It was a pretty Merry Christmas.

And for once, not super busy! JB made some experiments to eat on Christmas Eve, and they turned out great: the little tarts are onion in a cream sauce with feta cheese, and the other really pretty pastry is spinach and ricotta – so good dipped in marinara sauce! We had that on the table anyway for the eggplant he makes, and we had sausage and peppers and french bread slices to go with it all. It was a table full of heavy appetizers for dinner, and it was all so good!

So here are two of the 18 bags I made for neighbors, co workers etc. Just the neighbors got doves, but they were all fun to make since I got to cover every surface in the kitchen with cookies.

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The doves were made from the template that was posted over at http://belladia.typepad.com/

AAAAAAAAnd Christmas Day pictures are up over at Gnat’s right here.

 

Coming soon – how to make pierogi

Making pierogi – step five, originally uploaded by i am superjen.

I’m just too tired to write it all out right now, but you can see the pictures at flickr!

 

Can I have a piece, too?

Can I have a piece, too?, originally uploaded by i am superjen.

Happy Easter!

 

no knead bread 1st attempt

no knead bread 1st attempt, originally uploaded by i am superjen.

Here are the steps I followed:
- read about the bread on about 40 different blogs
- look up those creuset or whatever pans that everyone used for it.
- buy some bread flour a few days later
- Print out the recipe, stick it to the fridge with a magnet, take 3 days to remember to actually start the bread in the evening since it takes so long to rise.

So it took a week to get it going, but very very little time or effort to actually make the stuff. I just made it in a regular old Corningware casserole dish, and didn’t even have the cornmeal to dust it and it turned out SO GREAT! Nice and crusty outside, warm and fluffy inside, just all around a perfect loaf of bread. I don’t even have a knob on my stove and have to constantly look at a cheap thermometer I hung inside the oven and adjust to keep the temperature right, and it still turned out great. So if you’re scared to try yeast bread, make this stuff, it couldn’t be any easier.

Recipe:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?ex=1175659200&en=a435e576f2eedeab&ei=5070

 

valentine cookies

valentine cookies, originally uploaded by i am superjen.

The broken one looks like…a butt!

(tee hee)

These are going to B’s school. Except for the one. Clearly, I have to keep that one home.