Cranberry Chutney

Thanksgiving will be a small affair this year.  That means cooking half as much food as usual.  I also realized that I will be the only one eating cranberry chutney.  But I love it and so I just cut the recipe in half.  I posted this back in 2011.  It seems a lifetime ago.

BRANDIED CRANBERRY CHUTNEY 

In a 2-quart saucepan combine:

½ cup dried apricots, chopped fine

1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar

   ½ cup golden raisins

1 cup Brandy ( I use VSOP)

Bring to a boil and simmer for about ten minutes.

Add:

3 cups rinsed cranberries (fresh or frozen)

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and small dice
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest  (zest lemon before squeezing for juice)

Simmer for about ten minutes or until cranberries are broken.

Stir in:

¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

¼ cup chopped, crystallized ginger (not candied or powder or fresh)
¼ tsp hot pepper flakes
¼ tsp cinnamon

Allow to cool and then refrigerate for later use.  Serve at room temperature. 

You may adjust quantities of sugar, brandy, red pepper flakes and cinnamon, to taste.

Portobello Mushrooms Recipe

First it was my cousin talking about portobello mushrooms.  Then it was my blog friend Jo.  So now I am thinking I need to go to the store and look for some mushrooms.  So, here is my favorite way to cook them.  And sorry, no picture.

Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with Corn, Spinach and Sausage

Ingredients:

Stuffing:
1/2 pound Italian bulk sausage, mild or sweet
Olive oil as needed
1 cup diced onions
2 cups sweet corn kernels
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup Madeira wine
1 bag of spinach (5-8 oz)
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese cut in cubes
1 cup toasted bread crumbs
salt and pepper

Topping:
1 cup fresh bread crumbs, toasted
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt to taste
sliced tomatoes
4-5 large Portobello mushrooms, cleaned and gills removed

Method:
1. Combine all ingredients for the topping except the tomatoes

For the stuffing:
1. Sauté the sausage in the olive oil over high heat until nearly cooked. Lower the heat to medium high.
2. Add the onions and garlic, soften then add the corn and sauté for another five minutes.
3. Deglaze with the wine. Add the spinach and wilt.
4. Remove from the heat and fold in the cheese and bread crumbs. Season as needed.
5. Oil the tops of the mushrooms then turn over and place the stuffing in the cleaned mushrooms.
6. Top with sliced tomatoes and topping.
7. Place in 375 f. oven for about 15 minutes until mushrooms are tender.
8. Cut mushrooms into wedges and serve.

Just 'Popover' for a Visit

Back in December of 2008 I attended a culinary class titled "Old English Holiday Feast".  I think that perhaps this was a feast in some very wealthy home as it started out with lobster bisque.  Yummy.  We then had a roasted prime rib with horseradish and mushroom sauce and those recipes are what I used for my Christmas dinner this year.  Along with that, we had popovers. 

When I was planning this dinner, one of my sons suggested we try popovers.  I had never made them myself.  I did not even own a popover pan.  We looked up several recipes online and they were all over the place.  The recipe from my class called for half and half and heavy cream, something not in any other recipe.  It also had a relatively short cooking time compared to some online which took almost 45 minutes to bake.

So, in deciding to give it a try, I made four popovers in a muffin tin.  They were just okay and a little too eggy for me.  I sent an email to a blogging buddy, Jo, and asked for suggestions.  She had never heard of using cream or olive oil.  She also asked if I had let the batter sit before baking, which I had not done.  None of the recipes we found mentioned that. 

Undaunted, I went ahead and ordered a popover pan.  I made a chart of all the recipes I found online and they were all over the map.  No consistency in the egg, liquid, flour ratio.  No consistency in baking times and temps except for the instruction not to open the oven.  Not wanting to practice making popovers all week before Christmas, I took my recipe from class, changed it up a little, followed Jo's suggestions, and went ahead on Christmas Day.

The result was like a new sporting event.  When the popovers went in the oven, we turned the oven light on and stood in front of the glass door watching them 'pop'.  I personally would have left them in a little longer, but everyone was saying 'take them out'.  They were good, but unfortunately a little deflated by the time we got them to the table and started passing the food.  (Actually, there is another story here about the green bean mishap that I will save for another post.)

