On the Seventh Post of Christmas I`m Pleased to Share with Thee...

...Seven Snacks for Snacking...

It's that time of year, yummy bites, dazzling drinks and lots of Christmas cheer; the season of holiday entertaining. I love cooking and I love having people over, and I absolutely love Christmas, so it goes without saying that I try to do a lot of entertaining at this time of year. The one thing I don't love, however, is having a party and spending the too much time in the kitchen, away from the fun and conversation. Having hosted a few gatherings now, I've learned a thing or two about what to serve and how to prepare as much as possible ahead of time. Of course there will always be some commitment in the kitchen, it's part of hosting, but with a few tricks and a lot of saran wrap, you too can enjoy your own holiday fete. 

Nuts 'n' Bolts

1 box Cheerios
1 box Crispex
1 box Shreddies

1 bag pretzels
1 bag peanuts

1 lb butter, melted

4 Tablespoons garlic salt or     onion salt

4 Tablespoons celery salt

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

7 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce

Mix cereals, pretzels and peanuts in a large roasting pan. Combine the other ingredients and pour them over the cereal mix. Bake for 2 hours in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven, stirring often. 

This delicious party mix is the perfect salty snack to go with your yuletide drinks; a classic combination with beer, a complementary pairing with sparkling wine, or a nice balance to a sweet cocktail. I don't use peanuts in my batch, it's just a personal preference thing, and you can add other cereals as you wish. This recipe is quite salty as well, and while I normally cut back on salt when cooking, I like my handful of nuts and bolts to have a kick so I don't hold back on the seasonings. Feel free to do so, if you wish. The nuts 'n' bolts can be made weeks in advance, frozen, and then simply poured into a bowl right before people come over.

Baguette and Goat Cheese & Baguette and Brie

1 cup warm water (115-125 degrees Fahrenheit)

3 cups white flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons quick rise yeast

2 Tablespoons cornmeal

1 egg white

1 package soft goat cheese

Herbs de Provence

Olive oil

-or-

Brie and Fig Jam

This year I did two different kinds of cheese/baguette combinations. They're so easy and so fabulous. A French uncle made the goat cheese baguette for me once when I was feeling a bit hungry after exploring the gorgeous city of Strasbourg, and I was quite grateful to him. I made the baguette from scratch because I couldn't find any in town. I used my KitchenAid and quick rise yeast so that it wouldn't take up too much of my prep time. It's not authentic French baguette, but it's good for this appetizer. 

To make the dough, mix 2 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the mixing bowl. Put the hook attachment on the mixer and turn on at Speed 2. Add the warm water and let combine for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the remaining flour, then the other 1/2 cup after a minute. Continue on Speed 2 for another 5 minutes or so, until the dough springs back when poked. Let dough rest for 10 minutes in the bowl, then cut it in two and roll it out on a floured surface, squeezing out any air bubbles. Flatten into a rectangle and then roll into a loaf. Place on a greased baking pan sprinkled with the cornmeal. Do the same with the other half of the dough. With a serrated knife, cut five diagonal lines on the top of each loaf. Let rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled. Brush loaves with egg white and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, putting a roasting pan with a few cups of boiling water in a rack underneath. I didn't do this for this batch and they turned out just fine, so it's not strictly necessary, but it is customary to do for baguette.

The second baguette style is a combination of brie and fig jam. The sweetness of the jam goes so nicely with the cheese. I love the fig jam from Bonne Maman; in fact I love all of their jams. I can't find them in any of the stores Up Here, so I'll have to stock up the next time I go South. To make both appetizers, slice the bread and place on a cookie sheet. Slice the cheese and spread some on each piece of bread, then top with either the herbs or jam. The goat cheese with the herbs de Provence gets a dash of olive oil as well. Set the oven to broil and watch closely, taking them out when the tops have turned golden.

Antijitos

1 package tortillas

8 oz cream cheese

Dash of hot sauce

Sour cream

Salsa

Combine cream cheese with as much hot sauce as you are comfortable with, adding a few dallops of sour cream to thin the mixture a little. Spread some of the mixture on each tortilla equally, then roll tightly. Place rolls on a cookie sheet and bake in 400 degree oven until the tops start to golden.

