The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

My mini Christmas tree for what seems like a mini-amount of Christmas spirit. I am truly working on that. However, regardless of how little Christmas spirit I might have, I still will bake some Christmas cookies, Grandma Dorothy's poundcake, and anything else I might decide somebody else needs.

I came to the conclusion about a year ago that trying to make baked goods healthy (i.e. after about 10 attempts at healthy strawberry cake) is nearly an impossible task. If you are anywhere close to the south and you try to make strawberry cake without using strawberry jello, the people who eat it will not be impressed. Personally, when I bake I aim to please and make people smile, so I came to the conclusion that sometimes you just have to let go. A good lesson for me in life.

And with that, one of my favorite cookies for the Holiday season that breaks all my rules about not using hydrogenated oils.

Cinnamon Squares

Preheat oven to 350*

Melt in saucepan: 1/2 cup butter & 1/2 cup Crisco (yikes!)

Add to melted stuff: 1/2 cup dark brown sugar & 1/2 cup white sugar

Then mix in: 1 tsp. vanilla & 1 egg yolk (reserve egg white)

Add: 2 cups flour & 2 tsp. cinnamon.

Spread dough thin with hands onto cookie sheet. Beat egg whites until frothy and brush onto cookie dough. Sprinkle with sprinkles. The classic sprinkle is the non-pareils or sphere like sprinkles.

Bake 15 minutes and cut into squares while hot. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

for the love of tea....

I made this cute little tea cozy using this tutorial. It's for my mamacita for Christmas. We both LOVE our tea!

Banana Mango pancakes

Most people don't realize that tropical fruits are actually in season in the winter. If you live somewhere other than the continental United States you would be eating local if you made these delicious pancakes. If you don't, there is absolutely nothing local about it, so please forgive me. At least they still taste yummy.

Basic Pancakes (adapted from the original Joy of Cooking)

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Gently mix the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Small lumps are okay. Cook on a hot buttered/oiled griddle.

Serve with pure maple syrup and butter.

If adding mango and banana, sprinkle diced fruit on top of pancake before flipping it. Pictured above.

Sprouts

I used to think Sprouts were blah, but in the past 6 or so years I have grown to love them. I think it all started when I would wander the aisles of Berkeley Bowl or Monterey Market and would come across microgreens or beans that I never could have imagined tasted good in sprout form. That changed things for me, and I would eat sprout and cream cheese sandwiches with tomatoes and avocado.

Today I found something as good, if not better, than veggie sandwiches with sprouts. It's called Sky Salad, and you can get it at Whole Foods. I guess the Sproutman creates these delicious sprout mixtures.

Sprout Salad

1 container of Sky Salad

1 meyer lemon (I fell in love with these in Berkeley, as well. I used to drive by Pheonix Pastificio*, a delicious pasta place with every kind of pasta imaginable, and there would be a sign outside the door about needing Meyers. For so long I had no idea what this meant, but after a little while I began to see these lemons everywhere. And lucky for me, they carry them at Whole Foods)

Good Olive Oil

Salt

Combine everything in a bowl. I wish I could tell you the proportions of olive oil to lemon (or vinegar) but it seems to be a science that I cannot express in words. I have been working on measuring it all so I can post it on this blog.

*Pheonix Pastifico also has the most amazing olive bread and almond macaroons that I have ever experienced in my entire life.

banana cake mini-muffins with ganache

I got this idea from Cake Flour. I used my favorite banana cake recipe that I acquired in the bay area from a parent of one of the kids in my class. I guess it was her great grandmother's recipe, and it is scribbled on a piece of paper with no directions except for "Bake at 350* for an hour." Then I created my own ganache. It's pretty simple, I just use a one to one ratio of ounces of chocolate to tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. You can't go wrong. As Trey would say, "WHAT is that chocolate stuff on top?" It's that good and that easy.

Banana Cake

1 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup sour cream (4 medium dollops)

1 cup mashed banana pulp (2 rotten bananas)

1 1/2 cup pastry flour (regular flour seems to work just as well)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350*.

Combine dry ingredients.

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla until combined. Add banana and sour cream. Beat until combined. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Pour into buttered and floured bread pan or muffin tin.

For bread pan, cook approximately 1 hour.

For mini-muffin tins, cook about 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool. After the cake is cool you can make the ganache, but do not make it before or it will not work.

Chocolate Ganache

6 oz. good chocolate chips (I use Guittard, but I can only find them when I go to Los Angeles, so my mom sends them to me every so often :) I love my Mommy!)

6 Tbsp. whipping cream

Over very low heat combine ingredients in a saucepan.

Spread on top of banana cake, and place in refrigerator. Ganache will solidify slightly.

Yummy!

Watermelon radishes

This radish is the size of an apple. I picked it up at the farmers market thinking it was a turnip. I was told it was a delicious radish, so of course I had to get it. Sprinkle it with salt and it makes a beautiful and delicious snack!

Enchiladas de verduras

One of my favorite restaurants of all times is Doña Tomás in Oakland. They have the most amazing carnitas, margaritas on the rocks, pureed black beans, and painted red walls. Just thinking about it makes me a bit nostalgic. (Someday...) They have a sister taquería in Berkeley called Tacubaya. Trey and I used to go there for breakfast and drink Mexican coffee or hot chocolate and eat chilaquiles. It was heaven. The recipe I have included is something I never would have ordered but in an attempt to save money I chose something vegetarian. I served this with pureed black beans and rice.

Enchiladas de verduras
1 poblano chile, toasted, peeled, stemmed, and seeded
3 or 4 tablespoons canola oil
1 white onion
Salt
2 large jewel or red garnet yams, cut into 1/2 inch dice (about 3 cups)
1 cup grated queso Oaxaca (I used queso blanco because I couldn't find Oaxaca)
Queso fresco

Tomatillo and jalapeño sauce
2 cups tomatillos
2 large garlic cloves
1 jalapeño chile, with seeds, stemmed and halved
1/2 white onion
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Filling:
1. Cut the chile into 1/2 inch cubes.
2. Heat 2 tbs oil in large sauté pan. Sauté onion until translucent. Season with salt and place in bowl with chile.
3. In same pan heat oil and add sweet potatoes. Sauté for 15 minutes over medium heat until tender. Season with salt and add to chile onion mix.
4. When filling is cool add grated cheese.

Sauce:
1. Soak the tomatillos in water for a few minutes and then peel off husks. Drain and place in stainless steel saucepan with garlic, jalapeño,onion, salt, and water to barely cover. Heat over high heat. Once boiling reduce heat to medium and simmer until tomatillos change color and one or two have split.
2. Tranfer to a blender and purée. Season with salt.

Enchiladas:
1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Heat tortillas in microwave or on lightly greased griddle.
3. Dip tortilla with sauce and fill with 3 heaping tbs. of the filling.
4. Roll and place seam side down in a 9x13 pan. (12 can fit)
5. Spoon sauce lightly over and sprinkle with queso fresco.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes.
7. Serve on a small pool of sauce.