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Fig, Lemon, and Thyme Jam

I was standing in the late evening sun baking at a swim meet when I got Pam's text: "we have too many figs..." I offered to help her with that terrible problem and by the time I had gotten home there was a basket of figs waiting for me in front of the door. Woohoo!

I thought I'd make jam or a compote, but instead I put the basket into the refrigerator and just drew from the box whenever I needed a snack. Next thing I knew, there were only 2 left, not enough to make anything.

So when the phone rang and Lily offered me more figs, it only took me a second to process: I'm making raspberry jam now. I'm leaving town in three days. I have no time before I go to take on an additional project.

"Yes! I'd love some!"

Because I did want them.



I put the box immediately into the fridge and began eating them, but this time in my pre-vacation jam making frenzy I also made fig jam.

I had thought of adding lemon, but when I talked to Lily, she mentioned making jam with lemon and candied ginger. Yum!

Once I started cooking and added the lemon, though, I tasted the mixture and switched gears. I wanted something grassy or herby to counteract the sweet-tart of the fig and lemon combination. I had just enough thyme in the yard to make it work. The thyme is barely discernible, but it just grounds the flavors.

And I still have the lemon-ginger combination to look forward to next time.

Just before we left, I had a few not-yet-on-vacation folks over for a clean out the refrigerator dinner. We sampled my freshly made jams spooned over vanilla ice cream and, as good as the blueberry and raspberry jam were, this was the real star of the party.

Fig, Lemon, and Thyme Jam

The figs are thick enough that no pectin is needed to thicken the jam. I only added enough thyme to balance out the sweet-tart flavor of the lemon and figs; if you want more thyme flavor, double the amount. Putting Food by is my primary resource for canning but the Department of Agriculture's guidelines for canning are extremely thorough and will give you all you need to know to can safely.

Makes 5-6 12-ounce jars of jam
Approximately 1 hour preparation and cooking time

About 20 figs
4 cups granulated sugar
3 teaspoons lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves

 

Put a couple of small plates in the refrigerator to chill.

Wash the figs and trim off their stems. Cut them into quarters. Put the figs into a stockpot and stir in the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Mash the figs with a potato masher or, if you want to take a shortcut, use an immersion blender. Pulse the blender just a few times so that some of the fruit still remains chunky. Bring mixture to a simmer and let it cook for a 15 or so minutes to thicken.

The figs are not very watery so they should thicken up nicely. If you want to test the jam to be sure that it is thick enough, put a teaspoon of jam on one of the chilled plates. Return it to the refrigerator for one minute.  After a minute, remove it and tilt the plate.  Most of the preserves should remain in the center of the plate, while some of it -- especially the more liquid portion -- will slowly spread out towards the edge of the plate. 

Turn off the heat and add the lemon zest, juice, and thyme. Transfer to sterilized jars and preserve as desired.

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Lavender Truffles

Sometimes, you plan to volunteer on a committee at school or in the community, help out a bit, give a few hours of time to a cause.

It starts slowly and you are curious so you ask lots of questions. Everything is new to you and the more you learn, the more there is to learn. You ask more questions and dig deeper, but things still don't fit together. You do research, talk to others, and analyze data. Suddenly, you begin to understand, but you do not like what you have learned. The explanations don't make sense. You analyze, and ask, and brainstorm, and try to find ways to solve the problem, to get the fairest outcome for the most people.

But it doesn't seem to be going your way. There are too many hidden agendas, too many others, advocating for their own interests behind the scenes. You don't know who is making the decisions and aren't sure how to best press your case.

It does not seem fair, and you go from learning to advocating. You write e-mails and letters along with others who feel the same way. You attend evening meetings, go to bed discouraged or optimistic, and wake up again, ready to do more.

It is energizing and hopeful one day, and you enjoy collaborating with others, making new friends and allies. The next day, you are exhausted and defeated, frustrated that so much effort has gotten nowhere.

You think, "in a few days, this will be resolved," but in a few days, it has not ended. You think again, "by next week, it will be over."

And it will be. But it's not over yet, and now you are obsessed.

You are in up to your eyeballs. In for a penny, in for a pound. Giving it your all. Going whole hog.

Which is my way of saying that my plan was to get you this recipe for Valentine's Day, but things have gotten in the way.

It's never too late for chocolate, though. And it is an excellent boost of energy to get you through that meeting, to prop you up for one more e-mail, or to inspire one more brainstorm.

2009: Vanilla Bean Pudding
2010: Chocoalte Shortcake with Blood Orange Sauce
2011: Flourless Chocolate Cake
2012: Chocolate Shortbread Ganache Bars

Lavender Truffles
Adapted from Gourmet

 

Truffles are incredibly easy to make and the result is a delightful little nibble that you can serve at a party, take to a meeting, or package up for a gift.

