Spiced nuts! Wine bag tutorial too!

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 Preparations for the "Ugly Holiday Sweater Party" are in full swing. Both nuts that I will serve are done! These are quick, you can have them done for this weekend too! I use mixed nuts, but you can use one type of nut too!

Scroll down for a wine bag pattern, you can whip up today!

Also, 25th Anniversary party pictures, last night with Jack Nicklaus! So fun!!

National Cookie Day!! Extra!!

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December 4, 2012 is

National Cookie Day

It’s National Cookie Day! Did you know that the English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje," which means little cake? Dutch bakers used to test oven temperatures on small amounts of batter so that they would not waste the entire cake mix if the temperature wasn't right. It was not long before they discovered that these tiny pieces of cooked batter were actually quite tasty!
Cookies come in all different flavors, shapes, and sizes. To celebrate National Cookie Day, bake a few batches of your favorite variety and invite your friends over for a cookie swap!

Here are some past cookies we have featured on Sew Whats Cooking With Joan! This is an extra post! If you are looking for yesterdays post, just scroll down to the next post "Braised Short Ribs"!

Emma our Grandchild!

Braised Short Ribs...can't stop thinking about them!

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Dripping with delicious flavor and goodness....

Easy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

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My husband is traveling on business this week and when he is away my dinner plans usually consist of light fare. My favorite is soup and I don't get to have it for dinner often because he doesn't consider it filling enough to be dinner - not enough food he says! I think this soup is plenty hardy with the addition of the grilled cheese croutons. It's basically a grilled cheese sandwich (using Gruyere cheese...uh yum!) but cut up into crouton sized pieces and garnished atop the soup.

Pistachio Crusted Lamb Rack........Yum!

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Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending Chef de Cuisine Joe Worrell's cooking class at Constantino's, one of our club house restaurant kitchen's, in our community of Desert Mountain. I couldn't resist putting this in today, as it is just over the top, exploding with the flavors of the season!

As the afternoon progressed the kitchen  was filled with the incredible aroma of garlic, lemons and juicy lamb. We definitely achieved a good two thumbs up from Chef Joe Worrell, for perfectly executed Rack of Lamb.

Hailing from Canterbury, lamb is one of those dishes that we make to feed the hoards when celebrating a special occasion.  It is a simple dish to make for entertaining – lamb rack cooks quickly and the meat is tender and succulent.  This crunchy, salty pistachio crumb really complements the sweetness of the meat.

This dish is so easy to make and the results are so tasty! We served it with cauliflower puree (guide follows) and roasted carrots and turnips.  There are many options – another great side is roasted cherry tomatoes: simply wash sweet cherry tomatoes and throw into the roasting dish with the lamb.  The tomatoes will cook in the fat from the lamb and their intense sweetness makes a nice contrast to the salty pistachio crumb.  You could also par-boil some floury potatoes and throw them in too – they will crisp up and make a whole meal in one dish.  Enjoy!

Next up! Cornwall Gingerbread cookies!

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​Now that the turkey is done, the relatives have made themselves scarce, and the cranberry sauce stains have been addressed, it's time to kick this holiday season business into high gear!

I was privy to far too much delicious food this past week, so, despite my sub conscience screaming, never eat again............the holiday kick off would not be complete without making a batch of these cute little Gingerbread Men! They are fragrant with ginger, both crystallized and ground, ground cloves and cinnamon. The Lyle's Golden syrup is a key ingredient, very English, sources and story follows. Our Granddaughter, Emma, was visiting for a few days, so, I couldn't resist making these delicious cookies with her. 

If you like your gingerbread men on the softer side, cook a little less time. If you don't want to hassel with cutting and rolling, just roll them into balls and press with a sugar coated glass, these will be super soft and yummy! there are a few ways to decorate your cookies, you can press raisins or currents into the dough before cooking or you can decorate with frosting, as Emma and I did. You can also use these Gingerbread men as tree decorations of gift tags, just pierce a hole into the cookie before cooking with a skewer or small cocktail straw, add pretty ribbon after they are cooked and decorated.

Cornwall Gingerbread cookie

3/4 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1/4 c. Lyle's Golden syrup (sources listed below)

1 egg

2 c. flour (+1/2cup, if you are rolling out and cutting shapes)

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp. lemon extract

1/4 c. chopped crystallized ginger (grind in a small food processor if you have one)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add Lyle's syrup, then beat in egg.

Combine flour with soda, salt and spices. Beat dry ingredients into butter mixture. Fold in crystallized ginger.

Form into balls, roll in sugar, and place on a silpat or parchment paper lined cookie sheet. and press with a sugar coated glass bottom. For rolled cookies, refrigerate for 20 minutes, then roll out and cut into desired shapes.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.  

 

 
Lyle's Golden syrup

Where to find it~ A English boutique store, Amazon, Metropolitan Market

About Lyle's ~

  Abram Lyle, a successful Scottish businessman set about constructing a sugar refinery on the banks of the river Thames with his three sons. The company became known as Abram Lyle & Sons. And so began the story of one of the world’s oldest and best loved brands. From working in the sugar business, Lyle noticed that the sugar cane refining process produces a treacly sort of syrup, which could be further refined. The result was a delicious preserve and sweetener for cooking. He started selling small quantities of “Goldie” from wooden casks to his employees and local customers. Word spread quickly that the syrup was delicious and soon Lyle was selling a tonne a week! He replaced the wooden casks with “Lyle's Golden Syrup” dispensers, and they soon began to appear on the shelves of grocery stores all over London. It was only a matter of months before the tin, as we know it today, started to be used.

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How They Do It

Lyle's Golden Syrup hasn't changed in 127 years and is still made the same way it was all those years ago. The secret to Lyle's is the perfect blend of sugar molecules, which are continually refined throughout the process. This ensures that the highest quality standards are met for consumers to enjoy the sweet glistening syrup that they know and love.For those of you who are scientifically minded… the sucrose molecule splits in half to give glucose and fructose sugars. This inverted syrup is blended back with the original syrup to give a partially inverted syrup. The secret of Lyle's Golden Syrup is the final blend of sucrose, glucose and fructose, which allows the syrup to be so thick and velvety without crystallizing. 

A gift for neighbors or a hostess gift!

 

A Holiday party idea!

Holiday Party time!

 Every holiday season, it's the same old yarn: office parties, last-minute shopping, and another boring sweater from your Aunt Peggy. If you're ready for a new pattern --  host a "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party" -- this is really fun idea! The Ugly Sweater Party with prizes puts a casual spin on a stressful time of year and the ugliest sweaters yule ever see. Look around or goggle ugly holiday sweater, you'll  find one ugly enough for first prize!!





Have a terrific Cyber Monday!

Cheers!
JJ

 

Left overs! For breakfast?

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I just can't get enough turkey when Fall comes along!! I start off by buying turkey breast in September, trying different preparations, move on to thighs for casseroles or curry.  For my family, it doesn't end with Thanksgiving. Turkey for us, is the gift, that just keeps on giving!

What's your leftovers style? The obligatory turkey-stuffing-etc. sandwich? Throw an egg on those brussel sprouts? Repurpose the mashed potatoes into a family doughnut recipe? Or if you're craving spicy, ever tried a mouth-numbing Szechuan-style turkey dish? I dug up some leftovers recipes, so you can make the best of the gift that keeps on giving.