West Elm Holiday Entertaining Event

I’m so excited to be sharing some great Holiday cocktails at West Elm San Diego!

Thursday, December 13th from 6-8pm

RSVP here.

I will have 3 drinks including one without alcohol for those inclined or even for the kiddos!

I’m so excited to use West Elm’s new TWIG bar-ware!

Check it out on West Elm’s site here.

Here’s one cocktail I will be serving (recipe here):

The evening will also feature holiday food ideas from BetsyLife and floral ideas from Leaf it to Lexi.

Should be fun!

Hope to see some of you San Diegans there!

Holiday Cocktail: Maple Bourbon Twist

You have no idea how excited I am about this drink. My friends and family know me by now as a crazy cocktail dabbler. I can’t help it. I just love mixing flavors and following trends of my own changing taste in food and drink. When I pick a flavor, I pretty much stick to it for a while and it will appear EVERYWHERE!

Grapefruit:

I made a cocktail, cookies, and soap.

Honey:

replacing every sugar product I can with it.

Ginger:

I made many different cocktails (some with grapefruit), cookies, and also just ate it candied.

Five spice:

It went in chicken, soup, and cookies.

The next one is definitely bourbon. I have had this trend in the past, but I am definitely using bourbon whenever I can at this point.

I love it so.

This cocktail is very special to me because I really love it. If you asked my husband if I am happy with the food and drink I create, he would say no way! I can’t help but want to improve upon things and make them better. This drink, however, I just really love as it is. The maple syrup really holds down the bourbon, making it nice and smooth. I love the sweet finish of apple brandy and our homegrown apple slice on top.

Introducing my Holiday 2012 cocktail:

Maple Bourbon Twist

(thanks to Brianne and Kristin for helping me name it)

1 oz. Bourbon (I prefer Knob Creek or a small batch bourbon)

3/4 oz. maple syrup

3/4 oz. lemon juice, fresh squeezed

2 small splashes of apple brandy

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake for 1 minute. Serve in a martini glass with an apple slice. This can easily be made into large batches. Add a little club soda if it’s too strong for you!

C H E E R S !

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Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce

Aren’t you guys just loving fall?!

spice

chill

snuggling

baking

leaves

cider

friends

The weather stays pretty mild here, but we try to soak fall in whenever we can. Sometimes we just pretend it’s cold and bake something anyway.

For the holidays, I would be lying if I said I like to keep it easy. I do however like to find ways to make the process easier. I’m learning. One way to keep things simple is to make the cranberry sauce ahead of time. I usually make 2 kinds, this one and a canned remake you can find here…tin can mold and all!

The orange zest and Grand Marnier in this cranberry sauce are a bright and fresh addition to any holiday table. This recipe makes plenty to share. If you are just a few this year, cut the recipe in half, share with a random neighbor down the street, or follow the instructions for canning it!

Fresh Cranberry Sauce with Grand Marnier

2 12 oz. packages of cranberries

2 cups of sugar, add more if desired really sweet

zest from 1 orange

juice from 2 oranges

4 Tablespoons Grand Marnier

few dashes of cinnamon

Boil a large pot of water, 3/4 full (only if canning the sauce). In a second large pot, combine all ingredients. Over medium heat, simmer the mixture until the cranberries have burst or until it has thickened. If not canning, refrigerate up to 3 days before you would like to serve it. If canning, sterilize the jars and lids, then immediately add the hot cranberry sauce to the jars, leaving 1/4 of headspace/room on top. Wipe the rims with a clean cloth to prevent the lids from sticking and to encourage a proper seal Process/boil with 1 inch of water covering them for 5 minutes, remove, and cool for 24 hours before moving.

If you can this sauce, you can easily travel with it to parties or give as hostess gifts. I did this last year and it saved me a lot of time. You could even check it in your luggage as a way to bring some homemade to wherever you are traveling this holiday season!

Either way, it’s a wonderful handmade gift!

Add a lovely label from Heather’s new Paperie Shop for a perfect finishing touch!

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Tomato Gazpacho with Pickled Onions and Parsley Oil

Isn’t it great how some of the most enjoyable foods are the simplest? A scrumptious garden tomato with a simple sprinkling of salt is a delicious gift.

So simple.

I made my case for peaches being one of the greatest foods of summer, but tomatoes are right up there too. The kids and I had an opportunity this past weekend to pick at a local farm here in San Diego, Suzie’s Farm. We’ve done many farm tours there for school and we love being able to pick baskets and baskets of produce goodness. The Best. When summer fruits and veggies are at their peak, very little needs to be done to improve upon them. God created a tomato or a pepper to go from incredibly sour and inedible, to juicy and sweet in just a few days, thanks to that glorious summer sun.

What a fantastic overseer and gardener God is.

Thank you, God, for tomatoes.

