Tuesday, December 15, 2015

C is also for Christmas (tree)

many moons ago, i was at a garden center that was going out of business. it happened to be the week between christmas and new years, so everything christmas themed or related was 95% off. i was 23, and in the middle of my "dragonfly" years. i never stayed in one place long. always flitting from one city to another. and the places i did live? were the size of postage stamps. i was never going to have room for anything bigger than a charlie brown tree. all the same, i purchased a $250 7 foot artificial norweigan fir tree. for $12.

i know, artificial trees are kinda hokey looking. but this one really is very realistic looking. and i know me, if i got a real tree? i'd be that person who had shedding pine needles all over the house through march. i do miss the smell of a real tree. but that's easily solved with a yankee candle.

for years this tree lived in my parents attack, still sealed. it wasn't until i came into tony's life, and into his townhouse, that i had a place to finally set my tree.


i try to put together a respectable tree. small white lights with lots of red and gold. branches of berries and painted pine cones.


i was going for warmth. and seasonal. and.....nerdy. if you get a good look at our tree? we have all sorts of gems hidden amongst the classic "crate and barrel" look. like a darth vadar. a darth vadar in an ugly christmas sweater. that has AT-AT's with antlers.


a john deere. cause....tony. iowa has to be represented. 


this guy i love. nothing says "awesome" like dr seuss.


and no tree would be complete without an angel. DON'T BLINK.


of course where there is a weeping angel, there must be a TARDIS. it's bigger on the inside.


i try to collect ornaments whenever i travel. from scotland? i brought.....the hairy coo. mostly because i love that it is called.....a hairy coo.


we also have set our stockings by the chimney (we don't have a fireplace, so figured a staircase was the next best thing.) we each have one from what we consider to be quintessential  christmas movies.

bumbles bounce!

fra-gee-lay.

the last touch of holiday cheer we bring to the home sits beneath our tree. the world's saddest elf.....


seriously, have you ever seen a face so embarrassed? she's like the teenage daughter of the dog world. always annoyed with what we do.

now with my tree all aglow, my stockings hung with care, and my "balsam and cedar" candle burning, i'm ready to begin my christmas cheer! cue the muppets and john denver!!!

Sunday, December 13, 2015

C is for Cookie

to me a necessary element to the holiday season is scent. the woodsy smell of pine and fir. the refreshing scent of citrus. the smell in the air before it snows. and of course the sweet smell of baking cookies.

for as long as i can remember, candies and cookies were a mandatory part of preparing for christmas. as a child i would help my mother roll snickerdoodles in cinnamon sugar and stir the toffee as it boiled on the stove.

now i continue the tradition in my own kitchen. every year i bring out the 3x5 cards that are stained and smeared from years of use. most years i experiment with new recipes (some successful like the s'more cookies, some not....pretty much any attempt that involved egg whites). but i always have a few classics i have to make.

christmas isn't christmas without gingersnaps or snickerdoodles. maybe it's the warmth of the spices in each cookie. or just how fun they are to say their names. or it is simply the smell of these two wintery favorites baking.

the recipe i use for snickerdoodles is pretty much the same one i helped my mother with so many years ago... and yes, you do need cream of tartar. no clue what it does. but it seems to be the magic behind the snickerdoodle.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 c crisco                                       1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c butter (softened)                      2 eggs
2 3/4 flour                                        2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda                             1/4 tsp salt

*cinnamon sugar for coating (approximately 1 Tbsp cinnamon to 1/4 cup sugar)

-Heat oven to 400F
-Cream together crisco, butter, sugar and eggs.
-Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
-Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet.
-Form dough into ping-pong sized balls.
-Toss in cinnamon-sugar.
-Place on prepared cookie sheet 2" apart.
-Bake 10 minutes (until golden).

i highly recommend tossing the pre-cooked cookies and cinnamon sugar together in a ziplock bag. i do about 5-6 at a time. super easy and keeps the mess minimal.

here's my little army of cookies waiting to be placed in the oven. have i mentioned how much i love my new cookie sheets? not a single cookie burned or stuck!


words cannot express how phenomenal the smell that poured out of the oven when i opened the door was. and again, an oven with convection bake setting? much love. this has cut my baking time in half this year. which i guess means i should make twice as many cookies?


now for the gingersnaps.... mine are slightly different from most people's. for one, they're softer than the average snap. and a little bit spicier. my "secret ingredient"? this stuff:


cardamom. it's not just for indian food anymore. i find it adds an extra "snap" to the snap. it isn't a hot spice, but extremely flavorful.  this recipe is a little unusual (the vinegar threw me for a loop), but i promise, it makes for one amazing cookie. the process is very similar to the snickerdoodle. these two compliment each other very well.

