Red Velvet White Creme Chip Cookies

A festive chocolate lovers delight... red velvet cookies are just as joyous as red velvet cupcakes and are divine dipped in a tall cool glass of milk or a warm mountainous mug of hot chocolate.     

Red Velvet White Creme Chip Cookies 

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makes 3 dozen 

2 cups (500ml) unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup ( 125ml) cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon (2ml) baking soda

1/2 teaspoon (2ml) salt

1 cup (250ml) softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup (177ml) white sugar

1/2 cup (125ml) packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla 

1 teaspoon (5ml) red gel food colour

1 package of CHIPITS white creme chips

Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line a cookie tray with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar. Add the egg, vanilla and red gel food colour and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture, beating well. Stir in the package of white creme chips. Roll into tablespoon size balls and place on the prepared cookie tray. 

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until set. Transfer to wire rack and cool slightly.  

 

Red Lentil Stew

Spicy and full of flavour, stews are another winter meal that graces our table and has become a repetitive classic that's met with wide eyes and empty stomachs; soon to be full with such a delicious recipe as this. With a few simple ingredients you can create a wonderful hearty meal in under an hour and the savoury aroma as this simmers evokes an impatient hunger which will gladly be met with an empty bowl.  

Red Lentil Stew

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Serves 4 to 6

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 can (28 - ounce) no salt diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon hot curry powder

1 cup red lentils

4 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

freshly ground black pepper

juice of 1/2 lemon, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot on medium heat. Add the garlic and diced onion to the pot and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Next add the sweet potatoes and carrot and continue to cook all of the veggies for 5 to 7 minutes. Season the pot with the salt and red pepper flakes. 

Add the diced tomatoes to the pot and season with the paprika and hot curry powder. Add the red lentils, vegetable broth, and water, and bring the soup up to a rapid boil. Once the soup boils, lower the heat and continue to cook on a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the lentils and vegetables are tender. Taste the stew for seasonings and adjust as necessary and according to taste. Serve warm with freshly ground pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice added to each bowl.  

Food Photo of the Day ~ Chilli Con Carne

 

One pot dinners are upon us and nothing beats a bowl full of chilli. The spicy heat stewed with tomatoes, meat and beans is a dinner classic in high demand during the cooler months at our house. Making chilli also means leftovers and those leftovers become spooned over jacket potatoes, a platter of hearty nachos, ladled out over homemade chips for poutine, quick lunches, a scoopable snacking dip for tortilla chips and other dinners.   

Sausage, Chard & Pasta Bake

Now is the time when casserole dishes get served wholeheartedly with comfort and care. Immersed with warmth and heaped on a plate or in a bowl, undoubtedly melts away the bitter coldness that is trying to settle in. Their wintery disposition plays a big part at our table over the following months. This is a winter warmer full of familiarity and flavour and if you can not find any Swiss chard it may be replace with spinach.  

Sausage, Chard & Pasta Bake

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16 ounces (500g) rigatoni pasta

3 tablespoons olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups Swiss chard

1 sausage ring, sliced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 can tomato paste

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded 

Preheat oven to 450ºF (230ºC). 

Cook the pasta according to package directions, tender but not overcooked. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil. This will help prevent the pasta from sticking together. 

In a sauté pan or fry pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and chopped onion, cook for about 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Next add the Swiss chard and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just to wilt the chard. Add the slices of sausage and season with the red pepper flakes, basil, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes to slightly brown the sausage. Add the can of tomato paste and stir to combine and heat through. 

Add the sausage mixture to the pasta and toss everything to combine. Spoon the pasta into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and place in the preheated oven. Bake uncovered for 10 minutes, then remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle it with shredded Parmesan cheese. 

Remembrance Cookies

 

I tend to make these Rosemary Remembrance cookies periodically between October 30th and December 31st; for Samhain or Halloween, when the veil between the living and the dead becomes more thin, but particularly around this time of year when we reflect on Remembrance Day/Armistice Day, Remembrance Sunday, Yule and also for remembering loved ones who are no longer with us. Serve them with fresh sprigs of rosemary, to symbolize remembrance, and on two plates, one for the living and one for the dead, which is ideal but not a necessity. 

