Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My birthday now has come and past.  That elusive day in the year, one you wait for 364 days and then it's gone, 364 more.  Your birthday is one day all about you.  It always makes me so uncomfortable, people singing me songs and everyone watching me open gifts, the excitement you have to show, an uncharacteristic response, even if you are excited.  Center stage is not a natural position for me to be in.  Maybe everyone feels this way, it may just come with the territory, a celebration of another year we've all been together.  

Two decades, I suppose is a little something to celebrate.  In another decade I'll be dreading the day, or at least this is what I've seen.  I can't even imagine myself in two years, never mind ten.  How crazy will it be to look back as I turn thirty and remember my life before...whatever happens between now and then.

I did make a birthday cake, a chocolate one.  I didn't like it and it definitely didn't photograph well.  So I made these cookies for you instead.  For Shane if I'm being honest.  He's been asking for cookies for several days and I've been holding out, so here they are.

Cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies 

Makes 18

125 g (1/2 c) unsalted butter, room temperature
100 g (1/2 c) white sugar
100 g (1/2 c) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
150 g (1 1/4 c) ap flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c old fashioned oats
3/4 c white chocolate chunks
1 c cranberries, dried

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together until smooth.  Add in egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (if you used unsalted butter).  Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until incorporated.

Fold in the oats, chopped chocolate and cranberries.  Shape the dough into 2-3 Tbsp balls and place on baking sheet, only 6 or 8 on a sheet.  (They spread quite a bit).  Bake cookies for 14-16 minutes or until they are golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Dec 15

today was: 16lbs on my back, long lines at the store, spiced nuts and cranberry-clove cocktail mixers, christmas carols galore

A night in France and Onion Soup

Last night we went to France and it was awesome!  I might say that the food of France is in the top three places I am looking froward to most.  We will be there in 126 days! Croissants, wine, macaroons, lattes and baguettes, there isn't one item on France's expansive culinary list that I don't want to try.  And French onion soup is at the very top of my list.  Onion soup is in my top five favourite foods to eat, it is so simple, so easy to prepare but amazingly complex and rich, I could eat it everyday for the rest of my life.  This onion soup was no exception, when I make it I use only onions and thyme, butter and stock with a little salt and pepper.  I top it with a little toasted bread and cheese.  This time Shane made it much more involved, simple but infinitely more complex.  He infused the beef stock with extra onion, rosemary and thyme, strained that out, caramelized the onions within an inch of their lives.  Topped the soup with a few fresh croutons, toasted with oil and garlic and some shredded aged cheddar cheese.  And very tasty it was.

Next we had steak and fries.  My steak was A LOT smaller!  Topped with a béarnaise sauce it was absolutely delicious. Béarnaise is similar to hollandaise in that they are both butter sauces with a tart mouth watering accent.  Where they differ is in the vinegar reductions' composition, where hollandaise has peppercorns, béarnaise has tarragon which gives it a very unique flavour.  The béarnaise is finished with a sprinkle of raw shallots to balance the sauce.

Last I made Ile Flottante, or floating island.  It is a classic dessert that is very sweet, light and decadent. It is composed of light, smooth meringue puffs floating in a 'sea' of creme anglaise and then topped with almond brittle and a caramel sauce.  The dish is very smooth aside from the almond brittle and where the idea of a soft meringue might turn you off, I promise, it's like eating a cloud.

Onion Soup


I think every cook should know how to make Onion soup, so here is a rough guide to how I make it, which is different every time.