Gingersnaps

2 sticks (1 c) butter                                       3 c sugar
3 eggs                                                            1 c molasses
2 Tbsp white vinegar                                    6 3/4 c bread flour
2 Tbsp baking soda                                       4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon                                  1 tsp ground clove
1 tsp ground cardamom                                

*sugar for coating (approximately 1/4 cup)

-Heat oven to 375F
-Cream together butter and sugar.
-Incorporate molasses, eggs and vinegar to butter mixture.
-Sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, clove and cardamom.
-Gradually mix dry ingredients into wet.
-Form dough into ping-pong sized balls.
-Toss in sugar.
-Place on prepared cookie sheet 2" apart.
-Bake 10 minutes (until golden).

action shot! the convection bake setting, the ceramic cookie sheets, the stand mixer.... cookie making is so much easier for me now!!!


here they are, fresh out of the oven, with that beautiful cracking on the outside and the dusting of sugar. 



these + a nice cup of chai tea? will make for a lovely afternoon snack!!!

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Meet Cash

we have a new guest staying with us at la casa de gaio.



he came to us from chattanooga. he is a two year old feral cat who was being fostered by our friends daliah and mark.

the little man was found living in a barn with a family of strays. our friends took it upon themselves to foster this family and get them healthy enough to be adopted into human homes (which i think earns them both a spot in heaven).

they called him "buster" (short for bustepher jones...the "cat about town" from the T.S. Eliot poem). i love that they are familiar with old possum's book of practical cats!

they knew with buster it would be a difficult battle to get him acclimated to people and living indoors.

his need for a safe home indoors took a dramatic upswing a few weeks ago. this poor creature was hit by a car, and his little jaw was broken. his mandible needed to have a wire put in it for him to heal properly.

we got an email from daliah and mark that they would be in town (visiting friend and family) and were asking if anyone had room in their homes for buster.  they weren't having much luck finding anyone in tennessee that could take in a cat with these rather unique problems, so they wanted to cast a wider net.

when tony showed me the email, my heart broke for this furry creature who had been through so much.

we have been talking about getting another cat. we lost our lewis in february. and i know we can offer safety, comfort, and lots of snuggles. so after a great deal of talking, tony and i decided we would take this cat in, and do our best to continue his rehabilitation.

after a few days with our new boarder, we started to call him "cash". as in johnny. he is from tennessee after all. and a man in black. so it seemed like a good fit!

it's been a rough few days. because of the wire in his mouth, cash will only eat a little bit at a time, and it takes a lot of coaxing. we have finally discovered that baby food, specifically pureed chicken, will whet his appetite. but we have to feed him by hand, which takes a great deal of patience. and is pretty messy. i end up with more chicken on me, than on him.



it's worth it though. when we are able to get him out from under the bed, he is really the most snuggly of cats. very sweet, and super loving.

cash is still wary of every noise in the house. and totally freaked out by mahjong (he has an existing fear of dogs). and he still has the wire for another 5 weeks. but we're hopeful that he will find comfort here, and learn that this really is a safe place.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Not Just THE Dinner, But Appetizers. And also Desserts.

when we do our thanksgiving, we usually have a later kick off time. partly so i have more time during the day to get things prepped, partly so people who have earlier obligations can get two meals into one day, and also partly so we have time to digest the huge brunch we've eaten.

so dinner isn't ready until 7ish (there's always a little lag time getting the last details sorted out). to keep the "hangry" levels at bay (mine and the guests), i always make sure to put a table of appetizers out for people to snack on. plus it gets the crowds out of the kitchen and into the living room. and i get a little more elbow room. 

and really, appetizers are one of my favorite parts of planning a meal. i try to come up with ones that will compliment the flavors of the meal to follow. this year i tried a few new things.

