Fall is upon us. The weather has taken a turn and cooler air is beginning to blow in. It feels like I blinked and all of the trees in our neighbourhood have changed from green leaves to shades or oranges and yellows. Our yard and sidewalks are filled with the crunchy fallen leaves, blowing in from the nearby neigbours and parks. Now is the time for warm drinks, warm dinners and warm flavours. Tea, stews, cinnamon, warm soups, fresh-from-the-oven treats...this time of year calls to these treats and tastes. I find myself feeling nostalgic as I walk outside during this season, with the wind wipping my hair around even as the sun beats down on my skin. This is my favorite time of year. Like a squirrel preparing for winter, I too am collecting nuts and burrying them for when the weather turns cold and bitter and I need a quick meal. Instead of nuts, I am preparing foods for the freezer, where I hide my precious meals under the cover of foil, each carefully marked with labels and instructions. Nesting, I believe is the correct term. I am nesting.
The cold weather gets my brain churning and obsessing over fresh baking and all things spicy. Items that are perfect for sharing (i.e. sending home with family and friends) and dishes that I can freeze in batches are prefered.
For a few weeks now, I have been craving ginger cookies. Not just any ginger cookies, but soft chewy ones with a strong ginger flavour. My dad used to make the best ones and are in my grade-school cookbook called Muriel's Molasses Crinkle Cookies. On a side note, did you know that there is a book called World Famous Muriel, in which the child hero is a girl named Muriel who is obsessed with peanut butter cookies. I loved this book as a kid since my name was pretty rare, even though back then I didn't like peanut butter. I would absolutely love to get my hands on a copy of these books, but they seem to be impossible to find (Christmas present hint, ahem, lol). I found a molasses cookie recipe in my recipe box and compared it to one I found on Allrecipes.com and they were identical so I figured my odds were good.
I mixed up the dough in my food processor. Sticky sticky dough. Yuk. I added more flour to try and get the dough to be thicker, but nothing was working so I stuck the dough into the fridge to maybe harden a little.
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Molasses cookie dough |
The dough didn't get any less sticky so I grudgingly worked with it as it was. Attemping to shape it into a ball and roll it in sugar proved less than fun and soon my hands were covered in the mess. Tasty mess though.
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Sticky cookie dough |
After some fighting with the dough, I flattened out the walnut sized balls and popped them into the oven. I'm a fan of chewy cookies, so if this is what you like, be sure to watch them like a hawk and take them out before they get brown.
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Flattened raw cookies |
The cookies look alright, but not as I remembered them. They weren't dark enough. Also, the should have had striations through them. That was the Crinkle part. Hmm, suspiscious. Also, they didn't smell strong enough. I tasted one. Disappointment. The cookies were tasty but not what I had been looking for. When you are craving a childhood treat, it needs to taste exactly the same. C's brother was over helping him frame our basement which is half of why I decided on the timing for making these, he also loves ginger cookies. He left before they were ready so I dropped off a ziplock of them in his mailbox the next night while walking the dog. All the cookies were eaten, and were tasty, but I will need to make another batch. After talking to my dad, I had the wrong recipe! The one I needed used raisins. Next time.
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Big soft ginger cookie |
Next on the autumn baking list: biscotti. Not only are biscotti typically lower calories than most cookies, but they just demand to be served with a steaming mug of hot tea or coffee. Biscotti are also an impressively simple cookie to make and perfect for sharing. My first go-to is always my almond-cranberry version. I believe it's from Allrecipes.ca so you'll be able to find out how to make these little gems with a simple search.
The dough is fairly basic and simply. Biscotti is best mixed by hand and should be a stiff dough. Almond extract gives the cookie it's main flavour. From this point on, you could use any add-ins that you want, or simply swap out the almond extract for another flavour. Ideas: almond extract, shredded coconut and diced candied pineapple as add-ins. Vanilla extract with chopped apricot and white chocolate. Just typing this and I want to go make another batch!
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Biscotti dough |
The add-ins for this recipe are cranberries and I've added in some orange zest. The orange zest needed for this recipe was only about 1/4 of the orange's skin. I decided to zest the whole thing and freeze the leftovers in a Tupperware for another use. I saved the rest of the orange for eating.
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Biscotti getting the cranberries and orange added to the dough |
Sticky dough, yes, I know. not our favorite. The trick is to wet your hands with cold water, shake them off, and then pick up the dough. Carefully shape the biscotti dough into long thin logs, about 1/2" thick.
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Biscotti dough pre-baking |
Pop those babies into the oven until golden. This is the first baking step of your cookies. You could absolutely eat these now after they are cut up, but to get a true crisp biscotti, the cookies require a second baking cycle, to dry them out.
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First baking |
Slice up the logs into biscotti shaped biscuits with a sharp knife, once the baked dough is cooled.
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Sliced biscotti |
Once the cookies are sliced into their proper sizes, the cookies need to be put back onto a baking sheet, sliced sizes up and down. Put these back into the oven for another 5-7 minutes per side (sometimes this is done at a lower temperature to dry out the cookie vs browning them too much).
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Cranberry orange almond biscotti |
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my soup recipes |
Since both of the recipes needed chopped carrots and onions, I prepped these first to be sauteed. At first glance, it would appear that I was making 2 large pots of the same soup. It's convenient that the base ingredients are the same and that both soups are simply and quick to prepare.
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Prep the carrots |
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Chopped onions, cooking until fragrant |
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carrots and onion, ready for the next steps |
Lentil soup first. Once the base ingredients are soft, then some garlic is added and cooked. A cup of lentils are added and stirred in, cooked for another 10 minutes before adding in chicken stock, wine/water, a can of spicy chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and thyme. Simmer.
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Lentil soup, simmering |
Now, for the pea soup. This one is even easier. A package of dried green peas, salt, pepper, some chicken and beef stock. Simmer.
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Pea soup simmering |
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lentil soup before blending |
The pea soup is now ready as well. You can tell by how puffy and soft the green peas have gotten. The same things happen to lentils. If the soup you are making looks too thick and has evapourated too much of its liquid, add in some more stock.
The sweet cookie smell in the kitchen had long since been replaced by a warm savoury hearty smell of vegetable soups.
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Pea soup, almost ready. |
While I am sure these soups would be tasty as they are (hmm, in fact, I might try them just as they are next time I make them for a chunkier style soup/vegetable stew), these soups call to be blended. We now own a new very cute blender, but my prefered method for doing soups is to leave them in their original pots and use an emersion blender to smooth the soup. Lucky me, my emersion blender is also a highly adorable colour. Ah, what a beautiful sight! Two large pots of very different tasting soups, steaming on my stove-top. What a perfect way to welcome in fall. Once these soups cooled down, I divided these batches in half and froze them in leftover ice cream containers. The rest, I enjoyed over the week as part of my lunch at work. Soups are the ultimate comfort food. I suggest on the next evening this week with some cool bite to it, that you made your own large pot of warmth for yourself and your family.
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Lentil and pea soup |
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