Merry Christmas!

Winter Wonderland and Christmas Candy

It snowed this morning. We got about 2 inches of the heavy wet stuff. It looked really pretty as I let the dogs out this morning to go the woods.
This afternoon Michael and I made our annual Christmas Candy.
We made Peppermint bark: Mint supremes (which I sprinkled with nonpareils too late and they didn't stick. D'Oh!): turtles: mint chocolate candies:marshmallows:
and cherry snowballs:
(will post pics when they are completed!)

Krokaners and accidental art

An annual tradition in my husband's family are an old Scandinavian cookie recipe called Krokaners. They're commonly called, "Bracelet cookies". They're a rich yet delicate sugar cookie and always disappear quickly.
It looks as though I'll soon be adopting this annual tradition. The last 2 Christmases, I've been apprenticing. I'll post a recipe as soon as I remember to write it down.
...At least we don't have to learn lefse.

I was making pear-cranberry chutney the other day and as I was dumping the last of the ingredients into the pressure cooker, I looked down and saw a lovely kaleidescope of colors. The chutney turned out excellent. I may now be brave enough to try my own mango chutney, so we can rid ourselves of our dependence on the store-bought stuff, because goodness knows, it's a panic if we're ever out of the stuff.

Corned beef and Cabbage and a little handspeak

Having grown up on the east coast, I've always had a habit of talking with my arms waving about, gesturing and for emphasis. Some may call this, "Talking Italian", but it's been in my non-Italian family for generations with some of my uncles being experts. (Sometimes, I think this is a strategy for ensuring "personal space", because you don't want to get too close to them or walk up behind when they're telling a story, you might get bopped.) I used to get teased for it when I first left the safety bubble of Bradford County. Yesterday it came to my aid. I was walking into Target, reading my shopping list and determining if my items would fit in a hand basket or if I needed a cart. Once I decided I needed a cart, I walked up to the employee who had just brought carts in from the cold and was lining them up tightly into rows. There were none free, so I had to wait until he was finished and I asked him politely, in my usual half words, half gestures way if I could have a cart. He had a blank look about him and then quietly wheeled a cart towards me. I smiled and said "Thank You" and walked away. About 10 seconds later (my normal brain processing time) I remembered that I had met that employee in a checkout line before. He was behind me in line buying his lunch and the checkout girl was chatting at him rather oddly. She was using plain words and speaking slowly about his recent knee injury. His arms were full with text books and he dropped a soda, so I turned around and picked it up and put it back on the belt for him. He gave me that same plain look again and the check out girl said, "He says, 'Thank You'."
Ahh, now it all fit. He was deaf.
Good thing I talk Italian.

Dinner last night was a pre-seasoned corned beef brisket we picked up at Sam's Club. I simmered it for 2.5 hours and then added cabbage, carrots, potatoes and onions. Very yummy and the long simmer helped the tough cut turn out tender.

Spinach Salad with warm bacon dressing

I love this salad. It's got everything. Bacon, ...and...umm... bacon...
Well, what else do you need?
But really, the balance of sweet and salty and warmth of the dressing along with the crunch of the spinach and the smoothness of the eggs, makes this such a fun dinner salad.

Other than cooking, we've been getting ready for Christmas and just taking care of dogs. Spinner is back to his old self, including being a little snippy with the other dogs. I guess his complacent nature was enhanced by the pain he was in with his broken tooth. He got his first time-out when he snapped at Blayze. She was trying to steal some of the cuddling he was getting last night and he was a little too intense in telling her, "No!".

Doggy bath time and Martini fountain

Can't you just hear her say, "C'mon! Don't take my picture, I'm naked!"?
Miranda needs a bath more frequently than the other three dogs. We have no idea if it's due to her doggy genealogy or how she gets affected by stress, but she can put out a stink that'll make your eyes water. She gets bad B.O.
Here she is drying off with her super hero cape:
The wedding went well. Michael's cousin was married in Minneapolis. The reception was held at a very nice banquet facility above a jazz bar.
I have to say, this is the most ingenious way of utilizing an ice sculpture I have ever seen. Here my SIL is getting her Appletini chilled as it is poured through the ice sculpture.
The whole event was held indoors. I was frightened for a moment that they were going to have us throw birdseed outside the church. Considering it was all of 8 degrees, that would have been insane. Instead they opted for a receiving line after the ceremony. *phew*

Swedish meatballs

It's so tempting to eat hearty and rich foods on such bitter cold winter nights, and we've been having some bitter cold winter nights lately. We've had high temperatures in the low 20's. Even the dogs don't like going out and playing in the snow when it's this cold.
So I thought a nice warm dinner or Swedish meatballs would hit the spot. They're not that tough to make and I substituted venison for beef. I didn't follow the direction for making the sauce, because I had some of MIL's famous gravy in the freezer. I found the recipe here.

