Snowballs

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pecan halves
 
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease your baking sheet.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar.

3. Stir in flour and vanilla.

4. Roll dough into balls about the size of a walnut.

5. Make an indentation in the center of the ball and place a pecan half into the indentation.

6. Roll dough around the pecan until it is completely encased.

7. Place dough on greased sheet and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

8. Remove from pan and roll in powdered sugar while still warm.

9. Let cool and roll in powdered sugar once more.

Yield about 4 dozen cookies.

Mincemeat Pie

Block Island Breakfast

Simple and Perfect. Toasted English muffin, a little mayo, a strip or two of crispy bacon and a slice of tomato. Thank you Peege and Don for all those summer adventures on the island.

Holiday Bonbons from the Webbs

Judy's Hanukkah Latke's

Happy Hanukkah

Arona's Latke's

Happy Hanukkah!

Christmas Treats from Grandpa

This is a recipe that came from my Great Grandfather Stuart. My mother Hi-Ho called him Grandpa. Grandpa was married to Baba. Stuart and Marcia owned the Merry Meeting Farm that this blog is named after.

Soup and Cauliflower Fritters

Mima's Butter Wreaths

These were likely some sort of  Christmas gift from Marcia, not my sister Mush or my mother Hi-Ho, but  likely my grandmother Mima or even her mother, Baba! What a special treat in my recipe box! I like the incorporation of "angelica to suggest holly berries".

Christmas Nutmeg Logs

I have had these wonderful cards, possibly tags for gifts from my Grandparents or parts of a Christmas Card. I have been meaning to blog them for years. Every year I tell myself I will make them, and I don't. Well, I am finally blogging them, so maybe I will make one soon.

Smitten Kitchen's Cauliflower-Feta Fritters

Smitten Kitchen's Cauliflower-Feta Fritters
OH yum!
Cauliflower-Feta Fritters with Smoky Yogurt, Pomegranate
Makes 18 2-inch fritters
 
1 small head cauliflower (1 pound florets, i.e. stems and leaves removed), cut into generous 1 to 2 inch chunks
1 large egg
1 garlic clove, minced
Few gratings of fresh lemon zest
3 ounces crumbled feta (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes; less if using regular red pepper flakes, which are hotter
3/4 teaspoon table salt or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Olive oil for frying

To serve
3/4 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful pomegranate seedshttp://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/12/cauliflower-feta-fritters-with-pomegranate/print/http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/12/cauliflower-feta-fritters-with-pomegranate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smittenkitchen+%28smitten+kitchen%29

1. Cook cauliflower in simmering salted water, uncovered, until tender, about 5 to 6 minutes, until firm but tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain well. Spread on towels to dry as much as possible.

2. In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together egg, garlic and lemon zest. Add cauliflower florets and mash with a potato masher until they’re crushed into an average of pea-sized pieces (i.e. some will be bigger, some smaller, but most will be little nubs). Sprinkle in feta and stir to combine egg mixture, cauliflower and feta.

3. In a small dish, whisk flour, salt, pepper and baking powder until evenly combined. Sprinkle over cauliflower batter and stir just until combined.

4. Heat oven to 200 degrees and place a tray inside.

5.  On the stove, heat a large, heavy skillet over moderate heat. Once hot, add a good slick of oil, about 2 to 3 tablespoons. Once the oil is hot (you can test it by flicking a droplet of water into it; it should hiss and sputter), scoop a two tablespoon-size mound of the batter and drop it into the pan, then flatten it slightly with your spoon or spatula.

6. Repeat with additional batter, leaving a couple inches between each. Once brown underneath, about 2 to 3 minutes, flip each fritter and cook on the other side until equally golden, about another 1 to 2 minutes.

7. Transfer briefly to paper towels to drain, then the tray in the oven to keep them warm until needed. Once all fritters are cooked, mix yogurt with cumin, salt and pepper.

Spread fritters on serving platter. Dollop each with cumin yogurt and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Do ahead: Fritters both freeze and reheat well. To warm and re-crisp them, lay them on a tray and toast them at 400 degrees in the oven until crisp again.

Chocolate Dipped Curry Coconut Macroons

 

"This is the cookie version of a trust fall"

I don't think they could have described this better.

I still can't make up my mind - to try or not to try?

Hmmm

From A Cozy Kitchen the new blog on my reading list this week.




Chocolate Dipped Curry Coconut Macaroons

Macaroons:
14 ounces (1 standard-sized bag) unsweetened coconut
1 large egg white
2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain salt
6 ounces (or 3/4 cup) sweetened condensed milk
Chocolate Ganache:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream, plus 2 tbls
Pinch of fine-grain salt
1. Preheat oven to 350F. To a medium bowl, add the unsweetened coconut. (*See tip below for unsweetening sweetened coconut.) Set aside.
2. In another medium bowl, add the egg white. Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Sift in the curry powder, tumeric and salt. Fold in the spices until totally combined.
3. Add the egg white mixture to the coconut and mix until the coconut is evenly coated. Next, mix in sweetened condensed milk.
4. Using an ice cream scooper, place a scoops onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges and tops are lightly golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan; take the cream off the heat just before boiling. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and add the salt; allow to sit for 5 minutes. Stir until the ganache is smooth.
6. Rest the macaroon on a fork and gently place it in the ganache (the fork will help with getting the macaroon in and out of the ganache easily). Transfer the macaroon to parchment paper or wax paper lined baking sheet. Repeat the process until all of the macaroons are dipped in chocolate. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 30 minutes. Allow to come to room temperature before serving *Note, I left mine out for a couple of hours in a VERY warm apartment and the bottoms got a bit gooey, still delicious, but a little warning: your fingers will get chocolatey!
*How to unsweeten sweetened coconut: To start, place the sweetened coconut in a sieve or fine-mesh strainer. Place the strainer filled with coconut under hot water. Wash the coconut thoroughly until the water runs clear. Spread the coconut out on a paper-lined baking sheet to dry (will take an hour or so), or alternatively you could place it in a salad spinner and give it a whirl until dry.

Yields 20 cookies

Creamy Tomato-Balsamic Soup

I saw this recipe on Tracy's Culinary Adventures.
Tracy saw it in Cooking Light.
I forsee it in my belly sometime soon.
Oh Lordy this looks good!

Ingredients

• 1 cup less-sodium beef broth, divided
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 cup coarsely chopped onion $
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, drained
• Cooking spray $
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 500°.
2. Combine 1/2 cup of broth, sugar, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Place onion, garlic, and tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Pour broth mixture over tomato mixture. Bake at 500° for 50 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned.
3. Place tomato mixture in a blender. Add remaining 1/2 cup broth and half-and-half, and process until smooth. Strain mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Garnish with cracked black pepper, if desired.

Julie Grimes, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2005