Feline Friday

Like many of us, Lily is suffering from a post-holiday slump.

Tabby Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

Springerle THEFT!

On Christmas Eve, I finally finished my holiday baking. A variety of goodies, including a covered platter of springerle cookies, sat on our dining room table, ready for the weekend's festivities.

On Christmas morning, I went to fetch a couple of cookies to go with my morning coffee and noticed immediately that something was awry. The plastic wrap had been loosened from one side of the platter. Hmmm...

And at the other end of the dining room table was a lone cookie -- with what looked suspiciously like a TOOTH mark across the top of it!

Gosh, I wonder WHO might have stolen a springerle -- just for a tiny TASTE?

I didn't have to look far to find the culprit, but she admitted to nothing.

"Who, me?"

My First Attempt at Springerle Cookies

This past week, I ran across a magazine article about springerle cookies. I'd heard of them but didn't know what they looked like until I saw the photos of beautiful cookies with raised designs, some painted and some plain. As I read the article, I learned that springerle cookies can be made with molds or a special rolling pin.

And I thought to myself...HEY, I've got one of those fancy rolling pins! I've had it for years but had no idea what it was until I saw a picture of it in the article.

The magazine piece intrigued me, so I decided to try making springerle cookies for Christmas. I found a recipe with a picture of a rolling pin that looks almost like mine and thought that might be a good place to start. Springerle cookies are traditionally flavored with anise (licorice) but since I don't care for that flavor, I decided to substitute almond flavoring instead.



The springerle dough is extremely dense and stiff. I would guess it has to be that way in order to produce detailed impressions from the rolling pin or mold.

I used a standard rolling pin to flatten the dough then rolled over it firmly with the springerle rolling pin. Given my track record in the kitchen, I really didn't expect success but to my surprise, the rolling pin worked quite well! After creating the patterns, I used a pastry roller to cut apart the cookies.

Here's the unusual step: After cutting apart the cookies, they have to dry -- uncovered -- overnight in order to "set" the patterns. If you skip this step, the patterns will flatten out in the oven.

And here is how the cookies looked after baking. They have a very dense texture, similar to shortbread. I love the almond flavoring and the designs! And believe me, they are perfect with a cup of coffee. We have so many springerle cookies that I think we'll be enjoying them for quite some time!

Christmas Wishes!

Feline Friday: Season's Greetings!

Bah! HUMBUG! Er...Merry Christmas!

From Santa's Very Reluctant Reindeer, Tinsel & Lily

Weird Stuff from the Kitchen Drawers

Once every ten years or so, I get brave enough to explore the contents of the kitchen drawers. We seem to have two large drawers dedicated to what I would call "kitchen utensils", but you'd be hard-pressed to find much of use in there. Now I think I've figured out why: The drawers are full of Weird Stuff.

I recently got the crazy idea to dump out all the contents and see what I could find. After sorting through everything, I filled two 1-gallon Ziplock bags with items that I would consider 1) unidentifiable or 2) no longer useful and moved the bags to a shelf in the basement.

Click on the picture and follow along with me to see a sampling of just a FEW of the items in my kitchen drawers:

1) This "expanding spatula" actually came with Spouse. It's intended for lifting a cake to transport it from one flat spot to another. While I think it's a pretty nifty tool (it's kind of fun to press the button and see the side spatulas fly out), I can't say that I've actually used it in the kitchen. But I'm keeping it handy because I think it could be used for moving cats around.

2) This white spoon with a somewhat creepy cat face is for scooping out canned cat food. Our kitties don't eat canned cat food enough to warrant a space in the drawer. I'll keep it, though, because you never know...As they get older, they may need to go on a soft diet.

3) Don't spew your coffee but yes, this is a baby bottle scrubber. And yes, I only had one baby. She's a freshman at Indiana University this year, so I think I could probably safely put this away now.

4) Continuing along the same lines, this is a baby airplane spoon. She no longer eats with an airplane spoon, so I think I'll take it out of the drawer.

5) We have a few chopsticks in the drawer, including my lucky black chopsticks with embedded (plastic) gemstones, which I got in third grade when we went out for Chinese food in Omaha one time with my grandpa. Don't worry: I put the chopsticks back in the drawer for safe-keeping.

6) I'll award three gold stars to anyone who can identify this white contraption with holes. In fact, since I've got two of them, so I'd be happy to share one with the winner.

7) This metal tool with four spiky prongs and a carrying handle is for making baked potatoes. At least I THINK that's correct. It folds for easy storage. (The folding part is its best feature.) Does anybody know if this thing is to be used in an oven or over a campfire? Not that I'm going to be using it anytime soon...

8) THREE - COUNT 'EM - metal nutcrackers. I ask you: How many nutcrackers does one household need? Strangely, I have only a SINGLE set of matching nut picks.

9) This next item is a holdover from my Girl Scout days: A jar opener in the shape of a FOOT. I left this one in the drawer. You never know when you might encounter a stubborn jar of pickles.

10) A fierce-looking bottle opener with a chain. Should I attach this to my belt? I didn't even know we had such a thing.

11) A very handy toothpick holder which dispenses a single toothpick at a time. This item was no doubt acquired at the Iowa State Fair, so I kept in the drawer for sentimental reasons. Plus, it's kind of fun to watch the toothpick come out.

12) A sampling of novelty straws: Of note here is the Mickey Mouse straw from Disney World (KEEPING IT!), a monkey straw, and especially the EYEBALL straw which belongs to Spouse, the optometrist. I don't know why he doesn't have this straw at his office. There's an eyeball right on it.

So as you can see, I've now freed up a little bit of room in the drawers -- not that what's left is any more useful than what I packed away.

Next stop: The Corner Cupboard...

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Scratching apparatus? No!

Recliner? YES, please!

