Off to Germany

Only 6 more days of work and then I am off to Germany!

It has been a long time coming... My sister and I have been planning on going to Europe for the past 8 months now, and the time has finally come. We are very excited to be going on a one month sisters trip to Germany, Paris, Switzerland and Amsterdam.

For the past 12 months my sister has been going to UFV to become an LPN. It has been a long 12 months and now we finally get to spend some time together. Becoming a nurse is 12 months is like going into a cave and not coming out for a year. There is no time to hang out with friends or relax, hardly and time to even get out and go for a nice walk without thinking of what homework you have to do or stressing about failing a test. (even though my sister has a very high GPA she was always worried every test and midterm that she might fail).

So she is very ready for some time off to relax. What better way is there to relax then going to Europe with your sister?!? It has come up so fast, but we are ready. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful sister. We love to spend our time together talking and laughing and just being ourselves. My family is very close and we love our family nights and the time we get to spend together in our very different schedules. I have the most AMAZING family ever. Our favorite things to do is spend our time together. It doesn't matter what we do.

When ever someone is missing from our family dinners there is always a hole, and it is not the same when the whole family is not together.

These next few days before we leave I am trying to spend lots of time with ym family and friends before I am off for a month. There are always so many things to do and to remember when you are going on a trip. It is so very exciting! I do have peace of mind knowing that I will be able to get anything I need there. Which is a very nice thought :) Well I am off. So I will be back in about a month or so. I will try and post a few things while I am gone. Maybe just an update of what I am doing or the sights we are seeing.

See you all soon!

Salted Chocolate Cookies

Everyone loves a chocolate cookie. And I love to bake chocolate cookies, so I get to make lots of people happy :) Which makes me happy.

These cookies are very chocolaty and gooey and delicious. I love the added sea salt on the top of the cookies, it gives the cookies a great contrast with the sweet cookie and the salty top.

The added toffee bits in the cookie gives it an excellent chewy quality. The toffee bits are definitely a must add. I was a bit skeptical at first about added the toffee as it is not my favorite add in. But once I bit into the still, warm from the oven cookie I knew that I had been wrong about second guessing the recipes call for the toffee. 

Every day is a new adventure when I'm in the kitchen baking. Some days are great... and others not so much. Every day that something turns out amazing I am simply over joyed and can't wait to bake more. I love watching peoples smiles as they enjoy the baking. There are way to many awesome recipes out there and definitely not enough time or enough people to eat them all. When I have kids I am going to be baking everyday. I cannot wait till I have to bake because I need too. Then I will never have to find an excuse to bake! It will be fantastic. 

Ingredients

1 c. semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 T instant coffee
1 T vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. flour
1 c. semisweet chocolate chunks
1 c. toffee bits
Maldon sea salt or fleur de sel

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.
 Add butter, eggs, coffee and vanilla, and continue processing until fluffy. Scrape down sides.
Add flour and chocolate chunks, and process using on/off pulse until the dough comes together. Do not over process.
Using a tablespoon, drop mounds of dough onto large cookie sheets, spacing 2″ apart. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Cookies should be slightly firm to touch. Let cool for 5 minutes on sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


ENJOY!

P.S. This coming weekend I am making my very first wedding cake for my dearest Cousin. I am very excited to make a two-tiered cake and I hope that all goes well in the baking and decorating process. Today I made a practice cake to make sure that I would have a good recipe and it turns out I don't need to find a new one. I got a fantastic vanilla buttermilk cake recipe that I am using. With a strawberries and cream filling and a buttercream icing to coat. I will keep you updated on how things go.

Vodka Pie Pastry

Vodka Pastry Recipe:

1 lb lard
5 1/2 c/ flour
2 t. salt
1 egg
1 T. vinegar
1/3 c. pure alberta vodka
1/3 c. ice cold water
4 ice cubes

Make sure that the lard is very cold. I put mine in the freezer till hard and then take it out for about 30 minutes before I cut it up into very small pieces. About 1/2 cm by 1/2cm.

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, set aside. Beat the egg and the vinegar together very well. Add the vodka (chilled) and the ice water to fill a 1 cup measuring cup. The egg and vinegar should come to 1/3 of a cup and then add half vodka and water to make one cup. Then add the 4 ice cubes.

Cut the lard into very small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until about the size of small peas. Make a well in the center and add the cup of liquid excluding the ice cubes. Mix very gently until incorporated. Do not knead or over mix, this will result in a tough and non flaky dough. Shape into a log shape and cut into 6 equal pieces. Wrap individually and rest in the fridge for an hour minimum. If you are not using all the dough at once, as it makes 3 large deep dish 10 inch pies. Then you can double wrap it for the freezer to use at a later date. Keeps well for about one month.

Use as directed by recipe. 

This is the best and flakiest pie pastry dough that I have ever worked with. It is fantastic. If you don't want to use vodka you can omit it and replace it with ice cold water. 

Enjoy! 

Peach Nectarine Pie

It is almost peach season and there is one thing about summer that I LOVE! and that is fresh fruit, especially from the Okanagan.

