Crispy Chicken Breasts with a Honey Garlic Sauce. When I was a much younger woman, I was very fond of the Honey Garlic Chicken Wings and Spareribs at our local Chinese Restaurant.  The flavour of the sauce was delicious and the wings and ribs just seemed to soak it up.  

 

I found this recipe via pinterest and These Peas Are Hollow.   quite some time ago. It looked fabulous.  The Peas Are Hollow people got the recipe via La Cuisine d'Helene.    I printed it out and it's been waiting in my "to do" file ever since.



Aside from the photograph which looked so very delicious . . . I was intrigued by the mix of spices which it called for.  Ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and all spice.  This cake had to be good . . .

 

We are having the missionaries over for supper tonight and so I decided that the time was ripe for me to bake these luscious little cakes. 



Oh my but they smelled gorgeous while they were baking.  It was like we were in a Yankee Candle shop, no kidding.  Simply fabulous.  If I could bottle that smell and use it like a perfume I would.
They came out dark and gingerbread-ee . . . and very moist.  The glaze adds to their delightful spiciness.  You could of course just use a plain glaze if you wanted . . . or a lemon glaze, which would also be very good.  I, myself, loved the spiciness of the cinnamon glaze.

 

I added a little decoration of silver dragees, which I thought looked very festive.  You don't have to . . . glitter is nice, or candied ginger, or whatever floats your boat.  Even nothing would be fine.  I just wanted pretty.



The cakes were every bit as delicious as their fragrance.  Moist and wonderfully spiced.  They went down a real treat with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

 

*Gingerbread Baby Bundt Cakes with a Cinnamon Glaze*
Makes 12 mini cakes
Printable Recipe

Adapted from a recipe I discovered on These Peas Are Hollow, taken from La Cuisine d'Helene.  Fabulously spiced and moistly delish.

225g of plain flour (2 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
8 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled
120ml dark treacle
60ml golden syrup
(in North America, use 3/4 cup dark molasses)
145g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
1 large free range egg
125 ml buttermilk (1/2 cup)
125ml whole millk (1/2 cup)

For the glaze:
130g sifted icing sugar (1 cup)
3 to 4 TBS whole milk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Silver dragees or glitter to decorate (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 5.  Butter and flour 12 mini bundt pans.  Set aside.  (If you only have a six cup one, you will need to use it twice, cleaning and re-buttering and flouring again.)

Cream together the molasses, melted butter, syrups and sugar, until well blended using an electric whisk.  Whisk in the milk and buttermilk.  Whisk together the flour, soda, salt, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cocoa powder, cinnamon and ginger.  Beat this into the creamed mixture a bit at a time until smooth and just combined.  Divide the mixture equally amongst the prepared baking pan, filling no more than 3/4 full.  Bake for 20 minutes until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Tip out onto a wire rack to cool completely before proceeding.

Whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth.  Drizzle over top of the cakes.  Sprinkle with dragees or glitter if using.

Note:  The original recipe said that it made 24 mini bundt cakes.  They must have been much smaller than mine.  I got  12 using my pan, which is a six cup pan, each cake being about 4 inches across.

 

So here we are at Boxing Day.  Christmas . . . takes forever to arrive and then it is gone in a flash.  Trusting you all have a Merry one, with lots of yummy goodies and family, friends and love the whole day through.  My dinner pretty much tasted like cardboard, with this rotten cold I have had . . . but I can breathe this morning so things are definitely on the upturn!

 

Best part of yesterday was watching the grand-kiddos open their pressies on the ipad.  What a marvelous invention that is.  Just brilliant.  I wish that I could do that with all my grand babies, but alas . . . only one son with kids has an ipad.  C'est la vie!

 

To my way of thinking the best part of any roast dinner, Christmas or otherwise . . . is dealing with the inevitable leftovers.  I like to come up with different things to do with them . . . of course there is turkey curry and turkey pie, turkey casserole and the like . . . there is no end to the deliciousness that you can achieve with the leftovers. 



 This is a delicious rice dish that you can either cook fresh rice for or use pre-cooked packaged rice for.  You can serve it along side of your turkey curry or whatever . . . or you can add bits of your leftover roast turkey and ham to it and turn it into a main dish.  Whatever you choose to do I think you will find that it's easy, delicious and . . . quite different.



Today we're having roast ham with all of the trimmings as the Missionaries are coming over.  I do love to spoil them.  Whatever you are having today . . . I hope you enjoy.  Happy Boxing Day.

