A Byte of Life - Eat simply, Eat well

Red Pepper Overload…Homemade Herbs De Province Ratatouille

Being sick sucks . Plain and simple. Truth fact. The End. Well… okay NOT “the end” but it feels like it! The problem with being sick is that I’m a “doer”. I like to “do” things, accomplish, check off my long to DO list. Now that we’ve established this. Guess what sickness resigns you to? Yep, you guessed it… BEING! I don’t “be”… I DO! When one is sick, they’re told to “just be” and rest. Yeah, go ahead. See how well THAT goes over. This time the stupid flu won this round and I was resigned to exploring what a “be”- er feels like. Two days on the couch with the only excursion to the gym where all I was allowed to do was steam. On day three, which is today, I’m feeling a little better and my stir crazy is kicking in!

Soooo… I decided to use up the 10 Red Peppers hanging out on my balcony. What!? They were on SALE! How can someone who LOVES peppers pass up 10/$10!? Well, thankfully it was cold enough outside to keep them fresh for four days because I completely forgot them! That is, until I was So completely dying for lack of DOING anything! So, I decided use up the veggies in the fridge to make some Ratatouille and make a jar of home Roasted Red Peppers. There are still three left over, so I’m thinking of trying some quinoa stuffed peppers tomorrow night! I’ll keep you posted!

I realized, as I was chopping my veggies and already elbow deep in delicious simmering goodness of Ratatouille, that I didn’t have the Herbs de Province that I needed for the flavor of the dish. Of COURSE I didn’t have herbs de province, why would I? I use it ALL the time and added it to my “next time I’m down at Pike Place list” which has been put on hold due to FREEZING temperatures. No one wants to walk in THAT weather. ANd of course, no fresh basil either. Well, what are you going to do? Give up the whole shabang? No chance, not when I’m THIS stir-crazy! Do you think that stopped me!? No way! There are plenty of spices in my cabinet and a half bottle of red wine within arms reach, something can be done! And if not, there’s the wine! 🙂

I have to say, this was lauded as THE BEST batch of Ratatouille I’ve made yet! It’s even better when you let it

Homemade Herbs De Province Ratatouille:

3/4 sliced red onion,
a good handfuls of fresh chopped garlic
EVOO for sautéing
2 Red Peppers
1 Eggplant
1/2 c Red Wine to simmer veggies in
4 Zucchini
Homemade Herbs de Province –Mix together and add more spices to taste
1/2 tsp each of ground rosemary, ground thyme
1 tsp dried oregano, dried basil
1 tsp + some of dried parsley
1 14 oz Can fire roasted Tomatoes
(Follow the original Ratatouille recipe for cooking instructions)

Hawaiian Poke & Ginger Ono Sashimi

Aloha! We’re celebrating my parents 30th anniversary in Hawaiian WARMTH and relaxing style! (For some reason they decided to invite us along, so we bought our plane tickets before they had time to change their minds!)

While relaxation is the name of this game, there are a few things I wanted to do: paddle board, sleep, eat my weight in pineapple and consume as much fresh fish and shrimp as I can possibly hold! Browsing around the ABC store in Downtown Kona (We needed to stock up on some “beverages” for our beach happy hour) Mom came across Sam Choy’s Little Hawaiian Cookbook for Big Appetites and it had some delicious looking recipes so we picked it up and had a tried a few for our sunset picnic at the beach!

And here is a shot of our Beach Picnic!

Sam-Style Poke

Serves 8

2/3 c Sam’s Secret Sauce (see below)
2 lbs finely diced ‘ahi (yellowfin tuna)
4 tsp ‘inamona (which is crushed and roasted kukui nuts, can sub 4-6 tsp crushed cashews for same taste)
1 c rinsed and chopped ogo (seaweed)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
—
Sam’s Secret Sauce

2 c water

2 tbsp Hawaiian Salt
2 Hawaiian chili peppers, finely chopped (or red pepper flakes)
—

Make Sam’s Secret Sauce first by combining all ingredients and stirring until salt dissolves and set aside (not heated, just mix at room temperature). Cut the ‘ahi into chunks, no more than an inch square. Sometimes ‘ahi has white bands, or strings, of fat and with the raw fish you’ll want to remove some of this if you can so you might have to determine the size of the poke around whatever size results after removing the strings. Combine ‘ahi with ‘inamona (or crushed cashews), ogo (seaweed), sesame oil, and soy sauce. Mix thoroughly. Add Sam’s secret sauce and marinate for 60 minutes in refrigerator.