Makes 2-3 dozen truffles
1 1/2 hours preparation time, plus 1 hour chilling time

6 ounces high quality dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon lavender
3-4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small stockpot or in the microwave until it is hot, but not simmering. Add the lavender and let it steep in the cream for 10 or more minutes.

Heat the cream again so that it is hot but not to the point of boiling, and pour it through a strainer over the chocolate. Mash the chocolate into the cream with a wooden spoon until it is fully incorporated.

If the chocolate doesn't melt in completely, put a pan of water on the stove top and bring it to a simmer. Set the bowl with the chocolate and cream over the pan of water and stir until the chocolate has all melted. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy. It will not look like a huge amount of the chocolate mixture, but the truffles are small, and they are intense, so there will be plenty.

Put the bowl in the freezer and let it chill for at least half an hour. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. When the chocolate mixture has hardened, scoop out teaspoon-sized portions of the mixture and roll each portion between your hands to form a ball. Don't worry if the ball isn't perfect.

Continue scooping and rolling until you have rolled out all of the truffles and place them on the cookie sheet. If the mixture begins to get so soft that it is melting all over your hands as you roll, return it to the freezer.

When you have finished rolling out all the truffles, put the cookie sheet in the freezer again for 20 to 30 minutes.

Put 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in a small shallow bowl. Remove the truffles from the freezer. Put three or so truffles in the bowl at a time and swirl the truffles around in the bowl until they are completely coated in cocoa powder. Repeat until all of the truffles are coated, adding additional cocoa powder as needed, one tablespoon at a time.

If you have small paper cups, put one truffle in each; otherwise, layer the truffles in a storage container between sheets of wax or parchment paper. The truffles will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.

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Chocolate Bark Three Ways

Normally at this time of year we are baking furiously, making cookies to package up and give away. Along with a bottle of Black Ankle wine, these are our favorite gifts to take along to a party or to give to the wonderful teachers that work so hard throughout the year.

Without an oven, we knew that there wouldn't be any baking this year, but I still wanted to come up with something that we could make and give away, something conjured up by us.

Chocolate bark popped to mind. We have a hot plate, which is all we would need to melt the chocolate. Then we would just need cookie sheets to spread the chocolate and a refrigerator (or freezer) for cooling. It seemed like something that we could manage, even with our rudimentary kitchen.

The great thing about bark, too, is that once the chocolate is melted, it can be flavored in an infinite number of ways. After some discussion, we came up with three flavors to try: dark chocolate with dried cherries and pine nuts, peppermint bark, and dark chocolate with coconut and curry. We fired up the hotplate and in a couple of hours we had a beautiful assortment of chocolate bark. It felt so good to be cooking together again, making something fun and delicious.

Now we just have to find a pretty way to package them up. Any ideas? Presentation is not my strong suit. After we've packaged up our little bundles, we'll make the rounds and hand them out out, my second favorite part of the process.

Second Helping: Homemade Gingerbread Houses
Thirds: Stained Glass Cookies

Dark Chocolate Bark with Pine Nuts and Dried Cherries

Makes 20 to 30 pieces of bark (depending on how small you break the pieces)
15 minutes preparation time
15 minutes cooking time, plus time for chilling

12 ounces dark chocolate (60% cocoa)
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1/2 cup pine nuts

Toast the pine nuts by putting them in a skillet over medium heat and tossing them just until they're lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Turn the heat down to low. Put the chocolate, broken or chopped into large pieces, in a metal bowl and set it on top of the simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, stir in the chopped cherries and the pine nuts.

Turn a cookie sheet upside down and cover it with a piece of parchment paper. Pour the chocolate out onto the parchment paper and spread it evenly over the paper with a spatula. An offset spatula will result in the smoothest finish, but a rubber spatula works just fine, too.

You should end up with a rectangle that's about 10 x 13 inches in size. Put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer to cool. It only takes about 15 minutes in the freezer. When the chocolate has cooled completely, break it into small pieces. Store in an airtight container, between sheets of wax paper until ready to eat or package to give away.

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Curried Dark Chocolate Bark

Makes 20 to 30 pieces of bark (depending on how small you break the pieces)
5 minutes preparation time
15 minutes cooking time, plus time for chilling

Our original idea was to add coconut milk as well, but it separated and we ended up with a mess. On our second go round, we just used the curry with a sprinkling of sea salt on top, and we loved the combination of flavors.

1 1/2 teaspoons curry
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70 % cocoa)
pinch sea salt

Toast the curry in a small frying pan over medium heat, just until it is fragrant, about a minute.

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Turn the heat down to low. Put the chocolate, broken or chopped into large pieces, in a metal bowl and set it on top of the simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, stir in the curry.

