Good Bye 2013

Here I am sitting in my living room to reflect on the year 2013, trying to decompress from the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I wish y'all peace and happiness, and most of all, a healthy new year. 

   Click if you like this post

Holiday Cream Cheese Spritz

These cookies are by far my favorite Christmas cookies. They remind me of shortbread cookies but softer, and they're not too sweet but a touch tangy from cream cheese. Addictive! Thanks to my new cookie press, I made dozens of them without much effort!

You want them to be pale in color.

Holiday Cream Cheese Spritz

1 cup salted butter (2 sticks), softened at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

2 cups all purpose flour, if you like them to be crispier, add more flour.

8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Colored sugar sprinkles

If you have an electric mixer, use it. My arm was not happy after mixing it by hand.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine butter and cream cheese in a bowl and cream it. Add sugar, egg yolk, flour and almond/lemon extract and mix well. Wrap it with a plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Fill the cookie press with cookie dough and press on cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not brown. 

My very first time to use the cookie press, and it was not difficult!

Look at all these fancy cutters.

This is the fun part. I don't know why I was so intimidated by it before!

They taste like cheesecake!
Share them with your friends and family.

I hope Santa was good to y'all this year!

    Click if you like this post

Shatter Proof Glass Balls for Outside Tree

This year, we got a new set of ornaments for the outdoor decoration. These "glass balls" are made with shatter proof material, and you can display them on your trees outside. When all the leaves are gone, this would be a great way to dress up the trees for the holidays!

They are about the size of cantaloupes. 

Looking festive on our dogwood.

Keep re-filling that candy plate and the cookie jar!

   Click if you like this post

Spiking Store-Bought Eggnog

Let the grocery store do the hard work for you: they've got pretty decent eggnog. I got a quart of eggnog from the store and added some liquor. One cup or 1/2 cup, depending on how strong you want.

Sorry, kids, this is not for you....

Spiked Eggnog

1 quart of pre-made eggnog
1/3 cup Jameson
1/4 cup of brandy, I used Hennessy
(If you want to make it strong, use 3/4 cup whiskey and 1/3 cup brandy.)
Nutmeg for garnish

Combine eggnog, whiskey and brandy. Use good grade whiskey and brandy. Some people prefer rum. If you are using rum, I suggest dark spiced rum. May I suggest Appleton rum or Coruba dark rum? They have the oaky aroma that reminds you of whiskey. If your eggnog doesn't already have nutmeg in it, mix some in for more flavor.

Store-bought eggnog 

Use something that tastes good on its own.

zzz...

Click if you like this post

Christmas Tree is Up!

Is it just me or this month is flying by? Our tree is up. We just need to put more presents underneath it now.

The lights are on!

We have a new tree topper this year.

Lit gumdrop house...

Our dog as a nutcracker...

Our dog as a meatloaf...

Thank you, Jim and Laura, for this beautiful wreath!

   Click if you like this post

Spicy Sardine Rice

A good friend of mine from college made something similar to this dish many moons ago. I felt like making it myself from what I could remember, thinking about those days in college. Let's see if my taste buds could guide me to reconstruct the flavor from the past!

Spicy sardine rice

Spicy Sardine Rice

2 cans sardines in tomato sauce, 5 oz each
2 cups basamati rice
1 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup frozen carrots and peas
3 Tbsp sake or white wine
2 tsp red or green Thai peppers, chopped, adjust to your liking
2 tsp olive oli
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cube chicken bullion
1 clove, garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
3 Tbsp green onions, chopped
Handful cilantro, chopped

Sardines in tomato sauce

Thai peppers. I took the seeds out. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a skillet, cook onions and garlic in olive oil until fragrant, toss in peppers, sardines, sake and rice. When the sauce reduces and rice starts to brown, transfer the mixture to 9x11 casserole dish and add canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, a bay leaf, a cube of chicken bullion and water. Bake for 60 minutes covered. Mix in chopped green onions and cilantro. 

Cook until rice is almost golden brown.

Transfer to a casserole dish and bake.

After baking for 60 minutes....

The verdict? It tasted great. If you like Spanish paella, you'll love this dish. But I think I remember this dish being more red with tomatoes and much spicier: if you'd like, you can add a bit of tomato paste and add more Thai peppers and see what happens. 

Splash lime on top before serving.

Click if you like this post

Coconut Ginger Sweet Potatoes

This dish is for people who do not like marshmallows on their sweet potato casserole. I could not find unsweetened coconut cream this time, but if you can find unsweetened coconut cream, I'd use that instead to control the amount of sugar that goes into this dish. 

Toasted coconut and almond smell so good.

Coconut Ginger Sweet Potato Casserole

4 sweet potatoes
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup coconut cream, original recipe used unsweetened, I used sweetened
1 tsp ginger, grated
A pinch of salt
Sprinkles unsweetened coconut flakes
Sprinkles almond slices

Creamy! 

Toast until fragrant.

Bake sweet potatoes in microwave. My microwave has a baked potato setting, so I used that. While they are cooking, toast coconut flakes and almond slices on a dry skillet until slightly brown. Peel skins off the potatoes after cooling and combine them in a food processor with butter, coconut cream, salt and ginger. If you are using unsweetened coconut cream, you may want to add some brown sugar at this point. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the toasted coconut flakes and almond slices.

Microwave them for several minutes.

Mix everything in food processor.

No baking required!

Click if you like this post

Cranberry Orange Sour

After running around all day to make your Thanksgiving Day perfect, you'd need one of these. Just cook down fresh cranberries with a hint of amaretto or brandy and cut it with sparkling water. Most of alcohol will be cooked off. Add vodka or gin for more kick!

Cranberry Orange Sour

1 cup cranberries
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp apricot jam or marmalade
1 piece, thinly sliced ginger
2 Tbsp amaretto di saronno or brandy
A splash of vodka or gin
Elderflower syrup to taste, optional
A few ice cubes
Sparkling water to top off 

In a sauce pan, add cranberries, apricot jam, orange juice and water and cook until the mixture gets syrupy. Add amaretto or brandy and cook for another few minutes. Cool. In a tall glass, add about 1 Tbsp of the cranberry mixture, ice cubes, a splash of vodka, elderflower syrup and top off with sparkling water. Stir and serve.

My favorite jam. Smells so good.

Cook until syrupy.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Click if you like this post