 

 *Curried Cranberry and Pistachio Rice*
Serves 6 as a tasty side dish
Printable Recipe

This recipe is great to use with freshly cooked rice or leftover cooked rice.  You can also add chopped leftover chicken, ham, pork, turkey or lamb for even more deliciousness. 

5 cups of cooked basamati rice
2 TBS coconut oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp dried thyme
a knob of butter
2 TBS medium curry powder
2 tsp soy sauce
2 TBS chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup shelled pistachio nuts,  coarsely chopped
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan.over medium low heat.  Add the pistachio nuts and cook, stirring until they begin to toast.  Add the butter, thyme, garlic and curry powder.  Cook until the mixture becomes very fragrant.  Add the chicken broth, soy sauce and the rice.  Stir well to combine, adding more broth if necessary to keep the rice moist.  Cook over medium high heat until heated through and the rice is hot.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the cranberries.  Remove from the heat and serve.

By the way, I've had a couple of comments lately that were quite negative.  One complaining that my Boulangere Potatoes were horrible and another saying the same thing about my Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.  This is my reply . . . Cooking is subjective and variable.  I simply cook what I think are good recipes and sound recipes and I show you MY results.   I invite you to try them out yourself.  I am not responsible for what happens in your kitchen, with your equipment, your cooking methods, or for your own personal tastes.  I simply show you my own experience and if it's a bad one, I will tell you . . . if it's a good one, likewise.  I apologize if you haven't had the same experience, but that is life.  We all see things from our own eyes.  I take pictures and I am not the best photographer in the world.  I just click and shoot.  The things I make look tasty because they are tasty.  I can't help it if you don't agree.  Taste is subjective too.  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Well, here we are Christmas Eve. How did that happen? It's crept up on us really quickly now, but you might just have time to fit in one more baking delight before night falls and the big day is upon us.   When I was growing up this cake was a family tradition that we all looked forward to every Christmas Celebration.

 

It is a recipe that my mother baked every year, and her mother before her, and probably her Grandmother did as well . . . it being a recipe handed down through the generations and carried on with love.  A beautiful example of thrift having come about during the War years when things like eggs, milk and butter were in short supply.



Yes . . . this cake is egg, milk and butter free.  There is white vegetable shortening in it, which over here means White Flora or Trex . . .  if you are not worried about the calories, lard and even bacon fat, which was judiciously saved for things just such as this can be used.



I'll wager the recipe is even older than that . . . it sounds like the type of thrifty cake that might have been baked in log cabins out on the prairies or in farm houses, for special occasions just such as Christmas . . .

Simple ingredients, simple measures . . . simple methods.   Fabulous taste and incredibly moist.  It's a dense cake, thick with raisins and spice and only too perfect for the holidays.

 

My mother always used the large seeded raisins, but they are very difficult to find today . . . and so we make do with what we have to work with.  It somehow never comes out tasting as good as the memory of my mom's tastes in my mind, but oh well . . .

 

There are a lot of things like that.  A slice of this sitting on a plate next to a warm cup of horlicks and spread with butter (I know . . . soooo hedonistic) whispers Christmas to my heart.  Thanks mum. 


 

*Mum's War Cake*
Makes one 9 inch round deep cake, or two large loaves
Printable Recipe

A deliciously moist fruited cake from the days of rationing when eggs and butter were in short supply.

300g soft light brown sugar ( 1 1/2 cups packed)
375ml of water ( 1 1/2 cups)
2 heaped dessertspoons of white vegetable shortening (1/2 cup)
230g of raisins ( 1 1/2 cups)
200g plain flour (2 cups)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder 

Combine the browns sugar, water, shortening and raisins in a medium sized saucepan.  Bring to the boil, then allow to boil for 3 minutes.  Take off the heat and allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2.  Butter and line a round deep baking tin with baking paper.  Butter the baking paper.  Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, soda, nutmeg, salt and baking powder.  Stir this into the cooled raisin mixture.  Mix until smooth.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.  Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until the cake is cooked through and solid, and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  It will still look fairly moist on top.  Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.  Once cold, wrap tightly and store in a tin overnight before serving.  Cut into wedges to serve.

Alternately if you are baking two loaves, butter and line the loaf tins with paper.  Butter the paper.  Divide the batter betwixt the two tins.  Bake as above  from 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the cakes are cooked through and a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre.  Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before flipping out and cooling completely on a wire rack.  Store as above.

This will keep for about 2 weeks, and freezes well for longer storage.

