2010 - How'd I do?

At the beginning of this year, I set out a series of resolutions so I thought I would check in on how I did:

Be healthy. I am taking a new assignment at work that will involve more travel and responsibility. Last time, this resulted in workaholic hours, bad eating habits and a few too many pub crawls. This time, I resolve to take proactive steps to manage stress, exercise, eat healthy and continue to ensure that my family, friends and husband get the best of me - not what's left over.

On a scale of 1 to 10 - I give myself a 5 on this one. I did make progress in better eating habits and managing my work hours. I quit my job in November because of some of those issues. My husband and I have started a great habit of getting up at 5:30 am to go to the gym so that has been really good. Plus - it is CSA season so the bags of veggies we pick up at the farm every other week forces me to eat better. I am definitely ending the year more strongly than I began.
Actually use the cookbooks gathering dust on the shelf. I love to buy cookbooks. I have lots of beautiful cookbooks with pictures of amazing food. This year, I am going to make some of that amazing food. Each month, I am going to pick a cookbook and make at least 4 dishes out of the cookbook. I'll share the results here - minus the cursing, cries of desperation and mess of course.

If you have read the posts on the 2011 Cookbook Challenge, you know I did not do as good of job on this as I should have and I am already taking steps to tackle it in 2011. I did try a lot of new recipes off the web and shared many of them here with you.

Be charitable. Carve out time to volunteer. Select charities and be intentional in giving.
I think I will always feel like I didn't do enough. My two months off at the end of the year allowed me the time to volunteer quite at a bit at a local homeless ministry and the local library. I enjoyed both experiences very much and will work to put in a few hours every month in the upcoming year.

Get a better handle on my finances and develop a concrete plan to save for retirement. I will not be an elderly person eating dog food out of trunk of my broke-down Saturn Vue.
Yeah.... not so much. I did get a better handle on finances, but did not complete the retirement plan. Though my mom did point out that dog food is just as expensive as regular food so I should consider that if I am living out of my trunk.

Laugh a lot and often
This definitely got accomplished. It was a truly remarkable year filled with great memories from trips with my husband, time with family, and visits from and to friends. I am very blessed to have a life that is filled with laughter.

Try to limit reality TV to 4 shows. JUST KIDDING! We all know that is impossible.
So I think I actually came pretty close on this one. After much consideration, I made the difficult decision to break up with the Real Housewives series and I scaled way back on Big Brother this summer. It just got to be too much. I think I have narrowed down to: Survivor, Top Chef, Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, The Next Food Network Star, The Next Iron Chef, Chopped, BrewMasters, Drinking Made Easy. Given many of these shows are competition shows, I feel much better about my reality TV watching habits, but if Bret Micheals comes back with another Rock of Love - all bets are off.


Now to think about my resolutions for next year.... What about you? Did you set resolutions? How did you do?

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Molasses Cookies

I got this recipe from author Stacey Ballis' blog: The Polymath Chronicles.  I had to bake 2 dozen cookies for a cookie swap so I decided to try it out. I followed the recipe exactly - except I didn't have lemon zest so I left that out.

Spicy Ginger Molasses Cookies


12 T unsalted butter

1 c dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 c molasses (robust or full flavor style)

Cream until blended.

Add:

1 T lemon zest

2 t baking soda

½ t salt

½ t ground white pepper

2 t cinnamon

1 T plus 1 t ground ginger

Blend well.

Sift 2 ¼ c flour and blend into mixture, which should make a fairly stiff dough. Roll balls of 1-2 T and roll in granulated sugar (cane sugar or raw sugar preferred for crunch).

Chill balls for 30 minutes.

Bake on parchment or silpat sheets on cookie sheets at 350 for 10-12 minutes…they will not look done, but should be slightly cracked, important to not overbake, or you will lose the wonderful chewy factor.

I wish the recipe had indicated how many cookies it makes. I had a little anxiety at the beginning wondering if I was going to have 2 dozen cookies at the end. I used our melon baller to measure out the dough balls and ended up with 32 cookies. Perfect - 24 for the cookie swap and 8 for us.

The directions were absolutely right about the cookies not looking done. I trusted the recipe and took the pan out after 10 minutes since cracks had appeared. It does indeed preserve the nice chewy quality.

I wouldn't call these spicy by any measure, but that could be because I left out the zest. My husband could notice the subtle ginger flavor, but I noticed the nice buttery flavor that complimented the molasses flavors.  Overall, a very good cookie with easy on-hand ingrediants that I will make again.

Ask Angie: Tips for Holiday Sanity

Holiday cards

I love holiday cards. I love sending them and I love receiving them. This year I took a couple shortcuts and instead of writing out the addresses, I printed labels. I also shortened the list a bit. But the act of sitting down and writing out the cards is something I really enjoy. It gives me the time to think warm thoughts and say a short prayer for each card receipient.

Receiving the cards is very much the same. I love a good holiday letter. Reading about someone's year and the update on their lives makes me feel closer to them. Plus I learn some really good stuff.

If you are slammed with holiday joy, don't feel pressure to send cards or greetings. Take your list and divide it into four and send Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving cards instead. Or choose June 25th as your day to send cards. If sending cards doesn't work at all, pick 10 people you can call, send a text message or email to reconnect at this time of year. If you are tech savy, get out the video camera, record a holiday video, upload to You Tube and send everyone the link.

