Recipe: Baby It’s Cold Outside Cookies

December 16, 2015November 18, 2016 ~ Harper220 ~ 4 Comments

“Today’s the day” the email in my inbox said. No, it isn’t Christmas, but it feels like it! Today is the reveal of the The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! I’ve been counting sleeps until this day! It is my first year participating in this global cookie exchange/ fundraising campaign and I jumped in the deep end on this one. As many of you know, I am a total non-tech person. A bumbling, stumbling, trying my best to sort it out person. Hence I like to offer my ABC of YDP to disarm any critics. It is quite a miracle actually that I have photos and text in one place. But the kitchen is my home and I was loving baking these gorgeous Mint and Chocolate Chip Cookies to share with these three beautiful ladies, Marsha, Becca, and Laura.

Hubby loved them so much that he asked if he could make a video demonstration for me. Even though it was frigid and dark outside the day we filmed, these cookies warmed our home and tummies! And what really warms me is the outstanding work of Linsday and Julie to put together this massive campaign to raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Charity. Please God, this band of baking bloggers’ efforts will make life a bit sweeter for the children helped by this fundraiser. It has certainly put a sweet note into our Christmas season. I mean who wouldn’t want to receive three dozen home baked cookies at your door?

I received the most stylishly wrapped and terrifically tasting Rosemary Brown Butter Dark Chocolate Cookies (sprinkled with smoked salt I might add) from the fabulous Victoria. I’m the chocoholic in the family, so you can guess who tucked into them immediately!

I was also treated to some delish Almond Ricotta Cookies from the amazing Iris, which my Hubby nearly devoured in one fell swoop! They were an inspiration for me to bake one of Giada DeLaurentis’ recipes for the #WomanCrushWednesday I did for her recently.

Finally I received the lovely Cinnamon Pecan Toffee Thumbprint Cookies by the gorgeous Gill which literally saved my life. I had been fasting for a medical exam and they arrived just as I was heading out the door to the hospital. After the procedure the nurses and I had a feast in the recovery room, with a cuppa tea and all!

Thank you so very much, all three of you fantastic bakers! I am super excited to have met you through this wonderful medium and I look forward to keeping up with your culinary adventures.

Now on to my contribution to it all…the preciously pretty, chocolatey chewy, deliciously dangerous and perky peppermint cookies!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks/8 oz) or 227 g of butter at room temp, if using unsalted butter than add a good pinch of salt to the dry ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar (315 g)
2 eggs (free-range and organic if possible) at room temp
1/2 tsp peppermint
2 1/2 cups flour (362 g)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup cocoa powder (70g)
2/3 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate (104 g)

For the decoration on top: A couple of peppermint candy cane sticks bashed up into crumbs (I did it in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin, but you could also do it in a food processor).

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the peppermint extract and the eggs (one at a time) scrapping down the sides of the bowl in between additions.

Sift the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder) and add to the mixer in stages, scrapping in between each addition.

Finally add the chocolate chunks. You are only trying to get them mixed through, so you don’t need to run the mixer but only for a second or two.

In large spoonfuls, put the dough onto a parchment lined baking tray leaving enough space for them to spread out. Bake for 10 minutes on the center rack of the oven. Remove from the oven, leave on the baking tray and place the tray on a cooling rack.

Immediately (the cookies still need to be warm) sprinkle them with the peppermint stick crumbs. After a few more minutes, carefully transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Make sure to completely cool before enjoying so that the candy cane pieces meld into the cookie. Then you get the nice chewiness of the cookie and the lovely crunch of the candy cane all together. Simply divine and oh so moreish! The recipe makes about 24 cookies.

To get these babies packed up properly, I wrapped them individually in clear cellophane bags, sealed them with a home stamped sticker, and placed them in a festive box. I included the cards I had made when we moved from Dublin to London. So the good Queen herself was on there guarding the lot of them! Oh and I added a candy cane too just for fun!

On the inside of each box lid I put a sticker with the ingredients, because I wanted all three recipients to know that the most important element added to any of my baking is LOVE!

I am normally super picky about people tasting my baked goods straight from the oven fresh. So you can imagine the stress I felt that they would arrive not only in one piece but also edible! All of the ladies let me know when they received them and in fact they were grand! Thank goodness there are enough food bloggers on this side of the Atlantic to have a cookie swap, I can’t even imagine the concern I’d have about them making the journey to the U.S. from the U.K.!

I really enjoyed this process from start to nearly finish. It isn’t quite complete yet, as I am looking forward to seeing the final roundup of recipes from all the bloggers which will be posted by this weekend. It is these types of things that urge me on to overcome my ineptness with social media and technology. I’m still learning, but hope that when I participate next year, I’ll have all the bells and whistles on my site. Until then, thanks again to everyone involved. And lots of love to my amazing daughter-in law Koko for telling me about this event. She’s been doing it for a few years and now I see why she gets so excited about it!

Here’s wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope it isn’t too cold where you are, but if it is, fire up the oven and make these cookies!

Candy Cane Love and Kisses,

YDP

Geranium

December 15, 2015November 18, 2016 ~ Harper220

Before I even begin to recount our amazing 2 Michelin Star, four hour lunch at Geranium, I must remind you of the ABCs of YDP. I do so to put all minds at ease, that I am not a writer, photographer nor a food stylist. And you can add food critic to the list as well. I am a trained chef, yes, and lover of food, for sure. I have some basis with which to comment on food, but actually, anyone who eats is entitled to that. Because I have been paid as a professional cook I know the pressure it takes to create something out of various edible raw materials that is worthy for paying patrons. However, I have never done it in the Michelin realm. Therefore, anything you read beyond this is only a reflection of my opinion. Well ours, since Hubby was the one who treated me to this dining extravaganza.

