Category Archives: Food & Wine

Christmas Eve

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Well it looks like a pretty rainy day out there today, but hopefully at least some of the snow will stick around. We have well over a foot of it, so I doubt it all will melt away.

I have to say that this is the most relaxed Christmas Eve I’ve had in several years. I think part of the reason is that I chose food for Christmas Day that doesn’t require really any prep work. Last year we did a variety of appetizers and pizzas and that was really time-intensive. In previous years I’ve done brunches and prepared egg dishes that needed to be prepped and set overnight, as well as a variety of baked goods. This year it’s filet mignon (which I still think was the best buy of all the holiday food sales), au gratin potatoes (sorry, from a box — easier and the boys will eat them), salad, green beans, and rolls. Super easy. My MIL is going to bring dessert — anything leftover from tonight. That should work out well.

This morning the boys and I plan to bake some chocolate chip cookies for Santa. I’ve also been doing a little candy making for last-minute additions to gifts. And I am still not done with one last knitting project! Argh! I just hope I have time to finish it up. If not, I am sure the recipient will understand.

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope your preparations are going well!

A Great Feeling!

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Yesterday morning I officially finished our Christmas shopping!!! What a load off my shoulders. Of course, I still have some crafting I need to finish up, but everything I need is in my house and I don’t need to spend anymore money, thankfully. I also got a little gift for myself yesterday — new (faux) leather boots. My brother and his wife had given me a Macy’s card for my birthday, and I had like $7 left on one my parents gave me two (or is it three?) years ago. The purses (my original idea) were ridiculously expensive there, even on sale, and I could not find anything else I liked. As I was leaving the store I passed by the shoe department and figured it was worth a look. I ended up walking out of there with a pair of these beauties at an even better price than listed on the company’s website! I think they’ll be supercute with jeans.

The other big deal yesterday was that I finally figured out what I’m making on Christmas Day. Shop Rite to the rescue! This week they have beef tenderloin (filet mignon) on sale for $4.99/lb (which is an excellent price), so I purchased one that is slightly over 5 lbs. I’ll serve it with iceberg lettuce wedges and blue cheese dressing, probably green beans, and some kind of potato. And don’t forget dessert (my version of “diet supplements” this time of year, LOL! Lord knows I’ve been supplementing my diet with plenty of them). I might see if my MIL wants to bring a buche de Noel like she did last year. If not, I’ll proabably just do cookies. I also have been craving my mom’s pear and lime Jell-O mold (don’t laugh — it is SO good!), so I might make that too. I’m really looking forward to it now that I have a nice, easy menu!

Today I am hoping to finish up our Christmas cards, but right now I promised Noah I’d make Rice Krispie treats with him. 🙂

Italian Anise Cookies

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Italian anise cookies

These are, without a doubt, one of my top three favorite cookies. They’re easy to make, they are not overly sweet, and they just about melt in your mouth. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Italian Anise Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. anise extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Glaze (recipe follows)
Decoration: multicolored nonpareils (optional(

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat baking sheets with nonstick spray (or use a silicone liner).
2. DOUGH – Beat first 5 ingredients in a large bowl with mixer until blended. On low speed, beat in the next 3 ingredients until blended.
3. Drop rounded measuring teaspoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until bottoms are light golden. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.
5. Dip tops of cookies in glaze and, while wet, sprinkle with nonpareils. Let set. Store airtight at room temp. up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 1 month.

Glaze * Whisk 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 4-5 tsp. milk, and 1 tsp. ansie extract in a small bowl until smooth.

* When I made these last night, I only make half of the glaze recipe and found I had just enough.

TGIF :-)

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It’s twenty-five degrees out this morning! Brr! But the sun is shining and that always makes such a big difference. I’m also in a great mood because my friend Jenn from back home is visiting this afternoon. We so rarely get to see each other; it will be nice to relax and visit. She also has two little boys around the same ages as Jake & Noah so they should all have fun playing together. I’m keeping it simple for dinner tonight and just ordering a pizza (though I’ll probably make a salad beforehand, so I just need to take it out of the fridge – gotta get some veggies in, right?).

