Gingerbread That Actually Tastes Good!!!!

this is a really great recipe that my mom handed down to me, from a 1960s Jell-O pudding pamphlet. sadly, we lost the pamphlet.

it is easier to find Sheriff Pudding and Pie Filling mix (the kind you cook) in Ontario than the Jell-O version, but they both work great!

i never really liked gingerbread until my mom made these cookies. they are so tasty, like sugar cookies with a ginger bite to them. the thinner you roll the cookies, the crispier they will be.
we used to make gingerbread houses with this dough. one Christmas, when i was in college and had no money, i made a gingerbread house for each of my siblings. it was an awesome Christmas!

Gingerbread

• 2 pkgs of butterscotch (COOKED) pudding and pie filling mix - 6 oz or 6 serving size x 2
• 1 1/2 cups butter
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 4 1/2 tsp ginger
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

• cream together butter, pudding mix and sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs and blend well.
• mix dry ingredients together.
• add dry to wet and blend well
• chill until firm, about an hour, or the next day.
• roll onto lightly floured board, to 1/8" thick and cut with cutters [i use waxed paper to roll out dough onto. i find it really easy to get the dough off the counter this way, and i use much less flour when i roll it out. i place down two large pieces of waxed paper and then sprinkle it lightly with flour. roll out your dough a few times (flour the top, lightly) and then flour the top again and flip the dough over (flouring the surface if necessary) and then roll it out completely]
• gather up the leftover dough, roll it up into a ball, and roll it out again. repeat this process until you've used up all of the dough. the last couple cookies will be a bit tough and floury, but not too bad. you can eat those yourself to test them!
  
• bake on greased cookie sheet, or use parchment paper at 350 F for 10 - 12 min until golden brown and it looks like it is cooked
  
• 
• makes about 7 1/2 dozen

note: this recipe has been tripled from the original, as it called for a 4 oz package of butterscotch pudding mix which they don't sell any more.

here is a recipe for royal frosting, but i have no idea where i found it. it is great to use as tasty glue to hold the gingerbread houses together!

Royal Frosting

combine:

• 3 egg whites (at room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 16 oz package of icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

beat 7 to 10 min until VERY stiff
mix dry ingredients into wet

keep covered with a damp cloth at all times
use right away
makes 3 cups

cathynote: i don't recall if i beat the egg whites until fluffy first and then added the icing sugar, or if i threw it all in together and beat the crap out of it then. the resulting icing is VERY stiff and sticky, not fluffy at all, but sweet and crunchy when dried.

Cupcakes

my mother gave me her American Woman's Cookbook, by Ruth Berolzheimer (1947 edition), which is now my most prized possession. The Devil's Food Cake (pg 458/459) recipe is the first cake she ever made from scratch, and now it is my first ever 'scratch' cake. she said it was really simple, but man... there are a lot of steps.


here is the recipe (verbatim):

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE:

• 3/4 cup butter or other shortening
• 1 7/8 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs, well beaten
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 3 ounces (3 squares) bitter chocolate

• 2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sour milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream shortening thoroughly; add sugar gradually and cream mixture until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs and beat well. Meanwhile, pour the boiling water over chocolate; stir over low heat until smooth and thick; cool and add to egg mixture; blend thoroughly. Sift flour once, measure and combine with remaining dry ingredients and sift 3 times, then add to chocolate mixture, alternately with milk and vanilla combined. Beat well after each addition. Pour bater into greased pans which have been lined with waxed paper. Bake in a moderate oven (350° F) until done, 25 to 30 minutes. Makes 3 (8-inch) layers. Spread with Boiled Frosting (page 479).

creamed butter, sugar, and eggs:

adding the flour:
cathynotes:

• i prefer to use cocoa (powder), and am more likely to have it in my cupboard than baking chocolate. the substitution is 3 tblsp cocoa and 1 tblsp butter for every square/ounce of chocolate.
• i also made cupcakes, which take less time to cook (about 20 min).
• sour the milk by adding 1 tblsp vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk. oddly enough, this is also the substitution for buttermilk.