The choice of a lunch reservation over dinner was actually a prudent one for many reasons. The menu and cost are the same. But because Geranium is in a high-rise building with glass windows, experiencing the daylight transitions as a backdrop to the amazing food was incredible. Remember, this is winter and in Copenhagen it gets dark at 3:30 pm. On top of that, with 20 courses of food, we were able to have a leisurely dining experience and have the rest of the evening to digest our food. As well, the restaurant allowed us to split a flight of wine pairings with the courses, so we were coherent for all aspects of the meal!

The ambiance was quiet, serene, and calm. The dining room wasn’t too full, several tables of couples, several men dining alone, and a table of four. The furniture was a very clean line Danish design. It was mostly white and pale grey colors, with natural wood touches. Nothing to distract from the beauty of the food. There was a cool fireplace just to the left of the reception desk as you get off the elevator and is also visible from the dining room. It is a raised fireplace with glass around it and the flickering lights of the flames seemed to dance.

The staff were all young, attractive, international, professional, knowledgable, and friendly. And interestingly enough my Hubby noticed (as he waited tables himself while in university) they were all quite thin. He thought it was interesting given that they work in one the top restaurants in the world, and likely get to taste a thing or two. But that is the key to the whole ethos. The food is so clean and healthy, it never felt heavy, refined, stuffy or filling. All of the portions are small and since the food is mostly vegetables or fish (we had two courses with duck) it is actually quite light.

When I say we had 20 courses, you’d think that we would be rolling out of there and we didn’t feel that way at all. Because there was a synchronicity to the courses, and a balance of flavors and textures along with how the delivery was timed, we never felt that we had to turn away a course, or force ourselves to eat it. Each course was described in detail, the ingredients and preparation, as if we were on a food archeological expedition and the servers were our guides. Sometimes a course would be served by one waiter, other times two or three. And often the chef that prepared and plated a particular dish would bring it to the table wearing their toque (tall white hat).

Between the savory and sweet courses, we were taken on a tour of the wine cellar and then to an annex dining room (in the process of being built) which will house an open plan kitchen allowing for easier interaction between chefs and diners. The sous chef, Paul, came out to meet us personally and we chatted and had a picture taken with him. It was very generous of him to talk to us as they had a quick turn around for the dinner service. But at no time did we feel rushed. As much pressure as the restaurant is under to maintain its standards, you don’t feel the tension at all. It appears effortless and seamless. Even in the way your napkin has been refolded and neatly placed for your return visit from the ladies room.

While the food isn’t your normal, everyday fare, it is creative, experimental, earthy, seasonal. exquisite and yet still tasted like real food. Though I did a snapchat story (username:blissbakery) it has since expired. It was just over 10 minutes in length, LONG, yet felt like it went by in a flash as there was so many astonishing visuals of the food. But I took screen shots and will share them here with captioned commentary of the taste, since that was part of the video aspect on snapchat. Bottom line, any food write up’s most important aspect is to describe the taste! Remember, this was the menu that was specific to our dining experience. The choices differ depending on the season, and also the patron’s preferred selections. Each customer is presented a personal menu when they leave which shows each and every course, beverage selection (they also offer a flight of fresh juices for those not wanting to indulge in wine) and they stamp the date on the inside. The quote on their website “Thoughtfulness can be tasted” is indeed true!

While our main server Damien poured us each a glass of Veuve Clicquot Champagne we nibbled on the most delightful, thin, crisp and savory edible leaves and thus began the playful mirage of flavors, textures and visuals of the feast! The leaves were made from Jerusalem artichokes and were accompanied by a walnut oil and rye vinegar dipping delight.

Velvety and fragrant flowers swirled into Tomato Water that has been infused with pork fat was our second course. The most delightful taste and textures!

I wish I had taken a picture of this after it was stirred. It had loads of unctuous lobster pieces at the bottom of this fermented carrot juice, basically liquid gold!

A bit of squid ink and a blow torch and voila you have charred potatoes with a sheep’s butter on the side. Wow! Who knew something so charred could be so charming!

The final two “Appetizers” were both fish derived and both displayed in most unusual and also quite stunning ways. The “Dillstone” looked like a giant green pearl, but was filled with Mackerel and the “Razor Clam” was filled with a tartare. All completely edible and totally delicious!

You can’t judge a book by its cover, or a sea urchin by its needles. Though sea urchins don’t look the most appetizing, when I tasted this sublime under the sea symphony I had a new opinion of the crustacean family!

While this left pic looks like a piece of Italian marble, it is actually Hake and was served naked, then dressed at the table with the most fragrant and multi textured sauce. The parsley stems fresh and bright along with the rich Finnish Caviar in a buttermilk sauce which had crunchy fish scales sprinkled on top. I think this was my favorite dish of the meal! I only wish my pics were better!

The breads served were so light and moreish. I loved the dainty Parmesan sticks and the gluten free rolls with seeds on top were nearly in my pockets to save for breakfast. I need the recipe STAT!

A quail’s egg in Danish Cheese sauce had nasturtium garnish which is an edible plant similar to watercress. I loved how this dish was plated, a million little pieces all together make one great presentation and taste!

Don’t let the neutral colors fool you, this dish was a taste explosion! The scallop was taken apart and then reconstituted into the round disc and accompanied by , celeriac puree, berries and camomile broth.

We were served two wild meat dishes, both duck from different parts of the bird. The leg was smoked and dolloped with truffle shavings and dripping with an elderberry sauce. The breast was served with beautiful grilled pear and wood sorrel which looks like a shamrock.

