A Little More Christmas....

 Gentle Friends, with the lockdown now in full force here by the Bay and everyone having a much smaller Yuletide than usual I was not surprised to get an email from our friends over on Alamo square that have the "First of the Season" Christmas party every year.  This year would have been the 21st year of the party and although it didn't happen we were given a "Save The Date" for next year.... December 3, 2021.  Along with the email was a picture of this year's tree.  They ordered it back in February ... and decorated it over the Thanksgiving weekend... here's a snap...

... it's another beautiful tree... I've marked in ink on next year's calendar the date to look forward to.

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 I've gotten quite a few requests for the praline recipe... of course, I'll share.  It's a recipe I cobbled together from a few recipes I tried and also read about and tweaked it until I got it where I like it... and those that taste them like them so I must be doing something right.

Pecan Pralines

Ingredients

1 1/2 C White Sugar

1/2 C Packed Dark Brown Sugar

3/4 C Half & Half

4 Tbls Butter

1/8 teas Baking Soda

2 C Pecans - rough chop

1/2 teas Salt

1 teas Vanilla or Bourbon

Method

Get a piece of parchment paper ready on the counter to drop the pralines on, I use a piece that is about 20" x 20"  and can about 25 candies on this, also get the two tablespoons ready and waiting there to scoop and drop.

In a heavy pot toss the first 5 ingredients and over medium heat bring to boil and stir continuously so the mixture does not stick.  Keep on heat stirring until an instant-read thermometer reaches 211 degrees.  Add the pecans at this point and keep stirring until the thermometer reaches 236 degrees.

Take off heat and add the salt and vanilla. (I have also added bourbon instead of vanilla to this and liked it a lot but you can tweak the flavour to your taste)

Stir the mixture vigorously for 3 minutes and then drop by tablespoons full on the parchment.  Let cool completely.  I usually just let them sit there overnight and they are fine.  You can use the parchment a couple of times before it gets a bit rough.  This makes about 25 candies.

It's a pretty forgiving recipe, just get it to temperature and keep stirring so that it doesn't stick and it'll be fine.  You can also use walnuts, I've done it that way but I like the pecan better so that's what I use, but you could probably use any nut out there ... again tweak it to your taste!!

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again.  

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.  Stay Safe!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Stitchin', Cookin' and Blue Skies!

Gentle Friends, I think I'll post today instead of tomorrow with some snaps...  first up is CTA...

... as you can see I've gone back and made some stitching changes... one of the things that had been bothering me about this piece was the seagulls.  I've live my whole life near the sea and I can't remember ever seeing all-white seagulls.  I didn't care for them as charted but I was stitching away on them and so left them alone.  Then I got reading over on the Facebook SAL and how other stitchers have dealt with them and I loved the different solutions... so I went back with my trusty seam ripper and ripped out all the original stitching... now the seagulls as I have stitched them are... "WDW - Grits" for the body, wings tipped and the eye is "WDW - Gunmetal", the beaks are "WDW - Daylily" the feet are "DMC 640".  I am so happy I went back and did this.  In redoing this stitching I'm a bit behind but this is, as with all my stitching, for fun a relaxation, and not a race!

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It's Fall and I was reading on Natasha's Kitchen blog about Apple Pie and got a wild hair and had to make one... I couldn't find my pie pan, lord only knows where that has gotten too... so I hauled out the 9" springform and it worked fine...you can go HERE and read her recipe, it's very delicious and so simple!!

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... we've gotten back some clear skies the last few days, I think I took this on Friday... 

looking west to Twin Peaks.  

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Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Sweet Little Recipe

Gentle friends, I've had quite a few requests for my recipe for the pralines I've been making.  It's one I made up from watching about 30 really wonderful cooks on youtube making Pralines all different ways with little tweaks .... and then I did my due diligence and read numerous recipes using all kinds of ingredients and different techniques... There are as many ways to Pralines as there are stars in the sky.... this is just my way and those that have gotten them this year have had nice things to say ...

so here goes...

Pralines

Yield 22 to 26

1 1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C Dark Brown Sugar

4 Tbls Salted Butter

1/8 teas Baking Soda

3/4 C 1/2 & 1/2 

2 C Chopped Pecans

1/4 teas salt

1 teas Vanilla 

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You have to get everything ready before you turn the stove on.... chop up the pecans...

... get the vanilla and salt .....

... layout the piece of parchment on the counter and get the tablespoons ... 

... now you can turn the stove on... put the sugars, butter, soda and 1/2 & 1/2 in a heavy pot, turn the stove on a little higher than medium-high.... start that sucker going...

... keep stirring, not briskly but enough to keep everything a'moving... as it all comes to a boil...

... when the temp hits 211 (by the time I got my camera for the shot it got to 214) I like to add them at this point as the cooking of the nuts makes the praline have a nuttier flavour.

...add the chopped pecans and turn the heat to just under medium-high heat...  by adding the pecans this will bring the temps down a bit and slows the cooking up ...  you now just keep stirring constantly and letting the temp get to 236 on the thermometer...  I missed that shot...  as it cooks the viscosity changes and you'll see the praline pulling away from the bottom of the pan...

