moving troubles, and happy December!

Boy, it's been a while!  Apologies, and just as frustrating for me as it is for you.  

The 3rd move in two and a half years has been wonderful in some ways (I have a full size electric stove!) but huge troubles with Photo and iphone pictures which refuse to transfer from Photos to Blogger with my new Internet provider, and I think something called pix may have complicated things even more.  The neighbor I had hoped would fix it is away, so I wait and wait and this post will probably naked of pictures.  (Amazing - Stuart Little showed up on a old, random photo file!)

But I've been happily baking again - a birthday cake for my neighbor today, and one a week ago for my daughter in law, both lemon cakes with the cream cheese frosting from the carrot cake everyone likes so much - those were hard to give away!  

A few rounds of Spice cookies, especially nice when the weather turns chilly.  Today and yesterday was sweater weather, can you believe it?  Lots of soups - leek and potato, Tuscan tomato, and my favorite Spinach soup. Omelets oozing with brie, melons with a splash of lemon or lime, all good.

And now unpacking the Christmas ornaments - Stuart Little in his canoe was the first out of the box!  I thought I'd lost him in the last move, but there he was -  Happy December!  

a merry little Christmas

Wow - it's been a long time between posts, but here I am today to wish you the most wonderful Christmas and holiday!  I've been baking for friends and family, attended a delightful cookie baking and decorating party with my grandchildren, delighted in a true snowfall here in the city, made more cookies, and my Christmas biscotti, and , as always, missed my sister, especially this time of year.

Looking forward to Christmas with family, and making resolutions , which includes being a little better with posting:), taking the time to make a real meal for one or two, rather than just heating up leftovers - I tend heavily toward huge pots of soup which somehow have to be eaten.  More walks, more city exploring (though I am not a city person), some meaningful volunteering as the next year ticks closer, and political activism.  Be well, dear friends, and enjoy the day.

Ginger stars recipe here!

Swedish Meatballs for Christmas

Ahhhh, Swedish meatballs.  I had always heard about them, but it was only this year I suddenly had the urgent desire to make them. 

Freshly ground pork and beef, spiked with spices, lovingly rolled into balls and cooked, then served with a meltingly lovely sauce with a side of lingonberry jam ( or homemade cranberry sauce).  Can you blame me for my romantic passion?

They were as delicious as I thought they would be.  

I first thought I would serve them with noodles, but after one taste, opted for simply presented meatballs in a little bowl, with excellent bread and butter on the side , and a glorious salad- but if you prefer simple buttered noodles, that would work just as well.  They really are delicious!

To make:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 large onion, minced
4 slices soft bread, crusts removed and cubed 
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 pound freshly ground pork
1 1/2 pounds fresh ground beef
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons cardamom spice, ground
1 teaspoon thyme
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup flour
1 cup beef broth (Noted 12/26/14 - I needed 2 and a half cups of beef broth when I made these today for a party, not sure why, but the sauce should be smooth and creamy enough to spoon over the meatballs.  I would advise adding more broth 1/2 cup at a time and whisking.  If it's still too thick, add more broth until desired consistency.)


In a small skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter.  Add onion and saute for a few minutes until soft.  Remove to a large bowl.  

In a separate bowl, soak bread cubes in 2/3 cup milk until very soft.

Beat bread cubes and milk until thickened, add to onions. then add the pork, beef, eggs. spices and thyme.  Gently mix with hands (which I hope you have washed very well!) until combined, then pinch off teaspoon sized bits and roll into balls - this makes about 70 medium to small meatballs.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.   Sear meatballs until meatballs are browned, then use a slotted spoon to remove balls to a large bowl.  Continue to cook until all the meatballs are seared.

Pour remaining oil out of the skillet, then melt 6 tablespoons butter in the skillet.  Whisk in the flour and whisk until thickened.  Add the beef broth and whisk until thickened. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook 10 minutes.  Taste for seasoning and serve with sauce alone, or with hot buttered noodles.

Serve with a side of fresh cranberry sauce, or lingonberry jam.

SO good!

Blessings of the season to you all, may you have a happy, delicious Christmas Day!

Cookie time: Swedish snowballs

A sudden flurry of cookie making, some off to my grandchildren in Minnesota (spice cookies for Frankie and roasted sugared walnuts, for Izzie, who is still on a gluten-free diet most of the time), more cookies for a few friends who look forward to them (Italian Christmas biscotti, gingerbread stars) - and these always popular nut and confectioner's sugar snowballs, also know as Russian Tea cookies, Mexican Wedding cookies, and a zillion other nicknames.  I call them Swedish snowballs now, because the recipe comes from a Swedish woman I knew.  My newest grandson is too little for cookies, but next will be a few batches for his parents on Christmas Day.  Hope you are all enjoying December and the Christmas (or Hanukkah) season!

