Hot Cross BISCUITS

Three months.  That’s all the time I have left before baby numero dos is due.  (Unless of course, he…  or she, comes early…)  It seems like a long time, but I know it will just fly by.  Especially with Christmas coming.  I know, I know – I shouldn’t even have mentioned the ‘C’ word, but it’s true.  It’s a’comin’.  And personally, I’m pumped for the shopping trips.  Buying things for people, baking = fun, fun, fun.  Busy, but fun.  And our little guy will actually be aware of everything this year.  I’m super excited to see how he reacts to all the hullabaloo.  And that means baby will be along shortly (and I can stop going to work! Not that I’m excited about that, or anything…).

Thanksgiving anybody?  It was great to have a turkey dinner.  I made my first ever yule log thingy (and it was awesome – and I’ll share it with you soon!).  Deep Chocolate Buche de Noel.   Yum.  It was the first dessert gone at our family gathering.

Anybody say cute?

Here he is:

 

{My cutest little boy ever…  I’ve got to say that as many times as I can in the next three months in case I have another boy!  Isn’t he just great though?}

So I’ve got three words for you.

Joy. the. Baker.

Check her out.  She is an inspirational food blogger.  Just your everyday Joe, but she’s amazing.  I love everything she writes, and cooks, and I don’t know the girl.  But I wish I did.  She recently came out with her first cookbook (SO awesome!). And here was the chain of events that followed:

Got her cookbook.

Loved it.

Wanted to bake everything in it.

So what did I do?  Went to her blog and made something from there instead.  Hot Cross Biscuits, to be exact.  But don’t worry, a few days later I made her Cinnamon Sugar Rice Pudding out of the cookbook.  It rocked world.  But not near as much as these biscuits.  They were awesome.  I would make them again, and again.  And eat them.  All.

Hot Cross Biscuits

These are just slightly adapted from Joy’s recipe:

**I used dried cranberries in half of the recipe, switched orange zest for lemon, and didn’t use icing

Makes 8 to 12 biscuits

Print this Recipe!

For the Biscuits:

3 cups  flour

2 Tbsp sugar

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into small cubes

1 large egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 tsp orange zest

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or grease with shortening, and set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in butter, until resembles flakes of oatmeal.

Add cranberries

Whisk together egg and buttermilk.

Slowly fold into butter/flour mixture, just until all the flour is wet.  Place on a floured surface and knead slightly.  Roll out until dough is 1 inch thick, and cut with a biscuit cutter (whatever size pleases you, really).

Brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk, and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown on top and bottom.  Remove from oven and let cool.

These are amazing served with butter and jam.  I omitted the cranberries from half of my recipe, and I loved them both ways.

Bon appetit!

30 Day Challenge

Day 10 – Discuss your first love and first kiss

Well.  That’s [fairly] early.  My first love would be my hubby.  I’ve had a crush (and then wayyy more than a crush) on him since elementary school.  Sure, we’ve had ups and downs.  But I never ever gave a thought to us not being together.  There were scary times, when it came close, but we got through.  He’s handsome, in a rugged (which is my favourite!) way.  Funny, sarcastic, great hubby, wonderful Daddy – these are only a few of the things that I love about him.  I’ve got to mention his little crooked smile, and the mischievous look he gets too.  They’re just too good to pass up.  He is the only guy I’ve ever kissed (other than my daddy, of course).  The first time was, well, messy.  And I thought about it for months…  Okay, maybe years.  Because we really had two first kisses.  The second time was… not so messy.  It made my heart flutter (literally, I think I could have had a heart attack), and I was so nervous both times, I could’ve thrown up.  But it was great.  I’ve kissed him a million times since.  Gets better every time.  So there’s the juice.  Now you know.

(You guys do realize it’s taking me about 30+ weeks to do this challenge instead of 30 days, right?  I’m slower than a tortoise!)

Peace out.

Cookie Balls!

Hey, hope everyone has had a great January thus far.  2012 is flying by already.  My little guy is 6 months old today!  When people tell you that kids grow up fast, you nod, agree with them, but only half believe them.  Until…  your baby is born, then screaming, then laughing and smiling, then rolling, then eating solids, then cutting teeth…  and soon crawling, and now 6 months old!  It really does jet past.  My advice to others (and myself included), set down the laundry, stop doing the dishes, and spend time with your kids.  The dishes and laundry will always be there and never change, kids are different.  Enjoy them.  Every moment.  They’ll remember you spending time with them too.  Don’t get me wrong, you do need to get those things done, but in time.  It doesn’t always have to be done right away.

Our first family Christmas photo with our baby.