... when the temp hits a solid 236 immediately take it off the heat and add the vanilla (or bourbon) and the salt and beat for 3 minutes...

... after the 3 minutes beating drop by tablespoon full onto the parchment paper, this must be done quickly as it will start to get firm the cooler it gets... I let them sit out on the counter overnight before bagging them up...  enjoy!  This takes about 35 minutes or so to make and yields about 22 to 26 pralines depending on the size you make them.

Now, what I was aiming for was a bourbon flavoured praline when I started out and nowhere did I find one so I just replace the vanilla.... and the teaspoon of bourbon in place of vanilla hit the mark and was popular with those that like bourbon, and the alcohol burns off with the heat leaving just the delicious flavour.  But, vanilla it's traditional and for gifting works lovely.  I'm thinking of other flavours of praline and will be experimenting during the year.  

Let me know if you've any questions, This season I've made a few hundred of these suckers one recipe at a time... and they have been a hit so far!!

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks again for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts!  Good Words!  Good Deeds!

edgar


Addendum: I had a couple of questions.... 1/2 & 1/2 is a blend of regular milk and light cream... more fat than milk but less fat than cream... I always have some in the fridge as that's what I prefer in coffee, so I thought why not and it worked a dream  I think just cream would work fine or you could thin out the cream with a little milk. 

When I say beat for 3 minutes I mean to keep stirring vigorously for the three minutes.  I also found a couple of times that the praline mixture started to seize up during this time as it was cooling too fast, and I just popped it back on the warm burner for a few seconds to get it back to the right consistency before dropping onto the parchment paper.  I think in the last few weeks I've made enough that I've gotten to that point of knowing the "feel" of the candy, it just comes with practice, but the mixture has to be loose enough to scoop and stiff enough not to run all over the place.  I hope this helps.

A Little Christmas Cooking

Gentle Friends, so I've been super busy this year, with almost 10 days less to get things done it seems that I've been running around like a chicken with its head off!!  I had some plans in place ( or in my mind) a month ago so it's managed madness!!  As in years past, I like to make treats for family and friends near and far and this year is no different... I chose to whip up a few things... 

.. some delicious Mexican Wedding Cookies, I switched out the more traditional pecans for walnuts... because I am also making...

... pralines and I didn't want to replicate the same nut.  This is one of my favourite candies and it's a recipe I've tweaked from about six different places to come up with what I think is a super candy treat!!

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Of course, I have been thinking about Christmas dinner for a while and in years past I've made prime rib, Beef Wellington, standing rib roast and so on.... so this year I thought I'd look to Rico's family for inspiration.   I've landed on making tamales with carnitas... so we'll be giving a nod to his heritage this year and having friends over to enjoy !!  

Last night on the way home we hit a store in the Mission to pick up the supplies. I'm glad we did, as I was hit with almost empty shelves.  Tamales are very traditional for Christmas in Latino homes and I am really glad we stopped.... if I had waited any longer it might have been impossible to get what I needed!!    I've narrowed the list for the Christmas cake but haven't yet nailed it down... I'll keep you posted!

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

Some Lilacs and Little Cake

Gentle Friends, after mass on Sunday we were walking down to the Castro for brunch and libations.  We passed a flower stand and there in one of the many flower buckets was my favourite spring flower... lilacs... and I couldn't resist... 

... so they came home with me and look lovely in the living room... and smell better!!

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There was a Mothers Day bake sale at church so I made ...

...  my Great Grandmothers Lemon Pound Cake... it's an old fashioned recipe, the cake is one of my favourites I've made many times!!

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There you go sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Christmas Baking

Gentle Friends, I got it together enough to bake up some treats for sending out to my Family and Friends, near and far away... it seemed that time just was whooshing by... I was thinking about it all Fall and I finally decided to bake up one of my Mom's recipes... one that she always made during the Christmas Season...  baklava...  a traditional Mediterranean flaky pastry made with nuts (usually walnuts and pistachios), phyllo dough and a sweet syrup of honey and sugar...  

I figured out how much I needed and calculated that five 9x13 pans of the stuff would do...

These are pans 3 & 4 - I only have two 9x13 pans in my arsenal!!

My Mom started making baklava way back in the 1990s and it eventually became a staple of her Christmas baking regime... other things that were staples at my house ... cranberry nut bread, Mississippi Mud Cake, and various cookies, little orange blossom cupcakes... coconut cake and pound cake...  She got the recipe from a good friend in the Museum Guild she belonged to and that's the recipe I used, with a couple of tweaks.... of course... I jazzed up the syrup with a bit of lemon and for the teaspoon of cinnamon that is called for, I replaced it with my own Fall 6 Spice blend.  The fifth and last pan also got another tweak as I was running out of walnuts I ended up just replacing them with pecans (my favourite nut) and it turned out deliciously well!!  Now that the outside gift-baking is done I may end up making a few treats for us and our Christmas guests that are coming .... who knows I get mighty nostalgic around the Holidays!!!

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Thanks for stopping by sports fans.  Right now I have no plans to Post next week I am taking some time off.... but you never know??? 