These creamy, spicy tortilla pinwheels are always a hit; serve with salsa and sour cream for dipping. For Christmas, use sun-dried tomato and spinach tortillas (I couldn't find spinach tortillas Up North, but I was happy to find the sun-dried tomato ones so I alternated with plain). I rolled mine a little too loosely, so they didn't make a nice spiral like they should, but they were still delicious! To please the crowd, I made the white rolls normally, then made the red rolls with a lot more spice. I like it spicy but not everyone does.

Spinach Dip

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 package frozen chopped spinach
1 teaspoon each of Epicure herbs (see below)

Put all ingredients in a bowl and heat in the microwave. Stir and serve. Don't worry about thawing or draining the spinach. I made the mistake of buying spinach that wasn't chopped, so I let it thaw slightly and chopped it on a cutting board. The original recipe called for mayonnaise, but I add a bit of sour cream instead because I didn't like how the mayo affected the taste. This year I served the dip with nachos and also a nice loaf of bread that I got in town and cut up into pieces. If you keep cream cheese and frozen spinach around (and who doesn`t, really), it's a quick and easy dip to make for an impromptu poker night as well. If you don`t have the sour cream, no biggie.

The dip really works best with these herb mixes from Epicure, which I got from a friend who was selling the stuff. It's the 3 Onion Dip Mix, the Lemon Dilly Dip Mix and the Cheese, Chives & Bacon Dip Mix. If you can`t get a hold of the Epicure herb mixes, you can put in some garlic powder, paprika, pepper and salt and whatever else you have around the herb cupboard and see what happens. Some onion soup mix would probably work in there too.

The four previous appetizers are not only tasty, but they can be prepared in advance the afternoon of the party, or even the day before. The spinach dip can be made and simply reheated right after guests arrive. The antijitos can be rolled and stored on a cookie sheet, then heated right before your party is about to get underway. The bread can be sliced and placed in a Ziplock bag. It doesn't matter if they get a little stale because you're going to be broiling them anyway and you want them a little crispy. I even get the baguettes completely prepped about 1/2 hour before the start time and then just pop them in the oven after the antijitos are done and while the spinach dip is re-heating. 

Oriental Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup soy sauce
A few dashes worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Freshly ground pepper

1 jar plum sauce

Mix all ingredients except for the plum sauce, then form into balls and fry in a pan on medium heat until cooked through. The balls will shrink slightly, so make them a little bigger than you'd like them to turn out. The meatballs can be made days ahead of time and frozen until party day. Then, simply place them in an ovenproof dish or slow cooker and pour plum sauce over top. The slow cooker is a better option if you've got one, so your balls stay warm until they're gone. Of course, you could also buy frozen meatballs and not worry about all the fuss of making them, but the fresh ginger, parsley and garlic make these homemade balls much better than the store-bought ones, so go for it!

Festive Party Mix

7 cups Cheerios

7 cups Crispex

7 cups Pretzels

3 cups peanuts

1 lb Smarties

2 packages white chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons oil

Melt chocolate over low heat and add oil. Pour over the first 5 ingredients and mix together. Spread onto cookie sheets and let cool, then break up any clumps and store.

I call this mix "Christmas Crack" because it is highly addictive; I could eat half the bowl in an afternoon easily. Make sure you don't break up all of the clumps, as there's nothing better than pulling a nice lump of goodness from the bowl. The mix of sweet and salty is out of this world. This mix can also be made well in advanced and frozen.

Well, there you have it! Some fool-proof appetizers that you can make ahead of time so that you can spend your party gabbing with your guests instead of slaving over your stove. As an added bonus, these snacks are all finger foods (serve the meatballs with toothpicks), so there`s no need to dirty silverware. I hate having a huge stack of dishes after a party almost as much as I hate missing the fun preparing the food. Lastly, the variety of flavours are guaranteed to make your party a success...ok, maybe not a guaranteed success, but at least people won`t leave with an empty stomach. The rest is up to you, unless you stay tuned; there are still lots of posts of Christmas to come...

