Peppermint Cookies

My Mother-In-Law's Kitchen

Since I met my amazing husband, and subsequently his fabulous mother, I have been wanting to write a whole series of posts entitled "My Mother-In-Law's Kitchen." Why you ask? Simple...her food is delicious (both my husband and I love it), many of her recipe's are heirloom recipes I want to treasure and pass on, and she is an amazing person I love getting to spend time with. Especially in the kitchen!

Finally after nearly three years of marriage (and a new amazing camera from my awesome husband) I have gotten a few recipes on camera, and I hope to get many more in the years to come. 

I hope you enjoy these amazing recipes as much as we do! With love from my Mother-In-Law Linda's Kitchen xxxooo

When the recipe card looks like this you know the cookies are good!

2 cups sugar

1 cup lard (yes lard! - but don't shy away these are fabulous)!

1 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

1 tsp peppermint extract

4 tsp baking soda

6 cups flour

Cream together the sugar and lard.

Add buttermilk (it will appear lumpy)

Add eggs, peppermint and baking soda.

Mix thoroughly.

Add 6 cups of flour to the wet mixture one cup at a time. 

  

 Cover and refrigerate.  

 Roll out dough, sprinkle with sugar, and cut into your favorite shapes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until lightly brown on the bottom. Cool cookies on a wire or wooden rack.

Frosting:

1 bag powdered sugar

Milk

Peppermint extract

Food coloring

Mix powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons milk, and 1-2 tablespoons extract. Add food coloring to your desired color. Drizzle over cookies.

 Allow frosting to dry before storing in zip lock bags or storage containers. 

These can be made in advance and placed in the freezer. Just remove and bring to room temp before serving. Delicious!

Mashed Potatoes ala Norma

5 large potatoes peeled

1 garlic clove, split

2 egg yolks

fresh ground pepper

1/2 cup butter

1 cup hot milk

4 slices Italian salami, diced

1/4 pound mozzarella cheese diced

2 tbsp heavy cream

2 tbsp grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Cover potatoes and garlic with boiling salted water and cook through. Preheat broiler. Drain potatoes and garlic and mash with butter and milk. Beat in egg yolks (make sure egg yolks are not cold have them on the counter to come to temp while potatoes are boiling to prevent scrambling). Mix in diced salami and mozzarella and then place in a buttered oven safe dish. Spoon cream over the top, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and place in the broiler 8 inches from the heat. Cook slowly until light brown crust appears. Serve warm and enjoy!

Cold and Flu

Having to combat the common cold and the flu this year more than usual? OR does this season always seem to hit your house harder than others? Check out this article I just came across...it has some interesting information on some habits we don't normally associate with cold and flu season!

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/photos/surprising-signs-weak-immune-system#0

Tips for Weight Maintenance

Do Not Skip Breakfast

Skipping meals to eliminate calories? It seems like a simple concept; however, the repercussions of skipping a meal far out weigh the advantages of eliminating those calories. Skipping breakfast leads to intense hunger, making it difficult to make wise food choices. The result? Bad habits develop, such as eating convenient high-calorie snacks and meals.

Eating breakfast jump starts your metabolism; so, you start burning calories earlier in the day. If you skip breakfast (or any meal), you are denying your body the calories it needs to function properly. The body is thrown into a "survival mode," which slows the metabolism, resulting in the storage of remaining energy as fat. Research also shows that skipping breakfast lowers mental performance in both youth and adults.

Eat Throughout The Day

Eating 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day, rather than 3 large meals, will prevent your metabolism from shutting down. The longer you go between meals the more your metabolism will slow down in order to conserve energy.

Drink Water

Water is the body's most important nutrient. If the body is lacking in water, the metabolic rate will be slowed. The liver will begin to retain water rather than burn fat.

Replace Fat With Muscle

Muscle burns more calories than fat. We are able to maintain our weight more easily if we replace fat with muscle. Exercise using light weights to tone and firm muscle.

Aerobic Exercise

Whether you walk, skip, jog, or dance, aerobic exercise burns calories. Although cleaning your house and walking the aisles of the grocery store counts, sustained activity that raises your heart rate will burn the most calories.

Progressive Exercise

An exercise program must be progressive in order to be productive. Providing a challenge for your body is what forces your body to make changes and improvements. For example, if you use a treadmill for 30 minutes/3 days a week, it is beneficial to challenge your body by increasing the time, resistance, and/or frequency that you use the treadmill.

Age And Metabolism

It is a fact: As we age our metabolic rate slows down, and our muscle transforms into fat more readily than when we were younger. To manage your weight as you age, you must either adjust your calorie intake or increase your physical activity level to burn more calories. Physical activity will also keep muscles toned and will slow the process of muscle turning to "flab."

Match Eating To Activity Level

The amount of calories you consume on any given day should coincide with how active you are on that same day. Lower your intake of calories if you lead a sedentary lifestyle. Before you try to burn off existing fat, you must first stop storing new fat.

Information from:

http://www.recipetips.com/kitchen-tips/t--1350/metabolism-and-weight-management.asp

Chicken Waldorf Salad Sandwich

Chicken Waldorf Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:
Chicken (1 can chunk chicken or 1-2 cups roughly chopped chicken left overs)
1 gala apple diced small
1 celery stock diced small
1-2 cups sliced red seedless grapes
Optional 1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Bread/Crusty Roll/Croissant

Dressing Ingredients: (these are guesstimates as I just added each to the bowl free handed)
1/4 cup mayo (what ever kind you like - lite/fat free/olive oil base/regular/miracle whip)
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup honey
palm full of poppy seeds
S&P to taste

Make dressing in a large bowl first. Whisk together all ingredients and set aside to marinade while getting the other ingred ready.
Chop chicken, apples, celery and grapes and toss in dressing. Check seasoning and adjust here if needed. Add walnuts directly before serving. This is great as a sandwich but it's also great as a regular salad.

Wandering Gypsy Girl Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients

1 leek sliced

1/4 sweet yellow onion sliced

1 small potato sliced

1-2 heads fresh or frozen broccoli (florets separated from the larger stock-discard large stock or hold aside for making vegetable stock later)

chicken or vegetable stock (enough to cover veggies)

1 stick butter

2-3 tbl flour

cheddar cheese shredded - to taste (at least 2-3 handfuls)

milk or cream 

S&P to taste

 Rinse leeks to remove grit (slice at about 1/2 way up the dark green stem). Remove broccoli florets if using fresh broccoli and slice onion and peeled potato.

 Add 3-4 pads butter to pot and saute broccoli, leeks, onions, and potato until onions are translucent. Season with S&P here.

 Add enough stock to cover the veggies.

 Cover with lid and simmer until broccoli, potatoes and leeks are soft.

 Transfer all but 2-3 tbls of liquid to the blender and pulse until smooth.

 Add flour to stock remaining in the pot and make a rue. Add milk in slowly creating a base for a cheese sauce.

 Add desire amount of cheese (I like a lot!).

 Add veggie puree back into pot with cheese sauce - combine and bring back up to temp.

Serve warm with crusty bread.

Chicken Artichoke Pasta Toss

Chicken Artichoke Pasta Toss

Ingredients:

Pasta of your choice

Olive oil

3-4 pads butter

1 can chicken chunks or any chicken leftovers shredded

fresh tomatoes diced

1/2 sweet yellow onion diced

artichoke hearts (canned or frozen is fine -which ever is on sale)

Thyme

S&P

While water is boiling for the pasta...shred chicken, dice up tomatoes, onion and artichokes (if pieces are large).

 Add butter and olive oil to the pan. Then add onion and saute until soft and fragrant. Add spices, tomatoes, artichokes and chicken to the pan and toss. Cook for just a few minutes to warm ingredients through.
When pasta is ready add pasta directly into pan with the rest of the ingredients and toss.  Add any additional butter, olive oil or spices here to taste.

Plate warm with Parmesan cheese over the top.

You can also add Alfredo sauce to this for a delicious left over makeover that is sure to please the whole family.

Baklava

Tyler Florence's Baklava

(I make this for Easter - my family loves baklava and over the years I have found this is one of the best recipes out there. -Lexi)

Ingredients

• 1 pound shelled walnuts, toasted
• 1/2 pound blanched almonds, toasted
• 1/2 pound shelled pistachios, toasted
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 pound unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pound phyllo pastry sheets

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Finely chop the nuts in a food processor or coffee grinder. Transfer nuts to a bowl and mix in brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and cloves.

Brush a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with melted butter and set aside. Cut a piece of cardboard into a 13 by 9-inch rectangle. Unroll the phyllo dough and lay the sheets flat on a work surface. Set the cardboard template on the stack of phyllo and trim the excess so they fit the pan. Keep the pastry covered with a damp, not wet, towel as you work to prevent drying out.

To build the baklava, you will alternate 3 layers of dough with 2 layers of nuts. Start with a stable base of 8 sheets on the bottom, brushing each with melted butter. Spread 1/2 the nut mixture evenly over the stacked sheets. Cover with 4 sheets of phyllo, painting each with melted butter, then sprinkle again with remaining nut mixture. Top the last layer of nuts with 8 layers of phyllo as you did for the bottom. Drizzleany remaining butter over top.