i read a recipe for "sweet potato casserole bites". basically a sweet potato cut into circles, roasted, then topped with a marshmallow, broiled until brown, and given a candied pecan topping. it was  a little sweet for my taste, but they got devoured! maybe next time i'll make these as a dessert....not an appetizer...



i realize this is very 1950's house wife of me, but i really do love a good cheese ball. especially served with apples. i'm a sucker for the sweet and savory combination. this particular cheese ball was a mix of cream cheese, white sharp cheddar, toasted pecans, and a few simple seasoning. i coated the entire thing with cranberries. they added a nice sweetness, but more importantly. it looks so festive! the granny smith apples provided a nice tart vehicle for the sharpness of the cheese. 



one of the stand-by snacks we always have on hand is hummus and pita chips. i tried an autumnal twist on this. pumpkin-rosemary hummus. with cinnamon pita chips. the combination of the pumpkin and chickpeas pureed together made for a wonderful texture to this dip. personally i am a huge fan of rosemary, so really enjoyed the extra level of flavor that it added. i made this a few days ahead of time, to really let the flavors blend together. 



thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving without running the full marathon of eating. which means the meal must have bookends. where there are appetizers, there must also be....desserts!

i have a deep and abiding love for small desserts. in the past if i made an entire pie or cake? hardly anyone would touch it. it was too intimidating. nobody wanted to be the guy that cut into an untouched pumpkin pie. nobody wanted the guessing game of "what size slice is the right size". so i started making mini-desserts. one and two bite versions of the classics. these have been much more successful!

instead of pecan pie, i made "bourbon pecan bon bons". toasted pecans chopped up and mixed with graham cracker crumbs, caro syrup, brown sugar and maple syrup. with just a touch of bourbon for flavor. formed into golf-ball sized pieces and dipped in dark chocolate.


as a child i always loved pumpkin pie. but then as an adult i found....pumpkin cheesecake!! WAY tastier. but sooooo overwhelmingly rich. i always found the ratio of crust-to-cheesecake to be way heavy on the cheesecake side. i make these little guys in mini muffin tins. and make sure to add a little extra crust mixture for a better crunch. and no graham cracker crumbs here. that crust is ground up ginger snaps! they add a wonderful spice to the flavors in the pumpkin.


i have made mention of my love of all things muffin-cup sized. that's how i roll with my apple pies (the dessert tony always requests). crust formed into muffin tins, and filled with sweetened and spiced apples. apple pies can be messy. you slice into one, and the crust crumbles. or the apples slip out. but with these, every one is it's own self contained unit!  my pie making had a few years of test batches before i finally got a recipe i was pleased with. a few lessons i've learned: the crust should have an equal ration of butter and shortening (butter for flavor, shortening for flakiness), the moisture in the crust should be part ICE COLD vodka (it evaporates quickly in the oven and adds to the flakiness factor), the apples should be a mix of granny smith and braeburn, and the tinniest pat of butter placed on each mini pie before baking makes them extra tasty! sidebar-these little guys the next day? with a cup of coffee? BEST BREAKFAST EVER. 


last but not least, the multi-task recipe. i wasn't sure if this should be an appetizer or dessert. it can really be served anytime. with anything. it is the best of all worlds. candied bacon. is it meat? is it candy? it is all!!!!! thick cut bacon dredged in brown sugar and cayenne (i like a little spice). baked at 400F on a rack so the fat drips away and the bacon gets nice and crisp. i was hoping if i served these as a dessert? people would be so full they wouldn't have room. and i'd have leftovers. foolish me. i forgot the way the human stomach works. there is a separate compartment reserved....for bacon. not a piece was left.



thus concludes another calorie-filled holiday!!! luckily mother nature has thrown some gorgeous weather the way of northern virginia. which is good, cause i'm going to need a few hours on the bike to justify all of this deliciousness! 

