Madelienes

Picture straight from my iphone.  I love that little phone.  It's magic!

We felt very French the other day.   A few Saturdays ago, our dear little Emma was feeling a little stir crazy.  Sometimes she gets that way.  This Sat. wasn't filled with skiing, or rock climbing, or playing with friends, and Emma needed to make something.   She does that.  She'll come into the kitchen and say, "So what can we make delicious today?" Someone is going to be very lucky to marry this girl one day.  She can cook.  I knew how to make chocolate chip cookies when I got married, but Em has quite a repertoire.  She decided on some cute little Madeleine cookies.  I had received a Madeleine pan for Christmas and this was our first attempt.  They turned out perfect.  A simple little cookie.  Almost the texture of a pound cake, but more of the crispy edges.  I thought they were wonderful.  So did everyone else.  We felt as if we should be outside a cute Paris cafe maybe cheering on some Tour de France bikers as they rode along.  We can only dream.  A nice little dip in chocolate would be tasty too on these cookies.  So if you're needing a little vacation, make these and then sit on your porch outside and think of Spring.  I think it's coming!!  **Here's a link to the Madeleine Pan.  I got it from Amazon and it works super great!  It wasn't too bad price wise either:)

Madeleine Cookies

recipe from The Barefoot Contessa

1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter, to grease the pans, plus 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Confectioners' sugar, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Thoroughly butter and flour the Madeleine pans.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light yellow and fluffy. Add 1/4 pound of butter and mix. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and stir into the batter with a rubber spatula. Stir in the coconut.

With a soup spoon, drop the batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full. Bake the madeleines for 10 to 12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed. Tap the madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Naan Bread Makes Us Happy!

Garlic Naan

Someone asked me the other day if my daughter Emma was a going to be a good cook one day.  I had to immediately respond that she is already a fabulous cook and quite adventurous.  Last week while Jimmy and Jed were at their High Adventure activity Emma asked if we could make something delicious.  She is always wanting to try something new in the kitchen.  I told her I had found a quick Naan bread recipe that we should try.  She responded immediately with a loud yes and pumping of her fists.  Something about Naan Bread and Emma.  They seem to go together.

Emma's first Indian food experience was a few short months ago.  We have a great little Indian restaurant here in Logan.  It is located close to USU in a gas station of all places.  Half of the building has your Corn Nuts, and Zingers, and the other half is The Tandori Oven.  It's delish!  We love it, but I will admit I'm not very adventurous.  I like the Chicken Coconut Kurma, or the Chicken Tikka Masala and that's about it.  Actually I think I really only like the above mentioned dishes just so I can dip the Naan Bread into something.  I could dip the Naan Bread into Sunday dinner gravy, or Sweet and Sour Sauce and I'd be happy too.  Naan Bread is stupendous!

Sweet Naan

Emma and I made two versions of the Quick Naan Bread.  I love the sweet Naan that has dates, coconut, and cashews ground up and then rolled up in the dough.  We also made just butter garlic Naan.  I was so happy to taste this bread once it was finished.  Emma and I just kept breaking off pieces, and making the yummy sound.  I even jumped up and down a little with delight at the taste.  It was lovely, and you know what?  I don't think a longer, yeasted version would have made me any happier.  We did make a delicious Chicken Tikka Masala as well to dip in.  Since the initial making we've made the bread 3 more times.  Each time making the family happier and happier!  If you like Indian food give this Naan Bread a try.  It was wonderful!!

5 Minute Quick Naan Bread!
Courtesty of (Never-Home) Maker

What you'll need . . .

1 cup bread flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch salt

2/3 cup water

extra flour for rolling

Method . . .

Whisk together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Add the water and stir. Then knead with your hands for a minute or two. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.

Dough should be smooth and elastic. Divide into 4 balls.

Roll out each ball until it is about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.

Heat a frying pan until nice and hot.  When hot, place one of the pre-naans on it. Press down a bit with your hands or a utensil. Cook until golden.

