Food Lush

Homemade cookie giveaway!

by Katie

Somewhat unintentionally, I have really turned this month into a season-o-cookies, subjecting you to posts about making your own caramel, and cookie cookbooks, and cookie packaging methods.

So I thought it was only fair to reward a reader for putting up with all that cookie blather by giving them some actual cookies. I put together my cookie boxes this weekend, and made one extra to send to a FoodLush reader (in the U.S. only, sadly.)

The box includes:

- espresso toffee

- fleur de sel caramels

- linzer sandwich cookies

- chocolate peppermint cookies

- rolled sugar cookies

- spice thins

- peanut blossoms

(It is a rather... beige assortment, actually, but tasty, I promise!)

To enter, just leave a comment on this post by midnight EST on Thursday, December 20, and I will put it in the mail on Friday morning. Yay cookies!

Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Berries Recipe

By Dani

Boy, oh boy, you guys, I love to cook fancy stuff at Christmastime. However, I'm a little short on time and long on stuff to do, you know? That's why I loved this recipe... it's a unique flavor (the combination of sweet, spicy, and savory is really nice) and so easy to make! Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves four):

• Two cornish game hens (thawed)
• Mixed berries (I used a frozen berry mix from Trader Joe's, about a 12-ounce bag)
• One tablespoon diced jalapenos (for less spice, use pickled, pre-chopped jalapenos rather than fresh)
• Olive oil to taste
• Raspberry or Champagne vinegar to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stuff hen cavities with berries and half the jalapenos each. Place hens breast-side up on a rack in a roasting pan, if you have any extra berries, toss them in the bottom of the pan to flavor the drippings.

Sprinkle hens with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil and vinegar. Then cook for 10 minutes at 400 to get a crispy glaze.

Brush hens with oil and vinegar again, then turn oven down to 350 and cook for about 50 minutes, or until juices run clear, basting with oil and vinegar every 15 minutes.

When they're ready, pull the hens from the oven and let them rest for 5-15 minutes under foil. While the hens rest, strain the pan drippings into a sauce pan, add a little butter and flour and heat until you have a thickened gravy.  Then slice hens down the middle and serve with gravy, polenta or rice for a lovely, easy holiday dinner!

(Photo credit: Me. - Adapted from a recipe in Pike Place Market Cookbook)

Decorating with food

by Elsha

Before we got our Christmas tree this year, we talked about making cranberry and marshmallow garlands. They're easy to make, just use a needle to put cranberries and marshmallows on a string. However, in the end we decided it would probably be tedious for the kids, since they're still pretty young. 

It got me thinking though, about the various other kinds of food we've used to decorate in the past. Here's the rundown:

3D sugar cookies. My brother in law made these for us a few times. He used these cookie cutters, and the results were adorable.

{photo credit: creativekidstuff.com}

Popcorn garlands. We made these a couple times growing up. They're a huge pain, because it's almost impossible to get popcorn on a string without the pieces falling apart.

Candy canes on the tree. As kids we loved putting candy canes on the tree, because we were allowed to take them off and eat them whenever.

Gingerbread men. The ones we made (in preschool maybe?) were actually ginger snaps glued on to felt backing. Cute ornaments though!

Gingerbread houses. We made these with the kids for the first time this year. Will only wanted to eat the decorating candy, but Kalena and my nephew had fun.

(Best decorating efforts of a 4 year old. Who definitely didn't put the house together.)

Sugar cookie ornaments. I haven't made these, for fear that my kids would take them all off and eat them in the first hour they were up. But my mom used to make them for the bottom half of the tree! Makes the tree extra irresistible to kids. 

Do you use food in your Christmas decorating? 

My Favorite Cookie Swap Contribution AND Reader Help: Roll-out Cookies

by Caitlin

Ahh, cookie season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Especially if you're in the Larger Pants Selling Business, and if you are then maybe also call me because I'm predicting I'll need your help soon.

For much of my childhood my parents' friends had an annual cookie decorating party around the holidays. It's one of my most dear childhood Christmas memories, and in my adult years I've longed to recreate it.
It was such a wonderful treat to go over to their house and spend an evening sitting at a table covered in a rainbow of colored frostings, sprinkles and candies as bin after bin of sugar and gingerbread cookies in various shapes appeared non-stop.

Joyce, prolific hostess, spent weeks baking hundreds of cookies. She'd freeze batch after batch until the evening finally arrived. She made a simple sugar frosting which she'd color with food coloring and pour into muffin tins - a great strategy. We each had an area to work in, and after using little paint brushes and loading our cookies up with decorations galore we'd carefully place them on wire cooling racks to dry. Some were garish, loaded with as much extra sugar as possible, others we took our time on and were little works of delicious cookie art.

Angels, trees, stars, candles, gingerbread people small and large: We loved that the shapes were familiar year after year, but what excitement there was if she debuted a new shape! For several years she even made special gingerbread house pieces for my brother and I to construct. Those gingerbread houses are what first taught me about royal frosting and that there was such a thing as sugared violets. Some flowers were edible?! 12 year old Caitlin was in awe. 

A marvel our hostess was.

Over the past few years I've longed to recreate those wonderful memories. I've collected various sprinkles, jimmies, sanding sugars, and adornments. My baking cabinet is full, and my husband rolls his eyes at the mention of colored sugars. The truth is, aside from the issues of first not having the space, and lately not having the time, a major inhibiting factor is that...I'm afraid of cut out sugar cookies. I haven't had good luck with them in the past. I don't quite have the technique down, and I don't have any recipes I love.

I need your help, dear readers! How can I achieve a roll out sugar cookie that will keep it's shape, that carries the frosting and decorations well while still imparting a little taste, and which won't break your teeth to bite into? A sugar cookie that looks as good as it tastes: That's what Santa can bring me.

These two recipes look promising, but I've got a little Rollout Cookie PTSD. So much work, and what if it's not worth it?

Gingerbread Snowflakes

Holiday Sugar Cookies

(Photo from Epicurious)

Dear readers, can you help?

And! In return I offer you my favorite cookie swap contribution:These molasses crinkles. My grandmother always made molasses crinkles so I'll always have a soft spot for them, but they were specifically requested for a party last year and this recipe did not disappoint. Spicy, sweet, chewy, they are true holiday perfection.

I'm supposed to be attending some cookie parties soon, and (spoiler alert, friends!) I'll be bringing these to both. They were a huge hit last year, and why mess with a favorite? My secret trick, as with all cookies, is to underbake them slightly to retain that chewy softness. They'll still cook a bit when you take them out, so leave them a little shiny on the tops.

Also, find a fun, festive, cocktail napkin to unfold and display them on, and people will think you're more put together than you are.

(Photo: me)

Edible Gifts: California Olive Ranch Olive Oil

by Elissa

So, there is obviously no shortage of food-related gift ideas on this site lately (see, e.g., the exceptional gift guide), but I can't resist throwing another idea out there. The idea of giving nice olive oil (perhaps with some fancy vinegar) is hardly new, but I love the bottle of California Olive Ranch Olive Oil that I picked up at the grocery store the other day.

{photo credit: californiaoliveranch.com}

It comes in a beautiful, substantial dark green bottle that features olive shapes, and I love the illustration on the label. The olive oil tastes fabulous too--it's been great in salad dressings and on roasted vegetables. And the price was not unreasonable given the quality of the product and the packaging.

Lately I've read some disturbing articles about olive oil fraud that suggest that much of the "extra virgin" olive oil coming from Europe is not extra virgin and may not even come from olives. But this olive oil bears the seal of the California Olive Oil Council, which gives me some confidence that this is the real thing. And the company seems to take sustainability seriously, which is nice.

If you're looking for a consumable gift for someone who likes to cook or eat, see if you can find California Olive Ranch Oil at your local store (I found mine at Safeway). Or you can always orde online. Happy shopping and gifting!

If Loving Cinnamon Tea Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right

By Julie

Earlier this year, I talked about Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea, and I still love it so much. But it’s a) somewhat pricey for tea, and b) hard to find. Yesterday, I went to the new Trader Joe’s in my area (finally!), and lo and behold, I found this:

 

Cinnamon Tempest tastes almost exactly like my beloved Hot Cinnamon Spice at – get this – half the price. If I had to split hairs, Trader Joe’s version is slightly less sweet straight up, but that’s something you can adjust on your own. It is simply perfect for this time of the year.

A word of warning: this seems to be a seasonal item, so it might disappear after the holidays, but you never know. In any case, if you can get to a Trader Joe’s, get this tea. And some Candy Cane Joe Joes while you’re at it.

