Bubble Sugar and Coffee Bean Brittle

If you're like me, the whole New Years Eve thing is a bit of a non-event. I've never been a big partier or drinker, and in all honestly by 11:30 I'm beat and just want to hit the hay. That said, I do like to see all the "best of" lists that come out around this time, though I'm sadly lacking in any real "milestones" in the past 365 days myself and I'm too indecisive to pick favourites when it comes to my recipes. The other fun thing for me is to vicariously live through others and see the creative things people do for the night, whether it's just opening up a bottle of champagne with friends or glamming up 6 ways from Sunday to go out on the town.

That's not to say there isn't bubbly tonight. Nor will we be lacking for caffeine or sugar! While I seriously doubt anyone's about to go about making candy today, certainly not this late, these two treats are relatively simple to put together, need a minimum number of ingredients, and look dang impressive either as decorations or wrapped for gifts.

Bubble sugar (inspired by Grace Massa Langlois' book Grace's Sweet Life) is one of these, and definitely looks like artwork on top of a simply frosted cupcake! It's hard-crack sugar that's poured onto an alcohol-laced baking sheet and allowed to bubble into a beautiful, champagne like texture. While vodka is most traditional, being flavourless and colourless, you can certainly play with the alcohol you use to lend subtle flavouring to the finished candy. Try out a mix of Grand Marnier and Kahlua for chocolate cake decorations, or either a spiced or coconut-flavoured rum when making it to garnish a key lime pie!

Passing these on to Mom's Test Meal Mondays #23 and Gluten Free Monday #14

Indian Pancake Syrup

Sooo, now that you have two pancake mixed to choose from in your (or my) arsenal, we're missing a topper to make your New Year's pancakes shine. I mean, sure, you could pick from any one of my Toast Toppers, maybe even that other syrup... but sometimes you need a good table syrup. Well, when I found this baby in one of my Indian recipe bookmarks (can't remember where, sorry!) I had to make it - it's refined-sugar free, using rich, amber honey (I used some local goodies) and a pinch of stevia. But what's the flavour? That thing that makes this - and almost all the other "mock maple" syrups you see out there - taste the way it does? Well, it's a single spice that, if you're a fan of home masala-making, you'll know well.

Fenugreek.

Not sure what its like on it's own? Take a package of the seeds, open it up and inhale. That bittersweet, caramelly-maple aroma is essentially the flavour it brings to the liquid it's cooked in. Add in the honey, boil it down a bit and *poof* - get those pancakes or waffles on the go, because your breakfast is almost ready!

Of course, this syrup isn't just for breakfast... oh no. I can't be alone in pouring maple syrup over ice cream, cornbread, yogurt... yup, the possibilities are endless!

Sent to Gluten Free Fridays


Indian Pancake Syrup
Makes 12 (1/4 cup) servings, about 3 cups total
3 cups filtered water
3/4 cup fenugreek seeds (AKA Methi)
3/4 cup amber honey
1/8 tsp (2 tiny scoops) pure stevia extract (I like the Now Foods Organic "Better Stevia" Extract Powder)

1. Combine the water and fenugreek seeds in a saucepan. Let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Bring pot of water and seeds to a boil and cook for 30 minutes, until seeds are soft.
3. Strain into a bowl and stir in honey and stevia.
4. Pour into bottles and store in the pantry up to 3 weeks or in the fridge up to 2 months.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 64.4
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 0.8 mg
Total Carbs: 17.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
Protein: 0.1 g

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

Ever heard of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster? Well, if you've read (or seen) Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you know of Zaphod Beeblebrox' intensely potent cocktail of interstellar potables. The effect of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is apparently similar to having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon (wrapped around a large gold brick). It has also been described in the novel as the alcoholic equivalent to a mugging; expensive and bad for the head.

For this New Years' Eve, while I won't be having a huge blow-out fiesta here I know a few people who'll be hosts, and this is a great way to ensure your guests only have one or two drinks during the night! Of course, this is potent stuff just like it's literary inspiration - with 151 proof rum, 190 proof grain alcohol and nothing to cut the booze with, you will definitely need to pace yourself, and your liver!

