New Year's Festive Apricot Streusel Crumble Cake

An early morning baking session yielded a softly sweet streusel-strewn coffee cake that was perfect for snacking with mid-morning (that would be SB) tea. Later in the day, it became a cozy dessert with a pot of hot tea.

Tomten's Christmas Adventures - Part Two

It was quiet in the kitchen at the grey cottage. Tomten felt a little lonely being away from his friends Gnome and Joseph. The only thing catching his eye this early in the morning was the flicker of the flames in the woodstove. Master had come early to start the fire, as the winter cold had crept into the cottage over night, making everything cold and stiff. He turned the lights on and quietly made his morning cereal, then he went to tend the other fire in the living room ... brr, it was chilly!

Why, even the kitty walked stiff-legged toward the fire ! Opey sat close to the stove door, whisking her tail back and forth and turning this way and that to the warmth. After a bit of preening, she hopped into the rocking chair and settled down for a morning snooze.

Tomten felt happy to sit in his special spot and watch Opey snooze. It gave him a happy feeling to have his Animals come to keep him company and he knew that once Opey came to the kitchen, the Lady of the House could not be far behind!

Classic Lamb Tagine

After all the rich meals and constant onslaught of sweets, it seemed fitting to simplify our first post-Christmas dinner by doing an easy tagine simmer of  lean lamb, ginger, garlic, saffron, cinnamon and fruits with chopped onions. The new tagine got put to good use and two hours later, a drizzle of honey gave the juices a soft sweetness.

Over plain couscous, this was a nice change from all the traditional Christmas knosh ... we added a salad on the side for a cool crisp break from the warm saucy tagine. 

New Years Eve

What are you doing New Years Eve?

Since the adolescent years, that question has cropped up every year in the time between Christmas and New Years Eve ... and it's always been a loaded question. When I was a teen, I dreaded New Years Eve. If one didn't have a special person to share the New Years kiss with, one was pitiful. During the college years, New Years Eve was a time of complete alcoholic excess and loud ranting bedlam. During the young family years, it was a time of packing up the kids and travelling to family parties. Now, in retirement we finally have a real choice, but still there's always the question. What are you doing New Years Eve?

Do I admit that the last thing I want to do is get all dressed up and go lollygagging around someone's fancied up house drinking too much champagne and chatting it up over music that's too loud? Do I lie and say I have special plans when asked ? The truth is I don't have special plans and I don't plan to get dressed up. I don't want to get bundled and walk around outside in the cold at some 'First Night' celebration. I don't want to make a huge meal and eat at ten o'clock at night, dallying at the table for a midnight toast. I don't want to walk the neighborhood in a progressive Open House that ends with fireworks shot off the neighbor's deck and champagne toasts echoing down over the back yard. I don't want to have a huge family get-together with way too much food and drink and a massive midnight clean-up. I don't want to remain glued to a television special or movie fest. I don't want anything contrived  or falsely jolly. 

Nope. I just want a quiet evening with my favorite person in the world. That's all. This year, I want to stand outside in the quiet of the early evening with my arm around SB. I plan to look up at the stars and enjoy a quiet moment. Then, I plan to come inside, make a pot of black tea, warm plates of Chinese pork dumplings, chicken wings, spicy wontons, and fried rice, set out some cool Asian pickle and enjoy dinner. As midnight draws near, I plan to uncork a nice bottle of chilled Prosecco and sip away while playing backgammon. And at midnight, I plan to be fast asleep ... bringing in the new year peacefully.

So ... what are YOU doing New Years Eve? Whatever it is, I hope you enjoy yourself just the way you like. I hope you enter the New Year full of peace and in the New Year I hope you have enough of everything that makes you comfortable and happy. 

Video Credit:  You Tube - What Are You Doing New Years Eve - Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Merry Christmas Mango Ginger Scones

Christmas morning ... Bloody Mary cocktails, vegetable strata , mango and ginger scones and cold clementines ... steaming hot coffee, homemade gingerbread cookies and chocolates, and Christmas stockings ... Ottolenghi signed 'To Susan - Yotam and Sami" ... Nigel Slater's Notes From the Larder and a new tagine ... international vanilla extracts and tea lotus blossoms ... bags of beans, rice, sea salt ... a very foodie Christmas all around!

IHCC Pot Luck - Giada's Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce

Think juicy chicken thighs, a mountain of fresh mushrooms, ribbons of slivered onions, and that sauce. Holy smokes good ... that's what it was. This week, I took advantage of the I Heart Cooking Club's potluck challenge to go back into Giada De Laurentiis's archives and find this recipe. Giada suggests making this dish with chunks of white meat chicken breast, and of course, she would. The dish is a bit more sophisticated looking with boneless chicken breast, but I just pulled the skin off bone in chicken thighs and savored the darker, richer meat.  Giada also tells us to have this saucy dish over fettucine, but I opted for steamed rice instead ...

Random Recipes and Baked Ziti Straight From the Jumbled Pantry ....

Sometimes one has to dig deep, snuffle around, shift things here and there to come up with all the necessary pieces of the puzzle called 'supper' .... welcome to my pantry cupboard. Well one of them, that is.

Fruit Mince Tarts ... IHCC

A quiet Sunday morning with church services cancelled due to blustery snow and icy roads ... frost at the windows ... the Christmas tree all lit up ... and tins and plates to be filled for neighbors, near and far! This snowy Sunday has been a cozy Godsend, as these little tarts have been the result! Perhaps this afternoon I'll make the apricot jam thumbprints, chocolate rum balls, and Russian teacakes that are always a traditional favorite!