German Chocolate Cookies

My mom and I baked a variety of cookies last night. Every single cookies is now gone (thankfully) because were were baking them for someone else. We baked some classics--chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal raisin. We also baked a more "unique" cookie since my mom wanted to try something new, so we made German Chocolate cookies, inspired by German Chocolate cake.

The cookies were two fudge cookies sandwiching the traditional icing on a German chocolate cake--a combination of coconut, pecans, and caramelized sugar. These cookies were soooo incredible. I actually cut one sandwich cookie into fourths, because I had already ate a couple of chocolate chip cookies by the time these were done.

These cookies will definitely be added to our current cookie rotation!

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

This is the one dessert where the Americans have the French beat, hands down. A "tarte aux pommes" can't even be compared to an old-fashioned Apple Pie!

My mom's grandmother made these pretty much every day of her life, and my mom said that this apple pie tasted just like her grandmother's apple pies.

This pie was very easy to make--you just peel the apples, slice them, toss them in flour, spices, and sugar, and put them in the pie shell. The magic happens in the oven. The apples and pie crust transform into the familiar taste of an apple pie :)

Pie crusts: If you don't want to make a pie crust from scratch, you can buy sheets of pie dough at the grocery store. You'll need this instead of the pre-made pie shell because an apple pie needs two layers of crust--one for the bottom and one on top.

Once you figure out the pie crust situation, it really is just a matter of peeling apples, slicing them, tossing the ingredients together in a bowl, putting it in the pie dough, sealing the second piece of pie dough on top, and baking it.

Recipe- Apple Pie
Pie Crust
2 c. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 egg
2 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Apple Filling
5 large apples (variety)
3/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pie Crust:
1. Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut shortening into flour until it is in pea-sized clumps.
2. Beat the egg, water, and vinegar together. Pour the liquid over the flour mixture.
3. Stir with a fork until the mixture is moistened. Divide the dough in half and shape into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for fifteen minutes.
4. Remove dough from refrigerator. Dust the rolling pin and the counter with flour, and roll the dough into a circle that is slightly larger than your pie pan. Place the dough into the circle, and press down in the pan.
If using store bought pie dough, start here. Repeat Step 4 with your dough.
5. Preheat oven to 400 F.
6. Peel, core, and slice apples, about 16 wedges per apple.
7. Mix apples with sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Place the apples in the pie shell.
8. Roll out the second pie crust and place it on top, and press down the edges with the first pie shell, sealing it.
9. Cut a hole at the top of the pie, and make about 4 1-inch slits. Place the pie in the freezer for 30 minutes.
10. Bake it on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes (until the apples are tender and the juice is running).
11. Let chill for about one hour on a wire rack.

Mulled Wine

If you are looking for a holiday cocktail (aside from eggnog..), try spicing things up with mulled wine. Mulled wine is typically a red wine served warm and seasoned with cinnamon, vanilla pods, cloves, orange zest, and honey.

Mulled wine has its modern roots in Germany (gluhwein). It is also popular in France (vin chaud) and Italy (vin brulee). Adding spices and sugar was a way to make spoiled wine drinkable. But, please do not use spoiled wine if you are going to make this drink!

Recipe- Mulled Wine

3 bottles of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot)
3/4 cup of port (dessert wine) OR brandy
16 whole cloves (not ground cloves!)
6 cinnamon sticks
1 large orange, zested
juice of 1 orange
1/2-3/4 cup honey or sugar (optional)

Combine ingredients in a large pot over low heat. Bring to barely a simmer and let it heat for about 20 minutes. If it boils, you will boil the alcohol out. Serve warm.

Classic Cheese Fondue

Fondue. It comes from the French word "fondre," which means "to melt."

If you read this blog and you know me at all, you know that I love fondue! It's such a wonderful winter treat. One of my favorite fondues is the "classic" cheese fondue. It's a combination of Gruyere and Emmenthal cheese. It really is a classic fondue, and it is so delicious! I like to serve this with bread, apples, broccoli, and cauliflower.

My fondue pot is electric, so it's super easy and convenient. This recipe is for an electric fondue pot, but if you have a regular one, just make it in a saucepan and then pour into your fondue pot. Enjoy!

