Journey Into Deliciousness

Hash Brown Quiche

Grade: A

Time it takes: 1 hour and 5 minutes (10 minutes prep, 55 minutes baking) - but don't forget to take your hash browns out of the freezer to thaw before you get started

Yield: 9" quiche

Source: recipe courtesy of Paule Deen via foodnetwork.com (Hash Brown Quiche)

This was one of the other bits I had wanted to make for Christmas breakfast but couldn't muster the energy to accomplish. But, since I had the ingredients on hand anyway, I made it a couple days after Christmas - when I was feeling much more alive.

I've made this quiche before so I already knew it was tasty. I like the salty flavour of the ham and the egg and cheese combo, plus the hash brown crust is the best. I've had quiches before where there is so much packed into it that it loses the egg taste, I prefer a few add-ins so that you can still tell there is egg going on. But, you can always play around with the ingredients based on what you have on hand. Keeping the structure of the recipe but changing up the embellishments. Different cheese, different meat, throw in a veggie for good measure. Plus a quiche is something you can serve to guests because it always looks so nice, and it doesn't have you slaving in the kitchen the whole time.

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Egg Nog French Toast

Grade: A

Time it takes: 20 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Source: Adapted from both The Curvy Carrot - a food blog (Baked Eggnog French Toast) and Pinch My Salt - a food blog (Spiked Egg nog French Toast)

This was made for Christmas breakfast. I had higher aspirations for breakfast that morning, but sickness brought me low and I had to content myself with just making french toast. It is a good thing this french toast was seasonally delicious and quick and easy to make. I had plans to make the baked version from The Curvy Carrot, but I never got around to soaking the bread in the egg nog over night. Instead I combined ideas from two recipes for a quicker more immediate version on Christmas morning. I'd grab that last bottle of egg nog before it is all gone, and take a few minutes in the kitchen to have a sweet and scrumptious breakfast.

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Steak Skewers in the Oven

Grade: A (for the steak) C (for the veggies - but a remedy below!)

Time it takes: 40 minutes, plus overnight marinating (10 minutes easy prep, 20-30 minutes baking)

Yield: Enough steak for 5 skewers

Source: Marinade from The Life of Spice - a food blog (steak marinade and steak kabobs); oven baking technique from foodnetwork.com - courtesy of Emeril Lagasse (Ka-Bam Kabobs)

To go along with the chicken fettuccine alfredo, and to satisfy Chris' tastes, I made steak skewers for Christmas Eve dinner. Since I don't really enjoy steak I didn't try any, but Chris said the he loved the steak marinade and they were cooked perfectly. The only thing was that the veggies weren't done enough for him. I was planning on skewering potatoes with the kabobs and then realized they would definitely not have enough time to cook at 10 minutes. Instead I oiled and seasoned the chopped potatoes and put them on a baking sheet in the oven for 45 minutes at 450 and they came out perfectly. Next time I think I will do a baking sheet of all the veggies I would put on the skewers (mushrooms, onion, and bell peppers) and roast them for about 20-30 minutes by themselves, and keep the steak on the skewers exactly the same. A little more juggling in the end, but everything will be done how it should be that way.

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Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Grade: A

Time it takes: about an hour - there was a good bit going on in the kitchen that night, so I'm sure you could finish up this meal in less time; also note that the chicken calls for being soaked in buttermilk overnight, but it isn't absolutely vital just start with the chicken and let it rest in the buttermilk while you prep everything else

Yield: Serves 4

Source: adapted from Kevin & Amanda - a food blog (perfect, creamy, fettuccine alfredo)

I got sick over Christmas this year - two days beforehand to be exact and still can't shake the cough or the runny nose. Grumble. I also was sick over Thanksgiving this year, so my immune system really just wanted to knock both those holidays down for me. I spent Christmas day as an exhausted lump on the couch, waking up for nose blowing and bouts of coughing. I am glad that Christmas Eve is my traditional make a special dinner day instead of Christmas day. I had much more energy on Christmas Eve!

I wasn't entirely sure if I was going to make anything at all for Christmas. Being sick I was of the let's just be lazy this year opinion, but I was swayed at the last minute that Christmas dinner must go on! We somewhat regularly make a honey glazed ham for Christmas, but we had made that just for shits and giggles only a short time ago. So, I read recipes until I finally thought "Eureka! I shall make alfredo!". Chris, not being a big pasta fan, was less than thrilled until I said "I'm making steak skewers too." Bam, he was sold. (recipe to follow)

This was my third attempt at making alfredo sauce. The first turned out well if I remember correctly, but I have no idea what recipe I had used - the days before I documented such things. The second was super thin. This one was thick and creamy and very good. It has a nice garlic flavour to it, and reheated most excellently. I made a double batch of it and covered my plate...the chicken, the fettuccine, the potatoes! The recipe below will be in original non-doubled amounts. Another example of why I love food blogs so much, the instructions tend to be much more thorough and this is how it worked for me in my kitchen-esque. I think that is the reason this recipe turned out better than my last.