BOILED FROSTING

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water

• 1, 2, or 3 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cook the sugar and water together, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Them cook without stirring. For one egg white, cook to 238° F.; for two egg whites, cook to 244° F.; and for three egg whites, cook to 254° F. Remove from the fire and allow it to cool while you are beating the eggs white stiff, then pour the syrup in a thin stream over the stiff white, beating the mixture constantly until thick enough to spread. Add vanilla.

cathynotes:

• don't bother with the vanilla if you have a crappy variety or artificial vanilla extract. it will taste crappy.
• who has a candy thermometer? not me. my mom taught me to boil the syrup until it makes a "soft ball" on the bottom when you drop it from a teaspoon into a glass of water. This is supposed to be around 238° F. If you try it too soon, the syrup just dissipates. i let it boil 2 min longer, since i was using 2 eggwhites.

Cathy's chocolate icing:

i made really tasty butter frosting for some for some of the cupcakes. however, my recipe is sketchy:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cp icing sugar
• divide into 2/3 for chocolate, 1/3 for white

for chocolate:

• add about 3 heaping tablespoons more
• 2 tbsp cocoa

• blend well. it looks like dirt at first. careful! don't let the cocoa powder blow everywhere! whee!!

for the white: "cherry frosting" (we thought almond extract tasted like cherry when we were kids)

• 3 heaping tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract

• blend blend blend!

whip cream frosting:

• 1 small container of whipping cream
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 4 tbsp sugar

• let the cocoa and sugar sit in the whip cream for at least an hour. it needs to melt or something. whip it as you would whip cream, but maybe a bit more to make it stiffer.

easy peasy. this is me icing the cupcakes in the car on the way to my neice's 16th birthday party.

for cookbook fans, here is a link to the online/downlaodable source:
http://www.archive.org/details/americwomanscook00delirich

elephants and flowers

the best thing about making jewelry is shopping for beads and stones. the stores are so wonderful. you feel like you are in a candy shop, only nothing is fattening.
:)

i find it hard to design jewelry, and i find gorgeous beads that i have no idea how to use. sometimes i do get lucky and make something that people (besides me) like.

i made this candy-pretty bracelet for my lovely neice:


i had a harder time placing these lovely little green elephants:

ellen's wedding sparklies

My dear friend Ellen got married to the wonderful Jer this past August, and I was honoured to make her wedding jewelry for her. We designed the 3 pieces together, and shopped for the components together, too. I used the wire-wrapping technique to link together crystals between 5 links of chain, and made tiny pearl pendants hang from the 3rd link. There is a larger teardrop crystal at the front of the choker and also dangling from the lariat in the back.

The jewelry is made of sterling silver wire, real freshwater pearls, carefully selected for their size and shape, and Swarovski crystal (although the Czech crystal is just as nice and cheaper, we wanted the Swarovski for the specific size and shape).

I used the posts from my own wedding earings for Ellen's earings, for sentimental reasons, and because they were so pretty. The earings are just simple, with crystals dangling off a single chain with a teardrop shaped crystal at the end.

The necklace can be either be a choker or a lariat as the long tail can detach from the choker part. We wanted the long tail of the lariat to bring attention to Ellen's lovely dress.


The bracelet is a double strand of the same chain-cyrstal-pearl combo that the necklace is made of.


I became interested in making jewelry for myself when our apartment was burglarized... the bums stole all of my jewelry, and since it was all costume, glass and beads, it was worthless to them (if only they had looked at it before they realized that they couldn't really sell it). The tiny gold cross my sister gave me when I was 13, a pretty necklace with a tiny glass bottle filled with even tinier flowers from the south of France were among the treasures lost. Luckily I found that I really like playing with shiny things.

I'll post more jewelry that I've done soon.

the Best Apple Pie

My objective is to make the best, most delicious pies. I have to admit that i fall short of that goal. the best pies in the entire world are made by Barbara Filson. She's in her 80's, so i think she's got a bit more experience than me... so i don't feel too badly. (and i suspect she uses lard. i'm afraid to ask her)

what i need to do to bring my pies up to scratch:

• get that gorgeous tender yet crispy/flaky crust that Barbara gets
• not overcook the filling (so the apples are mushy) :(

Northern Spy apples are the best for apple pie. my mother is absolutely right on this. i made my first apple pie last week and it was amazing. these apples are not pretty to look at, and are terrible for eating. they are usually available in late october. i have to warn you, though, if you cook it too long the apples will turn to mush. 45 min seems to be the golden time...depending on the oven, right?

start with making your own crust as it is really worth it (recipes below). my crust isn't quite there yet, but the flavour beats store bought crusts hands down.

to fill the apple pie (in a larger deep pie plate):