So it made me a bit homesick!

Dessert is always pretty much my favorite meal of the day….wait it isn’t a meal on its own? Well these three were hearty enough, yet not heavy, to be a meal! Beeswax Icecream with the pollen (which was also served on a bed of pollen) was very whimsical and the dried apples with sheeps yogurt was so cool, and I’m not just talking about temperature. Really it was awesome how they put that all together! But their signature “Naked Tree” is quite astonishing really. A very interesting combo of tastes. But since it is the land of Carlsberg, I guess everyone is into beer. And the frozen beer disc in the middle of the Smoked Beachwood Cream made it all look pretty too.

Since we were there to celebrate my birthday they also brought out a mini birthday cake. Love the toned down, peeled back version. Not the typical sugar laden buttercream type. It was three layers inside and totally delish! Along with that they brought out some mini sweets too! A caramel candy was as vibrant as the colorful Rose Hip sauce it was bathing in. While we were being served dessert wine we nibbled on the pumpkin seed cake, a chocolate cake ball with oats and sea buckthorn and a chocolate green egg.

One of the highlights of the whole journey was being served a tea that had been steeped in fresh herbs. It was heaven!

Though this lunch is out of most people’s budgets (including ours) it is a possibility. Everyone needs a dream to add some sparkle to their lives. Hubby and I don’t go out much and we never spend money on ourselves. But when we save and save, and then treat ourselves to a bucket list destination, it makes it that much more special. It really was the best birthday ever as we got to incorporate a foodie fieldtrip and enjoy Copenhagen together. Damien our waiter explained that some customers have come every year but during a different time of year to experience the changing menu. We had the “The Geranium Winter Universe” as they call it, but each season brings its own colors, ingredients and dynamic preparation and presentation. For me, this was such an incredible experience I will be digesting it for years to come.

Thanks to my Hubby with lots of love to him and all the great chefs at Geranium who made my birthday so special.

Foodie Love,

YDP

ps. Keep your own bucket list alive by adding to it and ticking something off the list every now and again. This visit to Geranium was a perfect example of that!

Recipe: I Think I Can Cope with Copenhagen!

December 14, 2015October 23, 2017 ~ Harper220

Okay, wow that was some trip I’ll say! I even received loads of messages from my snapchat followers commenting on how amazing it all looked! It is going to take some time to digest it all (literally and figuratively). There is no way I can flesh it all out in one post. So I have decide to break it up into two. Haha! Two! Which, come to think of it was the theme for the whole trip. I’ll explain that part later. But first up, as you can see from the pic, there are two salads. Yep, that is how I’m gonna cope with Copenhagen. Because I don’t believe in deprivation on holidays, Hubby and I went all out. Mind you, without an ounce of regret. However, as I have said on this blog before, it’s okay to splurge, so long as you try to “right the ship” again. So we are going to do just that and be super healthy for dinner tonight!

The last I posted was on Friday, just before the secret destination Foodie Fieldtrip. I included a recipe for Brussels Sprout Salad but no pics. I’ve now made the salad as you can see, and you can find the recipe here. But I also decided to throw together another salad based on what I had on hand in the house. I love cooking that way actually. Gets the creative juices flowing. And after the mega foodie adventure I had, there is loads of inspo to work from on this one. With the weather being so cold now, and the days so short, a warm salad is apropos. So I put together a Roasted Sweet Potato and Chorizo Salad that I know Hubby will like even though he isn’t the biggest salad person. But when it is all “jazzed up” like this he can’t resist. Plus we need all the nutrients we can get these days as so many people around us on the plane were hacking away! The best way to protect your immunity is to eat healthy!

Sweet Potato and Chorizo Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 Sweet Potatoes, washed and cut into wedges (leave the skin on)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

½ tsp cinnamon

2-3 scallions (green onions) sliced

100 g chopped chorizo

2 Tbsp Hard Goat Cheese (sometimes called Gouda Goats Cheese), grated

2 Tbsp toasted mixed seeds or nuts (I used flaked almonds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds)

A few mixed organic baby leaves

Put the sweet potato wedges in a large roasting tray. Toss with olive oil, cinnamon and salt and pepper. Roast in a preheated oven (200C/400F) for 50 mins-one hour until flesh is soft and the skin is crispy.

When the sweet potatoes are nearly done, sauté the spring onions in a frying pan with a little olive oil for two minutes then add the chopped chorizo and cook for another few minutes until the onions are done and the chorizo is cooked through.

Put the leaves on a platter, using tongs, put the sweet potato wedges on top then pour the chorizo/onion mixture all over. Sprinkle with the toasted seeds and grated cheese.

Now for the story of things coming in pairs. Maybe I should have titled this post “The Tale of Two Sit Tease” because just when we thought one thing might happen, a second one was around the corner saying, HELLO, #2 it is! Starting with our arrival into Copenhagen. We thought we’d take the metro train into city center (Hubby loves to take trains in every city we visit) but the line for the tickets was a mile long and it was pretty late at that juncture. So we settled for another option, a taxi, which was grand. We stayed at the lovely Hotel Alexandra (on Hans Christian Andersen Blvd) just walking distance to Tivoli Gardens. It is a boutique mid-priced hotel that prides itself on its Danish Design. And the slogan is “feels like you are staying with a friend.” Indeed on the first night when we were in the lobby enjoying complimentary glasses of wine, I saw an old vinyl L.P. record player and what was there but a record by my dear friend, Quincy Jones!

