holidays and celebrations

furikake latkes

in , ,

hello! eggboy and i have just survived a very eventful weekend, complete with late-night cheezy pickles, a wild halva-filled chrismukkah party (+ eggboy’s second-ever hangover), and getting up-to-date on the new hallmark christmas movies while lighting our menorah. it was very holiday-centric, and d.j. tanner coming back as a hallmark movie star is my favorite comeback story of the new millennium.

happiest of hanukkahs!!! mmm latkes and donuts and the one time a year when i buy sour cream. have you seen all of the beautiful new latkes that have emerged onto the internet this year?? ramen latkes, sabich latkes, tater tot latkes, harissa sweet potato latkes... i want to try a new one every night. but i also want to save room for donuts. so, um, split one with me?

a little while ago i was hanging in malta with alana and we were discussing our holiday blog plans. i told her i was thinking of making a furikake latke, only i pronounced it like the country bumpkin that i am: "furry cocky latkee."

"no no, say 'foo-ree-kah-kay lat-kay'" she said, using some major pronunciation acrobatics that you just don't see in winterfell that often. it was so cool! i tried it and it was so fun that i sat there saying it over and over, as staccato as possible. 

furikake is a seasoning made up primarily of seaweed and toasted sesame seeds. sometimes bonito flakes and a bit of sugar are sprinkled in, and it's usually sprinkled on rice, but here i'm sprinkling it on crispy latkes! doesn't it kind of look like confetti?? a bit of sesame oil in the frying process heightens the sesame experience here, and a soft cooked egg on top makes it kind of like a ready-to-party version of hash browns and eggs. i'm so excited about these and about hanukkah in general. and presents... where are my presents?

furikake latkes

1. make a batch of ex-boyfriend latkes (add 2 tb sesame oil to the frying oil)

2. top them with a 7-minute egg

3. a sprinkling of furikake 

4. and a drizzle of sriracha!

5. enjoy!

-yeh!

thank you so much to the american egg board for sponsoring this post! check out their site for fun holiday recipes this season, like classic eggnog and these cute mini french toast casseroles. also follow along with #recipeeggchange to stay updated on new holiday recipes as they're posted! 

blueberry cream cheese donuts + a giveaway!

in , ,

i slept through half of the macy’s parade and then played defense against eggboy, who kept trying to change the channel to the godfather, then we made potatoes and a turkey bird and a pie that was the most rustic pie i ever done seen, and then we put up our chrismukkah bush which was still fully decorated from last year (?!) and missing two of its big light bulbs because i never replaced the ones that i grabbed in lieu of a glass to smash on the way outside to get married, and then we watched elf (sup, tyrion lannister in a suit). so, it was low-key and great. how was yours?? did you have a good black friday, small biz saturday, something something monday? i think the only thing i bought throughout all that was a shit ton of chocolate lip balm because the winter is coming and so are my gross dry lips. 

thankfully all of the thanksgiving leftovers are pretty much gone by now and in eggboy’s belly, giving us just enough calm before the hanukkah storm to go to fargo and celebrate the true end of the farming season. every december there is a big multi-day beer-filled holiday inn bash for farmers in the area so, uh, wish us luck? i’ll actually be spending my fargo days scribbling away at my book while eggboy schmoozes about tractors, and then we’ll be back in time for latkes, menorahs, and sufganiyot this weekend. yipee!

idk if it was obvious or not but these past few months i’ve fallen so hard for baked donuts that i almost forgot about reeeeeal friiiiied donuts. omg they’re so good. thank you, hanukkah, for giving me reason to recall this! so as we head into sufganiyot season, i am 1) presenting you with a classic jam donut that gets a lil unsolicited help from my good friend cream cheese, and 2) going to teach you something i learned recently when i spent the better part of last month deep-frying foods: deep frying in cast iron is the best way to keep the heat of the oil at a consistent temperature. before i discovered this, i thought i was going crazy when i had to constantly adjust the heat knob in order to keep the oil at a fry-able temperature (about .00001% of you are going to relate to this, but it was like riding the pedal while playing on crappy out-of-tune balance-action timpani). so now i have converted to only frying in cast iron and it’s a darn good thing because i have this pretty new magic* dutch oven from lodge that is perfect for all of my hanukkah/frying needs. and i’m giving this puppy away, so scroll past the recipe for more deets!

blueberry cream cheese donuts

makes 12

ingredients

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 eggs
1/3 cup flavorless oil, like canola or vegetable, plus more for frying


8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup blueberry jam
powdered sugar

 

clues

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar and give it a little stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it becomes foamy on top. 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the salt, flour, and remaining sugar. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and oil.

