Spice changed my life in 2010

I discovered smoked paprika in 2010. Eureka! Mom sprinkled paprika on deviled eggs, & I used to make Chicken Paprikash with the "regular" kind, but this is another spicy level. It comes sweet & hot. I use sweet, most often with olive oil & sherry vinegar. Here it's on garbanzos (with garlic), red peppers, & tuna for a quickie lunch. After the photo I added nonfat Greek yogurt. I also like/love it on spinach stir-fried in olive oil with onions & maybe garlic, & it's wonderful on a fried egg sandwich. Sprinkle it on before you're finished cooking. It likes to sizzle. Oh, also on sautéed potatoes. And fish. And I must return to Chicken Paprikash. Let's see … why do I love this stuff?

2010 has been an appreciation of spice. I even considered blending spices for Christmas gifts (but didn't do it). Next Christmas, these might be in your stocking:

Tandoori spice mix

2 cloves garlic

2-inch piece of ginger, sliced fine or grated

1/2 t. lemon zest

juice of 1/2 lime

1/4 C. cilantro or parsley

1 T. curry powder or Tandoori spice

pinch cayenne

1 t. salt

I mixed this with a cup of yogurt for a chicken marinade. Then broil.

Mideast spice blend

1 T. minced garlic

1 t. minced fresh ginger

1 1/2 t. ground coriander

1 T. ground cumin

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

Sauté with an onion in olive oil.

*from a NYTimes recipe for chickpea tagine with chicken and apricots. For that, you sauté 4 skinless chicken thighs in olive oil, remove them, add a chopped onion, then the spices, along with 1 C. chopped tomato & 1/2 C. chopped dried apricots. You cook it a little bit, then add 2 C garbanzos & 1 to 2 C. chicken broth. Cook slowly 15 min., then add 1/2 C. bulgur, & cook until chicken & bulgur are done -- 10-15 min. Add salt. Top with chopped parsley.

And this is Epicurious' Indian spice blend. I sprinkle it on cauliflower & roast it with olive oil. Also good with yogurt, chicken, rice...

Not a little country church

Christmas morning I prayed a Spanish Mass at Jesu church in desolate downtown Miami. It's the opposite of a little country church – but it IS pink. A saving grace.

Snowballs

These are my favorites.

Snowballs

1 C. butter (unsalted)

6 T. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 C. flour

2 C. finely chopped nuts (Toasted pecans are best. Walnuts are good. Almonds are terrible. They belong in macaroons.)

Powdered sugar

Cream butter well, then add sugar & beat until fluffy. Stir in vanilla & flour. Add the nuts. Mix. Take small portions of the dough & roll into ropes on a lightly floured board. Cut into even sections. (You can line up the ropes & cut several at a time.) Roll pieces in your palms to make bite-size cookies. Place on parchment-covered cookie sheet. Bake at 325° for 8-12 minutes. They are extremely tender when you take them out of the oven. Yesterday one fell off the pan and crumbled into the drawer under the oven. I tried to taste another while it was still hot & it crumbled in my hand. So don't touch them until cool, if possible. But as soon as they're out of the oven, sprinkle a big cloud of powdered sugar over them while still in the pan. The hot cookies will make the sugar into something sublime. Then, when cool, do it again for a pretty white dusting.

I don't remember where I got this recipe. There are many variations & I've tried some. This is best.

Cutout cookies

We call them cutout cookies. I've made many variations of the rolled butter cookie, & these are best. You couldn't make a richer cookie; they have almond paste & 4 egg yolks! Below is the recipe, from the Oct-Nov. 2010 Taste of Home magazine, p. 78. Here is a link to another site (Get off your butt and bake), where they also love the cookie.

Daria's best-ever sugar cookies

1/2 C. almond paste (4 oz. I had only 3 oz., & that was fine.)

4 egg yolks

2 C. butter, softened

1 3/4 C. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 3/4 C. flour

Beat almond paste & egg yolks until crumbly. Add butter, sugar & salt. Beat until light & fluffy. Gradually add flour & mix well. Divide into four sections; shape each into a ball & flatten slightly. Wrap in wax paper & refrigerate for one or two hours or until easy to handle. (The dough will stiffen.)

On lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheet covered with baking parchment. Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool for two minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

When I made these yesterday I brought my seam gauge from the sewing room into the kitchen to measure precisely how thick the dough was. I discovered I like thinner cookies; they are crisper than 1/4". Whatever the thickness, these cookies do crisp up as they cool.