Borscht at last

At long last, I found just the recipe for Borscht that I was looking for. I followed the recipe to a "T". This was fantastic. It was a real effort to stop with only one bowlful. It took all day to prepare, but the wait was well worth it. It was a rich, hearty soup full of flavor. I think I'll need to start pursuing more Russian recipes.

In other news, yesterday Spinner and Blayze went to the vet to have their teeth cleaned. This is something they have to have done periodically because they collect tartar like crazy. Spinner actually had a broken tooth that needed to be removed as well. I dropped them off at 8am and picked them up at 4pm. Blayze was still in a daze from the sedative. She was wobbly on her feet. Spinner seemed to bounce back very quickly. We put water on his dry food and them put it through the blender so he wouldn't have any discomfort eating dinner. He wolfed that down with more enthusiasm than I had ever seen him eat with. This morning they both ate their breakfasts without any problems. Spinner seems to be a little perkier than I've seen him in a long time. I guess that tooth was hurting him more than he let on.
Here they both are recovering.

Blayze just wanted to sleep it off.
They're both back to 100% right now.

Well, we're off to wedding this afternoon. The temperature has climbed up to 1F. It was -5F when I woke up this morning. I hope the whole ceremony is indoors.

Fruit Loop Muffins

I was trolling through some food blogs the other day when I came across a unique and colorful recipe for Fruit Loop Muffins. I liked the write up and took the plunge. I didn't get so fancy as to buy actual Fruit Loops, I used the Target brand cereal instead.
In all, I really liked them. They're moist and chewy. The cereal bits turned a little "rubbery" but maybe next time I'll break them up rather than leave them whole. The crushed cereal topping wins big points for presentation. They're not sweet like a cupcake, rather, they're a light fun breakfast muffin.
Something about these muffins really grabbed the attention of the dogs. Maybe it's all the melted butter, maybe they all have a secret fetish for breakfast cereal. Whatever the case, there was always a nose sniffing about 2 inches away from my mixing bowl at any given moment while I was making these.

Nothing like a curry to warm you up

Indian food is so much fun to cook. It's warm, spicy and exotic. I love the way the spices make the house smell like potpourri.
Yesterday I tried to whip up a lentil soup. I'd provide you with the recipe, if I had enjoyed the soup and feel it was worth sharing. As is, it was good for a pretty picture! You'll notice I have three different sizes of garlic cloves on the cutting board. The 2 larger ones are from the farmer's market. The itty-bitty one is from the grocery store. I'll have to get to the St. Paul farmer's market soon and restock my garlic. This stuff is gorgeous and so much better than store bought. I'm running out fast.
I think I prefer a dal, which is more like a spicy lentil stew. This was bland and a little watery. Then again, maybe it was something I did. I have been on a really bad streak lately.
I burned a beef stew, I ruined a turkey frame soup (not my fault, the burner died, It has since been replaced) and we under cooked a chicken. Luckily we haven't gotten sick with all these kitchen mishaps. Maybe it's time to call in a pizza.

Dog park, snow and red velvet cupcakes

Now that December is officially here and there's a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, it's time to hunker down and sip hot cocoa and relax and bake. Nothing like sitting in your kitchen, watching the snow fall and smelling cupcakes in the oven.

After watching a recent episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" on Food Network, we decided to copy the challenger's recipe and see just how awesome cupcakes can be. The batter was stunning and the cupcakes looked decadent. You can find the recipe on Food Network's website, here.
Our take on the recipe: not all that great. She relies on a lot of vegetable oil to keep the cupcake moist. I think this produces a bland, oily cupcake. As you can see, the outer cupcake liner is soaked with oil. If we were to try this recipe again, we'd either substitute shortening, or use 1/3 of the oil called for in her recipe. They also need more cocoa powder, as was mentioned in the TV episode. Overall- Yuck.
My husband is never one to stay indoors when there's snow out. After shoveling the driveway and sidewalk, he wanted to go to the dog park. I guess I should be happy that he's not going out on his snowmobile like everyone else in the neighborhood. I decided to join him and I bundled up, Minnesota style. (After learning how to properly wear the right layers, I can now go out and play in the snow for hours and never get cold. Awesome!)
The dogs loved the dog park. They bounded around in the snow and acted like idiots. We took them on a few trails through the cat-tails. The swamp was frozen over so we had access to areas we normally cannot get to.
The dogs are currently sleeping soundly, scattered about on the rug.

Hand made Advent Calender and Tree selection

Sometimes I take on really big projects that all started with one little idea. I wanted to make my SIL an advent calender with photos I had taken of her family over the last year. The project then grew into a wall hanging with 24 felt stockings and in order to not make the whole thing as big as a bedspread, I had to overlap the stockings which took some creative sewing so I wouldn't stitch up the opening for the photo. This took about 30 man hours over ten days. But it's cute!

