off here's the dinner that Arlene made...(LCBO photos are better, but...hey, I was in a hurry to eat!

Pork Chops With Exotic Mushroom Sauce (slurpingly delicious - we were almost prepared to eat the left over sauce with a spoon)
Green Beans with Browned Butter & Pine Nuts (the aroma of the butter browning...awesome)
And a sinfully delicious dessert that I think comes from Martha Stewart, but we'll have to wait until Arlene emails the link or the recipe.

Update: Arlene sent the link and it's not Martha it's Rachel Allen's recipe for Pink Merigue and Raspberry Cream

The recipe was with strawberries and actually had another cookie on top - sandwich style, but Arlene got creative and made it with blueberries and we decided one over the top sweet meringue was more than enough. Just look at how cute the base of this confection is...I could eat it all by itself.
So what does all this have to do with the photo of the Roasted Chimchirri Salmon on Mixed Greens at the top of this post? Silly you...if you haven't guessed already...it's time to retreat to a little The South Beach Diet Supercharged ...at least before I head back to Toronto this weekend for a very special foodie visit. I've been invited to participate in Hellman's Real Food -Eat Local Project and I'll be sharing much more about that next week. I'm very excited - and that's a giant understatement.

This week, expect lots of healthful meals and exercise...keep your fingers crossed that I can fit into my gorgeous new dress!

Healthy Cookies for 2009

For years (as many as I can remember), I've made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My original recipe came from my mother who probably got it off the Crisco box too many years ago to mention.

But it's 2009 and definitely time to rethink which ingredients to use....health wise, that is. And I'm sure that Crisco or other hydrogenated solid shortings are not high on the list of things we should eat. And I know wholewheat flour is better than all purpose.

I admit, that I still have my doubts though when I see wheat germ, and whole wheat flour in cookies, but trust me on this one.....Norene Gilletz did it again...she came up with a fantastic, healthy AND incredibly tasty version. Seriously, if you don't tell anyone how good they are for you, they'll just devour them because they taste awesome!

Norene's Best Oatmeal Cookies

When I was in Toronto, visiting family over the holidays, I really did plan on finally having coffee with Norene...she's been in my kitchen via her cookbooks for years, but we became blogging and phone friends a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, I ran out of days, so it never happened. I was mentioning it to my cousin at one of the family dinners and she told me that she too, is a big Norene fan and uses her latest cookbook Norene's Healthy Kitchen all the time. You'll find lots of her great recipes peppered through my blog and here's what I had to say about her latest book and a little chat we had back in 2007.

So...question to all of you....how are you making your old recipes more healthful?

Holiday Cookies Kids Can Make

Gramma and the Chef

Recently C of Foodie Tots started a series on Cooking with Kids and she asked me to share my thoughts. That, naturally brought me back to kids in my kitchen. I've shared the craziest cooking - making challah with FOUR little ones , and making brownies and chicken fingers with my niece, which was much more relaxed.

Boaz, with his mummy and his baby brother sleeping through it all.

And now it's time for the next generation of cooks...Boaz, who actually has been hanging out in the kitchen since he could sit up, check out those chubby hands.

I thought I'd take you on a little baking adventure ... first holiday cookie making. He's almost two and truthfully, his favorite thing was eating the dough....

See what I mean. Okay, we have to teach him about feet on the floor, hands on the table, but they were no where near the dough, I promise.

He did enjoy the stamping,

but seemed to like poking holes in the cookie even more

And when he saw us putting the cookies on the baking sheet, he put his own on too.

Here's the finished product....we're saving the decorating part for next year.

And the big question...what's your fave thing to do with kids, or the thing you remember doing when you were a kid?

By the way, I wrote about a great book Superfoods: For Babies and Children - check it out. It's great for preparing for fussy kids and perfect to get them involved in the process.

Better Late Than Never

Purim was last week, so this post is obviously late, but I thought I'd share my musings anyway because I'm sure it will trigger similar experiences for each of you, regardless of your religion.

Purim was always my favorite Jewish holiday when I was little and again when my daughters were young. You can read about the story of Purim here, but in a nutshell...it's a story of Royal intrigue...with kings, an evil Prime Minister and a beautiful and courageous queen who saves her people. As a holiday, it's perfect for the young and young at heart, filled with festivals and partying, dress-up in costumes (Joanna was always Queen Esther) and

Sharron was often the Court Jester or some other totally fun, totally non-princess character.