This makes about two cookie sheets full of snowballs.

To make:

Preheat oven to 375F.

2 ungreased cookie sheets.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 and 1/4 cups King Arthur all purpose flour

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. nutmeg

3/4 cup shelled walnuts, finely chopped (I use a food processor)

More confectioners sugar for rolling and sprinkling

Cream butter and sugar.

Add vanilla, nutmeg, flour, salt, and nuts.

Cream well, then pinch of pieces of dough and roll between your palms into dime or quarter sized balls.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 14 minutes.

Cool balls, then roll in confectioner's sugar.

Place on platter and shake an avalanche of more confectioner's sugar on top just before serving.

Happy day to you all!

What I'm reading:  Catching Fire:  How Cooking Made Us Human, by primatologist Richard Wrangham.  Fascinating!

sugar-roasted walnuts and almonds for giving

I can't believe I first made this recipe from Two Peas and their Pod in 2009 - it feels like such a Christmas tradition that dates back to gingerbread cookies, meaning forever.

Everyone likes these sugar-roasted walnuts ( and I do use more walnuts than almonds, but that's just my preference) - wonderful for parties, stockings - and friends and family.  I usually package them in cello bags ( I found some nice clear ones at Michael's craft store) with curly gold ribbon.  Did I mention they're gluten-free?  Izzie is back on a GF diet, so I do try to have some of these around for snacking, even when it isn't December.

Preheat oven to 250F.

Line a baking/cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2 egg whites
2 teaspoons cold water
4 cups walnut halves and whole almonds - not too small
6 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Place the egg whites and water in a large bowl and beat until frothy, then add the nuts and stir to coat well.
Mix the sugars, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl then sprinkle over the nuts.  Use a large spoon to again coat the nuts evenly,

Spread out on the parchment fairly evenly and bake on upper third of oven for one hour.  After 30 minutes, use a large spoon to stir up the nuts a little, then continue baking.

After an hour, turn off heat, but leave the nuts in the oven for another 20 minutes or so, just to make sure they're crunchy.

Cool completely before packaging.

Hope you have time for a walk in the snow !  We have had two snowstorms in the last week, about 1 1/2 to 2 feet altogether. 

And make sure you save a handful for yourself - while you make lists for next Christmas:)

spicy gingerbread stars

I seem to have been uninspired lately as far as muddling around in the kitchen, preferring instead to go on one of my reading jags.  I have had company though, and for the last two lunches I've tucked away a nice disc of this gingerbread in the fridge, ready to be pulled out and rolled into spicy cookies.  My cardboard box full of all kinds and seasons of cookie cutters has taken up permanent residency in a corner in the kitchen - I just pull it out, put it on a table, and let people pick their favorites.  It may be December, but if you're hankering for a cactus cookie, that's just fine.  And if you're a 3 year old, you'll choose the gnome - and then carefully eat only the hat.  Remember that?  I do - and I distinctly remember the agony of wanting a whole cookie, but afraid to decapitate a ginger man.  So maybe a cactus is safer.

We've had a little snow, thankfully not much - but chilly, and perfect walking weather, which I manage to fit in in between work and reading.  Let's hope I feel a little more inspired next week.

As I said, I keep some of this dough in the fridge, ready to be rolled out at a minute's notice.  It rarely lasts more than a week:  because I know it's there, I'll bake up some cookies for the neighbors or the grandchildren , and sometimes bake a batch and stick them in the freezer, because I know there are days when I suddenly want one - just one.

The recipe is from Craig Claiborne, from the New York Times cookbook, and the cookies are delightfully spicy and soft, but firm enough for mailing.

To make:

Line two baking sheets with foil or parchment.


1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 large egg
3/4 cup molasses
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder


Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and spices.
Add the egg and mix, then add the molasses.  Sift the flour, soda, and baking powder together, then add to the molasses mixture and mix until completely blended.

Pat the dough into an oval, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Roll out half the dough to a 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut out shapes as you wish, placing the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven, for 10 minutes.  If your cookies are very thin, they will obviously need less time.
Let cool a few minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to a cooling rack.

Let the baking begin!

the best fresh orange and cranberry scones

A second batch of those orange and cranberry scones this morning,  as I wanted to make some fresh ones up for my neighbors, and for a chef friend who wanted the recipe, as well as a taste.  As I pulled the new batch out of the oven, I realized I had overbaked yesterday's scones.  These were gorgeous!  They were both tender and full of that fresh orange and cranberry burst of tangy, but this mornings batch were much prettier.  

I also remembered a trick I had seen somewhere - grating the cold butter on a cheese grater to make it thinner and easier to incorporate with the flour mixture.  I liked that method a lot, so will use it in the future.

The recipe:

Preheat oven to 380F.
Line a baking sheet with clean foil or parchment.