Continuing on with the double pairs story, on Saturday we had two options for our foodie heaven mega meal. I will share all about that in the next post. But suffice it to say, our #2 option dining experience was likely the best we’ve ever had. The bucket list was seriously ticked off with gold stars! Nordic cuisine is sublime! We were so full from the four hour lunch we had that we went back to the hotel and fell into a food coma. By the time we awakened, we were too tired to go anywhere else and just stayed in and enjoyed each other’s company. We weren’t that hungry, so instead of going out for dinner, we literally only ate peanuts and drank some wine while watching the Frank Sinatra 100th birthday celebration on television. We are both major fans of “Old Blue Eyes” so it was a nice treat. And who was on the show, but Quincy Jones! Yep he popped up twice!

Sunday we had breakfast in the hotel again. It was included in the price which was great since Copenhagen is uber expensive! Hubby did extensive research as to where we could find a Sunday Mass, and we were led to a church not far from the hotel for an 11:30 mass. Only there wasn’t one there after all! Just a tease! As I said, “Tale of Two Sit Tease”! So we ended up walking the city from top to bottom exploring the amazing Christmas Markets and enjoying the beautiful architecture.

We had some hot Gluhwein (spiced mulled wine) of course since it was so cold we needed to warm up. And we discovered a fab cafe called “The Living Room” with a roaring fire and an amazing hot elderflower cider with minced fresh ginger. I didn’t get a pic of the elderflower cider but I did get one of the fire (and of Hubby’s iPhone, which was always on our pretty pit Stella’s doggie cam).

We eventually did find a Mass at 5pm and had just enough time afterwards to make it to the airport for our flight.

We had boarded our flight and Hubby and I were chatting on about the wonderful weekend when the pilot announced that our plane was not allowed to fly due to some switch not working. After waiting over an hour and failing to fix the switch, all the passengers had to get off plane #1 and wait for a second plane!

All the delays meant we got back to London extremely late. So our normal means of getting home, public transport, was closed. Option #2 was a lovely Uber driver and a cruise through London. Even though it was dark, it was cool to drive through the city as there was literally no traffic. With taking so many tubes underground you can lose your sense of direction. It is helpful every now and again to see things above ground and enjoy the beauty of the city. So it was actually a nice way to end our trip with a final second best (which in our case they all ended up being first best!).

Tomorrow, I will go into detail about our amazing four hour gastronomic experience we had at one of the best restaurants in the world. But all and all, the trip to Copenhagen was a treat for each of the senses. The Danish people are gorgeous inside and out, so kind and very relaxed. I see now why they are always ranked so high on the World Happiness Report. The country itself is very clean, and they seem to be a family oriented culture and from what I saw, it is very dog friendly as well. I hope to go again, as Hubby and I were saying that two nights goes by so fast. But I am feeling so grateful to have been able to go at all. I am also happy I was able to share it with snapchat and this blog. Two ways to keep the memory alive!

And here is one last close up of the delicious Sweet Potato Chorizo Salad to keep your memory alive until you make it yourself! You’ll see if you read this link here that sweet potatoes are so packed with nutrients you too will be able to cope with a little over indulgence, even if it isn’t in Copenhagen!

Med kærlighed,

YDP

Recipe: Foodie Fieldtrip Friday Recap

December 11, 2015November 18, 2016 ~ Harper220

While I haven’t done a Foodie Fieldtrip Friday the last couple of weeks due to dealing with some medical stuff, I realize that I haven’t actually shared with you a couple of cool foodie outings I have done recently. Though I’ve taken along my snapchat (username: blissbakery) friends, I suspect many of you don’t use that form of social media, yet…cuz once you start it’s pretty fun! As well, with the stories vanishing after 24 hours, it is easy to miss out on some of the snaps.

This weekend promises to be a massive foodie surprise, but before I go into that I just want to say that one of my secret hobbies is studying supermarkets around the world and analyzing what items and products are sold in them. A whole post devoted to that topic another time though. I think what is sold/bought in a region says a lot about a culture. I don’t have a Phd in Food Anthropology, but since I am a Dr. of “People Watching” (haha) this falls into a similar category. I believe that food is one of the oldest and most powerful forms of communication. Higher education is catching on to that and you are seeing more academic institutions creating degree programs around food writing, food security, food sociology etc. Here is a link that has compiled a list of schools around the globe devoted to various food studies. My fav is the University of Gastronomy in Italy which is defo on the bucket list. This is the place that I mentioned Clodagh McKenna (our most recent #womancrushwednesday) and I were meant to discuss.

My philosophy is that you don’t have to have a degree on paper saying you are an expert to actually become one. Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something. I tend to agree with that. Broken down that is hard work, study, practice and most of all curiosity. Trust me, when I went to university at a mature age, I saw lots of young students literally wasting money on an education when they were all about the recreation. You have to want an education (formal or not) and take initiative to find things out about the world around you. Yet, I think school is great! I love to be challenged intellectually and love to be in a classroom environment. And I feel that you are never too old to learn!

That is why I adore the Foodie Fieldtrip Fridays so much! It’s like being an explorer! Here are the links to the ones I’ve done so far in case you want to go back and salivate! I’ve done two food tours, one in the East End and one in the Soho areas of London, one at the Chocolate Show at the Olympia, another at the BBC Good Food Show and the greatest was the trifecta of FFF (Foodie Fieldtrip Fri-YAY!). But I wanted to share a few pics I took while I was on a recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee visiting my son for his military event. I mean, our whole family is foodie related, so there will always be something good to eat around us! And there might be some good stuff to drink too! My son does have Irish blood, so I mean, who can blame him for this collection of Jameson’s?

