Swedish Rye Cookies

Swedish Rye Cookies

Recipe and photo by 101 cookbooks

1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted

large grain sugar (for sprinkling)
organic powdered sugar (for snow)

Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the flours and salt. Set aside. With an electric mixer (or by hand) beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, add the butter and do the same, mixing until the two are well combined. Beat in the sugar and mix until well incorporated. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir only long enough to combine the two. The dough should no longer be dusty looking. Turn the dough out onto the counter, knead once or twice to bring it together, shape into a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic and chill it in a refrigerator.

Heat your oven to 350F degrees, and arrange the racks in the top and bottom thirds. When you are ready to roll out your cookies do so on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness, and cut into shapes with the cookie cutter of your choice. Place on the prepared baking sheets an inch apart, and sprinkle each cookie with a bit of large-grain sugar. Bake for six or seven minutes, just until cookies are fragrant, and getting a bit golden at the edges - avoid over-baking or they will come out on the dry side. Allow to cool, and dust cookies with a bit of powdered sugar.

* These cookies make delicious sandwich cookies. Once baked sandwich two cookies together with strawberry jam!

Rum Balls

Rum Balls

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (6 bakers chocolate squares) - melted
1/3 cup almond paste
1/2 cup sour cream
A pinch of salt
4 cups (or 1 1/2 boxes) Nilla Crackers or vanilla wafers
3/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup dark or spiced rum
3 cups chocolate sprinkles

Combine melted chocolate, sour cream, almond paste and salt with spatula. Cream well and set aside. In food processor blend wafers. Once the wafers have been blended to create aprox 4 cups of fine crumbs add butter, cocoa and rum to food processor and blend until combined and crumbs hold their shape. Add crumb mixture to chocolate-sour cream mixture and knead with your hands until blended and soft. Refrigerate dough until firm (overnight).  Once firm form small rum-filled balls then roll in chocolate sprinkles and put in sealed container lined with wax paper. Keep them refrigerated until you eat every single last one of them.

Brown sugar shortbread

Brown Sugar Walnut Shortbread

*recipe adapted from Lottie + Doof

*Picture by/from Lottie + Doof

1 lb (2 cups) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/8 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

3 cup all purpose flour

1 1/3 cup spelt flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Prepare a cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper. Allow a two-inch overhang on the long sides of the pan to help release the shortbread later after they have been baked.

Cream butter and sugars in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla until combined, then mix in dry ingredients. Combine completely.

Spread dough evenly on to prepared cookie sheet, spreading smooth and level (aprox 1/2 inch thick). Sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake at 325° until golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Let cool completely before using a sharp knife to cut into squares. 

These keep well at room temperature for at least a week!

***This recipe makes a lot of cookies. Depending on how you cut them, anywhere from 3-5 dozen.

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

* Picture from 101 cookbooks

* Recipe adapted from 101 cookbooks

1 cup yellow split peas


1 cup red split lentils

7 cups / 1.6 liters water


1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice


2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger


2 tablespoons curry powder


2 tablespoons butter 


8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced


1/3 cup golden raisins chopped

156 ml  tomato paste
 (or one mini can)

1 14-ounce can coconut milk


2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt

2 tbsp honey

1 ½ cup cooked quinoa

1 can of diced tomatoes (398 ml)

one small handful cilantro, chopped

cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk, salt, honey, cooked quinoa, and diced tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency.

You may enjoy big ladles of this soup over ~1/2 cup of warm farro or brown rice would be good as well. Sprinkle each bowl with cilantro and green onion.

Kabocha Squash French Lentil Soup

Kabocha Squash French Lentil Soup
*Photo from 101 Cookbooks
*Recipe adapted from 101 cookbooks

1 kabocha or buttercup squash 1 1/2 lb

1/2 cup water


1 tablespoon olive oil


2 tsp sea salt
(divided)

1 cup green lentils, rinsed


5 coins ginger, 1/8-inch thick


1 whole star anise


8 cups water


2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste


1/4 cup / 60 ml olive oil


1 yellow onion, medium dice


1 leek, sliced into

1/4 moons


1 fennel bulb, medium dice

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp sugar

Sour cream (optional - topping)

Croutons *see below

Preheat oven to 425F, with the rack in the top third of the oven.

Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Oil and salt the squash and roast cut side down (in a rimmed baking pan) with the 1/2 cup of water poured into the pan. Roast until tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. When cool enough, scoop out cooked squash and set aside.

In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, ginger, star anise and water. Simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt.

In a large stockpot combine the olive oil, onion, leeks, fennel, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1 tsp salt. Cook covered over low heat until vegetables soften, about 7 - 10 minutes.

Remove the star anise and ginger coins from the lentil sauce pan, then add the lentils, lentil broth and squash to the vegetables in the stock pot. Add 2 tbsp sugar. Stir well and cook for another 15 minutes or so, allowing the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust the seasoning here with more salt / cinnamon/ sugar if needed.

Serve as is, or topped with sour cream and lots of garlicky homemade croutons.*

*For the croutons I simply rip up the remainder of a day-old loaf of bread into tiny shreds, douse it in olive oil, garlic, and a bit of salt, and toast it in the oven until golden and crunchy - set the oven to 375.

Apple and Carrot Shortbread

*Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks

*Picture from 101 Cookbooks

You're going to want to use metal (or sharp-edged) cookie cutters here, it will help cut through the shreds of apple/carrot more easily.

1/4 cup  semolina flour 

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt


3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature


2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup grated carrot

1/4 cup grated apple, grated


zest of one lemon

milk

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees. Combine the semolina, flours, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir the carrot, apple, and lemon zest into the flour mixture, and mix until well coated and evenly dispersed.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until a dough forms, then knead a couple times to bring everything together. Split the dough in two, flatten each piece into an inch-thick patty, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.

When you're ready to bake the shortbread, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface ¼ inch thick. Use a metal cutter to stamp out cookies, then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with a bit of milk and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown just a bit.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Grilled Pizza - The Dough

Grilled Pizza - The Dough
Recipe and picture found on Sunday Suppers

1- envelope dry yeast
1- cup water – room temperature or warm
1 teaspoon honey
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup fine ground flax meal- corn mean can also be used- I even sometimes substitute semolina flour
3 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons good quality virgin olive oil
3 cups all purpose flour

1- in a large bowl add the water, yeast and honey
2- after all is dissolved slowly stir in the flax meal, whole wheat flour, salt and olive oil
3- slowly stir in the flour until a firm dough has formed
4- remove all contents from bowl and continue to knead on a floured surface until a smooth dough has formed adding additional flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
5- after you have achieved a smooth sough clean of any lumps transfer to a large bowl that has been lightly coated with olive oil. add oil to the top make sure a skin does not form while rising. cover the bowl and let rise for about 2 hours. remove dough and knead again.
6- let the dough rise again for about 30 minutes.

* One batch of dough makes approximately 10 Oz  (2-3 pizza's)

Grilled Pizza- the technique

Grilled Pizza Technique
Recipe and Picture found on Sunday Suppers
 Hold your hand 3-5 inches above the hot part of the fire for a count of 3 before the heat forces you to remove it. Then you know the fire is hot enough to start grilling pizza. A cold grill is not going to work. Then place a 5 oz ball of dough on a well oiled metal sheet pan and stretch it out  with your fingers, using a roller is ok but make sure it doesn’t stick.  Oval shaped almost football like are the easiest shape to achieve. The thickness should be about 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch and even all around. Don’t make a loop around for extra crust as you would a traditional pizza, make the thickness consistent throughout.


When the pizza is about 8-10 inches long you can transfer the dough lifting it on each side with your thumb and pointer fingers and spread it across the hottest part of your grill. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes or until bubbles appear on the top almost like a pancake,


Using tongs and a spatula flip your pizza over on to the cool part of the grill. Quickly brush the top with olive oil and add toppings as fast as possible. The idea is to get each ingredient on to every part of the pie evenly. Then using the tongs slide the the pizza over to the hot side of the grill. When the cheese is melted and starts to bubble its ready. Slide it off to a wooden cutting board, garnish cut and serve right away. The ideal crust is chewy in the center and crunchy at the same time. Practice makes perfect.

