Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Weekend Before The New Year

If you are familiar with Russian culture, then you would know that the New Year is the biggest holiday here. During  Soviet times since Christmas was not permitted, New Years took it's place.
"Ded Moroz" (Father Frost) comes to deliver presents with his grandaughter, "Snegerochka" on New Year's Eve.

Yesterday I had to go the market (reenok) and buy my produce, chicken, and other items. It was insane outside on the streets. Lots of people shopping, coming home from work early (yesterday was an official work day since most will have the week off next week), and lots of excited kids setting off small firecrackers! I really enjoy all the craziness though and I love seeing the hustle and bustle of the city.

Traffic was at a standstill....it took me forever to get there on transport
I should have just walked!


 


Lots of people were out shopping for their "yolka" (Christmas 
tree). I saw several people carrying one home, or on top of
their vehicles.



 When I came home from shopping, I got busy baking little breads
to pass out at church today.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Gingerbread Houses

This year we decided to make gingerbread houses! We've never done them together as a family. Actually, Jojo is the only one who's ever made one and that was at a birthday party. IKEA had kits to build them so I bought a couple from there. They were reasonably priced but didn't include any candy or frosting. Thankfully my friend Heather told me to make sure I use icing cement to build the houses and the cement icing worked out great! A couple of my friends posted on Facebook their frustrations with building the houses. One friend hot glued the house together. Another friend used string to keep the house together.



Jon helped Nathan out and I helped Jojo.



I love how they turned out!




Jon made a cute little snowman out of the icing......Nathan 
could not resist the snowman and every chance he had, he
was always picking at it. Just the other day, Jon finally let him
eat the snowman!




One day Nathan got real upset at Jojo about something and punched
a hole into the roof. The second he did it, he broke down crying
because he knew he did something wrong. He was so repentant 
about it. Thankfully, Jojo didn't get too upset about it. 

I think we'll be making gingerbread houses every year from now on!




Tuesday, December 25, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Chocolate Peanut Butter and Caramel Club Bars

Merry Christmas! I trust everyone had a blessed day. It's already the day after Christmas here in Russia and we had a great day celebrating the birth of our Savior. This is the last day of Christmas Cookies and this is by far one of my favorite recipes.

Choclate, Peanut Butter and Caramel Club Bars

Club Crackers
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (melted)

1. Place club crackers in the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan that's been lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 cup peanut butter chips on crackers.

2. Melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium high heat stirring constantly for 4 minutes until bubbly, smooth and creamy caramel forms. Pour 1/2 cup or so of caramel over peanut butter chips then add another layer of crackers, peanut butter chips and caramel. Top with one final layer of crackers then spread with melted chocolate.


The picture doesn't do this bar justice......but they are delicious! I'm looking forward to the New Year and trying to take off all the weight I gained from the twelve days of all these cookies!!!

Monday, December 24, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Peppermint Bark

I made peppermint bark for the first time last year and fell in love! I love the mixture of chocolate and white chocolate. I also love chocolate and peppermint together. So, I can't get peppermint extract or candy canes here so those are things I ask people to send us.


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I couldn't find the recipe from last year so I basically created my own using a few different recipes. Really though, how hard is it to melt two kinds of chocolate?

Peppermint Bark

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate,chopped(I used milk and semi-sweet)
12 ounces white chocolate,chopped (Most recipes called for 16 ounces but 12 was enough)
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (All recipes called for 1 1/2 tsp but I think 1 is enough)
 Crushed candy canes

Prepare a 13 x 9 pan with aluminum foil, you can spray the foil very, very, very lightly with cooking spray. I used one of those rubber pans......not too sure what the proper name is! I melted the milk and semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave. Every 30 seconds I took the glass bowl out and stirred. It took me about 1 minute 20 seconds to get it all melted. Then stir in 1 teaspoon peppermint extract. Spread over prepared pan. Stick in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.

Then I melted the white chocolate the same way I melted the regular chocolate. The white chocolate took about 1 minute 10 seconds. Always use a glass bowl when melting white chocolate. I once used a plastic bowl and it did not work!! I think the heat doesn't penetrate well enough through plastic. Spread the white chocolate over the regular chocolate. Then sprinkle the crushed candy cane. I only used 1 1/2 candy canes......since they are a precious commodity here! Stick it in the fridge again. I left mine over night to get hard enough. Then I took it out this morning and broke it off into small pieces. It's currently sitting by a cold window sill.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

12 Days Of Christmas Cookies- Sugar Cookies

Yesterday we all decorated sugar cookies. We all get the same number of cookies to decorate and we can decorate them however we want. I just let the kids have fun with it. I'd like to one day try decorating them nicely with royal icing......maybe next year!?