In order for me to arrive all the way to the U.S. of course I had to take a plane, duh? But I have never photographed my airline meal until this trip. It actually wasn’t too bad. I know they serve special call ahead request meals, but I did that once and it backfired on me. It was when my kids were small and I thought a healthier option would be a good idea. But when my son was served a fruit platter he was so upset! He has always liked airplane food. I kid you not! He said that when he grew up he wanted to open a restaurant in the shape of an airplane that only served airplane food. Well, in his current job, he does eat small meals out of packets when he is deployed, and he does jump out of planes. So kinda close, no? Oh and by the way, we found someone on that infamous flight that was delighted to swap their mystery meat meal for my son’s fruit platter. So happy campers all the way around.

But I wasn’t such a happy camper when the morning after I arrived at my son’s from London I mistakenly poured cereal in my coffee instead of putting milk in it. Blame it on jet lag! But after that, the weekend was very delicious!

My son is a captain in the U.S. Army as I have shared before, and was having a change of command ceremony. His wife was in charge of providing food for a lunch afterwards for all the soldiers. They were delighted with the chicken lunch she served, and I was in sugar heaven with this giant sheet cake she special ordered. One half was chocolate and the other vanilla! OMG!

That evening we went to a restaurant in Franklin (just outside of Nashville) called Gray’s on Main and it was fabulous. I treated my son and his wife to a dinner there for his 30th birthday and he really wanted to go back. It was very dark inside so I didn’t take pictures but suffice it to say, the Lobster Mac n Cheese, Whiskey Salmon, Bacon Wrapped Figs, Charred Brussels, Grilled Pear Pizza, Stuffed Trout and Short Ribs are just some of the items we ordered for the table. And we all had tastes of everything. SSSSOOOOOO amazing! Then my family gave me a special cupcake (a belated birthday treat) in my fav flavor, red velvet! So thoughtful! Not the best pic here, but I just love the heart sprinkles on top! It was a pretty close version of my recipe, which I have shared on here before.

We also did some cooking at my son and daughter in law’s home. My son is a master bbq guy so he grilled up some chicken and steaks, my daughter in law made a pasta bake, and I made some salads. I’ve already shared on here the gorgeous cauliflower salad which I served, but I also made a Brussels Sprout Salad that was a big hit as well. It is super simple to make and a great alternative to the usual cooked Brussels sprouts this time of year. It is also very versatile as you can add almonds instead of hazelnuts, or if you want you can add some cooked and diced bacon. Mmmm it is making me hungry just thinking about it!

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Serves 4

3 dozen Brussels sprouts, shaved thin

2 scallions (green onions) sliced

1 Tbsp chopped basil

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

2 Tbsp Pecorino Cheese, grated

2 Tbsp toasted Hazelnuts, chopped

2 Tbsp Olive Oil or Hazelnut oil if available

Put shaved Brussels sprouts in a large bowl and add scallions, basil and the hazelnuts. Toss all together with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, mix together the lemon juice, zest and oil.

Toss the dressing with the sprouts and the grated cheese and serve.

Finally, after a great weekend we said our goodbyes to my son and his wife and took my daughter and granddaughter to the airport for their flight back home that Sunday morning. Then my aunt and uncle and I had time before our flights departed. So we did some food touring around downtown Nashville and landed on a very typical Southern BBQ joint called Jacks. We shared a combo plate of beef brisket, bbq pork ribs, and chicken with sides of creamed corn, potato salad, mac n cheese, green beans and corn bread. Let’s just say that I didn’t eat a thing on the plane ride back to London! Stuffed with a capital S folks!

I just love Southern food and the unapologetic dietetic aspect. It is what it is. I don’t think they go in for the picky people asking for gluten free this and dairy free that. But I figure when you are in their territory you just have to go for it! Like I said, that is part of the whole FIELDTRIP of the Foodie Fieldtrip Fridays. I did some snaps of it that day (which was on a Sunday) and wanted to share a snippet on here too! In case you are ever in that area, you now have the foodie hook-up!

Nevertheless, I plan on doing loads of snapchatting this weekend for the surprise mega fieldtrip and will write a post all about it. And I will make the Brussels Sprout Salad and put up a pic of that on this post on Monday. So check back if you are curious how it looks. Or, since I have given you the recipe, you can even make it yourself and send me a pic of your creation! Brilliant idea!

Love from Dr. People Watcher (and your Foodie Fieldtrip Friday guide),

YDP

P.S. As promised, here is the final result…looks like the Matterhorn Mountain of Salads. It is really tasty folks, hope you give it a go!

Recipe: That’s the Way the Cookie (hopefully won’t) Crumble

December 10, 2015November 18, 2016 ~ Harper220 ~ 1 Comment

Monday was probably one of the most fun days of my life. I had the Mancrush Monday with my all time fav Marty Whelan and baked some special mustache cookies. Then I was like a little kid decorating them in all different designs. He was so very kind and actually surprised me by reading out my email and recipe, whilst I was in the middle of doing the snapchat tutorial! Here is the link to his radio program. Just click on that day (Monday the 7th of Dec). if you want to hear his utter astonishment at being chosen as a #mancrush (you just have fast forward about 1 hour and 40 mins into his program). But his programs are so good, I think you will enjoy a listen of the whole show! So then, get this, he even posted before and after photos of the cookies and a link to my blog on his website. Wowza! Forget crush, I love this man!