There are a few ways you can serve this dish but we found that serving on rustic bread, cut into “serving sizes” and toasted in the oven was by far the most delicious! Just make sure they’re not TOO done… some of ours came out a bit too toasted and scraped our mouths! You could also serve on cucumber slices!

Ginger Ono

Serves 6

Local Pepe’ekeo Dip
1/2 c oil

1/2 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c ginger, minced
1/4 c green onion, minced
1/4 c lightly packed Chinese Parsley, minced (We used Cilantro and it was delicious)
1/8 tsp White Pepper
1/4 Tsp red pepper flakes or 1 fresh Hawaiian chili pepper, minced
—
1 lb Raw Ono
1 1/2 c assorted sprouts
1/2 cup Local Pepe’ekeo Dip (recipe above)

—
Make the Local Pepe’ekeo Dip first.

In a small sauce pan heat the oil then add the salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in garlic, ginger, green onions, Chinese Parsley/Cilantro, white pepper and red peppers. Chill. To serve, thinly Slice raw ono. Line small platter or individual plates with sprouts of our choice. Arrange ono slices on sprouts. Spook the Local Pepe’ekeo Dip over the fish and serve chilled.

Baked Beet Chips

Roasted, canned, sliced, boiled, pureed, fried, baked into chips. Any way you serve them, sans raw on a plate, I’ll eat em! I LOVE beets! On one of my ritual weekend trips to shop at the best farmers market EVER I was strolling out of our amazing italian speciality market, De Laurenti, and stopped to watch them throw the fish when I hear a lady behind me say, “And this is a beet chip! Give that a try and tell me how amazing THAT tastes!” Immediately I turned around and found myself facing the dried fruit stand which I had never before given a second thought to.

But, now the game was changed she said beet and chip in the SAME sentence! I tried one and was HOOKED! They were even part of my Christmas stocking last year. Seriously! I put chocolate in his stocking and he put beet chips in mine! Of course, being little miss DIY I had to figure out how to make them at home! I knew she flash fried them, half of why there were so good but I wanted to see if I could recreate the goodness at home with less oil and keep the same crispy delicious flavor.

So, I searched the blogosphere, Pinterest-ed and Martha Stewart stalked to find and read as many recipes as I could to assimilate the ultimate recipe.

Many recipes called for using a mandoline to slice the beets which I don’t have! Thinking I’ll invest in one, which would not only be safer and swifter but it would also make much more uniform chips! They also said to cut the beets 1/16th of an inch, which I actually had no idea what that size was on a beet because I have ZERO depth perception so I just eyeballed what I felt was “thin” sliced then got curious so I pulled out the measuring tape and what do you know… it was 1/16 inch exactly! I also found the using my misto sprayer with EVOO in it worked better than brushing each chip for my goal of using less oil. It gave a nice even spray of olive oil to crisp it up and give it some flavor instead of bathing the beets in oil.

How they CAN look! Photo courtesy of Simply Whole Kitchen

Baked Beet Chips
1 large beet
Misto Sprayer + EVOO
Fresh cracked salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with non-stick foil.

Wash your beet(s) and pat dry with a paper towel. Keep another paper towel handy to hold the beet when cutting. The skin will help to keep the purple of the beet from staining your hands, but if you’re half as clumsy as I am it’s smart to keep one handy!

Using a sharp knife (or mandolin), slice the beets into thin 1/16 inch slices.

Spray with the Misto Sprayer then crack fresh Salt & Pepper to taste.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp then cool on a wire rack until completely cool. (I found that using less oil and the low heat of 350 took about 40 minutes to get them crisp. Next time I’ll try upping the heat and doing a double misto spray to see how that works!

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Asparagus

January is about fresh starts, renewal, clean slates and expansive opportunity ahead. I’m not big on “resolutions” necessarily but I do like the atmosphere of new beginnings that January holds.

In an effort to combat the grey day and finding myself with a night at home to relax and unwind, I decided that it was time to cook a recipe from my many Pinterest “pins”. This meal finds its way to us from my “A Meal A Day” Pinterest Board, where I keep all my for a “Rainy Day” recipes to try, and today was as rainy as it will get!

The fresh light yet peppery flavor of the salad paired perfectly with the cured meat and cheesy flavors of the chicken!

Tips:
Measurements Everything on this meal should be “to taste”. I actually HATE having measurements on there since everyone likes their meals a different way but experiment with the flavors and ratios and have fun!

