Belated Post-Holiday Post

I started writing this post more than a week ago and have just now come back to it. I really don't know if there will ever be anything that really resembles a flow in our house but I do know that getting back into that barely-existent flow after a mere two weeks of holidays was more difficult than it should have been. Chalk it up to the late nights, fun get-togethers, overeating and sleeping in. Throw in daddy taking a couple weeks off to be home with us and the fact that we made the most of our family time, with all play and zero chores, and you've got the makings of a back-to-routine disaster.

Suffice to say, the Christmas trees are finally down and everything is boxed and ready to go back into storage or out to the curb. We may have finally caught up to nearly two weeks of not doing laundry. Everyone is able to wake up for school/work with only the usual amount of eye rubbing and complaining. And I think I may have enough time to finally finish this long overdue post of the flurry of baking and sewing that happens over the holidays. Here's a photo recap. Some further posts may follow with more pictures of the projects that I was especially happy with.

Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Bourbon Buttercream

Nothing says Christmas like pumpkins and booze, right?

I originally set out to make pumpkin eggnog cupcakes but when I discovered that I'd used all my nutmeg making James Beard's Amazing Persimmon Bread as shared by David Lebovitz, I had to make a last minute substitution. Out went the Cuban rum and along came the Kentucky bourbon. (Also in case you're wondering, the persimmon bread recipe is absolutely delicious... and boozy as well).

And pause...

Once in a while, the stars align and everything goes more or less according to plan. Hubby and I actually sat down to a quiet adult lunch while the boys are at school, one daughter naps and the other plays happily in her jumper.

Now I sit and digest (both are strange and rare sensations) and contemplate what I shall write to my neglected blog. Or rather, what I can write given the limited time that this total eclipse of child-demands will last and my proficiency on a phone keyboard.

Perhaps, I should stop while I'm ahead and simply say that Martha's tomato tart with its roasted garlic crust was heavenly, eaten in a quiet and clean (as can be expected) kitchen. And that soon my blog should be awash in photos and entries about Halloween prep.... If the heavens allow and all goes according to plan, of course.

P. S. And inevitably, I'm no longer sitting and digesting. Instead I'm nursing a baby to sleep and embellishing this post with pictures from my phone camera.

Zucchini Crumb Cake Muffins

(Jump to the recipe...)

If you've ever tried to leave zucchini on a neighbour's front porch under the cover of darkness, devised methods of handing out zucchini instead of candy at Hallowe'en or considered including zucchini as part of your taxable income calculations, then you've obviously experienced firsthand the awesome productive powers of the zucchini plant. However, despite its bad rap as an unwelcome vegetable gift, I feel indebted to the over-achieving zucchini plant because if it did not bear fruit so copiously, no one may have ever felt compelled to create the wonderfully moist delight that is zucchini bread.

Like a 50's Housewife...

... I made some cookies for St. Patrick's day this week.

My motivation was partly wanting to eat some iced sugar cookies but mostly wanting to use these great cookie cutters (passed on to me from my mom when it became evident that I actually enjoy being in the kitchen).

Happy Belated Valentines Day!

Yesterday, while dropping my second son off at preschool, I realized that it was Valentine's day and that I'd run out of the house without even giving hubby a kiss goodbye.

"So this is where we're at, huh?" I thought to myself.

Though, we've never made a huge fuss out of any special occasion, being in too much of a rush to give my DH a kiss seemed a far cry from our young and wild days of early marriage when everyday would be like Valentine's day... And while we weren't going to have a extravagant dinner or drink wine until we were silly, I figured that we could at least get into the spirit with something of the season.

A Super Fifth Birthday!

Like some kind of clockwork child, my eldest son is now into superheroes.
His current favourite? Batman.
Why? "He has a cape and a mask and spiky things on his arms."

Ahh, accessories. Men love them too. Just in a different way. (For instance, my husband said he always wanted to be a hockey goalie because of the cool pads and gear... but that's a story for another day.) Today's story is about my son's super fifth birthday.

Recipe Review: Sweetapolita's Fluffy Vanilla Cake

Do you dream of light, fluffy, super vanilla-y white cake? I do. And the epitome of wonderful white cakes? [Head bow in shame] The boxed ones. Nothing homemade could really come close to that boxed white cake mix... Or so I thought until I got a chance to try this recipe.

First Birthday Cake with Beet Swiss Meringue

I've been itching to make Martha's Ruffle Tower cake for ages... but making a ruffle-y cake for my boys never seemed quite right. Of course, now we have a baby girl and making a pink, ruffle cake for her seems just right.

