Gingerbread Men

When I think of the holidays I think of gingerbread houses, hot chocolate, fires, snow, and sweaters. This year I decided to do something that I never do during the holiday season and make gingerbread men. I think that gingerbread men are adorable and something that the whole family can make together. I got the idea to make gingerbread men when I was at school with my friend, who just made gingerbread men in culinary class. After I ate one, I wanted to make some for myself. They were so easy to make and so much fun to decorate. I hope you enjoy my recipe for gingerbread men! Have a wonderful holidays season, and a happy new year!

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
1 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
(food coloring is optional)

First sift the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Then, cream the butter and sugar together until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and molasses into the butter mixture, and mix all the ingredients together. Next, slowly add the flour mixture 1/2 a cup at a time until all the ingredients are combined.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When you are ready to bake your cookies, pre heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch in thickness.  Using a cookie cutter cut out your gingerbread men, and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until the dough is set and the edges are turning brown. Let the cookies cool for about 30 minutes before frosting them.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together icing sugar, milk, vanilla, and food coloring together until thoroughly combined. Put the icing into a piping bag or a zip log bag and decorate your gingerbread anyway you want.

Let the frosting set, then enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

During the holiday season nothing sounds better than some sort of pumpkin dessert. On Thanksgiving I eat almost the entire pumpkin pie myself because when I think of fall, I automatically imagine a pumpkin. A few weeks ago I was craving pumpkin and bread pudding, and I came up with this recipe. It is so simple, yet it seems like it took hours to make. I hope you enjoy my recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding.

Ingredients
1 loaf Challah
1/2 stick melted butter
1 can of pumpkin purée
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon clove

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Cut the challah into bite sized cubes. Place the challah into a baking dish, (about a 2 quart baking dish) and drizzle with melted butter. Toss the challah and butter until thoroughly coated.

Next add the milk, cream, sugar, pumpkin, eggs, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and clove into a bowl and stir together until combined.

Pour the custard mixture on top of the bread until the bread is coated (there will be extra custard). Using a spoon, carefully mix the bread and the custard together so that the bread is completely covered. Let the bread soak for about 5-10 minutes.

Then put the baking dish into a larger pan and add about an inch of hot water into the larger pan. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and when pressing lightly the bread springs back.

Let the bread pudding cool down for about 15-20 minutes, then enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

During the holiday season I love eating cookies, and festive treats. Since peanut butter is one of my favorite foods, I decided to make some peanut butter cookies. I got the idea one night when I was home alone and was craving some sort of peanut buttery treat. I had the idea to make this recipe. They fulfilled my craving for a peanut butter snack, and were a household hit! I hope you enjoy my recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies!

3/4 cup sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup flour

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Mix together the butter and sugar until fully combined. Then, add the egg, vanilla extract, and peanut butter and mix together. 

Next, add the flour, baking soda, and salt, and combine until the mixture is smooth and everything is fully incorporated.

 Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and use a ice cream scoop to scoop the cookies into uniform shape. 

Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

 Let them cool, and enjoy!

Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits and gravy is a Southern staple, that to me is the epitome of comfort food. When I used to go to lunch with my grandma in Monroe, I would get the biscuits and gravy. It tasted so good and I wanted to recreate that dish at home. A few weeks ago, I would have thought that making the gravy would be way harder to make that it actually is. It is simply sausage, meat, flour, heavy cream, and some salt. I am so proud of how this recipe came out, and I hope that you enjoy it just as much as I do!

Ingredients:
1 pound sausage meat (I used Jimmy Dean)
1/3 cup of flour
about 3 cups of whole milk
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Using your fingers tear the sausage meat into small pieces and add them into the pan. Then, let the meat brown on one side, then stir the meat.

Once the meat is browned, add the flour to the sausage meat, then stir until full incorporated. Let the sausage meat and flower cook for a minute or two.

Next, add about 2 and a half of the milk to the sausage meat and let it cook for a few minutes, then keep adding milk if the gravy is too thick.

