Giant Christmas Pavlova!

Seriously.  No joke.  Biggest pavlova ever!  The size of the tire on my 4Runner.  Ok, maybe not quite that big.  But big.  It took up an entire cookie sheet and almost, almost, ran over the edges.  The recipe for the meringue was from Nigella Lawson's Feast.  I one and a halved the recipe, hers said it would serve 10 to 12.  We have hearty eaters in my family and I knew that there would be at least 15 of us at Christmas dinner.

New Recipes to Come!

So much cooking and baking has taken place over the last week I hardly know where to start!  With all of the parties and birthdays it was hard to find the time to take pictures of what I was making, let alone write up a post!  Now that things have slowed down a bit I am hoping to block out some time in the next few days to get blogging.  I have a new favorite bread recipe, a curried red lentil soup, quick and simple chicken parmesan and a dessert that will wow even the professional chefs in your family!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and that you have fun plans for the new year!

Christmas Cookies - Round 3 - Peppermint Meringues

I mean, who wouldn't want to make something from the cover of Bon Apetit?  Pink and white and red and minty...  Sign me up!  A great treat for any one who is gluten free too!  I am always a little hesitant when going into a project that involves meringue.  If there is just the littlest bit of oil in your mixing bowl you have to start all over again.  And you have to add everything S L O W L Y.  But I thought what the heck.  Why not give it a try.  And have something totally different to give out, or eat myself.

Christmas Cookies - Round 2 - Gold Stars

No big elaborate story here.  Just buttery cookies with ginger instead of the usual vanilla or almond.  Another cookie recipe from Nigella Christmas.  Nigella's ginger stars had edible gold glitter on them.  I didn't have that, nor did I want to go on what was sure to be a wild goose chase to find it.  So I just used gold sugar.  Simple as that.

Moosewood Fudge Brownies

One of the very best brownie recipes out there!  Right out of the Moosewood Cookbook.  No alterations.  Mollie Katzen lists all sorts of add ins, and I have no doubt that they would all be delicious.  But I wanted to stick to the basics.  Plain chocolaty fudgy awesomeness.  To be eaten warm with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of Saigon cinnamon.  Bliss!  And yes that is a corner piece in the picture.  I am one of those people who likes the edges of brownies, the lasagne from the corner and the crunchy end of a baguette.  Can't help myself, somehow it is just better! 

Christmas Cookies - Round 1 - Spice Cookies with Orange Icing

So I'm totally on the Christmas Cookie band wagon this year.  I don't know why.  Well actually I have a pretty good idea.  I finally have a kitchen I can spread out in and two weeks ago a friend's mum gave me her Kitchenaid mixer.  I know.  It is amazing.  Debby asked me if I wanted her mixer and I must have looked at her like she was crazy because she said, "No really, you can have it, I don't use it anymore."  AMAZING!  So you can thank Debby for all of the Christmas Cookies and other baked goodies that are going to be coming your way!

Merry Christmas!

Cooking isn't the only thing that happens in the kitchen at #42!  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Anadama Bread

Homemade bread?  Yes please!  And make mine anadama!

A Curry for Ninjas!

I had an impromptu dinner party last weekend. Organized a just couple of hours before it happened.  A bunch of awesome friends who I don't get to see very often were all available.  And what better way to catch up than over a bowl of curry?  The curry pictured above isn't actually the one I made last Saturday.  We were having way to much fun to bother about taking a photo of a bowl full of curry.  The one above I made last night.  Same thing only with this one I used carrots instead of the green beans I used last week.  But let's get right to the recipe.  Double everything if you are going to serve more than three or four people.

Chicken and Noodles

 

It's that time of year.  Everyone is feeling a little frantic.  A little over extended, ok maybe a lot overextended.  And your worst fear of getting sick just in time for all of those holiday parties may just be coming true.  In my family not only do we have all of the holiday parties, we also have a lot of December birthdays.  As you can imagine this adds to the insanity.  Bouncing from Ugly Sweater party to cookie swap to birthday and back again is bound to take it's toll.

Lemon Marmalade Cake

Cake that tastes like pound cake but doesn't have any butter in it - what?  You're talking crazy talk.  Nope.  Not.  I am telling the truth.  I can't promise that this is good for you, it does have sugar in it after all, but it is pretty darn delicious!  I was on one of my favorite blogs, Pioneer Woman, recipe browsing.  Looking for a relatively simple and quick dessert that I could throw together and then bring in the car with out fear of anything falling apart.  I also wanted something that I already had all of the ingredients for.  I came across this.  On Pioneer Woman it is listed as Yogurt-Marmalade Cake.  The only thing I would recommend changing is the amount of glaze.  I ended up only using half of what it called for because it made so much.  So I'll give you the halved measurements for the ingredients.  And If you like lots of sticky orange marmalade glaze than by all means go ahead and double it!

BBQ Chicken Pizza - The Way I Like It!

This isn't your run of the mill BBQ chicken pizza.  It is oh so much better!  And it really is all about the ingredients.  Not just pizza sauce and BBQ sauce from a jar - oh no!  I use my own roasted tomato sauce mixed with some Sweet Baby Ray's original.  And the crust, it's all about the crust.  I use Portland Pie Co. crust, either the garlic or the beer.  YUM.

Chicken Thighs in Tomato Sauce With Penne

 

So basic.  So delicious.  You have to make this!  And you will be so happy that you did.  Every Thursday I have dinner with my Grandmother.  And every other Thursday I bring dinner.  I am always looking for something that I can make the night before and something that will appeal to both of us.  I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog and I changed it a bit because she used chicken thighs with the skin and bone - I am not a fan of chicken skin and personally I don't want to be pulling bones out of my pasta.  But you need the flavor so I added pancetta - yup - bacony goodness.  This is quick to put together but then you have to be patient and let it bubble away for an hour and a half.  Make sure you have the time because it is worth it.