Yikes! Now I felt the pressure to get them packed up safely so they wouldn’t arrive a crumbled mess. Then they might look like whiskers instead of an actual mustache! However, it was a race against time as I wanted to get the dozen mustaches posted out to him as soon as possible! If you know me, you know I prefer to have people enjoy my baked treats fresh out of the oven. So as it is, I knew it will be a few days before he received them. So I opted to decorate them with water icing and sprinkles instead of royal icing due to time constraints. Concerned at how they would look when they arrived I decide to come up with a back up plan. I packed up another dozen mustache cookies, but plain undecorated ones. And I included a “decorate it yourself” kit with tubes of colored icing, sprinkles and icing sugar in a tub along with a wooden stick and instructions of how to mix it with water.

Because I got a massive amount of new snapchat followers as I’ve mentioned, due to his radio announcement and some other followers giving shout outs, I decided to do a give away of the rest of the cookies. I posted a written notice on snapchat, since the bloody video aspect was on the fritz Tuesday. I was amazed and overwhelmed at the response! So many fabulous requests and I wish I could have given away cookies to all the folks who entered. But the lady who won was literally over the moon with excitement. So I mailed that lot as well, bubble wrapped and all.

The folks in the post office have started calling me the “cookie lady” because every time I show up there, that is what I am sending. I’ve done cookie give aways before now. Last week I sent off some of the Lemon Ricotta Cookies I made on the #womancrushwednesday to a lovely winner. And I did another cookie giveaway after my Tuesday Treat field trip to Biscuiteers where I made some pretty elaborate cookies with royal icing, and took those in to post to the winners. I’ve promised the staff at the post office I’ll bring some in for them before Christmas arrives. Otherwise they have threatened to rip open one of my packages.

Yet, I am still in the cookie mode. Next Wednesday the 16th will be the big reveal of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap where I get to share photos and the recipe of the cookies I made and sent, and also show pics of the ones I received. As well, the bloggers I sent my cookies to will be posting photos of them. So hopefully those arrived in one piece. And I have an important person I will be seeing this weekend and I wanted to bake cookies for them as well. The only good thing in this situation is that they will be hand delivered, so no worry about cookies crumbling!

So time to break out the mixer…oh that’s right, I never put it away. Always there at the ready! Ah I have to give props to my sturdy Kitchen Aid mixer!!! By the way, I actually have two. One, which is still in America, and the other one I bought when we moved to Ireland. I couldn’t bring the American one because of the different electric plug! Big splurge to have not only one but two, but for someone who bakes as often as I do, it is a necessity!

So on to these amazing cookies I have baking today. They are a Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie with a Maple Glaze and the recipe is from Chowhound! I know I’ve shared a lot of pumpkin recipes with you already, but if you’re not a pumpkin fan, this might be the recipe to help you see the light. They are chewy, flavorful and dare I say healthy? Okay, they have butter and sugar, but the pumpkin and oats make this one a better choice than say a package of Jammie Dodgers! And the oats help reduce cholesterol and the pumpkin helps aid in weight loss so it pretty much balances it all out! Tee hee!

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant nor steal cut)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée (not pie filling; about 1 3/4 cups)
For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk (not nonfat), plus more as needed
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Instructions:

For the cookies:
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange the racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
3. Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until lightened in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
4. Add the egg and vanilla, return the mixer to medium speed, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the reserved flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add half of the pumpkin and mix until just incorporated. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and pumpkin.
6. Drop 8 dough rounds per baking sheet by the scant 1/4 cup, staggering them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.. Place the remaining dough in the refrigerator.
7. Place both sheets in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back and continue baking until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and around the edges, about 12 minutes more.
8. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 3 minutes. Using a flat spatula, transfer the cookies to the wire racks to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool to room temperature and then repeat with the remaining dough (you can use the same parchment paper). When all of the cookies are baked, set the pieces of parchment paper aside.
For the glaze:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until evenly combined. (You may need to add more milk by the 1/2 teaspoon if the glaze is too thick to drizzle.)
2. Place all of the cooled cookies on the reserved parchment sheets. Dip a fork into the glaze and drizzle it over the cookies in a zigzag pattern. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until the glaze has set, about 20 minutes.

I posted a video to my instagram page of applying the maple glaze on the cookies to the song, “Pour Your Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard. Yeah, I defo have fun!

If you noticed the photo of the ingredients you might have seen that the two stars of the show are representing my Yankee Doodle Paddy moniker. Libby’s Pure Pumpkin Puree is the number one seller in America. And thankfully I can find it over on this side of the world (ahem, at a much higher price but worth it). The Flahavan’s Organic Porridge Oats are also available in a local supermarket and it is the number one selling oatmeal in Ireland! So this cookie could end up being a YDP signature snack! Hmm, looks like from the photo I already tucked into one there. But all in the name of quality control! LOL!

Did you know that the phrase, “That’s how the cookie crumbles” has absolutely no concrete origin? Sure, it can be translated into a few common idioms such as “that’s life” etc. But there is no unified opinion on when it came into use and who first said it. So many phrases we use in everyday vernacular can be traced to different forms of literature such as the Bible, Shakespeare etc. But I tell you one thing, with all my cookies being shipped here there and everywhere, I’m coming up with a new version of the phrase. On this day anyway, it’s gonna be “that’s how the cookie hopefully won’t crumble!” Fingers crossed, I just want Marty Whelan, the winner of the give away, and the three foodie bloggers to all share photos of cookies, not crumbles!

Love from the biggest cookie monster of them all,

YDP

Recipe: Woman Crush Wednesday

December 9, 2015November 18, 2016 ~ Harper220

You need this Woman Crush Wednesday today. I can just feel it! The cold and wet weather is getting to you and the busy shopping malls with stressed out people have left you drained. But that is about to change. Because today is your tonic! Today we are crushing on one of the lovely ladies of the culinary world, and it happens to be the amazing Irish chef Clodagh McKenna! Between her beautiful smile and her amazing Spiced Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup recipe you will be warmed up in a flash! If you’re so inclined you can follow along on snapchat (username: blissbakery) and join in the lovefest! The video story only lasts 24 hours, but the crush on Clodagh will last long beyond that!

