Chocolate-Covered Candied Orange Peels

For me, the holidays are officially here when I watch A Muppet Christmas Carol (while decorating the tree) and when I make candied orange peels.

As I said earlier, my mom was famous for her orange peels. Her friends would hide them from their children, saving them all for themselves. They're not difficult to make, they're just time- (and space-) intensive. I usually make a double batch, using every single baking sheet I have for drying and dipping. I don't like grapefruit (unless it's mixed with vodka in a Grayhound), so I make mine with all oranges.

Chocolate Dipped Orange and Grapefruit Peel
1 large grapefruit, 3 large navel oranges
1 cup of honey
About 1 cup of sugar
16 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1. Remove peels. Cut it into 1/4" strips. Place in a 5-qt. Saucepan; cover with cold water; bring to a full boil; then drain. Repeat four times.
2. Transfer drained peel to a large skillet; add honey and 2/3 cup water. Cook slowly until all syrup is gone--about 60 min. Cook 15 min. longer, over low heat, being careful not to scorch the fruit.
3. Drain thoroughly; cool; then roll each strip in sugar. Spread out on cookie sheets in single layer; dry overnight. Next day, roll again in sugar.
4. In top of double boiler, over hot (not boiling) water, melt chocolate. Holding with tongs, dip each strip in the chocolate; drain off excess. Place on waxed paper on tray. Cool. Store in refrigerator.

A note on dipping: I'm lazy, so I only dip the peels halfway and I think the contrast between the dark chocolate and the crystallized orange is pretty. Also, I dip my peels in bittersweet chocolate, mainly because I get it in large packages at Costco. You can use milk, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, whatever taste you like best.


This year, I made fudge and almond toffee to go in my goodie packages. Looking through my notes from pastry classes, I found something interesting:

For every 1,000 feet/300 meters above sea level, subtract 2 degrees F/1 degree C from every boiling point listed in the recipe.

I'd never really thought about altering candy recipes for high altitude before, but it does make sense considering baking recipes need to account for differences in evaporation. I have to say, the fudge was creamier than the previous times I'd made it. So, try it and see if it makes a difference in your candy recipes.

Jewelry Organizer

I don't have a huge amount of jewelry, but I do have a few pieces I wear all the time. My current jewelry location (a drawer) was getting too messy--all my necklaces were getting tangled and I couldn't find pendants or earrings that I wanted. Solution? A wall organizer to keep my necklaces neat and everything else easy to find.

I got a cool frame (on sale at Michael's), some corkboard and 4 pieces of scrapbooking paper. I took out the glass, glued the corkboard to the back of the frame, then cut the paper and glued that to the corkboard. I got some pretty, pearlized sewing pins to hang everything from and stood back to enjoy the effect!

Thanksgiving Eats

As the saying goes, "The Best Laid Plans O' Mice and Men Aft Gang Aglay" (and if you like Eddie Izzard, you know the mice are planning their own version of the Italian Job). For us, our Thanksgiving travel plans were thrown out the window when both girls got sick, in the Belly's case a double-ear infection, and we decided not to fly. So, we had a nice dinner at my lovely friend S's house, and made our own little family for the night.

For me, it's just not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. And I found the most amazing recipe for Caramel Pumpkin Pie, courtesy of Dorie Greenspan. (I haven't made it with the strussel as in the link, but it's got to be even more fantastic.) S made a delicious apple pie which was made divine with the inclusion of The Pioneer Woman's Hard Sauce. I made yummy noises the entire time I ate it.

It's also not a holiday unless there's Pink Salad. It's something my stepmom always makes for big dinners, a recipe she got from her mom. It's wicked easy, very refreshing, and since it has light cream cheese and pineapple, you might be able to convince yourself it's a healthy thing to eat.

Pink Salad
1 - 6oz package of Strawberry Jello
2 - cups water
2 - 3oz packages light cream cheese
1 - 20oz can crushed pineapple
1 - cup pecans
1 - package Dream Whip, prepared according to the box
(Note: if you can't find Dream Whip, you can use a container of thawed Cool Whip)

Combine pineapple and water. Bring to a boil. Stir in jello. Cut up cream cheese and stir until nearly dissolved. Chill until set but not jelled. Fold in Dream Whip and pecans. Put into lightly oiled mold (I use a pie pan) and chill until jelled.

The perfect thing to wear to eat all this? Hot Pattern's Wong-Singh-Jones Marrakesh Drawstring Pants. They look nice and dressy, but have an elastic drawstring waist, so you can eat your fill and still look fabulous.