Cookies, Cookies EVERYWHERE

Last week, I went to my very first cookie exchange. I have concluded that I am surely the only person in the entire country who had never attended one of these gala events. This cookie exchange was for the great people who work at Memory Bound. Not only are they creative...but they can BAKE, too!

I've never gone to our cookie exchange because 1) the date hasn't worked for me and 2) I generally don't like to have that many cookies in the house. (Even when they're frozen, I can't stay out of them!) But this year, since Daughter will be having lots of kids around over break, I thought it might be okay to have a few snacks on hand -- something more than a jar of mayonnaise and package of Ramen noodles.

ANYWAY, I was told to bring along 4 dozen of the same kind of cookie and a large container for cookies to take home. Of course, I only got half of that equation right and forgot my container. But no worries...our gracious hostess Pat had extra trays for people like me!

After placing all the treats on display, we went 'round and 'round the table collecting cookies to take home. For someone like me, it was dizzying AND overwhelming! Other than at the grocery store or a bakery, I had never seen so many cookies in one place!

I came home with this delectable assortment of goodies! Imagine ME -- with this many cookies in the house!

I took 4 dozen gingerbread cookies to the exchange. I had never made 4 dozen of ANYTHING and had no idea how many gingerbread cookies I could make with one batch, so I whipped up two batches and ended up with easily 6 or 7 dozen smallish cookies. YIKES!

After the cookie exchange, I froze most of the remaining gingerbread cookies, gave some away, ate quite a few, and then boxed up some in a small container for a gift. These clear boxes are available at Memory Bound. This particular size is designed for a cupcake but also holds a nice number of cookies. Rarely do I make anything edible that is fit to display in a clear box, so this in itself was preeeety exciting, I tell you!

A couple of nights ago, we had a house full of kids so (feeling rather SMUG), I casually filled a festive plate with some of the treats from the cookie exchange. Before I knew it, they were gone! Daughter told me later she wondered where they had come from.

"Oh, I knew YOU hadn't made them," she said matter-of-factly. She knows me well. :)

The Best of Times

When I was in college and later living out of state, I couldn't understand why my parents would get so excited to see me on my occasional trip home.

Now, with Daughter 8+ hours away at college, I UNDERSTAND. I looked forward to her Christmas break with giddy anticipation. I broke into tears when I caught a glimpse of her walking toward me at the airport. And now that she's here, I just want to sit by her on the couch for the next three weeks.

Tonight she was in the kitchen mixing up a cake and Skyping with one of her college friends. Truth is, she has one foot in this world and one foot in that one. So while we have her in this house, I'm soaking up her presence and all that comes with it -- the laughter, the singing, the kids sprawled all over the family room. Even the laundry on the bathroom floor.

I know it's just for a little while, but having her here is the best Christmas present EVER.

A Rare Kitchen Success

Although I'm not adept in the kitchen, I'm generally not afraid to attempt recipes. The combination of fearlessness and lack of basic culinary skills sometimes gets me into trouble, but occasionally I produce something of merit. Last week, I made a batch of fudge that really should have been called SLUDGE. Just a couple of days later, however, I found success with my first attempt at Indian cooking.

Had I studied up a little more, I would have learned that Indian cooking has a reputation for being time-consuming and somewhat complicated. I had a vague recollection of hearing that on The Food Network, but it did not stop me from attempting Chicken Biryani, a dish I recently enjoyed at an Indian restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana.

Aside from taking a couple of hours and using nearly every pan in the kitchen, this recipe was relatively easy to follow. And it turned out so well that it was worth every bit of the time spent!

I'll admit that it would have been even easier if I owned a larger skillet with a lid. (I would suggest thinking through your pots and pans before diving in to make this recipe!) On the plus side, Indian food is highly aromatic and I have to say that the scent coming from the kitchen was fabulous. (Believe me, that doesn't happen around here very often!) The downside was that I had enough Chicken Biryani to feed a small army. Next time, I'll cut the recipe in half.

I found the recipe here on AllRecipes.com. I followed it as written with a couple of exceptions: I did not buy the saffron. I knew it was an expensive ingredient and couldn't justify spending $17 for a small jar. I'm sure it would have made the completed dish even better. I also substituted ground cardamon for the pod version.

Chicken Biryani
Ingredients for main dish:

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 small potatoes, peeled and halved
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 (2 inch) piece cinnamon stick
• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken pieces cut into chunks

Ingredients for rice:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 pinch powdered saffron
• 5 pods cardamom
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 (1 inch) piece cinnamon stick
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pound basmati rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. In a large skillet, in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or ghee) fry potatoes until brown, drain and reserve the potatoes. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and fry onion, garlic and ginger until onion is soft and golden. Add chili, pepper, turmeric, cumin, salt and the tomatoes. Fry, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add yogurt, mint, cardamom and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes are cooked to a pulp. It may be necessary to add a little hot water if the mixture becomes too dry and starts to stick to the pan.
2. When the mixture is thick and smooth, add the chicken pieces and stir well to coat them with the spice mixture. Cover and cook over very low heat until the chicken is tender, approximately 35 to 45 minutes. There should only be a little very thick gravy left when chicken is finished cooking. If necessary cook uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the gravy.
3. Wash rice well and drain in colander for at least 30 minutes.
4. In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil (or ghee) and fry the onions until they are golden. Add saffron, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, ginger and rice. Stir continuously until the rice is coated with the spices.
5. In a medium-size pot, heat the chicken stock and salt. When the mixture is hot pour it over the rice and stir well. Add the chicken mixture and the potatoes; gently mix them into the rice. Bring to boil. Cover the saucepan tightly, turn heat to very low and steam for 20 minutes. Do not lift lid or stir while cooking. Spoon biryani onto a warm serving dish.