Nibby Pecan Cookies

Take a look at the cookies above.  They may not look like much but they are life altering.  They are Nibby Pecan Cookies, a recipe created by Alice Medrich.  First of all, Alice Medrich is known for her brilliance with chocolate, which pretty much, in my opinion, guarantees that her recipes will be great.  But this one seriously goes beyond great.  It is DIVINE.

I found this recipe because another blog that I follow, Loaves and Stitches, is doing a cookie countdown right now and this recipe was on that blog.  As soon as I saw them, I was hooked.  First of all, they use an ingredient I have never used before - cocoa nibs!  Cocoa nibs are tiny pieces of the roasted cocoa bean, raw, when the beans are READY to be made into chocolate but it hasn't yet happened.  So they have a great cocoa flavor but do not have extra sugar, butter, etc in them.  And they have a fabulous CRUNCH.  How come I never knew about these amazing things?  I have been enlightened!

Plastic Bag Holder

Okay, this is one of those no-brainer projects that I am not sure why I didn't accomplish AGES ago.  How do you store your random plastic bags?  You know, the ones you get from the grocery stores, Target, from your newspapers, etc.  While I bring my own bags to the grocery store, the bags from places seem to multiply at our house.  Especially the newspaper bags.  We only get one newspaper per day, thus one bag per day.  But somehow we have about 3 zillion newspaper bags.  They used to be all shoved into another plastic bag (a Target bag to be precise) and stored underneath the bottom shelf in my pantry.  But the bags are not happy to be kept there.  They kept jumping out and having little bag babies all over the floor, thus the aforementioned 3 zillion bags. 

Enter, Martha Stewart.  She has this brilliant tutorial for making a bag holder out of a kitchen towel!  An ah-ha moment!  I did not photograph the steps in making this thing because Martha (or rather someone on her staff) already did so and the tutorial is quite simple.  Go HERE to see for yourself.

Here is what I did differently:  On the bottom where you put the elastic, Martha suggests cutting a slit in the seam allowance of the towel, threading the elastic through the seam allowance, and then tying the elastic in a knot.  Instead, I ripped out a tiny piece of the stitching for the seam allowance on each end, threaded the elastic through, and then zigzagged over the elastic at each end.  No knot tying.  As it is, there is a bunch of fabric right there from when I sewed the seam making the towel into a tube, so I didn't figure I needed to bulk things up more and tie a knot.   Either way works.

What are you waiting for?  You likely have all of the supplies you need to accomplish this super-helpful project sitting around at home, and it truly takes all of about 15 minutes to accomplish.  Martha used the following supplies:  towel, elastic, twill tape, safety pin.  I used the same, but if you don't have twill tape, you could always use ribbon or a long piece of some other fabric.  It is simply used as the loop for hanging this amazing contraption in a handy location! 

I actually made two of these:  One for newspaper bags (we use them when we walk the dogs) and one for other plastic bags. 

Get on it.  Show those plastic bags who is the boss!!  My entire pantry has breathed a sigh of relief.

TWD: Baking with Julia - Gingersnaps

This is the Baking with Julia version of Gingersnaps.  

WARNING:  This blog post will break one of my rules about reviewing recipes - don't critique a recipe if you have changed it up and don't like it.  You didn't actually try the recipe so you shouldn't critique it.  This is one of my rules and I am breaking it right now for this recipe.  There are reasons that I tried to jazz up this recipe!  I checked out the comments on the TWD blog from people who had already baked the cookies, and the overall consensus was that there was not enough ginger, that the cookie dough was way too sticky, and that the cookies did not "snap".  So, here is my thoughts on this cookie for whatever it is worth!

Personally, I don't recommend this recipe.  Sorry.  I just have this idea that gingersnaps should have two basic components:

(1) they should contain ginger

(2) they should snap after baking, as in crunch

Ginger and Snap.  Shouldn't be that unusual of a requirement, right?

Christmas Card Wreath

For years, I have struggled with how to display the Christmas cards we receive.  This year I happened upon the Craftiness is not Optional blog and found the perfect solution!  A clothespin wreath!  Brilliant.  Not only is it useful, it is also attractive!!  And simple to make.  Let's do it!

TWD: Baking with Julia - Challah

 

Our recipe this week for Tuesdays with Dorie was Challah.  Yes, I know, it is Wednesday, but I promise I had this bread baked on time, I just didn't get to the blog on time!  Apologies!  I made the Challah bread for Thanksgiving dinner, as did many of my TWD cohorts.  The recipe makes 2 loaves, so we ate one with dinner and the other I froze so I can make French toast this weekend.

