Gingersnap Cookies!!!!

Tis the season for Gingersnap cookies! Yay!  I'm very picky with my Gingersnap cookies and don't like them soft and chewy, but I do like a little bite to them.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I'd give them a shot!  I'm sooooooo glad I did - they're PERFECT!!!!

The recipe calls for rolling them in sugar before flattening them and putting them on the baking tray.  I decided to skip this step.  I don't like putting cookies in my mouth that are covered in sugar.  I also listened to the instructions that said you MUST cool this dough before rolling and baking it!  I put them in the freezer for a half an hour and they were perfect!

Here's the Pinterest recipe that I used:

http://dinnerthendessert.com/award-winning-gingerbread-cookies/

Here's how mine turned out!!!

YUMMY!!!!

Cold dough

Rolled into a ball and then flattened before going into the oven

Fresh out of the oven

My 2 year old LOVES to lick the spoon!

Helping mommy bake

Eating Cheerios while Deena and I bake!

Felt Like Baking

I didn't have to cook this evening and decided I wanted something sweet.  I decided to look up an old Pinterest recipe that I tried a few months back for a Peach Upside Down Cake.  I didn't have any peaches and decided to use that recipe for a Pineapple Upside Down Cake instead!  It was so quick and easy to make!  Luckily I had all of the ingredients already and didn't have to make a Publix run :) Just FYI, the Pinterest recipe below is for the Peach cake - which by the way, was phenomenal also if you happen to have peaches!

Pinterest recipe for the Peach Upside Down Cake:
http://flavorite.net/2015/04/28/peach-upside-down-cake/

Completed Pineapple Upside Down Cake

A slice of the cake!

Melted butter and brown sugar in the bottom of the pan

Can of sliced pineapple

After I finished baking the cake, I realized we didn't have enough bread for the weekend and decided to bake some bread!  I already posted this recipe in a previous blog, so look it up if you'd like a quick and easy Kitchen Aid recipe!  Here's how the bread turned out!  Also, on our trip to Canada last week, my cousin Nadine introduced us to this AMAZING fig jam.  We went to a fancy cheese store and got some cheeses and crackers and this jam.  It was sooooooo good, we had to bring the rest of the jar home with us.  If you can get your hands on this fig jam, I highly recommend it!

Amazing Fig Jam!!!!  MUST TRY!!!

My 2 year old helping me bake bread!

Nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread!

For many, many years, baking was NOT my thing!  I didn't understand why you had to separate the "wet" and "dry" ingredients and why you couldn't just put it all in together and mix it. I also hated how precise the measurements had to be....so....needless to say, my baking never quite turned out how it was supposed to!  My mother NEVER measures anything and her food is AMAZING and I think I sort of took after that.  I love to cook, but I usually just eyeball and use a recipe as a guide, but don't necessarily use the exact measurements.  When I got married, I decided to register for a Kitchen Aid mixer (because that's what you do when you get married!) and I began to bake!

I realized that you HAVE to follow the measurements and the directions on how and when to mix the wet and dry ingredients.  Ever since this "realization"...LOL...my baking actually turns out good!  The Kitchen Aid mixer actually comes with a little recipe book and my husband and I wanted to bake bread and decided to give the recipe a try.  On a side note, for as long as I've known my husband, he has always liked to bake his own bread whenever he can.  He's great and kneading and rolling out the dough and then folding it to put in the pan.  He has the patience to let the dough rise and wait the right amount of time - these are qualities that I don't have when it comes to cooking.  I like to experiment and throw a little of this and a little of that, I like to be very efficient in my cooking and do lots of things at the same time, turn the heat up a little higher than it should, etc. - my husband does NOT do these things! LOL

That being said, we decided to try the recipe in the Kitchen Aid recipe book one time and realized it was super easy and tasted FABULOUS!  So yesterday, I decided to make it again. My husband was out with my eldest and his cousin at a birthday party and when I put my little one down for a nap, I decided to bake bread.  I LOVE the smell of fresh baked bread in the house!  This smell usually starts with the smell of the yeast rising!  I want to say that I always tweak what the packages of yeast say a bit by adding a teaspoon of sugar to the yeast before adding the warm water to it.  I've had yeast that doesn't rise WAY too often and have decided to always add the sugar to it!  Other than that, I follow this recipe to a T.  It's quick and easy and is all done in the Kitchen Aid mixer.

Here's the recipe from the Kitchen Aid recipe book that we use for a basic white bread:

Bread fresh out of the oven

Bread fresh out of the oven!

My husband rolling out the dough 

My husband fitting the dough into the pan

Here's the dough after it's been left to rise for an hour

MMMMMMMM.....Chocolate Cake!

After an early start with the kiddos today (doctor's appointment at 8:00am and storytime at our local library at 10:00am), both little ones went down for what my sister and I like to call "group nap" time!  I usually eat my own lunch during "group nap" and after I finished, I decided I wanted something sweet and chocolatey.  A couple of months ago I tried out a random "best chocolate cake ever" Pinterest recipe, and indeed, it was the BEST chocolate cake!  My husband and I LOVED it!  It's light and fluffy and chocolatey!  So I decided to try to make it again.  It took about 20 minutes to gather all the ingredients and actually make the batter and put it into the oven.  It all got done during "group nap"!

On a side note - I do usually like to bake when my 2 year old is awake so that she can help me and lick the spoon/bowl afterwards, but today I got a craving and chose not to wait and get it all done while they were both sleeping!