Today we went for our annual Christmas tree adventure with my SIL and her family. As you can see it's already snowing pretty heavily here in Minnesota. I took this picture an hour ago. We've had 1/2 inch more snow fall since then. We're expecting another 8 inches tonight.

The Vacuum bit the dust

I guess it was inevitable with 4 dogs in the house. My poor vacuum cleaner had been seeing more action than at any other point in it's life. The belt finally blew out. Michael is currently out looking for a replacement belt.
Well, this just sucks...

Holiday cookies complete with recipe

Well, I've completed my first recipe upload. These are cookies made without butter. I found the recipe with Crisco Shortening sticks.  These are taste-tester approved.

Packages in the mail!

Some of my favorite gifts come via airmail. This arrived the other day from my brother in Vienna, Austria.


It's an advent calendar with each day containing a toy from the popular European kids treat , "Kinder Uberraschung." (btw: spell-check thinks Uberraschung is a misspelling of Maraschino)
Each time I've visited Europe I've tried to gorge myself on these treats and the toys they contain have never ceased to entertain me. I still remember the first one my big brother got me when he was stationed in Germany. Now that my little brother lives in Austria, I have a steady supplier. I can't wait until December first now! Miranda is now wearing her holiday toenail colors. That's Spinner on the ground underneath her trying to sneak in and grab some attention and possibly score a belly-rub.

Grok Rocks!

Tonight we went out with Michael's friends D&H. We drove into St. Paul for some Russian at Moscow on the Hill. (I swiped the pic from their website. I had woefully forgotten my camera at home) I loved this restaurant. The atmosphere was simple and unpretentious. There was a wandering accordionist. The menu was nothing fancy, but the dishes were rich and flavorful. (Plus they had Pilsner Urquel on tap!) I had the Siberian dumplings which were so simple and so awesome. Mike had a rich beef stroganoff smothered in thick gravy. For and after-dinner drink we shared a glass of grok, which is a warm red wine punch. (If anyone has a recipe for this stuff, please forward it my way, I would be most grateful!!)
After dinner we set out for a perfect dessert. We went to Latte Da for a huge slice of triple decker Turtle cake and Dulce de Leche cake. Both were rich and presumably contained more calories than our entire meals. I had a Swiss Mint Latte, complete with an Andes Candy suspended in the whipped cream topping. next door to the coffee shop is a Pottery Barn, so we had to indulge and scan the holiday decorations. We left there with a lot of ideas for our Christmas dinner event.
After eating we retired to a local Brunswick recreation center for a few rounds of darts and a chance to unwind. In all, a great evening.

Happy Black Friday

I have just partaken in one of the strangest rituals in our society. I wanted to experience something bizarre, unnecessary, and capable of inflicting extreme discomfort to all the millions of participants it attracts annually. I'm talking about Black Friday shopping of course.
I've been up since 4am, trying to psyche myself up to go out there and join the battlefield. Finally at 5:30, I mustered up enough courage to brave the cold and the crowds and out I went. Kohls had opened at 4am, and next door to it, Target, was opening at 6am. I walked into Kohls with one item in mind. When I found it, before taking it down from the shelves, I tried to find the end of the line. It was wrapped around the back of the store and was almost back to the entrance. This was not good. It actually freaked me out enough, the idea of standing in line for an hour for one item, (which they had plenty of, and were running no risk of running out of before the end of the sale tomorrow) so I bolted, empty-handed. I got to Target 20 minutes before the doors opened. The line outside the doors was already 200 people deep. I had a gameplan. Again, I only wanted one item. I stood there and froze in the 15 degree pre-dawn morning air and waited. And waited. Time stretches out a little more when it's below freezing. When the doors opened one enthusiastic shopper let out a whoop and everyone filed in. Here's where I learned a few things:

1. Never get a cart if you can avoid it. Bring friends if you need arms to carry things. Carts slow you down. I was able to nimbly maneuver through the cart traffic jam on my way to the checkout.
   
2. This is no time to be afraid to ask for directions. If you're in elecronics and there is a store clerk standing there, it is vital to ask them where to find your specific desired item. This will save valuable time if you're after a popular item, which in this case, I was.
   
3. Abandon slow moving check out lines quickly. The guy fussing slowly over the credit card key pad will not be done in an acceptable period of time. If the lane next to you opens up, Run!

So that's it. I pulled my car into the garage at 6:07am, with the most important item on my list purchased and a firm belief that I can get the other big ticket item for it's sale price after the hub-bub has died down. Next year I will scan the sales fliers better and if I want more than one item, I'll map out a course in the store. This was definitely a bizarre experience.

