Christmas confetti cookies

Wouldn't it be ironic if Santa was lactose intolerant? Maybe beer and cookies would be a better option, but it would probably make navigating chimneys even more hazardous.

This afternoon I discovered a cookie gap in the box I was preparing for Dave's family. So I went with the current Pinterest darling, the confetti cookie. For some reason I had Christmas sprinkles on hand, so in another case of production for use gone awry, this happened.

I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, making a half batch because that's all the sprinkles and patience I had. So now I'm up to 10 kinds of cookies and the need for a 12-step program.

Rating: These make excellent kid cookies. It's a nice tender sugar cookie laced with those inherently disgusting sprinkles and they're relentlessly cheerful looking. Plus, they go well with beer, or maybe beer makes them better. Merry Christmas to one and all.

Cranberry ginger butter

Need a last-minute food gift for a gift basket or hostess gift? This one comes together out of a lot of ingredients you may well have on hand at this time of year.  (Spoiler alert for those of you who might yet be getting one from me...) Topped with a pretty ribbon and spreader on top if you have time, or a simple bow if you don't, and paired with a batch of cranberry-orange scones, and you've got a great  breakfast treat for your harried hostess to look forward to the morning after when her counters are covered with dirty dishes and empty bottles.

Cranberry ginger butter
Adapted from playeatgrow.com

Ingredients
1 pound (4 sticks) of butter, at room temperature
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup honey
4 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
Zest of 1 orange

Method
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pack into small jars and refrigerate until ready to give (not gift, please).

Rating: The crystallized ginger elevates it from what it would be otherwise: pink honey butter. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Obviously it can be used to spread on any baked goods, but it does pair particularly nicely with cranberry scones. It fills about 6 cups worth of jars. Just make sure to save one of those jars for your Christmas morning breakfast.

9 cookies waiting ...

Nine kinds of cookies, that is. They're all wedged in the freezer after our family holiday gathering got postponed after we wimped out in the face of the dire forecast.

Each year I make a core group of must-make cookies, from old family favorites to new family favorites, rotating in a few also-rans. I also try at least one new recipe each year, with the inherent danger that I might create a new must-make cookie.

This year I've tried two new ones so far. I say so far because technically I've now got more time to bake, but a lack of freezer space should work to keep my overkill tendencies in check.

The cookies above are ones I haven't made before, although I've sampled them when others have baked them. They're a previous winner of the Taste cookie contest that I've always intended to get around to and never quite did. Have to work on my food styling, but they've got merit. You can find the recipe for these Orange-Chocolate cookies here. You can look for your new family favorite cookie in the Cookie Finder here.

Now for a true Christmas miracle I have to figure out how to wedge a giant ham in the freezer too ...

Roasted garlic and squash hummus, aka yummus

Is there anything roasted butternut squash can’t make better? Apparently not.

Roasted squash and garlic hummus

Adapted from minimalistbaker.com

Ingredients

1 cup cubed butternut squash

8 garlic cloves, skin on (or the equivalent amount  of pre-roasted garlic)

4 peeled and minced garlic cloves

1 can chickpeas, drained (about 1¾ cups if you’re cooking your own)

1/3 cup tahini

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ cup parsley leaves, chopped

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Put squash cubes and unpeeled garlic cloves on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and a grind of pepper. Toss to combine. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until tender.

Peel roasted garlic and add along with squash, remaining olive oil and rest of the ingredient list to a food processor bowl. Puree well, adding more oil if needed.

Rating: To die for. This is certainly the best hummus I’ve ever made, and possibly the best I’ve ever eaten. Dave says the only drawback to making it for a party is we might not get to eat enough of it, and pronounces it inhalable. 

A few disclaimers: I used preroasted garlic from the deli, because well, I could. But I used dry garbanzo beans cooked in the slow cooker, because they’re more flavorful and I could control their level of tenderness. Really thoroughly tender garbanzo beans make for the most creamy hummus, so that might be a factor in how much we enjoyed this substance I now dub yummus.

To cook dried beans in a slow cooker, soak them overnight, drain them and pick over to discard loose skins and such. Put them in a larger oval type slow cooker. Add some big chunks of onion, a sprinkle of whole peppercorns, a bay leaf and a clove sprig if you feel like it. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Cook on low for anywhere from 4 to 8 hours, depending on how tender you want them. (You can, of course, do this on a stovetop instead, but the slow cooker is so wonderful for the inattentive among us.) If you’re using the beans in a salad, they might well be about right at the short end of that cooking time. Drain the cooked beans and store in premeasured amounts in freezer containers until you need them. (And some of the cooking liquid helps make a creamy risotto.) This method only takes planning, but almost no actual hands-on time, and after you've done it once you'll wonder why the heck you haven't done it all along. Especially when you look at the price of some organic canned beans on the shelf and make an eep sound.