Turn a cookie sheet upside down and cover it with a piece of parchment paper. Pour the chocolate out onto the parchment paper and spread it evenly over the paper with a spatula. An offset spatula will result in the smoothest finish, but a rubber spatula works just fine, too.

You should end up with a rectangle that's about 10 x 13 inches in size. Put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer to cool. It only takes about 15 minutes in the freezer. When the chocolate has cooled completely, break it into small pieces. Store in an airtight container, between sheets of wax paper until ready to eat or package to give away.

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Peppermint Bark

Makes  20 to 30 pieces of bark (depending on how small you break the pieces)
15 minutes preparation time
15 minutes cooking time, plus time for chilling

12 ounces white chocolate
8 candy canes (about 4 ounces)

Take the candy canes out of their wrappers and wrap them in a plastic bag. Wrap the bad in a dish towel and smash the candy canes with a rubber mallet.

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Turn the heat down to low. Put the chocolate, broken or chopped into large pieces, in a metal bowl and set it on top of the simmering water.

Turn a cookie sheet upside down and cover it with a piece of parchment paper. Pour the white chocolate out onto the parchment paper and spread it evenly over the paper with a spatula. An offset spatula will result in the smoothest finish, but a rubber spatula works just fine, too. Sprinkle the peppermint bits evenly over the top of the white chocolate.

You should end up with a rectangle that's about 10 x 13 inches in size. Put the tray in the refrigerator or freezer to cool. It only takes about 15 minutes in the freezer. When the chocolate has cooled completely, break it into small pieces. Store in an airtight container, between sheets of wax paper until ready to eat or package to give away.

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Molasses Cookies

Much gratitude for all of your kind words in response to my last post. There are such good reminders in those comments about how important it is to be honest with our children and about how resilient those little ones are. Thank you for that.

In appreciation, I give you one of our all-time favorite cookie recipes. I discovered this recipe when I was working on a cookbook for our preschool, Acorn Hill. It was one of the first recipes that I tested for the book, and it was a big hit at home. We have been making these cookies ever since. Many thanks to Mary Forrest for allowing me to share her recipe here.

These cookies are chewy, lightly spiced with cinnamon and cloves, and topped with a sprinkle of sugar. I hope you make them immediately and that you all love them as much as we do.

Because, when life gets us down, we need cookies.

Molasses Cookies 

The original recipe calls for chilling the dough for 2 hours before baking the cookies. This chill makes for a chewier cookie, but we have made the cookies many times when we were in too much of a hurry to wait and they are still excellent.

Makes 3 dozen cookies
30 minutes preparation time, plus time for chilling
20 to 30 minutes total baking time

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar for dipping and sprinkling

Using a mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and molasses and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture and blend until the ingredients are completely incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, if you have the time.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Pour some granulated sugar into a shallow bowl.

Roll the dough into balls the size of large walnuts. Dip the tops of the cookies in the granulated sugar and arrange them on the cookie sheets at least an inch apart. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are firm. Remove them from the oven and immediately sprinkle them with more granulated sugar.

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Mexican Chocolate Tea Cakes

Mexican tea cakes -- sometimes known as Russian tea cakes -- are among my favorite cookies. Loaded with pecans and filled with light powdered sugar, they are a bite of delight. Really, there's not much that could be done to improve them.

Except maybe adding chocolate.

Butter and chocolate combination; chopped almonds.

In this version, I replaced some of the powdered sugar with cocoa powder, for a deep chocolaty flavor. And since they're called Mexican tea cakes, it seems only appropriate to make the chocolate version a Mexican chocolate version. A hit of cinnamon and chili pepper do the trick.

Chili powder spices up these cookies; and then they take a dip in the sugar-cocoa mixture.

These cookies would be great as part of a gift packge for teachers or neighbors, or just to keep on hand to offer guests over the holidays. I'm making a few batches to serve at Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Food52 cookie exchange next weekend.

Let the holiday baking begin!

Sugared up and ready for the oven.

Mexican Chocolate Tea Cakes

You can add as much or as little chili powder as you like. The heat that it gives will depend on the strength of the powder you use. I liked just a touch to complement the cinnamon flavor, but the best way to make it perfectly is to taste the dough and adjust it to your own liking.

2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder, divided
2 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder or more to taste (optional)
1 cup whole almonds, finely chopped

Beat together the butter, 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and 1/2 cup of confectioners' sugar until fluffy and lighter in color, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times with a spatula, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and chili powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter bowl along with the almonds and mix until combined. The dough will be very stiff. Taste it and if you like, sprinkle on a bit more chili powder and mix again. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until quite firm, 3 or more hours in the refrigerator (or if you are in a hurry, about 1 hour in the freezer).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. On a large plate or in a shallow bowl, sift together the remaining 1 cup of cocoa powder and 1 1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar. Mix it with a fork until it blends together.

Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator. Scoop out a tablespoon at a time, working first from the edges of the bowl because the dough there will soften first. Roll each scoop into a ball and roll it in the sugar-cocoa mix until it is completely coated. Arrange the cookies on the cookie sheet with about 2 inches between cookies. Cook for 8 minutes.

As soon as you can handle the hot cookies after removing them from the oven, roll them again in the sugar-cocoa mixture and set them on a rack to cool. When they have cooled, roll them yet again in the sugar-cocoa mixture.

The cookies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

Jobs for children: Children can smash almonds (in a freezer bag using a mallet, for example), sift sugar aned cocoa powder, measure the ingredients, and run the mixer. And they are very good at rolling the cookies into balls and rolling them around in the sugar.

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Chocolate-Hazelnut Macarons

As promised, here is a macaron recipe for you chocolate lovers. Chocolate is a challenge for me because I adore it, but I have become very susceptible to the effects of caffeine. I'm not sure if the cause is all the years of low caffeine consumption while I was pregnant and nursing my babies or if it's just genetics, but the result is that if I have chocolate at night I will llikely lose a couple of hours of sleep.

Cracking hazelnuts for the meringues.
I sometimes will have a luscious chocolate dessert anyway, because there are times when a few hours of sleep is a small price to pay for an excellent dessert. The other solution I have come up with is to have chocolate in the morning. I now keep a(t least one) bar of dark chocolate in my desk at work so that I can have an indulgence without paying a price.

Of course you can try the batter, my dear, you  just have to lick it off your nose!


Folding the chocolate-nut mixture into the meringue.
But I live with a couple of chocolate-loving night owls who would be very happy staying up till the wee hours of the morning indulging in chocolate treats. These macarons seemed like they would make my chocolate lovers happy and I thought I might even justify having one with my breakfast. After all, they're made with egg whites and nuts. Very healthy, no?
The chocolate filling, ready for chilling.


Piping out the macarons and assembling them.
For this batch of macarons, Andrea and I adapted David Lebovitz's Chocolate Macaron recipe. We added hazelnuts and the flavor was excellent with the chocolate. The macarons were thicker than the peach ones that we made, but the meringues were crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. Again, I think the only thing I would do differently would be to more finely grind the nuts.

The end result is such a fun treat, really different from other desserts. Not a cookie or a cake, just its own special delight. Or as Oscar says, "It's chocolate!" What more do you need?"

The reviews are in!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Macarons

 If you would like to make the macarons in advance, bake the macarons and make the filling, but store them separately, the macarons in an airtight container at room temperature, the filling in the refrigerator. If the filling is stiff when you are ready to assemble the macarons, let it sit out of the refrigerator for a few minutes or return it to the mixer and whip it again.

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris (Broadway) by David Lebovitz

Makes about 25 macarons
40 minutes preparation time
about 20 minutes baking time

For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
4 teaspoons light corn syrup
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

For the macaron shells:
1/2 cup ground almonds (just less than 1/2 cup whole raw almonds before grinding in a food processor)
1/2 cup ground hazelnuts (just less than 1/2 cup whole raw hazelnuts before grinding in a food processor)
1 cup powdered sugar
12 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
10 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First make the filling. Heat the cream and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Just when the cream begin to bubble around the edges, remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Sitr until it has melted completely. Add the pieces of butter and stir them in until it is fully incorporated. Set the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

Next make the macaron shells. Grind the almonds and hazelnuts by running them in a food processor for a couple of minutes until they are extremely fine. At the end of the process, you will need 1 cup of ground nuts. Although this surprised me, it actually takes less than that amount of whole almonds to get 1 cup of ground nuts. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and mix briefly. Set the mixture aside.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat again until the mixture is shiny and holds stiff peaks. Add the almond mixture and fold it in with a rubber spatula. Don't over mix the batter at this point. The ingredients should be well-incorporated and even in color but still retain the peaks from the egg whites.

Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2 inch in diameter). Spoon the meringue mixture into the pastry bag. Onto the cookie sheets, pipe out about 50 round disks each 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1 inch apart. Gently tap the cookie sheet on the counter a couple of times to level the meringues. Cook them for 15 to 18 minutes, until the top of the shells is firm to the touch. Let the meringues cool completely on the parchment paper (you can gently slide the parchment off the cookie sheet if you want to reuse it) before removing them.

If you like, use a pastry bag to add about a tablespoon of filling onto a macaron and then top it with another. You can also do this with a spoon. Continue until you have assembled all the macarons. Depending on how full you fill the macarons, you may have chocolate filling left over.

