Christmas-Mega-Post

Honey Cheesecake w/ Blueberry Sauce

Rocky Road Fudge

Brown Sugar Shortbread Stars + Hazelnut Macaroons

Lemon Shortbread Stars

This is the third time I've made shortbread this December. This mixture was not as crumbly as usual is because I decreased the amount of flour I usually use. This is excellent if you want to make shapes. Plus I took pictures as I went. It's like a whole how-to guide!

Lemon Shortbread Stars
-1 c. unbleached flour
-1/2 c. butter
-1/4 c. sugar
-1 tsp. vanilla
-zest of one lemon
-sprinkles (not optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and sugar. Slowly add in the flour. Then add the vanilla and lemon. On a floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, flatten out mixture to 1/4 inch. Press out stars using a lightly floured cookie cutter.

When you press out shapes, you're going to have leftovers, because that dough in between the stars isn't going anywhere. Simply gather the leftovers up and again roll the dough out until it's 1/4 inch thick. Keep doing this until you can't make anymore stars. Place the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure the stars are at least 1/2 an inch apart because they will spread out slightly when cooked.

Put a pinch of sprinkles on top of every cookie. Bake cookies for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool completely before moving. Once cooled, transfer cookies to tin. Enjoy!

Cherry Snowballs

I thought I'd do something Christmassy, so this is my take on the your classic date-nut dessert. :)

Cherry Snowballs
makes 20-25

• 1 c. almonds
• 1 c. dates
• 1 c. dried cherries
• 1/3 c. shredded coconut
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/8 tsp. salt

In a food processor I blended all the ingredients together, until the almond pieces were the size of the peanut bits you would find in chunky peanut butter. The mixture stuck together but it was not homogeneous. I used a measuring tablespoon much like a melon baller to divide the mixture into balls. I then rolled the balls between my palms to make them even sphericaller.

I put an additional 1/4 c. shredded coconut into a bowl and rolled the balls in it until there were coated. And that's it! Next time I will omit the coconut in the recipe, so that the mixture is it stickier and coconut adheres better to the outside.

Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Another baked good I'm mailing to my Grandpa are these macaroons. I used this recipe and it's completely foolproof. So, use it.

Spiced Dark Fruitcake with Brandy

Fruitcake #2, the near flawless result of trial and error.

Even better, the inside of the fruitcake.

So, I made fruitcake. But! It is the best fruitcake that ever was. It was so nice to come inside on the first snowfall of winter to the smell of brandy, blackstrap molasses and orange. I used a recipe for Spiced Dark Fruitcake With Brandy from about.com's Southern Cooking section, but obv. I made some adaptions, so many in fact that I will post the recipe here. It's so not my recipe, but no green cherries necessary. I used 12 different types of fruit (bulk section-induced madness), and 1/2 cup of brandy in the recipe plus more poured over the cake to keep it moist. This will also preserve it which is good because half of it will be mailed to my Grandpa in Ontario.

Spiced Dark Fruitcake with Brandy

In a bowl mix together:
-1 c. sultana raisins
-1 c. dates
-1/2 c. golden raisins
-1/2 c. dried figs
-1/2 c. dried cranberries
-1/2 c. dried pineapple
-1/2 c. dried cherries
-1/2 c. dried blueberries
-1/2 c. dried apricots
-1/2 c. dried currents
-1/2 c. dried papaya
-1/2 c. candied ginger
(NOTE: Ratios here not important as long as you have 7 c. dried fruit.)
-1/2 c. pecans
-1/2 c. sliced almonds
-zest of 2 oranges

Pour over fruit and nuts:
-1/2 c. orange juice
-1/2 c. brandy

Leave this to marinate for at least 2 hours.

In a large bowl, sift together:
-3.5 c. flour
-1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
and this is your dry mixture.

In a separate large bowl, cream together:
-1 c. butter
-2 c. packed brown sugar

Then add:
-5 egg yolks (save the whites for later)

Now slowly add in you dry mixture, preferably using an electric mixer, food processor, or group of strong-armed children. Nextly add:
-1/2 c. blackstrap molasses

Then add in your fruit and nut mixture along with all the juice and brandy.

In a separate bowl take your:
-5 egg whites
and beat them until the stiff peak stage. Fold into batter.

Pour the mixture into your lavishly buttered bundt cake pan. Keep in mind the mixture is going to rise about an inch, so make sure that the cake will not extend past the shape of your bundt pan. If there is excess batter, make mini fruitcakes in muffin tins, but DO NOT say to yourself "Oh well, pretty close. I might as well add all the batter." or else it will not be pretty.

Bake fruitcake at 250° for 1.5 hours, then cover it with parchment paper or brown paper and continue baking for another 1.5 hours, 3 hours baking in total. You'll know it's down when you can insert a toothpick into the cake and have it come out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack. After turning out the pan, pour a capful of brandy over the cake. Keep the cake wrapped in a cloth and pour a bit of brandy over it every few days to keep it moist, if for some weird reason you haven't eaten it.