The food star...Hamantashen - stuffed cookies shaped like the three-cornered hat of Haman (I won't give away the plot)... suffice to say...a delicious ending to any party). My mother made tangy prune and apricot stuffing, other mothers filled their hamantashen with a poppy seed stuffing and still others, liked dates and nuts or chocolate. Even the dough varied. One thing is certain...they take time to make. First there's the dough...many of the recipes require refrigeration, so on top of the time it actually takes to form these cookies, you also have to plan - little room for spontaneous cookie making.

If you know me, you know that while I love to spend time in the kitchen, I like simple, fast, easy to prepare dishes so it's no surprise that I've only made Hamantashen a handful of times over the years, and definitely not since the girls were much younger. Too much work for me...I'm definitely not one for spending hours creating detailed, time consuming, confections that take way longer to make than to eat. No wonder my mother (the ultimate baker) was annoyed with us when we would devour her perfect cookies in minutes.

But, like everyone else I know, when I eat hamantashen (and I do love to eat them) I automatically compare them to my mother's and usually, they fall short of my expectations. They're never tangy enough for me and the dough usually is missing something. So this year, I joined Joanna (who does make them every year) and it was much more fun...although I still complained about how much work it was and she did have to remind me how to shape the tri-cornered "hat". And, as is typical, we made different doughs and different fillings and kept reminding everyone that it wasn't a competition. Truth be told...both kinds were gobbled up in no time flat. And when Joanna's mother-in-law bit into her first one and said "this is just like my mother used to make"...I knew exactly what she meant. So I decided to share the two versions we made...those of you looking for Mun filling (poppy seed), you're out of luck. I made the prune and apricot and Joanna made her filling with dates and cocoa powder. Her dough was easier to use and mine was easier to make.

Hamantashen Times Two

The point of this post...beyond the sharing of recipes...just a hope that I made you think of a great food memory from your past and hope you share it with us in the comments.

Sweet Melissa Baking Book - A Pleasure

I love getting new cookbooks and this one by Melissa Murphy...The Sweet Melissa Baking Book is doubly good. Obviously the recipes, which are quite detailed for someone like me who's not really a baker by nature, but also because now I have a new place to visit when I next hit the Big Apple - Sweet Melissa Patisseries. I do hope I get to meet the lovely Melissa when I get there.

Naturally I had to whip up something quick while I enjoyed a cup of tea and took some time to really flip through the book. That's where the chewy peanut butter cookies come in. Although, truth be told, I like them even better the next day when they're crunchy and melt in your mouth. A couple actually lasted that long!

While I was flipping, (actually waiting for the tea to steep), I came across these lovely Double Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies and...well what can I say...I'm a cookie monster and these just screamed "MAKE ME! MAKE ME!" So I did.

Normally, I don't bother reading introductions to cookbooks...I usually just jump right in to the recipes. And this time started out like that, but there was something about the recipes and the way that they're presented that sent me back to the beginning. These two quotes say it all...

"The best food doesn't have to be challenging in its preparation, but should recall our fondest food memories."

and this quote that really sums up the book for me...

"I want to make everyone's favorite desserts better than they've ever had them before"

That's when it dawned on me, why so many of the recipes really resonated with me. They do remind me of my mother's kitchen! The book is set out into six chapters, starting with "Dessert for Breakfast" and really...what could be better! Sweet or savory muffins, scones, granola...the list goes on (19 delicious choices).

My personal favorite section is "After School Snacks" with lots of flashbacks to running in the front door after school and taking the deepest breath to try and figure out what delicious things my mom would have for us to munch on. I've already dog-eared the Honey Beescotti page.

Chapter 3 is called "It's Somebody's Birthday" and there are lots of awesome choices for those special event cakes.... Do you think someone else will make the Carrot Cake with Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting, for my birthday later this month or am I on my own?

There's a chapter focusing on fruit desserts...pies, cobblers, crumbles, preserves..., and one on endings to dinner parties, with recipes like the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie or Ginger Custard Pumpkin Pie...Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake with Blackberry Glaze, anyone...I'm drooling just thinking about them.

Last chapter, "Favorite Gifts", is special. My mom taught me early that the best gift to bring when invited to dinner (or any party) is something you've baked yourself, and I usually do. Now I have a new repertoire of goodies with lots of pralines, brittles and truffle options.

