Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Yummy! These were delicious! Will definitely make them again. From Martha Stewart Christmas magazine.

7 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup granulated sugar


Directions


1.Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.



2.In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.


3.In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.


4.Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Christmas cards

I usually buy the holiday editions of the Martha Stewart magazines. In this years Christmas special I saw some Christmas cards that looked easy and not too cheesy.

Martha Stewart made it sound a lot easier than it is. The way it was explained in the magazine was simply lay a branch down on top of green construction paper and coat with spray paint. I tried this, the power of the spray paint blew the branches all over the place and I could hardly see the imprint of the branch at all. So my advice would be the follow the following instructions:

you will need:
green construction paper
blank cards & envelopes
spray paint
glue
glitter glue
branches
pins


-cut green (or any colour) construction paper down to the size you want
-lay them out on a surface you don't mind getting spray paint on
-using straight pins pin down the branches (I used 3 to 5 per branch)
-coat them with spray paint

-after they dry you can glue them on to blank cards, I used white, next time I think I might try grey

-you could just leave the cards that way, I choose to add glitter to them

Now I just have to write on them!

Felted Sweater Pillow

I remember felting wool in design school and I am not really sure what reminded me of this, but it seemed like I could turn this into a Christmas gift. I decided to try and make a pillow cover this way.





You will need:


1 wool sweat (100% wool)
Buttons
Pillow or pillow form (I just used an old pillow)
Needle & thread or sewing machine



First thing you want to do is wash the sweater, you want to put it in hot water in the washing machine, an not on the gentle cycle. Also throw it in the dryer. This should sufficiently felt the sweater.

Next I cut the sweater apart and squared out the pieces to make it into two equal squares of fabric. I chose to attach the two pieces together and make a centre back seam on the pillow, I did this to take advantage of the contrast binding on the hem of the pillow. If you want you could just make regular side seams instead.

I tried sewing the seams together on the machine but it was a bit thick, I ended up sewing some on the machine and some by hand. I then measured out where I wanted the buttons to go (I chose 3 different buttons, I thought it went with the folky feel of the intarsia pattern on the sweater) and the coordinating button holes. I tried to finish the button holes using a blanket stitch but you can’t really see the stitching. I may just leave them as raw cut button holes, it shouldn’t fray so this should be OK.

 I attached the button holes by hand, try and make a shank on the buttons since the fabric is so thick. You can do this by putting a tooth pick or a pin under the button while you are sewing, this will make sure the button is not so tight on the fabric. And then before tying off the button wrap the thread around the base of it a few times to tighten this up.

I think it looks pretty good. I would like to try a solid coloured cabled sweater next.

Turning Records into Bowls

Another gift idea I saw using records was Record Bowls, this was actually a lot easier then I thought. I was a bit scared that I might blow up the house but that didn’t happen.




You will need:


As many records as you want
2 oven safe bowls approximately 9” in diameter
1 cookie sheet
Rubber gloves
Oven mitts
1 medium size can of anything (just to use as weight)
Heat oven to 200 degrees


Turn one of the bowls upside down on the cookie sheet, centre the record over top of it, then place in the oven for about 5 minutes. When you see the record drooping sufficiently take it out of the oven. I found it better to take the oven mitts off and put on rubber gloves here. Some instructions said to use the oven mitts, or some showed people using their bare hands. Do what ever suits you but the record is hot.


You have to work quickly while the record is hot, if it cools to much you can put it back in the oven another minute or two. Next flip the record over and start playing with the shape with your hands. Once I was happy with the shape I placed it in the second bowl and put the can in the middle to weigh it down. Leave it like this for 5-10 minutes until it cools.

Making a Record Clock

I am trying to be creative and make as many of my gifts as I can this year. I have lots of plans, but we will see how many I will actually make! The first one I made this year was a record clock. I was looking up ideas online, spent a lot of time googling “home made gifts”, and this was one I saw that looked simple.



Record clock

You will need:


1 record
1 clock
glue gun
Picture hanger

Also using the glue gun I attached a picture hanger to the top back and the clock so that it is easy to fasten it to the wall. Pretty easy and looks good. You could add numbers to the clock if you wanted. I think this is a good gift for a guy or a student.

 

I picked up some old records and a thrift store and then I tried a few different discount stores to find a clock with hands that I liked and that was reasonably priced. I took the clock a part keeping only the hands and the motor. Using my glue gun I attached the motor to the back side of the record and then reattached the hands.

Wedding Reception- some of the recipes

Tarragon Potato Salad

2 lbs baby potatoes
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tblspns fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tblspns tarragon vinegar (or white wine)
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 tblspns chopped green onions
3 tblspns mined red onion
2 tblspns minced fresh tarragon leaves (this could be replaced with basil or parsley as well)
2 tblspns minced fresh dill

Simmer the potatoes in water for 15-30 minutes or until tender. Drain potatoes and place to the side.

Mix together mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the potatoes in a large bowl. Allow this to sit for approximately 30 minutes before serving. You can even make it the night before and refrigerate, just let it sit out to come up to room temperature. Add the green onions, red onion, tarragon and dill before serving.