 

If you have ordered a Christmas Cook-booklet from me and it has not arrived, please check your junkmail folder or add my e-mail address to your accepted list.  Please know that I always send them within, at the very most,  several hours of you ordering them and if you have not received it, then something is amiss.  Many thanks for your custom and a very Merry Christmas to you all.  If you have not purchased one yet, do so today as tomorrow I will be discontinuing it's sale for the year.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

These are the shortbread biscuits I should have made the other day, instead of trying that other recipe out which failed abysmally.   This is my "go-to" recipe for shortbread biscuits.  It never fails me, ever . . .

 

Normally I make them with only candied ginger and I drizzle them with melted dark chocolate, but today I fancied something a little bit different . . . something festive!

 

With the green and red colours of Christmas and a tiny snap of Ginger . . . dried Cranberries, Pistachio Nuts and the ginger worked so very well together . . . and I thought were quite pretty.

 

The white chocolate drizzle was a very pretty touch.  Altogether these were . . .

QUITE QUITE FABULOUS!!

 

Truly.  I would not lie. These are very Merry Christmas Biscuits!  Short and crumbly . . . rich and buttery . . . with tantalizing flecks of tasty red, green and spicy gold througout.  I used my Pampered Chef chopper to chop everything nicely.  I just spritzed the blade with some non stick cooking spray first.  Worked like a charm.

 

It all worked like a charm. The colours, the flavours, the textures.  All good.  I love it when that happens.

 


 *Cranberry, Ginger and Pistachio Shortbread Biscuits*
Makes about 5 dozen
Printable Recipe

A delicious variation on an old holiday favourite!

225g unsalted butter, softened (1 cup)
65g sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup)
2 TBS finely chopped dried cranberries
2 TBS finely chopped candied ginger
2 TBS finely chopped pistachio nuts
1/4 tsp salt
200g plain flour (2 cups)

90g white chocolate chips melted (1/2 cup)

 

Preheat the oven to 300*C/150*F/ gas mark 2.  Line a couple of baking sheets with baking paper.  Set aside.

Cream the butter ad sugar together in a bowl util light and fluffy.  Stir in the salt, berries, ginger and nuts.  Gradually stir in the flour until well combined.  Roll out between two sheets of greaseproof paper, to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes using a sharp metal cookie cutter.  Place onto the lined baking sheets, leaving some space inbetween cookies.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until light golden.  Scoop off and cool on a wire rack.  Repeat until all the dough is used, re-rolling scraps as necessary.

Once all the biscuits have been baked and cooled, melt the chocolate chips according to the package directions.  Drizzle decoratively over top of the shortbread biscuits.  Allow to set before storing in an airtight container.

 

I think I found my Christmas Baking Mojo today . . .  I've spent the whole day immersed in sugar and flour and eggs and Christmas Carols . . . as memories of Christmas Past played around in my head like sugar plums.  Christmas has landed, and not a moment too soon!



My mother didn't bake an awful lot at Christmas time when we were growing up but we could always rely on a few things that she would bake each year . . . it was the only time we would have these baked treats, and we all looked forward to them.  I plan on sharing them with you over the next few days.  I am sure you all have in your main ingredients for your Christmas Lunch (dinner) and so these posts are just for fun.  You may see something that may inspire you to bake an additional treat at the last minute, or you may not.

 

These Feather Squares are exceptional and something that if you were to ask each of us what our favourite Christmas Treat is they would be if not at the top, very close to the top of the goodie list, their only drawback being that they are not something which keeps for very long.  Usually only about a day or two at the most.  They are fabulous though, and it just would not have been Christmas in our home without them . . . and even today I find myself wanting to bake them sometime during the last day or two before Christmas.

 

Really I should keep them for baking on Christmas Eve . . . but the child in me just cannot wait to dig into them.  You have a traditional plain buttery sponge cake base . . . baked until golden brown, but still moist, and then slathered all over with sweet raspberry jam . . . (Oh I do love my jam!)  Then the jam layer is covered with a beautiful marshmallow-like soft meringue, and sprinkled with flaked coconut.



Banged back into the oven to brown the coconut and meringue . . . so that it looks like a field of  downy feathers . . . lightly browned and covering a fluffy blanket of snow . . . covering that jammy field of cake deliciousness.

 

Altogether . . . quite, quite blissful . . . and festive.

It just would NOT be Christmas in our home without them.  A tradition we can not give up.  Hoping that you will give them a go and enjoy them as well.



*Mom's Christmas Feather Squares*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

When I was growing up, I knew that when these delicious bars were in the larder, Christmas could not be too far behind.  Christmas was the only time my mother made these and we certainly looked forward to seeing them every year.  A moist and delicious cake type base covered with sweet raspberry preserves and a lovely meringue topped with toasted coconut on top make these holiday winners!