If you have time, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes so the butter will set and make the baklava easier to cut. Using a sharp knife, make 5 cuts across lengthwise, then cut diagonally to form diamonds. Baklava is more difficult to cut after it is cooked because the pastry becomes so flaky. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden and flaky. If the top browns too quickly during baking, tent with foil.

Orange Scented Simple Syrup:

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup orange blossom honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 large strips orange peel
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves

To make the syrup: combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and letsimmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Remove the orange peel, cinnamon stick, and whole clove; set aside to cool.

Remove an end piece of the baklava and tilt the pan to allow the butter to collect in the corner. Spoon out the excess and discard. With the pan flat, pour the syrup evenly over the hot baklava. Allow to stand for several hours before serving.

Desert Parfait

Desert Parfait

Ingredients: 

Pinot Noir

Sugar

Fresh seasonal fruit

Granola (your favorite kind)

Yogurt (I used greek goddess, honey flavor) 

 I used almond and raisin granola I bought at Sunflower Market, & strawberries and grapes because they were in season and on sale.

 Add 1cup pinot noir wine and 1/2 cup sugar to a sauce pan and boil down rapidly to create a rich and flavorful simple syrup. (optional -you can also add cinnamon sticks, 3 whole cloves and 1 whole star anise here and simply take them out after simmering and before adding the fruit.)

 Dice up fruit and add to simple syrup. Toss in liquid to coat. (At this point you can either boil the fruit down to make a compote or you can leave the fruit al dente)

 Remove fruit and liquid from heat and cool rapidly (you can also through it in the freezer for a minute)

Once fruit is cooled you are ready to assemble your lovely desert parfait alternating between the yogurt, granola and fruit.

These are a sure crowd pleaser at family meals or parties. Caution if you are making these in advance don't layer the granola into the parfait...hold it to the side and add right before serving to prevent a soggy oatmeal like texture in your parfait.

Jazzed up Deviled Eggs

I personally love deviled eggs year round, I think they are great to bring to BBQ's, family get together's, church socials etc. With these you can almost always guaranty you'll head home from the event with an empty plate. 

I like to make a statement when I bring these delicious little morsels with me...for Easter or any function really...adding a splash of color to your deviled eggs makes a fun statement.

Start by filling a few cups with plain vinegar. Add regular food coloring to each cup and insert peeled hard boiled eggs one at a time. Leave in the vinegar until you have reached your desired color (this won't take long so don't worry...you're not pickling the eggs)

Next...slice eggs in two, remove yokes and create standard deviled eggs filling (use your favorite recipe). Fill each half with the creamy mixture and a dash of paprika for color. Enjoy!

I've also colored the eggs after they were sliced in half to color the whole visible surface area. It's entirely up to you :-)

Wandering Gypsy Girl Roasted Chicken

What you'll need.

Preheat the oven to 400

In a small bowl combine spice mixture, lemon rind and butter. Spices: cumin, paprika, marjoram, thyme (there should be mostly thyme), S&P. Make a thick paste - this will go between the skin and meat as well as over the top of the skin for flavor and moisture.

Gently lift skin away from meat with fingers. Rub butter mixture in as you go.

Place thinly sliced apples and lemons between the skin and meat (over the herb butter). Layer the apples closest to the skin - the acid from the lemons will help bring out the sugars in the apples to flavor the meat. Stuff the cavity with onion, oranges, lemon, apples, and garlic that have been seasoned with S&P.

In your roaster create a bed for your chicken to cook on (this prevents it from sticking to the bottom - you may also use a rack or insert...but using vegetables and fruit adds far more flavor for the meat and the gravy after).

Saute roughly chopped onion, celery, carrot, lemon, orange, and apples briefly.

Nestle the chicken into the warm vegetables and fruit and cover the chicken with bacon (the fat from the bacon will keep the bird moist without braising. By increasing the initial fat content and cutting out the step for braising you allow the oven door to stay closed through cooking thus allowing for a more even cooking temperature throughout the process.

Cook at 400 for 20min then reduce heat and continue to cook for 20min per pound or until the juices run clear. Remove bacon about 10-20min before you are ready to remove the chicken to allow the outer skin to brown.

Once the juices run clear remove the chicken from the oven. The skin over the fruit will be thin d/t the high acidity.

Remove the chicken from the pan into a bowl breast side down. Allow to rest.

By allowing the chicken to rest breast side down you are allowing the juices to redistribute into the breast meat keeping the bird very moist.

Break down the chicken by removing the breast meat in whole pieces.

Separate the legs, thighs, wings and accessory meat. Serve on a formal platter for parties or separate and store if you are using the meat for other meals/recipes such as some of the leftover makeovers listed previously on the blog.

If serving immediately serve along side a nice bright vegetable such as green beans and a flavorful starch.