Lemon Shortbread

I'm here with another baked good, lemon shortbread. My family and many of my friends will never be able to go back to regular shortbread after this.

Lemon Shortbread Stars
-1 1/4 c. unbleached flour
-1/2 c. butter
-1/4 c. sugar
-1 tsp. vanilla
-zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and sugar. Nextly, add the vanilla and lemon and then slowly add in the flour. Work the mixture together using your hands. Once homogeneous, transfer the mixture to a 9x9 square pan. Cook until slightly golden at the edges (about 15-20 minutes). Cut into squares straight out of the oven then allow to cool.

Gingersnaps

This is an amalgamation of several recipes I've found, combined in such a way that 1)it will fail less b)all the ingredients will be in my house.

Gingersnap!
makes 24 cookies

Preheat oven to 350.
Whisk together:
-1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 tbsp. grated ginger
-1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
-1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt

In a separate bowl, cream together:
-1/2 c. butter
-1/2 c. brown sugar
-1/2 c. molasses

Add in dry mixture until just combined.

Have a bowl with:
-1/4 c. brown sugar, for rolling

Make each cookie using a heaping tablespoon of batter. Roll it into a ball and then coat the ball by rolling it in the brown sugar. Place on a cookie tray lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 14 minutes.

Local December Salad

I made this using Vancouver Island mixed greens (which is good because that is the island I am currently on), swiss chard, red pepper, orange pepper, pea shoots, field cucumber, radish and celery.

Plus there were local hazelnuts which I hammered out of their shells manually. I want to grow hazelnuts.

November Fruit Salad

In this there is grapefruit, both red and yellow raspberries, persimmon, pomegranate, and young coconut.

Apple Crumble Pie

I am seriously getting into the art of crust making. This has got to be the most beautiful crust I have ever made. Honeycrisp apples.

Just look how nicely that crust came out.

Pumpkin Pie

This was actually made with acorn squash. I have clearly lapsed into a crust making binge.

I've made my own pumpkin pie spice, since I couldn't find an organic one and really, who wants to buy those little bottles of spices when you can get those econ-o bags? You can tell someone is a good cook when they really glob it on with spices. I'm kidding of course.

Pumpkin Pie Spice
It's a 4:2:1:1:1 ratio with cinnamon:ginger:nutmeg:all-spice. You can add some cardamon too if you're being fancy and vanilla never goes amiss.

Next I'm going to try making my own herbal chai mix.

Mile High Apple Pie

This weighed 6+ lbs. You don't want to know how much time was spent peeling and slicing apples. You really don't. I subbed some of the sugar in this recipe with golden raisins. I am so glad I cooked the apples prior to baking it. It was another three-apple-pie: two types from my backyard and honeycrisp.

TIP
When you're making a double crust pie, cook the ingredients first. The apples will lose so much water as they are cooked that there will be a gap between the top of the fruit and the bottom of the upper crust. This will make it easier for you to cut and still have it look nice.

Quiche

I made the crust! My first attempt at a savory pie.

Halloween Caramel Apple Pie

I've made three of these pies in the last 48 hours, two at a party. There were three types of apples: two from the backyard and honeycrisp. Honeycrisps are the greatest apple type of all time. FACT.

Almond Milk

You can make milk from almost any nut or seed. Almonds make the most milk-like milk, and there are good instructions for how to make it here. I omitted the dates and salt.

Mock Tuna Salad

Raw Vegan Mock Tuna Salad

Canadian Thanksgiving

Purple and Green Salad
mixed greens, kale, sunflower

Coleslaw
purple cabbage, carrots, avocado, lemon juice

Greek Salad (raw)
cucumber, cherry tomatoes, yellow pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, dill

Raw Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Marinated Mushrooms

These taste much better than they look, I assure you.

Green-Greek Hybrid Salad

cucumber, tomato, red pepper, purple onion, radishes, celery, parsley + various leafy greens

Spirulina Green Juice

cucumber, celery, mixed greens, rainbow chard, fennel, spirulina

Green Papaya Salad

This is green papaya, carrots, green beans, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, plus a very spicy sauce. It's from Zap Thai in Victoria, BC.

Bastion Square Raspberries

These were picked that morning and for sale downtown, along with lots of other fruit and veg.

Mangocado

Cafe Bliss' "Pure Green" Juice

kale, celery + cucumber
I drank it while waiting for the bus.

Sushi

Raw sushi I made with avocado, cucumber, beet greens + yellow pepper. I used minced cauliflower for the rice and wrapped everything in nori sheets.

Midnight Green Juice

mixed greens, swiss chard, cucumber, celery
You can't see the colour, but it was a vivid deep green.

Zucchini Spaghetti

I made spaghetti out of yellow zucchini with a tomato-basil sauce, on mixed greens.

Pad Thai

This is raw pad thai I made using young coconut noodles.

It was even better as leftovers.

Energy Soup

plus blackberries + mint!

Guacamole

avocado, tomato, red pepper, lime juice

Green Fig Salad

green figs, avocado + blueberries

August Fruit Salad

watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, apple, and blueberries with tangerine juice

Red Curry