Also on a side note - if you have young kiddos and haven't been to your local library for storytime yet, you're truly missing out!  Here in Jacksonville, each public library has a set day and time each week for storytime where the librarian sings songs, teaches some sign language, plays games/riddles, reads books with a theme, teaches a letter, and then ends with a craft of some sort.  This is all FREE and lasts about 45min.  As a teacher, I think this is amazing!  It's a great enriching activity for your little one, especially if you're not the type to sing songs and do crafts at home!  As a mom, it's even more amazing because it happens during my 2 month old's nap time and so I have time to just spend with the 2 year old singing, listening, and crafting.  I also almost always bring lunch with me and try to feed my 2 year old afterwards when we go into the children's section of the library.  The local South Mandarin Branch has a great children's area with amazing books, a train table, a farm set, a tea set, and white board with magnetic letters.  She could spend hours in there, so I just try to keep it until she finishes lunch and then we head home.  There are nice, comfy chairs in there where I can feed my 2 month old while watching the other one play!  So again, if you haven't done this with your kiddo yet - go online and look up a day/time and GO!  They even have some evening and weekend dates and times for those of you who are at work during the day.


So back to the chocolate cake...I realized while making it that I didn't have any buttercream and looked up a substitute for it online....just under 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar....who knew!  So that's what I used!  I did happen to already have all of the other ingredients in my cupboard and fridge, so that worked out!  Also, I'm sure that the homemade frosting that's in this recipe is fabulous, but I decided to just go with a store bought one!  It tasted fabulous last time and I think it'll be just as good this time too! LOL

Here's the Pinterest recipe I used:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/dessert/a14316/chocolate-cake-recipe/
I did have to tweak the baking time a little. My toothpicks didn't come out dry until around 35min in the oven.  The recipe says 22-25min.


Here are some pics of what it looked like:

Our family isn't too big on frosting, so I only frosted in between and on top.

Store bought frosting!

Once poured into lined baking pans

Mixture when dry and wet ingredients are combined

Dry mixture

Lined baking pans

Eid Cookies!

It's that time of year again......Eid Cookie making!  My fondest memories of spending family time come during this time of the year...using the Lunar Calendar of course. It comes near the end of the Holy month of Ramadan where all the women in my immediate family and my extended family get together in Oakville, Canada and make a MILLION Eid cookies together.

For those of you that don't know, the Holy month of Ramadan (Ramadan being the name of the month in the Lunar Calendar in Arabic) is when muslims all over the world fast from sunrise to sunset for an entire month!  Fasting firstly from all food and drink, but more importantly, a large effort to be a good person, reflect on yourself, your life, your goals, your relationship with God, not lie or swear, and pray and pray and pray.

Now back to the cookie making....

So each year before the end of Ramadan we all gather at Nahla's house and have a "Kahk Convention" - Kahk is the name of one of the types of cookies that is made for Eid.  It is my least favorite and now that I make cookies on my own, I don't have a picture below of it, because I didn't make it....lol.   All the aunties and kids (me and my grown cousins being the "kids") all gather in Nahla's kitchen where she busts out her mother's old cookie recipes and so begins the process.  Each mom/auntie knowing their role of which part of the cookie making their good at and each kid also knowing their role and how to follow Nahla's directions.  This usually takes and entire day or evening and we're usually up all night laughing and talking and eating.  It's amazing and has become a tradition that I want to continue with my own family, especially when we can't make it up to Canada for it.

And so this year, once again, I wasn't able to make it to Canada and did it on my own!  I was lucky to have my mom in town to help me with the cookies and the girls and we also had the hubby and a friend come and join us.  So here are the pics of the amazing cookies we made all day yesterday!

One thing I realized while writing captions to these photos is the importance of sharing!  The reason why we make a MILLION cookies, is because it is also customary to share them with your friends, family, and neighbors!  We have already set containers aside to share with some of friends and neighbors!

The completed table of Eid Cookies!  The long sticks on the left are called Pitonsalee and they are for dipping in your tea in the morning.  Also more of a biscuit taste but made with cumin seeds.

Me and my daughter making Petit Fore cookies!

These are my family's most favorite.  They are called Uruss and they are more of biscuit stuffed with dates.

These are the finished Petit Fore stuffed with Apricot Jam and then rolled in sprinkles.

More completed Petit Fore

Petit Fore ready to go in the oven.

Petit Fore before the jam and sprinkles

Kid stuff!

Since I've been off on maternity leave, I've been trying to get my 2 year old involved in some activities every day to keep her occupied and continue her learning! We signed up for art class and music class at our local Gymboree (she LOVES art class there) and every Friday we try to attend the toddler story time at the South Madarin library. The teacher reads a story, teaches a letter, sings songs, and does a craft with the kiddos - all for free! Afterwards we like to go into the kids library area and play with some of the toys they have there and, of course, get new books. Deena really loves this week's book choices which include 2 favorites that my husband and I have had to read over and over again - "Big Girl Panties" (we're potty trained, but still working out some kinks!!!!) and "May I Please Have a Cookie?". This book is about a kid that tries all of these different ways to get a cookie that his mom is baking and the mom keeps telling him no and to think of a better way. He finally learns that he has to say PLEASE in order to get one! So of course, at 7pm after reading the book for the 3rd time, Deena says "mommy can I have a cookie PLEASE", so who am I to deny her?  We got up and baked some cookies.

A few years ago I got the Tates cook book and it has a bunch of dessert recipes in it. If you've never tried Tates cookies, you must! For my New Yorkers, it's the thin, crispy cookie sold in Le Pain Quotidien and originally created in Long Island.


So here's the recipe and some pics of our cookie making! Just FYI - I didn't have macadamia nuts, so I just followed the recipe without them :)