January 1, 2016

Can you believe it is now 2016?  Me neither!

December held several catering jobs for me, although I also turned down two that just didn't seem to "feel right" to me.  The kind where you see red flags associated with client requests.  I've learned over time to listen to those feelings.  Better off happier with fewer jobs than crazy busy and unhappy!

I did get a new car.  The winter so far has been snowy and cold and my little Miata die not do well in the snow.  Since I drive to Carson City (about 40 miles round trip) at least three days a week, it made sense to get a car that could handle bad weather better.  So....I opted for a Kia Soul.  In Alien Green, lol.   Cute, right?

I did not bake as many Christmas cookies as I had hoped to either.....  I did, however, have a last minute cookie order and one of the cookies I made were these Glazed Lavender Cookies.  They really turned out well!  And the recipe is very easy.

Lemon-Glazed Lavender Shortbreads

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dried lavender
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Cream the butter in an electric stand mixer until fluffy.  Add the flour, sugar and salt and beat on low speed for about 1 minute.  Add the lavender, beating just until the lavender is incorporated.

3. Transfer the dough onto a floured work surface and roll it out with a rolling pin to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out the cookies using a round cookie cutter (or cookie cutter of your choice) and place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

4. Bake on the center rack of your preheated oven for 20 minutes.  You should not let these cookies brown.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire cooking rack.

5. Make the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar and lemon juice together.  Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the glaze over each cookie, then spread the glaze to cover the entire top of the cookie.  Let them sit for one hour before serving.  Enjoy!

My Mom, sister, Michele, and nephew, Dylan, came up for Christmas.  It was nice spending time with family.

Christmas dinner was bone-in prime rib (only the second time I have made this but it's surprisingly easy to cook), mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, roasted Brussels sprouts and glazed Delicata squash.  Mom said no dessert, so I put out some of the candy we got as gifts.  All good stuff!  I did NOT get a picture of Christmas dinner this year, can't believe I forgot to do that!

I also made mini Chocolate Cakes for one of my clients and although there was a bit of work involved, they turned out well, if I do say so myself.....

The recipe called for a three layer mini cake, but that seemed just, well, too tall, so I made them with two layers of chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream between the layers, then glazed them over with chocolate ganache.  Before the ganache totally set, I pieced thin chocolate pieces around the edges, a little like a puzzle, and finished off the top with gold sugar crystals.  Beautiful, non?

January looks to be a quiet month, but we shall see.  Still hoping to post more often, and with a little more time on my hands, maybe I'll be able to do just that!  Stay tuned!!!