Yesterday afternoon I went on a baking spree. Jake had a half-day from school, so I wanted to do some fun activities. We baked s’mores brownies (unfortunately I didn’t have any graham crackers, though), and then I made a batch of Italian anise cookies. They came out wonderfully! I will post the recipe later. Everyone enjoyed munching on the treats afterwards.

Also, Drew came home last night after a few days in Chesapeake, Va. for work. At least it was a quick trip and he didn’t need to take any luggage. With how expensive it is to check bags, he was sure to travel light! His company’s headquarters are down there and it seems like he might be heading south for business trips more often. He enjoys it though. It’s cool to actually see and talk to the people he usually only converses with via phone and e-mail. And who knows — maybe if he needs to go down there in the summer we could somehow work in a vacation to Virginia Beach! I’ve never been down there so it would be neat to see. Plus, it’s a reasonable drive. We shall see.

Well, I need to get ready for the day and return my library books this morning. Look for the cookie post later on!

Sweet 100

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With the name of my blog being “Pure Sugar” how could I resist this delicious meme that I found at Foodie Chickie?

How the Sweet 100 Works:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and White Cookie
8. Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons
16. Banana Pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble tea (with tapioca “pearls”)
18. Dixie Cup – Though we always called them Hoodsie Cups.
19. Rice Krispie treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout cookies
24. Moon cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavolva
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoofly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon/mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cake/Mexican Wedding Cake
41. Anzac Biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch Baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey butter cake
52. Rusks (same thing as zwieback)
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake or cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Creme Brulee
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An “upside down” dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird Cake
64. Jell-O from a mold
65. Black forest cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S’mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire’s Shortbread
99. Animal crackers
100. Basbousa

Clearly the girl likes her desserts 😉 And now I have a list of many that I can’t wait to try!

The One Where I Talk About Food

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Although I wouldn’t quite say I’ve hit that second-trimester energy surge (I’m usually asleep by 8 o’clock still), I am finding that I’m feeling much more “normal” during the day. And thankfully that also means I’m getting my cooking mojo back. For the past couple months, my poor family has suffered, but made the best of it.

Last night I decided to try this chicken curry recipe at Hooked on Heat. I did not have any garlic-ginger paste so I minced two cloves of garlic and shredded a one-inch piece of fresh ginger. I added them at the same time I added the onions and chile peppers. Oh my goodness, it was soooo goood. I really wish I had made a double batch to have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. I also made some kheer, which is a soupy rice pudding flavored with coconut milk, a bit of sugar, golden raisins, and cardamom. I had no cardamom, so I substituted a blend of coconut, nutmeg, and ground ginger. It also turned out really well and was very comforting! I’ve had the dessert in an Indian restaurant, but apparently it is a Pakistani dish. Either way, it is super yummy warm or cold. With the spice blend I think it would make a nice holiday dessert if you’re looking for something different.

This morning I put together beef stew in the Crock Pot. Drew’s mom and aunt will be watching the boys while we are at Jake’s parent-teacher conference this afternon. I’m not sure if they plan on staying for dinner, but I wanted to have something just in case. If not, I will just send them home with some. Not quite sure why I made it. Honestly it is not sounding too good to me right now, but I guess I just had all the ingredients so… Sadly, it will not be the delicious chicken curry that’s for sure.

I’m also trying to figure out what to serve on Christmas Day. We’re having a very small gathering this year, so I don’t want a ton of food (which will just mean a ton of leftovers). Spiral ham would be easiest but they are so freaking big, and I’m not that crazy about ham in general (except deli ham on a sandwich). Brunch-type items would be easy but I feel like everyone is bored with that since I do it every year. Maybe a roast beef? That requires minimal work and is a lot smaller than the ham. I need to get this figured out!

CSA Bonus Share

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CSA Bonus Share

The CSA we belong to offers members a bonus share if they renew their membership by a certain date. We made the deadline, so Saturday morning I bundled up and headed over to Stanfordville. I was really hoping for some cabbage (I’ve had slaw on the brain since I made burgers last week), but it seems that the crop was hit particularly hard by some kind of bug this year. Sigh… Oh well. We still recieved a generous amount of late-season veggies and if I were cooking Thanksgiving dinner I’d surely be all set!

