Holiday Challenge: Favourite Recipe

My first married year (or 8 months) was spent in Sweden, and since returning to Canada, I've wanted to go back. I especially want to go back around the Christmas holidays.

When I was thinking of my favourite recipe for today's challenge with Amber and Neely, I immediately thought of any of the Swedish traditions that I miss.

There are the delicious Pepparkakor (or Ginger snaps) in their traditional shapes of pigs, stars, men and ladies. Eating lots of ginger cookies is said to give you a kind demeanor... plus they taste amazing.

And THEN there is Glogg. The name doesn't give any hint to the deliciousness of this mulled wine. This would easily be my favourite holiday recipe, and it is simple to prepare. I have a few recipes for either an alcoholic or non-alcoholic version. Hubby and I came home for the holidays, and we brought 3 bottles of the stuff home with us.

I've used an alcoholic version and a non-alcoholic version in the past. The portion sizes when you drink it are small, so it's not something you're meant to get drunk from.

Glogg was originally made by adding all kinds of spices to cover up the bad taste of the alcohol, but now there are many different variations of non-alcoholic and alcoholic glogg.

Non-alcoholic Glogg:

10 whole cloves

7 cardamom pods, crushed

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 inch piece of ginger root

2 gallons apple juice or cider

1/3 cup sugar

sliced almonds

Put cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks and ginger into a piece of cheesecloth and tie it together.

Pour the juice or cider into a slow cooker, then add spices.

Cook on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 hours and serve with the sliced almonds.

I can't wait to make this again!

-A

New Adventure: Fresh Salsa

This summer I tried my hand at growing a vegetable garden (which failed miserably when I went away for a couple weeks and hubby didn't water them once...)

We were hoping to grow some of our own food, but aside from a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes and some herb snippings, everything else ended up brown and fried. I'm sad, but we still got lots of *free* fresh veggies from the excess in my parents garden!

My parents went on a trip to the east coast for over a week, and while they were gone, I raided (I mean "maintained") their garden. I scored dozens of cucumbers, quite a few potatoes, only a couple heads of corn (it was ripe the week before they left, and then again the week they came back, but not in between), and a nice pail of beans.

Earlier in the summer I was able to pick (and make into jam) a TON of raspberries. I think they're monkey's favourite fruit, and they work quite well to bribe him to behave.

While my parents were gone, I took a trip with Monkey to the Kitchener/Waterloo area.

Let me say one thing before I continue. Travelling without a cell phone in a not-so-familiar area is not something I want to do again.

Our trip might have been short (2 days, one night) but we crammed a lot into that time. My favourite part was the trip I made to St Jacob's Market with a friend I met before Monkey was born. I scored some great deals on some excellent produce, and came home with tons more than we could eat ourselves.

My haul included:

-strawberries

-peaches

-plum tomatoes

-hot peppers

-sweet peppers

-creamed honey

I got the peppers and tomatoes to make salsa, and with a friend back in Kingston, we had a salsa making night!

We made 2 recipes, and since I cracked one open tonight (and pigged out on it) I wanted to share the recipe!

The book we used is called: the Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving, and it was really easy to follow. I also liked that the size of the batches gave myself and my friend a couple jars of each recipe we did, so that we could try out something new but we weren't stuck with a ton of something we don't like.

Southwest Salsa:

4 cups chopped peeled tomatoes

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper

2-4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (I used 2 hot banana peppers and kept half the seeds in for some spice)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

2 Tbsp orange juice

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp each: granulated sugar and pickling salt

1/4 cup tomato paste

1. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, vinegar, coriander, orange and lime juice, sugar and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

2. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle salsa into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) or rim. Process 20 minutes for half-pint (250 mL) and pint (500 mL) jars.

Makes 4 cups

For my first time making salsa (and my first time doing the whole canning process with boiling water) I had a lot of fun, and it was much easier than I expected. Of course, the apartment was super hot, and we did have to chase a curious toddler back to bed dozens of times, but overall I am definitely going to do it again.

For a link to buy the book in Canada go here. (After I return it to the library, it's going on my wish list)

I'm linking up with Alicia's Homemaking and her Thursday adventures. For other adventures, go here.

I think my next canning adventure might involve either applesauce, or apple butter... but we'll see if I get around to it when this baby finally makes an appearance (3-6 more weeks!)