I think gazpacho is a such an amazing soup. It actually existed way way back in the deep dark corners of the history books. Maybe it’s just my love of history, but I think it’s pretty cool to eat something like they did in Rome long ago, don’t you think? It was created to both enjoy the produce of summer but also to eat on a hot day. Quite simply, it is a tomato-based soup served chilled. All of the ingredients are thrown into the blender, so no cooking over the stove or turning on the oven for this recipe! The pickled onions add a little tang and the parsley oil adds some fun flavor and color.

Ok, let’s blend…

Toss all of the gazpacho ingredients in the blender. Puree for a few minutes or until completely smooth. Season to your liking.

Pour into bowls.

Done.

I find arranging buffet style toppings for meals encourages kids to create their own meals and eventually try things which would normally cause them to freak out. Having a small level of control even helps mine to branch out and try new things.

Above, I have hard-boiled eggs, pickled red onions, parsley oil (see below), bruschetta, goat cheese, cucumber, and avocado. If you had shrimp or crab available, that would be fantastic too!

I also served ours with bread since it is an automatic comfort to my kids when they are eating something with a texture like a soup. Gazpacho or even tomato soup are delicious with torn pieces of bread in them.

Enjoy!

Tomato Gazpacho with Pickled Onions and Parsley Oil

For the gazpacho:

6 regular size tomatoes, preferably heirloom

1 large avocado

1 sweet pepper, any color

1 regular size cucumber, peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

2 T. apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp. paprika

1-2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper, to taste

For the toppings:

pickled onions

avocado, chopped

hard-boiled egg, chopped

fresh bruschetta (chopped tomatoes, dash of olive oil, garlic, salt)

goat cheese, crumbled

cucumber, peeled and chopped

Parsley Oil:

1 c. of fresh parsley

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

salt, to taste

Blanch the parsley for 1 minute in boiling water. Strain and blend with the olive oil in a blender. Serve, salt, and refrigerate.

Add all of the gazpacho ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Season to your liking. Add the toppings and enjoy!

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Ginger Peach Hand Pies

I hope your summer has been full of rest and peace, friends!

Fresh summer produce is such an amazing part of summer, don’t you think? I love going to our local markets and soaking in the glorious smells that the season has to offer. Although I live in a very farm friendly area, summer brings fresh markets to pretty much every area of the country. If you haven’t found any local farms yet, check out Local Harvest, which gives a pretty accurate list of neighboring farms. Buying organic food the day it’s picked is a pretty amazing thing.

That brings us to peaches.

I think it’s safe to say this fruit is the essence of summertime. Without the heat summer brings, there is no peach. Next time you feel hot, remember all that yummy fruit that is living it up in those rays. You see, it makes it just a little more endurable.

I thought a good place for peachy goodness to dwell would be inside a hand pie with flaky crust and some ginger.

Don’t you agree?

Deliciousness! Ok, let’s make these guys…

To start, chop the peaches, grate the ginger, and squeeze the lemon juice.

Mix all of those with the cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar. The cardamom isn’t necessary, but I really love it, so I threw it in to make things interesting.

After it’s mixed, let the fruit strain from the juices for several minutes. If the juices were left in, they could leak out and cause burning or make the dough soggy.

Sprinkle a little flour on your counter and rolling-pin. You should be starting with 4 total pieces of dough (what would have been the tops and bottoms of whole pies from a recipe). Roll out your dough to be a 14 inch circle or until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick.

Cut the dough twice diagonally to make 4 triangles. Repeat until dough is used up. You can roll out the scraps to make more pies if you want.

Fill one triangle with peach filling, leaving space all the way around the edges to press down and close. Place another triangle on top and use a fork to press down the edges. If you see cracks, try to smooth them with your finger so the juices cannot escape. Brush the top with the egg and sprinkle with sugar to your liking. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.

Ginger Peach Hand Pies

For the filling:

3 just ripe peaches

2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cardamom

2 T. sugar

For the Crust:

1 pie or tart dough recipe, enough for 2 pies with tops and bottoms

( I have one here available from my homemade pop tarts)

Pre-made pie dough from a store like Trader Joes.

(Just remember to defrost it beforehand)

1 egg, beaten

large grain sugar for sprinkling on top

To start, chop the peaches, grate the ginger, and squeeze the lemon juice. Mix all of those with the cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar. The cardamom isn’t necessary, but I really love it, so I threw it in to make things interesting. After it’s mixed, let the fruit strain for several minutes. If the juices were left in, they could leak out and cause burning or make the dough soggy. Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and rolling-pin. You should be starting with 4 total pieces of dough (what would have been the tops and bottoms of whole pies from a recipe). Roll out your dough to be a 14 inch circle or until it’s 1/4 of an inch thick. Cut the dough twice diagonally to make 4 triangles. Repeat until dough is used up. You can roll out the scraps to make more pies if you want. Fill one triangle with peach filling, leaving space all the way around the edges to press down and close. Place another triangle on top and use a fork to press down the edges. If you see cracks, try to smooth them with your finger so the juices cannot escape. Brush the top with the egg and sprinkle with sugar to your liking.

Enjoy this taste of summer!