Green Salad

For the green salad we kept it pretty simple, using mixed greens and fresh fruit mostly.

1 box/bag mixed greens
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1/3 of a red onion thinly sliced
2 handfuls of blueberries
1 doz sliced strawberries

And because we were trying to save time and because it is local, we used "Okanagan Wineland Dressings" the roasted garlic and balsamic vinegar kind.

http://www.wineland.ca/



Quinoa Salad

2 cups vegetable broth
1 clove garlic
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 large red onion, diced

1 large red pepper bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives (I like to buy the fresh unpitted olives to make it easier)

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh mixed herbs (I think we used basil, but you can add chives, parsley)
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil




 Bring the broth and garlic to a boil in a saucepan, add the quinoa, reduce heat to low and put the cover on the pot,  simmer until the quinoa is tender and the broth has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Place the quinoa in a large bowl. Stir in the onion, pepper, olives, feta cheese, and herbs. Drizzle with  balsamic vinegar, and olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste.


Salmon




The salmon part of the dinner was very simple, we just grilled the salmon on foil on the BBQ. Before grilling we drizzled the salmon with lemon and dill and some fresh ground pepper.



We also made a simple sauce using plain yogurt and dill to be drizzled on top. Sorry, not much of a recipe, but for 1 salmon I would probably use 1/2 cup of yogurt and about a tsp of dried dill, or more of fresh. If you want to add a bit more flavor to the sauce you can add about 1 tsp of dijon mustard for every half cup of yogurt.

Do it Yourself Wedding Reception- menus

Because we didn't hire a caterer we wanted the meal to be simple and not too time consuming, but delicious of course. And pairing well with wine and then venue were important too. For appetizers, meat and cheese platters seemed ideal. This is really an easy thing to do and it looks great and doesn't require a lot of work.

I also collected wooden cutting boards and wooden and metal bowls from friends and family to be used to lay everything out. I found chalkboard tags at a craft store and those were perfect for labelling everything.

The main part of dinner was pretty simple, it consisted of:

-corn on the cob
-buns
-green salad
-quinoa salad
-potato salad
-pork tenderloin
-grilled salmon
-steaks

Everything was done on the BBQ and served in warming dishes buffet style. Recipes to follow.

DIY Reception- dessert & pie pedestals

In keeping with the Okanagan theme we thought that pies would suit our even a lot more than cake. Considering it was August in the Okanagan we knew all kinds of local fruit would be available, making pies even more ideal. Craig's Aunt very generously volunteered to take on making the pies. The pies were delicious, and a hit!

I didn't want to just lay the pies out on a table, I wanted some form of presentation. So another item I saw on the BHLDN website came to mind. The treat pedestals.

http://www.bhldn.com/the-shop_decor_tabletop/galvanized-treat-pedestal

But for $38-48 dollars I figured I could make them myself. I looked around a few thrift stores for old pie plates and small tin buckets. I lucked out with the pie plates but I didn't find any buckets. I ended up finding those at dollar stores and kitchen stores.

To make them look old I washed the buckets and pans in the dishwasher a couple times first. This helped give some of them and etched/rusted look.

To attach the pie plate to the bucket we punched a hole in the middle of both using a nail and a hammer. Then using a flat topped screw attached the two together.

DIY Reception- wood mobiles

In looking for decoration ideas a friend suggested I check out http://www.bhldn.com/ . I loved a lot of their decoration ideas, but didn't love the prices so much. A favorite was the driftwood garland. I decided to try and make a few and hand them up in the trees and off the deck.

http://www.bhldn.com/the-shop_decor_decorating/driftwood-garland

The driftwood was easy to collect from the beach, or even in the water. We then drilled small holes in the wood and strung them up. The first couple were done with twine, but one broke in the wind and I was worried about the twine rotting over time. We switched to wire for the last few, this is much more durable. Another thing I found was that it is ideal to have several small pieces of driftwood that act as spacers, you almost don't see them when it is finished but they make the bigger pieces hang better and gives the mobile more length.

DIY Reception- the bar

The bar was another important part of the reception, we knew this is where people would be congregating at the beginning of the night for sure. Just like everything else we wanted the bar to feel like it belonged on the beach. We started with something that is already part of the location, a swing, we removed the swing, keeping the frame and turned it into the bar. And looking around the cabin we found several other parts of the bar- some old wooden skies, an old piece of drift wood that became the bar sign...

Then we added a few other things we had been collecting. More jars for a tip jar, old drawers to hold lemons and limes, straws for cocktails and of course the spicy beans.

The other unique part of the bar was the cocktail glasses. We didn't want to rent glasses, we wanted something that fit the whole orchard/winery theme, so we settled on more mason jars. We collected them from garage sales, thrift stores, value village and a great find on craigslist. And part of doing everything yourself means you don't have a lot of staff, so to save on dish washing we wanted people to hang onto their glasses as long as possible. So we came up with the idea of people decorating their jars.

 I think overall the bar was a hit. Oh, did I mention the bath tubs, who needs coolers when you have bath tubs? I don't think I have a picture of them filled with ice and beer but here they are.