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Blackberry-Ginger Jam and a Respite

Along with that flat of raspberries, we picked a second flat and a couple of smaller flats of blackberries. We went on one of those hundred-plus degree days that we have had so many of in Washington this summer. With work and camp schedules, we didn't have much of a choice of days, but we went out early to avoid the worst of it. After about 10 minutes, Gabe looked at me and I could tell that he was ready to cash it in. Honestly, I was too, and I usually have the strongest incentive to keep at it because I have a head full of ideas of things to make with our haul.  But the children were so bouyed with excitement while they were picking that it lifted us, too. They seem to have much more enthusiasm for picking at Larriland than they do at our own farm garden. I'm not sure why that is, but it was just what Gabe and I needed on that morning. 

By now I have turned almost all of the berries into jam; those that are left we are eating on cereal or with granola and yogurt. Such an excellent summer treat.

I stayed fairly traditional with my preserving because this was my first year making raspberry and blackberry jam. But I did make a couple of batches of blackberry ginger jam and I love the way it turned out. The jam has the winey sweetness of the blackberries along with the slight heat and perkiness of the ginger. 

We made several jars of strawberry jam at the beginning of the summer, but we have eating through them voraciously. Now we have many more jars (I think the kids counted 19 of varying sizes) to add the larder. I'm hoping they last us at least a few months. I'm such a fan of having a taste of summer in the middle of a cold, cold, day.

And now that the jars are put up, I'm feeling a need for a bit of putting up myself. I'll be taking a break from the blog for at least a couple of weeks to enjoy some time with my family and to relax and recharge. I hope to spend a lot of time in the lake, and a bit of time running around it. But mostly I want to spend time staring at it, letting it work its magic on me. After a few days, I know that the relaxation will seep into my bones, and I hope that I can take it with me into the busy autumn months to come. 

I will buzz into New York to attend the BlogHer conference this coming weekend. Now that I've been blogging for just over a year, I feel the need for a bit of thinking about what I want to get out of this blogging experience. I have loved it, but it does take a lot of time and energy, and I think a bit of contemplation about what I want to accomplish in the long run will be a good thing for me. I'm hoping that talking to lots of other bloggers at BlogHer will help me focus my thoughts.

I hope that you all have a very happy and peaceful August, and I look forward to reconnecting soon.

Blackberry-Ginger Jam

If you are canning the jams for storage, please see this earlier post for some helpful references. I have also found Putting Food By to be an extremely valuable practical resource.

Makes about 6 cups
10 minutes preparation time
about 20 minutes cooking time

8 cups blackberries
4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

Put a plate in the refrigerator to chill.

Mash all the ingredients together in a large stockpot. Bring it to a boil and boil until it thickens, about 20 minutes.

To test to see if the jam will set, put a teaspoon of jam on one of the chilled plates and return it to the refrigerator for one minute.  After a minute, remove it and tilt the plate.  Most of the preserves should remain in the center of the plate, while some of it -- especially the more liquid portion -- will slowly spread out towards the edge of the plate.  When the preserves have firmed up to this extent, skim off a bit of the foam if there is any, stir in the rest, and transfer the jam into storage jars.

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Handmade Gifts: Hand Warmers

One of my goals with my children has been to give them a gift for Christmas each year that I have made.  This would probably be easy if I were a knitter, a sewer, or super crafty.  But I'm not.  I'm long on goals, but short on time and talent. 

I confess that I know how to knit, but I'm just not very good or fast at it.  I have made each of the children a scarf, but I could only produce one each year, and even that was a challenge.  My mom acquired a sewing machine for me, and it sat in the box for about 2 years.  I pulled it out this year to work on Halloween consumes, and I really loved it.  I still don't have any idea what I'm doing, but my mother gave me a quick tutorial, and I just decided to blunder my way through it.  It has been quite fun.

So now that our 12 days of Christmas have passed, I thought I would share these simple, quick gift ideas.  I will try to post one a week for the next few weeks.  If you have any handmade gift ideas that you would be willing to share, please post them in the comments.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who would welcome new ideas.

 
Hand Warmers

My children are fascinated by fingerless gloves or mittens.  I'm not sure if they have a proper name, but we call them hand warmers.  I had thought about knitting some and several knitters have told me how easy they are to make.  But making thumb holes and knitting on round needles, those just aren't skills I have.  When my sister, Sarah, overheard someone talking at a party about how to make them out of old sweaters, I thought that sounded like something I could handle. 

I did get these made for the kids year.  Thank goodness we celebrate 12 days of Christmas because I finished these up on about day 9.  They have been wearing them to school, to play outside, or just around the house.  Sometimes they wear them inside out or upside down, but I don't care what they do with them so long as they enjoy them.  Oscar wore them to bed the other night, but they must have gotten too hot at some point because I found them hanging on the side of the bed in the morning.  

