Classic Cocktail to ring in the New Year!

This is a simple classic drink

to ring in the New Year!

Angostura Bitters, you know, that easily recognized bottle with the oversized label and yellow lid in the grocery store and liquor stores...

It was 1824, when German born, Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, serving as Surgeon General in Simón Bolivar's army in Venezuela, developed Angostura Bitters for use in his medical practice, in the town of Angostura, now known as Ciudad Bolívar.  

Dr. Siegert used his aromatic bitters as a medical tincture to improve the appetite and digestive well-being of the soldiers.  

By 1875, the family business moved to Port of Spain, Trinidad and was run by 3 of the doctor's sons.  The exact formula of Angostura bitters ~ a unique blend of natural herbs and spices ~ is a closely guarded secret formula.

To this day, people use a couple of drops of bitters in a little water or just plain to relieve an upset stomach, gas, hiccups and so forth.

The bitters are extremely concentrated and are an acquired taste, being used is small amounts as flavoring in cocktails, coffee, juices, salads, ice cream, marinades for meat, soups and sauces.

It's the key ingredient for many cocktails, including this classic champagne drink.  

Classic New Year’s Eve Champagne Cocktail

1 sugar cube

Angostura bitters
Moet & Chandon Brut Champagne
Lemon twist, for garnish

Soak the sugar cube in the bitters and drop into a champagne flute. 
Top with champagne.
Garnish with lemon twist.
Makes 1 serving

This New Year I wish that ~

Fate never takes you for a bumpy ride,

Cupid strikes you with his sweetest arrow,

Lady Luck bestows upon you health and wealth,

Your Guardian Angel keeps your mind 

alert and bright.

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year 2017!

The best,

Pam

Christmas Eve Prime Rib ~ Merry Christmas!

Tradition here is Prime Rib, Standing  Rib Roast, 

on 

Christmas Eve. 

 

My fave carver, slicing it up!

It doesn’t get much better than a beautiful slice of beef, cooked rare.  This is my version; served along with delicious Caesar salad, Hasselback potatoes, oyster dressing, sautéed green beans with mushrooms, and a nice flaky dinner roll, with caramel cheesecake to top it off. 

Our prime rib is ordered from our local Italian butcher shop.  The butcher trimmed a large part of the fat off, then cut the bone off and brought it all back together by tying it with string.  It’s perfect, easy to roast and even easier for slicing. 

Allow the meat to stand at room temperature for an hour;  rub it with salt, a little pepper, and garlic powder, before roasting it in a 350° oven, until it reaches 120° internally.  Upon removing it  from the oven, let it stand for about 25 minutes before slicing.  By then, it will the register about 130° on the thermometer. 

This is my favorite cut of meat, and it’s cooked to perfection, very tender, juicy and delectable!

 HERE’S WISHING

YOU ALL

A VERY

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

XMAS - Mutti's Butter Cookies

These little butter cookies 
are just 
the best!

I'd rather leave the decorating to someone else...

The waft of cinnamon while baking, fills the kitchen with marvelous aroma.

And I wish I were baking them now, as it's -12° here this morning...

This is a simple recipe for these cookies, and I used all 3 cups of flour.

Easy to cutout

Umm, the aroma!

I reworked the dough a couple of times while rolling out and cutting.  It’s the first cookie dough I’ve made that did not crumble and dry out when re-rolling.  It's a magnificent dough to work with!

The Chicago Tribune Holiday Cookies cookbook featured this recipe that won second place for Ivy Risch in the 2009 cookie contest.  

She can trace the recipe back to her missionary grandparents’ years in China and her grandmother’s friendship with Madame Chiang Kai-shek.  

Her grandmother called the cookies “speculatius.”

I say they’re spectacular!  

They truly are spectacularly buttery ~ and delicious!