Here is the pic again from Christmas Day:

And here is the recipe for the Yorkshire puddings I made.  If you are making them without a roast, use butter in the pan instead of the drippings.  My thanks to Jo for her suggestions, and to Chef Marcus Haight for the original recipe, which I modified (heavy cream?  really?).

Popovers
Makes 12

Ingredients:
2 cups half and half, at room temperature
1 cup plus 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
salt and white pepper
roast drippings

Directions:
It is very important that the ingredients be at room temperature.  You can warm the half and half in the microwave if need be and if the eggs have not been sitting out long enough, place them in a container of warm water.  The batter should be made ahead and allowed to sit for at least one hour. 

In a medium sized bowl, whip the half and half and flour together till smooth.  Add the eggs and whip until well-combined.  Add salt and pepper (I never measure just sprinkle some in).  Mix well till a little frothy.  Strain the batter into a container with a lip for pouring (you will have about three cups of batter) and let sit at room temperature.

When the roast is done, take the fat drippings from the roast and strain well.  Add one teaspoon of fat to each of the wells in the popover pan.  Spray the tins with baking spray to facilitate removal.

Set your oven at 400 F in the convection mode.  (If your oven automatically adjusts for convection baking, you may need to set it at 425.  Just make sure it is 400 and the fan is running.)  

Once the temperature is reached, place the pan with the drippings or butter in the oven for two minutes.  Remove the pan and fill each well with about 2 ounces of batter, about 3/4 full.

Place in oven for 15 minutes without opening the door.  I personally would have let mine go a little longer - five minutes more?  Just don't let them burn!

As for our dessert at the holiday meal, we had hot raspberry souffle with chocolate sauce.  I may just have to try making that next.

A Throwback Cookie Recipe

I did not do my usual dozens upon dozens of  cookies this year.  I made the snickerdoodles and chewy molasses cookies from previous years, but I made two I had not made for Christmas before.  Yesterday I posted the recipe for the cherry oatmeal and today I am posting a recipe for Jam Thumbprints.  My mother made these cookies at holiday time, but I do not remember ever making them myself.

I saved lots of old recipes and I found this recipe in a small insert of Christmas cookies from the Ladies Home Journal in 1980.  I only made half the recipe as I no longer give cookie trays away and I do not need to eat cookies for breakfast, even if they do have fruit in them.  Here is a picture with the cookies on the top and the recipe.

Raspberry Thumbprints

Adapted from the Ladies Home Journal

December, 1980

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup raspberry preserves

Directions:

1.  Cream butter and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer (or use hand mixer) until light and fluffy.

2.  Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.

3.  Gradually add flour and salt on low speed until well-blended.  Refrigerate dough for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 F if baking on same day.

Work with only 1/4 dough at a time, keeping the remaining refrigerated.  Use a small scoop to make 1-inch balls.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet two inches apart.  Using the end of a wooden spoon, make a small indentation in each cookie.  NOTE:  At this point the cookies may be frozen on the tray and then placed in a freezer bag for baking at a later time. 

Keep cookies on trays refrigerated while preparing the rest of the dough, or bake each tray as you complete it, baking only one tray at a time.

Bake cookies for ten minutes.  Remove from oven and make depression with spoon or thumb again.  Fill each depression with 1/4 tsp of jam or preserves.  Return to oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.  Do not over bake or brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.  Cool on rack and sprinkle with sugar again once cooled.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.  The recipe is easily cut in half.

Food for the Family

There was nothing traditional about this family Christmas feast.  But I did enjoy it.  I started with a cold app platter for the grandkids to munch on.  And munch they did.

Then we had hot appetizers.  I purchased small crab balls and made my own aioli, but the real hit was from Pillsbury.  Here is a link to their recipe for a pull-apart tree made with crescent rolls and Boursin cheese.  Not sure why I did not take a picture of mine.  It was really good.

The standing rib turned out very good.  I purchased it at Aldi and this was the first time I had ever shopped there.  I will certainly buy meat there in the future.  No pics of this either.

There was one goof with dinner.  Seems that if you put one of those frozen vegetable bags in the microwave upside down, they do not heat up.  Did not realize that was the likely problem until this morning.   We ended up making them on the stovetop.

And I made Yorkshire puddings for the very first time.  They tasted great with the horseradish mushroom sauce for the roast.