1-2 onion per person
1 Tbsp butter per person
Beef, chicken stock, or water
a little bit of a baguette
a handful or gruyere, or another stringy-when-melted cheese

optional:
A spring or two or thyme
A slash of red or white wine and some brandy
For something unique, add a little allspice or 5 spice powder

First you slice your onion in half and then into fairly thin slices.  Melt the pat of butter in a saucepan and add the onion on medium heat.  Cook for 3-4 minutes and the turn down to low and cook for as long as you can.  I'd say minimum 45 minutes for a good deep flavour.  Be sure to stir frequently until they are dark and caramelized and smell sweet.  When your onions are a rich, dark brown, deglaze the pan using the white wine and the brandy. Cook out the wine and brandy until nearly dry.  Next, add chicken stock or water (which is what I use), or beef stock, which is Shane's favourite, a few inches above the onions. If using thyme now is the time to add it. Simmer the soup for about thirty minutes, more if you'd like, until the flavors meld.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To finish cut some cubes from your baguette, toss them with melted butter and finely minced garlic, toast them in the oven for a little while.  Sprinkle some grated cheese on top.  You can also just toast slices of baguette in the oven, though croutons are immensely easier to eat.

Cookies!

We had an awesome Saturday!

We (the whole of us) went to a community day free movie. Steph and I went to see despicable me and the rest to how to train your dragon. Popcorn for breakfast...no really.

We decorated cookies, both sugar and gingerbread. They actually tasted pretty okay, I'm not sure though, no one really said anything.

Finally to top the night off, Tash, Mom and I went to the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra, which, as always, blew me out the water. We drank a glass or two of wine and indulged (as if popcorn for breakfast and cookies for lunch wern't enough) in delicious goat cheese and crackers.

December 10

Not a lot has happened lately, I mean other than the Christmas baking rush I always have.

I've been cooking, baking, trying to keep the house clean, go for my regular walks and work. Other than that I have no time. Even the dog is giving me funny looks.

I made a batch of gingerbread cupcakes and am working on a few menu plans for Christmas.

I'll do what he's doing, sleep. Please.

It's Gerald and Oma's birthday party tonight. Yay food!

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Sorry about my absence.  Really, I fake calm, but really I've got way to much to do in such a short period and all this working sure is getting in the way.  Do you ever get overwhelmed by choices?  This happens almost exclusively in my food life, oddly I am a fairly decisive person in most other areas.  I'll want something for dinner, look at my board and feel SO overwhelmed.  If I haven't taken anything out of the freezer to thaw, then that is the end of my dinner plans.  Leftovers, sandwiches or baked goods it is.

I bought a cookie magazine, one of those 100 BEST CHRISTMAS COOKIES! magazines, with pretty pictures and simple recipes, but I can't choose! I'm so overwhelmed with all that is already on the list, I can't choose another to add.  Maybe I sense a little buyers remorse.  But not to worry, the magazine will be put to good use.  On a whim today I decided to make gingerbread cupcakes with molasses frosting for a get together celebrating two birthdays thus far this month.

I think these cupcakes are very good, light and moist with the gingerbread flavour you'd expect and a silky cream cheese frosting on top.  I don't make a lot of cupcakes, but if I had a hankering I'd make these again.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Molasses Frosting


I found the recipe right here.

Makes 12

Cupcakes:
8 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
100 g (1/2 c) brown sugar
1/2 c molasses
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
180 g (1 1/2 c) flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
9 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
60 g (4 Tbsp) butter, at room temperature
1/4 c molasses
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t ground cinnamon
3 - 4 c icing sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 350 F, line muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Cream together butter and sugar for a few minutes in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add in molasses, mix and then add egg, mix well.  Meanwhile mix boiled water and baking soda in a small bowl.  Add the the sugar mixture and mix.  The batter will be very thin.

Sift together the flour, spices, zest and salt in a small bowl.  Add slowly to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter is combined.  Spoon the batter evenly between the muffin cups.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.  Place the cupcakes on a rack to cool.

To prepare frosting beat the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer with paddle attachment until the base is smooth and fluffy.  Mix in the molasses cinnamon and cloves.  Slowly add the icing sugar in increments of 1/2 cup. Add the icing sugar until you get a thick stable consistency.  Scrape the frosting into a piping bag with a large star tip and frost generously.

Busy!

Boxes are leaving the kitchen.