~A

Treats on Sunday

When was the last time you had Rice Krispie squares? When was the last time you MADE Rice Krispie Squares? For me it's been a loooong time...

I bought some Rice Krispies a few months ago with the intention of baking, and then I forgot about them. They were still crispy today, and it's a cold afternoon, so I started baking... and then I found Cheerios in the cupboard that I hadn't used in a few months, and I kept baking...

Once I was done, I had 3 full trays of treats. Now I need to cook supper so that I fill up on something other than treats...

I made "the Original" Rice Krispie squares, Cheerios Marshmallow Bars (with Multi-Grain Cheerios), and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cereal Bars.

I have more Cheerios left to experiment with, but it's almost suppertime, and Monkey shouldn't be eating dessert for supper or he'll be up all night!

Here's MY version of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

5 cups Multi-Grain Cheerios

1 1/2 cups salted peanuts

1 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray, or rub with a bit of butter or margarine. In a large bowl, combine cereal and peanuts and set aside.

2. In a large pan, combine honey and both sugars. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. When it reaches a boil, remove and stir in peanut butter.

3. Add cereal mixture and stir until thoroughly coated. Spread evenly in greased pan. Let squares cool before cutting and serving!

These are delicious and rich, and I cut them really small, so I can share them with a lot of people (or keep them for myself and have them last a really long time...)

Mmmm... baking and lazy Sundays go well together...

~A

What I'm Loving this Wednesday (recipes!!)

I'm loving... family days. Especially because this week, with the snow day today, we've had two!

I'm loving... cleaning with my husband. I love how tangible our partnership is as we work side by side, whether it's dishes, or cleaning...

I'm loving... how happy my little man is AFTER he has an afternoon nap. And I'm loving that he had a great nap today.

I'm loving... playing board games with my hubby (and beating him terribly!).

I'm loving... that cooking all day makes the house nice and warm.

I'm loving... my amazing hubby who has been so gentle and patient with our monkey all day. I fall in love with him over and over on days like these.

I'm loving... when my little man comes up to me and says "Hug please Mommy!"...and when he dresses himself (currently he's wearing an argyle sweater and khaki shorts - backwards)

I'm loving... Valentines Day crafts. Usually it's not my favourite day, but this year I'm feeling exceptionally excited for all the reds and pinks and hearts...

And Lastly....

I'm loving... banana pancakes, and eggs benedict where the hollandaise sauce won't give you a heart attack!

Banana Pancakes:

-serves 6-

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1Tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1 banana sliced thinly

butter for frying

In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg, yogurt and oil. Beat until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Add the dry ingredients and the banana to the wet ingredients. Stir until just mixed. (It will be lumpy)

Heat your frying pan, add butter and let it melt. Then scoop about 1/4 cup batter per pancake into the hot pan. Cook until edges begin to brown, then flip and cook the other side.

*As a family, we loved these pancakes. I added a little extra milk because the batter was a bit thicker than I like. My son and I ate them without syrup. They can also be served with more banana slices and whipped cream.* (recipe found here)

Easy Eggs Benedict

-serves 4-

4 cups water

2 tsp white vinegar

4 large eggs

2 Tbsp Mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)

2 Tbsp plain yogurt

1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 tsp lemon juice

pinch Paprika

2 Plain English Muffins, split

4 slices deli ham (about 3 oz)

Pour water and vinegar into a medium pot and bring to a simmer (bubbles are breaking the surface but it's not boiling) Give the water a slight stir before gently cracking one egg into the water (the stir will help the egg fold over themselves) Cook each egg for 2-3 minutes until the whites are cooked and the yolks are done how you like them. Remove eggs with a slotted spoon.

While the eggs cook, combine mayo, yogurt, mustard, lemon juice and paprika in a small bowl.

Toast English muffin halves. Place 1 ham slice on each muffin half. Place eggs on ham. Spoon yogurt mixture over eggs. Enjoy!

*I'm a huge fan of this. I didn't feel heavy like after eating real hollandaise sauce, and the sauce is really nice. You can also go low fat with the yogurt and the mayo. Mustard is almost calorie free, so this is a light breakfast option! One of my new favourites!* (recipe found here)

~A

What I'm Loving Wednesday is linked up to Jamie!