 
Chloe also spotted a pair on the cover of the Once soundtrack (Great movie and great soundtrack, by the way.  "Broken-Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy" has become a family favorite). 

I'm going to make myself a pair, too.  My hands get so cold in the winter when I'm typing on the computer in our basement office.  I also think they would be great for reading in bed.  You know, for that 3 minutes of reading that I do at night before I conk out.  Sometimes I'm toasty under the covers, but my hands have to be out to hold the book.  I think a pair of these will do the trick.

Here are the steps to make them.

1.  Get a sweater from the thrift store.  You want cashmere or wool so that you can felt it (see below).  I found a few old cashmere sweaters for $3 or $4 each. 

 
2.  Cut the sleeves off the sweaters and run them through the washing machine with hot water and soap.  Depending on how small they are at the end of the process you may want to repeat it and/or run them through the dryer, too.  It took a couple of washings and dryings for me to get the sweaters the size I wanted.  Some felted better than others, but when they were done, they were small enough to fit a child.

3.  Hem the top of the arm where it was cut from the sweater.  You can do this on a sewing machine or by hand.  If the sweater still looks too big, you can turn it inside out and sew it along the length on the seam side to make it narrowser.

4.  Cut a hole for the thumb on the seam side.  Sew around the hole to keep it from raveling.

5.  Decorate as you like.  I cut out small pieces of felt and sewed them on as decorations.  Chloe got flowers, Olivia's were bears traced from a drawing of her teddy bear that she had made, and Oscar's was... well, he thought it was a bear at first, but it actually something from Star Wars.  Any Star Wars fans out there want to venture a guess?

 
6.  Wrap them up and give them away.

Stained Glass Cookies

 
If I were ever to create a book of family traditions (hmmm. . . there's an idea!), it would definitely include this recipe.  We all have our favorites, but this one has universal appeal in our house.  I'm sure that the children love them in part because they have candy in the center, but they are also visually exquisite.  They can be eaten, gifted, or hung as ornaments.  We always hang a few in a window where they call our attention to the light on these short, dark days. 

 
You can make these cookies into any shape that you like.  You just need a large cookie cutter and a smaller one that fits easily inside it.  Our favorite shape so far is the star, but you can try any shape or combination that works for you.  I'd love to hear what you come up with.

 
The children love to help with this recipe.  They mix the batter, roll out the dough, cut out shapes, smash  candy, and sprinkle it into the cookies.  In my experience, their efforts will not necessarily result in perfect cookies.  We have had many lopsided stars and broken appendages.  But their enthusiasm is fantastic.  If you want some perfect cookies to use as gifts or ornaments, keep some of the dough in the refrigerator and, when the children have lost interest or after they are tucked into bed, make a few yourself. 

 

Stained Glass Cookies

Adapted from Gourmet

You will need either a silicone baking liner or parchment paper to line the cookie sheets and prevent the candy from sticking.  I learned this the hard way!

Makes about 3 dozen cookies (the number will vary depending on the size of the cookie cutters)
1 hour preparation time, plus 2 or more hours to chill the dough
Approximately 1 hour baking time

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Assorted colors of hard candy (Life Savers work well)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.  In a mixing bowl, mix the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed.  Scraping down the sides once or twice, beat the mixture until it lightens in color and is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Mix in the egg and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined.  Divide the dough into 3 batches.  Place a batch of dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten it until it is about 5 inches in diameter.  Wrap the plastic wrap tightly aroung it.  Repeat for the other two batches.  Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours.

To prepare the candies, separate them by color into sturdy baggies.  One at a time, wrap the bags in a kitchen towel and smash them with a hammer.  The children will definitely want to help with this part.  It doesn't matter how small the candies get because they will melt together when the cookies are baked.  So let the kids go to town.  Put the candies in separate bowls by color.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, place a baking rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place a silicone baking liner on a cookie sheet.

Remove one batch of dough and roll it out on a well-floured surface.  Cut as many large shapes as you can out of the dough.  Using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to the cookie sheet.  With a smaller cookie cutter, cut a small shape out of the center of the cookie.  Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of crushed candy into the opening (the amount that you need will depend on the size of the cutter you use).  If you would like to use the cookie as an ornament, use a straw to cut a hole in the top.

Bake the cookies until their edges are lightly golden, about 10-12 minutes.  Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool. 

Roll the dough scraps into a ball, and roll them out again.  If the dough is too soft, flatten it into a disk, and put it into the refrigerator to chill for 15 or so minutes before you use it again.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough until you have baked all of the cookies.  Gourmet says to reroll the scraps only once, but I think you can keep going until you are out of dough.  The dough may not hold together as well, but my kids have never turned up their noses at the later batches.  If you are making some cookies as ornaments, you may want to use the earlier batches.