The purchased lemon cake was not appealing to me at all, but we still had cookies.  Here is the recipe for what turned out to be a near obsession with Mackenzie.  These are my Dried Cherry and White Chocolate Oatmeal cookies, pictured on the bottom.

Oatmeal, Dried Cherry, & White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour  (you make also use 1 cup flour with 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour)

1  tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

6 ounces dried cherries

2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until well-combined.

2.  Add eggs and thoroughly mix.

3.  Add flour, oats, salt and baking soda and mix well but do not beat.

4.  Fold in cherries and chips.

5.  Refrigerate dough for one hour.

If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 F.  Cookies can also be scooped and frozen for baking at a later date.

Scoop cookies using a tablespoon sized scoop or make balls about 1 1/2 inch diameter in size.  Place on parchment lined cookie sheets, two-inches apart.  Bake for 8-12 minutes.  All ovens vary so check after eight minutes.  You do not want to burn the bottoms.  They should be just barely firm to the touch when done.  Let cool on cookie sheets.

I hope you had an enjoyable day if you too were celebrating friends and family.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Charlie is always wanting to bake something.  If I am in the kitchen, he is dragging one of the stools over to help.  Well, I am sure that urge will disappear over the next ten years or so, lol.  Anyway, he wanted to make something and I had to come up with a recipe that did not involve a mixer and that I could use what I had on hand.  I always have chocolate so I came up with this muffin recipe which turned out pretty good.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter and both sugars.  Whisk until combined.  And eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition.  Add vanilla, salt, and baking powder.  Whisk till well-combined.

Place cocoa powder and flour in sifter.  Mix yogurt and milk in small bowl. 

Add 1/3 of flour/cocoa mixture to bowl and slowly stir in with spatula.  Add 1/2 of yogurt and mix in.  Add another 1/3 of flour and slow mix.  DO NOT BEAT mixture.   Add remaining yogurt.  Mix.  Add remaining flour and mix until well-combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  (I used semi-sweet)

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and spray liners with baking spray.

(TIP: If you have a dishwasher, set the pan in the dishwasher and spray it.  That way you do not have spray all over the kitchen.)

Using a scoop, fill each cup about 2/3 full.  All muffin tins are not created equal, so I ended up making only 11  muffins.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Muffins are done when tops spring back lightly when touched.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Enjoy.

Spinach puffs - my take on spanakopita

First of all, let me thank everyone for their suggestions for Easter dessert.  I ended up making a lemon curd cake from Bon Appetit and it was delicious.
Now for today's recipe.

From 1966 when I started my junior year of college at the medical school until I left my job at the hospital in 1977, I spent many lunch and dinner hours in Detroit's Greektown.  I learned all about Greek food and to this day it is one of my favorite cuisines.

One of my co-workers was Greek and she gave me several of her recipes.  My oldest son loves her pastitsio recipe.  My favorite is spinach pie, spanakopita.  My original recipe is from a 1974 issue of Gourmet.  This time I adapted it to make spinach puffs.

Spanakopita Puffs

Makes 12

1 10oz pkg frozen chopped spinach

1 1/2 cups minced yellow onion

8 good size scallions, sliced thin, both green and white parts

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup minced fresh dill

2 Tbsp minced fresh Italian parsley

Pinch of salt

4 ounces Feta cheese

2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 eggs

1 pkg frozen puff pastry - Pepperidge Farm

Thaw frozen spinach and drain in colander to remove liquid.  You can do this overnight in fridge.  Be sure to press out as much liquid as possible. 

In a sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Add the yellow and green onions, dill and parsley and sauté for five minutes.  Add a pinch of salt and the spinach.  Stir well and sauté for ten minutes.  Cool.  Can be made a day ahead and kept covered in refrigerator.

Take puff pastry from freezer and thaw at room temperature.  You will need one full sheet and 1/3 of the other sheet.  You may wish to cut the one third off while frozen (run sharp knife along edge) and return the remaining to freezer for another use.

To cooled mixture add feta and parmesan.  Beat 2 of the eggs and add to mixture.  Mix well.

Unfold pastry sheet and roll out to roughly 11 x 11.  Cut full sheet into nine squares.  Roll out remaining strip to roughly 11x4.  Cut into three squares.