Grilled Pizza - Margarita

Grilled Pizza - Margarita

Recipes and Picture Found on - Sunday Suppers

5 ounces pizza dough- see above recipe
5 ounces Mozarella di Buffalo
Fresh grated Parmigiano- Reggiano
1/3 cup Pizza Sauce- see recipe above
I branch Fresh Basil

* See above post for grilling instructions and dough instructions

Pizza Sauce

2 large cans whole San Marzano tomatoes- about 12

1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

1- in a medium sauce pan saute the garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the garlic.

2- stir in the tomatoes and lower the flame to med. if you have time to chop the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds if makes for a much sweeter sauce.
3- stir slowly for about 5 minutes then place heat on low and cook covered for about 20 minutes.

4- add salt to taste and set aside off heat for cooling.

Preparation

When you flip your pizza over on the cool side quickly brush with olive oil. Then drizzle over the Parm cheese evenly. Rip the mozzarella into small pieces and squeeze out the excess water, almost like ringing out a sponge. Be careful not to squeeze to hard. After the cheese is evenly spread across the pizza apply the sauce in small dollops around the outside of the pizza. Then add more Parm and a a few splashes if extra virgin oil. Slide off grill and add basil. Eat right away and enjoy!

Gluten Free Muesli

Gluten Free Muesli

* recipe adapted from green kitchen stories and photo by green kitchen stories

Gluten Free Muesli
2 big glass jars

2 cups quinoa flakes
1 cup hemp seeds
1 cup almonds (chopped)
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup walnuts (chopped)
1 cup dried coconut flakes

4 tbsp honey
3 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix the dry ingredients with apple syrup and cinnamon. Spread them out on the baking sheets and let it roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Stir around a couple of times to keep it from getting burnt.

3/4 cup dried dates (chopped)
1 cup  dried apricots (chopped)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins

1 cup puffed buckwheat
1 cup puffed amaranth

While the dry ingredients are in the oven, chop the soft ingredients roughly and put in a large bowl. Let the roasted dry ingredients cool of before stirring it all together.
Store the muesli in large glass jars.

some of my loves

Fall Leaves

Picnics

photo found on Oh Happy Day!

Photo found on World in a Paper Cup

Wild Horses

Photo found here

Photo by Stan Engelbrecht

Garlands

Photo found on Design Sponge

Photo found on Once Wed

Photo by Wunderlust

Succulents

photo found here

Mobiles

Photo found on Spool

Photo by Elsie Marley found here

Organic heart shapes

Photo by unknown source

Photo by uknown source

Photo by unknown source

Glowing lights

Photo found at Oh Happy Day!

photo by: Nicole Carmen via The Coterie

Photo by unknown sourcehttp://jordanferney.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-09-20T01%3A30%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=20

fall vegetable pesto soup

fall vegetable soup

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion 

2 leeks

5 garlic cloves

2 beets (roasted and sliced)

2 tomatoes (chopped)

1 1/2 cups of crushed tomatoes

1 apple (grated)

2 carrots (grated)

1 can of black beans

2 cups of cooked or canned lentils

3/4 cup of pesto or chopped basil leaves

4 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of water

Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Slice beets in half and roast in a 350 F oven until tender (30-40 min). Cool, remove peel and dice.

2) Dice onion, garlic and leaks.  Saute in soup pot with 1 tbsp of oil.

3) On medium heat - Add diced beets, tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.

4) Add grated apple, grated carrots, black beans, lentils, pesto, vegetable broth ( I used organic mushroom broth).

5) Add salt and pepper to taste.

6) Add approximately 2 cups of water - assess consistency, add less if you would like a thicker soup.

7) Turn heat down to low and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Black Bean Brownies

Amazing Black Bean Brownie Recipe
* adapted from 101 cookbooks
* photo from 101 cookbooks

Keep these brownies in the refrigerator, they will slice much better if refrigerated several hours or preferably overnight.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate


½ cup unsalted butter


2 cups soft-cooked or canned black beans, drained well

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup walnuts chopped

1 tablespoon vanilla extract


3 large eggs


1/2 cup corn syrup (or agave nectar)

¼ cup honey

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

- Prepare (grease) a 9 inch square baking pan.

- Melt the chocolate and butter in a sauce pan. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely.

- Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and cocoa in a food processor.  Blend for about 2 minutes, or until smooth. Add melted chocolate mixture to bean mixture and blend for 1 minute. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Pour chocolate / bean mixture into a bowl, mix in remaining walnuts and set aside.

- In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the corn syrup and honey and beat well. Set aside.



Combine the egg mixture with the bean/chocolate mixture.  Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. (They will be soft until refrigerated.)

dinner party inspirations - thinking of summer...

Photos from top to bottom: 1&2 -Oh Happy Day, 3-Once Wed 4- Oh Happy Day, 5- Style-Files

favorite weed ~ Queen Anne's Lace

Top photo taken by Chelsea (Frolic / project wedding)

Thai chicken soup

Thai chicken soup
4.5 cups of coconut milk (3 cans)
6 cups of chicken stock
2 pieces of frozen galangal root (optional)
1 tbsp of grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sugar
rind from 1 lime
3 tbsp thai red curry paste
1 lemongrass stalk (cut into 1 inch pieces)
3 cups of of shredded cooked chicken
3 cups of mushrooms
1/4 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
4 carrots, julienned or grated
2 red peppers, sliced thinly
2 cups of fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cups of cooked rice

In a large soup pot, bring coconut milk and stock to a boil.  Add galangal root, ginger, lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar, lime rind, thai red curry paste, and lemongrass.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Add chicken mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, red pepper, cilantro and rice.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Taste and add more lemon juice, sugar, fish sauce, curry paste as needed.  Garnish with cilantro.

prosciutto wrapped figs

recipe and photo found at Guilty Kitchen
Prosciutto Wrapped Figs
4 Fresh Figs

100 g goat’s cheese

8 slices of prosciutto, sliced very thin

1 tbsp oil

1. Split the figs into quarters.

2. Depress the centres of the figs slightly to accommodate the cheese.
3. Pinch off teaspoon size pieces of the chèvre and roll in the palm of your hand into small balls.
4. Place cheese balls into depression in fig slices.

5. Slice prosciutto into two pieces each, either vertically or horizontally, whichever will be large enough to wrap around the figs. I did vertically.

6. Place fig and cheese combo on one end of a slice if prosciutto and roll up into little cigar shapes.

7. Coat in oil and set aside. Continue with remaining ingredients.

8. Heat BBQ grill to medium high and place oiled wrapped figs directly on grill.

9. Grill on each side for about 1 minute. Just long enough to achieve grill marks and warm the centres within.

10. Remove from grill and devour as an appetizer or as a side dish to a summer salad.

Green beans with Thai style sesame sauce

Green beans with Thai style sesame sauce
1/2 pound green beans
2 tblsp cashew butter
1 tblsp sesame oil
1 tblsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1. Steam the green beans over boiling water until just tender.

2. In a medium bowl, blend together the cashew butter, sesame oil, vinegar, honey, tamari, and ginger. Add the beans and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.

Pesto with cashews

Pesto
4 cups of Fresh Basil (packed)
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp of rock salt
2/3 cup cashews
2/3 cup olive oil
fresh parmesan cheese


Use a mortar and pestel to crush the garlic cloves and rock salt.  Blend basil, garlic / salt mixture, cashews and olive oil in a food processor.  Add parmesan cheese to pesto before serving.


* if you have an abundance of basil... make several batches at once and freeze in ziplock bags or in ice cube trays.

to have a garden full of peonies...

Berry cobbler pie bars

recipe and photo found on Joy the Baker
Crust and Topping

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

zest of two lemons

Berry Filling

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2  (16-ounce) packages frozen mixd berries, defrosted and drained

(You can also use 6 cups of fresh berries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen berries and 3 cups of fresh berries)

To make the crust and topping-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a half sheet baking pan (12x17-inch) with butter or cooking spray and set aside.  If you use a 9x13-inch baking pan you'll have thicker bars.  Zest two lemons.  Measure out the sugar onto a clean work surface.  Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with a bench scraper or the back of a spoon.  Rubbing the zest into the sugar will release oils from the zest and create a lemon scented sugar.

Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

To make the filling-

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.  Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt.  Gently fold in the berries.  Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust.  You may have to distribute the berries evenly around.

Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned.  Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

**If you're using frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain the excess liquid.  Place the frozen berries on a plate in the refrigerator overnight.  They're defrosted and ready for bar baking!