Firenog!

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Getting bored of drinking the same old same old Rum and Eggnog year after year?  Yeah, me neither.  But this shooter is still worth a try at your first available opportunity next holiday party!

Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and Eggnog.  Our friends April and Brad introduced this holiday shooter to us and dubbed it, 'The Firenog.'  We liked it too much, that fiery sweet creamy combo.  In the new year, April and Brad are moving from living 4 km away from us to living 1140 km away from us, which is awesome for them and their new beginnings, but very sad for us!  We will miss you guys - xo!

To make Firenog, all you do is mix together two parts Eggnog and one part Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.  Shake over ice.  Pour into shooter glasses.  Top with nutmeg if desired.  Cheers to friendship (April and Brad!)/family/holidays/life/love/health/happiness.  Consume (responsibly).

Is it bad that I archived this post under 'Desserts?'  I guess it's better than archiving it under, 'Lunch.'

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Firenog

Ingredients

• Eggnog
• Fireball Whisky
• Ice

Directions
Mix together two parts Eggnog and one part Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.  Shake over ice.  Pour into shooter glasses.  Top with nutmeg if desired.

Recipe Source:  Our buddies, April and Brad Kirk

One Year Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore
Two Years Ago:  Baked Chicken With Creamed Spinach and Squashed Potatoes
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Four Years Ago:  Mom's Fall-Off-The-Bone Oven Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
Five Years Ago:  Plum Cake

Christmas Breakfast EggNog Bread Pudding

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Looking for a new and super tasty make-ahead Christmas morning brunch dish?  Here's one.  You're welcome.

Ha, I have a love/hate relationship with the passive-aggressive 'you're welcome!' when someone doesn't say thank you.  I don't often say it, but I definitely think it.  Oh, I just waited a few extra seconds to hold the door open for you and you just waltzed right though as though I was the doorman and didn't say thank you?  You're welcome!  Oh, I just let your car enter my lane in front of my car and you didn't give me a wave to let me know that you're super appreciative?  You're welcome!  'You're welcome' is how I knew it was time for me to leave the restaurant industry back in my 20's after close to a decade of being an amazing server (if I do say so myself!  Yes, self, you can say that, and thank you for the compliment.  You're welcome self!).  The night it happened I was flying around the restaurant with a zillion tables to look after and a zillion things on my to-do list, when a man sitting at a table that I was not the server for asked me to bring him ketchup.  And even though I was ignoring the kajillion things that I should have been bringing to my own tables (thus ensuring a nice tip) on this extremely busy Saturday night, I looked after getting the ketchup, and when I dropped it off, ha, when I dropped it off, the man at the table didn't even acknowledge that I was bringing something to him!  He didn't even look up from his conversation and give me a nod or a smile.  So, i did it, I said, "You're welcome!!!" in my most chipper friendly voice, and turned on my heels and left the table.  Soooo passive-aggresive, I know, I'm guilty, but sooooo satisfying at the time!  A couple of weeks later I gave my resignation and left the restaurant industry for good.  And I do miss it sometimes...those were super fun days!  But I don't miss the extreme rudeness from a few of the restaurant patrons (ketchup man was nothing in comparison to some people).  I strongly believe that it should be a mandatory requirement for every single person in this country to have to work in a restaurant at some point in their life.  I think that it would make everyone a nicer person.

Well, that was a tangent that had nothing to do with Egg Nog Breakfast Bread Pudding or Christmas spirit!  Talk about pent-up rage...sheesh!  Moving on...

Egg Nog Breakfast Bread Pudding.  Make-ahead Christmas morning breakfast dish idea.  You're welcome.

The Hubby and I served this on Christmas morning in 2015 along with a green chile frittata (recipe to come), fruit salad, cheesy hash brown casserole (recipe to come), and mimosas.

Yum - isn't Christmas delicious!!!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Parsnip and Carrot Puree
Two Years Ago:  Mom's Fall Off The Bone Oven Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Four Years Ago:  Baked Chicken with Creamed Spinach and Squashed Potatoes
Five Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

EggNog Breakfast Bread Pudding

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) loaf French bread
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups egg nog
• 2 cups whole or 2% milk
• 5 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• salt
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• icing (confectioners) sugar, and maple syrup, for serving

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.  Slice the French bread, and generously spread the butter on each slice, then cut the buttered slices into 1-inch cubes.  Put the bread cubes into a 9x13-inch baking dish.

