Minnie Mouse Cake

My daughter had a Minnie Mouse party for her birthday this year.  I had been gathering cake ideas on Pinterest for a while.  And there are some beautiful cakes out there!  After having mixed results with marshmallow fondant, and knowing kids don't really like the real stuff, I decided to nix a lot of the fancier cake ideas.  I went back to basics.  This cake was iced with regular old whipped vanilla frosting.  I dyed it pink and away I went.  The polka dots are large white chocolate chip disks found at the Bulk Barn.  I then used a pink ribbon to go around the bottom and to tie a bow on top.  This cake gives a good allusion to Minnie Mouse and I think it turned out super cute.

Egg Nog Fudge with Chocolate Ganache

Egg Nog Fudge with Chocolate Ganache

This was one recipe I picked up on Pinterest that I knew I had to try.  I have never been a fudge maker at Christmas.  Sugar Cookies, Shortbread and Nanaimo Bars are my thing (can you tell I'm from BC?)  But I love Egg Nog.  It's my little treat to sip after the kids are in bed in December.

My Egg Nog treat

OH MY GOODNESS!  This fudge was so delicious!  (I'm not one to type in capitals so you know I mean it!)  I give credit to the originator of this recipe at Rook No. 17 - thank you!

For the fudge

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, cut in to pieces

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup evaporated milk

10 ounces white chocolate, chopped (white chocolate chips can be substituted)

3 cups (7 oz.) mini marshmallows

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg  

2-3 Tablespoons dark rum or bourbon

For the ganache

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chopped, or high quality chips)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Ground nutmeg for garnish

An 8x8 pan (must be at least 2" tall), or a 9x9 pan

Candy Thermometer*

1.  Prepare your pan by lining bottom and sides with foil.  Allow foil to overhang at least two sides, so it can be used to lift the fudge from the pan in the end.  Spray foil with non-stick spray or lightly coat with butter. 

2.  Stir together the sugar, butter pieces, condensed milk, and evaporated milk in a 3 1/2 quart saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium high heat.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until a candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F (soft-ball stage).  The thermometer will shoot up to around 224 rather quickly, but it can take up to 20 minutes to slowly climb the remaining 10 degrees.  Be patient, stir frequently, and keep your burner set the lowest setting of "high" to maintain a boil, but prevent burning.

2.  Immediately remove pan from heat.  Remove thermometer.  Stir in the white chocolate until it has melted and incorporated completely.  Next, stir in the mini marshmallows until they have melted and are thoroughly incorporated.  The mixture will be quite thick.  Lastly, stir in the rum and nutmeg.

3.  Pour mixture in to prepared pan.  Cool for 15 minutes.

4.  While fudge is cooling, prepare the ganache by placing the chocolate in a medium bowl.  In a saucepan, or in the microwave, bring cream to a boil.  Pour boiling cream over the bowl of chocolate.  Allow to sit for 2 minutes.  With a small whisk or fork, gently bring the cream and melted chocolate together until thoroughly combined, smooth and shiny.

5.  Pour chocolate ganache over the fudge (which will be warm, but will have set by now).  Use a small offset spatula to smooth and level.

6.  Cool for 10 minutes, then sprinkle lightly with ground nutmeg for garnish.  Allow the fudge to continue to cool, on a baking rack, until it comes to room temperature.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

7.  Lift fudge from pan by the overhanging foil.  Gently peel back and remove the foil.  With a sharp knife, cut in to 1" squares.  Wipe knife in-between slices to keep pieces looking neat and clean.  It is easiest to cut the fudge when it is cold. 

Store fudge in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped for up to 2 weeks.  Best when served at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Fudge

This was my first fudge and it was very easy and very yummy.  My kids loved it.
Here's the recipe:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla,
3/4 cup peanut butter.

Bring sugar and milk to a boil. Boil two and a half minutes. Keep stirring to prevent burning on the bottom. Remove from heat and stir in PB and vanilla. Pour into a 9x9 pan and let set.  I keep fudge in the fridge or freezer so it stays set properly.

Shredded Chicken Sandwiches

No, no picture this time.  This recipe speaks for itself.  It is super easy and super tasty!  Here it is:

chicken thighs (I used a half dozen)
can of coke (I've also used Dr. Pepper and I bet root beer would work too)
BBQ Sauce (lovin' the Sweet Baby Rays right now)

And that is it.

Put the chicken thighs in your slow cooker.  Pour the can of coke over top.  Keep heat on low for 8 hours or so.  Take the meat out and shred it with a fork into a bowl.  Squeeze a little BBQ sauce over top and mix it in to your liking.

I like to serve this meat on a toasted roll with a little potato salad and grilled corn on the cob on the side.

Delicious!

PS - Mom - Dad would love this!

Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

I cannot take credit for this delicious recipe, only the fact that I baked it and it was insanely good!  Yes, this is that recipe, the one that has been floating around Pinterest this fall.  It is time consuming, but it is completely and utterly worth it.  I made it during one of my Saturday baking days (one of those fabulous rainy days where the kids happened to be content to play Lego all day and allow me to bake).  These directions come from Sunny Side Up's blog, who got it from Willow Bird Baking.  (I love a good web of recipe trail). 


Ingredients
Bread
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp unsalted butter


Glaze
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar

*Sunny Side Up added 1 tbsp of rum to her Glaze which I did not



Directions
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, brown 2 tablespoons of butter, letting it bubble up and turn a dark golden brown but being careful not to allow it burn (turn black). Once browned, remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the milk, return to stove and heat through.**** Pour the milk and butter into the bowl of standing mixer (fitted with a dough hook) and allow to cool so it is no longer hot but also not cool (about 100-110 degrees F). Once it has reached a warm but not hot temperature add the yeast and 1/4 cup of sugar and allow to proof (this can take up to 8 minutes, the top will look foamy and the liquid cloudy). Then add the the pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Stir until combined then add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and knead for 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and just slightly sticky. If the dough is too moist, add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

Move dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.