Recipe- Classic Cheese Fondue
6-8 Servings

1 pound Gruyere, grated
3/4 pound Emmenthal, grated
6 teaspoons cornstarch
1 garlic clove, cut in half
2 and 1/4 cups DRY white wine
dash of nutmeg
2 and 1/2 tablespoons Kirschwasser

1. Place the grated cheese in a large bowl and toss to combine. Add the cornstarch and toss to coat the grated cheese completely. Reserve.
2. Rub the bottom and lower half of the sides of a fondue pot (or sauce pan) with the cut sides of the garlic cloves. Add the wine to the pot and bring to a strong simmer (bubbling, but not boiling strongly).
3. While stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or nonstick whisk, gradually whisk in the grated cheeses, sprinkling in one handful at a time; don't add any more cheese until each handful is completely melted and smooth. Stir in the kirschwasser and nutmeg.

Crab Cakes

My family first made these crab cakes last month for Lucy's BR birthday gathering. I think one of my mom's co-workers shared the recipe with her.

These were the hit of our L.A. Christmas party! We probably made about 100. We quadrupled the recipe, and Lucy spent the first hour and a half of our party cooking them! The only snafu was about halfway through, the lemon wedges were put in the refrigerator (and we couldn't find them), so the last half lacked acidity :(

We didn't have a sauce for them, because we figured it would be much easier to pass them around to our guests without a sauce. But, I don't think they needed a sauce--just a squirt of lemon juice!

These are going to be a staple at our family functions. Look for them at our Annual Christmas Eve party!!

Grandma's Cake

My grandmother in Prarieville makes this cake for every holiday. About ten years ago, I went to her house and she taught me how to make it. Pretty much everyone in my family has made this cake--my mother, my sister Lucy--even Stanley made it one year. My mom now bakes this cake on a regular basis because she has so many requests for it!

Lucy was adamant about having this cake at our Christmas party. Baking a cake from scratch is so time consuming, so I told her she'd have to bake it if we were going to have it! So, she did. And it was delicious! We even used the leftover icing to decorate cookies.

The name of grandma's cake is "million dollar cake." It has a pineapple filling and a cream cheese frosting.

Vegetable Soup

Because it's cold outside...

I refuse to eat soup from a can. It's way to easy to make. I wanted something really healthy so I decided on a garden vegetable soup. I made a huge pot, and I'm sure that this soup, oatmeal, fruit, and veggies will all get me through my exams.

The recipe called for only a few vegetables, so I added all of the vegetables I had laying around--zucchini, yellow squash, corn, and roma tomatoes. I'd recommend following the recipe. If you add more vegetables, you'll need to add a little more water.

I had never cooked with saffron before, but I like it!

Recipe- Vegetable Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 leeks, white and green parts, chopped
1 pound diced, unpeeled boiling potatoes
1 pound diced carrots
1 tablespoon kosher salt (omit if you are on a low-sodium diet!)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 quarts chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 pound green beans
4 oz. spaghetti, broken into pieces
1 cup pistou

Pistou recipe
4 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup tomato paste
24 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 cup olive oil

1. Saute onions in large pot in olive oil for 10 minutes over low heat. Add the leeks, potatoes, carrots, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and saffron, and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Add the green beans and spaghetti, and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
2. Puree all of the pistou ingredients in a food processor to make a paste. Whisk 1/4 cup of the pistou into the soup. Serve the soup with more pistou, if desired. Store remaining pistou in air tight container.

The next soup I'm making will be lentil soup. Stay tuned! (And subscribe if you haven't already. )

Chocolatiest Chocolate Cake

My chocolate lovin sister got to celebrate her birthday again in Baton Rouge over Thanksgiving break. So, my mom and I baked her another cake. We didn't want to bake another German chocolate cake, so we started exploring chocolate cake recipes.

We decided on a chocolate cake with a mousse filling and chocolate ganache icing. Unlike everyone else in my family, I'm not a *real* chocolate lover, but we ALL agreed that this was the best cake we have ever made. All I can say is O-M-G--it was soooo good. I had it with vanilla ice cream. My younger sister is so crazy about chocolate she had it with chocolate ice cream (which would've been too much chocolate, even for Lucy).

Including the cake, filling, and icing, about 3 and a half pounds of chocolate went into this cake. (GASP). We spent $2.50 for every 4 ounces of chocolate, meaning we spent $35 on chocolate alone. We used a variety of chocolate--semisweet, unsweetened, and bittersweet. My mom made the actual cake, and I made the filling and icing. The cake is dramatically tall, and I decided to decorate it with chocolate shavings on top.