On the Sixth Post of Christmas I'm Pleased to Share with Thee...

...Six Christmas Crafts...

Last Christmas I lived in a small apartment in the city in Southern Canada. This year I'm in a house surrounded by wilderness, so I decided to go about making a few things to celebrate the season and The North.

The first is an inspiration from my Mother. She used to artfully hang branches on the door to our farmhouse when we were little, so I took a pair of clippers on a walk with the dogs and picked up a few boughs. I hung some gold pine cones with the branches, and looking at it now I think it needs a nice big red or gold ribbon.

The second craft is only for those living in The North like me: an ice wreath. I used clippings from the branches that I scavenged and found some winter berries too. I arranged them in a bowl with water, making sure to put a decent sized container in the middle filled with water too. Then I put the bowl outside overnight.

The next morning I took the bowl inside to let it warm up just a little to make it easier to take the wreath out. Then I simply hung it with string by the window. I sure hope that we don't get a great gust of wind that sends this one into the window. Perhaps I should hang in on the tree farther away, but then I wouldn't get to look at it as much. 

Speaking of ice and wreaths, it's gotten so cold Up Here that walks are becoming quite the chilly affair, especially for little Nanuq. He often ends up with little icicles in inconvenient places, although it doesn't seem to bother him in the least. At least we know that every thing works fine: last night my crafty little puppy made his own homemade wreath all around the kitchen table.

The third craft is an easy one too, involving only three elements: a long cylindrical vase, string (or rubber bands) and spray paint. Simply wind the string around the vase tightly, or arrange the rubber bands, then spray paint. I only did two light coats so that lots of light can get through: if you want light to be seen only through the lines, make sure to spray more heavily. Once dry, remove the string/rubber bands and pop in a candle to enjoy the metallic glow.

The fourth craft is my favourite. I have been keeping the corks from wine bottles for a few years now, not for any particular reason but I just didn't want to throw them out. I figured that they may come in handy someday, and that day arrived when I discovered these Cork Elves. For a knitting novice, at times an impatient one, they're a quick and super cute project. They're originally called Korknisse because they're from a Norwegian DIY craft site, but you can access the English pattern here.

The elves are a perfect way to use ends of wool from other projects, and the variation of colour and style are endless. I adapted the pattern to suit the yarn that I was using. I was also inspired by the sparkling wine corks, which are fatter and more curvaceous than the normal corks, to make a little Santa Clause. Here's the pattern that I made for those:

Coat:

Cast on 24 stitches loosely with white yarn, join in the round, (k2, p2) for 2 rows

Switch to red yarn, k, k2tog, k until halfway through, then k2tog, k until end of row

K for 1 row

K, k2tog, k until halfway through, then k2tog, k until end of row

K for 2 rows 

Switch back to white yarn, k, M1, k until halfway through, M1, k until end of row

Cast off

Hat:

Cast on 22 stitches loosely with white yarn, join in the round, (k2, p2) for 2 rows

Switch to red yarn, k for 2 rows

K2tog, k3, k2tog, k4, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k4

K for one row

K2tog, k2, k2tog, k3, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k3

K for one row

K2tog, k1, k2tog, k2, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k2

K for one row

K2tog, k1, k2tog, k2tog, k1, k2tog

K for one row

K2tog, k1, k2tog, k1

K for one row

K2tog, k2tog

K for one row

K2tog

Tie last stitch off and add a tassel if you want

If your elves are looking for a place to hang out, you can quickly make the fifth craft to suit their needs: a handful of cinnamon sticks make a cute pile of logs, perfect for tiny elves, and some nice Christmas ribbon finishes the look nicely.

Lastly, I wanted to make some ornaments for my tree to celebrate our first Christmas Up North. I used elements from the outdoors, specifically those I find while walking the dogs. I found the clear glass ornaments at Michaels, and the fake snow at Wal-Mart. The little pine cones I spray painted silver for a more festive and colourful look.

