Orange Oatmeal Lace Cookies

It all began when I went to a Foreign market in search of rose water for another recipe. I found the water as well as this Orange Blossom water next to it. Rarely do you find exotic items like these at the local grocery store, so I decided to get it also. Not knowing yet what to do with it, I randomly searched for recipes on the internet and found this easy recipe that I could do with my kids.

I scraped off the zest of one large orange, just the smell of the pieces was appetizing.

Then my daughter blended the remaining ingredients together.

When you form the dough use a melon ball scooper and space cookies on sheet in 2 rows; these cookies spread.

Beautiful, light and crisp......addicting. Fortunately it is low in calories and carbs :).

Ingredients:
1 orange for zesting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup very finely chopped pecans

Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, using dabs of butter or shortening to hold the corners of the paper in place.

Finely grate the orange until you have 1/2 teaspoon of zest. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the flour, salt, and milk all at once, then add the vanilla extract and orange zest and blend for about 30 seconds more. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the oats and pecans.

Scoop and gently shape the dough into 1-inch balls -- each about a rounded teaspoon. Place the balls on the sheet, leaving approximately 3 inches between them.

Bake the cookies on the center oven rack until they are bubbly and the edges have started to turn a dark golden color, about 10 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a wire rack and let it cool for 2 minutes.

Carefully lift the sides of the parchment paper and transfer the cookies to a countertop. Let them cool for about 5 minutes before gently placing them on a serving plate. In the meantime, line another baking sheet with parchment for the second batch (or let the first baking sheet cool to room temperature, then line it with fresh parchment). Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

A Swedish Meal

One word, IKEA.... went a little crazy shopping at the market and came home with some delicious goods.

I'll start with the Swedish crispbread topped with hard boiled egg and creamed smoked roe, YUM!

For dinner to compliment our Swedish meal we had asparagus with olive oil and lemon.

Along with our side dish we had a lovely Tomato Balsamic Salad.

And our main dish, gravlax with yogurt dill sauce.

A wonderful simple and easy meal to fix.....with a little help from IKEA ;-).

Old-Fashioned Lavender Honey Ice Cream

I have an English lavender bush that is starting to bloom, the flowers were just right for making a new type of ice cream for the family.

The honey was just enough to bring out sweet flavor of lavender.

Here the lavender, honey and milk are all combining to make a delicious treat.

The incorporated ingredients, ready to serve.

A lovely light dessert or as my daughter would say "quite refreshing Mom".

Lavender Honey Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup half-and-half

2/3 cup mild honey

2 tablespoons dried edible lavender flowers

2 large eggs

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring cream, half-and-half, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat. Let steep, covered, 30 minutes.

Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lavender. Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.

Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 170 to 175 F on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).

Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours. Freeze custard in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden

Strawberry Meringue with Chocolate Chips

A very simple and easy spring treat that my kids love! Happy Easter everyone.

Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 tablespoons red gelatin powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Carefully seperate egg whites from yolks - ANY yolk left in the egg whites and you will not be able to make the meringue! In a clean dry bowl whip egg whites, white vinegar and salt until stiff (but not dry!). Add in sugar and jello powder (Traditionally we use Red Jello - such as raspberry or Cherry -- ). Fold in chocolate chips. On buttered cookie sheet, drop spoonfuls of meringue - I do smaller, bite sized cookies. Bake on a buttered cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 250* then turn off the oven and let them sit there over night. Do not peek or open the oven! They will turn out soft and chewy! Preparation time is to make the meringue - Cooking time is total time to make.

Macaroons...post Valentine's blessings

Rarely do you find a great recipe on NPR, but this takes the cake.....or Macaroon!.... The photos just scream  delicious.....I am going to try making these over spring break :)

Photo by Kyle Samperton

Photo by Kyle Samperton

Rose White Chocolate Macaroons 

Paste

6 egg whites 

18 ounces almond flour 

18 ounces confectionery sugar 

Blend almond flour and confectionery sugar together. After blended, sift. Spread on parchment paper and let dry for one day. The following day, add the egg whites to the mix and stir until it becomes paste.

Meringue

7 egg whites 

18 ounces sugar 

5 ounces water 

1 teaspoon food coloring 

Instructions: Cook sugar in water until it has reached 250 degrees. While it is heating, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Slowly pour sugar mixture into egg whites on high speed. Let cool while whipping until the bowl is warm to the touch. Add food coloring. Whip an extra two to three minutes.

While meringue is whipping, mix paste (almond flour, confectionery sugar and egg whites) until incorporated.

Stop mixer and add a small portion of the meringue into the paste. (Incorporating the meringue helps loosen the paste.) Add the rest of the meringue, then beat with spatula until fully mixed. When finished, pipe to desired size and shape. Let dry 20 to 30 minutes after piping.

Bake at 300 degrees for 12 minutes. Let cool.

Rose White Chocolate Filling

12 ounces cream 

12 ounces milk plus 6 ounces milk, divided 

2 ounces cornstarch 

Pinch of salt 

11 ounces butter 

16 ounces white chocolate (solid bar or chunks) 

10 drops of rose extract 

Instructions:

Combine cream and 12 ounces of milk and bring to a boil.Meantime, mix 6 ounces of milk with cornstarch, add salt, then pour the starch mixture into the cream mixture. Bring to a boil then add solid white chocolate. Mix, then add the butter and rose extract. Let cool. Delicately make small coin shaped indentations in each macaroon disc with your thumb, pipe in filling and gently press discs together to assemble the macaroon.

Sniffles and Homework

Once again a virus has hit home. This week was hard with kids sick, doctors' appointments and school (yes twittering is part of school work).

Little time to do any home cooking, but I wanted to share this delicious soup that I love getting at a Vietnamese restaurant not far from my home. I was able to find a recipe of it, and I have posted below.

Beef Noodle Soup

4 ounces dried rice noodles
6 cups cold water
3 (10.5) cans condensed beef broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Thai chile, chopped
1/2 pound boneless top round steak, sliced very thin
1/4 pound fresh basil
4 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
1/4 pound mung bean sprouts
4 green onions, thinly sliced
4 wedges lime


Instructions: Soak noodles in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain. Bring water to a boil in large pot. Add noodles, and boil 3 to 5 minutes, don't overcook. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside. Meanwhile, combine beef broth, ginger and salt, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Place equal portions of noodles into 4 large soup bowls, and place raw beef on top. Ladle hot broth over noodles and beef. Garnish with lime wedges, basil leaves, cilantro mung beans, and green onions, and serve.

A Beautiful Day

With all the rain we've had in the past week, the sun finally came out to stay. The weather is perfect for planting in the garden, and today I did just that. In my tiny garden I planted some early girl tomatoes, better boy tomato, cucumber, mesclun, chocolate mint, greek oregano, violas and pansies. Hoping for a successful early summer harvest.

These are herbs for my windowsill, rosemary, peppermint and greek oregano. They smell so fresh and beautiful.

I rewarded myself after digging in the garden with a quick trip to kokomo for a refreshing yogurt treat. My favorite combination, tart yogurt and raspberry swirl on top of pineapple and strawberry yogurt, mixed with fresh berries, mochi and mango. Yummy and healthy too.