We also wanted our guests to have a place to put down their drinks while they mingled, maybe played a little croquet, bocce ball or just chatted. We debated renting bar tables but I was worried they would look out of place. We decided our ideal would be to get wine barrels as cocktail tables, considering we spend a lot of time in wine country we figured this would be easy but the prices were not so agreeable. In the end we just decided to ask sweetly at one of our favorite wineries if they would mind lending us some for a day or two. And they did! Thanks Road 13! (they also provided the the dinner white and red, a definite favorite!)

Do it Yourself Wedding Reception- centre pieces

When Craig and I decided to get married we wanted it to be easy, fun and have a lot of personal touches. Neither of us wanted a lot of fuss, or a lot of speeches or really anything relating to a traditional wedding.

In the end we went to Mexico and got married, that was easy. We could pick the sunset ceremony, the garden ceremony or the indoor ceremony... We picked sunset on the beach of course, kind of seemed like the whole point in going to Mexico. It was a lot of fun and not a lot of planning for us.

We decided since we planned Mexico in less then 3 months and not all of our family and friends could come that we wanted to do a local reception. It ended up being another beach event at our family cabin in Penticton. Just as beautiful as Mexico, but not as easy! We wanted to do most of it ourselves, partly to save money and partly for the personal touches. I thought I would share some of what we did here. We had a loose theme, mostly we wanted things that complimented the location and didn't take a way from the natural beauty of the location. So based on our love of the Okanagan and all the orchards and wineries that surround the cabin we tried to bring that feeling to the beach.

 Let's start with the centre pieces. I wanted something simple, and no flowers. Since there is no existing lighting in the yard at the cabin I figured candles were necessary. I collected different sized mason jars to be the main portion of the centre pieces. Each table was to have 3 jars, 2 with sand and candles, 1 full of wine corks.

Simple but it worked. I have now continued to use some of them at home on the dinner table or on window sills.

Spicy Green Beans

As a kid I remember my Mom drinking Caesars, I thought they were gross, I think it had something to do with the clam juice. Who would want to drink clam nectar? That sounds so unappetizing. Anyhow, now I like them. Not really sure what changed my dislike of Caesars but I seem to remember it happening sometime around the time I started dating Craig. I particularly enjoy drinking one at the cabin by the lake, what better is there to do at 2pm on vacation on a hot summer afternoon? To make the ideal Caesar I think you need to have spicy beans. Craig thinks a pepperoni stick or some beef jerky is needed as well but I am good with just a couple great spicy beans.

I decided to try canning them last year and they were a hit. I made another batch this spring to have some for our reception and then again this fall with some friends. The recipe is pretty simple so try it if you would like.

You will need:

-12 x 500 ml canning jars (make sure you get new lids, old ones can not be reused)
-canning tools (canning tongs make the job so much easier, I found a package deal at the grocery store that includes the tongs and a magnetic tool to fish the lids out of the hot water as well as a couple other useful tools, definitely worth the purchase)
-lots of towels and cloths

4.4 lbs green beans
4.4 lbs yellow beans
(I have also put in some asparagus with the beans to mix it up)
4 large red peppers
6 cups white vinegar
6 cups water
6 tbsp pickling salt
12-36 hot chili peppers
36 peppercorns
6 tsp dill seed
12 large garlic cloves, halved (I use more)

You need to boil the jars in a large canner (or pot)  to sterilize them. Set up a separate smaller pot to heat the sealing disc portion of the lid, keep these warm but not boiling. Keep the water in the canner simmering while you pack the jars otherwise it can take a long time to bring back to a boil.

Wash and trim beans, core and seed pepper and cut into long strips. Peel garlic cloves, slice in half and set aside.

In a large pot combine vinegar, water and salt, bring to a boil. Add beans and peppers and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.

In each hot jar place 1 to 3 chili peppers, 3 peppercorns, 1/2 tsp dill seed and a couple of pieces of garlic. Pack in the beans and pepper strips, try and leave 3/4" head space at the top of the jar. I have trimmed the beans at this point as sometimes you get some extra long ones or they just aren't the length of your jar. Try and pack the beans as tightly as possible. Add hot liquid to cover the beans, leave 1/2 head space to the top of the jar. Remove air bubbles and wipe rim of jar to remove any food or vinegar water. Place ceiling disc and rim on jar, screw until finger tip tight (you do not need to use a lot of pressure).

Once you have enough jars to fill the canner ensure that all the jars are covered by at least 1" of water, you may need to add or remove water. Place lid on canner and bring to a boil, ensure that the water is bubbling before setting the timer (a rolling boil), boil for 10 minutes.

Remove jars from canner with out tilting, place them upright on a protected surface (a couple of tea towels will do). Let jars sit while you finish your other cans if they didn't all fit in the canner at once. You do not need to re tighten the lids even though you will probably notice they have loosened.

After the jars have cooled press lightly on the middle of the lid, they shouldn't move or pop. If you remove your finger from the centre of the lid and it pops back up it means that jar did not seal. You may even hear the lids suck down while the jars are cooling. If any of the jars did not seal they are still use able you just need to refrigerate them. They will last in the fridge just as long as you keep any other pickled item.