When the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry mixture immediately followed by the egg mixture and stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with a dough hook for 7-10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary (but try not too add too much), until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. 

Fill a large heavy pot fitted with a thermometer with 2” of oil and heat over medium high heat to 360º F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/2” thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out 3” circles, re-rolling scraps until the dough is used up. Cover the circles with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 more minutes. Fry in batches for 1-1 1/2 minutes on both sides and use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a wire rack.

To make the filling, mix together the cream cheese and blueberry jam. When the donuts are cool enough to handle, use a skinny knife to poke a hole in the sides and rotate it to create space for the filling. Use a piping bag to pipe the filling into the donuts, dust with powdered sugar, and serve. 

*this new lodge dutch oven, which is part of a new entire line from lodge, is a heat-treated cast iron pan of ***magic*** because the heat-treated part means that it’s rust resistant, which means you can soak it! until now i’ve bestowed the job of cleaning the cast iron on eggboy because i am too terrified to ruin it, but with this new dutch oven that is basically impossible to ruin, i might have to take some responsibility for my messes…?? anyway, there are five new pieces in this heat-treated line, which are available at macy’s, and they have a slightly curvier design than the classics. super cool. to enter this giveaway, check out the line (9” skillet, 11” skillet, grill pan, griddle, and dutch oven) and leave a comment here telling me which piece you’d like if you won and what you’d make in it first! open to u.s. residents. a winner will be chosen at random next week! update: this giveaway is now closed.

-yeh!

thank you so much for sponsoring this post, lodge! 

sugar cookie mini cakes

in , ,

and a little guide to fixing holiday dessert fails!

have we ever had a real honest discussion about bundt cakes and how i've never made a successful one and how it was even once a dark joke with yossy and sarah and me? and how all i ever wanted for my wedding was a gaggle of mini bundts on my dessert table and even though that is a gross exaggeration, i tried so hard to have red velvet mini bundts and failed miserably and had to reroute those suckers at the very last minute before saying my vows? the bundt struggle is real, as is the struggle with so many other holiday desserts and i've been doing some thinking: it's time we did some good old fashioned mental preparation for the holidays. 

sure, dessert fails aren't totally specific to the holidays, but any time you're making a dessert for a special occasion, you have the added pressure of *time*, and the challenge gets worse. like, just last month, i got an email about a failed batch of halloween cookies and by the time i could sit down and write a reply, i realized that halloween was half over and knew my advice probably wouldn't do much good at that point. so because the holidays are upon us and because i'm expecting all of you to do a bunch of baking this season, i've put together a little list of tricks that will help you save and repurpose any desserts that have gone south. it's my little way of keeping it together during the holidays, or as the good folks at hallmark say, #keepsakeit together.

if your bundt cake or any other cake breaks while it's coming out of the pan: crumble it all up, distribute the crumbles into individual jars and top them with a dollop of frosting and sprinkles (this is what i did with my wedding bundts!) or you can make cake truffles.

if your gingerbread walls fall apart: you can do what i did during the great gingerbread house catastrophe of 1997, in which we accidentally bought the fluffy flimsy frosting instead of the holds-like-glue frosting: use cardboard for the walls and glue them together with a hot glue gun. decorate with candy as if nothing happened... not even a monstrous tantrum...

if your cheesecake cracks down the middle: happens to me all the time. ugh! do what eva does and dump a bunch of berries on it! or cover the top in frosting or caramel. yum.

if your pie fails in any of the million ways that pies do: chop it up and fold it into some ice cream for a pie sundae or a pie milkshake. you were planning on serving it with ice cream anyway, right?

if your meringues deflate in the oven: break all of them up to make an eton mess!

if your cookies break or burn or you spend your afternoon building sugar cookie mini cakes and then a storm (or cat?) blows through and they all fall down: ok, i made you this sugar cookie mini cake recipe so that i could demonstrate what to do! these little guys are inspired by this cute ornament (seriously with all of the mini cakes that i've made why have i not made cookie mini cakes?? thank you, cookie ornament, for inspiring me to do this!) and for the record, no, a kitty did not come and tip all of these over. we're just talking theoretically here... see below for the recipe and my solution for fixing cookies gone wrong:

sugar cookie mini cakes

makes 6

ingredients

Cookies:

3 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large egg
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Frosting:

1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 c confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
A pinch of kosher salt

Sprinkles, for decorating

clues

Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium high until pale and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the extracts and egg and mix to combine.  Reduce the speed to low and then gradually add the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Pour the dough out onto a clean work surface and give it a few kneads to bring it all together. Divide it in half, wrap half of it plastic wrap, and refrigerate it while you roll out the first half. (Alternatively, you can make the dough in advance, wrap all of it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight.)