This ornament contains some of the sand from the beach where we walk, and also a rolled up piece of birch bark. I soaked the bark in water overnight, then wrapped it around a pencil, securing it with some twist ties. Then I put it in water again overnight, then let it dry out. 

The last one is simply little pine cones stuffed into the ornament. I spray painted a few silver and gold, but I wanted the natural look for this one so I left most the way God intended. 

I hope that these crafts inspire you to use elements around you to brighten up your holidays. 

On the Fifth Post of Christmas I'm Pleased to Share with Thee...

...Five Tra-di-tions! ...

Yes, it's that time. The time in the song when things slow down a little and people tend to shout a bit. I've never understood why the fifth day stands out from all the other days in the song; I mean, we're not even halfway yet. Why not relax a bit on the sixth day when we have as much behind us as we have ahead? For whatever reason, the fifth is the day to relish out of the twelve. On this day it's not Five Golden Rings that we cherish, however, but Five Golden Things...my most cherished traditions of Christmas.

The first tradition is our first act of Christmas every year, one that is celebrated by most North Americans at some point in late November or early December. It is the tree trimming, of course. Putting up the tree with my family has always involved a few things: selecting a real tree (I didn't this year, sadly), cursing as the lights are strung then deemed uneven and then re-strung, eating Swiss chocolate, and listening to the greatest Christmas album of all time by Swedish Sensations Boney M. We simply cannot adorn O Tannenbaum with tinsel and trinkets until the first notes of "Mary's Boy Child" swirl from the CD player. The other highlight of the session is the decorations themselves. My sisters and I were three crafty little girls growing up (thanks to my crafty mother), and so we all had decorations that we have received or made personally that each had to hang herself. Sometimes a little anecdote would accompany the placement on a most special branch. Of course we've all heard the stories so many times now, but we still look forward to them every year, drinking them in with a smirk and a nice cup of hot chocolate and Baileys.

The second tradition is also quite well known: the advent calendar. Growing up we used to receive them in the mail from our aunts in Europe, and it was always a special treat to see what was behind each little doorway. One year we got some chocolate advent calendars from the drug store, but we all found the cheap, waxy sweets lacking in flavour, almost unpalatable. I guess we had been spoiled, since our "Tantes" were kind enough to include Swiss chocolate in the packages as well as the calendars.

   

The third tradition is much like the second in theory, only different in practice; it's the advent candle. I'm not talking about the advent candles at church where one is lit every Sunday leading up to Christmas. This candle is an all-in-one type of deal, burned a little every day until Christmas Eve. From one line to another is about half an hour's burning time, and it's a great tradition to try and get the family together each day at least as long as the candle burns. I must admit that this tradition is one that I'm rekindling from my childhood, it's not something that we did every year, partly because we found the candles once at a kiosk and then the next year that we looked for them the kiosk was no longer there. I happened to find the red candle above at Jysk, but I'm not very happy with it because the quality of the wax is pretty poor. Taking a lesson from the chocolate advent calendar incident of yore, it's worth spending a bit more money to get something of better quality, so I'm going to see if I can find a better candle next year to keep this tradition going strong again.

The fourth tradition, like the first, involves family and chocolate. However, unlike the first, I doubt that many people have experienced it. There is a game that has my father introduced to our family that we only seem to play around Christmas. I have never heard of anyone else playing this game, so I have no idea if it was something that his family made up, or something well known in France, where he was born, or perhaps Switzerland, where his mother was born. We call it "The Chocolate Game". Needed to play are a bar of chocolate (preferably Swiss), a die, a fork and a knife. The game goes as follows: sitting around a table, elect someone to start rolling the die, trying to get a six. When that person rolls a six, they can start trying to open the chocolate bar with only the knife and fork, no fingers. In the meantime, the person to his or her left takes the die and tries to roll a six. Once a six is rolled, this person takes over with the fork and knife and the die is passed to the next person and the game continues thus. Once the bar is open, then the goal is to eat as much chocolate as possible before the next six is cast, using only the fork and knife and cutting off not more than one square at a time (or a half square, if they are really big). The game is over when all of the chocolate has been eaten. To make sure that everyone gets some, it's best to have a spare bar to either play again, or to let those who weren't adept enough with the utensils have a taste. It's a strange game, but it's a part of our family at Christmas.

Finally, the fifth tradition is upon us...the one for which we wait all year: Christmas Eve. Many North Americans wait all year for Christmas morning, but at our house it is the night before that gets all the attention because that's when we open our gifts. This is another one of my father's European influences. The evening involves Christmas pajamas, lots of good food and drink, Christmas music (perhaps an encore of Boney M), and opening presents one at a time with the youngest going first. Some other traditions have come and gone with the years. We daughters used to put on a Christmas Show for the parents before we got our gifts, another tradition brought from my father's childhood to ours. We would sing, dance, act and recite poems in our festive jammies in a spectacle that would be weeks in the planning. It was exciting for us for awhile, but as we got older it became pretty lame, so that tradition ended. Last year we started another one that I think will last longer: watching Jim Henson's "A Muppet Family Christmas" together before opening gifts. Although not the best known Christmas movie, it has become a classic in our home. Our collective favourite scene is that where the Swedish Chef tries to cook Big Bird as the "gobb-le gobb-le Christmas toooooorkey". Classic fun for all ages.

And Christmas Day? A bonus tradition of the season: sleeping in!

On the Fourth Post of Christmas I'm Pleased to Share with Thee...

...Four Yule Ice Creams...

If you've been following the blog, you know that I recently purchased a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Besides moving Up North from Down South, I've got to say that this is one of the highlights of the year! Although I've enjoyed making bread and cookie dough in the blue-green magic machine, the real highlight so far has been making my own delicious ice cream. So, being a bit of a Christmas nut (I'm thinking you must have figured that out by now), I decided to try some festive flavours. Not surprisingly, the results have been quite delectable.

For inspiration I thought of the tastes that most scream "Christmas" to me (who screams? ice cream?). I'm certain that nobody will be surprised by my choices, they are (clockwise from the top): Baileys, After Eight, Gingersnap and Eggnog. 

A frosty scene in front of an even frostier one! It's nice to know that even if I run out of freezer space, I can always store the excess ice cream outside...it's been pretty cold out lately!

The photo shoot was done at around 4:00pm and you can see that it is getting dark quite early. The sun sets at around 4:20 at this time of year, and we haven't even seen the longest day yet! I imagine that we'll soon see the sun take its bow before 4pm. Happily, it won't be long before the days start getting longer again. Either way, the sun doesn't affect how much ice cream I can make! Here are the details on the rich and fantastic flavours...

Baileys Ice Cream

I simply had to do Baileys; in The South I would gleefully anticipate the Haagen Daas version that is only available during the holidays. The recipe is the only one that I didn't find in David Lebovitz's lovely ice cream cookbook; I found it on Nigella Lawson's site, and it is absolutely divine! I followed the recipe exactly and was very happy with the ice cream. As you can see, this one is going fast at our house (a close second to the chocolate peanut butter I've made twice now). Like Nigella says, you don't need to add any more Baileys than what it called for, this one is saucy enough! Also you'll want to stick to the recipe because alcohol affects the consistency of the ice cream. A bit of booze makes a more easily scoop-able dessert, which means you don't have to let it sit for a few minutes before serving, you can eat it immediately!

Eggnog Ice Cream

Speaking of spirits, the next recipe has two different kinds in its repertoire, so if you need to stock up your liquour cabinet, you can use it as an excuse...unless you already have dark rum and brandy in your home bar. 

Like I said, the all of the other three ice creams come from a wonderful cookbook called The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. I would fully recommend this book to anyone, especially the ice cream beginner; it is incredibly complete and has both traditional and innovative flavours. Really, though, if you want to make Eggnog Ice Cream, you can use any vanilla custard ice cream recipe that you have and add dark rum and brandy, and maybe an extra egg yolk or two. I think that Eggnog in ice cream form is even better than in liquid form, and it'll go great with pumpkin or apple pie.