Prosciutto Choose a lean cut that isn’t too salty and ask your butcher to slice it a bit thinner than lunch meat so it will not be an overpowering flavor but will still hold its integrity when you wrap it.

Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken & Asparagus
(Kale Grapefruit Salad with Avocado and EVOO Recipe Below)
Recipe Adapted from Inspired.ca

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
8 slices prosciutto
½ bunch young green asparagus, washed and trimmed
Shredded mozzarella, to taste (approx. ½ cup)

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Wash the chicken and pat it dry. Then, slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to make four equal sized cutlets and set aside. Depending on the ratio of chicken to prosciutto you like, you may want to half each cutlet. Lay out the chicken on a plate so you can crack fresh pepper on the surface of each chicken breast.

Pre heat a sauté pan on the stove. You’ll place the wrapped chicken in the hot pan to sear the prosciutto closed before placing on the baking sheet so make sure you have a spatula handy to transfer the wrapped chicken.

Lay two slices of prosciutto side by side, slightly overlapping. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Place one piece of chicken horizontally across the prosciutto so the prosciutto is vertical and the chicken completes a cross horizontally across the center.

Lay a few springs of asparagus on top of the chicken, also in a horizontal pattern. Carefully wrap the prosciutto around the chicken and asparagus tightly and place into the pre-heated sauté pan with the seam on the bottom. Sauté for a few seconds until the seam on the prosciutto is closed, then turn over for a few additional seconds to get a nice crisp to the prosciutto then transfer to the lined baking sheet with your spatula.

Repeat with the remaining prosciutto, chicken and asparagus.

Bake the chicken 15-18 minutes, until the internal temperate of the chicken reaches 165°F. When you transfer the chicken to the plate, there will be some juice from the chicken so let that drip into the lined baking sheet before placing on your plate. You can garnish with more mozzarella or cracked pepper if you desire, but we liked it just as it was!

Kale Grapefruit Salad with Avocado and EVOO
Kale
Grapefruit, cubed and peeled from the flesh
Avocado, cubed into whatever size you desire
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Wash the Kale and pat dry. Pull the leaves from the stock and chop. Wash the outside of the grapefruit and avocado, slice in half and cube. For the grapefruit, pull the each of the sections out of the fleshy membrane and use only the citrus “meat” portion.

Assemble all ingredients on the plate drizzle with EVOO . (Optional Addition: toasted Almonds)

Shake & Bake…Homestyle

We don’t do freezer dinners. Actually, we don’t really use our freezer. If you were to take an inventory you’d find a LOT of homemade Limoncello, Jägermeister, a box of frozen waffles and ice. Hungry man dinners were created for a reason… luckily the man of the house has his own short order chef to replace a TV dinner and microwave love child.

Being little miss do it yourself, I couldn’t bring myself to give up a chance to “make it from scratch”. If it gives you any indication about my infatuation with DIY food, a few of my other make from scratch adventures yet to come: wheat thins, graham crackers, english muffins and beet chips. So, when presented with the request for Shake & Bake, I flew to the bloggosphere and found a recipe to tweak!

Homestyle Shake & Bake
Yield: 1 cup = one chicken breast

1 cups dry bread crumbs (can be gluten-free too!!)
1 tsp paprika
few grins of fresh black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic
small pinch of: dried basil, dried parsley. oregano
1 egg, beat with a dash of olive oil
(the recipe also said to include 1 part celery salt to half part garlic salt to 1/4 part minced onion. I had none of these so I simply omitted)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large resealable plastic bag combine the crumbs, oil, salt, paprika, celery salt, pepper, garlic salt, minced garlic, minced onion, basil, parsley and oregano.

Dip the chicken breast in the egg it in egg.

Place no more than two chicken breasts in bag, seal and shake all ingredients together.

Bake the breasts for 20 minutes if the chicken is boneless, or 45 minutes if it does have bone, or until the internal temperature reaches 165-170.

Homemade Pizza

Pizza…is…DELICIOUS! With a plethora of options, toppings, styles, crusts and meals that it can be served for Pizza is pretty much an ultimate food. Eat it cold the next morning or poach an egg on it and Viola, Breakfast! It’s the perfect brown bag lunch or picnic lunch option. It can be served flatbread style is an appetizer or tapas course, or loaded with amazing toppings and served as a dinner delight! Now, there is some debate between Pizza and flatbread so let’s review the three-step by step criteria for granted a place in the hierarchy of acceptable pies.