THE Dinner

ok. we all know i go crazy when i'm hosting a dinner. so you can imagine how absolutely insane thanksgiving is here at la casa de gaio. it doesn't matter if we only have one guest, or two dozen guests, i always make WAY too much food. but i can't help myself. i want all the wonderful things all at once. and besides, my second favorite day is the day after thanksgiving. the day i like to call "sit in your jammies and stuff your face with leftovers day". so i like to ensure i have plenty of options.

to give a run down of our feast, let's start with the heavy weights-the meats. personally, i feel it's a moral obligation to have turkey at thanksgiving. since we had a smaller crowd this year, i just got a breast. brined over night and roasted in the afternoon. i highly recommend brining to anyone who has issues with dry turkey. this technique has always served me well. i also make a rub of butter, sage and thyme that i work UNDER the skin of the turkey before i roasted it. this beautiful bird was amazingly tender and juicy. and super flavorful too. and bonus, the herbed butter made for very tasty drippings that went into a gravy!



for tony's birthday this year i got him an electric smoker. which is the perfect vehicle for his favorite....brisket! we've had many a trial and error with this tricky cut of meat, but i think we've figured out the best way to get the right flavor and texture. i give this sucker a nice dry rub of spices (mostly black pepper, salt and paprika) the night before, and smoke it low and slow for the better part of the day. i always harvest the drippings and mix them with cider vinegar, stout beer and apple cider to make a sauce. it's similar to a barbecue sauce, but with the flavors of the smoke and spice.



i fully admit that the turkey and brisket were more than enough to feed our dinner crowd, but, i've been craving ham. so what the heck, i added that to the menu too! to save oven space, i cooked a quarter spiral ham in the crock pot. very simple. a rub of brown sugar, honey and dijon. and then a 1/2 cup of ginger beer in the bottom for moisture. 4 hours on low? and a third very tender and tasty option for the carnivores. i'm not sorry for my gluttonous decision to add this dish. it ended up being my favorite!



instead of mashed potatoes, tony has introduced me to a different tradition for thanksgiving spuds. pirogues!



and these aren't your freezer aisle Mrs. T's nonsense. each of these little pillows of love that are filled with mashed potatoes and cheese or sauerkraut and onion are lovingly crafted by hand. this comes from a recipe that tony has from his grandmother. and i will forever be grateful to him and his family for brining it into my life!



tony and i spend an entire day getting these assembled and lined up for the holidays. it's like a small army. an army of deliciousness. we always make a second batch and freeze them for christmas!


call it dressing, call it stuffing, call it whatever you want. it's one of my favorite thanksgiving sides. i made mine a little on the sweet side this year, to compliment my ham. for the bread i used toasted hawaiian rolls. and added a few diced apples (lovingly diced by my mom's hand...thank you mom). then the usual celery, onion, sage and thyme for that quintessential thanksgiving flavor!


one of my "absolutely, no question, must have" side dishes is macaroni and cheese. seriously. if i am given a last meal on my death bed? it will be macaroni and cheese. i have a bajillion different ways of making it. with buffalo sauce and chicken. with brie and figs. with bacon and pears. but my be-all-end-all-favorite is the recipe i make for thanksgiving. three different kinds of cheeses: gruyere, smoked gouda and sharp cheddar. all melted into a sauce of milk that has been thickened with a roux of butter and flour. a little salt, pepper and nutmeg (trust me, it's subtle but makes a difference). i add about a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and a pinch of sugar to the mix. and top the entire thing with crispy onions. you know the kind you put on green bean casserole? the whole thing tastes like a hug. a big, warm, comforting, "everything will be alright now" hug. this dish may be the reason we keep hosting thanksgiving. so i can have the excuse to make this.



speaking of crispy onions.....i do love me a green bean casserole. i mean c'mon. let's look at the name of the blog. it's sort of a given that i would make this classic for our meal! nothing fancy, i pretty much just follow the recipe on the back of the little crispy onion container. but i do make sure to use fresh steamed green beans, not the canned. i just think the color green is so much prettier when i do!



and last but certainly not least, the rolls. not that they're needed with everything else...but i feel they are sort of expected. and they make such a wonderful vehicle to soak up that gravy made from the turkey drippings. and they smell so wonderful when baking!!! which reminds me, a HUGE thank you to tony for the addition of the double oven to the kitchen. it made preparing so much easier this year. i was baking my rolls and roasting my turkey....AT THE SAME TIME. mind. blown. dinner. saved. stress. reduced.


as if this wasn't enough, one of our guests brought sweet potatoes and a cranberry/blueberry/cabernet sauce (which i need to get the recipe for). and another guest brought lil smokies. which.....holy cow...those things are addictive. i ate like twenty. all in all it was an meal of epic proportions. and i regret nothing!!!!  though by the end pretty much everybody was in food coma. even the princess.


