Good-eatin' poppy seed treats

Today, my sister, Hil and I had quite the day. We baked these most delicious poppy seed cookies and along the way met two little angel friends... they joined us, adventuring throughout the house being filled with Christmas JOY!

They soon shall be gobbled up.

Sorry friends.

I promise you will most definitely be enjoyed.

Our morning had begun, we were first introduced to our angel friends as soon as they came out of the oven!

Soon enough, with the aroma of sweet smelling paper whites just next door, they were eager to get close!

Our two little angel friends were enjoying themselves so much on our most exhilarating escapade that they couldn't wait to meet the rest of the family.

Father was the first to be introduced, they were drawn to his mysterious demeanor.

The little angels were so resistant to leave Father, but the bells of Prancer and Nixon were ringing.. So they joyously flew over to greet them!

Soon enough, our angel friends were famished and exhausted from our ventures. We offered them cookies, oranges, apples, candy, an abundance of food.

But they wanted nothing of the sort.

Apparently they fancy bananas.

The end :)

Poppy Seed Cookies

Inspiration: Mother's recipe box

3 eggs

3/4 cup oil

4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup poppy seeds

2 tsp baking powder

juice and rind of 1 orange

1. First, beat the eggs.

2. Then add the sugar, oil, rind & juice.

3. Add the dry ingredient and mix with a beater until it becomes too sticky. Then you can mix with your (clean) hands.

4. Now roll out super thin on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes (Hil and I used icing sugar instead, this doesn't dry out the dough).

5. Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes, or until golden on the edges.

A tasty treat!

how delightful.

I conquer, "The best shortbread in the world"

Jamie! It's true. Delicious, tasty, melt in your mouth shortbread. The best. Almost......dangerous.

I've been waiting to give this recipe a try, and I'm thrilled that I have. It's one to keep in the big black book of favorites.
Oh, and for all you people out there who suffer with a swollen mouth (like myself) and can't eat anything but jello, mashed up banana and yogurt; I've found you the perfect recipe! This is it. Jamie Oliver's shortbread. You don't even have to chew it, it just melts.

I ask all you wise ones. Now that I've gotten my four wisdom teeth brutally ripped out of my mouth, does this make me less wise?
Can you answer that, Wise One?

It's a pretty basic recipe actually, didn't take me that long to whip up. It's the oven part that's time consuming. Most of the time, making shortbread really gets to me.. it's like you keep mixing, and mixing and mixing..... but it just never seems to stick together.
I'm always suspicious of shortbread.
Are you mixed?
Are you mixed enough?
Waaaait, are you even mixed at all?
What does that word, "mix" even mean?
I don't trust you shortbread.

So here's the recipe, give it a go!
I promise, you will not regret it.

The best shortbread in the world
Inspiration: my mate, Jamie Oliver

1 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp superfine sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2/3 cup semolina
or 1 cup cornstarch

pretty basic, hey? But most delicious.
I used the zest of 3 oranges, and mixed that in with the dough. Lemons would be divine as well.

1. So first off, preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9 inch square pan.

2. Now, it is time to mix up your butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.

3. Time to add your citrus zest (highly recomended!!) and mix the dough with your hands until it's nice and smooth.




4. You're nearly finished! All that's left is to roll out the dough on a floured surface until it's an even 1 inch thick all over. Then, press the rolled out dough into your square pan and prick all over with a fork.

5. Pop it into the oven for 50 minutes until lightly golden, et finit! You have now bake the best shortbread in the whole world. Now, that's an accomplishment.

Enjoy with a fresh, steamy cuppa' joe

how delightful

Best of luck,

Emma

“To appreciate the beauty of a snow flake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.”

yes! snow, at last.

I love the first snowfall. There's something about it that's so comforting. Now it could be because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and I somewhat resemble some sort of forest creature... but I do enjoy being inside and watching the snowflakes gently fall. I've decided today for my first recipe to share with you all will be some hot gingersnaps. I absolutely LOVE ginger. It very well may be one of my favorite ingredients. I use it in almost everything I can. Something my family enjoys to do with 2 other close family friends of ours is have Sunday "brunch". It's such a fun tradition, but of course it can be stressful as well. What we do, is each family takes turns hosting the brunch. So this brunch involves appetizers, wine, the main meal, and of course dessert. It's more of a feast. I mean, it's usually the only meal I eat that day... aside from breakfast, of course... my most favorite meal of the day. So this recipe is one of the recipes I used for one particular brunch that we had. It was "ginger" themed. So we had candy ginger, some sort of dip with ginger, ginger fishcakes, a salad with a ginger lemon dressing, and for dessert we indulged in ginger baked apples and some delicious chewy hot gingersnaps! yum!

hope you enjoy :)

Emma

Hot Gingersnaps

Inspiration: The Joy of Ginger

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

pinch of salt

1/4 cup preserved ginger, finely chopped

4 tbsp candied ginger, chopped

1. Bring the butter, molasses, brown sugar, and vinegar to a boil. Stir just until the butter is melted and then let cool to room temperature.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients together and add to the molasses mixture. Add the preserved ginger and candied ginger (if you don't have preserved ginger, do not panic! The cookies won't be as "hot" but you could substitute by using 1/2 cup more flour and as much candied ginger as you like). Mix well, then knead.
3. Divide the dough into 2 logs, wrap in plastic, and put in the fridge until firm enough to cut
4. Slice the cookies thinly with a sharp knife, and bake on a greased cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 350F for 5-7 minutes.

VOILA! delicious, sweet, sugary treats :)

These work great for storing in jam jars and giving as christmas gifts.