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
Makes 4 (2-oz) shots
2 oz Bacardi Limon (or lemon flavoured rum)
3 oz Absolut Citron (or lemon flavoured vodka)
1 oz Bacardi 151
1 oz Goldschlager
1 oz Everclear 95% (or Alcool)

1. In a tall pitcher, stir together all the ingredients with a long, narrow swizzle stick or spoon handle.
2. Chill thoroughly.
3. Pour into rock glasses over an ice cube and serve immediately.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 198.8
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 2.0 mg
Total Carbs: 4.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
Protein: 0.0 g

Gluten Free Superfood Pancake Mix

If you're still entertaining guests this weekend, I don't envy you. Actually, guests (especially if they're family) are great to have, since it really does give the cook (or food blogger) the chance to flex their culinary muscles. I've found myself getting into a bit of a "rut" when it comes to my meals, but when the holidays showed up with all their assorted people, I got into my element. I'm still not a huge fan of the crowds, the travelling and the late nights, and I still do feel guilty about receiving so much when I can give back so little, but I know that I can whip up something unexpected and delicious for those many, many friends and family I share my life with who have seen fit to spend a little holiday time with me.

Since I simply can't afford to shop for holiday gifts (the joys of unemployment), I made gift boxes for everyone on my list. I love making gift boxes, because you can customize them for each person's needs, wants and tastes. What floors me every year is the response - I take it for granted as a foodie, a nutritionist and a generally creative person with cooking skills, but the simplest things were treated like the Holy Grail. Things like Tomato Sauce, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, and Spicy Peach Jam. Cheap, easy, but so appreciated by others and best of all - something that would be used. You're not going to stash a bag of candy or cookies in the back of your closet for years. Combine the roasted tomatoes, tomato paste and whatever veggies and meat you have kicking around (leftovers!) and BAM - instant sauce.

Then there were the mixes - I did cookies, brownies, pizza dough and pancakes this year, and I have to say I'm proud of all of them, but making this pancake mix was amazing. Mixing the dry ingredients takes all of five minutes, and the flavour... ooh the flavour! Caramelly maca, tart (home dried) blueberries, sweet stevia and a hint of nutmeg. High in fibre and iron and packed with superfoods,so it's über good for you as far as pancakes go... oh, and did I mention it's gluten free?

Uh huh. WIN. I gave this away in gift boxes for my gluten free friends, but then I made more for us. It's a great Saturday morning treat you can enjoy worry free! I'm sending this to Ricki's Wellness Weekends with my options for veganizing the preparation method. Also sent to Gluten Free Fridays

Holiday Supper Stuffing

So, even though the bulk of the celebratory season is behind us, who's still nursing holiday leftovers? How many of you don't want to eat another iota of turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce or gravy for as long as you live (or at least for another year)? I hear you - really I do. Our household played chief cook and bottle washer for a big Italian Christmas Eve meal, Christmas morning brunch and that night's feast as well - and our freezer has gone from being packed with raw ingredients to being stuffed with bits of turkey, vegetables, fish and various breads. Even though it may be the 28th now, if you can believe it we still have one more big shindig to host and cook for before it's all over!

 

Thankfully, the majority of my stepdad's birthday party is catered by a third party (taking the pressure off my mom) but, just like home-cooked holiday meals, there's always too much food left over at the end! While a lot of the items (particularly the cooked and sauced veggies and the salads) aren't great the day after, some of the items on our holiday table are not only tasty, but better after a stint in the fridge. This stuffing (or dressing, if you prefer) is one of them. 

Now, I'm the first to admit that I really don't like stuffing at all - the greasy, damp texture and odd blend of flavours has been putting me off since I was old enough to hold a fork. I don't like bread pudding either, so that may be a sign! However, if you don't think of this as the traditional, shoved-in-the-carcass side dish, and more of a savoury bread casserole, the piquant sourdough and sweet-spicy mixture of herbs and aromatics is somewhat endearing. The day it's made, it has a delectable crunchy top that crouton lovers and fans of anything au gratin will covet. Then, with each passing day, the flavours of sourdough, wine, dried fruit, nuts and other ingredients meld more and more into a whole unlike any traditional stuffing I've seen.

 

I have to tell you, though, that I was as surprised as ever to find myself writing a recipe for the holiday food I most detest. You can blame my mother (she gives you permission), who came to me in the midst of my cookie baking spree and asked if I knew how to make stuffing that was not intended to fill the Christmas bird and that didn't involve the inclusion of meat. Of course, I had not a whit of a clue (why would I?) but I told her I would find out - and thanks to the interwebs I found many different ideas that I more or less pooled to create our Holiday Stuffing.

 

Even though this recipe keeps and is fantastic for days, it does have one major downfall - there are very few leftovers! My normally casserole, bread and leftover-hating stepfamily gobbled up a good portion of the dish on Christmas night, and my stepbrother even took a big container of it to his fiancee's home the next day!

While I wish I had made the loaf for this stuffing, I was busy making baguettes. Nevertheless, I'm sending this bread-based treat to YeastSpotting on the blog Wild Yeast.