Two Holiday Gift Shows Coming Up !!

 HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE 

IN THE YURT

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6TH

5:00 PM TO 9:00 PM

329 Rigg street Santa Cruz, 95060

The Artists

Nadja Stanchfield
Pots, pictures, tables, hanging birdbaths, baker's shelf and license plate frames.

Kathy Sinnott

Handmade original lampwork glass beads and wirework jewelry.

Laurie Mount

Bath and body products, photo cards and gourmet food treats.

Ginger Hedrick
Mosaic and pique assiette tables and other items.

Mezzo Tint
Organic walnuts and handmade small clay creatures.

Marcia Gregg
Hand rolled beeswax candles with hand decorated wooden match boxes.

Azhar Holiday Gift Boutique

Sunday December 9th

11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Azhar Hair Design
507 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz, CA

The Artists

Jewelry by One of a Kine Design

Titta Handbags

                       Market Bags & Textile Creations by Joyce Rice

Laurie's Little Store: 

Body Products and Gourmet Food Treats

And

Serendipitous Silk Scarves

Yams

Candied Yams
I know the name "candied" yams conjures mental images of canned spuds and little marshmallows, yuk.  These tasty tuber are so far removed they are not even in the same time zone.

I discovered this recipe years ago in Martha Stewart's Living magazine. It has become a staple at our Thanksgiving table. The fresh rosemary makes the dish, it helps to cut the sweetness of the maple syrup.

This dish can be baked ahead of time then reheated just before serving.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 lbs. small yams, peeled and  cut into inch thick wedges.

1 1/2 cup apple cider

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 to 4 springs fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1) Preheat oven to 375 F
2) Peel and cut the potatoes into thick wedges.

3) Place the potatoes in a enamel pot or cast iron skillet with a lid.

4) Add the maple syrup, apple cider and toss gently.

5) Tuck in the rosemary and dot with pieces of butter, sprinkle with salt.

6) Bake for 45 minutes covered, remove cover and toss gently.

7) Bake for 15 to 30 minutes more depending on how tender you want them.
8) Serve right away or they will keep for several days. Reheat and serve.

Cornbread stuffing
My sister makes this cornbread stuffing, it may be my favorite part of the whole meal ( except for maybe the pies ;-)

Four to six days before Thanksgiving I make a pan of cornbread, and when it is cool, I cut it into cubes (about 1/2").  I let the cubes sit around and get stale or dry them out in the oven.

When ready to make the stuffing, toss with cubes:

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

1 cup cut up dried apricots ( the Turkish ones are the best)

1 green bell pepper cut into thin, 1-2" strips

anything else you'd like

salt & pepper to taste

Add both melted butter and turkey/chicken/veggie stock until stuffing is desired moistness.  

I use more melted butter than stock.

Place in  a buttered glass baking dish and bake for 35-45 minutes. 

Cranberry Sauce, please make your own.

Thanksgiving is one of my daughter's favorite holidays, mostly because it revolves around food !

In the next couple of days I will be sharing a few tips and twists to add to your Thanksgiving menu. 

I'll start with cranberry sauce since you can make it a week ahead of time. The only trick is not snacking on it before hand ;-)

Please, please, please make your own cranberry sauce, it is SO EASY there are not many excuses. You can make it ahead of time in 15 minutes !!

Here is the basic recipe:

In a saucepan place:

one 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries

one cup water

one cup sugar

1) Stir together to dissolve the sugar. 

2) Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until the cranberries burst. 

3) That's it, refrigerate until you want to use it. Now wasn't that simple ??

There are many way to give cranberry sauce that added boost.

The most common way is to use orange juice instead of water and add orange zest.

There are also lots of fresh cranberry relish recipes.

My favorite twist, use red wine instead of the water and add a small muslin bag with 1 cinnamon stick, 2 whole cloves and 2 whole allspice. 

Add the spice bag once the mixture has come to a boil and remove it once the cranberries are done cooking. This cranberry sauce has an amazing subtle richness I love.

Very Ginger Cake with Caramel Topping

This ginger cake would make a great dessert for Thanksgiving if you are willing to step away from the traditional pie extravaganza. This cake can be made several days ahead of time, which can help the busy cook on turkey day.

