We haven’t had enough of cookies around here; we’re still rolling, slicing and pressing them out by the dozens. Nearly all the goods from the cookie swap are gone and we found it necessary to replenish the stores. By we, I mean Noah and I, as he has been my sous chef for all of this. His little red apron is caked with flour, his hair has dried bits of dough in it, and goodness knows how much dough he has consumed, but by golly, this two-year-old knows the difference between whole cloves and whole allspice, can count out ten eggs lickety split, and sift flour with a flick of his wrist. What a pro! He can say ‘ginger’ and ‘bread’ and ‘men’ all on their own but when challenged to say ‘gingerbread men’ all together, he adds about four extra syllables and it comes out a bit garbled.
A major storm blew in our way yesterday: a foot of snowfall combined with high winds made for a twenty-four hour blizzard. Our concert was postponed, people holed up in their houses, our evening guests canceled, and the city basically hunkered down to weather it out.
A few hours before the snow was about to fly, I went out to buy staples. The grocery store parking lot was packed bumper to bumper as folks hastened to stock up on staples before they got snowed in. While most people were doubling up on milk, diapers, bread and maybe wine to last them through the storm, not I. I bought a jar of marshmallow fluff and a jar of smooth Skippy peanut butter.
I had seen this recipe for Killer Crack Peanut Butter Fudge on the ever inspiring blog Cookie Baker Lynn and knew this is what I would be needing to make it through the storm. Lynn calls her fudge the crack cocaine of the candy world, so addictive you can not have just one piece, and warns that after consuming the whole pan (naturally the only choice here) you may find yourself huddled under the table, holding your sore tummy and whimpering for more.
This sounded like my kind of fun and even before I had finished reading Lynn's post (aptly named Warning: Hazardous Material) I was reading for a pen to make a shopping list. No, you're right, I don't keep marshmallow fluff on hand.
This morning the sun shone brightly, glistening off the three foot drifts of snow. Luckily, Noah and I were able to dig out his sled from where it was nearly buried and go for a brisk walk.
After all these sweets my teeth are starting to ache a little. Snow is piled up two feet deep over the garden and I am starting to crave something fresh. A deep rummage in my fridge unveils the ingredients for this ideal winter salad. Bright and pretty, crunchy and juicy, it satisfies that need for something healthy and light amidst all the rich holiday goodies. As a nice bonus, the colors are rather festive too!
(An alternate name could be 'Play-Date Salad' as it is a perfect salad to whip up for those Mama's looking for a light lunch. We sure enjoyed ours.)
Winter Salad of Russet Apple, Pomegranate, and Pecans
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
1 stalk firm celery, julienne
¼ cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1 shallot, julienne
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons grape seed oil
Salt and pepper
This edition of Foodie Facebook is with the delightful Amanda of Little Foodies. If you haven't checked out her cheery, young-at-heart food blog, get cracking!
Thank you, Amanda. I'm with you on drinking more water. Why is it so hard?!
Name: Amanda
Place: South East, England
Occupation: Brain!
What is your earliest childhood food memory?
Mushrooms in gravy from the Chinese Take Away; it seemed very exotic then. Chips in proper newspaper (no thoughts to hygiene in those days) from the fish and chip shop with scratchings as a treat. Scratchings were the small bits of batter that had fallen off the fish into the fryer.
What did you eat today?
No breakfast. I don't like eating so early (please don't tell my children, I want them to grow up loving breakfast). Brunch is a much more civil time to eat.
Lunch: a soft tortilla wrap with hummus, grated carrot and spinach.
Dinner: Homemade chicken curry, using leftover chicken from Sunday.
What will your kids never be allowed to eat?
Tricky one. I don't think I'd stop them from trying much. Only because I think you can make some foods more appealing if you say they're not allowed to eat it. I don't want them eating overly processed food and I'm quite pleased that both of them would choose a restaurant over Macdonald's. If you'd asked me a few years ago I'd have reeled off a list.
What do you always have on hand in your fridge?
In no particular order: Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan, Milk, Unsalted Butter, Salted Butter, Organic Eggs, Wine, Cucumbers, Carrots and various Condiments.
What is your beverage of choice?
Oloroso Sherry, or a cold glass of Cava, or a really good cup of coffee with hot milk. Which reminds me, I must start drinking more water!
If you could have dinner with anyone in the history of man, who would it be?
My Nana, with my husband and children who she never got to meet. If she had got to meet them then, Roald Dahl? or Stephen Fry? or maybe some Royalty, but only after they'd had a few to loosen up a bit.
OK, it's your last meal ever, what do you have?
So difficult, if I really could have anything, then I'd like lots of little dishes from around the world, Thai, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Indian, British. I'd like there to be some dim sum and definitely some trifle, but it would have to taste just like the ones served every New Years Day while I was growing up. I can never recreate that same taste. There was obviously some secret ingredient.
However, readers of Under the High Chair may remember last year’s cookie swap, which presented my sweet-toothed friends a fun, practical, and time-saving way to shorten their long list of baking and freezing by coming together to exchange baked goods. Just prepare one kind of cookie in massive quantities, bring them to the swap, and leave with an beautiful assortment of holiday baking worthy of your finest tea tray, like this GQ gingerbread man.
Last year's exchange was such a hit, we knew we had to do it again; this year the bar was set even higher...
Hardly anyone declined the invitation and on a chilly Sunday afternoon, cars lined the snowbanks along our quiet street and ten girls (not to mention a journalist and photographer from Montreal's major English newspaper, but we'll get to that) swarmed my kitchen, burdening my kitchen table with armloads of cookies. We did a rough estimate and figured we probably had about 1200 cookies and squares: enough to make the pulse quicken of any foodie or sweet-lover.
The menu was indeed impressive:
Cranberry, Pecan and White Chocolate Cookies
Marshmallow Squares
Brownies
Mayan Chocolate Sparklers
Raspberry Swirls
Butter Pecan Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Aimee's Spice Snaps
Noir Bars
Double Chocolate Cookies
Gingerbread Men