Gingersnap Ice Cream

Being a bit nutty for Noel, I generally do quite a bit of baking at this time of year, so I figured that it would be silly not to incorporate Christmas baking into an ice cream. Sugar cookies are popular during the holidays, but you also see them at other occasions such as Valentine's Day or Hallowe'en so they're not quintessential. Shortbread is good, but I find it kind of bland. In terms of Christmas cookies, it is the spicy gingersnap that takes the cake.

The ice cream flavour is a combination of ginger ice cream and speculoos, which is a European version of the gingersnap. Lebovitz explains it a bit during a vent session about Parisian Monoprix in a post on his blog. Anyway, the ice cream is made with real ginger and then once its churned the broken cookies are mixed in. Over time the cookies soften and melt in your mouth. 

After Eight Ice Cream

One of the things I like most about Lebovitz's book is that he uses natural ingredients. The combination of mint and fudge sauce is most delicious because the recipe uses real mint leaves steeped in the cream. It is the tastiest I have ever had, much MUCH more interesting on the palate than the artificial stuff. I'm also happy to be able to share the recipe with you because Lebovitz has on his blog. Well, actually he shared the recipe for Mint Chip, not Mint Chocolate Ripple, but I'm sure you can figure something out. Just make sure you use real mint! My problem was that I couldn't get enough fresh mint, so I added a few dallops of peppermint extract (in hindsight I should have used peppermint schnapps). I was scared that the natural mint flavours would be overpowered by the fake stuff but they were still very much there.

So there you have it, if you've got an ice cream maker, get it out and start churning! If not, ask for one for Christmas. You'll never buy ice cream from the store again!

On the Third Post of Christmas I'm Pleased to Share with Thee...

...Three Go-To Meals...

Nothing says The Holidays like sitting around the table sharing food with family and friends, so I want to share three meals with you that are easy and delicious. Entertaining can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be if you keep things simple and prepare whatever you can ahead of time. One rule of thumb that I always follow is to wait until I'm finished all of my chopping, sauteing and broiling to have a glass of wine...or at least I only have one glass of wine until the risky stuff is done. Sadly, I learned that the hard way one Christmas when I ended up with a lovely meal on the table but also three bandaged fingers (to my credit, I was also using a new set of knives for the first time). Remember, something burnt or too runny isn't going to ruin Christmas, but a trip to the emergency room just may.

Brunch 

 

The first meal is a Spanish-style potato omelette, otherwise know in Spain as "Tortilla". I lived in Spain for 5 months and enjoyed this dish more than once in tapas bars on a slice of bread, but it's hearty enough to be used as a main course as well, especially for a late breakfast or brunch get-together. My version is not strictly traditional, but it is delicioso!

Spanish-Style Potato Omelette

2-3 Tablespoons canola oil

3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch thick pieces

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic salt

6-8 eggs

3 Tablespoons milk or cream

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Best done in a large non-stick pan.

Heat canola oil to a medium heat and cook potatoes, although you don't want them to brown. When the potatoes seem about half-way done, add onions and continue to cook. When almost done, throw in the garlic and season with garlic salt and continue to heat until the potatoes are cooked through. 

Meanwhile, in a bowl beat the eggs and then beat in cream. Add red pepper flakes (or any other seasoning you'd like; you could even throw some cubed cheese in here!) and salt and pepper to taste. Take the potatoes and pour them into the egg mixture. You can prepare this a few hours ahead and leave the mixture in the fridge (you may want to under-cook the potatoes just a little).

From here, pour the potato/egg mixture into a pan on high heat and then turn the temperature down to medium-low. Put a lid on the pan and cook until the top is starting to firm up. Then it's time to flip. Take a plate that is as big as the tortilla and set it upside down on the tortilla. Holding onto the plate, flip the frying pan so that the tortilla sits on the plate, cooked side up. Put the pan back on the burner and carefully slide the tortilla back in. Continue to cook for a few minutes longer to let the other side brown and serve with a salad and some other light side to counter the dense omelet. I've got mine with a mixed green salad and balsamic vinaigrette and some carrot sticks.