Freezing Calzones: A Perfect School Lunch

Ahh, packing lunch for the kiddies... always so challenging. As I mentioned before, my kids always want to have the pre-packaged stuff that their friends get in their lunch bags. Never mind that mommy is trying hard to minimize the amount of (a) factory produced food we consume and (b) waste we produce.

So once in a while, I have to pull out a trump card to get my kids reinvigorated about their Food Inc-wary, stainless steel container lunches. Some good ol' standbys are anything related to pasta, pizza and hamburgers. (Ever notice how kids' favourite foods slowly evolve into a take-out menu? Where has my three year-old, school-naive son whose favourite dessert was red bean buns gone? Apparently, he's been swallowed up by this new SK kid who talks with his friends about how they all loooove ice cream ;)

Homemade Snack Mix

If your kids are anything like mine then they crave the food that comes wrapped in anything crinkly, plastic, foil and/or disposable. Never mind that they will sometimes get homemade mushroom risotto or sushi for lunch - they just want the Lunchables that their classmate is having. Once in a while though, I'll get one of my versions of a popular snack food just right and they'll gobble it up... even in its unattractive, reusable, non-plastic container packaging :)

Such is the case with our homemade Bits and Bites.

Grape Tomato and Oregano Sourdough Focaccia

I've been learning the way of sourdough (more on that in a later post!) and having some beautiful grape tomatoes and leftover dried up oregano from past CSA boxes inspired me to make some focaccia. Of course, this focaccia does not have to be made with homemade sourdough ;) You could easily substitute store-bought pizza dough and have the same fresh-baked result.

The method is simple enough...

Rhubarb and Fennel Hand Pies

We received some cute little fennel bulbs in our CSA box last week and although they were cute to look at, I wondered what I would use such small fennel bulbs for? Cooking them was out of the question since they reduce so much that these small bulbs would just disappear into nothingness. Sliced up raw in a salad was another possibility. But sorting the veggies that night made me look at the fennel and rhubarb together and think, "Why not?"

Recipe Review: Taro Sponge Cake

While browsing the internet a few weeks ago, I ran across this delicious-looking recipe from Eupho Cafe. I had just bought a large taro from the supermarket with the intent of braising it with some duck or chicken, but this recipe completely eclipsed any savoury aspirations I had.

Recipe Review: Fastest Cinnamon Buns

I tried this Fine Cooking recipe about a year ago, before I got my food processor, and was very disappointed with the results. I tried blending the cottage cheese really well in the Magic Bullet and then finishing the recipe in my KitchenAid, but the final product still turned out really chunky and dense. 

Fast forward to 2012 -----[imagine a movement blur here]------> 

One year and one Cuisinart later, this recipe is now a hands-down, thumbs-up, lip-smacking, mouth-watering winner!

In the food processor, these cinnamon buns turned out just heavenly and they only took me an hour from start to yummy finish. They were suitably fluffy (especially considering they are not yeasted) and tender enough for the glaze to ooze into every nook and cranny.

I only had to make a few substitutions:

• The cottage cheese I had was from Western Creamery (they have the best dairy products because the don't use any fillers!) - 250g of pressed cottage cheese (0.5% milk fat and 78% moisture)
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup whole milk instead of buttermilk (because I wanted more protein and I had no buttermilk :)
• increased the cinnamon to two generous teaspoonfuls
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg instead of 1/2 tsp allspice

As you can see, the tasty treats were quickly devoured by all. 

Boston Cream Cupcakes

Hubby and I were suddenly gripped by the thought of Boston cream pie a few days ago... but a whole pie seemed a bit overindulgent so I compromised with cake's tasty, smaller cousin - cupcake.

I modified an Everyday Food recipe for Boston Cream Pie and made cupcakes with frosting instead of cake with glaze. Also instead of using whole eggs in the recipe, I used a combination of egg whites plus whole eggs, so that there were no stray egg whites/yolks leftover at the end of baking.

I wanted my cupcakes to have frosting instead of glaze, so I made the hole for filling in the top of the cupcake because it's easier to fill that way and the frosting would eventually cover the hole anyway. However, if you were to glaze them and wanted the tops to be unblemished then you would have to bake them without the muffin liners and make the holes in the bottom. I find a melon baller perfect for scooping out the little cap for the hole and for hollowing out the cupcake. (You can save the cake scraps in the freezer for use as ice cream mixin's or cake pop fillings later). 

I put the custard into a icing bag (with a round tip) because it's easier to pipe the custard than to try squeezing the custard into those tiny holes with a spoon. My custard actually came out a little on the thick side as well (cooked it a little too long), but after whipping it up with a spoon it piped really smoothly into the cupcakes.