4 TBS butter, softened
3 large eggs, the whites and yolks carefully separated and put into two different bowls
1 cup sugar, divided (190g, in two lots of 95g each)
2 TBS milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup flour (140g)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup raspberry preserves (4 large dessertspoonfuls)
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut (75g)



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F.  Lightly butter an 8 inch square baking pan and dust with flour.  Set aside.

Cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Stir in the vanilla.  sift together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt.  Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, mixing together until smooth.  Spread this mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake in the heated oven for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and the top springs back when lightly touched.  Remove from the oven and immediately spread with the raspberry jam.  

Beat the egg whites until foamy.  Continue to beat, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar slowly until the mixture it stiff and glossy.  Spread this over the top of the jam and sprinkle with the coconut.  Return to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and the coconut is toasty.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into squares with a wet knife. 

 

When the children were growing up I used to spend weeks and weeks baking ahead for Christmas.  There would be seemingly no end to the goodies I prepared.   Cookies, squares, tea breads and cakes . . . mince pies.  Then there would be fudge and peanut butter balls, butter tarts, logs . . . each one being a labor of love and wrapped tenderly after baking . . .  and then frozen in preparation for the big day.



We always had lots of family around for the holidays and I liked to gift special friends with some of the goodies as well, and had a lot of people that would drop in over the holidays . . . so it all got used.  |Nothing ever went to waste.



Now there is just the two of us . . . and not much call for a lot of Christmas baking.  There are still a few things I like to make though, which we will enjoy a portion of and the rest be gifted out.  It's nice to gift people with Christmas baking . . . and is always well received and appreciated.



I tend to pick and choose these days when it comes to my Christmas baking.  I love the spicy things most of all . . . mince pies, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake . . . and these tasty little bar cookies.  Hermit Cookies . . . delicately spiced, moist and chewy.

 

This particular version are baked as logs which are then cut into bars.  Oh so tender and moist and filled with lots of chopped sultanas and candied ginger root.  Easy to make and quick to do as well, as you bake them as an entire log and then cut them into bars after baking, cooling and drizzling with a tangy lemon or orange glaze.

 

Moist and chewy from the fruit, they are a real treat during the holidays!  I enjoyed a few this afternoon with a nice hot cup of herbal candy cane tea in my new tea mug . . . and early gift to myself from Susan Branch.   Somehow I think it added to the tastiness of my afternoon break.

 

I just love the holidays, don't you??

 

*Hermit Cookies*
Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies
Printable Recipe

Chewy and incredibly moist.  The best hermit cookie ever. You need to start these the day before you plan on baking them, so plan accordingly.

150g of sultana raisins (1 cup)
2 TBS crystallized Ginger-root, finely chopped
8 TBS unsalted butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
200g plain flour (2 cups)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g of soft dark brown sugar
75ml of golden syrup
75ml of dark treacle
(For these you can substitute an equal amount of mild molasses, 125ml or 1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs

For the glaze:
1 1/2 TBS lemon or orange juice
100g of icing sugar, sifted (3/4 cup)

 

Place the butter in a saucepan and heat over medium low heat until it is nut brown in color, swirling occasionally.  Don't let it burn.  Add the cinnamon and all spice.  Heat until it is fragrant.  Set aside to cool. 

Place the sultanas and ginger root into the bowl of your food processor.  Blitz until they are finely chopped, and the mixture begins to stick together.  They should be only small pieces.  Stir in the butter mixture.  Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, soda, salt and brown sugar in a large bowl, breaking up any lumps in the sugar.   Beat the eggs and syrup/treacle into the butter mixture.  Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir together until well combined.  The mixture will be quite sticky.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.  I like to leave it overnight.

The next day, preheat your oven to `80*C/350*F/ gas mark 5.  Line two large baking sheets with baking parchment.  Divide the chilled dough into 4 equal sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a 10 inch long log with your hands, on top of a lightly floured surface.  Place two logs each on one of the lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until only a shallow indentation remains on the edges when lightly touched.  Switch and rotate the baking sheets after 10 minutes.  They should still look soft in the centre.  Allow to cool on the baking sheets for five minutes, then slip the parchment off onto wire racks and allow to cool completely.

Whisk the glaze ingredients together until smooth and drizzable.  Drizzle over the cookie logs.  Allow to set and harden.   Cut the logs into 2 inch bars.  Store in an airtight container for up to five days at room temperature.