Mutti’s Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

2½ sticks (1¼cups)  butter, softened
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour, divided
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

Combine butter, sugar, eggs and salt in small bowl; stir with wooden spoon until smooth, about 1 minute.
Combine 2¼ cups of the flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl; add to butter mixture, 1 cup at a time, stirring to make a soft, sticky dough.
Sprinkle remaining ¾ cup of the flour on counter; place dough on the flour.
Knead, incorporating more flour just until dough is no longer sticky.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
Heat oven to 350°.
Remove dough from refrigerator; cut off a 2” piece.
Re-wrap remaining dough; return to refrigerator.
Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to ⅛” thick.
Cut shapes with cookie cutters.
Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets; bake until edges turn golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes per batch.
Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.
Repeat with remaining chilled dough.
Makes 100 cookies.

Printable recipe


Enjoy!

Cookies! Apricot Kolaczski, Kolachke, Kolache or Kolacky

Kolaczski, or whatever you call them, 

are a tradition here, 

as they are in many homes at Christmastime.

Forgot to sift the sugar on top!

There’s a plethora of names for this cookie, all with the same basic ingredients, and a plethora of fillings.  Put simply:  they’re a type of pastry, that holds a dollop of fruit, surrounded by supple dough.

This old recipe is from Helen, a friend of my mother’s in Louisville, whose Polish grandmother made these great cookies. 

I particularly like this recipe because it has a healthy dose of cream cheese, more than most kolaczski recipes.  The dough is what makes them exceptional!

Kolaczski come in many shapes ~ I cut the dough into squares, fold the opposing corners together and pinch the dough to seal the cookie.


Fill these delicious little morsels with a nut filling, pastry filling, jam filling or a cream cheese filling; I use apricot jam.

Dust a little powdered sugar over the cookies when cooled…

They’re perfect tasty little gems!


Apricot Kolaczski

Ingredients:

4 packages (3 ounces each, totaling 12 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
4 sticks (2 cups) butter, room temperature
3 cups flour
1½ cups apricot jam, more or less
Confectioner’s sugar

Method:

Beat together butter and cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add flour, 1 cup at a time, until well combined.
Divide dough into thirds; wrap each third in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Heat oven to 350°.
Remove 1 dough packet from refrigerator, roll to ⅛” to ¼” thickness on a floured surface.
Cut into 2” squares with a pizza cutter or knife.
Fill scantily, ½ teaspoon or less, with jam.  (If you use too much filling, it will run out onto the baking sheet.)
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake until bottoms are lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Repeat with remaining refrigerated dough.
Generously sprinkle with sifted confectioner’s sugar.
Makes about 5 dozen cookies.
Printable recipe


Enjoy!
  

Sprakling Chewy Ginger Cookies with a Twist

Don’t say I didn’t warn you❣

 

These cookies are chewy and delicious ~ bursting with a warm, surprisingly fiery and pungent flavor!

The taste is almost peppery and that’s why I love these cookies, because the surprise ingredient is just that, pepper!

I always bake some sort of ginger cookie during the Christmas season, and this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens surpasses them all.

For additional spicy flavor, the recipe includes  molasses, dark brown sugar, fresh ginger and pumpkin pie spice.  

Gold sanding sugar sprinkled on top of each cookie gives them a festive look when baked and adds another touch of sweetness.

I think they’re divine ~ they’re addictive ~ and if you like ginger cookies,  I bet you will agree!   


Sparkling Chewy Ginger Cookies
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

1⅓ cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 large eggs
½ cup molasses
4 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
3½ cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1⅓ cups gold sanding sugar, or granulated sugar*

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Beat dark brown sugar and shortening in a medium bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
Add egg, molasses and finer, beat 30 seconds.
Sift flour with next 4 ingredients in a small bowl.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture, beat at low speed until combined.
Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Place sanding sugar in a small bowl.
Drop dough by level spoonfuls into sanding sugar, using a 1½” cookie scoop; roll to coat.
Place coated cookies 3” apart on 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are fragrant and browned around the edges.
Cool on pans for 5 minutes, transfer to wire racks to cool completely.  
Makes 3 dozen

*Gold sanding sugar can be purchased online or purchased wherever specialty cake supplies are sold.


Enjoy!