I love the caramel topping so much I make is by itself to serve on ice cream. Last year I gave it as gifts for the holidays.

Here is a tip for grating the large amount of  fresh ginger this cake requires: freeze it first !!

Very Ginger Cake with Caramel Topping

Ingredients

The Cake

• . 1 cup canola oil
• . 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• . 1/2 cup golden brown sugar, packed
• . 1 cup molasses
• . 3 large eggs
• . 1/2 cup peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (about 4 ounces)
• . 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + more to flour pan
• . 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• . 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• . 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• . 2  tablespoon powered ginger
• . 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• . 2 teaspoons baking soda
• . 1 cup boiling water

The Caramel Sauce

• . 1 cup golden brown sugar, packed
• . 1/2 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter + more to grease pan
• . 1/2 cup whipping cream
• . 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1) For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325°. With room-temperature butter, grease a 12-cup Bundt pan with a paper towel, smearing butter into all the pan's crevices as well as the center tube. Add spoonfuls of flour and holding the pan over the sink, rotate it to coat it with flour. The inside tube will not be completely coated. Knock excess flour into the sink by tapping the pan lightly.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sugars and molasses until combined. 

3) Add eggs and mix until smooth. 

4) Now it's time to grate the ginger. I love the mirco-grater for this job. And if your fresh ginger is frozen as mentioned earlier, it's an easier job. 

5) Whisk in ginger to incorporate.

6) If you have the whole nutmeg it worth to grate it fresh. A tiny grater does the trick.

7) Add that nutmeg to another large bowl, with the flour, cinnamon, cloves, powered ginger and salt, mix together.

8) Add flour mixture to molasses mixture until combined. 

9) Stir baking soda into boiling water.

10) Mix baking soda water into batter until blended.

11) Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. 

12) Bake for 50-60 minutes or until sides begin to pull away from pan and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Remove to a rack and cool in pan for 15 minutes.

For the glaze: 

1) In a small saucepan, stir brown sugar, butter, whipping cream and salt over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil. 

2) Reduce heat to medium-low and stir until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

You can do it two ways: 

     Invert cake onto rack over a baking sheet. Using a small skewer, pierce holes all over top of warm cake. Very slowly pour glaze over top, allowing it to be absorbed before adding more. Cool cake at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

   Or just make the caramel sauce and pour it warm over each slice of cake as it is served.

In the Garden Art Show and Sale

This last week I was part of an arts and crafts show in the amazing garden of a friend. We were so lucky the weather while cool was clear despite early rain. More than just a craft sale this event is a garden party extraordinaire...food, live music and friends coming by to chat and reconnect. 

Here are a few images for the weekend.

Winter Squash Biscuits

It's that time of year, with Halloween over and winter squash abundant in the farmer's markets.
My daughter turned me on to this recipe a couple years ago. Any kind of winter squash will do, I used the puree from the amazing Blue Hubbard squash given to me last year. It works well to do the steaming and puree-ing ahead of time, winter squash puree freezes beautifully.

Winter Squash Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups  flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup pureed winter squash, cold
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup yogurt
2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons oregano

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. and lightly grease a large baking sheet or cover with parchment.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder,1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons chili powder, 2 teaspoons oregano and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3) Add 1/2 cup butter and cut into flour mixture...

....until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, beat 1 cup winter squash, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 3/4 cup yogurt . 

5) Add squash mixture to the flour mixture and mix lightly to just combine.

 Do not over mix.

6)  Turn biscuit dough out onto a well floured surface, and pat out into a large circle of even thickness, about 1/2-inch thick. I used waxed paper which due to the moisture in the biscuit turned into a bit of a problem once I patted it into the circle. Next time I would use a marble slab, wooden board or some other surface with plenty of flour.

7)  The original recipe called for using a  large biscuit cutter, as you can see I tried both the pie wedge and sort of squares technique with a sharp knife. Do whatever you prefer, the wedges had Bob calling them scones ;-)

8) Place on the prepared baking sheet. I used a metal spatula to lift them off the soggy wax paper.

9) Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and cooked through.

10) Serve them warm for brunch or with soup for lunch or dinner. They store well in the fridge or freezer, just heat and serve.