Getting a start on Christmas baking

I have some posts on my latest sewing projects, but today I want to talk about holiday baking. I love holiday baking, even if it does drive my a bit batty trying to get it all done in time to give out to people.

My mom was big on Christmas baking. When I was older, my aunt and I would go to my mom's house for what I dubbed "Cookiefest": a weekend-long marathon of baking, frosting, chocolate-dipping and talking. Her two most-popular items were Chocolate-Dipped Candied Orange Peels and Buche de Noel. I've been making them for the past few years, because they remind me of her and all the great times she gave us all. Recipes for those will come later, don't worry.

Since I have two little ones, elaborate cookies and confections aren't really easy for me. I stick to quick, tasty things, like fudge, caramels and slice-and-bake cookies. To make things even easier, I make dough ahead of time, freeze it, then slice, bake and snarf them down. I usually make 3 types, for variety. This year, it's Lemon Sables, Chocolate Mint Cookies and Oatmeal Crispies with Cranberries.

For the sables, I go with Dorie Greenspan's delicious recipe. I use coarse red and green sugar for the decor and they look so festive in a tin (or a box, or a bag, or on a plate with a cup of tea...).

The Chocolate Mint Cookies are my own variation of her Korova/World Peace cookies. They are quite amazing on their own, but, as I've posted before, the Andes mint chips are my new obsession and I was looking for a way to incorporate them into holiday baking. So, I used the base cookie recipe, omitted most of the salt and used the mint chips instead. The dough sticking to the bowl that I, um, couldn't scrape out, yeah, that's it, was delicious.

The final recipe is the Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Crispies. I've actually made these a few times, plain and gussied up. This time, I added some cinnamon and nutmeg to the dry ingredients, then dumped in a bunch of cranberries before shaping the logs.

Mmmmm.... is it time for baking yet?

Fake Headboard

First, let me say I haven't watched the finale for Project Runway, but I do know who won and I'm gutted. However, I'm sure Mondo will have a bright, colorful future, even if Gretchen did win the final prize. I'm not really a fan of the slouchy, Boho aesthetic she uses. It doesn't suit my body type or lifestyle. I know Nina Garcia is pregnant, but I don't know what Michael Kors's excuse is...

Way back when I was a single girl, I didn't have a headboard that matched the furniture in my bedroom. One day, I found these really cool wrought-iron rose trellises and decided to use those as a non-traditional headboard. The only drawback was I had to attach them to the wall using cable nails so they wouldn't rattle and make marks on the wall.

When the Boy and I moved into our current house, we put my furniture in a spare room in the basement, which we use as a guest room. The trellises were still lovely, but we hadn't secured them to the wall, which was a bit of a problem for guests and when the Bean and the Belly decided they needed to jump on the bed.

I needed a quiet, inexpensive solution that still looked pretty. At Target (god, how I love Target), I found some cool wall stickers that were the perfect thing (please forgive my ugly bed-making skills).

I love this new trend in decoration. They're cheap, fun and you can take them off and re-position them as many times as you need to. Which was good for me, as I put these up after a nice relaxing bath with a tasty beverage.

Holy '80s, Batman!

Before we talk about some truly awful fashion, let me just say I'm totally rooting for Mondo to win this season's Project Runway. He seems really sweet, his clothes are awesome and he's a hometown boy.

And how did I not know Tim Gunn came to Denver? I feel like I should have had some kind of Make-it-Work-Spidey-sense tingle when he was here.

I doubt Mondo, or even Christian Siriano, could save any of the dress patterns at Neue Mode. I found them when browsing PatternReview.com and I had a middle-school, Jessica McClintock flashback so bad I almost had to lay down to recover.

T-Shirts and Tunics

The Very Easy Vogue pattern 8649 looked like it would be perfect for me. V-neck, fitted through the bodice, knit fabric--all things I love. And that it has separate pieces for A, B, C and D cup sizes? How awesome is that?

It went together very easily, but I have to make it again in a smaller size (who would imagine that?!?) as the D-cup pieces have too much ease in them and I have to pull up the shoulder seam about 2" to keep it from being baggy and indecent. I think the easy solution is to go down a size (or even 2 for the shoulder seam) and use the C-cup pattern pieces instead. The pattern is easy and versatile enough that I want to work to make it work for me.

While waiting for more fabric to come, I made the Liverpool Tunic from Amy Butler. I'm not really a "pattern" person, so I just made it in a plain purple broadcloth and used fun, striped buttons instead of covering them (per the instructions).

I love this shirt. It's very flattering, easy to put together and has 4 different hem and sleeve lengths, so you can mix and match to get whatever you want. And her pattern instructions are divine. Everything is written out clearly, illustrations are detailed, nothing is left out. If only every pattern were written like this.