Then flip and cook until golden.  If you have a gas stove, I grabbed the Naan and put it directly over the gas flame.  I loved the charred marks.  Repeat with remaining pieces.

Use a pizza cutter to cut each piece into 4 triangles.

I actually three times the recipe.  It made about 10 good sized Naan Bread.

To make the Sweet Naan I took a handful of raisins, and handful of coconut, and a handful of cashews and buzzed them in a food processor with a little water until a rough paste formed.  I then put a tablespoon full of paste in the middle of a dough ball.  Folded it over and sealed the edges so the paste was inside the dough.  Then you roll the dough out as directed and cook as directed.  When the bread was done we brushed with butter and sprinkled some more coconut on top.  Yum!!

Emma's Holiday Treats

I had to post some of the fun treats that Emma made this Christmas season.  She's turning into such a good little cook.  Way better than I ever imagined being at her age.  Let alone when I was 25!  She's been my little lifesaver with my morning sickness blues the last few months.  I don't even look at food porn when I have morning sickness.  I have stacks of food magazines that I just couldn't even stomach looking at a few months back.  I've got a lot of reading to do:)  Emma made all sorts of dinners for the family.  She's the best!!  I love her guts!!

These are the treats she made for our holiday festivities.  The little snowmen went to all the kids friends.  We wrapped them in sucker wrappers and tied a bow around the stick.  I thought they were dang cute.  Thanks to my friend E who showed us this idea.  I think she got it from someone else's blog.....so Thank You!  to whoever you are.  The snowmen were a hit!  The little truffles were just Oreo truffles, but Emma gussied them up with dark and white chocolate shavings, and little pearly sprinkles.  Thanks Emma for being my lifesaver.  You're my favorite daughter!!

Snowmen On a Stick

1 pkg. Ritz Crackers

Peanut Butter

White Chocolate Coating

Candy Corns

Mini Chocolate Chips

Popsicle Sticks

You can use Double Stuff Oreo's instead of making a Ritz Peanut Butter sandwich, but we liked the Peanut Butter best.  The Oreo's were hard to get the stick in without breaking the cookie.  Use whichever you like.  We just made a Ritz and Peanut Butter sandwich and stuck a Popsicle stick in the middle and then dipped in melted white chocolate.  Place a candy corn for the nose and mini chocolate chips for the mouth and eyes.  I did this with an Achievement Day group of girls and they LOVED it.  It is easy and quick!

Oreo Truffles (courtesy of Kraftrecipes.com)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg.  (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided

2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

make it

MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Would You Have An Appendectomy For This?

Sunday night we got word that a friend of Emma's had had an emergency appendectomy that morning.  He had spent the previous day playing two baseball games, slept over at a friends and by 9am the next morning was under the knife getting his swollen and enlarged appendix out.  We saw the pictures.  I told his mom to scrapbook those pics.  That is something this kid could be proud of.  In the course of a bishops visit in the hospital we came to find out how this young man loved cookies from girls.  I told him all he had to do was mention he liked cookies and I'm sure he'd find some on his doorstep.  He didn't have to go to such extreme measures for cookies:)  Needless to say, when Emma found out about her poor friend she was more than happy to oblige.  She enlisted a favorite friend and the next day they were cooking.

These girls didn't go the simple route.  They decided to jazz up the offering by adding two selections of cookies instead of just one.  What nice gals!  (They even passed off a Personal Progress achievement during the process.  Hurray!)  The brunette cookie in the picture above is the cookie I wanted to highlight.  I loved these cookies as a kid.  We never made them.  Not even my professional cookie making sister ever made these at home.  Again-  Thanks to the lunch ladies at dear old Lomond View Elementary I had these Chocolate Crinkles at least once in a blue moon.   Maybe it's the fact that they have a little resemblance to brownies that I love them so much.  Emma seems to have followed in my footsteps.  She found this recipe in the Martha Stewart Cookie book, and never looked back.