Now, about Thanksgiving:
Michael and I tag-teamed the pies this year. I made all the crusts and he made most of the fillings. This is his pumpkin egg-nog pie. I copied the leaf design from a Martha Stewart template.
Here we have Apple and Pecan pie. I thought it was adorable that Michael was amazed that the only filling in an apple pie is apples, cinnamon and sugar. I think he was under the impression that I made a rich elaborate sauce when I made an apple pie. Both of these turned out excellent.
The show stopper was the orange cranberry sour cream tart. (Pardon the plastic wrap, this picture was taken after it was assembled and ready for transport.)

We were also tasked with bringing rolls. We used the Fleishmann's 60 minute rolls recipe, and we made 2 batches. Next time we might make the rolls a little bigger, but they were more moist and chewy than store-bought and that was appreciated, which makes all the effort completely worthwhile.

Taking a break from doing nothing.

Since hubby has been away I haven't been cooking. Last night I made spaghetti from a box and jar. The night before he left we were too busy to cook because we were at my SIL's to drop off our bulbs in her root cellar. We stopped for some absolutely awesome curry on the way home.
Today I've been addressing Christmas card envelopes. I know, I know, it's too early to even discuss the holiday, but if I don't get this stuff out of the way early I get painfully bogged down later on. There's so much to do. Lots of decorating, baking, gift making, etc. Plus we're hosting Christmas dinner for the extended family.
Anyway, I've also been doing some deep cleaning in the house. I've been tearing apart our bedroom because with 4 dogs sleeping in there each night with us, it gets pretty scary quick. I washed the comforter cover and I thought the poor dryer would choke on all the dog hair. That's what we get for letting the dogs use it as a bed on warm nights.
The trees have lost almost all their leaves here in the neighborhood. There was a quick little snowstorm yesterday, but today has been warm (42F) and foggy. A good day to catch up on cleaning.

Recipes coming soon

Hi all!

Just to let you know, I've been working on a way to upload my recipes to a separate website which i will then add a link to in the blog posts. This keeps the recipes handy in one location and it doesn't bog down the blog entries with long posts.
If you're curious, this is what I've got so far. I'm doing all of this in plain html so bear with me. It's a slow and painful process and I've got a long way to go.
Michael will be out of town next Sunday through Tuesday, so I might be able to sit down at the computer for enormously long stretches of time and get this accomplished. Wish me luck!

Panettone, my new favorite bread

This stuff was so fun to make. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart's Christmas Cookbook.
The recipe in the cookbook called out much smaller paper bags, but I only had lunch bags available, so rather than 12 bun-sized loaves, I made 4 meal-sized loaves. I have to say, buttering the paper bags was gross. I used a pastry brush but my hands got very slimy in the process. As a side note, they've felt surprisingly soft and I haven't needed moisturizer since.
I studded the loaves with chopped dates and craisins, rather than raisins and apricots. We have one raisin aversion and one severe apricot allergy in the house, which compromises a lot of holiday baking now that I'm learning more about traditional European baking. However, since I've discovered dates, all is well.
It turned out to be a moist, flavorful, delicate bread with a slight citrusy flavor (due to the lemon zest) and occasional fruits. It's a heavy egg bread, basically. Upon further research, I found out this is a traditional Italian bread served on New Year's Eve with Sparkling wine. I'll have to make another batch for New Year's then!

The way to a man's heart is through a bypass

Occasionally a girl just has to remind her hubby that she can be daring. A surefire way to get him to stop dead in his tracks is to ask, "Should I put sauteed onions or bacon on the blue cheese burgers?" It was as if time had frozen as he contemplated the utmost severity of the question. Bacon was concluded due to time constraints.
The burgers are a favorite around here. They're a tried and true Paula Deen recipe. Just some blue cheese and butter surrounded by plain ground beef and cooked in butter in a cast iron skillet. God bless Paula Deen for bringing rich fatty foods cooked in cast iron back into the mainstream. You go girl!


I love this picture. Spinner looks like the Flying Nun and Patch blinked. So cute!

The flowers get put to bed

Today the weather was just perfect, so we decided to finish up some outdoor chores. Michael mowed the lawn and then we went to Lowe's to buy some peat moss to pack away the Cannas, Dahlias and Elephant Ear bulbs that needed winter storage.
In the above photo, from left to right, you can see the bushel of tall orange blossom Cannas (the purple tubers), then the Dahlia bulbs(the brown ones), and then the smaller red blossom Cannas(the white tubers).
Michael made this box out of 4 pieces of scrap lumber and some wire cage material for the bottom. We then lined the crate with an old sheet, put down some peat moss and then back-filled with bulbs and then covered them again with more peat. He installed a divider to keep the orange Cannas and Dahlia's separate from the red Cannas. It's important to know which are which because the red ones are shorter than the orange, and it would not be good to get them mixed up and accidentally have the red ones wind up in the back of the flower bed. Here everything is all wrapped up and ready for winter storage. It amazes me that it all started like this:...and then turned into this: