Gingerbread Cutouts

I usually make some kind of gingerbread cutout every year for the holidays, and I have one and only one recipe that I have been using for years. Not only does it taste amazing, but it's durable enough to handle being rolled out. I have tried other variations, but I always end up coming back to this one. And if you are familiar with Mexican pastries, than you will enjoy the taste of these. They taste exactly like Cochitos (the pig-shaped breads).

TIP: Don't have eggbeaters? 4 eggs will do.
TIP: Dust the flour off the cookies with a basting brush after they come out of the oven.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup margerine
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup egg beaters
3/4 cup molasses
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
milk & powdered sugar for glaze

1) Cream margerine and sugar.

2) Combine flour, baking soda & spices, then set aside.

3) Add egg beaters to margerine mixture. Mix well.

4) Stir flour mixture into margerine to make a stiff dough.

5) Cover dough and place in refrigerator. Chill for several hours or overnight.

6) Flour surface to roll out dough.

7) Roll out to 1 inch thickness.

8) Cut with desired cutters.

9) Bake at 350 F. for 8-10 minutes or until dark brown.

10) Cool on wire racks, when completely cool decorate as you wish.

Lime Christmas Tea Cookies

Hello everyone, guess who's back! My back is still bugging me, but not nearly as badly as it was a couple of months ago. I meant to come back sooner, but I spent most of last month taking care of my Mom who had a stay in the hospital and who I've been accompanying to her follow-ups with her doctors.

Now before I talk about this recipe, I would like to tell you a little bit about my holiday baking method. I love to make small or half batches of 9-12 items, because I feel that when it comes to holiday baking variety is key. I usually end up putting together 4-5 cookie boxes and a big platter to take with me to Christmas Breakfast. I feel with variety, you can make sure EVERYBODY finds something that they like, and I prefer it to just making multiple batches of only a couple of things. So there you go, not for everyone but for me it's worked amazingly well and kept me from being bored by what I bake.

Anyway, a little bit about these bad boys, they are delicious and oh so pretty. These work best if you use a larger tree-shaped cookie cutter, if you use one that is too small they will more than likely fall apart. They are very tart, so if tart isn't your thing you should probably share this with someone.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tsp. grated lime peel

1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
10-12 drops green food colouring
3/4 cup finely chopped pistachios

FROSTING
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. lime juice
green food coloring (optional)
green colored sugar sprinkles (optional)

1) In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the lime juice, lime peel, and vanilla.

2) Gradually add flour and mix well.

3) Add green food colouring.

4) Stir in pistachios.

5) Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until easy to handle.

6) On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 in. thickness.

7) Cut with a 2 1/2 in. tree shaped cookie cutter.

8) Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 F. for 8-10 minutes or until set.

9) Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

10) In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and lime juice until smooth. Decorate cookies with frosting as desired and sprinkle with colored sugar. Store in the refrigerator.

the baker you have reached is out of service

Hey guys! I hope you all had frank and productive holidays! As for me, I consumed lots of really great food, but it came at a steep, steep price. I completely threw my back out on the 23rd.

Thankfully I had finished baking, but I've been pretty immobile. I can't sit or stand for more than a few minutes, I totally missed the Christmas get together at my Aunt's house, and I haven't been able to sit down to type out my Christmas recipes.

Hopefully I'll be able to post within the next couple of days, but in reality it might not happen til after the 1st. So be patient, I will be back as soon as humanly possible.

And just case I'm not on here again for awhile, I wish you all a safe and wonderful Happy New Year! Bring it 2012!

Christmas 2011

Hooray for the holidays! If you're like me, Christmas is a great excuse to bake (and consume) mass amounts of baked goodies. Below you find my master list of all the treats I'm making to pass out to my friends and neighbors (I will post the links to recipes as I go, so make sure to check back!).

COOKIES:

Lime Christmas Tea Cookies

Candy Cane Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies (cutouts)

Jeweled Coconut Crisps

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Raspberry Linzers

Pecan Goody Cups

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Almond Raspberry Kisses

Pear & Pistachio Cookies

BREAD/FUDGE

Texas Sheetcake

Zucchini Bread

CANDIES:

Mexican Chocolate Truffles

Gumdrop Fudge

Magical Mint Chocolate Bark

Beef Tamales Part II: Assembly & Cooking

Okay, so you have your beef in red sauce ready, and it's time to assemble the tamales.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MASA:
Masa (or dough) is a dough made of cornmeal that is seasoned. If this is your first time making tamales, I highly recommend you go to a Latin supermarket and buy some prepared masa. It's already mixed and seasoned, and will take ALL the guesswork out of it.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOJAS:
Hojas are corn husks that you can buy in a bag at most supermarkets. Before you assemble the tamales, you must rinse the corn husks in a large bowl. Keeping the husks in the bowl will make spreading the masa easier for you.
---------------------------------------------------
Hojas
Masa
Beef & Sauce
Olives (optional)

1) Hojas have a rough and smooth side. Find the smooth side and spread your masa. Go from the top to just below down the husk.

2) Spread the beef and red sauce in a strip down the middle.

3) If you are going to place an olive or other item, place it in the center.

4) Fold over one side of the husk.

5) Fold over the other side.

6) Flip the tail of the tamale up.

7) Place standing up in a large container.
(this is the icebox from my fridge.

NOTE: I like to freeze my tamales partially before bagging them into half-dozens. It makes for cleaner storage. Don't let them get too frozen or else the husks will freeze together.
---------------------------------------------------
COOKING (sorry, I will eventually add pictures of this.)
NOTE: This is not a process you can put on the oven and forget about. You will have to make sure you pay attention and check on the tamales or else they will burn.

1) Make a cone out of aluminum foil.

2) Place cone in the center of a heavy pot or dutch oven.

3) Place tamales upright around the cone.

4) Add enough water to coat the bottom. If you add too much water the tamales will be soggy and that is probably one of the grosses things on the planet EVER.

5) Take another piece of aluminum foil, and place over the tamales.

6) Cover with a well-fitting lid.

7) CHECK YOUR TAMALES! You will have to check about every 15-30 minutes to make sure there is enough water in the pot or else your tamales will burn. Want to know what that smells like? BURNED POPCORN.  Your tamales will be ready when the masa starts to pull away from the husk.
---------------------------------------------------

TA-DA!!!!!

There you have it folks! You can serve these with beans and Spanish rice for dinner, or you can have them with salsa and scrambled eggs for breakfast (which is my preferred method of consumption). So if you have the patience, give these bad boys a try.

Beef Tamales Part 1: The Meat & Sauce

I try to keep the cooking stuff to a minimum, but I really wanted to show you guys a staple in my house around the holidays. I'm Hispanic, and tamales are a Christmas treat that I only get once a year. WHY? Because even though they are pretty basic to make, they are very time consuming.

The reason for that, is if you are making tamales for a family get together, the amount you make is going to depend on A) how many people are going and B) figuring out about how many tamales each person will consume. Which is is why you will hear of people (like myself) making ridiculous quantities because they disappear much quicker than you would imagine.

If you were to ask 5 different Hispanic people how they make tamales, you will more than likely get 5 different answers. This is how my Mom and I make them, this is how my Nana Elvira made them. So let's get started!

NOTE: I'm only listing the ingredients I used, not the quantities. It's going to vary depending on how many you are going to make, and your personal tastes.
---------------------------
INGREDIENTS:
minced/diced onion
garlic powder
salt
bay leaves
roast (size will vary)
flour
vegetable oil
enchilada/red chile sauce

1) In a heavy pan or dutch oven, fill under 1/2 way and season then bring to a boil.

2) Trim off any excess fat on your roast.

3) When water is boiling, add meat to the pot. Fill with more water to cover the meat.

4) Cover with a well-fitting lid, and cook until meat is tender and falls apart.

5) When meat has cooked, shred and place into a deep container.

6) Reserve the leftover chicken broth, you will need it when assembling the tamales.

7) In a pan, make a roux with vegetable oil and flour
(over low heat warm the oil, then add flour. when it bubbles it is ready)

8) Add your enchilada or red sauce, and let simmer until thick.

9) Add to red sauce, let cool before placing in the fridge overnight.
(the juices from the sauce will keep the meat from being dry)

VOILA!

PART II - Assembly and Cooking

Sam Adams Winter Classics

Hello everyone! I hope you all had fantastic Thanksgivings, and if you live in a part of the world that doesn't celebrate that kind of thing, I hope you had a nice Thursday. :)

So about the six-pack I made. 3 of the beers I had weren't skunky, but due to my fridge being really dumb, 3 of the pack went skunky. Here are reviews for the 2 I had. (The third bottle was a Guinness, which I've had a million times. Guinness rules.)
---------------------------
SHOCK TOP PUMPKIN WHEAT ALE - Not bad, although I didn't get a lot of spices or pumpkin in it. It could have been a bad bottle, but the beer was pretty smooth with a mild aftertaste.

SAMUEL ADAMS CHERRY WHEAT - I LOVED THIS ONE! The aroma was loaded with cherries and had a hint of yeast on the tail end. The taste was sharp and bright, with a nice cherry after-taste. This is one I will definitely want to drink more of.
---------------------------
So while I was at the store last week, I picked up this 12 pack from Samuel Adams. It has 2 bottles of 6 different holidays flavors, and now that my fridge is fixed I can enjoy them without suffering from bitter beer face.

Boston Lager

Winter Lager

Holiday Porter

Black & Brew

Chocolate Bock

Old Fezziwig's Ale

Pumpkin Walnut Pie

Here is the second pumpkin pie recipe I promised. This is one of my favorite holiday pies, and it's making a return to Thanksgiving after a 3 year absence. It has all the heartiness of a pumpkin pie, but with a sweet crunchy walnut layer on top. Seriously, I'm hoping that there are going to be some leftovers.

NOTE: There is no way around it, you MUST use SOLID-PACKED pumpkin for this recipe. If you use any other kind, the walnut layer will sink to the bottom and the pie will never finish cooking.

NOTE: I ran out of sugar, so for the walnut layer I substituted brown sugar for white sugar, and for the pumpkin layer I also added 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon.

INGREDIENTS:
PUMPKIN LAYER:
1 unbaked 9 in. pie pan
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup solid-pack pumpkin
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

WALNUT LAYER:
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup walnuts

1) Combine all the pumpkin layer ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

2) Spread pumpkin layer in pie shell.

3) Combine walnut layer ingredients, coating the walnuts well.

4) Carefully spread walnut layer over pumpkin layer.

5) Bake at 350 F. for 40-50 minutes.

(it's in my fridge taunting me with its deliciousness...)