This past weekend my sister and I went to Osoyoos for a camping trip with some friends. We were very excited to be in the sun and just to relax... The only problem was that there was no sun. It came out for a couple hours on Saturday and so we took the opportunity to go and the boat and suntan. We both don't really like water sports so we got to sit in the front and just have a good time talking and laughing.

We did not but any peaches in Osoyoos but we did get some amazing cherries. Another one of my favorites.

Well as I was saying... I love peaches! and my Father brought some the other day and they were just so good that I had to but some more today on my way home from work. I got 22 pounds! I cleared out the store. I am very excited to bake lots of things with fruit this summer. Here is my first peach dish. A nectarine peach pie. It even has a very special crust....

It has Vodka in it! have you ever heard of a pie crust with vodka before? I hadn't. It is supposed to be the best and flakiest crust out there, so I am experimenting with this pie to see if I like the vodka. I will also post a recipe of the vodka pastry crust in a separate post.

For my first time trying this recipe with vodka in it, I have to say that it is the flakiest crust I have ever had. I am not sure if I will continue to make my crust with vodka or not. I guess I will see how much money I will be spending on it. :P This is a very easy recipe to make and it is very flaky.


Filling Recipe:

you can use your normal filling recipe, everyone usually has a favorite. My moms filling recipe is a secret so I can only give you the amount of fruit :)
7 c. peaches and nectarines ( 3 nectarines and 6 peaches approx.)

Add your mixture to the peaches once you are ready to put the top on the pie. Have the bottom rolled and placed in the crust and the top already rolled out and scored. Then add the mixture to the sliced peaches.


Vodka Pastry Recipe:

1 lb lard
5 1/2 c/ flour
2 t. salt
1 egg
1 T. vinegar
1/3 c. pure alberta vodka
1/3 c. ice cold water
4 ice cubes

Make sure that the lard is very cold. I put mine in the freezer till hard and then take it out for about 30 minutes before I cut it up into very small pieces. About 1/2 cm by 1/2cm.

Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, set aside. Beat the egg and the vinegar together very well. Add the vodka (chilled) and the ice water to fill a 1 cup measuring cup. The egg and vinegar should come to 1/3 of a cup and then add half vodka and water to make one cup. Then add the 4 ice cubes.

Cut the lard into very small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until about the size of small peas. Make a well in the center and add the cup of liquid excluding the ice cubes. Mix very gently until incorporated. Do not knead or over mix, this will result in a tough and non flaky dough. Shape into a log shape and cut into 6 equal pieces. Wrap individually and rest in the fridge for an hour minimum. If you are not using all the dough at once, as it makes 3 large deep dish 10 inch pies. Then you can double wrap it for the freezer to use at a later date. Keeps well for about one month.

Preheat the oven to 425*F

Once chilled take out one piece and roll into a circle about 3-4 mm thick. Roll over a rolling pin and place into a pie plate (10 inch). Do not stretch the dough, this will cause it to shrink when it is baking. Then take another circle and roll the same way, before you put it on top make sure you score the top so that the pie can vent and the juices can run out once it is finished. (Some will as peaches are very juicy). Make a pretty design :) mix the filling together and wet the edges of the dough with water to seal the top to the bottom crust. Cut off the excess dough and crimp the edges. That its you are finished.

Place pie in the oven and you should probably put a cookie sheet with some tin foil on the bottom under it so that you don't have to clean your oven once you are done like I had too. I caught it a bit to late :( Oh well, what can you do. Bake for 10 minutes on 425*F then turn down to 350* F and bake for another 45-55 minutes. Bake until golden brown and the juices are bubbling and running out.

Cool on a cooling rack and enjoy! Eat with vanilla ice cream or with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Pie is best eaten that day that it is made :)

Oh how I love you summer, come more often eh?

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Nutella and chocolate in cookies! These cookies are moist and chewy. I made ice cream sandwiches with them and they were even soft when they were frozen. They are excellent cookies for ice cream sandwiches. You can add any ice cream that pleases you. I prefer mint chocolate chip. It goes very will with these gooey chocolate cookies.

They are especially loved by children. I have always loved making cookies, they are simple and yet delicious. And with the many kinds of recipes for cookies, you can almost replicate any dessert. They are so versatile. I just love that about them. I hope you enjoy this recipe, it is my new favorite chocolate cookie recipe.

Yield: about 3 dozen large cookies

ingredients:

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup dutch-process cocoa

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon hazelnut extract

1 cup Nutella

2 T. chocolate syrup

3/4 cup milk

directions:

1. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and hazelnut extract and beat until extracts disappear. Add the Nutella and the chocolate syrup and mix until batter is smooth.

2. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternately with the milk in one batch, mixing well. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes before baking. You can make the dough a few days in advance, just wrap it in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

3. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Take a tablespoon of cookie dough and roll it into a ball. Place on lined baking sheets and gently press down on the dough ball. Continue making dough balls until the cookie sheets are filled-leave two inches in between cookies.

4. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes or until soft, but starting to set. Remove cookies from the oven and let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

enjoy!

Recipe adapted for browneyedbaker.com