In a large saucepan, heat the egg nog and milk together until hot but not boiling.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt, and whisk until light and frothy.  Whisk in one cup of the warm egg nog / milk mixture into the egg /sugar mixture, then gradually add the remaining egg nog / milk mixture, one cup at a time.  Stir in the bourbon.

Pour the liquid mixture over the bread cubes, gently pushing down the bread to make sure all of the bread gets saturated.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour or overnight.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 - 50 minutes, until the custard is set and the top is lightly golden.  Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes, and serve hot or at room temperature.  Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with maple syrup on the side.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  The Kitchn - Egg Nog Breakfast Bread Pudding

Plum Cake

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Hi friends!

I keep doing that thing where I don't post for months and then get a random burst of energy and blogginess, and then don't post again for months.  The food I have been cooking lately has lacked any inspiration, and thus I haven't had much of anything to post besides the 50 or so draft blog posts in my drafts folder but who's counting.  But then, this plum cake happened.  In my mouth.  In all it's plummy deliciousness.  And so here we are again!  Also, my friend Katie told me this week that her friend from work recommended my blog to her, which is the first time that's happened that I know of, and that is just so cool to know that people who I don't know are out there reading this blog of mine...hello unknown readers (of which I now know there are at least one)!!!  Welcome!



The Hubby and I were asked to bring a dessert to our friends April and Brad's house the night they had to cook us dinner as their punishment for a three-peat loss in our Big Brother pool.  Embarrassing performance, April and Brad!  Well, my mom had recently visited her friend Denise at her apple (and plum!) orchard in Okanagan Falls, BC, and had come home with bushels of apples (and plums!), and split them with my brother and me.

Some of her bounty

I knew that the dessert I made would use one of those two fruits.  I chose to make an apple dessert, hoping that The Hubby would have forgotten his contempt towards any warm-apple-based-food, but NOPE, not forgotten.  Back to the drawing board (and plums!) I went, and I immediately became excited when I stumbled across this amazing plum cake recipe.



This recipe is adapted from an oldie but a goodie from the New York Times, where it was first published in 1982 and has made many repeat appearances after that.  The Times version has cinnamon, which I have omitted, and instead I have added both vanilla and almond extract.  I like my version a lot (don't mean to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT!), and so did the people who ate it with me (and had seconds I might add!).

The cake is so pretty and interesting to look at.  I love that plum halves are simply placed onto the batter, and that the cake just sort of moulds itself around them.



The juices from the plums tunnel their way jam-like through as everything is baking, and you are left with a moist, delicious cake.  Make sure that you use a springform pan to bake this cake, so that the cake can be removed from the pan easily and without changing the appearance before serving.  And then definitely top it with vanilla ice cream.

As summer is changing into fall, this is a great way to still cling onto the last tastes of summer fruit.  Plums are still in season until the end of October, so this plum cake would be a nice way to change up    your (Canadian) Thanksgiving dessert from the typical pumpkin pie (shock! horrification! dismay!).

Speaking of which, The Hubby and I wish you all a very happy Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend to all of my fellow Canadians (and my favourite expatriates...you know who you are)!  To celebrate, we have a ham dinner going on tonight at my parents' house, and a turkey dinner to follow tomorrow night at The Hubby's aunt and uncles's house.  So much deliciousness coming our way...I'm ready!

I hope that you enjoy this delicious plum cake as much as we did!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Slower Cooker Phillippine Pork Stew
Two Years Ago:  Flourless Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake
Three Years Ago:  Thanksgiving 2012!

Plum Cake

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 eggs
• 12 plums, pitted, and sliced in half

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt, stirring well.  In a separate medium bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and 1 cup sugar together.  While still mixing, add the vanilla and almond extracts, the eggs, then the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into an un-greased 8, 9, or 10-inch spring-form pan.  Arrange the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter.  Sprinkle lightly with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.  Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake (not a plum!) comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack in the pan.  Remove outer ring of spring-form pan.  Slice cake and serve with vanilla ice cream of whipped cream, if desired.

Recipe Adapted From:  New York Times

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

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Happy New Year!!

Just had to do a quick blog post today about these cinnamon buns that we ate for New Years Day brunch this morning.  This is a recipe that we make in my family as a tradition for almost every holiday or special occasion brunch since I was a kid.  The whole family loves it.  It's ridiculously easy to make, and you prep it the night before so you just have to quickly pop it into the oven in the morning and, voila!, delicious home-made cinnamon rolls on your table in 25 minutes.  Everyone will think you are a genius who has been up baking cinnamon buns for hours!  The recipe comes from the Best of Bridge cookbook series, and the page for this recipe in my cookbook at home is worn out from overuse.