2 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
good pinch of kosher salt
2 teaspoons orange zest, freshly grated
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, grated on a cheese grater
1 small egg, slightly beaten with a fork
1/4 cup sour cream (I used Hood's full-fat)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 1/2 large orange)
Optional:  1/4 cup water if mixture is too dry
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
sparkling sugar for the tops of the scones

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixer bowl.
Toss in the shaved butter and orange zest and mix briefly with a spoon.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and whisk in the sour cream and orange juice.  Add to the flour mixture and briefly turn on the mixer paddle.  Stop the mixture and add the dried and fresh cranberries and mix briefly until dough forms a ball.  Do not over mix.  If the dough seems dry, or there is still flour at the bottom of the bowl, add the 1/4 cup water and mix until cranberries are blended into the dough.

Turn out dough onto a floured board or counter.  Roll into a 7 inch circle, then slice into 8 triangles, and place on baking sheet.  

Sprinkle scones with sugar and bake for 19 minutes.

These are wonderful for your pre-Thanksgiving dinner company, and would be very pretty wrapped in cello and nestled in a basket or bowl for Christmas giving.  Very Martha:)

We've had brief flurries of snow, oddly mostly at night or very early in the morning, when it's barely light.  My hummingbird bird bath is frozen, and I imagine my little winter birds with tiny skates, taking a twirl....  have a Happy Thanksgiving!

tender cranberry-orange scones

I've been a little disappointed in my favorite scone recipes lately, so when I saw this recipe in  The Boston Globe on Wednesday, I leaped at the chance to try it.  One unusual ingredient was a little sour cream, but the rest was fairly close to my usual scone recipes.  I did mull over what might be the cause of less-fluffy scones the last few batches, and wondered if it was my very old KitchenAid mixer.

So I rummaged through my kitchen oddment basket and came up with the lovely pastry blender I bought as a flea market a long time ago.  This is a hand tool that insures the butter and flour or sugar don't get too warm if you're mixing with your hands;  or too over-beaten when using a stand mixer.  Whether it was the new recipe or the pastry blender, the scones came out light and fluffy and full of the tang of fresh orange juice, orange zest, and fresh and dried cranberries.  This is a keeper, and perfect for the holidays coming up, when hungry company arrives before the table is set  - or wrapped in cello and nestled in a basket for giving.  Just make sure the scones completely cool before packaging.


Tender Cranberry-Orange Scones:

Preheat oven to 380F.
Line a baking sheet with clean foil or parchment.

• 2 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• good pinch of kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
• 1 small egg, beaten slightly with a fork
• 1/4 cup sour cream (I used Hood's full fat)
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• Optional:  1/4 cup water if mixture is too dry
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• sparkling sugar for sprinkling on top

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixer bowl.

Add the butter pieces and mix with the pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly.  Add the orange zest and mix in with a spoon.

In another bowl, beat the egg and whisk in the sour cream and orange juice.

Add to the flour mixture and use the mixer paddle to briefly mix.  Stop the mixer and add the fresh and dried cranberries, and stir with a spoon.  If the mixer is too dry, add 1/4 cup water.  Mix with the paddle very briefly, then turn dough onto a floured board.

Gently pat the dough into a 7 inch circle, then slice into 8 triangles.

Place the triangles on the baking sheet and sprinkle with sparkling sugar before baking.

Bake for approximately 19 minutes, or until scones are gently toasted on top.

Using a spatula, remove scones to a cooling rack for five or ten minutes before eating.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

26 acts of kindness

Walking down to the pond this afternoon was chilly and gray - ice forming, but not thick enough for skating.  After reading about the 26 acts of kindness on Facebook,( which honors the memory of those 26 beautiful children and teachers at Newtown) I spent hours thinking about what I could do in this rural area, and came up with making a basket of presents for the residents at the local low-income nursing home.  And then, just as I was finished, I realized that, in today's world, strangers with presents were not always welcomed with open arms.  

How did we get here, to a place where no one is trusted?  I simply cannot answer that, but if the basket of presents is refused, I know a nurse at the home, who may take them in for me, and give them to those lonely, forgotten people.  If not?  I will place them on the counter at the village store with a sign to take them with the joy of Christmas giving.

Let us never give up loving, and sharing, caring and remembering.

On the 8th day of Christmas: snowball cookies!

We have snow!  And ice, just for fun (not).  Just a few inches, but enough to make the roads slippery and to feel a little more like Christmas as I made snowball cookies.  I got this recipe years ago from a Swedish friend - she called them Russian Tea cookies, but when I googled them, I found they are also known as Swedish Tea cookies, as well as snowballs.  Delicious and buttery, and fun to make.  When I first made them, I made them a little too big - now I try to make them somewhere between a small marble and the bigger ones.