CRUST: This can be a chat of endearment or an all out fight in certain areas of the world. There are crust aficionados that take this topic very seriously. Whether you’re in thin crust camp or a lover of the thick bready crust, this is the foundation of the dish. With Pizza it seems that there can be variation in the crust whereas a flatbread will typically be a little thicker on the crust but there could be blurred lines here so let’s proceed.

BASE LAYER: Then you have the cheese vs. sauce or olive oil assessment. I call this the base layer since it seems to set the tone for how the rest of the topping architecture. With the increase in food allergies and culinary progression pizzas without cheese is no longer a cardinal sin. It is now more common to find pizzas and flatbread without cheese, topped with a traditional tomato sauce or simply brushed with olive oil. This too can be a blur in the pizza or flatbread debate, so it seems that we must proceed to the last criteria.

TOPPINGS: Now we have the “finitura” (finishing touch in Italian), the toppings. If you saw broccoli on a pizza you might do a double take and wonder if your mother was in the kitchen sneaking in your daily dose of veggies. But on a flatbread, you wouldn’t think twice (I would think?) It seems that a flatbread is a trendy version of a pizza? Maybe we just needed to change the name and feel better about eating pizza with our wine, a ritual that is not only perfectly acceptable but the highlight of my week when it occurs!

So my verdict: Flat bread is to pizza what sliders are to burgers…an open interpretation depending on the chef’s whim and creativity.

With that, I give you my current recipe for the crust, now the flatbread or pizza question is up to you to decide! BON APPETIT!!

Homemade Pizza

Prepare the dough according to the directions below

Cast Iron Pizza Stone
Clean Kitchen shears for cutting
Pizza Paddle (super hand for transfering to the already HOT cast iron!)

Toppings
Onion, sliced
Garlic, thinly sliced or minced
Eggplant, cut in strips or wedges
Peppadew, cut in half out of the jar (I like the flavor of this brand)
Cracked pepper
Fresh or dried parsley
Fresh Basil
Shredded Mozzarella
Scamorza Mozzarella, sliced into medallions
For Serving: Balsamic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and arugula

Sprayed the cast iron before and pre-heat in the oven on “broil” for 15+ minutes then turn down to 475
In the meantime, chop and saute the onion, garlic, sliced eggplant and peppadew with parsley and cracked pepper on the stove.
When the cast iron is ready dusted it with flour and assemble the pizza right on the pizza stone. It will be HOT and a little hard to spread out the dough so be careful!

One light layer of shredded mozzarella, then add the sautéed onion, garlic, eggplant and seared peppadew.
Add fresh basil then the medallions of Scamorza cheese and another light layer of Mozzarella.
Cook at 475 for 8-12 minutes, until edges started to bubble up and show signs of crisping.
Remove and cut in the traditional style, with clean kitchen scissors.
Serve with balsamic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, arugula and plates/cooking.

Notes-
We loved that the cast iron kept the pizza warm even 20+minutes after we took it out of the oven!
I used too much of the dough so the crust was too thick so less dough next time and spread the topping to the outer edges.
It was perfectly seared on the bottom and the dough didn’t stick to the cast iron pan as we expected it would, it actually slid right off.

Olive Oil Dough
Makes 4-1 lb loaves
Originally found on http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/no-knead-pizza-dough-recipe/

Ingredients:
2-3/4 cups lukewarm water
1-1/2 tablespoon granulated yeast (2 packets)
1-1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
6-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a 5 quart bowl mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water without kneading. Think of the motion of a dough hook working the dough and mix that way. You might need to wet your hands a little and mix by hand but I found a spatula to do just fine. (Notes: Original recipe called for using a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment but I don’t have that so I went with the old fashion handmade tactics).

Transfer dough into another large bowl. The dough will be a little sticky but will stick together pretty well. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 12 days.

If you like more of the deep dish style, and care to explore out of the pizza stone category, here is a cool recipe I found on Flourishing Foodie for Cast Iron Pizzas!

How to Organize Your Fridge

“Organize my fridge!?”…you might be thinking… “Don’t be ridiculous!” Take this scenario: You’ve been craving {insert food here} and it’s time to enjoy! You go to the fridge, open the door and riffle around to find the leftovers box! You open it and…wait {chosen food} isn’t supposed to be THAT {color/texture/smell}… because it’s SPOILED! You think to yourself, but I JUST put it in there a few days ago! Sadly I think that everyone has had this happen at least ONCE in our lives. Hey, it happens! Life gets busy, last minute plans happen and leftovers should be sacrificed, especially when they’re REALLY good!