Christmas Eve dinner with the family watching The Santa Clause followed by passing out around 9pm...good times =)

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Chocolate Covered Gummi Bears

One other thing I added to this year's goodies packages was chocolate covered gummi bears. Chris and I discovered the existence of these little things out in Colorado. We were killing time before a movie, stepped into the chocolate shop in the mall, saw them and couldn't resist buying a bag. Chewy and chocolaty, yum, what a good combo. After that we made it a point to stop in the shop and get a bag for our movie snack. A good idea in theory, but was fail in practice. Most of the time the shop was out of stock, because everybody loved them and grabbed them up right away.

The next Christmas I decided to try my hand out at just making them for myself. How hard could it be? Not that hard at all as it turned out, just a somewhat slow process. Now I make them every Christmas and at a fraction of the cost from the chocolate shop!

This isn't a recipe per say. All you need to do is dip gummi bears in melted chocolate and let them dry. I didn't want to neglect adding them to my blog though just in case somebody hadn't heard about them or didn't think to try making them at home.

Ingredients:

• A bag of gummi bears - I get a big ol' 3 pound bag to divide into 8 nice sized portions for shipping
  
• Milk chocolate chips - I ended up using about 4 or 5 bags to cover 3 pounds
• parchment paper
• a couple baking sheets or 13x9 dishes - as a means of transporting to the drying location
  
• double boiler - if you don't have a double boiler, just use a regular pot and set a glass bowl on top the same as you would the boiler insert
  
• a fork
  
• a place to let the gummies set without hot Florida sun melting them in the afternoon

Directions:

Line a baking sheet or baking dish with a piece of parchment. Open up your bag of gummies, and open up your bag of chocolate chips.

Boil about an inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler. Set the top insert on top of the steaming water with about half a bag of chocolate chips in it. Stir until the chocolate is melted and then remove the top pot from the bottom. This is a useful step that took me a few years to work out for myself. If you keep the top on the heat source your gummies will melt into the chocolate leaving you with an unworkable chocolate mess. I use to just do very small batches of chips at a time, which added so much time to the whole process, but now I can happily use half a bag of chips without having to worry about gummi melt!

So, after the chocolate is melted and the pot is removed from the heat source, drop 1 gummi into the chocolate and using a fork (or toothpick) cover it completely, lift it out of the chocolate and set on the parchment. I use the drop, roll, slide up the pot's edge technique. Repeat approximately 3,253 times! The melted chocolate will still be hot enough to melt your gummies right after you remove it from the steam, so I would recommend dipping your gummies one by one until the chocolate has had time to cool a bit. After it is cool enough just grab a handful of gummies and drop em on in, use your fork to cover them completely in chocolate and then pluck them out one by one onto the parchment paper. This significantly speeds up the process.

Usually the chocolate takes about a day to set, but it could take longer so if you do want to ship these I would make them well in advance so that the chocolate has plenty of time to dry before you package them up. You could also put them in the refrigerator to speed up the drying process, but they might end up sweating when you ship them. I will sometimes stick them in the refrigerator after they have been drying for a night for about 30 minutes to help them completely dry. I find that I don't have any issues with them sweating when I take them back out into room temperature after the 30 minutes.

It may seem like a long explanation, but I just wanted to make sure I shared all the tips I picked up over several years of making these.

A Tale of Two Jerkies

Regular Ol' Beef Jerky

Grade: A

Time it takes: overnight and about 5 hours (cutting the meat, mixing the marinade, and placing the jerky in the oven takes about an hour, 4 hours to dry, overnight to marinate)

Yield: 4 lbs of jerky

Source: T Bird's Beef Jerky Recipe - allrecipes.com

I have made jerky for Christmas for several years now, ever since I discovered you could make your own jerky. I am not a huge jerky fan, but my husband definitely is. I actually like slim jims when they come in those double packs with part slim jim and part cheese, and then you nibble them together. I'm not sure if a slim jim is considered jerky though.

I like to make up a good bit of jerky for Christmas and ship some off to Chris's side of the family. Chris always gets possessive when it comes time to bag up some of the jerky to send away. I think he would prefer if it was a just for him thing, even though he always gets the biggest portion!