Swedish Tea cookies:

I always toast the walnuts (or you can use pecans as well) in a toaster oven for a few minutes to bring out the flavor of the walnuts.  If you do that first thing, they will be cooled in ten minutes and ready to be chopped in the food processor without clumping.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1 t. vanilla
2 1/4 cups King Arthur flour
1/4 t. kosher salt
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/4 t. nutmeg
More powdered sugar for rolling and dusting the cookies.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Line two baking sheets with clean foil and set aside.

Cream the butter well, then add the confectioner's sugar, the vanilla, salt, and nutmeg.  Add the flour and mix well, then add the cooled, chopped walnuts.  Mix until somewhat lumpy .  Remove beater and squeeze the dough into a ball.

Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll into marble size pieces, place on baking sheet as you work, about 2 inches apart - they don't spread much. 

Place the first filled baking sheet on the upper third shelf of the oven, and bake for 14 minutes.  Remove to a cooling rack and place the second batch in the oven, again, for 14 minutes.  Remove cookies from baking sheet and roll in a cup or so of confectioner's sugar, using a spoon to turn them.  Set on platters as they are sugared.

Just before serving, sprinkle the cookies with a little snowfall of confectioner's sugar ( about 1/2 cup) placed in a very fine strainer and shaken over the platter.  You can also do this to tidy up a platter if too many little fingers have been poking them.

on the third day of Christmas: the Christmas cats and a healthy salad

I think I have not found all the cats on the tree and still in the two ornament boxes, but these are among my favorites:   Puss in Boots was from a tag on my son's present from his Auntie Noa when he was a wee little one, and the carved wooden pussycat has a mouse attached to a wire - can you see it?  The chewed up folk art pussycat was snatched away from Lulu, our shepherd-lab puppy, who thought everything, including the Christmas tree, was food.

All these cookie tastings were making me feel wan, so I made another batch of that 
crunchy baby bok choy salad with mandarin oranges.  Slice up mostly the whites of the bok choy, mix with some canned mandarin oranges, and a sliver of red onion, and dress with 1 T. fresh orange juice, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, and fresh pepper. Salt and oil are not needed.

Joyeux Noel!

on the second day of Christmas... sweets!

These little houses are teeny tiny, and made of a featherweight material , easily bent, but treasured.  My father's mother died when I was a month old, so we never met, but I was told she made Christmas villages under the tree, and I assume these were some of them.  And what else did we get excited about at Christmas?  CANDY!

Ribbon candy is made right in Massachusetts, my home state.  It's the prettiest candy you can imagine as a child, and shattering the "ribbon" is half the fun.  Marzipan has always been a favorite treat, though not half as intricate today as the marzipan you could get in New York City when I was a child.  I remember being taken to a fantastical German candymaker's store with the most delicate and lifelike fruits you could imagine.  And the foil covered chocolate coins were always in our stockings, along with the orange .

Carrying on the tradition with my own children always reminded me of my own childhood, and my parents and siblings , but also brought a little bit of magical fairy dust into Christmas Day.  What are your traditions at Christmas?

on the first day of Christmas....Stuart Little and spice cookies

For me, Christmas begins when the tree goes up.  And so, today is the first day of Christmas!  There is always a joy, lots of memories, and the peace of sitting next to the tree, remembering bits and bobs of all those years.  Did I tell you about Stuart Little?  He's always the first to go on the tree, and I panic if I can't find him.  He's the memory of my father, reading Stuart Little to me.  I always hope my love for E.B. White and Stuart are firmly embedded in my two children, and my grandchildren.  His adventurous spirit has led him to riding this canoe down the chilly river - who knows where he'll end up?

Today I made these delicious Spice cookies, beloved year round, but especially at this time of year: boxes for sending, cello bags for giving to neighbors, and setting aside plenty enough for me to nibble on.  The smallest spring-loaded scoop I have is 1 1/4", if you go even smaller, they can be spice buttons.

Spice cookies:

This makes about 3 dozen cookies:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Fit two or three baking sheets with clean foil or parchment.

2 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

1 t. baking soda

pinch kosher salt

2 t. cinnamon

2 t. cloves

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 t. ginger

1 cup sugar plus a little more for sprinkling

1/2 cup light olive oil or canola oil

1/3 cup molasses

3 T. water

1 large egg

Mix flour, spices, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

In mixer bowl, mix sugar, olive oil or canola, molasses and mix.  Add the egg and water and mix again.

Add the flour and spice mix in 3 or 4 batches to the oil mixture , mix until it comes together.  Using a scoop, or your hands, plop balls of dough onto the baking sheet, about 2-3 inches apart. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Slide the first baking sheet on the upper third rack in the oven, bake for 11 minutes, remove to a cooling rack, and slide the next rack in until all the cookies are baked.

Package in cello bags or boxes lined with wax paper, but make sure they have completely cooled first.  These are sturdy cookies, so perfect for mailing.

Merry greetings of the season!