Last week we were on the west coast of America for our #WCW and as we skip back across the Atlantic to my soul home, I felt it was time I let you in on a little secret. I’ve met Clodagh on several occasions and she is one of the nicest people in the world. Then again, maybe it isn’t such a secret. If you’ve followed her at all on social media or on television (she has hosted numerous programs about Irish food) you’ve probably felt her essence. Her openness and massive heart shine through. I suppose what I find most incredible about her is her generosity and philanthropy. She is involved in numerous charities even with her busy schedule of chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, cookery teacher and television star.

Though I am now living in London, I used to live in Dublin and worked near one of her restaurants. I would stop in from time to time and then one day I finally introduced myself to her. We are both Ballymaloe Cookery School graduates and when I realized that she was going to be speaking at the Ballymaloe Lit Fest (which I was also attending), I decided to take off my shy hat and say hello. She put me at ease right away, and said she would be delighted to see me down in Cork that May of 2014. I wasn’t able to attend her particular cooking demo (sold out) but she was so kind when we bumped into each other down there as we chatted away about the wonderful foodie weekend. Whenever I saw her out and about in Dublin or in her restaurant she was absolutely divine, making me feel like I was the only one in the room. One time in particular when I was treating a co-worker to lunch Clodagh herself served us our food, sat down in the booth and visited for a bit.

The reason I point out her super special personality is simple. There are loads of chefs, male and female, in this world who are all making great food. But when you have someone like Clodagh who not only makes great food and but also makes you (the patron) feel great too, why then you understand her success. Her career trajectory is literally flying ! She is now creating the menu for Aer Lingus (the Irish airline) and has been well received in America, having been featured on many television programs there. My fav was the Guinness Cake she made on Rachel Ray’s popular show. The sky really is the limit for Clodagh. Her food is fresh, tasty, seasonal and sustainable. In fact, I decided to do a recipe that covers all aspects of those adjectives! And what better time to make it than now, with all the cold weather we have been having. Knowing Clodagh, if you make this and send her a pic on Instagram, she will likely give you a thumbs up. For she is, at the heart, a fantabulous person who is out there promoting passion for cooking!

INGREDIENTS
20g butter
1kg butternut squash,
skinned, deseeded and cut
into 2.5cm pieces
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 garlic cloves, crushed
200g onions, chopped
700ml hot vegetable stock
300ml coconut milk
sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper

METHOD
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan,add the squash, spices, garlic and onions and season with salt and pepper.
Cover and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
Stir in the stock and coconut milk and bring the soup to the boil. When the squash is tender the soup is ready to be blended using a food-processor or hand blender. Serve hot.

FullSizeRender-10 — This is my finished version. I whipped up some of the coconut cream (it’s on the very top when you open the can of coconut milk) and whirled it around with some seeds and flat leaf parsley for garnish. Also served with some Naan Bread! Yummy!

If you’ve read The ABCs of YDP you’ll see why I apologize for my lack of food styling photography. Hence the pic at the top of this page comes from Clodagh’s website. But I am all about the taste, and this soup hits it out of the park! Super delish! There are three things I love about this soup. One is that is is so quick and easy, two it is super economical, and three is that it is adaptable. If you don’t like coconut, leave it out and replace with more broth. If you are feeling like you need a bit of “sumpin, sumpin” you can add chorizo (which Clodagh suggests). This recipe is also gluten free, dairy free (if you use oil instead of butter) and vegetarian! Whoop whoop! It ticks all the nutritional boxes! For those of you not aware, butternut squash is like the superfood of super foods! So between the spices and the butternut squash, this soup will help ward off all those nasty Winter bugs going around!

Clodagh and I were meant to have a conversation about a well known food university in Italy that she attended. We never had the chance as Hubby’s and my move to London happened so quickly. I never even had a chance to say goodbye. But all of the staff at her restaurant knew me and I said my goodbyes to them. They too were always fantastic when I went in and I think their warmth was kindled by her spirit. Like the saying, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” She walks the walk and talks the talk. And best of all she is honest about the hard times too. In a recent article she reveals that there have been struggles. Often people in the limelight make the rest of us feel like they have everything just so. And that isn’t the case in reality. But Clodagh, as I said already, is an open person. I think I need to add brave to the list of kudos as well.

Thanks Clodagh for being such an inspiration, foodie wise and otherwise. You are an amazing lady through and through. I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye in person, but just know I am still basking in your glorious glow over on this side of the Irish Sea.

Love from the self appointed president of your infatuation nation,

YDP

P.S. If you are looking for a Christmas gift for any foodies in your life, Clodagh has a line of gorgeous aprons. They even come in a chic boutique looking wrapping! I have one on my Santa list 🙂 Click here for a peek…

Holy Mary Mother of God!

December 8, 2015November 18, 2016 ~ Harper220

That’s right, that is the title of this post. “Holy Mary Mother of God” there I said it. I’m sure you have heard people make this exclamation before. Or maybe the other one that is in popular use, “Jesus, Mary and Joesph!” I bet there was a lot of that flying around today, as the social media world was literally paralyzed. Why? Because of all things Snapchat was on the fritz. Not all of snapchat’s abilities (you could still send a photo) were crippled the whole day. But the video aspect was completely down. Like, all day long! As I write this, it is still down with no explanation, even after numerous messages to customer support. The topic was trending on twitter: #snapchatdown. While some were going through withdrawals, I experienced frustration myself, which is actually ludicrous. I am the most non tech person you’d ever meet. It’s true, it wasn’t that long ago my son had to give me an emergency tutorial over the phone of how to send an email with an attachment! So here’s me now, doing a blog, instagram, twitter and SNAPCHAT! And then I get a head wreck when snapchat doesn’t work?! I mean I had important things to say on there today!