The Taste of Home recipe has an icing made with dried egg whites. It is fluffy & dries hard. Next time, though, I'll try a thin powdered sugar & water glaze to let more cookie taste come through. And I'll brush some with slightly beaten egg white & sprinkle sparkling sugar on top & skip the icing. That will be best, because these cookies are great tasting all alone.

Frosting

3 3/4 C. powdered sugar

3 T. egg white powder (I found it at Fresh Market.)

1/3 C. water

Optional

food coloring (red & green, of course)

sugar sprinkles

Beat sugar, egg white powder & water together until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired.

Cool cookies first, then frost. Let frosting harden.

Playing cards

It was like being a kid, making these Christmas postcards from fabric, paper, ribbon & glitter. I love thinking of this vulnerable object flying all alone to my friends & family. I sewed the pieces down & let the stitches show on back, placing the address, stamp & greeting around the threads.

The price of perfect

I'm looking for a $5 gift for Clark.It has to be perfect. Last year the limit was $10. I bought him these green scissors because I love them. They are perfect for me. His wan smile told me the sharp little blades were not perfect for him. Our new puppy chewed his perfect gift, & now they're hard to hold. So this year I'm under pressure to produce perfect.

This morning Clark told me he's found my gift, but it was more than $5; he told the man he has a $5 limit, so the man agreed. This means my gift is from a flea market or antiques shop.

I've got a few more days to search for perfect, & in that time I think about Clark -- what he loves & what I love about him. Perfect.

Chocolate caramel truffles

Chocolate is not Christmas. Except …

Chocolate caramel truffles

1 C. sugar

2/3 C. heavy cream (I use organic.)

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Kallebut, if you can find it. It costs $15 a pound (at Simply Entertaining in Tallahassee) & they only stock it at Christmastime, so you have to horde some for your Valentine's day chocolate heart.)

1/4 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

In a dry heavy saucepan (I use the beloved copper pan I bought in Paris.) cook sugar over moderate heat, stirring with a fork until it melts, & sugar is golden caramel. Remove pan from heat & add cream carefully. (Mixture will bubble up.) Caramel will harden; stir until caramel dissolves.

Remove pan from heat & add chocolate, salt, & vanilla. Let mixture stand 5 minutes & then stir until the chocolate melts. Transfer mixture to a bowl & cool, uncovered. Refrigerate, covered, 2 hours or until firm.

With a spoon (I use a cookie scoop.) form 1-inch balls. Roll truffles in 1/2 C. cocoa powder, or coat with 1 C. finely chopped pecans, pressing the nuts in slightly. Chill about 1 hour. Makes about 40.

I made these just before Thanksgiving for a Dec. 4 party, & they kept perfectly. I wrapped them in foil, placed in a plastic box, which stayed in the back corner of the refrigerator, where we couldn't easily reach. Let them come to room temperature before serving.

I think I got this recipe from Gourmet.

Lebkuchen = Christmas

Lebkuchen is the essence of Christmas -- childhood and cinnamon and cloves and Grandma. When I was a child I hated the cookie, but now it is my seasonal sacrament. It's trouble, mixing honey and flour, and translating pounds to cups. Every year it turns out different--probably because I make half a recipe and don't get the balance perfect. You adjust. I bet Grandma did too. When it's too hard, I wrap the cookies in whiskey-soaked cheesecloth. Sometimes I drizzle a confectioner's sugar glaze. Once I baked and baked, but it wouldn't get together. After frosting, I had to scoop it off the cookie sheet with a spoon, roll that into balls and put them into little paper cups. Grandma Krumm's recipe (She was Irish, but she adjusted.) is below the photos.

Lebkuchen
Christmas Honey Cake

Grandma Josephine Krumm
(who got it from her mother-in-law, Mary Krumm)

1 lb. honey (the kind you choose makes a difference. I use tupelo.)

1 lb. flour

1/2 lb. sugar

Mix honey and sugar in a little pan. Boil and skim off the froth. When nearly cold add flour.

In a large bowl, mix:

1 1/2 lb sugar

3 eggs

1 lemon (juice and rind)

1/2 lb. citron (I hate it, so I use candied orange peel.)

1 1/2 lb. flour (Oh, I think I've left this out sometimes.)

1/2 C. orange peel (I use candied, but think Grandma used fresh.)

1 T. soda mixed in 1/2 C. whiskey

2 T. cloves

1 lb. almonds (I use blanched, slivered almonds, and then I toast them.)