I'm proud of Emma's fearless tackling of her cooking endeavors.  She can make lots of things I never dreamt of at her age.  Let alone as seasoned 25 or 30 year old.  So I'm sure our little neighbor boy is thinking now that maybe the tummy ache from hell may have been worth it.  I mean if you can get two beautiful girls to bring you cookies (2 different kinds) in bed, what other body part could he part with?

Chocolate Crackles

from Martha Stewart's Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cups light-brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk

1 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop bittersweet chocolate into small bits, and melt over medium heat in a heat-proof bowl or the top of a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and light-brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add melted chocolate. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined. Divide the dough into quarters, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.

On a clean counter top, roll each portion of dough into a log approximately 16 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, using confectioners’ sugar to prevent sticking. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and transfer to a baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut each log into 1-inch pieces, and toss in confectioners’ sugar, a few at a time. Using your hands, roll the pieces into a ball shape. If any of the cocoa-colored dough is visible, roll dough in confectioners’ sugar again to coat completely. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on a Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake until cookies have flattened and the sugar splits, 12 to15 minutes.

Transfer from oven to a wire rack to let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Blackberry Corn Muffins

When I was a kid there were a few things that I felt I could cook perfectly. I could make a great sweet and sour meatball, chocolate chip cookie and Cup of Noodles. That's it. That was my repertoire. It wasn't until I'd been married a few years that I started branching out a bit, and trying other things. I had to get through college before I ever found time to cook, and since then I just can't seem to get enough. My daughter Emma is a chip off the old block. She loves to cook and try new things.

A few weeks ago J and I were at a conventions and favorite cousin Jessica and her new husband Kade came to baby sit the kids. Emma loved us being gone. Every night she would call and ask how to make something different for dinner. It was never a simple little something. It was things like Shrimp Scampi, and Zuppa Tuscan. Can you imagine a 13 year old cooking like that. She does great too. Sunday she decided to make muffins to go along with Sunday dinner. Blackberry Corn Muffins. Yum!! (Can I just tell you the beef tenderloin roast was the best ever but I didn't get a single pic. We were just too hungry. Next time I make it I promise to post it because it was the best Sunday dinner I think I've ever made.) These muffins are so good and so pretty. I have Ziploc gallon bags full of our berry crop from last summer in the freezer and they work absolutely wonderfully. Blackberry is our favorite, but dang, raspberry or blueberry would be good as well. I like using frozen berries since it's just simple to do. Stir them in really fast and scoop the muffins immediately and there isn't any berry bleeding. That's a good thing. Perfect yellow corn muffin with beautiful, big, fat, juicy berries poking out. A good slab of butter and a generous stream of honey is the best route to go for eating these lovelies. They are fantastic reheated in the microwave the next morning for breakfast too.

The recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks. "Fresh Everyday" by Sara Foster. It is a great cookbook full of really pretty, seasonally fresh, and just down right yummy stuff. She's got some great soups, and salads, and other great things, but the Blackberry Corn Muffins is permanently earmarked. Actually the book just falls open to this page. That's how you know a recipe is good. Thanks Sara Foster. One day I'm going to visit your market and we can make muffins together. And thanks to Emma too. Some boy is going to be extremely lucky to get this girl one day. I'm not letting her go anytime soon though. She's a complete neat freak and that is priceless at my house:) I'll keep her as long as I can. She's priceless. Love ya Em!

Blackberry Corn Muffins

From Fresh Everyday by Sara Foster

1 1/2 c. corn meal

1 1/2 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs beaten slightly

3/4 c. buttermilk

3/4 canola oil

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blackberries

Preheat oven to 375' F. Line 12 muffin tins with liners and spray pan with Pam. Stir all the dry ingredients together until combined. In a separate bowl add all the wet ingredients and mix them thoroughly. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined. There's nothing wrong with a few flour chunks. Gently fold in the blackberries. Scoop batter between the muffin cups. They are pretty full. Bake muffins for 25-30 mins. or until they spring back when touched in the center. Allow to cool for about 5 mins. in the pan and then enjoy with lots of butter and honey.

