It’s Christmas time in the kitchen
As time goes by, no matter how old I get, there remains a
magical feeling in the air during the Christmas season. There’s
something about bringing the scent of a fresh pine tree in to the
house, filling the kitchen with baked cookies and breads, and
playing holiday tunes that easily encourages a feeling of warmth to
our lives as it gets colder outside. One of my favorite parts of
Christmas is the opportunity to give gifts to loved ones.
Here is my gift guide for anyone you know who loves food! Happy
Holidays!
It’s Christmas time in the kitchen
As time goes by, no matter how old I get, there remains a magical feeling in the air during the Christmas season. There’s something about bringing the scent of a fresh pine tree in to the house, filling the kitchen with baked cookies and breads, and playing holiday tunes that easily encourages a feeling of warmth to our lives as it gets colder outside. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the opportunity to give gifts to loved ones.
Here is my gift guide for anyone you know who loves food! Happy Holidays!
Local businesses/Web sites
www.localharvest.org – Your one-stop shop to hundreds of local products. Search by your zip code or shop their online store for products from farms all over the country. Honey, gift baskets, dairy products, wreaths, and more.
www.apricotking.com – The Gonzalez Family has a wonderful site filled with dried apricots, syrups, walnuts, gift baskets and more. Check out their Recipe section, too!
www.froghollow.com – Frog Hollow Farm grows some of the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted. Their website is not only beautifully illustrated, but you can buy an assortment of preserves, pies, chutneys, nuts, dried fruits, and gift baskets for anyone on your list.
www.pietrasanta.com – OK, I love wine! Pietra Santa has many delicious wines and the best olive oil ever!
Book recommendations
“Omnivore’s Dilemma,” by Michael Pollan: UC Berkeley professor Michael Pollan gained worldwide attention when this book first came out last year. Pollan became concerned with America’s diet when people stopped eating bread, a staple in every culture’s diet, virtually overnight due to the popularity in the Atkins diet. In this book he takes you along on his journey as he buys and follows a cow from its birth to a meal, lives with a farmer who raises animals for a living, spends time with a corn grower where he learns that corn is used in virtually every processed food product in our country and more.
It is recommended for anyone who is curious to learn more about the food in our supermarkets.
“Plenty; One Man, One Woman, & a Raucous Year of Eating Locally,” by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon: Some may say that committing to a 100-mile diet while living in and around Vancouver, British Columbia is insane. Well, may be it is and that is what made this book interesting to read. Smith and MacKinnon set a goal to eat only what they can grow themselves or find in their area to eat for one year. Filled with their triumphs and pitfalls, as well as useful information about our food, it did make an interesting read. And it also really made me appreciate the vast amount of local food available in the Bay Area!
“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” by Barbara Kingsolver: Kingsolver and her husband move their family to a farm in Virginia where they spent a year eating only food they grew, or was grown locally. Her writing is as enjoyable as her fiction works are. Also included are many family recipes provided by her daughter as well as short informative essays from her husband on various subjects that support sustainable agriculture.
“Julie and Julia,” by Julie Powell: If you cringe at the idea of eating bone marrow, cow stomach, and the like this is not the book for you. Admittedly, I did do a little scowling as I read Julie’s attempt to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking in a year but I enjoyed her determination, her bouts of frenzy as she searched all over New York City trying to find the ingredients she needed, and her determined, sassy approach to making herself a chef.
Homemade gift ideas
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
3 c. sugar
1 c. oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 c. pumpkin
Mix above ingredients in a large bowl. Then, add these ingredients:
3 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 c. walnuts, chopped
1 ½ c. mini chocolate chips
Grease 3 loaf pans, then pour mixture evenly in to each pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, or until a knife comes out clean.
Cranberry Orange Bread
2 c. flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp. canola oil
2 egg whites
1 tbsp. orange zest, finely chopped
¾ c. orange juice
1 ½ c. fresh cranberries, chopped (dried are a fine substitute if fresh is not available)
½ c. walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. In a separate bowl, beat sugar, oil and egg whites. Add orange zest and juice. Gradually beat in flour mixture until blended. Fold in berries and walnuts. Bake for 1 hour, or until knife comes out clean.
Candied Walnuts
½ c. sugar
1 ½ c. raw walnut halves
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use middle rack in oven. Lay walnuts out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes. Test for doneness. If not quite toasted enough, toast for 1 or 2 more minutes. Be careful not to burn. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a rack.
2. Pour sugar into a medium saucepan with a thick bottom. Have walnuts nearby, ready to quickly add to the pan at the right time. Cook sugar on medium heat, stirring as soon as the sugar begins to melt. Keep stirring until all the sugar has melted and the color is a medium amber. As soon as sugar is melted and the color is a medium amber, add the walnuts to the pan, quickly stirring and coating each piece with the sugar mixture.
3. As soon as the walnuts are coated with the sugar mixture, spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet, lined either with a Silpat non-stick mat, or with wax paper or parchment paper. Use two forks to separate the walnuts from each other, working very quickly. Sprinkle the nuts with the salt. Let cool completely.
