A Weekend With My Daughter

Last weekend my daughter (Megan) and I spent the weekend in Chicago to celebrate our birthdays.  It's a tradition of ours to spend time together for our birthdays instead of giving each other gifts.  As she gets older and busier in her own life I really treasure the one on one time with my only daughter.   We spent our weekend shopping, relaxing and dining at a few of our favorite restaurants. 

We took a break from shopping and had English Afternoon Tea at the Drake Hotel.  Along with a great assortment of hot teas we enjoyed  finger sandwiches, fruit breads, scones, and French pastries.   Each seating lasts approximately an hour and a half.  I highly recommend Afternoon Tea at the Drake as it is relaxing, delicious and  was a great time spent with my daughter. 

The Purple Pig, located on The Magnificent Mile, is one of my favorite Restaurants in Chicago.  Be prepared to wait but it's worth it.  They will take your cell number and call you so you can leave as there is plenty of good shopping close by.  The menu offers a different eating experience with a wide choice of dishes, small/medium in size and are meant to be shared. My daughter, like her dad, is a foodie so nothing was off limits.  Since it was just the two of us we didn't get to order as much as we would have liked, we got full after just a few dishes.  My advice is to keep a menu at the table and order as you go.  This way you won't order too much food.  A bit loud and crowded but has a good atmosphere and we were still able to have a comfortable conversation. Below are two of our favorites.

Eggplant Caponata with Goat Cheese

Turkey Leg Confit, Crispy Lentils, Treviso, Endive, & Agrodolce

Our last night in Chicago we just wanted a light meal so we went to the Gilt Bar for a glass of wine and the most amazing mussels I've ever had.  They're served with a warm baguette to sop up all the wonderful  dry vermouth & lemon broth.  Simply the BEST!

We still weren't ready for the night to end so we went for drinks at the  Signature Lounge, 96th floor of the John Hancock Building, which has the most magnificent city views and premium martinis.  It was the perfect place to unwind after walking the city. 
Our Birthday weekend was just what we needed.  Shopping, relaxing, eating and spending time together, life is good!

Beef Stroganoff (Crockpot)

For our Christmas dinner I had made a tenderloin roast which I got for a crazy good deal at $6.99 lb for a whole tenderloin.  I  only used the center cut of the tenderloin to roast (which was delicious!) and cut up the ends and froze for a later use.  So when I was thinking of how to use the leftover tenderloin this recipe came to mind.  I got this recipe years ago from my sister-in-law Judy.  I've made it many times over the years and was surprised when I realized I haven't shared this recipe on my blog.  It's a crock pot recipe which makes it easy, comforting and delicious!  The recipe calls for stew beef not tenderloin and is what I always use BUT if you have extra tenderloin that you got at a great price, why not, it was so good!

2 lbs stew beef, cut into pieces
2 envelopes dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup red wine (I use Pinot Noir or a Cabernet) (I always use red wine but beef broth is also good)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 (4 oz) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 -1/2 cup sour cream



Combine all (except sour cream) in crock pot; stir well. Cover and cook on low 8 hours. Before serving add sour cream and heat through. Serve over egg noodles. Serves 8

Note: If you have a small crock pot this can be halved for 4 servings.  If using wine, use wine you will drink.  Then compliment the meal with a glass of the same wine.

I'm so EXCITECD as it's time to enter the Pillsbury 46th Bake-Off contest.  Being a finalist in the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off was an amazing experience.  It would be a miracle to be a finalist again but then again, I believe in miracles!  This year Pillsbury has made some big changes so to get all the rules, deadlines and entry forms go to wwwbakeoff.com.  One thing that hasn't changed is the grand prize winner still wins $1 million and $10,000 in GE kitchen appliances.  Happy cooking/baking and good luck to all who enter!

I would like to wish everyone a happy and loved filled holiday surrounded by family and friends.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

These sweet roasted almonds with a hint of cinnamon make a delicious and easy gift for the holidays but make sure you keep enough to snack on yourself.  The recipe comes from allrecipes.com.  These almonds are delicious!

Ingredients:

2 egg whites 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 5 cups unsalted whole raw almonds 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.	Beat egg whites and vanilla extract in a large bowl (just until frothy); add almonds and toss to coat. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and salt and stir into almonds until blended. Spread almond mixture into prepared baking dish.
3.	Bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until coating is dry, about 75 minutes.

A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

Vanilla - Almond Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

Today was a nice day with my daughter and mother-in-law as they came over and decorated Christmas cookies.  Frosted cookies are a favorite of ours.  Every year I go searching for the perfect recipe and  I'm  excited to say  I finally found the recipes I will use for cut out cookies and royal icing for now on.  I found the recipe on the blog Bake at 350.  The dough is easy to roll out and it doesn't have to be chilled first.  The icing uses meringue powder instead of egg whites (purchased at Michael's Craft Store), it's easy to work with and sets up nicely on the cookie. Most importantly they taste good with a touch of almond flavoring.  You'll have to check out the amazing blog, Bake at 350,  it's written by Bridget.  She has great step by step instructions about decorating and baking cookies.  Also here is a video showing Bridget making the cookie dough, video on University of Cookie.

Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar
 2 sticks (salted) butter, cold & cut into chunks
 1 egg
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling.

Roll on a floured surface to about 1/4" to 3/8" thick, and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.


Royal Icing
(This will cover 2-3 dozen)

4 TBSP meringue powder
1/2 c. water
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp light corn syrup
few drops almond extract

Combine the meringue powder and water. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat until combined and foamy.


Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. (Do NOT skip the sifting!)


Add in the corn syrup and extract if desired. ( The corn syrup helps keep the icing shiny.)

Increase speed to med-high/high and beat for about 5 minutes, just until the icing is glossy and stiff peaks form.

Do not overbeat.

Cover with plastic wrap touching the icing if not using right away or divide and color using gel paste food colorings.

This "stiff" icing is perfect for outlining and detail decorating. To fill in your cookies, add water to your icing a teaspoon at a time, stirring with a rubber spatula, until it is the consistency of stiff syrup. This technique of filling a cookie with thinned icing is called "flooding.


I didn't use piping decorating bags but instead I used squeeze bottles (purchased at Michael's craft Store) to decorate.  If using squeeze bottles don't use the "stiff" icing but thin out a little but not too thin.  With the squeeze bottles you can't do the fine detailed work but  otherwise work GREAT!