Store the cookies in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper for several days.

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Fig and Port Jam

Fresh figs are a rare treat for me.  I love their gentle, subtle sweetness.  Biting into one is a delight, with its soft texture on the outside, and burst of tiny crunchy seeds on the inside.  I remember being with Gabe in Positano, Italy, the city where we got engaged -- Propositano, Sarah dubbed it -- and making a delicious lunch of bread, cheese, and fresh figs.  Heaven. 

That day seems so long ago in many ways.  When I look back on times like that, I often wonder, where were the children?  Of course, there just weren't any for us yet, but it's hard to remember what that feels like.  My natural instinct is to try to weave them into the memory.

Biting into a fresh fig transports me.  But a person can only eat so many fresh figs, especially when there is such a variety of fantastic fresh fruits and vegetables available this time of year.  This recipe preserves (I couldn't resist the pun!) the flavor of those fresh figs so that they can be enjoyed for weeks to come.  I added just a bit of port to bring out that rich, almost fermented taste that is part of their natural flavor.  It is perfect on toast by itself, with cream cheese or ricotta, or served on the side of a cheese plate.

Fig and Port Jam

Makes approximately 2 cups of jam
10 minutes preparation time
40 minutes cooking time, plus time for cooling

approximately 20 fresh figs
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon port wine

Wash the figs.  Cut the stem ends off the figs and quarter them.  Mix them with the sugar and 1 tablespoon of the port.  Heat the mixture in a covered pot over low heat until it releases some liquid, then bring the mixture to a simmer.  Let the mixture simmer gently until the figs are quite soft and the jam has thickened, about 40 minutes.  At one or two points during the cooking process, mash the mixture with a potato masher.  When the figs are meltingly soft, add the last teaspoon of port and stir.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the jam cool.  Transfer to a jar for storage.

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Roasted Heirloom Tomato Sauce

We have struck it rich in the tomato department.  All of those heirloom tomato plants that we planted in the garden at Black Ankle are producing like mad.  Mary has been bringing us a large basket every week filled with Brandywines, Purple Cherokees, Green Zebras, Purple Russians, and Hawaiian Pineapples.  This week we had so many that she suggested that we get together to make sauce. 

I usually prefer my heirlooms raw because they are so delicious and juicy.  I also have not had success making sauce from heirlooms.  All that juiciness translates into a very watery sauce.  Drain all that water off and there's not much pulp left.  But we have had too many to keep up with eating them raw, although believe me, I am doing my best.  Mary suggested we try roasting the tomatoes and I thought that might help dry them out.  It didn't, but the end result was still delicious.

We separated out the yellow Hawaiian Pineapples and Green Zebras to make each into a sauce of its own.  Then we mixed the remaining red and purple varieties.  The Hawaiian Pineapples were remarkably sweet and the Green Zebras quite tart.  The red and purple varieties made a more traditional tomato-y sauce, perfect for pasta, couscous, or polenta. 

Because each of the heirloom varieties has such a different flavor, when you make this recipe, taste the sauce and adjust the flavors as needed.  Roasted shallots were a great complement to the Hawaiian Pineapples and also balanced out the tartness of the Green Zebras (along with a generous amount of basil).  The sauce can be frozen or canned.  If you are canning, you may find the instructions here or here to be helpful. 

In addition to producing some delicious sauce, our sauce making evening was the perfect excuse for a few friends to get together, cook, chat, and share a bottle of wine.  Black Ankle, of course.

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Makes about 2 cups of sauce
30 minutes preparation time
40 minutes cooking time

4-5 large heirloom tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
5-6 garlic cloves
10-12 basil leaves, torn
Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Core the tomatoes and cut them in half.  Lay them with the cut sides facing up in a roasting or jelly roll pan.  Leave the garlic cloves in their skins and sprinkle them over the tomatoes.  Drizzle the olive oil on top.  Roast the tomatoes until they are very soft and the edges have browned, about 40 minutes.  If you are using heirlooms, a good bit of liquid will come out of the tomatoes as they cook.  Carefully remove the pan from the oven. 

Set a colander in a large bowl.  Pour some of the liquid from the tomatoes into the colander and set the pan aside until the tomatoes are cool enough to handle.  When they have cooled, slip the skins off and discard them.  Peel the skin off the garlic, too.  Pour the tomatoes with their liquid into the colander, and let it drain for a few minutes. 

Pour the tomato mixture from the colander into a bowl, add the garlic, and blend briefly with a hand blender.  Add the basil and a few pinches of salt.