Dust your work surface and a rolling pin with confectioners’ sugar and roll out the dough to 1/4” thickness. Cut out five increasing sizes of circles, 1 1/2"-3" (i use these biscuit cutters) and use a small offset spatula to transfer them to a baking sheet, 1" apart. Re-roll scraps and repeat with the remaining half of the dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the pans for 5 minutes and then transfer them a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and mix to combine. Mix in the extracts and salt. Add food coloring, if desired.

Assembly:

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag. Stack up the circles, largest on bottom, with a thin layer of frosting between them and decorate with sprinkles.

...ok so now you're la-dee-da going about your day after you spent hours building these and this happens:

never fear, make a good old northern midwest cookie salad! crunch up your cookies, fold them into whipped cream, add some fruit if you'd like, top with sprinkles (important!) and make some obscure fargo reference while you serve it in cute trifle cups. and hint: if your cookies failed by way of over baking, let your salad sit in the fridge for a good few hours (or overnight) before serving to allow the cookies to soften in the whipped cream. boom! cookie failure has been reversed. 

congratulations, you are now a holiday dessert resuscitator! now go forth and bake and enjoy your holiday season. 

-yeh!

thank you, hallmark! for sponsoring this post!! check out hallmark's microsite to see how others #keepsakeit together for the holidays! 

 

harissa pimento cheese + the aperol spritz

in ,

this is a post about orange foods. 

or, orange and white foods.

because for a very long time, back in the day, i didn't eat anything else. 

cheese,

bread,

spaghetti,

butter,

the orange starbursts.

they were all the best and i didn't need anything else because i wasn't old enough to read articles that told me i wouldn't live to be a hundred if i didn't eat an abundance of leafy greens.

(damn those articles.)

mum eventually picked up on my preference for orange foods and started requiring that i ate carrots if i was going to have dessert. that's when things went downhill, or uphill, depending on how you look at it. 

orange foods are still my favorite (even though i've kind of developed a hate for the color orange) and i recently discovered two new orange foods* that i really really love. ones that i can't believe i went so long without. ones that i can trust will please pretty much any party guest, no matter how little i know them, unless they come out of the gates with something silly like, "i just don't like cheese." 

*that's a lie, one of them is a drink 

1. pimento cheese. at its core, it is cheese and mayonnaise and sweet peppers. a cheese spread that is perfect on anything, even your fingers, even a stale unidentified corn chip. having never spent much time in the south, i guess i understand why i didn't eat it growing up, but what i don't understand is how anyone outside of the south can taste it once and then not go around spreading the good word of pimento cheese. i first really learned about it from hannah, who has some great rules which i have followed and also broken. i've made it so many times now and each time i make it, no matter how offensive my interpretation is, it gets gobbled up with a smattering of oohs and ahhs, and i feel like i've tricked my party guests because it is just that easy. here, i've added harissa powder because i love a smoky spiciness. 

2. the aperol spritz. i am in an aperol spritz phase of my life, which is best described by the circumstances under which i popped my aperol spritz cherry: three months ago, over a walnut cream pizza in midtown with a newly pink-haired marian as she filled me in on her recent solo trip to disney world, which sounded like truly the most bizarre and enchanting experience that a person can have. which is to say that i intend the aperol spritz phase of my life to be 30 times more colorful and weird than the college-y gin gimlet phase and, oh god, the skim white russian phase. because an aperol spritz tastes like a grown-up fizzy orange capri sun and it is extremely fun and i love it and i want you to have one too. 

where does that leave us?

have an orange party and be summery about it. 

it's easy, i'll show you.

harissa pimento cheese

mix these together:

4 oz shredded sharp cheddar

2 oz cream cheese

1/4 c mayo

1/4 small onion, minced

4 oz pimentos, chopped

1/2 tsp harissa powder

salt + pepper to taste

serve with bread or crackers

the aperol spritz

fill a glass with ice and add:

3 parts prosecco

2 parts aperol

1 part sparkling water

garnish with an orange wedge

tweet about your #spritzbreak???

-yeh!

thank you so much to aperol for sponsoring this post!! all opinions are mine. all claims to being in an aperol spritz phase are mine. all stories are mine. go have a #spritzbreak!