Chicken Kale Caesar Salad

Even prolonged autumns like year's always have an abrupt end in the garden, with a final scurry to grab a few last scraps of produce. The kale is always the last to go, since it can stand a touch of frost. I used the tenderest new kale leaves for this salad. R.I.P., 2016 gardening season.

Chicken Kale Caesar Salad

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Oct. 2015

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, peeled, minced, divided

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

Two slices crusty white bread, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 anchovy fillets

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 hard-cooked egg, divided into yoke and white

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

4 cups thinly sliced kale

Cooked chicken

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Method

To make croutons, heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan. Add 1 clove minced garlic and heat until fragrant but not browned. Add bread cubes and toss to coat. Remove from heat and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Cool. (Can store in a container at room temperature for up to 24 hours.)

In a blender or food processor, puree remaining garlic, remaining ¼ cup olive oil, anchovies, lemon juice, mustard and the egg yoke. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss kale with dressing and let stand for at least 20 minutes. To serve, toss in red onion, add chicken in desired amount, slice in the egg white and sprinkle in Parmesan. Top with croutons. Serves 3 to 4.

Rating: A tasty way to eat fresh kale, which for the most part I prefer cooked. But anything slathered with enough Caesar salad dressing has a fighting chance. And homemade is way better than that stuff they sell in bottles labeled as Caesar dressing.

Roasted mushroom goat cheese pasta

Penne with roasted mushrooms, red onions and goat cheese
This recipe is very slightly adapted from Meredith Deeds' recipe in a recent Taste section.

Ingredients
1 pound penne or other short tubular pasta
10 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and cut into wedges
1 large red onion, peeled and slices into thin wedges
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 ounces goat cheese, softened
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped


Method
Cook pasta according to package directions. Don't discard all the cooking water, since you'll use some to moisten things.

Toss mushrooms and onions with olive oil, thyme and salt and pepper to preference. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Toss with chopped garlic and bake for another 10 minutes or so until tender.

Toss drained pasta with roasted mushroom mixture, goat cheese and enough pasta cooking water to create desired level of sauciness. Toss with balsamic vinegar and most of Parmesan cheese. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with remaining Parmesan and the parsley.

Rating: Perfectly fine. Not a super wower, but nice enough for a weeknight meal. And roasting mushrooms does help them out quite a bit.

Kale panini with pickled cherry peppers

The small, heart-shaped red peppers at the farmers market were adorable. I had to buy them, even though warned they were hot, and even though I hadn't a clue what to do with them. Googling yielded one basic plan: Pickle them.

These pickled gems have been patiently waiting in the back of my refrigerator since midsummer, so it was time to start using them.

Kale panini with pickled peppers

Adapted from Andrea Reusing; I believe from "Food52: Genius Recipes"

Ingredients

Kale leaves, torn into smallish pieces, about 2 big handfuls

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoons salt, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling bread

½ tablespoon red wine vinegar

10 ounces crumbled farmers cheese or queso blanco or feta

Pickled cherry peppers to taste, sliced and seeds discarded

8 slices sturdy bread

Method

Blanch kale leaves in boiling water to which ½ tablespoon salt has been added. Cook about 3 minutes or until tender. Drain well.

Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Saute garlic briefly. Toss in kale. Season with remaining salt to taste and saute briefly. Season with red wine vinegar.

Put sautéed kale on four of the bread slices. Top with crumbled cheese and pickled peppers to taste. (If you’re not sure, err on the side of less than one small pepper per sandwich. Top with remaining bread slices. Drizzle with olive oil and either heat in a panini press until browned and cheese is melted (or in a skillet, flipping once to brown on both sides and covering briefly to help melt the cheese).

Pickled peppers

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, March 2010

Ingredients

2 pounds hot cherry peppers

6 garlic cloves, halved

3 bay leaves

¾ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

4 cups white vinegar

1 1/3 cups water

¼ cup stugar

1½ teaspoons coarse salt

Method

Divide peppers, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns among sterilized jars (about 2 quart and 1 pint or some combo pack thereof).

In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a simmer. Cook until sugar dissolves. Pour hot liquid over peppers, leaving a headspace (original recipe said ¼-inch) at the top. Seal jars and either can in a hot water bath for 15 minutes or let cool and then refrigerate.

Rating: Those pickled peppers definitely pack a punch, but they really punched up and prettied up a kale sandwich. It's essentially a grilled cheese sandwich with serious attitude. But while it's a far cry from the Velveeta-filled kind I savored as a child, these still count as comfort food, just the kind that mildly afflicts the comfortable.