Blogmas Day 19 Sunset Mimosa Recipe

 Welcome to Blogmas Day 19!  I picked up a bottle of rose sparkling wine from my favourite winery.  I don't usually buy rose as rose drinkers tend to be viewed as slightly naif.  But I am far from being a wine snob and for some reason, the deep blush hue just spoke to me.  It made me think of tropical sunsets, sunny days and happier times.  Plus, I couldn't find the usual sparkling wine from Jacob's Creek on the shelf.

I think that it would be perfect with orange juice on Christmas Day.  What could be more festive than a mimosa with brunch on Christmas Day?

Sunset Mimosa

Ingredients:

Champagne or Sparkling Wine

Orange Juice

Grenadine

Optional Garnishes:  Strawberries 

Combine 1 part Champagne or Sparkling Wine with 1 part orange juice with enough Grenadine to produce a sunset hue.  If you are using rose sparkling wine, you may choose to omit the Grenadine.

Enjoy!

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Blogmas Day 17 Maple Syrup Roasted Nuts Recipe

 Welcome to Blogmas Day 17!  I don't know about you but, for me, the Holiday Season is always associated with nuts for some reason.  Is it because of the proliferation of nutcrackers in holiday decor?  I just love roasted nuts and the following recipe yields a bowl of crunchy goodness that has a mouthwatering balance of the salty and the sweet.  However, if your tastes lean more towards the spicy, you could experiment with ground pepper and chili flakes.  Herbs work well with roasted nuts as well. I would recommend staying away from herbs with delicate leaves as they will likely just char.  Search out herbs with woody, twiggy leaves like rosemary, for example, as they are more robust and can withstand the heat of the oven.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole almonds

3 tablespoons maple syrup

3 tablespoons unsalted melted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a bowl, combine the ingredients.  I used almonds but you could use any nut that you prefer such as hazelnuts and even combine seeds such as sunflower seeds. Spread the mixture over a silicone baking mat.

Place the tray on the middle rack.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Turn the nuts at the 10 minute mark.  Check every 5 minutes to make sure they don't burn.  

The smokiness of the maple syrup combined with the vanilla extract and the roasted almonds produces a magical flavour profile.  Packaged into a pretty airtight jar with a tag or label describing the ingredients, they make a delicious gift.  

Blogmas Day 11 Delicious Cheddar Cheese Mashed Potatoes Recipe

 Welcome to Blogmas Day 11!  As we move steadily towards the Big Day, I am sure our collective thoughts are swirling around and around as to what the main dish, the star attraction, is going to be on the day.  Whether it is turkey, chicken or beef (or in the case of a family member who is vegetarian, a Tofurkey), let's be honest here, it's the SIDES that we lust for.  Here in the Northern Hemisphere, with the temperatures falling and deep in another lockdown, the lure of comfort food that is filling and deeply satisfying can't be denied.  Here is my take on that staple side dish, mashed potatoes.

Cheddar Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (if you can't find Yukon Gold, use yellow potatoes)

salt

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/2 whipping cream

1/2 cup creme fraiche

coarsely ground pepper

1 cup roughly chopped or crumbled medium cheddar cheese

a sprig of green onion, chopped

Peel the potatoes.  You can quarter the potatoes either before or after cooking. I used a steamer to cook the potatoes but you can also boil them.  If you boil them, season the water well with salt.  Simmer until they are very tender and can be pierced easily with a fork.  

For the first time, I was unable to find Yukon Gold potatoes so I had to use yellow potatoes.  Yukon Gold potatoes are the very best for mashed potatoes so I was stricken with concern and anxiety at their absence in the grocery store.  If you are able to find them, please let me know.

Next, pass the potatoes through a potato ricer.  Hands up if you were ever made to mash potatoes with a masher as a child.  If you like lots of texture in your mash, then stick with a masher.  But if you want mash that has the fluffiness of a cloud then a potato ricer is your best friend.

I got mine years ago from Williams-Sonoma.  It comes with 3 discs with holes of varying diameters, depending on how fine a texture you are aiming for. It is called a potato ricer because what comes out really does look like rice grains.

Add in the butter, whipping cream, creme fraiche and cheddar cheese.  Add coarsely ground pepper to taste. Garnish with the spring onions. Serves 6 to 8.

The nuggets of cheddar cheese hidden in the luscious creaminess of the potatoes which itself has been amplified by the lashings of butter, whipping cream and cream fraiche really takes this unassuming vegetable to another level.  Above, I have paired the mashed potatoes with Italian sausages from Eataly.  I have noticed that food prices have risen during the pandemic and heard that they are set to rise again by 5% next year.  If you are like me and having to keep a sharp eye on the household budget, then having a few tried and tested basic recipes in your arsenal really helps to alleviate the worry.  I am not that interested at the moment in recipes that call for a laundry list of exotic ingredients.  First of all, how am I going to get my hands on them in the middle of a pandemic?  I don't want to spend hours ordering them online and then spend weeks waiting for delivery.  It all just seems too much of a faff.  Mashed spuds is a universal favourite which you can dress up with what you already have in your refrigerator. What is your favourite side dish?

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Comforting Things To Do When You Are At Home

How are you?  I have realized that no one has actually asked how I am doing whilst sheltering in place.  I have been inundated with exhortations to Be Thankful!  Be Grateful! Smile! Cheer Up!  but no one has actually asked me how I am really doing.  Maybe this is you too?  Maybe, like me, you are feeling anxious, stressed, wondering if you are going to have a job at the end of all this,  when will the end come, what will the world look like and so on.  I had to go through a range of emotions akin to the stages of grief.  I realized I was grieving for all those deaths around the world and many more to come and also for the loss of our way of life.  There has been a loss of innocence that strikes right at the heart of our existence.  Those days of blithely spending hours in a crowded restaurant or cafe are long gone.  One day, we will go to a restaurant again but I think there will always be that niggling sense of worry and fear.  Can you even imagine trampling through a horde of people on Black Friday or Boxing Day?  The very thought makes me break out into a cold sweat.  

As the days and weeks passed, I began to settle into a semblance of a routine and to find ways to keep myself occupied at home. I have realized how important it is to nurture one's health with nutritious food and there is nothing more nutritious and comforting than homemade chicken soup.

Break out that fine china and cutlery that you only use a few times a year.  You can easily make each meal an occasion by using the fancy china that you have been saving "for good."  I have a set of Denby cutlery that I rarely use because the handles are made of the famous Denby pottery.  In the above photo, you will see a Denby spoon.

I did a stock take of my kitchen cupboards and came across a tin of Ghirardelli hazelnut hot chocolate.  I truly cannot remember how I acquired this tin but am so glad I discovered it.  It is amazing!

It is so creamy and rich.  The hazelnut flavour combined with the dense chocolate goodness is so satisfying. Diet, you say?  What diet?

I also did some baking.  I had a set of silicone cups that I had never used.  In the spirit of making do with what I had on hand, especially now that grocery shopping is so arduous and flour has disappeared off the grocery shelves, I whipped up some oatmeal and applesauce muffins.

I must say that, in these times, it is important to not just be kind to others but to be kind to yourself as well.  It is okay to feel what you are feeling.  Lean into those emotions.  There is no need for you to come out the other end as the next Mother Theresa or with a degree in astrophysics.  Let me know how you are doing as I truly want to know.