Brown Eyed Baker's sugar cookies are my go to recipe. I've searched high and lo for a decent recipe and so far this one works the best for me. You can go here for the recipe.


And here's Jojo back in 2008 decorating Christmas sugar cookies......

 

Friday, December 21, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Double Chocolate Raspberry Filled Cupcakes

Tonight we have a Christmas party to go to. I'll be making 3 appetizers and a dessert. I've been wanting to make these cupcakes for a while now and so I thought I'd give it a shot. They were time consuming and if I did them again I would double the raspberry filling because there wasn't quite enough to fill the cupcakes as much as I would have liked!

Every Christmas my mother-in-law sends us a Christmas package full of goodies and this year she included these cute cupcake Christmas picks! Looks so festive.

You can find the recipe for these cupcakes at Annie Eats. And if you click there, you'll see that my cupcakes don't look anything like hers! I had some problems with my ganache!!!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Holiday Squares

This recipe today comes from Jon's Grandma's Methodist Cookbook. I make these every Christmas season because they're called "Holiday Squares". It's super easy to make. The recipe calls for can pie filling but since I can't get that here in Russia I just use frozen cherries that I defrost. They work out great and bake well.

Holiday Squares
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup oleo (isn't that funny, I guess it's shortening)
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 can cherry pie filling

Gradually add sugar to shortening and beat until it looks like whipped cream. Add eggs one at a time; beat well. Add flour and lemon juice. Pour into greased pan. Mark off squares with knife. Put 1 tablespoon filling in center of each square. Bake. When cool, drizzle some powdered sugar glaze over the top.


Since we can't get shortening here, I just use margarine.

Throughout this cookbook there are silly sayings. The silly saying after this recipe says : "Laughter is one of the greatest helps of digestion." Hmmm......interesting!!


Thankfully, there are only 4 days left of my twelve days of cookies! 'Tis the season!!!
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12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Monkey Bread

Another non-cookie item but I had 4 extra kids over yesterday and so I needed some real yummy that everyone would love. Even though making monkey bread from scratch is quite a lot of work it is really worth it at the end!


As you can see 6 kiddos can really do a lot of damage to a monkey bread. I wanted to get pictures of the boys and their friends chowing down but by the time I remembered to get my camera they were all out of the room!

I use The Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for monkey bread . Everything I bake from that blog turns out great! I have yet to be disappointed. 

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Peanut Butter Blossoms

Today is the half-way point! Yay! I don't think my waistline can handle all these cookies anymore. I asked my husband if he had a special request and he instantly answered the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kisses on top. Unfortunately we can't get Hershey's kisses here so instead I used a plain dark chocolate bar. And this past year my favorite grocery store stopped selling peanut butter (insert huge gasp here). Thankfully my darling friend Heather shared a big jar of peanut butter with me.



I got my recipe from The Hershey's Kitchens .



                                      And here's my cute hubby and I. This is when we were newlyweds.

Monday, December 17, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Sugar and Spice Cookies

I really can't remember where I got this recipe but it's one of my favorite cookies. Unfortunately I can't make them often enough here because there is no molasses so that's an ingredient I usually have to bring back with me. Just for fun, here are some baking ingredients we can't buy here:
cream of tartar
molasses
corn syrup
chocolate chips
marshmallow creme
shortening

I am sure I am missing much more but I've learned to substitute or for example chop up a chocolate bar, etc.

Here's the recipe:

Sugar and Spice Cookies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup Crisco
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
extra sugar for rolling dough in

Blend butter/margarine, Crisco, and sugar. Add and mix eggs, molasses, salt, cinnamon, ground cloves, and ginger. Mix in flour and baking soda gradually. Form small balls, roll in the extra granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

This recipe makes a ton of cookies. Today I just made half of the recipe since we are piling up on cookies!!


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Sunday, December 16, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies-Thumbprints

These cookies are my friend Heather's trademark cookies. I have the recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook but have never tried them until I moved here. I don't make them very often at all because my friend is usually at the same places I am.......I feel like I can't steal "her cookies"!

Thumbprint Cookies (from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, separated
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped nuts
About 6 tablespoons jelly or jam (any flavor)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening, butter, vanilla and egg yolk with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour and salt.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. In small bowl, beat egg white slightly with fork. Place nuts in small bowl. Dip each ball into egg white; roll in nuts. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls about 1 inch apart. Press thumb into center of each cookie to make indentation, but do not press all the way to cookie sheet.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Quickly remake indentations with end of wooden spoon if necessary. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Fill each with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jelly.