Good Luck Emma! (And Thanks Doug!)

New Era-ish Emma Magazine Cover

Princess Leah- love the buns.

Time again for the yearly running for office at our home and what would we do without our fabulous Uncle Doug! Now most kids are wondering what color of poster board to write on, but not us. We have a professional in the family that comes up with fantastic posters in a matter of minutes. Fri. night James texted Doug at about 8:00pm to tell him that Emma had made the primary election, and need 2 posters by Sat. (since we wouldn't be going to Sam's on Sun.) He had 4 ideas an hour later. What a guy. I'm sure he had nothing else to do on a Fri. night?

Emma is a bit torn though. You see one of her favorite friends is running as well and only 1 of them can win. She feels she has an unfair advantage now. She almost started to cry thinking about her friend. On the other hand Jed was telling her how his posters destroyed the competiton last year for him. He has no mercy. So good luck Emma and a million thanks to Uncle Doug!! We'll let you know how it turns out. No matter what she is dang excited to have the posters in her room when all is said and done.

Creme Brulee Love

Emma's little Beehive class has been doing something very fun over the last few months. One Tues. night activity a month is devoted solely to recipes. Each girl in the class brings the prepared dish that she loves and also the recipe to share with everyone. They have a giant tasting night and swap recipes to put in their recipe card holders they made. Emma is accumulating quite a collection of recipes. So far they have done appetizers, and main dishes. Tonight is a dessert night, but cookies are not invited. They are going to have another night dedicated to just cookies! So on with our thinking caps. Emma absolutely loves cheesecake and was going to make Grandma Garner's famous frozen cheesecakes in a muffin cup, but I'm just not feeling cheesecakey! What a food snob I must be. But I am feeling a little Creme Bruleeish. I know, Emma's supposed to choose and make the dessert by herself, but I must be involved too. Therefore I talked her into Creme Brulee.

Now I've made Creme Brulee many times, and I have never got it quite right until just recently. I am never patient enough to let my custard bake in a water bath in the oven, so I usually crank up the temp and end up with a curdled mess. Also I don't think a broiler does a very good job carmelizing the sugar on the top. That too turns into a curdled mess. That is why I have learned to improvise. Isn't necessity the mother of all invention.....I needed a quicker dessert with more of an instant gratification factor.

Actually the recipe is a spin on James' mom's custard recipe for her cream pies. I just added a few things and did a bit of tweaking and wha-la........fantastic Creme Brulee. It is made entirely on the stovetop. No more nasty little water bath. The kitchen torch is a must though. I have a funny story to tell about mine. (Don't I always:) ) A few years ago I bought James a kitchen torch for Christmas since he is the big Creme Brulee lover in our family. It didn't come with a lot of signage, or big fancy banners on the package. Just a simple little nozzle thingy. James pulled it out of his stocking and was so excited. He didn't care what it was, he just knows how to put on a happy face no matter what he gets. So after a few oh's and ah's he said what is it? Is it a nose hair remover? I died laughing. I think we must have seen a few to many late night infomercials while I was nursing a new baby or something. It probably would do a really good job with the nose hairs though:) So the kitchen torch is great, but if you don't have one just use the broiler. It will curdle your custard a bit, but as I always say.....imagine that it is perfect! Enjoy because I'm sure we're going to.

Super Easy Creme Brulee

3/4 c. sugar

3 T. cornstarch

2 T. flour

2 c. cream

1-2 c. milk

3 egg yolks

1 t. vanilla

pinch of salt

1 8 oz. container Marscapone Cheese (This is a fancy Italian type cream cheese. It is kind of

pricey, but it really adds a richness to the custard. If you don't want to buy it don't worry it will still be good without. Don't substitute regular cream cheese though. It has too strong of a flavor. You'll find Marscapone in the specialty cheese section of the grocery store.)