We served this as one of the dishes for our friends this morning after a very fun New Years Eve games night* at our place with us and three other couples.  The cinnamon buns were served alongside a hash brown casserole, an egg frittata, and fresh fruit.  Oh, and Baileys/coffee and champagne mimosas too, because if you are with some of your best friends then why not be drunk twice in 2015 before noon on January 1?

*no games were actually played.

Ainslie, Kendra, Sara, and me!

I wanted to get the recipe up on the blog today because I was asked for it a couple of times.  We didn't turn off the lights last night until past 4am, and I was in bed nodding off before I realized that I hadn't made the make-ahead night-before cinnamon buns!  Out of bed and off to the kitchen I went (with Hubby sawing logs already).  Good thing they are super easy to make and take no longer than five minutes to assemble, if you don't spill half of the melted butter on the floor (I did), which does in fact delay the process.  I was still back in bed in a matter of about five minutes, and the effort was worth it this morning!

Speaking of beds, I just want to show off our new bed and bedding because this is my blog and I can do that!

The bed is from Costco (my favourite store in the world), the bedding is from West Elm, and the new mattress is so high that we almost touch the ceiling!  The Hubby says he is excited for hot summer nights since he will be so close to the ceiling fan!  I always thought I just was a person who has a sore back all the time, but ever since getting a new mattress my back pain has disappeared....hooray!  It's the most comfy bed in the world.  New year, new bed...woo hoo!  But, I digress...

Definitely make these gooey, sticky, delicious cinnamon buns for your next brunch and then the one after that too...you won't regret it!!!  One quick word to the wise...the recipe calls for a bundt pan, not an angel-food cake pan.  You cannot use an angel food cake pan for this recipe.  I have tried to do so, my mom has tried to do so, my best friend has tried to do so, and each time the recipe fails miserably.  You can pick up a cheap bundt pan at the thrift store if you don't have one already.  I'm not sure how this would work in a loaf pan, but if you try it with success (or with a failure), please let me know!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Chocolate Mocha Roll
Two Years Ago:  Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata
Three Years Ago:  Egg Nog Supreme (another Best of Bridge winner!)

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

• 20 frozen dinner rolls
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla dry instant pudding
• 1 - 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions
Grease a 10-inch bundt pan, add half of the frozen dinner rolls, then sprinkle with half of each of the brown sugar, pudding powder, cinnamon, and raisins.  Repeat with the other half of the rolls, sugar, pudding, cinnamon, and raisins.  Pour the melted butter overtop.  Cover the bundt pan with a damp cloth (make sure not to omit this step as it is important), and leave out on the counter overnight at room temperature.  In the morning, preheat your oven to 350F and bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack.  Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, then flip it out onto a serving plate.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Best of Bridge Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

Golf Themed Cake

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I love my dad.  So much.  Enough to learn how to frost a cake with a cake decorating tip for his retirement party last year.  Which is something that I could never, ever, be great at.  I've just never been crafty...I don't think that I got that badge in Girl Guides.  But I do think that the golf-themed cake still turned out pretty well, all things considered.  This could be a great cake for your dad/husband/brother's celebration of their birthday/father's day/retirement.  Or hey, let's not discriminate here; it's great for golf-loving moms/wives/sisters/friends too!

I went to Michael's to buy the cake decorating tip, and may I just say that there is a whole world that I never even knew existed at Michaels in the cake aisle, including a whole section just for the various types of cake decorating tips alone.  To put it in perspective, the tip that I selected was called, "Grass," so that's how specific the cake tip selection gets.  Overwhelming.  I purchased my cake tip and left.
 

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cheesecake

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Good news - The Hubby bought me a camera for Christmas, so hopefully you've seen the last of dark, blurry photos like this one.  Hopefully...but I wouldn't hold my breath.

As I mentioned in my last post, for Christmas dinner this year on my family's side my contribution was dessert, and I made two different desserts.  I was only going to make one, this White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake, but then my mom reminded me that my brother doesn't really like cheesecake ever since that 'bad cheesecake that he tried when he was a kid.'  I already had my heart set on the cheesecake, so instead of changing course I decided to add a second dessert, my mom's Mocha Chocolate Roll.  Because why not - two desserts are better than one dessert anyway.  