Enter “The Organized Fridge”. Start the New Year with a clean and organized fridge! Between hosting and attending holiday parties, office gatherings and family meals the fridge can start to get packed during the holiday season. Read these tips below and keep that food on the safe side of becoming a science experiment!

Fridge “Deep Clean”

Triage the fridge of all expired items. Between “Sell By”, “Use By”, “Best Before” and “Package Date” it can feel like another language trying to decide if something is safe to keep. Here are a few simple ways to remember.

Do the sniff test, if something smells funny EVEN if it’s not expired go with your gut and toss it. Forget about “Sell By” and never eat past the “Use By” date. Kiss it good bye and put it on the shopping list.
As for “Best Before” and “Package Date”, those you can look at together. If stored correctly, things like dairy products and meats can go a day or two past the listed date. Now, if it’s growing green foliage throw that sucker out!“Best Before” doesn’t always mean “Spoiled After”. Keep an eye and know that you have a day or two leeway.
The “Package Date” comes in handy on things like meats where you want to know when it was, well, packaged to determine when the proper waste basket toss needs to happen. Long winded, but I hope it helped clarify a little!

Clean the fridge: Empty your fridge and give it a thorough sanitizing cleaning! I’m talking remove those shelves and drawers and give them a good deep wash and sanitation cycle also! You should be wiping down your fridge weekly and deep cleaning no more than once a month. Wipe the exterior and handles and check that none of the door seals are broken. If they are, you’ll need to replace them ASAP since that is what keeps the cool in and the “spoil” out!

Reload: Putting the food and such back in the fridge, make a note of what was spoiled or needs to be replaced on your shopping list. This is also a good time to do some mental meal planning and use up ingredients that might be on the cusp of consumable.

Leftovers: The rule in our house is NO longer than 4 day son leftovers EVEN if they don’t make the sniffer pass out. We make sure to put the date on the top of the box before we put it in the fridge. If you so choose, you can transfer your home cooked or takeout leftovers to a plastic or glass container and use a sticky note to list the contents and date. Glass is nice when re-heating since you don’t have to transfer it from the plastic container and there is less dishes to clean up. Remember, you can also freeze quite a few things and if you think ahead that you might have leftovers and won’t eat them in the 4 day window, pop those guys in the freezer with a date on them and use them at a later date!

Tip: Storing leftovers at eye level will help you remember they’re there and use them up!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

We…LOVE…Pizza! There have been a few kitchen adventures making regular pizza and I’ve got that queued up so in the next week so you’ll just have to stay tuned! In the course of my many Pinterest adventures I found quite a few recipes for Cauliflower pizza crust which intrigued me! I like pizza, I like cauliflower…sounds like a win/win situation! Less bread and more veggies and an alternative spin “cooking adventure” to try!? Count me in!
My mister is pretty adventurous but when I start to mess with the crust of his pizza he’s not as excited as I am SO, I monopolized on the few days at home with my family for the holiday and mum and I ventured into bread free pizza world!

While the flavor of the cauliflower was DELICIOUS with the other italian pizza deliciousness, the texture of the crust wasn’t as “bread alternative” option as I would have hoped. It would make a great quiche or casserole, which is usually a swear word to me, but with the melty top and the crumbly bottom that word just seemed appropriate. So, in short I give you a “DELICIOUS work in progress, the Cauliflower crust”! Play, alternate toppings, crust consistency and leave your comments below! We’re in this together and we MUSt find the perfect Cauliflower crust!

Bon Appetit!!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Toppings of your choice)

Crust Ingredients
3 cups cauliflower “meal”
1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
5 T corn meal
3 T finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten (*make that three, one egg fore each cup of cauliflower “meal”)

Pizza Toppings
pizza sauce (we used store bought!)
grated mozzarella cheese
sautéed red onion, black olives, artichoke hearts, mushrooms
arugula

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 460F

Chop cauliflower into chunks and place in food processor (or a larger cheese grater) until it resembles a coarse “meal” texture then microwave covered in a bowl for 8-9 minutes or until it’s soft and cooked. (The Cauliflower will release natural moisture, so don’t add any when you microwave it). In the mean time, slice and sauté the red onion, black olives and artichoke hearts then place on a paper towel to dry. You don’t want extra moisture. Saute the mushrooms, flash saute some arugula with the mushrooms then add the other veggies and saute.

In a medium bowl mix the mozzarella, corn meal, parmesan, spices and eggs and add the cauliflower when it’s done, mixing well. Coat a pizza pan with non-stick spray and transfer the “dough” to the pan then Use your fingers to spread out onto the pan, getting it as thin as you can. Cook in the pre-heated oven for 17-18 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and coat with pizza sauce, a layer of mozzarella cheese, veggies and a light top layer of cheese then put back in the oven to melt the cheese for 5 minutes. Remove and serve!