We have a rule in our house - If you don't want to do it, don't. (This works because we don't have kids). What it basically means is if you don't feel like doing the dishses, don't. They can wait until morning when one of us will feel like doing them. Don't feel like making dinner - pop in a pizza. This a great alternative to being resentful that "you do everything around here."

The same can apply to Christmas. Don't feel like sending cards - don't. Send loving thoughts or messages instead.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Candied Ginger

The recipe my husband used for our turkey brine called for candied ginger so I decided to make it myself. I have had the best luck and best value buying ginger at the Asian supermarket. Your local grocery store should carry it. At our Publix, it is with the fresh herbs.

This one comes from Alton Brown over at FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients


Nonstick spray

1 pound fresh ginger root  - The hardest part of this recipe is peeling the ginger.

5 cups water

Approximately 1 pound granulated sugar

Directions

Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and set it in a half sheet pan lined with parchment.

Peel the ginger root and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices using a mandoline.

So, I tried to use the mandoline and it did not work. The ginger I had was too fiberous. I decided to just cut up the ginger into thin pieces. I cut the ginger root in half. Laid it flat and the just cut little half circles as thin as I could make them.

Place into a 4-quart saucepan with the water and set over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 35 minutes or until the ginger is tender.

It is important to check to see if the ginger is tender and not just go by the time. The time will vary with stove top temperature and how thick you sliced the ginger.


Transfer the ginger to a colander to drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.

This measurement matters. I used too much water in my first try and the sugar ended up caramelizing before the water evaporated. No good.


Weigh the ginger and measure out an equal amount of sugar.  Yes, I actually weighed it. I trust Alton.

Return the ginger and 1/4 cup water to the pan and add the sugar. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar syrup looks dry, has almost evaporated and begins to recrystallize, approximately 20 minutes.

You have to stir, stir, stir. The sugar will become very dry and then start to come back together and the ginger will look like you dipped it in sugar.

Transfer the ginger immediately to the cooling rack and spread to separate the individual pieces. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Save the sugar that drops beneath the cooling rack and use to top ginger snaps, sprinkled over ice cream or to sweeten coffee

IT IS SO GOOD!! It's sweet, but spicy and definitely helps with digestion. I thought the process was pretty easy and I will be making it again.

Ask Angie: Today's Tip for Holiday Sanity

If you have made the effort to decorate your house, today is the day to enjoy it. Seriously, put it on your to do list.

 Grab your camera or even just your phone and wander around your house as if it is a house on a holiday tour. Take pictures of your holiday decorations or hand off the camera to one of your little ones and have them join you as you really enjoy how festive and fun your house looks.

Take a brief moment to stand in front of the tree and take three big breaths. Check out the ornaments and marvel at how branches and light make such a pretty picture. Allow yourself at least two minutes to do this. Everyone can find two minutes. Set a timer if you are worried about over-indulging in holiday wonderment.

If you do decide to take pictures, the good news is that you can print them and attach them to the boxes the decorations are stored in as you put them away so you know where everything is. You can also use them as a guide for next year as to where things go or a reference for those clearance sales as to what you still need or what you already have.

ENJOY!

Our Christmas Drink: The Grasshopper

One of my favorite family traditions is making grasshoppers on Christmas Eve. My dad is the bartender. He combines equal parts creme de menthe (the green version, of course) and creme de cacao and then adds in vanilla ice cream and we have a party. How much liquor you add definitely depends on how strong you want it. It's pretty fun because you can tell how strong it is by how green it is. We like a nice minty green.

Does your family make a special cocktail for the holidays?

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Caramel Sauce

For 2011, one of my goals is try one new recipe per week - preferably from one of the cookbooks piled high on the shelf in the corner. However, to start things off I am going to review a couple recipes I got off the Internet. You know, as a warm up. I hope you'll join and post the recipes you are trying in your comments.

Caramel Sauce

This one comes from Ina Garten over at FoodNetwork.com


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir.

Here I had a problem. I just dumped the suage into the water and did not stir. That was wrong. You should stir the sugar and the water together at the beginning to ensure that the sugar dissolves into the water. You can tell the sugar is dissolving because the liquid will go from cloudy to clear. Once the liquid begins to clear up. That is when you should not stir.


 Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly.

As soon as the sugar mixture had a brownish color I turned off the heat because I was scared of it burning. This resulted in a sweeter caramel sauce.

 Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry - the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

And by solidify, she means you will have a hard chunk of what looks like brown glass in the middle of a pan of cream. Don't worry. This is right.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. It took me a little longer, but you'll be able to tell. It's when the hard chunk in the middle is melted into all of the cream.

Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.

I struggled with how to store this until my husband had the brilliant idea to store in the empty 12-oz. Squeeze Bottles 3 pk. - Clear we keep for when we make simple syrups or sauces.   They were a great investment and made our brownies look extra fancy.

Overall the caramel sauce came out really really well. We have been eating gran smith apples covered in the stuff after we finished that tub of vanilla ice cream. It took about half an hour to forty minutes to make. This is not a recipe you can really walk away from because the sugar will burn so you do need uninterrupted cooking time. Enjoy!