Mix the two parts together. Add more flour if needed. Spread into greased, rimmed cookie sheets and bake 13 min. at 350. Makes four cookie sheets. (I line the pan with greased parchment and this year I actually rolled it out rather than spread it in the pan. I had to dust with more flour, but it's easier than squishing the goo into corners of the pan. I bake it 17-20 minutes. We like a harder cookie. Cut into diamonds. I use a pizza cutter.) While warm, frost, if desired. If too hard, wrap in whiskey-soaked cheesecloth.

My adjustments and half the recipe.

Equivalents (I use these, but ... you might double-check.)

flour--4 C. = 1 lb.

sugar--2 1/4 C. = 1 lb.

honey--1 1/3 C. = 1 lb.

1/2 of Grandma's recipe

Lebkuchen

2/3 C. honey (the kind you choose makes a difference. I use tupelo.)

2 C. flour 

1/2 C. + 1 T. sugar

Mix honey and sugar in a little pan. Boil and skim off the froth. When nearly cold add flour.

In a large bowl, mix:

1 5/8 + 1 T. sugar

1 1/2 eggs (I beat one egg in a little bowl and use half.)

1/2 lemon (juice and rind)

1/4 lb. citron (I hate it, so I use candied orange peel.)

3 C. flour (Oh, I think I've left this out sometimes.**)

1/4 C. orange peel

1/2 T. soda in 1/4 C. whiskey

1 T. cloves

1/2 lb. almonds (I use blanched, slivered almonds, and then I toast them.)

* I add 2 T. cinnamon. It's in my revised recipe and I don't know how it got in. It does taste good.

**Oops. Just discovered that I left 3 C. flour out of my revision! That explains why my dough is like runny peanut butter. At the end I always have to add flour as I need it -- probably 3 C. -- It explains why every year is different. But good.

Meyer lemon marmalade

Grandma Krumm canned, & so did Mom. (I'm not sure Mom loved slicing all those peaches, juice running down her arms in the hot August kitchen, & 5 kids also running. This Meyer lemon marmalade made me appreciate her work.) Clark sharpened my knife, our across-the-street neighbor Ed gave me treasures from his tree, & I kept promising to do something. I doubled the recipe, & it works fine. The last half-dozen jars are bubbling in the canner beside me, & I'm glad! This is the third year I've used the Epicurious recipe. I remove the packet of seeds after the water-lemon mixture begins to boil, & I finally figured out that 15-20 minutes is enough simmering after you add the sugar. Forget their tip to see if it jells on a cold plate. I've chilled two dozen dessert plates, waiting. Skip this step. Just take it off the heat. It's done.

A-peeling

I don't like citron, so I make candied orange peel for my lebkuchen. Otherwise, I follow Grandma Krumm's recipe. (well, except for the toasted almonds & she didn't use Tupelo Honey either ... ) That recipe is to come, but the orange peel is a treat in itself. I got the recipe from Chocolates and Petits Fours by Beverley Sutherland Smith (p. 12).

Chocolate-Coated Orange Peel

2 thick-skinned medium oranges, halved

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup water

Squeeze juice from oranges. Cut into quarters. Remove the membrane. Do not remove the white pith. Cut peels into half-inch strips, making about 80. Place strips into saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to boil. Drain. Repeat four times. The last time, keep cooking until the peel is translucent. I couldn't tell, exactly. I mean, translucent?? I just cooked it a while, not until it fell apart. Drain well. (I put the strips on a towel.)

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Raise heat to medium-high. Cook a minute. Add orange strips and cook until syrup is reduced (Use your judgment; you don't want any juice left.), stirring occasionally. Reduce heat if it seems to be cooking away too fast.

Place strips in a single layer on a wire rack set over waxed paper and dry for 24 hours.

I chop these for a citron substitute in German cookies, but they are perhaps more fabulous when you dip one end into melted Kallebut dark chocolate. Pretty, too.

Little tree

I love my vulnerable Christmas tree, posing here on the kitchen doorstep. If you have a saw & drill you can make one:

1. Slice a 1/4-inch cookie from a log (Mine blew off the black walnut tree.)

2. Match your drill bit to the size of a scrap of evergreen.

3. Drill a hole in the center of the wood.

4. Insert greens.

5. Cut a free-form star. I used a glue gun, but any glue would work.

I got this from a magazine clipping I've been saving. It says they make festive place card holders for the Christmas table.

I made these for my quilting group. We were going to meet for Christmas dinner Tuesday, but postponed it for a week. Hope my greens don't dry. Mary inspired me, reminding me how Dad loved to work with wood, saying she discovered she loves it too. So I "borrowed" Clark's tools & let the sawdust fly onto the floor. Dad caught his in a big box under the saw.

Heron pose

This heron posed for me at sunset on Captiva Island.