Okay, so I’m really proud of myself right now.  Second post in under a month.  Must be a record for me.  We went out this afternoon for lunch, it was awesome.  If you’re ever in NS, Canada, check out the Kiwi Cafe.  It’s sweet.

Today, I’ll fulfill my promise of sharing my cookie dough ball recipes with you.  I made these for a cookie exchange (one of two in two days… haha) over Christmas, and they were really great.  Sad thing was, I didn’t make extra for myself, and only got to sample half of each.  Guess it helped with my holiday weight gain that way…  sigh.  Oh well.  Next year, we’re making a triple batch!  😉  I made two different recipes for this exchange.  Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls, and Cranberry White Chocolate Skor Cookie Dough Balls (or CWCSCDB for… short?  Haha.).  Just a note – these recipes are especially for my friend Amanda, who tried these and loved them (I love hearing people enjoy food I make…!).

Don’t they look great?  Good enough to eat?

The chocolate chip balls were an idea I found on Pinterest, and adapted slightly to my own liking.  The other recipe was adapted from a cookie recipe given to me by a friend (they were actually supposed to be made into cookies for ice cream sandwiches, which I intend to try sometime!).

So!  First off, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls!

Makes approx 3-4 dozen.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup margarine, room temperature

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or mini chips)

Coating:  1 pkg chocolate chips and 1/4 cup Parofin Wax.

Beat margarine and sugars in a large bowl with electric mixer of medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add milk and vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking soda, oats and salt and mix on low-speed (or stir by hand) until incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.  Melt chocolate and wax in a double boiler.  Using spoon, dip cookie balls into chocolate coating to cover.  Tap on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets.  Chill until set.

AND NOW, for the amazing Cranberry White Chocolate Skor Cookie Dough Balls.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

1 cup shortening, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup oats

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 pkg white chocolate chips

1/2 cup Skor toffee bits

1 cup dried cranberries

Coating:  1/2 pkg white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup Parofin Wax

Beat butter, and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add milk and vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking soda, oats and salt and mix on low-speed (or stir by hand) until incorporated.  Stir in chips, Skor bits, and cranberries.  Form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper.  Melt chocolate and wax in a double boiler.  Using spoon, dip cookie balls into chocolate coating to cover.  Tap on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets.  Chill until set.

They look good, inside and out.

So, I think these turned out wonderfully.

I stuck the recipes on them too.  

At the cookie exchange, there was a prize for the best packaging.  I had seen in a magazine a few ideas for food gifts.  One of them was to use an egg carton and scrapbooking paper.  I tried it – and it looked really neat.  It’s a great idea recycling-wise, and it won the prize too!  🙂  All you had to do was cut a strip of paper the size of the top of the carton (the part that lifts) and then cut out the holes where it closes, and glue it on.I put my cookie balls in the carton in small paper cups and then wrapped the carton with raffia and stuck in a sprig of a decoration thing that we’d picked up.

Hope you enjoyed the recipe.

Did anyone else try anything new this holiday season?  Have you guys discovered Pinterest yet?  

Pumpkin Everything

So, tis the season…  For pumpkin that is!  I love how the different seasons bring their own tastes, ingredients, aromas, and feels.  Right now, I could do with pretty much pumpkin anything.  The other day, I made a Dutch Pumpkin Apple Crisp (so good!), I’m currently craving a Pumpkin Spice Latte, I’m planning on making Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares this weekend, and TODAY I made Pumpkin Cranberry Bread.  As I said, pumpkin everything – literally.  If I had a pumpkin candle, you can be sure that would be lit in the kitchen too (what a good idea!).

So, I thought I’d share my very first recipe on foreverfaithandfood!  Hope you enjoy this Pumpkin Cranberry Bread recipe!

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

 1 ½ cups flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp each ginger, cloves, and nutmeg

2 eggs

1 cup mashed pumpkin

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup dried cranberries

 In a bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, sugars, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add the flour, salt, baking powder & soda, and spices.  Mix until flour is moist.  Stir in cranberries.  Pour into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 55 minutes, or until toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

If you want to change it up a bit, substitute fresh cranberries for the dried (but if you do this, add 1/4 cup more flour).  OR, you can omit the cranberries, and add raisins, chocolate chips, or pecans.  If you want a slightly healthier version, use 1/4 cup apple sauce and 1/4 cup oil, instead of just oil, and cut back on the sugar by using only 1/2 cup total.  You can also use a low-cal sweetener, but use less of it than you would sugar.

If you like pumpkin, check out my Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares!

Hope you all enjoy it!!