*Note: The flavors were PERFECT, but the crust was crumbly and we think it needed more moisture so I made the notation to add another egg into the mixture. The ratio should be one egg to every cup of cauliflower “meal”. I’ll update this post on the next “go around”!

Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread (Gluten Free, Vegan, Nut Free Options)

Other than gingerbread cookies, there is little that makes the house smell as amazing as banana bread! We needed a few last minute “office gifts” so I whipped up a few loaves of fresh banana bread but feeling festive, I decided that we needed to venture from the original recipe a bit so in went the chocolate chips! This recipe yields three mini loaves, one large loaf, or one pan of regular muffins. Wrap them up in some festive wrapping and tie some twine or raffia on them, and there you go! Homemade presents! Be sure to list that they have gluten, dairy and nuts in them unless you choose to make them without any of these which you can!

Banana Walnut Bread (w/Gluten-Free, Vegan, Nut Free Options)
Adapted from my recipe for Banana Walnut Bread

Ingredients

1 3/4 c. flour (can use Whole-Wheat or Gluten-Free)
2/3 c. white sugar
1 tsp. double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. shortening
1 cup mashed bananas ( 2 ripe bananas)
1 small banana, cut into chunks
2 eggs (use egg replacer if going vegan)
1/2 cup walnuts (omit if going nut-free)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (if going diary free, be sure to read the chocolate chip ingredients)
1 fresh orange, squeezed (my addition)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and flour ( or non-stick spray) your baking pan(s)
In a large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients
Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender (or two knives scissor-fashion) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs
Stir in the remaining ingredients until just blended
Bake in pre-heated oven as directed below:
Large loaf pan: 55-60 minutes
4 Individual Loaf pans: 30-40 minutes
Cool in pan on wire rack

Holiday Goodies: Gingerbread, Paper Snowflakes and Decorations

I LOVE gingerbread.

Okay… that’s a slight understatement. I’m obsessed with it!

Seriously! Its true!
Hi, I’m Kate and I have a gingerbread addiction! I think about it, want it, and crave it as much as an addict would their drug of choice! It would be ridiculous if I heard anyone else explain to me like I am to you, how much they love gingerbread.

Everyone has their vices, and while I have a few year-round vices, my holiday “drug of choice” is gingerbread. SO, to celebrate my deep love affair with this delicious little cookie I’m throwing a party. I’ve rounded up some of the gang that enjoy gingerbread (or could it be the wine and champagne I also promised would be flowing?) to come celebrate this wonderful blessing to all mankind that is the gingerbread cookie.

So I’ll be using both my tried and true Gingerbread Cookie recipe and my gluten-free gingerbread cookie . Now, you might turn up your little nose and say.. “ewwww! What’s the point of eating a gluten-free cookie! Is it even a COOKIE still!?” Well, I’ll have you know I snuck a batch into my Gingerbread party last year and no-one had ANY idea! They’re delicious!! So, I’m looking forward to baking up a large batch of gingerbread men, women, dog bones, stars, trees… well you get the picture and decorating for the party!

To help gather some decor inspiration, I started a Gingerbread Party Pinterest Board . So far, I’m thinking about kicking it old school and making paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling with red ribbon.

I also want to pick up a few of the trimmed Christmas tree branches from my fruit stand boys at Corner Produce down at Pike Place (where we got our tree this year!) and decorating the table with some variation of this lovely idea using pine cones, candles and branches in glass jar! (pictured at left).

When I saw the package of Kikkerland Biodegradable Red and White Striped Paper Straws, I grabbed the package because our little house simply NEEEEEEDED an adorable package of straws! So, I’ll be putting these out in a mason jar…which is a little silly because we’ll be serving one of my favorite “go-to” wineries, Folie A Deux Menage A Trois in both the Table Red (I call it the gateway red!) and Table White. A party can’t be complete without some bubbly so we’ll also have that! To remember who’s wine glass is who’s, I’ll get some various ribbons and tie them to the stems and also have another scrap that you can tie to your wrist or pin so for a fun party game of remembering which glass is yours!

Now that the party is planned, gingerbread must be baked and decorations gathered and put out! Tune in this weekend for an updated post with pictures from the party! And, YES, I WILL be eating gingerbread while I type that post…and everyday for the next two weeks!!