Did you know that all these cupcakes have approximately the same amount of frosting? Amazing how smooth frosting looks less thick and voluminous than the messy, swirled frosting.

Hubby had two cupcakes and decided that he had overdone it. I had one and felt just perfectly full of custard and cream :)

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Boston Cream Cupcakes    Yield: 1 dozen cupcakes (made in a standard muffin pan)

Cupcake:
Used this recipe but substituted 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites instead of 3 whole eggs (saved the yolks for the custard). They fit perfectly into a standard muffin pan and baked for 20 minutes.

Custard:
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch salt
1 cup whole milk
2 egg yolks (reserved from the cupcakes)
1 small pat butter
dash vanilla

1. Whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a small saucepan. 
2. Whisk in milk little by little.
3. Whisk in egg yolks.
4. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it just starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from heat and whisk until it cools down a bit (1-2 minutes).
5. Stir in butter and vanilla.
6. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto to top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until cool.

Chocolate Frosting:
200g (1-1/4 cup) chocolate chips *Callebaut is my preference here :)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons hot water
2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup icing sugar
pinch salt

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl set over simmering water or in the microwave. Let cool.
2. Mix cocoa powder and hot water in a small bowl until smooth. Let cool.
3. Cream together butter, icing sugar and salt until light and fluffy.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and cocoa. Beat until fluffy again.

Assembly:

1. Scoop out a large cavity in the cupcakes using a melon baller or whatever works for you. Save the cap for the hole, use the cupcake innards for something else (cake pops, ice cream sprinkles, etc.) You can really hollow the cupcakes out here... there should be enough custard to fill the cupcakes fairly full. 
2. Using an icing bag, pipe the custard into the cupcakes until they are super full (it will use up all the custard :)
3. Put the tops bake on and decorate as desired with the chocolate frosting.

Cooking with Kids: Kitchen Sink Cookies

My kids love making these because there is a lot of scooping and mixing involved. In fact, I had three kids baking with me and they all had more than enough turns with the spatulas, measuring cups and spoons.

Kitchen sink cookies are an easy cookie to improvise with because anything and everything but the kitchen sink can go into them. You simply start with the ratio of 1 part butter/oil combination to 1.5 parts sugar/honey/sweetener. Throw in an egg. Let the kids scoop in enough flour to give the batter a wet mashed potatoes consistency, plus a spoonful or so of baking soda.

Then the fun begins as the kids get busy bossing each other around about how many chocolate chips go in or when and how long to stir it.  This time around the kids got some mini chocolate chips and whole grain cereal flakes.  Also fun are nuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, (chips :P), etc. The kids enjoyed being in charge of how much stuff went in and how much went into their mouths. I knew they were done when the eating began to overtake the making :)

Fifteen minutes in the oven and there was a treat for all.

Cooking with Kids: The Food

So after dressing the kids up in aprons and hats, what if they ask you to actually cook with them? I find that sometimes they are content to stand and watch me cut and chop everything for dinner. It's especially fun for them when the foods include things that they can steal bits of while I'm prepping: carrots, cheese, etc.

Sometimes, they just want to go into their special drawer in the kitchen (which is full of all the cooking tools that are safe for play) and grab some stuff to make believe with.

Great to have recipes with weights... eliminates measuring!

Sometimes though, watching or pretending is not enough and they want to participate. Or as my toddler says, "Elp mommy doop [Help mommy scoop]".

Little hands trying to knead

We often bake cookies or muffins together since they are very forgiving about my kids inaccurate measurements. The kids have fun scooping, counting and measuring out all the ingredients. Giving them each their own bowl to mix only makes one extra bowl to wash, but keeps both very happy. Then they enjoy forming the cookies or dropping chocolate chips/fruit/raisins into the muffin cups.

Of course, my waistline doth protest when we bake too many sweets. So they often help me with pizza or calzones. You can make your own dough or buy some from the store. They play with the dough like it's modelling clay while I make the actual meal. When they are finally done playing with the dough, I either have them make a mini pizza/calzone or we fry the dough like a pan bread for a quick treat while we wait for the main event to bake.

What mommy made while the kids were playing with the dough

Any type of bread is fun for the kids, because they get to measure and then get hands-on with the dough. Breads are also great because you can often convert all the measurements to weights. And if you place your mixing bowl on a scale, the kids can scoop away to their little hearts' content while you simply watch the scale.