• line the pie plate with pie dough (you will need a sheet of it for the top)
• 6 northern spy apples (7 if they are smaller)
• brown sugar: to taste
• butter: about 6 small cubes of it
• more brown sugar
• cinnamon (my mom hates it, so i lie to her and put a little in. she won't read this blog, so don't tell her)
  

1. sprinkle a few tablespoons of brown sugar in the bottom of the pie dough. you CAN sprinkle a bit of flour on the bottom of the pie dough before you add the sugar. i think this is to keep the bottom of the pie crust from getting mucky.
2. peel and core the apples and slice then into medium thick slices. don't worry too much, it doesn't seem to matter too much how thick/thin they are or how neat/messy. i cut the slices off the peeled un-cored apple right into the pie dish.
3. when you've got a big mound of apple slices in there, you're almost done. sprinkle a few more tablespoons of sugar on the top of the apples, and then dot the top of the pie with the butter cubes. too much sugar and butter will overwhelm your apples. Norther Spys are beautifully tart! -sprinkle cinnamon on top if you like cinnamon - i usually do.
   
4. cover the pie with the second sheet of pastry... firmly pinch around the edges to seal the pie, and vent the top with little cuts with a sharp knife.
5. cook the pie at 350° for about 45 min. the apples should be very tender when poked with a knife. mmmmm

Pie Crust:
basic pie crust - 3 options:

crisco box recipe:

• 2 cups (500 ml) all purpose flour (i used unbleached organic)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup crisco shortening (you can use vegan organic, no difference in taste) - COLD
• 4 - 8 tbsp ice water (must have ice in it)

1. mix together dry ingredients.
2. cut in cubes of COLD shortening with 2 knives or a pastry cutter. i often use 1/2 cup of shortening and roughly 1/4 cup (or a bit more) of very cold butter. i mix the shortening in first so that it has a mealy texture, then i cut in the butter, leaving larger pea sized lumps of butter. the pea sized crumbs of shortening in there is what makes it flaky. if you mash it too much, it will be tough. too little will make it hard to work with as the mix will be dry.
3. sprinkle the water (i pretty much use 8 tbs or more) throughout the top of the dry dough coarse crumby looking stuff. do not stir, but gently mix it in with a fork (i use my hands, which are usually not very warm). stirring is supposed to be bad. i see if i can get it to form together into a ball after a minimum amount of kneading. work it as little as possible or it will get tough. if it won't stick together, sprinkle water on the dry crumbly parts.

once it forms into balls (round balls that you flatten a bit) you can wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min or the next day. you should let it return to room temperature before rolling out. i rarely do this unless i have a lot of time. at best, i refrigerate it for 30 min and then let it warm up for 15 min while i do something else. at worst, i just roll it out straight from the mixing bowl. bad cook.

rolling out tips: julia child et al suggest plopping the dough down on a flour-sprinkled surface and sprinkling more flour on the dough before rolling, and then turning it 1/4 turn after every 2 or 3 rolls.
bah! that is so hard! i wish i could do that but i am always in a hurry and too lazy. one day i may try to be so professional. however, not today. i put down a piece of waxed paper, sprinkle some flour on it, plop down the dough, sprinkle some flour on that, and then lay another piece of waxed paper on top. i squish the dough down a bit, and start rolling in long, easy rolls, to ensure that the dough is rolled out to an even thickness. this is important! if the dough starts to crack and get weird shaped, i just lift up the waxed paper and squish it into the right shape with my fingers.
if i think the waxed paper will stick to the top of the dough, i will add more flour. if you think it will stick on the bottom, then flip the entire thing over before you to try to transfer it to the pie plate, and pull hte sticky bottom waxed paper off first, then flip it over onto the pie plate, and pull the freshly floured waxed paper off of the more troublesome (to take off) top side.
once in the pie plate, do not squish the dough into the bottom of the plate. this will cause shrinking once it is cooked, and will make you very sad. do not strech the dough at all. just kind of manoever it into position. treat the dough gently, and it will reward you.
if you are going to cook the dough before you add the filling, you must prick it with a fork...all over! let no inch go unpricked. some people add pie weights or beans to prevent the dough from bubbling, but the pricks always worked for me. snicker snicker.