I ended up liking this jerky marinade the best out of all the marinades I have tried. It is a basic one, nothing too spicy but full of flavour. A great marinade to start out with for your first batch of homemade jerky!

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs round steak
• 4 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 1/3 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 1/3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 pinches salt
• 1 teaspoon dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
• 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Directions:

Cut the meat into strips about 1/8" to 1/4" thick.

Mix together the rest of the ingredients in a big bag or a bowl that can be covered. Place the meat in the container and smoosh everything around to coat the meat really well. Cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight or for a couple days.

Preheat the oven to 150 F. There are various methods you can use to dry the meat. I like to line a baking sheet with foil and then place wire racks (the kind to cool cookies) on top and then just place the meat on top in a single layer. I fit four baking sheets into the oven at a time, and I leave the oven door open about a foot. Dry for about 4 hours in the oven switching baking sheets from the top to the bottom rack half way through.

Another method is to just drape the meat across the oven racks themselves, which is really messy. You would leave the door of the oven open about a foot still and dry for about 4 hours. Make sure to place a sheet of foil in the bottom of the oven to catch drips.

Another method is to use toothpicks or skewers inserted through the tops of the meat, and hang them from the oven rack. You would leave the door of the oven open about a foot still and dry for about 4 hours. Make sure to place a sheet of foil in the bottom of the oven to catch the drips.

I have done all those methods, and the first method is the best in my opinion. It is the easiest set up and clean up. You can do quite a bit of jerky at once and the house smells unbelievably good!

Sweet and Spicy Jerky

Grade: A

Time it takes: overnight and about 5 hours (cutting the meat, mixing the marinade, and placing the jerky in the oven takes about an hour, 4 hours to dry, overnight to marinate)

Yield: 4 lbs of jerky

Source: adapted from Jerky Lover's Jerky - allrecipes.com

This year I was introduced to a handy device called a meat slicer. Yeah, my uncle has one. It seriously made this year's jerky making a breeze. I'm very glad my grandmother mentioned he had one and went to borrow it for me. Cutting the meat straight enough and thin enough is always just a pain in the fingers, hand, wrist...maybe if I had an incredibly sharp knife, but I've already been there, done that, still have the scar. Don't let not having a meat slicer stop you from trying your hand at homemade jerky though, it is definitely the way to a man's heart. After the cutting is done - getting the meat slightly frozen helps with that - marinating it and drying it is cake. But, if you know somebody that collects completely random seldom touched kitchen gadgets, such as a meat slicer, don't hesitate to ask to borrow it!

As this jerky is spicy and hot, I didn't like it much. If it didn't leave my mouth so firey I think I may have enjoyed this marinade a lot. I liked the sweetness of it. Maybe next year I will try a sweet and non-spicy marinade. However, this seemed to be the general favourite of the two. Everybody thanked us for the Christmas goodies and especially enjoyed the jerky with the pepper flakes on it. Chris said I finally got the jerky spicy enough for him to taste the bite! And, he polished all of it off in no time.

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs round steak
  
• 2 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2/3 cups balsamic vinegar
• 5 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, divided - 1 teaspoon to go in the marinade and the other teaspoon to sprinkle on top of the jerky before drying

Directions:

The same as the above.

Cut jerky. Mix marinade. Marinate jerky overnight. Dry jerky. Enjoy!

Oreo Cookie Truffles

Grade: A+

Time it takes: 5-6 hours (5 minutes to mush up the middles, then as much time as you need to chill and melt chocolate and dip balls - I found it easier when the middles were nice and cold so I took it slow and re-chilled a lot, I bet you could knock these out in no time though if you were so inclined)

Yield: I got around 40 balls, depends on how big you roll them

Source: What Megan's Making - a food blog (oreo balls)

These are seriously simple and tasty. Three ingredients, four if you want to get fancy! I found the oreo mixture to be hard to work with when it wasn't nice and cold - I bet sticking them in the freezer would work nicely too, but I didn't do that this time. I'm not sure how easy it would be to crush the oreos without a food processor. You really wouldn't want any chunks and I'd imagine that it would take a good bit of time and elbow grease with a big bag and a rolling pin to achieve the same results as a food processor.

I kept these in the refrigerator to set and I decided against shipping them out of state because they would for one sweat and for two I didn't want any cream cheese being-unrefrigerated-even-in-the-winter issues. Chris ate these so fast I didn't even get the chance to take any nice finished product pictures; he is entirely put out that I have to make them again, really... All in the name of photography and food blogging! Out of everything I baked for the holidays these were his favourite, and I didn't even bake them technically.

