I spent the weekend in Carlisle, Pennsylvania teaching at one of my favorite cooking schools, The Kitchen Shoppe. They have been in business for over 35 years, which in this day and age is cause for celebration.
This is a photo of the lane in front of the Shoppe, gorgeous in its fall glory, which will probalby be all gone in a week.
This photo was taken across a field early in the morning---the trees will be bare till I return in the spring. I'll be back tomorrow with some more ideas for the holidays, until then, enjoy your Sunday.
Today I flew from Indianapolis to Washington Dulles airport, about 90 minutes in the air, not a bad flight, but as is the case with regional airlines I had to gate-check my carry-on bag because it was too big to fit in the overhead bin---I would call it an overhead cubby! That was fine, I emerged from the plane, onto the tarmac in the rain to wait for my carry-on, and as I watched the baggage coming out of the plane onto a conveyor, half of the luggage was falling off the conveyor behind the plane. Take a look at the video, and underneath the tail you can see a few of the bags that fell--guess what??? All the baggage guys were standing around talking and joking---who does that surprise? So, if you were on flight 7245 today and you had Aunt Tilly's urn with her ashes in it, in a duffel bag, I'm afraid the baggage guys mixed her up a bit. If airlines charge for baggage, which United certainly does, the least they could do is TAKE CARE OF IT!! On my way to Carlisle, PA and The Kitchen Shoppe tomorrow to teach Friday night and Saturday morning, then home to Dr. C. Saturday night....
I'm ready to click these ruby slippers together.... there IS no place like home. Enjoy your Friday!
In keeping with our dried soup mix theme that I began earlier in the week, here's a great formula for making a terrific bean soup mix, and giving it to your friends. Recycled glass Mason jars or vacuum seal jars make a nice presentation or you could pack the beans into cellophane bags, and arrange the bag into the bowl of a soup ladle or for a larger gift, a soup tureen. If you decide the go the larger gift route, add a bread mix, or cake mix to enhance the "basket" whatever it may be. Make sure to buy your beans at a health food store, or natural product store from bins; old beans in bags at the supermarket will take forever to cook.
Hill o' Beans Soup Mix Makes 10 two cup packages
1/2 pound small white beans 1/2 pound Great Northern beans 1/2 pound kidney beans 1/2 pound red beans 1/2 pound soy beans 1/2 pound garbanzo beans 1/2 pound yellow split peas 1/2 pound green split peas 1/2 pound dried brown lentils 1/2 pound red lentils 1/2 pound baby Lima beans 1/2 pound black eyed peas 1/2 pound pearl parley 24 crumbled chicken bouillon cubes 2 tablespoons chili powder 3 tablespoons garlic salt 20 sun dried tomatoes, crumbled 10 bay leaves Stir all the beans together in a large mixing bowl, or stock pot. In a separate bowl, mix together the chicken bouillon, chili powder, garlic salt,tomatoes and bay leaf. Measure out 2 cups of beans into gift packages, seal airtight. Accompany each package of bean soup with 1 tablespoon of the dry spice mixture. Store in airtight containers with a 2 month expiration date.
Hill o' Beans Soup Makes about 2 1/2 quarts
1 package Hill o' Beans Soup Mix 2 quarts water 1 smoked ham hock One 15.8-ounce can chopped tomatoes and their juice
In a Dutch oven, wash the beans and cover with water to soak overnight. Drain the beans and add 2 quarts of fresh water, the dry ingredients, ham hock and tomatoes. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove the ham hock from the soup, and chop the meat from the bone, return the meat to the soup, remove the bay leaf, and serve the soup.
I'm on my way to DC this afternoon, but hope you have a lovely day filled with joy. I'll be back this weekend with a few more goodies for you to try. Enjoy your day!
Today I was given some really delicious biscotti from a friend, and thought that biscotti make a great gift from your kitchen. You can dress up the gift by putting the biscotti into a coffee mug, and adding chocolate spoons for stirring, and a 1/2 pound of Italian Roast Coffee. These biscotti are addictive, with their bittersweet chocolate notes, off set by salted almonds and milk chocolate chunks. I usually make several batches, and they freeze beautifully if you want to get a head start on your holiday baking.
Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Makes 40
2 Cups all-purpose flour ½ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder 1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder ½ teaspoon baking powder ¾ teaspoon salt ½ cup butter, salted, room temperature ½ cup sugar ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste 1 cup chopped dry roasted salted almonds 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the baking sheet with parchment or silicone pan liner.
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl; add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and beat till light and fluffy again, approximately 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture slowly, mixing till combined. Add chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Mix till just combined. Divide dough in half and roll each piece into a 12-inch cylinder. Pat down cylinder to 1 inch thick and 2 inches wide. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes. You can let them cool for hours at this point if you run out of time and continue later, or you can freeze the cooled logs for a later date. With a long serrated knife, cut each log into ¾ slices. Stand slices onto prepared baking pan, 1 inch apart. Cookies can lie down flat onto the baking sheet, but I feel you get a nicer bake upright. Bake 15 to 20 minutes more. Cookies should not be soft. Remove to wire racks to cool completely, store in airtight containers for up to 2 weeks at room temperature or freeze for up to two months. Adapted from Tate's Bake Shop Recipe of the Month
I'll be teaching tonight at KitchenArt in West Lafayette, IN, and then heading to Bloomington tonight and on to the East Coast tomorrow. The temperature here this morning was 29 degrees, so I'm off to find some woolie things to wear, wish me luck! Enjoy your day, I'll be back tomorrow with more.
Today is Cookie Monster's 41st birthday. Cookie and I have had a thing since I discovered him on Sesame Street many years ago; he and I share a common love of cookies, and we love to spell!! Some of my favorite episodes of Sesame Street were when Cookie would be looking for something that rhymed with another word, and he could never find it even though it was right in front of him. For a great video go here. In honor of Cookie's birthday I'm going to share a recipe for Cranberry Bliss Bars; you may have had these at Starbucks, I think mine are a bit better since the Starbucks pastries usually taste pretty wet, like they are defrosted. No one will be able to resist these and when you have a cup of tea or coffee and treat yourself to one of these, remember to wish Cookie Monster a happy birthday! I'll be back tomorrow with more, until then, have a safe night.
Cranberry Bliss Bars
Makes about forty 2-inch bars
Bars
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange orange extract
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped white chocolate
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan with a silicone liner, aluminum foil, or parchment paper. If you are using foil or parchment, coat it with nonstick cooking spray.
To make the bars, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter, brown and granulated sugars, eggs, and orange oil in a large bowl until combined.
Add the flour, baking powder, and spices and beat until the flour begins to blend into the batter, 45 seconds to 1 minute.
Add the cranberries and chocolate, stirring just to blend and being careful not to over mix.
Spread in the prepared pan and bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs adhering to it, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan on a rack.
Creamy Orange-and-White Chocolate Frosting
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter or margarine
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped white chocolate
To make the frosting, with an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until fluffy, or process them in a food processor.
Add the confectioners’ sugar and orange oil and beat or process until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Spread it evenly over the cooled bars.
Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup of cranberries and white chocolate chips.
Garnishes and Drizzles
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
To make the drizzle, in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, melt the chopped white chocolate with the butter, stirring until smooth.
Drizzle over the frosting in a decorative pattern.
Do-Ahead: At this point, you can cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 6 weeks.