Thursday, November 26, 2015

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

i know, that phrase usually that means christmas. but i'm actually referring to my most favorite of holidays. thanksgiving!!!!!

a truly wonderful holiday that focuses on the true joys of what it is to be alive. eating, drinking, and enjoying the company of loved ones.

for years tony and i have had the tradition of opening up our home to anyone who wishes to share our table. and we make a day of it!

now this day is a marathon, not a sprint, so we have to start off with a solid base in our tummies to prepare for the day ahead.

so here's a focus on our thanksgiving brunch.....

in my home growing up, my dad always made a citrus salad. a simple fruit salad of navel oranges and pink grapefruits. it was one of my favorite things to eat this season when i was a child. sadly, i've developed an allergy to citrus, so i don't make it often. but i feel this is a special occasion, so rules and caution go out the window!

this year i actually have my parents spending the morning with us, so dad was nice enough to put together the salad for this morning. doesn't it just LOOK refreshing?


as for beverages, tony likes a nice and spicy bloody mary, so i make up a batch of my "bloody marylands"-a mix of tomato juice, lemon juice, horse radish, worcestershire sauce and a healthy shake of old bay. a little tito's vodka (or not for those who don't prefer) and we're good to go!


i love a good breakfast casserole. they're easy to throw together the night before and keep in the fridge so i can just pop them in the oven the next morning. easier with mom here to dice all the onions and peppers! this one has layers of cubed and toasted pumpernickel bread, sage sausage, cheddar, onions, peppers and mushrooms. all baked into a base of milk, eggs and seasoning. hearty and delicious!


now.....the best part of the meal.....dessert. breakfast dessert. nothing makes the house smell quite as good as fresh baked cinnamon rolls. and as i mentioned in a previous post, i'm all about adding pumpkin to EVERYTHING this time of year. so oh yes, we have pumpkin cinnamon rolls. with a very generous topping of cream cheese frosting.



i went a little crazy with the filling of this batch. instead of just the usual butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, i added pecans. and cranberries. and golden raisins. it's a lot going on in one roll. but....omg....are they good.


so with a full belly i am ready to get in the kitchen and start the preparations for tonight's festivities!! ok, i'll be honest. i'm actually ready for a nap. but AFTER that, i'll be getting the turkey prepped and the green beens into a casserole! i'll post about dinner later!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

La Antigua, Guatemala Pt 4-COFFEE

one of the things this regions is best known for, is it's coffee. being a lover of the bean, i was very excited to try the nectar straight from it's source! sunday morning we met up with a small group to go on a tour of one of the local coffee plantations in the neighboring town of san miguel escobar. 



de le gente roughly translates to "of the people". it is a co-op of coffee farmers that share a large plantation just outside of antigua, on the slopes of volcan agua. 



our farmer/tour guide's name was freddy (on the right). joe (on the left) was his translator. they walked us through the fields of coffee bushes. they explained the process of growing coffee from seed to harvest.


workers returning from the fields with their crops. to keep the fields as useful as possible, the workers will plant crops such as corn, beans, citrus and (yay) avocados amongst the coffee bushes. this ensures that all year round there is a viable food and money source.


i hav absolutely no clue what this tree is called. but it provided an absolutely lovely splash of color!



a scenic view over the forest of coffee bushes. blue skies. mild weather. the peak of a volcano in the background. another gorgeous guatemalan day!


most of the coffee berries were still to green to be picked. we were a few weeks shy of harvesting season. here one lone ripe berry shows the ideal color the farmers will be looking for.


a basket of coffee beans after they have had their shells removed, and have been dried by the sun.



this is what the coffee bean looks like after the husk has been removed. it's ready for roasting!


tony roasting beans old school....on a stone plate over a wood stove.


tony grinding the beans on a granite slab. most of these steps are done off-site with more modern machinery. but....they like to teach the tours to do it the traditional way.


the fruits of our (well, tony's) labor! a very rich dark coffee. freshly roasted/ground and brewed. now i'm going to expect tony to go through the same level of effort every morning for my coffee. no more k-cup nonsense. i want the real thing.

i will say the experience has given me a new appreciation for what goes into a cup of coffee. something so simple that people take for granted.