I made two batches of these. One using regular oreos dipped in milk chocolate with white chocolate drizzled on top. The other using mint oreos dipped in milk chocolate with green dyed white chocolate drizzled on top. I preferred the regular oreos myself, while Chris raved about the mint ones; neither were bad though. You bite into a hard chocolate shell and find a soft rich chocolatey middle...mmmm.

Click below to expand for the recipe!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Grade: A+

Time it takes: 4 hours and 50 minutes (4 hours chilling, 30 minutes prep, 20 minutes baking)

Yield: about 40 cookies

Source: What Megan's Making - a food blog (Chocolate Crinkles)

I had never heard of crinkle cookies, let alone made them before, but they looked fantastic in the pictures I kept seeing when I did a search for Christmas cookies and the name kept popping up in blogs and cooking forums. So, that convinced me to make them for my second cookie to send out in my goodies packages this year. I wasn't sure how well they would ship because they are a soft cookie, but they held up just fine in transit.

The cinnamon comes through really nicely giving it a warm homey taste. They are soft and chewy, and leave powdered sugar on your fingers. Compared to the effort of the pinwheel cookies, these were a breeze to make. Mix up the dough, refrigerate, and then bake. Bam, done, finished. And they were just so good. I was sad to see them go, I will have to make up some for myself very soon...oh and right out of the oven!?! Fantastic! You will definitely not regret making these.

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Christmas Pinwheel Cookies

Grade: B (for taste) A+ (for looks)

Time it takes: for-ev-er (5 hours or so, lots of hands off time while the dough chills)

Yield: about 36 cookies

Source: adapted from Our Italian Kitchen and Rara Bakes - I started with the dough from Our Italian Kitchen and I absolutely hated it, it was terrible to work with and tasted horrid. But, because I really liked the look I found a new dough recipe and it went much better. However, I used concepts from each so I decided to site each, although the original idea came from my friend Atty who made pinwheel cookies a few months back.

I have a love hate relationship with sugar cookie dough. To me it tastes boring and has a random sweetness to it, but if you want to make a decorative cookie it is a good dough to work with. Similar to royal icing - tastes horrible, but can be used to make prettiness. Maybe I am still too new to the cookie world and there is some other magical decorative cookie dough out there that tastes amazing and one day I will stumble upon it! Or maybe I just think sugar cookies taste like poo, and I am one of the few...along with Chris, and my grandma, and everybody else everywhere...

I send out goodies packages to friends and family at Christmas-time. I wanted a really festive fun looking cookie to send, and I really liked the idea of a green and red pinwheel cookie. A good bit of the recipes I found are the same exact dough recipe as the one I first tried from Our Italian Kitchen - which ended in miserable results. The dough was a pain in the ass to get to the right consistency, and then it wouldn't roll properly no matter how chilled and un-chilled I got the thing. I decided to just roll it and bake them for a taste test. I put them in for the 15 minutes recommended time, and when I went to check on them they were black - pink (from a red dye miscalculation) green and black. Ugh I was so annoyed. They tasted like crap anyway! So I just threw the whole thing away and started fresh.

The dough recipe from Rara Bakes (which will be listed below) was a dream to work with compared to the above mess. I was extra careful with my liquid dye to flour ratio, but it wasn't super necessary. The dough is suppose to be rather soft, but chills beautifully...angels were singing when I rolled this stuff out I swear! Make sure to use at least half a bottle of dye to get really vivid colours and go slowly when rolling the two doughs into a jellyroll. Also use different colours and extracts to really tailor it to your specific needs. Next time I will roll out the two doughs a bit thinner and wider to get a better swirl going on, but I still think they turned out very Christmas-y anyway.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

Grade: A

Time it takes: 1 hour and 45 minutes (45 minutes prep, 1 hour bake)

Yield: 1 cheesecake

Source: Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

I love this cheesecake! It is a softer cheesecake, but deliciously rich and pumpkin-y. Pumpkin pie had always been the norm for Thanksgiving. Last year I decided I wanted to try something new. I wasn't 100% sure of pumpkin cheesecake - to me it just sounded kind of odd. Cream cheese and pumpkin? I don't know. I eventually decided that if I didn't like it somebody would, it had someplace to go where people would eat it - one of the nice things about having family nearby, right? Turns out that wasn't an issue at all! Everybody thought it was scrumptious. I've made it 4 or 5 times since. So good, perfect for the holidays!

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