Chocolate Mocha Roll

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Chocolate Mocha Roll

Christmas holidays!  In my family this is synonymous with food and booze.  It's January 3 and I now weigh the most I ever have in my entire life, which is not awesome because my clothes are way tighter than desired.  How does this always happen?!  Argh - why do I love food so much?!  I need a quick fix, which is why I am kickstarting my weight loss regime with a January of no alcohol.  Can this be done?  Not sure...it's never been attempted by me before, but we are two days in and so far so good.

But for some context on how I got to this state - for Christmas dinner this year on my family's side, my contribution was dessert.  I made two different desserts.  I was only going to make one, a White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake, but then my mom reminded me that my brother doesn't really like cheesecake ever since that 'bad cheesecake that he tried when he was a kid.'  I already had my heart set on the cheesecake, so instead of changing course I decided to add a second dessert, my mom's Mocha Chocolate Roll.  Because why not - two desserts are better than one dessert anyway.

Healthy 'Everything' Cookies

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Coconut, seeds, fruit, nuts, dark chocolate, the works!

I'm back, and baking again.  I know!  I know!

Last year, as part of a Christmas gift from my cousin Samantha, she gave me a mason jar filled with all of the dry ingredients for these cookies, as well as the recipe to make them.

Beautiful!

I am always amazed by how good at beautiful, creative, crafty things some people can be.  And this person in particular is actually a member of my family!  The creative gene must have skipped me, along with the thick hair and blue eyes genes.  Sigh.

My cousin Samantha (left), my brother Braeden (top middle), me (right), and my cousin Darryl (bottom middle).
Clearly I am not in on the joke.  I hope it's not about my pyjamas.

Flourless Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake

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"This is the best cake I have ever eaten in my life." - The Hubby
"That is a quote that I will be using in the blog post about this cake." - Me

 

You may have concluded from the lack of desserts, cookies, cakes, pies, squares, brownies, and other sugary indulgences on this blog that I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and you're correct.  Except for ice cream.  OMG ice cream.  The best.  Ice cream is the best.

But, every once in awhile the mood strikes for something a little sugary, and that's why I decided to take on this Flour-less Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake.

My brother's girlfriend also has a food blog, The Bookish Cook, and when we were over at their apartment for dinner one night she served this cake for dessert.  I think she is one of those people who can just, like, invent recipes and doesn't have to follow cookbooks (jealous), and this cake was her brainchild.  It's decadent.  The idea of it being flourless and therefore gluten free was also super appealing.  Because of the chilies, it kind of tastes like the Lindor Chili Chocolate Bar that I also crave on rare occasions.  It must have to do with the idea of a savoury thing being combined with a sweet thing.  I just love that sweet and savoury combo.

The Hubby freaking loved this cake though, even more than me.  He raved about it and its warm and super chocolately goodness with a bite of spice.  So I knew that I had to make it again when his parents came over to our place for dinner one night.

Drunken Vodka Gummy Worms

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Do this.



It's magic how it works.  You take a container of gummy worms, dump a mickey of vodka over top, close the lid and refrigerate for 24 - 48 hours, and - VOILA! - the gummy worms soak up the vodka and you have delicious vodka gummy worms.

I realized that I just used the word 'mickey' to describe how much vodka to use, and should probably define this 'Canadianism' for any non-Canadian readers.  A mickey is a Canadian term used to describe a small 13-ounce (375 mL) bottle of any hard alcohol.  Read all about it at this cool website that I saw that translates some common Canadian terms - America's Guide to Canadianisms.  Do you know what a 'chesterfield' is?  How about a 'toque?'  My mind was just blown when I learned that 'Kraft Dinner' is a Canadian term...they don't call it that anywhere else?!  My friend from San Francisco was razzing me for calling our new garburator just that, a 'garburator.'  Apparently they are called garbage disposals in other parts of the world.  We also don't say 'soda,' we say 'pop,' we don't say 'whole milk,' we say 'homo milk (the short term for homogenized, people!),' and we don't say 'candy bar,' we say 'chocolate bar.'  Also, our new 100-dollar bills smell like maple syrup.  I'm not even joking about that - Google it.  I personally think that they taste like chicken.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars

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These are sooooo good for breakfast!!!!

 

I literally told one of my co-workers that I wasn't a sweet-tooth last Friday, and then on Sunday I made these Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bars.  It's like me saying that I wasn't a sweet tooth was a personal challenge for myself to not give up on the idea of one day choosing a chocolate bar over a bag of chips in the vending machine.  And wow, I was totally like "sorry, salty treats who?' when I started diving into the pan of these things for the first time.  Delicious! 

White Wine Sangria Jello Jigglers

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Remember Jello Jigglers?  These are the even more fun version.