 Have a super Christmas!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little More Christmas of 2017.... Part II

Gentle Friends, Sunday, Christmas Eve  I finished up the Lane Cake... HERE's the recipe I used... and here's a snap of the finished cake...

 ... I had never made one before, and I was leary of the minimal amount of frosting that it called for so I made a full batch....and I ended up with lots and lots of extra fluffy white and what does on do .... you try to use it up....so I made some silly decorations with a jury-rigged pastry bag..... I couldn't find my real one.... and here's...

... the remnants in the kitchen sink.  Making this frosting brought back some really great memories as it was my mom's go-to recipe.... 7-Minute Frosting.  I had never tried to make it before but she made it all the time and always at Christmas for the Birthday cake.

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I also made the mushroom filling... 

... for the main event for dinner the next day....  here's the menu...

Christmas Dinner 2017

Beef Wellington 

(click for the recipe)

Roasted Winter Root Vegetables

Holiday Rice Pilaf

Parker House Rolls

Lane Cake

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Then on Christmas Day, it all came together......

... here's a better shot of the flower arrangement Rico made for the table...

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That's about it for today sports fans, I'll wrap up Christmas tomorrow, hopefully.  

Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Look Back at the Christmas of 2017..... Pt 1

Gentle Friends, the next couple of posts are of our Christmas Holidays....

with quite a few snaperoos..... so here goes..........

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The Friday before Christmas found us at....

... our wonderful SF Flower Market.  We were having a few friends over for Christmas Lunch and so we had to get the house ready and what better way than with a load of flowers....

.... as usual, there was quite lot to choose from...

.... and lots of Christmas stuff was still available...  

these bay and pine garland were really lovely and smelled great!! 

 ... there was even lots of early tulips...

... these berry branches are super and I love them, but with the dogs, we never get any since they drop all over the place and I don't want to take the chance on a poisoning.... but I still really like them!!

... we had decided on red and white roses and this bunch was a nice starting off point for ideas....

.... there are lots of variations of color and tons of roses...

.... and all sorts of mixed bunches of flowers.... some worked... and some really didn't... 

 we usually buy just bunches of flowers and Rico creates the arrangements .... 

it's easier and we get what we really want !!

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This year I wanted to take Rico out to a Christmas Tea at Lovejoy's.... so I made a reservation and Saturday we headed over and it was very relaxing...  

.. the tea room was decorated for Christmas...

... one of the fun things about Lovejoys is the fun use of mix-matched china for all the tables...

... there are lots of choices for eats with tea, we got two"Queens Tea's"...

... with each "Tea", you get a pot of tea... I got a lovely Citrus based tea that was full of spice and peel, it tasted like Christmas in a cup, delicious!!  Rico got the lavender and vanilla, another delicious black flavored tea...

.. with our Queens Teas we got a couple of little sausage rolls...

... the food is served on tiered trays...

... with each Queen's tea you get a choice of two tea sandwiches, I chose pear/stilton and smoked salmon/cream cheese, Rico chose the special salad sandwich and chicken walnut salad... you also get warm crumpets, scones, green salad and caraway cole slaw....  after a long leisurely tea we headed home and I got started on the preliminary cooking  I needed to get done for Christmas .....

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With friends coming around and with two cakes to bake I got started.... 

one of the snacks I wanted to make was some sugared peanuts.... easy and tasty

...  it's a two-part process, stir raw peanuts, water, and sugar then....

when all the water is evaporated you roasted them stirring occasionally until dry and crunchy.

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There were two cakes I needed to make, one for the coffee hour after Midnight Mass and the second one a Birthday cake for Baby Jesus.  I've talked about the Birthday cake before in other Christmas posts there has been a birthday cake every year since I can remember at my family's Christmas table.....I've made all kinds of cakes and this year the Birthday cake I chose to make was a Lane Cake.  

...so, I wanted to get started and make the fruit/nut filling for the cake.  

The cake I made for after Chrismas mass...

...was a glazed Rum cake...

....  along with the Sugared peanuts, I made up some Spicy Nuts and Bolts (Chex Mix).

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I think that will wrap up today's post.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Baking

Gentle friends, once again this year I am in the kitchen baking up some treats for family and friends near and far..... and this past weekend was the weekend to pull it all together..... in the past I've done jams, jellies, candy and other things - this year I decided to make Biscotti... I found two really delicious recipes over at Sallys Baking Addiction a super cooking Blog that I read all the time.....

 ... the two recipes I made were a "White Chocolate with Pistachio and Cranberry Biscotti" and a "Christmas Spice with Orange and Walnut Biscotti"  the Spice/Orange with Walnuts one was based on her Dark Chocolate and Orange Biscotti, I tweaked the spices by deleting the cinnamon and adding a heaping teaspoon of my own Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend, since both recipes called for the same amount of cinnamon I wanted them to be a little more different in the flavour profile than the same..... and it worked a treat!!!

... here's a snap of them all ready for packing up!!  They are really GOOD biscotti and not dry and hard as so many of them tend to be... Sally hit a home run with this recipe!! 

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That's about it around the old homestead sports fans, thanks again for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar