Fondue Fiesta Friday

Tags

cartoon, cheese, dinner, fondue, humor, Melting Pot, recipe, Zero to Hero challenge, zerotohero

All right, I’m getting better at this! At not feeling guilty about succeeding in the art of deception. The deception part itself, I’ve already mastered a long time ago, starting with my blog name. If you’ve been following me on my Zero to Hero journey, you’d know what I mean. Today’s assignment, by the way, is to add widgets to your blog. I added a new one, my avatar/Gravatar, whatever it’s called. Right there on the side bar ——> I have since removed the gravatar, since it looked too cluttered.

Unless, of course, you’re on your mobile device, in which case, it’ll appear down below. Can someone show me how to make an arrow pointing down?

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About my “about” page

Tags

blogging challenge, DIY jewelry, jewelry-making, Zero to Hero challenge, zerotohero

Today’s assignment for the Zero to Hero Blogging Challenge is to write an about page for our blog, or if we have one already in place, to revisit or refresh it. To improve it, in other words. Okay, a somewhat boring assignment but I could go with it. I only said boring because I’m not really learning anything new. I know that an about page is important, and I have already written several versions of it, before sticking with the current one. But to new bloggers, this may be an exciting assignment.

Or maybe if they had put a twist in this task, and pair up bloggers so each can write the other’s about page, it’d be more interesting. You’ll write my about page, and I’ll write yours. Just a thought, y’know. But, whatever, this isn’t social hour, I guess. Although, I would have loved to be able to add to my about page what someone else thinks about my blog. Hey, sometimes other people can explain you better than yourself.

I suppose I can add photos or maybe more links, but for now I’m quite satisfied with my about page. There are aspects of my life that are left out, obviously. I wouldn’t subject my readers to details only interesting to myself. I’m not that narcissistic. Well, maybe a little. That’s why I’m posting these:

Yup, I made them. Jewelry-making is another hobby of mine. I make jewelry when I don’t have anything else to do, something that hasn’t occurred since I started blogging. Some of these I wear, but mostly I make jewelry to give to friends as presents. I don’t sell them, even though the thought crossed my mind. Each piece is unique and takes so much time to make that I have a hard time pricing them.

One of these days, maybe I’ll do a tutorial on how to make some of these jewelry, if people are interested. Then, the deception will be complete. I will then truly become a full-fledged fraud. A gardener that cooks and crafts, but doesn’t garden! Didn’t I tell you I should rename my blog “The Novice Gardener, Or Not”?

Well, folks, that’s all for now. Thank you for reading and following me on this blogging challenge. It’s still not too late to join. I highly recommend it. In the meantime, enjoy this song, from me to you. I thought it’s an appropriate one. I may stray from gardening at the moment, probably because it’s too cold to do any growing. But when it warms up, once again I’ll be a gardener. I’ll come back home. I think.

By the way, I was told that it’s okay to embed YouTube videos. Hopefully, nobody is going to shut me down.

Tannenbaum & Poinsettia

Tags

bread, Christmas, coffee cakes, food photography, poinsettia coffee cakes, recipes, tannenbaum coffee cakes

These were all baked yesterday, and were served nicely on the big Christmas cookie platter. Maybe that was what threw everybody off. The platter usually makes it out of the cabinet only once a year, just for offering cookies to Santa. I saw this morning that nobody had touched any of the coffee cakes. I asked why.

Hubby: “The kids were asking to have some, but I said wait and ask Mom. I thought you were saving them for Christmas or something.”

Me: “Don’t be silly! You don’t wait til Christmas to start enjoying all the Christmas songs and lights, do you?”

Hubby looked at me with that you-know-what-I-mean look. I looked at him with that right-back-at-ya look. We know each other so well, we need only looks to communicate.

He meant well, my hubby. Around this time, there are usually parties to go to, gifts to exchange, Christmas treats to send to the neighbors, etc. So, it was only natural that he assumed the tannenbaum and poinsettia coffee cakes were made for one of those occasions. But my poor kids, denied of their daily bread!

Tannenbaum Coffee Cakes

• Difficulty: Moderate
• Print

The dough
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs

The filling for the Tannenbaum
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 tbsp cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt and yeast; blend well.
2. In medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 cups milk and 1/2 cup butter until very warm (120 to 130° F).
3. Add warm liquid and eggs to flour mixture. Blend at low-speed, with a hand-held mixer, until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
4. By hand, stir in an additional 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour to form a stiff dough.
5. On floured surface, knead in 1 to 1 1/2 cups flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Alternately, use a stand mixer to knead the dough, adding 1 cup of flour at a time, until dough cleans sides of bowl.

6. Place dough in greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 to 85° F) until light and doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
7. Generously grease 2 15x10x1 inch baking pans. Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Divide dough into 2 parts.
8. On lightly floured surface, roll one part into a triangle with two 15-inch sides and a 12-inch base. Brush with 1 tbsp of the melted butter. Or make smaller tannenbaums.
9. In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp melted butter, 1 cup sugar, nuts and cinnamon; mix well. Sprinkle 1/2 of filling evenly over dough.
10. To shape tree, starting at top point of dough triangle, fold 15-inch sides to meet in center, pressing all seams to seal. Invert, seam side down onto greased pan. With scissors or sharp knife, make 12 slits about 1 inch apart along each long outside edge of tree, cutting to within 1/2 inch of center of dough. Starting at bottom of tree, twist each strip so cut side is up to show filling. Cover, let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 30-40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

11. Heat oven to 350° F. Uncover dough. Bake 20-30 minutes or until golden brown, for 15×12 inch cakes. Adjust time accordingly if you make smaller cakes. (15 minutes for these 7×3 cakes).
12. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans. Cool on wire racks. In small bowl, blend powdered sugar and enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over coffee cakes. Garnish with red & green holiday chocolate morsels.