Spray a cupcake pan with baking spray containing flour.  Or grease and flour, your choice.  Place a pastry square in each cup with the corners sticking up.  Fill each cup with the spinach filling.  Fold over the corners of the dough.  Brush the exposed dough with an egg wash made using the remaining egg and some water.  This can be done a few hours ahead and refrigerated, covered, until ready to bake.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until dough has puffed and browned.  Allow to sit ten minutes and lift out to serve.

My take on Pizza

Detroit is a pizza town.  When I was very young, pizza was purchased at an Italian bakery or a local bowling alley.  And then Little Caesar's appeared.  You got Pizza-Pizza, two for one.  Later it was Domino's and then Hungry Howie's.  The owner of Hungry Howie's belonged to my parish (when I was still a church-goer) and one of my sons worked there while in college.  All are local companies.

I remember the opening of a Pizza Hut and Pizzeria Uno in the township - both long gone.  Dine in and carry-out, my boys will tell you that we ate a lot of pizza.

But I do enjoy making my own pizza for guests.  If I am making my barbecued chicken pizza, I make my own dough or buy it.  But when I make my white pizza, I purchase naan flatbread from a west Michigan bakery.

Pizza is relatively easy to make.  Pick your base, your sauce and your toppings.  I prefer red pepper, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and cheese - ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, asiago, or whatever might be in the fridge.

The pizza pictured above was actually one from my Blue Apron meals.  And here is another from BA, a calzone:

When I make my own at home, I prefer no red sauce and no meat.  Here is my recipe for roasted garlic bechamel...

1 head of garlic, just a small one of 2 inches or so
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tbsp flour - preferably cake flour if you have it
1 tbsp butter
1 ounce fine diced onions
Clarified butter, about 4 tbsp

Cut off the head of the garlic.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little olive oil.  Wrap in foil and roast at 375F for about one hour.  Cool and squeeze garlic paste into small bowl.
Clarify the butter by warming and pouring off solids.  It does not need to be perfect.  Pour it over the onions and cook on the stove until onions soften.  Drain and set aside.
Make the roux by melting the tablespoon of butter and then whisking in the flour.  Cook for about one minute.  Scald the milk and then add to the roux while whisking, bring to a boil while whisking until smooth.  Lower the heat.  Add the onions and the garlic.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Adjust to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Strain out the solids.  Use on dough for pizza.

Recipe can be easily doubled, or even quadrupled. 

Any questions?

Lobster Mac and Cheese Recipe Re-post

I first posted this recipe in 2012.  We had it for my birthday dinner that year, which up until this year I usually cooked at home.  It really is too heavy for a side with any large meal, so I made it as the main course with a vegetable.  Here is the recipe with a few updates to the original post.


Lobster mac and cheese.  Ooo-ey gooey deliciousness.  And we ate almost the whole tray full.
It was a simple meal.  Lobster macaroni and cheese and baked acorn squash.  There were only four of us eating.  

I have always made this as a side dish, never as a meal by itself.  Wow.  Just concentrating on the flavors in the dish was a treat in itself.  No turkey, ham, chicken, whatever, to get in the way.

For those of you so inclined, here is my recipe.  I made one tweak when I could not find the lobster pieces I used to purchase.  I bought Lobster Classic and we all thought it was great.  

Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

 8 ounces penne or other tube-shaped pasta

½ tsp salt
4 cups milk
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 Tbsp flour 
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces grated Gruyere cheese
5.2 ounces garlic and herb Boursin cheese
1 lb cooked lobster meat, chopped 

Method:

 

 Preheat oven to 350.  Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and cook pasta @ a rolling boil until almost tender.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Set aside in a large bowl.

 

Bring the milk to just a boil in a heavy bottom saucepan.  While the milk is heating, melt the butter in another pan, whisk in the flour with wooden spoon.  Continue whisking for three minutes over low heat.  Do not brown.  Remove from heat.

 

Add the hot milk to the flour and butter mixture and whisk thoroughly.  It should be smooth.  Remove from heat and add seasonings and Boursin cheese and keep whisking until the mixture thickens (place on low heat if necessary).  It should coat the back of a spoon.

 

Pour over the pasta, stir in the lobster meat and toss to coat completely.

Grease a 13x9 baking dish and fill it evenly with the pasta and sauce.  Sprinkle the grated gruyere evenly over the pasta; add a dash of salt and pepper.  Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.