The truth is that yesterday was a massive day in my little snapchat land. After the super fun Mancrush Monday for Marty Whelan, between his on air reading of my email and fellow snap chatters giving me a shout out, I had a phenomenal amount of new subscribers (not sure that is even how you say it). So of course today when I went on to do a video about a free give away I’m hosting, it wasn’t working. I just assumed it was me and my inability to navigate the thing. Come to find out there is a system error, glitch whatever you want to call it. The “could not send, please try again” notice that kept appearing was not my friend today! So, I hope it is up and running tomorrow is all I can say, or else you will see a grown woman cry! Cuz tomorrow is Woman Crush Wednesday my fav day of the week!

But then, as I do when I get a little worked up, I had a think and decided to regroup. It’s not the end of the world, right?! So I went to midday mass, which as fate would have it is a feast day in the Catholic Church for Our Lady. That’s right, the Holy Mary Mother of God one! I also discovered that a short recorded interview (click here) that I did a while ago about Mary, was posted online today, on this feast day. So I thought, well, maybe I could do a Tuesday Crush day on The Blessed Virgin Mary! Seriously, I’m not trying to be sacrilegious here.

I mean, the whole time we lived in Ireland, I remember how empty the churches would often be on Sunday mass, apart from any days dedicated to Mary. Those were always packed! As well, one of the few Marian Shrines in the world is located in the West of Ireland in Knock, Co. Mayo. I’ve been several times myself. It is actually located half way between my relations on my Grandpa’s side in Galway, and the others on my Grandma’s side in Sligo. I do think the Irish have a fondness for Mary. It could be because it is a wonderful family oriented culture that is centered around the Irish Mammy. And we know that the most popular Irish girls’ name is in fact Mary!

Outside of Catholicism, a devotion (we don’t call it a worship) to the Virgin Mary is unheard of really. But I think it is a lovely aspect of the church. Especially if you listen to my interview you’ll see that for many people, especially those that have had no mothers, abusive, or neglectful mothers like I did, Our Lady offers a maternal hope and comfort.

In Ireland on many street corners and in housing estates, you see Mary statues. I don’t see them in America, except maybe inside a Catholic church. And they aren’t anywhere around in the U.K either, except funny enough, there is one outside our little parish church here in London. I thought it looked so pretty one evening I had to take a picture. I remember my husband saying, you’re not going to put that on your snapchat are you? I hadn’t planned on it. But I think what he meant was maybe some who watch my snaps might be offended. It is so funny, but coming from America, we have been very sensitized not to offend anyone, to be politically correct at all times. Don’t discuss politics, religion or money in mixed company we are taught. Yet, I could tell you about some of the things I have seen on snapchat and you just might think they lie smack dab in the “offensive” column. But a picture of Mary? Maybe, it might offend some.

I am not posting this story today to offend anyone in any way. If you’ve been reading along with me thus far you know all I want to do is spread love. That is my purpose in life. I happen to be blessed with a talent and passion for food and use my chef skills to pour love into my cooking. But I am also a very authentic person. I am who I am. And you are who you are. I would never attempt to put my beliefs on anyone. But when people discover the atrocities I survived in my life, they wonder how did I do it. And it is simple, my faith. For some people they need to hear that. Otherwise they walk around thinking I had a magic wand and poof!

This past summer I stayed with my daughter and her family as she was about to give birth to her second child. I adore my four year old granddaughter and we were inseparable while I was there. When I would put her to bed at night she wanted to say prayers together. I would say the “Hail Mary” prayer as it is one of the ones I like to say. Then one night when my daughter was putting her to bed Harper said, “Mommy, aren’t we gonna pray to Mary” and my daughter said, “We don’t pray to Mary.” Though my daughter was christened as a Catholic, she attends a Christian church. And why I bring this up is that I am delighted she has faith in her life. But it is her own relationship with God not mine. I don’t judge it. How she chooses to raise her daughter as well is her choice. And there are no hard feelings. My daughter nor I are offended by any of this. Yet, we as human beings in this world, become offended by others’ religions or even a mention of their church family. However, we are numb to people discussing their bedroom habits with whomever or whatever to strangers?

So, bottom line is, chill out folks! Snapchat will be working again. And I am still the same person I was before. With my bad singing, bad dancing and great recipes on offer. I just want to have fun and spread some love. Only I may have a slightly different take on the whole phrase, “Holy Mary Mother of God”.

With Christmas just 17 sleeps away, I want to share a little “funny” with you. My son said to me one day when he was about 5 years old, “Hey mom, guess what? I know what Jesus’ last name is.” I said, “Really, what is it Hun?” Then enthusiastically he said, “It’s CHRISTMAS, cuz his mom’s name is Merry CHRISTMAS!”

I love you guys, and thank you for letting me be me! No offense!

YDP

P.S. If you do fancy a listen to my short interview (it’s about 2 mins) click on the link and scroll down a bit where you will see “Today’s Something About Mary” and there is a little arrow you click on to hear it. Or else, you can read a short written synopsis there as it has my name “Karen” by it.

Yankee Doodle Paddy

America + Ireland = LOVE

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Holy Mary Mother of God!