Poinsettia Coffee Cakes

• Difficulty: Moderate
• Print

The dough
Follow the recipe from the Tannebaum cakes.

Cranberry sauce filling
1 cup fresh cranberries
Zest from 1 tangerine (or orange, about 2 tsp)
Juice from 1 tangerine (or orange, about 1/4 cup)
3 tbsp agave nectar or sugar (This produces a tart sauce. You can add more sugar, if you prefer.)

1. Bring cranberries, tangerine/orange juice, 1 tsp of zest, sugar to a boil, until cranberries start to pop.
2. Smash some of the cranberries with the back of the spoon.
3. Let sauce cool completely before using.

To make the poinsettias
1. Flatten and roll dough into a rectangle, spread filling over it, then roll up dough, Swiss-roll cake fashion.
2. Cut into 10-12 slices. It’s just like making cinnamon rolls. Arrange 5 to 6 slices in a circle. The centers were filled with scraps of dough rolled into small balls.

3. Bake as the Tannenbaums. Once they are cool, decorate with sugar glaze and more tangerine/orange zest.

Foraging in the snow

Tags

carrot, do chua (turnip/radish carrot pickles), nuoc cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce), pickles, recipes, Swiss Chard, swiss chard Bright Lights, swiss chard rolls, turnip, turnips

Last week we had a couple of days of a warm spell, so I went out to check on the garden. Yesterday, it was freezing and snowing like nobody’s business (9 inches of snow forced the township to close schools today, yay!), so I went out to check on the garden.

Have I become a true gardener? Isn’t that the mark of a true gardener when you can’t stand just looking at your plants from the window, but must get up close and personal with them and feel their frozen butts? Sorry, I mean leaves, plants have no butts. It was mine that was freezing. Anyway, I thought I heard somewhere that when you start feeling sorry for your plants, that’s when you ARE a gardener.

So, I’d like to show you some of the gems I found from my excursions to the garden, and the dinner that they inspired. Remember it’s December. What little nature has to offer truly is amazing and generous.

***

Turnip and Carrot Quick Pickles
If you’ve had bahn mi sandwiches (Vietnamese hoagies) before, you know that their tantalizing taste comes not only from the meat and the herbs in them, but from the daikon and carrot pickles (do chua) as well. This is my take on the pickles. Using turnips instead of radish. I’m forever doing things Angie’s way. Really, recipes are guidelines I feel. You do what you want, based on your preference or what you have.

I prefer my pickles to be on the sweet side, but you can adjust the amount of sugar to your liking. I also added shallots, green onions, and black peppercorns in my pickles. I hate to repeat myself, but…Angie’s way.

2 turnips, julienned (about 2 cups), or use daikon radishes
2 carrots, julienned (about 2 cups)
1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
A few whole peppercorns

1. Mix water, vinegar, salt, peppercorns, and sugar in a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil, just until sugar dissolves. Let it cool before adding vegetables. You don’t want to cook them. If you’re using shallots, you can add them sooner, when the liquid is still hot, but not boiling. Shallots don’t mind the heat as much as turnips and carrots.
2. Add turnips (or daikons), carrots, and green onions (if using) when liquid is warm or cool.
3. Store pickles in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight before using.

The pickles are good in sandwiches or salads, and especially perfect to top Vietnamese Noodle Salad, which I always crave, summer or winter. But the salad must be tossed in nuoc cham, or I would not crave it.

Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese Dipping Sauce)

Probably the most important dipping sauce for a Vietnamese meal, absolutely indispensable. I find that I’m unable to stop myself from dipping anything into it whenever I have it. Meat, vegetables, spring rolls, noodles, rice, anything! Well, except desserts, of course.

1/4 cup fish sauce
3/4 cup warm water
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
1 small hot chili pepper, sliced thin (optional)
Shredded carrot and/or chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients and stir to dissolve sugar. Garnish with shredded carrots or chopped cilantro.

***

I was talking to Robbie about Swiss Chard and then I saw Laura’s fusion banh mi tacos. It was destiny. I had to make Swiss Chard rolls. You know, like summer rolls, except with blanched chard leaves as the wrapping. I already had nuoc cham for dipping them in, anyway, but you can also dip them in peanut hoisin sauce, if you prefer.

Don’t be silly, I didn’t use the carrots found from my foraging in any of the recipes. They did make for cute garnish, though.

You can use other leaves in place of the chards. Kale or collard greens are both perfect substitutes. And Robbie, since we’re talking about Swiss Chard, I have other suggestions for them. Swiss Chard pakoras or thoran sounds pretty good to me. Maybe next time. There really wasn’t a lot to harvest. Maybe if I build a cold frame around them, I could extend my harvest? Oh, hubby! Calling hubby! Can you make me a cold frame?