Once the gravy is done add some salt and pepper to taste.To make the biscuits here is a link to my biscuit recipe. Finally, put some gravy on top of a biscuit that has been cut in half, and enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes

About a year ago, my family and I went to a road trip through The South because my sister was looking at colleges at the time. In Tennessee we went to a barbecue restaurant where we ate the best fried green tomatoes I have ever had! Just the other day as my mom and I were watering my neighbor's garden we noticed that they were growing tomatoes, and some were green (unripe). We had the idea to make fried green tomatoes. They were delicious! The coating was crunchy and stayed intact with the tomato. I hope you enjoy my recipe for fried green tomatoes. 

Ingredients:
4 green tomatoes 
1 cup flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/3 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika 
1/2 teaspoon pepper
About 1 cup oil


First, cut the tomatoes into 1/2 inch thick slices. 

Then, make an assembly line of flour, buttermilk, and corn meal. To the flour add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. To the corn meal add 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into the buttermilk. Dredge in corn meal to completely coat. In a cast iron skillet heat up about 1 cup of oil, or just under 1/2 inch of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the tomatoes to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. 

Once the tomatoes are done, serve with Sriracha aioli. (the Sriracha aioli is my lemon aioli without the lemon juice, and desired about of Sriracha. Here is the link to the Dijon Aioli recipe)

Enjoy!

Honey Cake

Since it is Yom Kippur Jewish people are making their favorite holiday meals. A classic dish in my household is my mom's Honey Cake. For about 25 years my mom and her friend have both been making this cake at the same time every year. Since my moms friend lives in Israel this dessert is being made in two different countries at the same time. This cake is so sweet and moist that it almost melts in your mouth. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Honey Cake as much as I do!

Ingredients:
5 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Drizzle:
1/2 cup boiling water
4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

First pre heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Then whisk the egg whites and the sugar together until stiff peaks are formed.

In a separate bowl mix together the egg yolks, honey, canola oil, cinnamon, salt, flour, and baking powder until thoroughly combined.

 Add the egg whites to the other mixture, fold in the egg whites until the mixture is combined.

Add the batter to a buttered cake pan and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 While the cake is cooking mix together boiling water, sugar, and lemon juice together until combined. While the cake is hot poke a few holes on the top and pour the drizzle over the cake.

 Once the cake is cool, enjoy!

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Hello, I hope you all had an amazing summer! I sure did! Since it is summer I decided to make something summery that everyone can enjoy. I got the idea for this recipe while I was sitting in my room watching YouTube. I am very into the British YouTuber called Zoella, who has a fashion and make up channel. She made a video with her friend and they made this delicious Lemon Drizzle Cake and I decided to make it for myself. I tweaked it a little bit and it came out fantastic! It is a super fluffy cake, with amazing favor because of the lemon zest. I hope you enjoy this summery dessert just as much as I do!

Ingredients:

11 tablespoons butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2  cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

zest of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon salt

Drizzle:

2/3 cup powdered sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. First, cream the butter and sugar together for about 2 minutes or until fluffy. Then, add the eggs and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking powder lemon zest, and salt, then mix together till thoroughly incorporated.

 Add the batter to a buttered loaf pan and put the cake into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until fully cooked. 

Mix the powdered sugar and the lemon juice together until the powdered sugar has dissolved. Using a knife poke a few holes into the hot cake and pour the lemon drizzle over the cake. 

Let the cake rest for 30 minutes then enjoy!

Miso Grilled Eggplant

Sorry for not posting over the past few weeks, I was away for 2 weeks so I have not been cooking very much. I am going to be working for the rest of the summer, which means that I will not be posting on a regular basis. Once school starts I think I will start posting more consistently. On another note, While I was in Boston with a family friend, she told me about a recipe for Miso Eggplant. When I got home I looked at the recipe and made my own version on the Miso Eggplant. Instead of baking it, I grilled it and it was delicious! I hope you enjoy my recipe for Miso Grilled Eggplant

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon Miso Paste
1/4 Teaspoon Chili Oil

First, heat the grill to 425 degrees fahrenheit. Cut the eggplant in half and score the inside using a knife.

Then in a bowl mix together the rice vinegar, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, miso paste, and chili oil together using a whisk until fully combined.

Using a basting brush, evenly coat the eggplant with the miso sauce, then place on the grill and let it cook for 3 minutes. Flip over the eggplant and let it cook for about 2 minutes on the other side. At this point, you can baste the top with a little more of the sauce. Take the eggplant off the grill.