Tokyo Joe Tunic

I finally finished the Hot Patterns Tokyo Joe Tunic and I honestly think it's the most beautiful thing I've sewn so far.




I love, love, love the main fabric and the black trim, but the pleats on the sleeve are an amazing detail, too.

The sewing itself wasn't too hard, and I think I'm getting the hang of reading Hot Patterns instructions. There's a lot of fabric to cut out. The sleeves have 16 pleats, plus underlays for each pleat. The neckband is in 3 pieces and so is the corresponding neck facing.

My main issue came with cutting and sewing the main fabric. It's definitely lighter and flowier than I'm used to, so I had to be even more careful when laying out and cutting the pieces. And, I don't know if I needed a sharper (to cut the threads) or duller (to slip past the threads) needle because every once in a while the needle would hit a thread and almost create a "run" in the fabric. It's not too noticeable and nothing was seriously damaged, but I might have to experiment in case I want to use fabric like this again.

I'm working on a simple V-neck knit top next. It only has 6 pieces and 13 steps, so it will be much easier and quicker, but it definitely will not be as breathtaking.

Creme de Menthe Cookie Bars

I decided to go the quick and easy route with the Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips and made bar cookies. I used the recipe on the back of the bag, halving the chemical leaveners. Instead of making individual cookies, I spread all the dough in a 10x15 sheet pan and baked it for 20 minutes at 375F.

They're delicious. Nice and cakey, since they didn't really spread as drop cookies would. The Boy had 3 for dessert last night, so I'm guessing he really likes them...

What Evil Chocolate Goodness to Cook Up Next?

I'm working slowly on the Hot Patterns Tokyo Joe Top and Tunic and I will post more about that later, but while I'm basting and ripping out seams, I'm trying to figure out what deliciously evil thing I can bake next.

I have a bunch of buttermilk left over from the Buttermilk Lemon Curd Ice Cream, so I was thinking about making a devil's food cake from Pie in the Sky. Then, I came across 2 ingredients with so much gooey, decadent potential.

Item 1: Justin's Nut Butter, specifically the Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. Since I'd just made a chocolate cheesecake, I immediately thought of a swirled cheesecake, mixing some of the hazelnut butter in with a vanilla batter and letting them mingle and sing. I also thought about brownies, warm and chewy.

Item 2: Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips. I had never seen these before, until I was looking for some cocoa at Target and found them with the other chocolate chip products in the baking aisle. Oh, wow. Brownies, again, are a no-brainer, but the cookie recipe on the back looks like a good place to start (and my friend S. says they are divine) so I might start with that. It looks like it has enough flour for a decent high-altitude recipe, but I might check it against my favorite chocolate chip recipe and see if I need to make any adjustments.

Any other suggestions?

Kimono Wrap Dress

I really have no need for a whole wardrobe of wrap dresses. I stay at home with 2 little ones, so yoga pants and t-shirts that aren't hurt by a little milk or peanut butter or god-knows-what work best for my lifestyle. But I love a good knit wrap dress nonetheless. God bless Diane Von Furstenburg.

Being big-busted, I have a hard time finding dresses that are cut high enough on top so I don't have to wear a camisole but are still flattering to the rest of me. Hot Pattern's Wong-Singh Jones Kimono Wrap Dress is a perfect fit. In fact, it's so perfect, I've made it 3 times since I got the pattern a few months ago.

The pattern itself isn't too bad. One piece is mis-labeled and the illustrations could have been a bit clearer in spots, but I put it together fairly quickly and easily. I think the original length for the ties is a little long, but the double-wrap effect is nice.

My first version, I didn't really change anything. I found some really cool kelly green knit fabric in the remnant bin at Denver Fabrics and got a nice, lightweight black knit for the body of the dress.







My second version had 2 problems. The first was that I used from a bit heavier knit, which made the skirt in particular less flowy and graceful. The other problem was the color scheme, teal with black accents.

While there is nothing wrong with teal and black, the overall effect makes me look like I should pair it with knee-high black boots and a beehive so I can join James T. Kirk on the Starship Enterprise.

The third version is the one I took with me to Montreal. I shortened the sleeves and the ties. The fabric is a beautiful fireworks-type pattern in gray, pink and white on a black background with a solid pink knit for the ties. Gorgeous Fabrics lives up to its name.

I live in the modern "mom uniform" of tees and capris, but I dream in flowy wrap dresses with great accessories.