 

Bread Crumb Hat.  Mix 1 cup Panko bread crumbs with 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese and 4 Tbsp melted butter.  Top casserole 5 minutes before end of baking time to allow bread crumb hat to become golden brown.

 

Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes to set.  Serve.

 

Dish can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated before baking, but it will take longer to cook in the oven depending on how cold it has gotten.

A Thanksgiving Feast in Production

I started planning my Thanksgiving dinner several weeks ago.   It is still a work in progress.  Every year I try to do things just a little simpler - no stuffing the turkey breast with fruits or sausage or whatever, mashed potatoes from a package.  I look for recipes that I can prepare ahead and then throw in the oven to cook - sweet potato casserole.  I try to add something new - the roasted beet salad.  And everyone wants to know what is for dessert.  I have never made a plain pumpkin pie.  

Yesterday I made the cranberry chutney.  It has so much bourbon in it it will keep for weeks, lol.  I would love to do fancy appetizers, but I think I will assemble a dozen for the platter and then let everyone else assemble their own.  I would gladly throw the turkey in the slow cooker, but my boys like the skin so I'll do it in the oven the same way we had it last month.  I am only making a half recipe of dressing since I always have too much left over - and then I proceed to eat it all.  The Brussels sprouts are a favorite, but I am not doing the carrots everyone likes, maybe for Christmas (yes, I have a draft of that menu too). 

I have a layer of chocolate chiffon cake in the freezer and I am going to try a simpler pumpkin mousse made with Cool Whip.  Call me lazy, but the dessert will be so rich and everyone will be so stuffed (no pun intended) that I doubt they will notice.  Especially if I top the dessert with my Chantilly cream.  The pecan pie brownies will be a new item and I hope they work out.  Here is the menu:

Smoked salmon, cheese, and cucumber bites (I'm thinking a cucumber slice instead of the bread.  And I am not making my own pickled salmon, I'm buying it)

Roast turkey breast and gravy
Chestnut dressing
Sweet potato casserole with pecan topping
Mashed potatoes
Roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta and scallions
Roasted beet and goat cheese salad
Brandied cranberry chutney

Pumpkin mousse and chocolate chiffon trifle
Pecan pie brownies

Oh, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

Easter Dinner in the Planning Stages

Easter is coming soon and I will be cooking for my family.  As has been my custom, here is the menu.  I have provided links to the recipes where possible.

Crab Salad

Smoked Salmon

Deviled Eggs

Three Pepper Salad

Pork Loin with Fig Sauce

 Farro with Fennel

 Roasted Green Beans w

Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

Italian Cheese Tart

Coconut Macaroons

While I have made my own pickled salmon in the past, I am opting to buy smoked salmon this year.  Much easier.  And my recipe for the crab salad is one I received a gazillion years ago from The Pier Restaurant in Harbor Springs, Michigan, so I may post it in the future.

Are you busy planning an Easter or Passover dinner?  

Cookie Monster in My House

My grandson is a chocolate chip cookie monster and that means that Grandma needs to bake cookies. Here is my recipe for chocolate chip cookies, adapted from King Arthur flour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 5 dozen 2 1/2 inch cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, butter flavored

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup almond flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1.       In a large bowl, combine the sugars, butter, shortening, salt, vanilla and almond extracts, vinegar, baking soda and baking powder, beating until smooth and creamy.

2.       Beat in the egg, again beating till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is thoroughly combined.

3.      Mix in the flour, then the chips.

4.      Wrap dough in plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight in refrigerator.

5.      Next day:  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.   Remove dough from refrigerator and prepare cookies while oven preheats.

6.      Use a spoon (or a tablespoon cookie scoop) to scoop 1 1/4" balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2" between them on all sides; they'll spread.

7.      Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, till their edges are chestnut brown and their tops are light golden brown, almost blonde. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan till they've set enough to move without breaking. Repeat with the remaining dough. 

Note:  I have doubled the recipe, scooped the dough and frozen it.  Works great.

It's National Carrot Cake Day

When I was double-checking the calendar for Chocolate Cake Day in January, I looked at the February calendar and saw a day I could not ignore.  Today is National Carrot Cake Day.  I have never met a carrot cake I did not enjoy, even the ones without nuts.  I usually use the recipe from America's Test Kitchen, but here are two that I have in my files.