(Photo: Trader Joe's)

The Great Egg Nog Debate

By Nora

I find that there are many food controversies out there, especially related to holiday food. Pumpkin or pecan pie? Should fruitcake be considered a cake? (NO. it should not even be considered.) Is it okay to cook the stuffing in the turkey? And then there's nog. People seem VERY divided on the issue of egg nog. Either they love it or despise it. I personally love it. However, I only love it in this form:

Straight from the carton. None of this homemade spiked stuff. I know lots of people like their nog with rum and freshly grated nutmeg, but I find it sort of revolting. Maybe it's not---dare I say it----artificial enough, but whatever it is, I much prefer the store bought kind to anything else. However, with the store bought kind, you apparently have an array of flavor choices. Did you know there's caramel egg nog? Cinammon? Pumpkin? SUGAR COOKIE? (barf)

What about you, Food Lushers? What's your opinion of nog? Is it part of your holiday tradition, or is it not allowed within 10 feet of your house?

'Tis The Season For All Things Peppermint

By Jessica

Even though Texas hasn't gotten the memo that it's December (yesterday I was sweating in shorts and a tank top while putting up my Christmas tree) it officially is and that means that all manner of peppermint items have hit the stores. As a peppermint fan? This makes me happy, happy, happy.*

I've already purchased, consumed and driven others to purchase many boxes of these:

Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch which are 5 for $5 at Target. To find them, you need to head to the Christmas aisles and look at the back where the stocking stuffers are, they aren't with the regular candy, FYI.

My next favorite candy are peppermint tootsie pops but this year I found these:

 

Candy Cane Pop Drops for the same 5 for $5 sale at Target and snatched up a box to try. 

Even though I love Angie's Kettle Corn and buy the huge bags at Costco whenever they have them, the Holidrizzle White Chocolatier Peppermint Kettle Corn made me skeptical but...

...not enough to keep me from buying it and scarfing down a bag regardless of it's ridiculously tiny quantity. It was good, I definitely wanted more.

Finally, my most favorite ice cream, that I will totally suffer sinus issues for:

Graeter's Peppermint Ice Cream

Of course there's always peppermint bark and everyone that has a TJ's talks about their most beloved Candy Cane Joe Joe's (which I will finally get my hand's on this year, oh yes, I will) but the above are some of my favorites. Tell me about yours, I'm always on the hunt for a new "must have"!

*Duck Dynasty. Yes.

(Photos from: Candyblog.net, Angies, Graeters)

Easy, Home-baked Holiday Gift Idea

By Nora

My daughter goes to a Quaker preschool where they don't really make a big deal out of the holidays, especially the commercialism surrounding it. As a result, the teachers request that the kids not give them gifts, but if they want to, make something home/hand-made for them. Since my daugher is only 2 and a half that limits what she can create herself, although lately she's been enthusiastic about helping me cook (which is thrilling me to no end!).  So, this gave me an inspired idea. Remember that No-Knead Bread recipe I wrote about a while back? Well, I figured that my kid could help me mix the dough, and then the morning of preschool we pop them in the oven and after it's baked we can wrap it in a cute dishtowel, like this:

{Photo from sayyestohoboken.com}

I bet you can buy super cheap towels at Marshalls or Kohl's, or you can get a few of these that Katie wrote about back in September, and which I am completely obsessed with. And who doesn't appreciate and LOVE fresh baked bread???

Turkey-Cranberry Rollups

By Ariel

We have a lot of "snack" days at work. Basically our team comes up with a theme and everyone brings in something delicious. Basically my job is awesome.

Tuesday after Thanksgiving our theme was incredibly creative: Thanksgiving Leftovers Remade. See? How on earth did we come up with that?

I needed to make something I didn't have to cook. I am so sick of cooking from last week that I am insanely grateful we have enough leftover food to get us into the new year (well, maybe). Anyway, you cannot go wrong with a rollup, and I had a TON of cranberry sauce leftover. I give you the Turkey Cranberry Rollup:

Only four ingredients are needed: One package cream cheese, about 3/4-1 cup cranberry sauce (I used this recipe, I can't say how jellied cranberry sauce would work), leftover turkey (white and dark meat) and four flour tortillas.

Combine the cream cheese and cranberry sauce and spread it over each tortilla. Place small pieces of turkey throughout and roll the tortilla up tightly like you would any rollup.  I like to wrap mine up in plastic wrap or foil and stick them in the fridge before slicing, but that part is up to you. 

Tada! Easy lunch or snack for some of that leftover food. What are you doing with all your leftovers?