Why didn't I think of this before?  I love Jell-O Shooters.  I love Wine.  Why not make Wine Jello Shooters, or even better...White Wine Sangria Jello Jigglers?

Bacon Night!

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Friday night was intense.  Saturday I had a major bacon hangover.  Sunday I ate more bacon.

Here's the line-up from our bacon-themed Supper Club night.  And yes, even the dessert had to contain bacon:

• Bacon-infused vodka Caesars with bacon stir sticks and all of the other necessary Caesar accoutrement
• 
• Bacon and caramelized onion dip with veggies and tortilla chips
• 
• Spinach salad with bacon
• 
• Boursin and bacon stuffed chicken wrapped in prosciutto
• 
• Bacon hasselback potatoes
• 
• Brussels sprouts with bacon, garlic, and shallots
• 
• Gluten-free bacon brownies topped with chocolate sauce, walnuts, and vanilla ice cream.
• not pictured here because by this point it was wayyyy too late to care about taking pictures.    You can actually see the deterioration of the pictures as the night goes on in the series above.

Holy crap it was good.  I love Supper Club.

Triple Coconut Banana Muffins (Gluten-Free)

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Triple Coconut = Triple Yum (as in Yum, Yum, Yum).

 

I was a little hesitant to make these muffins.  It's not that the title of them didn't sound delicious - Triple Coconut Banana Muffins.  I would be fine with just Singular Coconut or even Double Coconut anything, let alone triple.  So no, it wasn't the title of the muffins that threw me off.  

It's just that I have so far never in my life cooked with 'only found in the natural food aisle' ingredients.  I never struck myself as a person who would do this, either.  I have always happily skirted that aisle in the grocery store, and pretty much have avoided completely organic or natural grocery stores altogether.  I have always been a big fan of my regular whole wheat flour in baking, have never shopped organic for produce, and will only occasionally substitute soy milk for skim milk in my Starbucks Grande Half-Sweet No Foam Fat-Free Hazelnut or Vanilla or Chai or Early Gray Tea Latte.  

Pina Colada Fruit Dip

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I'm pretty.

It's actually embarrassing how easy this dip is to make.

I haven't written a new blog post in a week, and yet here I am, just waltzing in with a cavalier attitude and this recipe.

Yawn...stretch

You can't even call it a recipe, really.

It's more like just two or three food items, that are in no way good for you, that you stir together in less than four minutes and serve.

But it's good.  Dang good.

There's something about dipping a food that is good for you into a food that's really bad for you that makes you feel like everything cancels out into net zero calories.  I like that feeling.

Very Berry Muffins

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It's officially SPRRRRIIIIINNNG!!  The sun is shining (after having snow at our house three out of seven days this week, but who's counting?), flowers are poking their heads out of the ground (which makes me feel like I should be out there gardening instead of typing this!), and...well, Spring muffins are baking in the oven?!  Yes they are!  Quadruple berry muffins in fact.

You guys.  These muffins.  They are soooo tasty and full of berry goodness...you're going to love them.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries.  Perfect.      

Some tips:  I used whole berries for this recipe rather than chopping each berry into smaller pieces.  If you're doing the same, make sure that you use muffin liners which will help to keep the berry trapped in with the rest of the muffin when you are removing it from the tin after baking.  Once they cool in the muffin liner, there will be no fear of the side or bottom of your muffin coming off because it's more berry than muffin. That's right, more berry than muffin.  Also, if you are using frozen berries, throw them into the muffin mixture in their frozen state rather than thawing them first.  This will ensure that your muffin mix doesn't turn purple.

Best-Ever Banana Bread!

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Seriously, hands down, the BEST banana bread recipe known to man. Known to man! I've been eating this banana bread since I was a little girl when my mom would (and still does!) make it. I remember coming home after school to the smell of this baking in the house.

Disgusting

The secret to this moist, delicious, your-taste-buds-are-going-to-love-you bread is six disgusting, mushy, over-ripe, frozen then thawed, bananas (see grotesque picture to the right).


Now, I am a person who prefers a banana when the colour of the peel still has a little green in it (or preferably a lot of green), so the thought of these bananas actually revolts me. Call us snobs, but both The Hubby and I will not eat bananas that have started to brown, even a little bit. But, that just means that we end up with a freezer-full of bananas, which just so happens to be ideal circumstances for making delicious banana bread. Regular yellow bananas with just a bit of brown that have never seen the inside of a freezer just don't seem to yield the same moist result.