Combine all the ingredients together except for 1 c. of milk and the Marscapone cheese and stir over a medium stove until combined. Continue stirring until the custard starts to bubble and thicken. Let it boil slowly for a few minutes. Stir in the Marscapone cheese now and maybe some milk depending on how thick the pudding already is. The custard will set up a lot while it cools. Pour into individual ramekins, or into a big casserole dish. Cool for a few hours. Right before serving sprinkle the top with sugar. Either place under a broiler until sugar is browned, or use a kitchen torch (nose hair remover). Serve with fresh berries if you have them. Another option is adding about 1/3 c. cocoa powder with the other dry ingredients or 1/2 c. chocolate chips to the hot pudding. This makes a lovely Chocolate Creme Brulee!

Bittersweet Lessons of Life

There are no recipes today, just my thoughts after a very bittersweet day with Emma.  It reminded me of the scene in Sense and Sensability where Elinor Dashwood is talking to Colonel Brandon about her sister MaryAnn and how MaryAnn would be much better off as soon as she learned "the ways of the world".  Colonel Brandon's response to her was this.  "She is purely unspoiled, and the longer she goes without, learning the ways of the world, as you put it the better."  Don't we wish we could keep our little kids safe and happy forever?  If you've seen the movie you know that MaryAnn Dashwood's heart was broken and then stomped on and that is what happened to Emma yesterday.

Emma has a fun little friend who is a few years older, but the two of them get along perfectly.  On most days after school you can see these two riding their cute cruiser bikes up and down our rode for hours.  Emma's bike is lime green with hot pink rims, and McKenna's is baby blue with pink rims.  They look so cute together.  Yesterday the two decided to meet at the DI after school for some treasure hunting.  Emma has never been there and McKenna loves it. So a new adventure for Emma awaited.  The two girls had a grand time trying everything in the store on.  Emma picked out the funnest old lady dress, and the tallest boots you've ever seen.  We had a fun photo shoot in mind with these treasures.  As they were talking over their clothes Emma realized she left her wallet in the dressing room. They hadn't moved more than 5 feet from the dressing rooms and a new lady was now in there.  I looked under the door and could see her wallet and the lady promptly kicked it out......totally empty. 

 Emma had about $65 of her hard earned babysitting money in there and it was gone.  She immediately burst into tears, and I had to really pull myself together to not cry either.  We looked around for the little lady who had been in the dressing room right after Emma and she quickly came up to us with a wad of money in her hand.  "I found your money."  she said, but she had kept the $50 bill.  

There isn't a lot you can do.  I thought about stripping her down to her nothings, and grabbing that $50 bill that I know was there somewhere, but you can't.  We left the store with nothing, and a sour taste in our mouths from the adventure.

  I have learned some great words of wisdom 

from my 8th grade math teacher.  One of those tidbit is, "If life was fair we'd all be fairies!" 

This doesn't make you feel better, but it is the truth.  Life is hard sometimes.   Of course we both cried the whole way  home.  We talked about the lesson we learned that day, and quickly realized that at least it was just money.  Money is easily replaced with a little work, but say a little brother was taken, or someone got a terrible sickness.

  Those are hard things to have taken from you.  Emma now knows that not all people are honest or kind and sometimes those people may even want to take her most precious things.  She must guard her "Stuff"  carefully.  It could be her money, her integrity, her virtue.....all of those great YW values.  

As Maria VonTapp put it, "when the Lord closes a door, 

he always opens a window."  There is always a silver lining on a cloudy day, and that's what good friends are for.  McKenna, her big sis, and granny all stopped by after and brought the outfit that Emma had left at the DI, and of course Grandma Orton couldn't let Emma go without her hard earned babysitting money back.  

There we all were again out on the lawn crying.  Tears of gratitude for the kindness of really great friends.  Emma's second lesson yesterday was of generosity, and gratitude.  Em has a kind heart and tender spirit, and I am glad her hard lesson could be tempered with love.

  She doesn't need to know how hard the world can be yet.  

Heck she's only 12.  There's plenty of time for that.