christmas decorations and cookie baking

More baking is going around here tonight.  Another standard for the Christmas boxes:  chocolate shortbread.  Or equivalently known around here as tallbreads.  I snitched a few and had them with the pumpkin ice cream I made.  Really yummy.  The ice cream has a tendency to melt into the consistency of pudding or whipped cream cheese.  A little bit fills the tummy.

I wanted greens this year but my Beloved did not wish a cut tree.  I could not find a live tree the size I wished.  We were at Lowe's and they let me take some of the bottom branches they had cut off from Christmas trees.  No charge.

I cut the branches apart and put them in mason jars in the dining room 

and kitchen.

Then candles were added.

There was one more thing added.

My Beloved added roses.  I actually think the rose bush attacked him (again) but they added more beauty to the simplicity I wished.  I really am enjoying how this turned out.  The smell is divine.

baking for family has started

A lovely friend gave me a pot of forced paperwhites.  They are just lovely and I had to share.

This is a busy week but there is not a lot of new to post.  I bake for my family.  And send boxes.  You should see the looks I get at the post office.  But it is a week of pulling out old recipes.

Because that is what people wish for.  Like these tallbreads.  Shortbread that has not been flattened.  I always seem to start with these.  I do not know why.  I have come to the point of only making two batches to share between my family because I do bake a few different types of cookies.  Our best friend may actually get a full batch but it will depend on if she is eating sugar or not (Nirinjan, you will let me know if you wish your own cookies, will you not?)

I am also doing a bit of sewing and crocheting but it is a little bit difficult to share.  I will share bits and pieces as it gets done.

While I am baking, Grandpoppa has the magic touch.  

It has been a lovely December so far!

chocolate, olive oil, and salt on bread

I may have mentioned before that I read cookbooks.  It may be an odd behavior but I get enjoyment from it.  I saw in the New York Times where they had recommended some cook books by resturanters but cooking for the home.  One was The Family Meal:  Home Cooking with Ferran Adria.  I started calling this my picture book because every step is documented with pictures.  I thought it was fun and I enjoyed the ideas of the combinations.  Is it easy to follow?  I am not sure because I took the ingredient list for chocolate and olive oil on bread and played.  I did not even look at the quantities.  My impression though wat that if you were confident in the kitchen you could easily follow the directions.  If not, you might feel overwhelmed.  

I do know that this recipe will be on that I come back to.  Ferran Adria says it comes from the Catalonia area of Spain.  It was lovely with a cup of tea after work.

Chocolate, olive oil, and salt on bread

Note:  adapted from Family Meal:  Home Cooking with Ferran Adria.  This is for one person.

2 tablespoons grated dark chocolate, at least 60 percent cocoa but you want somethint that tastes good to you.

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 one finger pinch of salt

one slice of bread, homemade if possible, artisan.  I used a sourdough oatmeal that I had made this morning.  It was very sour.

Toast bread on both sides under a broiler or in a toaster oven.  Spoon the chocolate over one side of the bread and continue to heat just until melted.  Pull out of the heat.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Serve with a cup of tea or coffee.

This reminded me a lot of a chocolate croissant without being quite so rich or greasy.  I enjoyed the similarities and like this much better.

alpaca forever shawl

I finished another forever shawl as my Beloved calls them.  This one is alpaca.

Very soft and a scallopy edge.

Perfect for babes who like to be warm.

mashed potato polenta pizza

That polenta I talked about yesterday became polenta pizza.  When gluten was first cut out of my Beloved's  diet, he wanted pizza and the pizza crust just was never right.  This was our solution.  You might actually call it a polenta tart.  Only when it is cold is it edible with fingers.  Otherwise, you really need a fork.  But it is tasty.  I really do not care for normal pizza so this is all good.

He has been wanting it again recently and there were a lot of leftovers from Thanksgiving.  I had chili sauce with rabbit in it from a rabbit dish I have not had a chance to post about.  There was a lot of mashed potatoes.  The request was for shepherd's pie.  I made fresh potatoes for the pie.  The chili sauce went into a red sauce for this pizza and pasta.  It became very smokey and spicey.  Nice with the polenta.  

Polenta Mashed Potato Pizza

2 cups cooked polenta

2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

4 to 8 ounces bacon or pancetta, chopped into small rectangles

2 cups or to your taste mashed potatoes

2 to 4 tablespoons pine nuts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

On a baking sheet, pizza pan, or pizza stone, put down a piece of parchament paper to cover and then smear with the oil.  Spread the polenta in a thin round over it.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Put the bacon in a pan over medium heat.  You will want it about half cooked.

When the polenta is done, take it out of the oven.

Smear with the red sauce.  Then dollop with mash potatoes.  Sprinkle the bacon over it and then the pine nuts.

Bake for another 20 minutes.

If you serve this straight out of the oven, it will act more like a bowl of polenta with lot of crunchies.  Very yummy but not what you think of as pizza.

If you can wait even ten minutes, this will hold its shape better.

We usually have one serving that is more similar to a bowl of polenta because we cannot wait and then another that is more like a slice of pizza.