There is something amazingly therapeutic about braiding bread.  I love it.  Feeling the long soft strands and weaving them together to make a beautiful loaf is really rewarding to me.  Why don't I make this more often??  

Cranberry Turtle Bars

These are likely to become a holiday tradition - Cranberry Turtle Bars.  Of course they are delicious any time, but the cranberries and pecans make me think of Thanksgiving and Christmas, so that is when I am probably most likely to make them. 

Cranberry Turtle Bars
adapted a bit from Gourmet magazine

Ingredients:
Base
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Topping
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, whole
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups pecans, tasted and cooled, then coarsely chopped

Decoration
2 oz. fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F with a rack in the middle.  Line a 9x13-inch pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the 2 shorts sides.  Butter all 4 sides but not the bottom.

Blend flour, brown sugar and salt in a food processor, then add butter and pulse until the mixture begins to form small lumps (pea-sized).  Sprinkle the lumps into the prepared pan, then press down firmly all over with a metal spatula and/or your hands to form an even layer.  Bake 15-17 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch.  Cool in the pan on a cooling rack.

Melt butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel registers 245F on a candy thermometer.  This will take about 8 minutes.  Carefully stir in cranberries, and boil until caramel again reaches 245F.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Stir in pecans until well coated.  Working quickly, spread caramel topping over base, using a fork to distribute nuts and cranberries evenly.  Cool completely.

Lift bars in foil from pan and transfer to a cutting board.  Cut into 36 bars, or however many you choose.  Melt half of the chocolate on the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl placed over a saucepan with barely simmering water, stirring until smooth.  Remove the bowl from the heat and mix in in the remaining chocolate, stirring until smooth.  With a spoon, drizzle the melted chocolate in a thin drip decoratively over the bars.  OR put the melted chocolate in a small heavy-duty zip-lock bag, snip off a tiny piece of one corner, and pipe the chocolate over bars.  Let the bars stand at room temperature until the chocolate sets, about one hour.

Store in an airtight container, with waxed or parchment paper between layers, for about 1 week, or refrigerate/freeze.
Printable Recipe

I confess that when I made this recipe I used way more chocolate than the recipe suggested, and honestly, it was too much.  I know, that sounds like crazy-talk, but that much chocolate actually detracted from the cranberry/pecan flavors, instead of enhancing it.  So the 2 ounce amount is better. 

Serve these at a holiday function.  Or wrap them in a pretty container and give them as a gift!  Or hide them away and don't tell anyone you have them so you can eat them all yourself - a very tempting idea...

Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies

Since we were dealing with lots of chocolate earlier this week, I thought I'd continue that theme today with some Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies.  You might be wondering what the heck pumpkin is doing in a brownie.  And that might actually be a good question.  When I read the reviews of this recipe, there were definitely a few folks that thought the pumpkin did not belong.  Since I tend to love all things pumpkin, I thought I'd give them a try to see what I thought.  And I liked them a lot!  They are cakier than my favorite brownie, but that is okay with me.  They are supposed to be different!  It's a different recipe!

So yes, they fall into the "cakey" category of brownies, not the "fudgey" category of brownies.  But they are still very tasty.  There is a tiny hit of cayenne in the batter, which gives these brownies the littlest kick at the end.  I actually used less cayenne than the recipe suggested, and I found the amount to be perfect.  Again, something you didn't actually notice until the end and then got a nice kick.  Perfect.  Another bonus to these is that they stayed moist for several days!  And aren't they pretty? 


Pumpkin-Swirl Brownies
adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
8 TB (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar  
4 large eggs
1 TB vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter the parchment.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler, sitting over but not touching simmering water.  Stir occasionally until smooth.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cayenne and salt in a large bowl and set aside.  Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until the mixture is fluffy and well combined.  This will take 3-5 minutes.  Mix in the flour mixture.

Divide the batter into two medium bowls, that fit about 2 cups per bowl.  Stir the chocolate mixture into one bowl.  Stir the pumpkin, oil, cinnamon and nutmeg into the batter in the other bowl.  Transfer half of the chocolate batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.  Top with half of the pumpkin batter.  Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer.  With a small spatula or table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled look.  Sprinkle the top with pecans or nuts of your choice.

Bake until set,40-45 minutes.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack.  Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting out the parchment lining.  Cut the brownies into squares.
Printable Recipe 

I suggest giving these a try.  Spice things up a bit in your brownie world!  It's worth it!