My Mom's Chocolate Cheesecake

Along with Buche de Noel and Chocolate-Covered Orange Peels, my mom was famous for her chocolate cheesecake. Since I'm meeting friends for wine and meal prepping tomorrow night, I decided to make one to go with the wine and good conversation we'll have.

It's insanely rich, so I like to serve it with a little creme fraiche and raspberries on the side. I don't do water baths for my cheesecakes, although I'm sure you could with this one. It's also good to make this the day before so it has a long rest in the fridge to get all nice and creamy and cold.


Chocolate Cheese Cake

Crust
1 package chocolate cookies
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp. cinamon
Pinch of salt
1-2 Tbs. butter to grease the pan

Filling
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
2 Tbs. cocoa

Make crust: Combine crushed chocolate cookies, salt, cinamon, and melted butter. Grease bottom and sides of springform pan. Press crust ingedients into bottom of pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Make filling: Melt butter and chocolate. Cream the cream cheese until smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture. Add cream and vanilla, while beating. Add sugar. Add eggs gradually. Add cocoa at low speed. Bake for 30 minutes at 350, 30 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven, open door, and leave cake in oven for 30 minutes more.

(It will rise a bit in the oven, like a souffle, then fall as it starts to cool. This is completely normal.)

Enjoy with lots and lots of friends.

Labor Day Feast

I'm working on a whole post on my love for knit wrap dresses, but for now, we'll talk about what I made to eat this Labor Day.

The Pioneer Woman is my new food crush. A friend turned me on to her pizza dough recipe, which has now become our Friday night staple. After flipping through delicious recipe after mouth-watering recipe, I bought her book the other day. The first recipe (among many) that I had to make right away was her Cinnamon Rolls.

I made the dough Sunday night and left it to rise in the fridge over night. When I went to get it this morning, it looked a bit like The Blob as it had spilled over the sides of my mixing bowl and was heading for the fridge shelf. (Note to self: next time put it in a larger bowl.) Assembling the rolls didn't take too long and soon I was in gooey, cinnamon-ey heaven. I froze the other 5 (yes, 5!) pans of rolls for future cravings.

Leftover pizza was lunch. I'd made a veggie pizza and it was still delicious.

Dinner was BBQ Beer Can Chicken (thanks to Cook's Illustrated), sauteed zucchini and squash (with seasonings from Savory), and Orange-Carrot Basmati Rice. It's an amazing rice dish, with honey, shredded carrots, orange zest, cardamom and a little red pepper. The smell is amazing--it reminds me a bit of the smell from making candied orange peels.

Dessert was Lemon Buttermilk Ice Cream, semi-homemade. I did break down and use store-bought lemon curd, but I did mix the buttermilk and curd together and turn the ice cream machine on all by myself.

Now, I need a whole wardrobe of knit wrap dresses to accomodate my full belly.

Jackets and skirts and purses, oh my!

So, I gave up on the Martini Weekender Jacket. The written instructions were sort of confusing and I really needed an illustration or two just to figure some things out. I think I'll email Hot Patterns, but I honestly don't love the piece enough to try again. I'm not really a jacket person but I've seen enough What Not to Wear that I hear Clinton and Stacy in my head telling me to "lock and load the girls" in a nice, structured jacket. I personally think the girls are happier in a sweater.

The other reason I shelved the jacket is to work on some pieces to wear during my trip to Montreal at the end of the month. It's a more dressy city than Denver, so I needed some things that weren't yoga pants or cargo capris. I decided on a denim pencil skirt as a great piece I could wear a lot. I found the Simplicity Amazing Fit Skirt 2475 and some lightweight denim at JoAnn's.

I ended up making an inadvertant muslin of the skirt because I realized I needed to shorten the length without losing the fun kick pleats and also, maybe, enhance my bum a bit. My body type is an inverted triangle, so I'm busty with narrow hips (even after 2 kids). I first made the pattern in the Average cut, but found the Slim fit worked much better for me. And I got to put in my first invisible zipper. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

The other project I wanted to work on was another version of Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag. I found a great Paris-themed home dec fabric and coordinating jaquard fabric for the top and lining.



The pink dots on the lining remind me a bit of Andie's prom dress in Pretty in Pink, but I think the whole effect is really fun. I finished it just the other day and have already taken it out for a spin.

Basil Ice Cream and Scones

A friend of mine brought me a huge bunch of fresh basil when she came over for a playdate, so I've been trying to find ways of using it outside of the ubiquitous pasta-sauce-type thing. I remembered that I had a recipe for basil ice cream, and since I had enough to spare, I tried it.