Remembrance Cookies

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1 1/2 cups icing sugar 

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line a baking tray with baking parchment paper. 

In a large bowl combine the sugar, butter, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and chopped rosemary. Using an electric hand held mixer, beat until creamy. Set aside.

In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Fold the flour mixture, in small portions at a time, into the buttery sugar mixture; until combined. Then using the electric hand held mixer beat, on medium-high speed, until a dough forms. Divide the dough into two portions. Wrap each in cling film and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion out, one at as time, and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter or a glass. Place on an ungreased baking tray. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes. Repeat rolling and cutting until all dough has been shaped.

Notes: Ovens vary and sorted shapes bake differently therefore baking time may vary slightly.   

 

Apple Rosemary Cake

 

In many ways November is a month of remembrance for me... our family and us. Rosemary is for remembrance and in Celtic mythology, legend and folklore apples are not only an emblem of fruitfulness but at times immortality too. I tend to make this during the first few months of winter, when remembrance and missing those who are no long with us deepens, as the subtle sweetness with the comforting aroma of rosemary brings about all sorts of memories.  

Apple Rosemary Cake

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1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup honey

2 cored and chopped Ambrosia apples

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

extra apples slices for the top

Preheat oven to 325ºF (170ºC). Lightly butter and flour a 3 lb. loaf tin and line the bottom with baking parchment paper.

In a medium bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Add in the finely chopped rosemary and stir together. 

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and stirring to incorporate after each. Stir in the vanilla extract and honey, then add the grated apples and stir together. 

Add the flour mixture, in three additions, to the butter and sugar mixture, stirring after each addition until the batter comes together nicely. The batter will be thick so spoon it as evenly as you can into the prepared loaf tin and using a butter knife smooth the top. Place thinly sliced apple slices or fresh rosemary sprigs on top to decorate. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until done in the centre, checking with toothpick inserted into the centre. Allow the loaf to rest in the tin for 10 minutes, carefully remove from the tin, the parchment will help ease this, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.    

Day of the Dead ~ Día de Muertos ~ Sugar Skulls Cookies

 

Day of the Dead ~ Día de Muertos/Día de los Muertos is celebrated from November 1st to November 2nd and is associated with Allhallowtide - All Hallow's Eve, All Saints Day and All Soul's Day. Day of the Dead originates in Mexico, where it is observed and mostly celebrated by people of Mexican heritage, however it is also observed in other countries and cities throughout the world such as the Philippines, Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia and America to name a few.  

The day is for family and friends to gather and pay their respects and remembrance to those friends and family who have died. November 1st, traditionally is the day to honour deceased children with November 2nd, traditionally honouring deceased adults. Some traditions of honouring the deceased are with Calavera, a word that means skull in Spanish, and marigold flowers or creating a home altar with gifts and offerings and visiting graves leaving gifts and tokens of remembrance. 

Sugar skulls or Calaveras are a representation of the human skull. They are often edible but more often are not. They are made of sugar or clay and may be decorated with items such as icing, beads, nuts, chocolate, colourful foil and feathers and wood. They are an offering to be placed on altars for Day of the Dead and will usually have the deceased name written across the forehead of the skull. Small sugar skulls represent children who have died while a larger sugar skull represents adults who have died. These Sugar Skull cookies are my homage in honour of Day of the Dead, edible and easy to make when using the Bakerlogy Day of the Dead Floral Skull cookie cutter and the recipe for a vanilla sugar cookie posted on their website.   

Calaveras have been produced and used since the 1630's and have origins in Aztec, Mayan and Toltec culture. Jose Guadalupe Posada became famous for his depiction of Calaveras, with the most famous one being, Catrina. Catrina is considered to be the personification of the Day of the Dead itself, with her feathered hat, long flowing dress and fancy heeled shoes, she has become an unmistakable icon in both Day of the Dead and Mexican Folk Art.