Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your day was sweet!

cakepop recipe here

Holiday Randoms II

HandyMan is still off on holidays next week and over that time we hope to do a bit more visiting with friends and family. I wouldn't want to come empty handed so I made up these little jars of Cinnamon Honey Butter using a recipe I saw on Darby's blog.



She had a great idea to dress up the jars with fabric and tags, so I did that too. I used leftover Ikea fabric from our kitchen blind and made the tag in photoshop. What is it about the holidays that makes one want to bake and cook and whip up little goodies in the kitchen?

Recipe Source: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, honey, and cinnamon. Beat until light and fluffy.

Makes 3 - 4oz jars.

Mmm mmm good

I found this recipe over on my friend Morgan's blog, and she's right - it is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe!  Quick and easy to make and chewy to the bite, this recipe is perfect for a day like today, when there's 10 inches of snow on the ground keeping us housebound!  

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
  
• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. 
• Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Don't overmix.
• Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. 
• Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.  Eat several with a tall glass of milk :)

Decadent Molten Chocolate Cake

Every year, my four best girlfriends and I get together and exchange Christmas gifts. Hard to admit, but we’ve been doing this for 20 years, since we graduated from high school, which for you math geniuses out there makes me...old. Anyhoo, festivities are being held at my place this year and I'm eager to whip up a good meal in the new kitchen. I'll be tackling one of my favourite recipes for dessert, a decadent molten chocolate cake. Its so good, I had to share with you. Word of warning: only make just enough servings, because you will be tempted to eat more than one (or two or three...)!

• 5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• Whipped Cream

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.


2. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups.


3. Microwave chopped chocolate and butter until melted. Cool slightly. Optional: Add a couple splashes of liqueur (Grand Marnier, Frangelico, Amaretto, to name a few).


4. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes, dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)


5. Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 minutes or up to 14 minutes for batter that was refrigerated. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Immediately turn cakes out onto plates or serve in dish.


6. Serve w/ whipped cream. If you’re feeling especially sinful, serve with chocolate sauce on the side!

Makes 6.

Merry Christmas Part II

As any designer will tell you, its not only the things you have in a room, but how you put those things together which make a room memorable. The same can be said of a good meal. On Sunday, HandyMan and I hosted Family HandyMan for Ukrainian Christmas. We've never had the whole family over before so this was a big deal for us. Luckily, with 3 other holiday parties under our belts in the last two weeks, we were once again excited to flex our new-found culinary muscles.

We decided to host a holiday brunch. Eager to make use of our new wedding china, we set a formal table and enjoyed the meal of potato leek soup, fresh brioches with strawberry honey butter, oeufs en coquette, mushroom puff pastry rosti, and of course perogies and schvarki. The last of the Christmas presents were opened as we stuffed ourselves further with nutella crepes with homemade blueberry compote. I'm sure everyone had a splendid time but I'm also sure it wasn't just the food that made our meal enjoyable. We had all the right ingredients - a comfortable setting, beautiful accessories, a thoughtful menu, interesting conversation, and most of all, great guests. How could we miss!!

Strawberry Honey Butter Recipe

Ingredients
3⁄4 c butter, softened
1⁄2 c minced, hulled strawberries
2Tbsp honey
1Tbsp lemon juice
1⁄4 tsp orange zest

Instructions
Combine butter, strawberries, honey, lemon juice and orange zest, and beat together until very smooth but not soft or oily.
The butter is ready to transfer to a pastry bag to pipe into rosettes and serve as a topping or spread now, or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Let the butter soften to room temperature before serving.

Pics to follow!