 I'm so embarrassed about my pictures lately! We didn't bring back our DSLR camera so i am taking pictures with our Canon Power Shot point and shoot.



                                 And here's Heather and I in our matchy, matchy tan capris in Israel.


Saturday, December 15, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Nutty Fudge

One of the small purchases we make when we go to Disneyland is FUDGE! They have some amazing fudge. I personally am not a huge fan of fudge but every once in a while it's a nice treat. One bite and I'm good.
          Here we are when Jojo was 2 years old. Christmas time at Disneyland is one of my favorites!

But we're talking about fudge and even though I realize fudge is not necessarily a cookie, I decided to include it in my countdown. I have had this recipe filed away in my recipe notebook for a long time and since I brought back marshmallow creme with me from the States I wanted to give it a try.

Nutty Fudge
1 jar (7 1/2 ounce) marshmallow cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp vanilla

1. Line 8x8 pan with aluminum foil and set aside.
2. Combine the marshmallow cream, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 5 minutes constantly. (Be careful not to burn the bottom...mine started to burn but thankfully it didn't affect the taste of the fudge)
3. Remove from heat and add both kinds of chocolate. Stir until mixture is smooth.
4. Add the nuts and vanilla and stir to combine. Spread the fudge into the foil-lined pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before cutting into squares.


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Friday, December 14, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Whoopie Pies

Today I had a cookie exchange! It's always fun seeing what different kinds of cookies my Russian friends make. I've only made whoopie pies once before. I used the Pioneer Woman's pumpkin whoopie pie recipe, today I went with Martha Stewart's chocolate whoopie pies. My Nathan absolutely loved them! He couldn't wait for me to return so that he could have another one.



My picture of the whoopie pies don't look as nice as Martha's but they sure tasted yummy!
You can go to the link by the picture and get the recipe. I didn't use the chocolate ganache
filling and chose to go with a cream cheese filling instead.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Macaroons

 I thought it would be fun to count down to Christmas by making a different and favorite cookie every day! Tis the season, right? Thankfully I have a lot of things to bake for so I am hoping I won't be the one doing all the eating. I also would like to get my recipes on my Pinterest boards so little by little I'll be posting recipes I've collected so that I can "pin" them. Today I am making one of our favorites...Macaroons, but before I share the recipe, here's a little background on our love for macaroon cookies.

When we lived in Novosibirsk we were a 5 minute walk from the local market. In reality I could write a book about "rinok" (market) culture. It's quite an eye opener and a bit of culture shock when you go to one the first time. We often frequented the market as a family on Saturdays. Our first stop was the small bread kiosk where we would buy "Baba Romovaya" rolls. They were basically raisin rolls with a clear glaze on the bottom and often times they were so fresh and warm they'd melt in our mouth. From the bread kiosk we headed to the vegetable kiosk where I found a real nice lady who I faithfully went to every time. She was very sweet to me and I think empathized a bit with my lack of Russian language. We often communicated with our hands and facial expressions. Our last stop was the cookie lady where we discovered chocolate covered macaroons! They were absolutely delicious and I have not been able to find them here in Samara. After living here for so many years, I still look for them to no avail!

                                                Our sweet cookie lady in Novosibirsk.


I've tried many macaroon recipes but the best ones have to be the one my friend Alex makes. I think she got the recipe from her mom.

Macaroons

INGREDIENTS
1 cup flour
1 cup dry milk powder
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup evaporated milk
3 cups coconut

Stir flour and dry milk powder together.

In another bowl, beat butter with mixer for 30 seconds Beat in sugar until fluffy. Add yolk and evaporated milk. Beat well (mixture will look curdled). Gradually add flour mixture. Mix in the coconut.

Spoon about 1 tbsp. for each cookie. Bake at 350 F (180 C). Start checking them around 13 minutes. Edges should be lightly brown.


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I suppose you can eat them plain or dip them in some chocolate! You can even do a chocolate drizzle over the top but I ran out of chocolate!


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Tree Is Up

Well the tree has been up for a couple of weeks already but I've just been too busy to post lately! Our tradition is that I make some treats, Jon puts the tree up, the lights go on first, the boys make a huge mess get all the ornaments out, and with the help of the boys I hang all the ornaments. It's a fun night and I can get a bit weepy while I hang the ornaments because some of the ornaments hold real special memories. Each year we purchase a special ornament....usually it's of a place we've been too and other times it marks a special occasion such as our marriage, a birth, etc. Then there's the homemade ornaments by the boys which I know I will treasure as the years go by.
Jon is the pro at putting on the lights!



Jojo loves Christmas.



 Our nativity from Israel.