First is my mother's recipe, written in her own cursive handwriting.  You old-timers know what that is, right?  They do not teach it anymore.  What a shame.  I think our culture is truly regressing.

I am guessing the oven should be preheated to 350 degrees.  And I always drain my carrots on some paper towels.

Remember when they said oleo was healthier than butter?  I always use butter now.

Here is another recipe from one of my former staff members.  It is baked in 9 inch cake pans.

Yup.  It does not say how much sugar in the frosting, but I would start with two cups sifted and then add more, probably 1/2 cup.

My staff and I did a lot of eating and bringing in food to share.  We had a cookbook of our recipes and one book for our photos.  We did have a good time.

Here is a photo of carrot cake from J. Alexander's Restaurant.  It has coconut in it and is very moist.  Plus they serve it warm.  Yum.

It's National Chocolate Cake Day

On several occasions I have thought it would be fun to blog everyday about whatever food is being celebrated.  There is an entire calendar for these events and I have mentioned a few in the past, like National Cheesecake Day which falls on July 30 this year.

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day.  There was a time when chocolate was my very favorite flavor.  While I still love it, I often opt for something else, often lemon.  But put a piece of dark chocolate anything in front of me and I can't resist.

I would love to make a cake today, but as my kids are off on vacation, I would have to eat it all by myself.  Not that I couldn't accomplish the task.  I do have some recipes for chocolate cake in a mug - for one- so that may be my dessert this evening.

I looked at all of my Pinterest pins and there are several cakes I want to make, especially a couple of flourless varieties.  If you are looking for recipes, you can check some out at these links:

Single-layer Chocolate cakes: https://www.pinterest.com/msdeniseh553/chocolate-cakes/
Chocolate layer cakes: https://www.pinterest.com/msdeniseh553/chocolate-layer-cake/
Chocolate pound and bundt cakes:  https://www.pinterest.com/msdeniseh553/chocolate-pound-and-bundt-cakes/

One of my favorite chocolate desserts is a chocolate cake and pumpkin mousse.  Alas, I've never put the recipe on my computer.  It is made with chocolate chiffon cake.  The pumpkin mousse is great all on its own, and the cake is a great treat at Thanksgiving.

Are you a chocolate fan?  Dark or milk?  What is your favorite flavor?

My Christmas Menu

In keeping with tradition, I am posting my Christmas menu.  I had my menu all planned until I read a blog post.
My thanks to Jo at Jo on Food, Life and a Scent of Chocolate for posting a recipe for beef Bourguignon.  For many years now I have used the Barefoot Contessa recipe and love it.  Plus, it can be made ahead of time and reheated, when it always tastes even better.  Which means that on Christmas Day I am only reheating and preparing the mushrooms to go into the beef.

One of my sons asked if I was making noodles or mashed potatoes and I decided to make neither. Instead I am making Ina's potato fennel gratin, which can also be made ahead - YAY!!!

Keeping with the make-ahead theme, I am going with the poached shrimp which I have made many times and everyone loves.  And even though I always make my own salad dressings, I sprung for a ready made bottle of a creamy mustard vinaigrette.

I did make an alteration to the menu just yesterday.  I received a new recipe to test from America's Test Kitchen.  I made the caramelized onions and froze what I will need for Christmas.  The second part of the test is using them for the Brussels sprouts.  I sure hope this recipe works, though in all my years of testing there has been only one complete fail IMO.

In prior years when I have travelled, I have tried to include something from the country I visited. This year is no exception.  I will be making Brussels-style Belgian waffles for dessert with various toppings - ice cream, powdered sugar, maple syrup, jam, caramel sauce...  And since the batter has to sit overnight, we just have to pour it into the waffle iron after dinner.  My only debate is whether I make the batter from scratch, or use the mix I purchased from King Arthur flour.  I never liked waffles until I had them in Brussels.  Definitely not like Eggo, lol.

Here is the menu:

Poached Shrimp

Butter Lettuce w Pears, Walnuts,& Goat Cheese 

Boeuf Bourguignon

Potato Fennel Gratin

Pan-roasted Brussels Sprouts w

Caramelized Onions and Bacon

Rolls w Orange Butter

Brussels-style Belgian Waffle Sundaes