Life

This serves as a very unofficial announcement that this blog is about to change, err, encompass...more...of life. This "expansion" is due to the fact that our family is embarking on a new endeavor and we are becoming full time missionaries. Therefore; this foodie's blog will sometimes take on a communicative type role for the sake of our dear family & friends. You may see more family-style entries and photos of what is going on with us as we will be traveling a lot in 2012.

I do promise to keep my passion of wholesome homemade food alive, but I may not always have time to share it. So often I think, "I should blog about this" when I make a delicious dish or bake a sweet treat; but when it comes right down to it, by the time I sit down to blog about the food goodness, I realize I would really rather spend my time creating more yummy food to eat. (I admit that was a rather long run on sentence, but I think I pulled it off successfully?) This phenomenon happens to me at home, so add in the traveling bit, and I think my cooking opportunities may wane a little...sniff, sniff. Hang around to see glimplses of our crazy upcoming adventure of a lifestyle.

What better way to get this party started than to say

 Spiderman is in the house.....

 Bodhi turns 4 years old in eleven short days. 

We are having a Spiderman party. Word. 

It's gonna be awesome.

 Ready for Super hero action.

 I think he was actually saying "Ka Chow" for this one. 

We are also very fond of Lightning McQueen.

                                                                              

YOU are my number one fan. 

 Slinging his web to the top of the Christmas tree. 

He was a little ticked at his dad for wearing his sweet Spidey mask, as you can see by his expression.

Vanilla Bean Peppermint Cake

a.k.a Jesus' birthday cake...

Vanilla Bean Peppermint cake

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, grease one 9"cake pan

Cake Batter:

Dry ingredients, sift together:

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

In small bowl, combine:

1 cup milk

1 vanilla bean*, slit & scraped 

(*no substitutions- this is what makes the cake)

In large bowl, combine & beat with hand mixer until fluffy:

1 stick (softened to room temperature) butter

1 cup white sugar

Add to large bowl:

2 eggs; one at a time, mixing well after each

Alternate adding the flour mixture & the vanilla bean milk to the large bowl, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Pour batter into greased pan and bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Frosting:

3 Tablespoons softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1-4 teaspoons milk

Put butter and powdered sugar in a medium sized bowl, and beat with a hand mixer. Add the milk one teaspoon at a time until desired frosting consistency is reached. Finely crush one peppermint candy cane and sprinkle atop your cake. 

FYI: Anytime you are baking, it is ideal to have all ingredients at room temperature.

FYI number dos: Vanilla beans can be found at most grocery stores, all health food stores or online at a place such as the Savory Spice Shop. They have the best deal for organic vanilla beans, in my area. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

May your Christmas day be filled with meaningful family time, good food, warm cozy beverages, Classic Christmas music, joyful gift exchanges, and most importantly; time for reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas day:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another obscure village where He worked in a carpentry shop until He was thirty. Then for three years, He was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never set foot in a big city.  He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place He was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies. And went through a mockery of a trial.

He was nailed to a cross, between two thieves. 

While He was dying, His executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on Earth.

When he was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. 

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. 

All the armies that ever marched, 

all the navies that ever sailed, 

all the parliaments that ever sat 

and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, 

have not affected the lives of man upon this earth as powerfully as this.......

One Solitary Life.

by Dr. Jame Allen Francis, 1926

the nativity. from Marianne Bach on Vimeo.

fun eats & sweet treats; easy salmon dip

This recipe is very simple to make. As far as finger foods go, it provides a little more sustenance than say cheese & crackers or fruit. It's actually a great addition to both of the aforementioned foods. I will say no more.

Salmon Dip
1 - 6 oz. can skinless, boneless pink salmon
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon real lemon juice
1 Tablespoon dill
1/2 teaspoon garlic or 1 garlic clove
1/4 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped

In bowl, gently break the canned salmon apart with a fork. Next, add all ingredients and mix well with fork. Put into small serving bowl set in the middle of a dinner plate, spread crackers or baguette slices around the salmon dip. Serve.

Done. See? I told you. Easy.

And just to get you in a festive Christmas mood....

The Polar Express Theme 2009 from Scott Reinhold on Vimeo.

fun eats & sweet treats; ginger spice cookies

These cookies are the best ginger spice cookies I have ever had in my life, hands down. Enjoy them with a steamy cup of Celestial Seasoning's Vanilla Sleepytime herbal tea. Mmmmm.....

Gingerbread Cookies (slightly adapted from allrecipes.com)
 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ginger
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup molasses
3 Tablespoons additional sugar for rolling cookies

*(2-3 whole cloves equal 1/2 tsp. You can pulverize them in your coffee grinder)

Instructions:
Sift together flour, spices, salt and baking soda.

Cream butter and sugar, add egg, water & molasses. Stir to incorporate.

Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

The dough is a litte stiff once all the flower has been added in, but just keep mixing (I use my hands) and it turns into a nice, smooth pliable dough. Resist the temptation to add something, stay strong.

Using your hands, roll cookies into bite-sized balls, and then gently coat each cookie with sugar. Then press the cookie down ever-so-gently to slightly flatten, it will flatten even more as it bakes.

Bake for 8 minutes, then move cookies to a cooling rack.

What an incredible Christmas story.....

This video is a beautiful reminder of what Christmas is really all about. And the reason we refer to it as the season of perpetual hope. I ask you to join in me in praying for this man, Thomas Coates, his girlfriend and their son this Christmas season.

fun eats & sweet treats; rum balls

But why is the Rum gone? 

If you don't know what movie that quote is from, we can't be friends anymore. Just kidding. My husband and I can hold entire conversations solely using favorite movie quotes, it's what we do. If you are ever on a tv game show where the looming question is about movie quotes, and you've only one phone call to aid you in selecting the correct answer, call me. (Disclaimer: I get 5% of your prize money, though). Anyhow...

I have tried to experiment with the recipe to make it healthier. Not so successful. In this case, go big or go home. So, for the holiday season, I splurge on the not-so-healthy ingredients and really enjoy these rum balls. Ok, I refuse to use the corn syrup. But they do taste best with the corn syrup. I just can't bring myself buy a whole bottle of corn syrup for the 3 tablespoons the recipe calls for, because it will sit in my cabinet unused for all eternity. Make no mistake, it will last that long. And that's the scary thing!

Classic Rum Balls

Ingredients:

1 (12 oz) box Nilla Wafers, crushed

1.5 cups finely chopped nuts (toasted pecans highly recommended)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup Dutch cocoa

3 Tablespoons corn syrup or honey or brown rice syrup

1/2 cup rum

additional powdered sugar for rolling balls into

Directions:

In mixing bowl, add all ingredients in order listed. First add the dry ingredients, stir to blend. Then pour in the corn syrup and rum. Mix well. Using your hands, shape the dough into bite-sized balls. Finish them by rolling them in powdered sugar. Refrigerate. The longer they sit, the better they get.