Serve with salad or rice, and enjoy!

Hummus

About a year ago my family bought a Vitamix, which comes with a cookbook full of recipes that you can make in it. One of the recipes is Hummus, which is a Middle Eastern spread made of chick peas and tahini. You can dip vegetable or pita bread into it or put it on top of salads. Hummus is an easy healthy recipe that is sure to impress. I hope you enjoy my recipe for Hummus.

Ingredients:
2 cans chick peas, 1 drained, 1 with liquid
3 tablespoons tahini
1 garlic clove
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt

First, place chick peas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and salt into the Vitamix or the food processor in the order listed and blend together until it is a smooth puree. 

Then place the Hummus into a bowl and serve with vegetables like carrots or with some warm pita bread. 

Enjoy!

Strawberry Jam

Ever since I was little my mom and I would go to the local farm, where you can pick your own fruit. We usually go strawberry and blueberry picking during the summer months. We leave with baskets and baskets full of fresh fruit and we never know what to do with all of it. We either make pies out of the strawberries or we make jam. Jam is super easy to make, and lasts for ever! I hope you enjoy my recipe for strawberry jam.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup of strawberries per two 8 ounce jar.
1 1/2 tablespoons pectin per two 8 ounce jar
1 cup of sugar per two 8 ounce jar

Sterilize jars and lids by boiling for 10 minutes. Take out and put to the side.

Cut the tops off the strawberries and wash them. I used about 6 cups of strawberries to make 6 jars of jam.

Put the strawberries into the pot and mash slightly with a potato masher. Add the pectin to the strawberries.

Bring the pectin and strawberries to a boil, while stirring constantly. Once the mixture has come to a boil, add the sugar, I used about 3 cups of sugar to make 6 jars of jam. Bring this to a boil and let it boil for a minute. Skim off any foam.

Ladle into the jars, filling about a half inch from the top. Wipe the tops with a wet paper towel to make sure there isn’t any jam on the rim of the jar.

 Place the lid on the mason jar, then screw the band on loosely. Place gently the mason jars into a pot of boiling water. The water should cover the tops of the jars by about 2 inches. Boil for 10 minutes and remove carefully. Check lids for seal after 24 hours, the lids should not flex up and down when the center is pressed. The preserved jam lasts for about a year. If you would not like to boil the jars, you ladle the jam into the jars and refrigerate. The non preserved jam lasts for about 2 weeks.

Quick Cream Sauce

A while back I made Ricotta Gnocchi for the blog and tonight I made it again. This recipe has become a family favorite and we keep testing out new sauces. This is one of my favorites. It is salty and creamy at the same time and is so easy to make. In 5 short minutes you can create a sauce that is not only easy to make but delicious too. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Quick Cream Sauce.

Ingredients:
3 slices of Bacon
1-2 cloves of garlic (depending on the size of the garlic)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

First add the bacon to the pot and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until crispy. Then add the garlic to the pot for about 30 seconds, then add the heavy cream, black pepper, and salt to the pot and stir for about 30 seconds. When ready to serve add the parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese dissolves.

Serve over Ricotta Gnocchi or Penne.

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Parfait

At Au Bon Pain they sell already made parfaits for people on the go. These parfaits are very bland and have no flavor. So a few days ago I decided to make my own granola. It turned out to be amazing and so easy to make, the parfaits tasted flavorful and had a crunch to it. Making the granola is so easy, it only takes about 45 minutes to make and lasts up to two weeks. I hope you enjoy the recipe for my Homemade Granola Parfait.

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
2 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup cranberry raisins

Parfait:

1 cup greek yogurt

1 1/2 cups of homemade granola

1/2 cup cut strawberries

1\2 tablespoon honey

First pre heat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit. Then in a bowl mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and salt. In a spate bowl mix together the honey and the canola oil. Add the honey mixture to the oats and mix together until the oats are thoroughly coated. 

Place the granola on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread it out as thin as possible.

Bake for 15 minutes, then stir the mixture and cook again for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Add the cranberry raisins, and watch the mixture for about 20 minutes and stir occasionally. Let the granola sit for about an hour before use.

layer the greek yogurt, honey, granola, and strawberries, repeat 1-2 more times or until the glass is full.

Enjoy!