It is delicious. It's warm and creamy and green all at the same time. I'm not a huge fan of licorice/anise, but I can eat this by the cupful.

Making the ice cream was a bit more involved than I was originally expecting. Instead of steeping the leaves in the cream, then making the custard, you blanch the basil and make a puree with simple syrup; then add this to the cooled custard, strain the whole thing, then put it in the ice cream maker.

I gave a bite to The Boy last night, and while he liked it, he thought it needed to be paired with something else. He suggested a "cheese bowl, made with sharp cheese", but I'm not so sure.

And on a different note, I found a great way to enjoy freshly baked scones without having to make a fresh batch each time.

I'm a fan of scones (probably not the best for my waistline, but there you go). And while I can make the dough and make the whole batch, let's face it, even I probably can't eat a whole dozen in 1 or 2 days. Yes, you can freeze the baked scones, but for me, part of the experience is the warm scone-y smell that wafts through the house while they're baking.

Then, I found a great tip: make the dough, portion and shape each serving, then freeze the unbaked dough. Next time you want a scone or two, take out the portions, let them thaw while you're preheating the oven, then bake at the normal temp for the normal time. It's seriously awesome.

Salted caramel chocolate tarts

I decided to make these for a girls' night last weekend. They're mini chocolate tarts, filled with caramel and have a few grains of sea salt sprinkled on the ganache topping.

Just thinking about these turns me into Homer Simpson when he's dreaming of donuts.

Since there were going to just be a few of us, I made a half batch of the tart dough and ganache, but made a full batch of the caramel, figuring I could find some devious way to use it. I thought about making truffles, but they're fairly time consuming. So, I went the easy route, got some vanilla ice cream and have been enjoying caramel sundaes (with chocolate jimmies) for the past few days.

Hmmmmm.....

Hot Patterns Weekender/Martini Jacket

I really think I could make everything on the Hot Patterns site. I've already made the Kimono wrap dress (and am going to make another) and got some amazing fabric to make the Tokyo Joe tunic top. Right now, I'm working on the Weekender/Martini Jacket.

I may need a few martinis just to get through it.

All these patterns are labeled "Advanced Beginner" based on the sewing skills needed for each project. I think you might need to be a "Super Advanced pattern reader" to figure out how to actually sew the pieces together.

The Kimono dress had some loose instructional drawings with the instructions, but I think I could have used some more precise instructions (and one piece was mis-labelled) to help me figure it out. The Martini jacket just has written instructions, no illustrations, and it's driving me crazy. I don't mind ripping out seams if I've sewn something wrong, but I do get a little peeved if I have to rip out seams because the instructions are vague and I can't figure out what I'm doing.

I am going to finish the jacket because it will be really flattering and useful, but my girls might learn a few new choice words from me in the meantime.

Challah

The Challah is delicious! And the recipe makes 2 loaves, so I froze one, after 2 rises and shaping, to make later. I've had toast and fruit for breakfast all week. So yummy.

I also made some dark chocolate and peppermint sorbet. It's one of Dorie Greenspan's recipes from Baking: From My Home to Yours. She's one of my favorite cookbook writers. Her Paris Sweets book is the one that really got me baking again. Seriously, pick it up if you don't have it already.

Cardboard box playhouse

My oldest girl, The Bean, loved "making a house" out of those interlocking floor mats in our playroom downstairs, so I thought she might like a playhouse. I remembered seeing some cardboard playhouses at Costco and did a Google search to see if I could still find any. I did, but even better, I found instructions on how to make my own. As we have a million boxes in our garage from various carseats, toys and diapers, I figured this was something I could do fairly cheaply and easily.
I did have to get some more duct tape, so while I was at the hardware store, I picked up 2 jars of sample paint and then got some stencils and craft paint at the craft store.

The walls of the house.

Half of the roof on.



Fully built.

All decorated!

The girls absolutely love it. It took a few days, mostly due to me working only during naptime to keep distractions down, but it honestly wasn't too hard to make.

Is it possible to love a cookbook too much?

Living "at altitude" makes baking tricky. Air pressure differences wreak havoc with any variety of chemical reactions, leading to fallen/dry/crumbly/etc. baked goods. I've usually dealt with this by just decreasing the leavening or sugar and things have turned out pretty well.

Now, I'm baked out of my mind, thanks to Pie in the Sky. I can't stop making things from this book. The angel food cake... The devil's food cake... The butter cake...

And now I'm all about making bread. The basic bread recipe is delicious, and I moved on to the cinnamon-raisin and honey whole wheat variations. Today, I went out and got a bunch of eggs to try the Challah. What are the bets that I eat the entire loaf all to myself?