Lunch

Having people over for lunch can be daunting because it's not always easy to know what to serve. Here in North America, we tend to eat our biggest meal in the evening, so you don't want to serve anything too heavy around noon. A nice, flavourful chicken dish makes a great lunch that won't leave your guests feeling lethargic all afternoon. This dish was a favourite growing up, and my mom got it from the More-with-Less Cookbook put out by the Mennonite Central Committee. The book's tag line reads: "suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world's limited food resources", and it's full of great, worldly recipes like this one. I've tweaked it a bit, so the recipe shown here isn't exactly the same as the one in the book, but it's the same idea.

Honey-Baked Chicken

4 chicken breasts

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup honey

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon soya sauce

1 teaspoon curry powder

Arrange chicken in a baking pan. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour on the chicken. You can do this a few hours ahead of time and let marinate in the fridge. Then, bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour, basting every 15 minutes.

You can use most any kind of mustard for this dish, although I think Dijon is best. I've used grainy mustard before and it has turned out nicely as well. When I was a kid my mom used to make this dish with normal hotdog mustard, which works fine too, although it gives the sauce a strange neon yellow glow. I served the chicken with basmati rice and a mixed green salad with a toasted sesame vinaigrette. Even though there are just two of us here, I like to make this dish with all four chicken breasts because it's great warmed up the next day. I usually make extra sauce too because I love to soak my rice in the tangy yellow liquid.

Dinner 

Around here, a special dinner usually means meat, potatoes and caesar salad. It's both of our favourite. To make this particular meal special, I picked out rib-eyes (I actually wanted lamb, but this being The North, I was shut down at both grocers). I generally marinate steak before grilling, but decided to do things differently this time. The rib-eye cut is so well marbled that the flavour doesn't need much help, and I decided to try pan-searing my steak for the first time. When entertaining, I usually don't go too far out of my comfort zone, but a little variation never hurts.

Pan-Seared Steak with Rosemary-Red Wine Sauce

As this was my first time pan-searing, I used a recipe from Family Circle Magazine, found on the Food Network website. Unfortunately the sauce didn't quite make it, as I didn't let the pan cool down enough after searing the meat and my onions burnt. Luckily, the rib-eye was so juicy, tender and flavourful on its own that it really didn't matter. I used some of the fresh rosemary on the vegetables that I roasted (along with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic), so I still got to enjoy that beautiful flavour as part of the meal.

So there you have it. I can't say that the meals are fool-proof, because in my experience in the kitchen things can go wrong no matter how many times you've done them before. But with experience comes familiarity and the more you cook, the more confident you become. The more confident you are, the better you can handle when things don't go as planned. Are we still talking about cooking? Or life? In life, as well as the kitchen, hard work earns just desserts; but you'll have to wait for another post for the sweet stuff!

Enjoy the festive season of food, family, friends and fun!

On the Second Post of Christmas I'm Pleased to Share with Thee...

...Two Dapper Hounds...

I decided to have some fun with the puppies this Christmas. I figured that it would be cute but not cheesy (note the lack of festive sweaters or blurry-edged professional photography), challenging but fun, and pretty hilarious. I wasn't disappointed on any front.

Warning: the photos in this post may offend those with a sensitivity towards Christmas Cruelty to Animals. Know that no animals were harmed (at least, no more than minor trauma was caused) in the making of these images.

My first idea went pretty well: the kiss under the mistletoe. How to do this at home? Easy...

Kick one puppy outside and let the other puppy lick out an almost empty yogurt container. Bring back puppy # 1 and taunt him with yogurt-covered puppy # 2.

 

Hold mistletoe over their heads and snap away as the make-out session unfolds! Pretty fool-proof, really, with adorable results. If you don't have puppies, this could potentially work on a small child or maybe even an unsuspecting significant other.