here are some variations:

basic pie dough:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup chilled shortening
2 tbsp cold butter
4 tbsp ice water (i used 8)

you could also use 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening, which is hard to figure out....let see.....
1/4 cup = 4 tbsp
1/3 cup = 5 tbsp
1/2 cup = 8 tbsp
you could use 1/2 cup shortening and 1/4 cup butter
you could use 1/3 plus one tbsp of each

for this recipe, you incorporate the shortening into the flour first. make it resemble a course meal (crumby, but not bigger pea size crumbs). then, add the cubed COLD butter, and cut it in (this means use the pastry cutter or the 2 knives), so that it makes the big pea sized crumbs. keep the butter in the fridge until you are ready to add it. cold butter is harder to work in, so there is a better chance of success for flaky pastry.

the old school lard-converted recipe (this is actually really good, and easy to work)
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup crisco
beat together: 1 egg
2 tbsp ice water
1 tbsp white vinegar

add the wet to the dry, and mix as you do the other recipes. mmmm.

Beef Stew: turned out delicious!

I'm afraid my beef stew is often a hit or miss kind of thing....it all depends on how good the beef is. today we were lucky: the beef was excellent. i made this one in a slow cooker/crock pot

I started with 1 package of Renee's family's beef (how can you get better than that?) and 1 lb from my local butcher...

• Brown the beef in a heavy skillet. i tried the "blanch 2 pieces of bacon - i had a really thick single piece - to remove the smokey salty taste and then fry it in the pan that you sear your meat in"...but as it was from the local butcher it wasn't very fatty, so i added olive oil.
• remove beef from skillet and put it in slow cooker
• add a bit of flower, salt and pepper to the browned beef and stir so it coats the cubes
• saute 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic in the skillet (don't clean it first...we are "de-glazing" or whatever....add a bit of red wine (whatever i had on hand...today it was Fuzion)...about 1/2 cup to 1 cup to get all the delicious off of the bottom of the pan...mmmm
• throw the softened onions into the crockpot

now it is time to add the seasonings and water/liquid to the mix:

• i added 1 1/2 or 2 cups of liquid that i reserved from defrosting tomatoes i had frozen. weird, i know. it looked like water but it tasted like tomatoes. i try to use EVERYTHING, so to honour my ingredients. the freezer is one of my best friends.
  
• if you don't have crazy tomato water, just use water, and the stew is better for adding a large chopped tomato
• chop up 3 - 4 carrots and throw 'em in
• cube 4 medium to large potatoes (depends on how much you like potatoes). i've also used tiny potatoes, but today i had 4 gorgeous P.E.I. potatoes that i got as a handout during my trip to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. awsome!
  
• add salt and pepper and 2 bay leaves. if you like other seasonings, go ahead, but this is a nice plain stew .... as my family is accustomed to eating. mmmm
• this works best when the crock pot is set to the highest (10 hrs) or second highest (8 hrs) setting. the slow cooking makes the cheaper cut of beef very tender.
  
• today i needed it faster than i could get it cooked on the crockpot, so in the last 1/2 hour of cooking, i dumped it into a dutch oven (heavy pot) and cranked on the heat. i added some flour/water solution to thicken the copious amounts of gravy, added frozen peas and corn (really great, actually), and simmered it for 20 min.
  

yum yum good. even picky david (my brother) liked it enough to pack it for his lunch tomorrow!!!

Other Jam Successes

All of the cookbooks suggest making jam without pectin products, because pectin products require a lot of sugar. my mom always used Certo pectin, so that is where i turned when i made my first batches of jam this summer. the production time is less than half of what it is to make jam without pectin.
Following the certo package instructions makes it very easy. The most important thing is to get great ripe fruit, in season. i do deviate from my mum's tradition in that i use the Certo Light, which requires about 1/2 the sugar as the regular Certo. the result is a gorgeous fruity jam where sugar doesn't overpower at all. mmmmm

Above is the peach jam made in august from Niagra region peaches. Unbelievable good. This jam tastes like fresh peaches. Very simple, and delicious! one batch of jam is a few peaches short of a basket (pint?) so there are some left over for eating fresh. how could i resist?

Blueberry jam. Straight up. this jam set more loosely than the peach, but tastes like a fresh blueberry compote. fabulous on home made cornmeal muffins.
The big surprise of the summer for me is this jam: plum nectarine. holy crap this jam is good!!!! i only used 3 nectarines, and the rest was the very cheap italian plums that are everywhere in august/september. wow! the flavour is amazing! good to note: the jam is a hideous greeny-brown colour until it cookes, then it is a gorgeous red-gold-red colour. sooo good.