While dough is rising, brown another 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well.** Making sure sugar evenly absorbs the butter. Set aside. Next, grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and flip out onto a clean floured surface and knead with hands for 1-2 minutes. Roll dough into a 20×12 inch rectangle.*** Evenly sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar mixture and press into dough with palms of the hand. Cut the rectangle into 6 strips. Lay strips on top of each other and cut each strip into 6 even squares (cut in half then each half into thirds). Stack strips vertically into the loaf pan. Cover the pan with a clean towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.  (I ended up with 2 loaves from this recipe, there was too much dough for just one, so I split the strips evenly in the two pans)

In the meantime preheat an oven to 350 degrees. After rising in the pan bake for 30-40 minutes (mine took 37 exactly) or until top is a very deep golden brown.

To prepare the glaze, heat the butter, milk, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to boil then immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the  powdered sugar.

My kids went crazy for this bread.  It is a lot like a cinnamon bun, but with that pumpkin yumminess to it that is perfect for fall!

Gordon Ramsay's Garlic Rosemary Focaccia

When it comes to Gordon Ramsay people either love him or hate him.  I'm part of the love him crowd.  Masterchef is one of my favorite shows.  As harsh as he can be with people he truly loves good, quality food and good, quality cooking.  He doesn't settle and he pushes people to be better. 
Last night I was looking for a way to use up the rest of my fresh figs before they went off and I thought 'Flatbread'.  I decided to open up Gordon Ramsay's "Healthy Appetite" cookbook.  He did have a focaccia recipe in there.  His needed a couple of special flours that I don't have on hand, so I substitued All Purpose Flour in their place.  His measurements for active dry yeast were in the oz and g forms, which I'm not used to (I need tsp and tbsp) - I did weigh out my yeast, but being such a small amount, I'm still not sure I got it right so if anyone has a tsp version I'd appreciate the note.
His recipe was for the flatbread alone, I topped mine with sliced figs, sliced garlic, goat cheese and a little drizzle of raspberry basalmic vinegar.  I really liked the result, quite tasty.
So here's my version of a Gordon Ramsay dish:

1/4 oz (7g) active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt (he recommends fine sea salt, I used kosher salt)
2 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves (I subbed in dry rosemary)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely crushed
1/4 extra-virgin olive oil

Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl.  Add the yeast and rosemary. Stir. 
Make a well in the center.  Add the crushed garlic, olive oil and water.   Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.  You should get a soft, not sticky dough.
Press the dough together and put it onto a lightly floured counter.  Kneed the dough for about 5 minutes.  Place it in a lightly oiled large mixing bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.
Heat the oven to 400*.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and kneed lightly.  Place on a well-oiled baking sheet and gently flatten with the palms of your hands.  Pull and shape it to the edges of the baking sheet to form a 1/2 inch (1cm) thick rectangle.  Press with your fingertips to form indentations in the dough.
At this point I added the sliced figs, goat cheese, sliced garlic and raspberry basalmic vinegar.  He suggests rosemary leaves, whole garlic cloves and olive oil.
Bake for 15-20 minutes (until the bread is golden brown).  Let cool slightly, slice and serve warm.

Seafood Chowder

This morning we set out to the local Fisherman's Days down at the harbour.  What could be a better dose of Maritime Fun than the promise of a boat parade, a shell shucking contest, fiddle music, local displays and of course a bouncy castle for the kids?  Until we got there and it started raining shortly before the opening ceremonies.  We all huddled under the tents.  Feeling brave my family ventured out to look at the boats and what was still open of the displays.  My husband and I thought we would warm up a bit with a bowl of chowder from one of local vendors, except that it wasn't yet ready.  We went back, it still wasn't ready.  After the third time going back and starting to realize that the drizzle was not going to let up and that the wind was only getting stronger, we set ourselves back for home.  But now we both really wanted a bowl of chowder.
I remembered my dear friend Luan serving us the best seafood chowder at her husband's birthday a couple of years back and tried my best to find it.  This recipe jumped out at me in my search and by looking at the ingredients I thought it would be very good.  It was, it was very good indeed.
This recipe is an award winning recipe from PEI's Chef Jeff McCourt.  It took first prize in the PEI International Chowder Championship in 2003.  It is a little time consuming to make, but very much worth the effort.

1 cup (250 mL) butter
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
2 cups grated peeled potatoes
1/4 cup (50 mL) vermouth (I didn't have any vermouth, and substituted white wine instead)
2 cups (500 mL) milk
2 cups (500 mL) heavy cream
2 cups (500 mL) shellfish (choice of lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and/or crab) *I adapted this with what I had on hand, cooking up a little salmon, haddock and shrimp - I also added a can of sweet baby clams
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) diced potato, steamed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, add onions and sauté until translucent. Stir in garlic and continue to sauté until onions are golden brown. Add grated potato, vermouth, milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring often to prevent scorching, until potato is cooked, about 20 minutes.

In a blender, purée chowder base in batches, then return to chowder pot and season with salt and pepper.

Cook whatever shellfish you want to add to the chowder, retaining all liquid from the cooking process. Shuck and set seafood aside. Add cooking liquid to the chowder base. Add diced, cooked potato for texture. Add seafood, and check for seasoning one last time. Finish with chopped chives.  Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*I paired this with some homemade dinner rolls - delicious!

While making the chowder, I happened to chat with my friend Luan on the phone.  When I told her I was making chowder and was remembering how much I loved hers, she started to tell me her recipe.  It turns out this is the recipe she uses!  Too funny :)