Here’s what we got: spinach (there was a variety of other greens, but I did not feel like chard or arugula), onions, potatoes, garlic, turnips, sweet dumpling squash, butternut squash, carrots, and parsnips. I skipped celeriac and rutabega. (Confidential to Dad: I am so glad I gave you those three garlic cloves. Check it: four cloves in this share!) I’ll be bringing the butternut squash, turnips, and parsnips to my mother-in-law later this week. I might make stuffed squash with the sweet dumplings, and I plan on making onion soup this week since I have tons of onions.

It’s so funny to think that the next time I head over to the farm I will be days away from giving birth! Crazy!

CSA Share ~ Week 23 (Season’s End)

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CSA Share Week 23

All good things must come to an end. And such is the case with this year’s growing season at Sisters Hill Farm. Being part of community supported agriculture has been a wonderful experience — and a learning experience, to be sure! Some weeks it was a challenge not only to figure out how to prepare the vegetables, but how to preserve them as well. Some summer shares yielded far more than we could easily consume (all those tomatoes and eggplant come to mind!).

But I’m ready for a bit of a break, I admit. I skipped a few items yesterday. I passed over beets (I have two bags of puree in the freezer, and how many beet cakes will I realistically make?), celeriac, and greens (we are just not fans of chard, kale, et cetera — once in a while, yes, but I knew we would not be using them within a week). Here’s what I did take: 2 butternut squash, potatoes, onions (I took slightly less than our alloted amout), broccoli, a rutabaga, turnips, lots of green peppers, a head of garlic, 2 red chile peppers and 2 green chile peppers, carrots, parsnips (again, I took slightly less because I still have a bunch from last week), and 2 heads of lettuce.

I still have to send in our enrollment form for next year, but I think the bi-weekly shares will be such a great option for us. (Though I still plan on getting my canning equipment!)

CSA Share ~ Week 22

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CSA Share Week 22

Today I picked up our second-to-last share. It was pretty rainy and cold, so I just breezed through quick. I skipped the PYO flowers (there’s not much left honestly) and parsley (the only thing left of the herbs — I never use parsley anyway). I also passed over the tat soi, mustard greens, and choice of kale or swiss chard.

Even still, I think it’s quite the share. We got potatoes, onions, delicata squash, carrots, parsnips, a bell pepper, a head of garlic, radishes, broccoli, celeriac, a head of lettuce, and arugula. I still have a couple squash in the fridge so I think I’ll bring a couple down to my mother-in-law this weekend, as well as some potatoes and onions because we’re just overloaded with them. Though, tomorrow I do plan on cooking up a bunch of home fries and making a batch of breakfast burritos. I’ve made this recipe several times and they are so good! They freeze well and you just need to take them out to thaw before bed if you want them for breakfast. Once they’re warmed, I like to press them on my “panini press” (a.k.a. Foreman Grill) so they get crispy. Delicious!

So Delicious!

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Since Jake had a very long long-weekend, we decided to head up to Massachusetts and visit my family last Friday. On top of seeing everyone, Drew and I were able to use a gift certificate to Rovezzi’s restaurant in Sturbridge. Now, for years I have heard how great this place is and finally I was able to see/taste for myself.

Oh. My. God. I want to go back, like, tonight! Everything sounded delicious. It was so hard deciding what to pick, but I ended up ordering the pumpkin and walnut ravioli in a sage cream sauce. It was absolutely divine! Drew had grilled salmon on a bed of lentils, bacon, and brussel sprouts, with some kind of sauce. I don’t enjoy salmon much but even I have to say how good it was. For dessert I got creme brulee (my favorite), which I throughly enjoyed. Drew got some crazy ice cream concoction that looked awesome. We probably should have gone shopping for treadmills after such an indulgent dinner! Their homemade foccacia bread was amazing as well. I am so glad we had the chance to go, and we will no doubt return. I think I have a new favorite restaurant in WMass!