I know this is one book that won't get dusty on a shelf! And if you'd like a copy and can't find it in a store near you, you can always order it directly from Melissa's website.

Desserts

Jam Making Tutorial

Apple Ginger Marmalade

Blueberry Jam

Carrot Cardamom Jam

Cakes & Cupcakes

Cornmeal Apple Cake

Everybody's Jewish Apple Cake

"Jewish" Apple Cake

Old Fashioned Apple Cake

Nigella's Apple & Almond Cake (for Passover but great anytime)

Parsnip Cake 

Blueberry Clafouti

Custardy Blueberry Clafouti

Country Rhubarb Cake

Date Cake Tunisian style

Shirley's Honey Cake

Apples, Dried Cherry Honey Cake

Mary Pearl's Mother Millie's Honey Cake

Marcy's Awesome Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Gingery Fruit Tea Loaf

Plum Sour Cream Kuchen

Cassata Cheesecake (South Beach Diet friendly)

Cassata alla Siciliana (definitely NOT South Beach, but awesome!)

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing

Whipped Cream and Chocolate Wafer Cake

Bars, Squares & Brownies Almond Crisp Bars

Chocolate Covered Matzo Crunch

Date Squares

Walnut Squares

Oatbran Nut Slices

Ancho Chili Cranberry Brownies

Better than Best Fudgy Brownies with Pistachios & Dried Blueberries

Brownies

Brownies - A Tribute to Katharine Hepburn - AWESOME!!!

Chewy Chocolate Brownies with Pecans - my Honey's newest favorite!

Chipotle Brownies (brownies with a kick!)

Espresso Chocolate Brownies with Crystallized Ginger

Fudgy Buttermilk Brownies

Mocha Hazelnut Brownies - South Beach Style

Nigella's Chocopots

Skinny Brownies

Oatmeal Shortbread Squares

Cookies

Awesome Passover Chocolate Macarons

Anna's PB & J Thumbprint Cookies

Chatelaine's Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Curtis Stone's Giant Chocolate Chunk Cookies 

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Spicy Fusion Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Triple Whammy Chocolate Cookies

Chewy No-Bake Chocolate Macaroons

Kids Hanukkah Cookies

Shortbread Cookies with a Cherry on Top

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Double Dark Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Muesli Breakfast Cookies

Peanut Butter Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Hamantashen Times Two

Holiday Sugar Cookies Kids Can Make

Honey Cookies

Orange Cranberry Oat Cookies

Lighter, healthier Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Norene's Best Oatmeal Cookies

Norene's Other "Best" Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Nutty, Fruity Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crisps & Puddings
Wild Blueberry Crisp

Chocolate Almond & Orange Clusters - South Beach DietFriendly

Cyndi's Chocolate Pudding -  perfect South Beach Dietdessert

Chocolate Mousse with a Secret (avocado)

Coffee Chocolate & Blueberry Bread Pudding

Lime Budino

Classic Apple Crisp - at least in my house

Ginger Apple Crisp

Frozen Fruit Crisp

Magnolia Grill's Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb Crumble

Vanilla Ginger Rice Pudding with Dried Cherries

Pies & Tarts

Pate Brisee - flaky tart pastry

Alsatian Apple Tart

Blueberry Minted Custard Tart

Caramel Apple Tart

Normandy Apple Tart

Super Strawberry Tart

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Dark Chocolate & Candied Orange Tart

Irish Coffee Pie

Peach Custard Tarts

Strawberry Rhubarb Galette

Sundry Desserts
Dessert Couscous with Rose Water & Pistachios

Strawberry Parfait with Lime Curd

Fresh Fruit Salad with Mint

Fruit Salad with Lavender Honey

Ginger & Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Grilled Fruit with Lime & Ginger Marmalade

David Lebovitz's Amazing Chocolate Matzo Bark

Marcy's Caramel Matzo Crunch - awesome Passover Candy

Minty Berries & Yoghurt

Mocha Ricotta Creme - South Beach Dessert

Nutella Crepes

Pears Poached in Chai Tea

Poires Bourguigonne (pears poached in red wine)

Quick Berry Sauce

Spicy Pear Sorbet

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar & Fresh Basil

Strawberries with Gabriella's Ginger Creme Anglaise (you have to scroll down to the bottom of the post)

Tropical Fruit Salsa with Mint

Blueberry Mint Granita