My next idea also went as planned: puppies opening their Christmas presents. It's even simpler than the mistletoe trick: simply put doggie treats in a couple of decorated boxes and let the puppies have fun getting them out!

I just used dollar store boxes with easy-off lids, but I could have tried actually wrapping the gifts and letting them tear away on the paper. All you have to do it make sure they know that there's a treat in there somewhere and click away at the ensuing frenzy.

My third festive photo-op was admittedly the worst, and with good cause: what dog wants to wear a bulky wreath around its neck? Well, I didn't want a door full of muddy scratch marks either, but that's what I have, so the wreath-a-thon was ON! 

I wanted to do this one outside maybe in front of the pine tree in the backyard, but it was not to be. Nanuq instantly ran to the door and desperately wanted in.

I obliged and unsurprisingly he wouldn't rest until he had the garland off of his collar. 

Reina hated her wreath even more. I had to corner her in her cage to get this shot and she promptly shook it off after I let her go. At least her one eye had the courtesy to glow a nice, Christmas-y green for the occasion. My red eye reduction function does not seem to recognize reflected puppy dog eyes. The poor thing looks so miserable!

Not surprisingly, Reina wouldn't go anywhere near the wreath and wanted outside again. I had been hoping to get a nice shot of the two puppies together, but that was never, ever going to happen this year. Hopefully next year they'll be trained to be still a little longer. Or maybe next year I'll smarten up and stop torturing my dogs for the sake of a good blog post!

My last photo session was the funniest, the cutest and the most frustrating. The Reindeer Antlers. Or, as my puppies would call them, "Hell on Headbands" (that is, if they were able to understand the concept of Hell and also the concept of headbands and if they were able to communicate with humans).  I did get Nanuq to stay still once or twice, and this is the best photo of the whole bunch.

Once again, I was trying for a picture of the two of them together, but it was not to be. This is the best I could do of the two of them, and the only one for which I had to coerce my partner for help. Every time I look at this picture, the look on Reina's face framed by those little reindeer ears makes me laugh. 

The moral of the story is that where puppies are involved, things don't always go according to plan, but the results are always adorable. As a side-note, my partner says that an alternate title for this post could have been "This is Why Dogs Bite". Touche.

Happy Holidays from Reina and Nanuq!

On the First Post of Christmas I'm Pleased to Share with Thee...

...A "New up North"-ern Christmas Tree!

 
I'm sad to admit that here, in the Land of the Spruce and Pine, we put up a fake Christmas tree. The happy admission is that, unlike other years, there was no massive argument on the day that we set it up, because it is pre-lit! Maybe next year we'll be more organized with a big saw, a tree stand and a lot more patience, but this year the tree in the box was the way to go.

I'm all about the white lights, and making sure there's a lot of red and gold amongst the green branches. Otherwise, anything goes on this tree.

Festive berry garlands can be found easily and cheaply at any discount store and add a bright pop to the display. The straw ornaments are from Switzerland; they're also pretty inexpensive, except for the fact that you'd have to travel to Switzerland to get them.

Bells are always a fun addition to the Christmas tree: the one above was made in Indonesia. I bought a few at 10,000 Villages one year. It's nice to pick stuff up there every so often; they have a pretty great ornament selection about this time of year, and it's nice to know that the artisans who make them are being paid fairly, so that they can have a special holiday season as well.

 

Thankfully, the dogs don't seem very interested in the Christmas tree. Originally they barked at it a few times, which made me worried that they were going to attack it, but we took them up close and let them check it out and they haven't done more than sniff at it a few times since. We stayed away from tinsel and didn't hang many ornaments around the bottom, so I feel pretty confident that the tree will remain intact over the holidays.

Our first Christmas in The North, and my first as a blogger, will be filled with new sights and old traditions that I'm so happy to be able to share with you. These little Northern veterans that I picked up in Tallin, Estonia are well dressed for the season, and they've even one-upped me and picked out their own tree! I'm getting there...finally bought a parka since the weather is consistently dropping below -15 celcius, and I've been knitting. Stay tuned for eleven more Posts of Christmas.