What the kids made

To minimize the waiting time between risings, I use instant yeast where possible and plan the bread making around lunch time. That way we can make the dough and knead it before lunch, have some lunch while it rises, form it after lunch, rise it again and bake/cook during post-lunch play and it's ready by snack time.

The sweet reward 

Mommy does have an ulterior motive for having kids in the kitchen and the inevitable mess that follows. though... the faint hope of future kids who can cook for themselves and me!

Naturally Pink Valentines Coconut Cupcakes

I'm going to digress from my Cooking with Kids train of thought to squeeze this quick Valentines Day post in...

Red velvet everything is all the rage right now, but I don't like thinking about how much food colouring has to go into one of those creations to achieve that deep red hue. So for Valentines day this year I decided that I would go more pink and natural.

My hubby has only recently discovered the deliciousness that is coconut cake. So I was going to make him some coconut cupcakes with pink frosting. However, upon further consideration pink icing seemed a little too baby girlish and I opted instead to make the cake pink and the frosting white.

I adapted Martha's recipe for coconut cake for this experiment. It's a good tasting coconut cake, but I'm still not convinced that it's the best coconut cake out there... If anyone knows of an incredible coconut cake recipe (with the creamy white frosting of course!), please point me in the proper direction.

To colour the cake pink, I used nature's best red colorant - beets! I have a bunch of frozen roasted beets from my summer farmshare and I used half a small beet blended with the coconut milk to give my cupcakes that Valentine touch.

The batter looked the appropriate shade of pink once all the mixing was done... so I didn't add any more beets into the mix.

They came out of the oven smelling heavenly and with the cutest deep pink tops. The inner part of the cake remained mostly white which suited me just fine, but I guess you could always use more beets or beet juice if you wanted a deeper, more pervasive colour.

Add some fluffy white frosting and you've got a treat fit for all the men/boys of the house.

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Naturally Pink Valentines Coconut Cupcakes   Yield: 10 large or 12 medium cupcakes
adapted from Coconut Cake, Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

1-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sweetened coconut, blended/processed until fine
pinch salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 - 1 small beet, roasted/cooked and roughly chopped
1/2 cup butter, softened
scant 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare baking pans with butter/spray/muffin cups.
2. Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.
3. In a blender or food processor, blend coconut milk and chopped beet until smooth.
4. In a mixer (or by hand), cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
5. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
6. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the pink coconut milk.
7. Divide the batter into your baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out with moist crumbs.
8. Let cool and frost as desired.

Fourth Birthday: Gingerbread Houses

What do you do with kindergarten age children during a birthday party? There's food and cake, but how to keep them occupied during the remainder of the party? Having winter birthdays means that my kids will never be able to have any outdoor fun, like sprinklers or jumping castles. And complicated crafting activities that require a lot of sitting still don't work that well for kindergarten kids... especially the boys.

So I figured I would combine something that involves food (in this case, candy and cookies), decorating (for the girls) and making a mess with icing (for the boys). And since it was something that was connected to the holiday season, I hoped that it would be something new and novel for the kids.

Gingerbread houses! What child would say no to candies and colours and icing "glue"?

I had originally whipped up a whole batch of gingerbread dough to bake the cookies myself, but when I went to Bulk Barn to pick up the candies, I found they had house kits that were very reasonably priced and saved me the trouble and sleeplessness of doing too much the night before the party.

The miniature gingerbread suburb along with the spinosaurus cake.

I assembled the houses the morning of the party and hoped desperately that the icing would set hard enough in the two hours before the party to withstand the rigours of young children decorating them. To this end, I intentionally mixed the royal icing a little thicker than usual, which definitely helped the houses dry faster, but almost gave me carpal tunnel trying to squeeze it out of the icing bag!

Note to self: Assembling one or two gingerbread houses is fun, but assembling nine in a row under a time limit is not.

When the kids initially sat down to the dining room table for this craft, I wasn't sure that they understood or wanted to participate. However, once I had demonstrated and handed them each their own bag full of icing plus a table full of candies, they were off in their own little sugar-fuelled worlds.

Here are some of their creations:

The last one belongs to my son, the birthday boy. He was complaining that the candies weren't sticking. And it was no wonder when I turned his house around to investigate and found the icing avalanche that was sliding down his roof. I just had to reassure him that the icing would dry soon and he just had to keep replacing the candies that were sliding off :)

They had lots of fun and the mess was more or less limited to fingertips and the tabletop... not much on clothing or hair. Luckily I had my SIL and a couple of moms here to help me clean up and wrap the houses up in cello paper. So the craft was a success and the kids enjoyed having something they made to show to their moms.