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Strawberry Preserves, Lemon Optional

One of our favorite outings is going fruit or vegetable picking.  For those of you that are local, our favorite place is Larriland Farms, a pick-your-own farm in Woodbine, Maryland.  We went last week and loaded up with strawberries.  As we were picking, we were dreaming of all of the things we were going to make.  Strawberry shortcake topped the list, of course.  Olivia suggested strawberry sorbet, Oscar wanted a strawberry pie, and I wanted to make strawberry preserves.  I love it when the children come up with these ideas and I try to make good on them.  The more we fantasized, though, the more strawberries I realized that we would need. 

It took us a while, with breaks for lemonade and the bathroom, but we managed to take in quite a haul.  By the time we got home and refreshed with a much-needed dip in the pool, it was too late to make preserves (although I had already made a shortcake biscuit, so it was very easy to assemble a strawberry shortcake with those just-picked strawberries).

A few days later, we tackled the strawberry preserves.  The most laborious part was hulling the strawberries, but I had a couple of helpers, at least for a little while.  After that, it was just a question of cooking the strawberries until they thickened, with lots of stirring so that they didn't stick and caramelize in the pan.  I made a large batch and had three pots going.  For some reason, the amount of time it took to thicken was different for each.  In the end, it seemed to me that the pan with the widest mouth worked the best, perhaps because the larger opening allowed the water to evaporate more quickly. 

Preserves require a good bit of sugar to bring out the flavor of the strawberries, but I used much less than other recipes I have seen.  I really enjoy the berries sweet with just a hint of tartness, much as you would get from eating a fresh strawberry.  Olivia had the idea to make some of the preserves with lemon, which was an excellent variation for those who would like a tarter jam.   

I had never tried real canning before-- that is, putting jam into a jar with an appropriate seal for long-term storage -- but thought I would give it a shot for these preserves.  I was inspired by Polly Horvath's My One Hundred Adventures which had kept us all entertained on a long trip (although it touched on some themes that were more appropriate for 10-plus year olds at the end).  My favorite part was the way that Jane's mother made jam to mark the passing of the summer, first strawberry, followed by blueberry, raspberry, and finally blackberry.  What a lovely idea.  I'm not promising to keep up, but this was a nice start.  

Check this very helpful site to find a pick-your-own place near you, and for basic canning instructions.  The United States Department of Agriculture also puts out very thorough canning guidelines, if you'd like more detail.  If not done properly, botulism is a risk, although people have been canning successfully for centuries.  If I just stop posting one day, you'll know it was the preserves. 

I know that I have posted lots of strawberry recipes lately, but I just can't help myself since they are so delicious this time of year.  And this is a great recipe if you picked more strawberries than you know what to do with.  Not that I know anything about that.  I promise not to post another strawberry recipe. . .  at least not for a little while.

Strawberry Preserves

To make the strawberry-lemon preserve variation, add the zest of one lemon, an extra half cup of lemon juice, and a cup less of sugar.

Makes about 6 cups
20 minutes preparation time
approximately 30 minutes cooking time

7 pints strawberries, hulled
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Put a couple of plates in the refrigerator to chill. 

Gently mash the strawberries in a pot with the sugar.  Bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon juice and let the preserves simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently and skimming off the foam as it forms.  Cook the strawberries until they thicken, at least 20 minutes.  To make the process go faster, you can divide the preserves into two pots.

To test for doneness, put a teaspoon of jam on one of the chilled plates and return it to the refrigerator for one minute.  After a minute, remove it and tilt the plate.  Most of the preserves should remain in the center of the plate, while some of it -- especially the more liquid portion -- will slowly spread out towards the edge of the plate.  When the preserves have firmed up to this extent, pour them into storage jars.

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Oscar's Brownies

This post is kind of cheating because this isn't my recipe.  I haven't modified it one iota.  There was no reason to because these brownies are perfect as is.  So I'm just going to provide you the link to the original recipe and be on my way. 

The recipe originally ran two years ago in the Washington Post with the title "Man Catcher Brownies".  Although that idea seems a bit, well, dated, I have to admit that they are fabulous, and both of the men in my house -- big and little -- (as well as all the females) adore them.  They are rich, dense, and fudgy with a crisp shell on top.  Really, to me they are the perfect brownie.  The kids are a great help making these, especially licking the bowl, spatula, whisk. . .

They have been referred to by friends as Boyfriend Brownies and, my favorite, Man Killer Brownies (when you see what's in them, you'll see why that name may be the most apt).   But around here we call them Oscar's brownies.  He loves all things chocolate and for his birthday I usually make these brownies instead of cake.  Because they are so dense, they are great for constructing all sorts of shapes.  I have made them into a pirate ship, fire truck, and light saber.  

These brownies freeze well, and I have served them at numerous parties, and brought them to bake sales.  Try them and put them to whatever purpose suits you.