A lot of us don’t get a chance to actually bake for other people (except for the holidays). Sure, we give goodies to friends, family, but we don’t often set out to bake for specific others – especially people we don’t know, and other Bakers at that. And that’s what Secret Baker is all about. Baking for other Bakers.
Round II was all about Christmas Cookies. There were 20 of us participating this time. Fun!!

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Here’s a picture of the Nut Balls that I (Di) received from Helga. They’re similar to Mexican Wedding Cookies, but with the addition of bourbon. Mmm. =)

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Wendy was in Fiji enjoying the Beautiful Blue seas and did not get a chance to bake, but she sent Sarah a great box of goodies which she can use to make other goodies including Vanilla, Vanilla Paste, etc.

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Kelly said, “My cookies were from Nina, over at Nina’s Cupcakes. She made Ginger Chocolate chip and Banana Chocolate Chip.“

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Susan – “My Secret Baker was Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen table. She sent me one dozen Lemon Sables, one dozen Orange Sables and one dozen Peppermint/chocolate bon-bons. She also enclosed a lovely Christmas card. The goodies were delicious and greatly appreciated!

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Lisa was excited – “She (Beth) sent Christmas invites, white chocolate bark from Trader’s, an ornament, biscotti.

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Katie said, “I received Maple Doodles and Salted Caramel Shortbread from Kelly Johnson, of Ashville, N.C.”

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JoVonn Givens sent Kara some delicious treats – chocolate chip pecan cookies, white chocolate craisin macadamia nut cookies, and sweet and spicy pecans. They were all delicious, especially the craisin cookies.

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And in return Jovonn recieived these cute gingerbread men and pinwheels. Yum!!My Secret Baker was Kara of the Lucky Wife. Happy Holidays!

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“Leslie from Lethally Delicious sent me {Wendy} 2 kinds of bar cookies: maple macadamia bars (love the tropical) & brown sugar shortbread ( love the flavor).”

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“I got these Cinnamon Bun Cookies from Whitney who blogs at Nosh and Tell” – Mary Ann.

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Says Kayte -”the goodies I received from Margot of Effort to Deliciousness. They are shortbread, toffee, and ginger cookies, all really really excellent! Margot is quite the baker! And extremely generous!”

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Here is the great package I received from Susan…Not only did she send me these yummies (biscotti! buckeyes!) but she also sent a photo DVD of Virginia. Gorgeous photos. So I’m thrilled if she’s my permanent Secret Baker. Sorry, Leslie. We rotate EVERY month!!

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Oh, I hope Sarah took pics(they are on her blog) because over half her cookies have been devoured!! Spice Sables, Expresso Crinkles and Coconut Chocolate pinwheels. All fantastic!! I hope so too, Beth, because they sound delicious.

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Di sent Julie Caramel Snack Mix (the recipe is here) and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Julie says they ate everything before they had a chance to take pictures

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My Secret Baker recipient was Tracey. “Thanks so much – it all looks really fabulous, delicious and so festive!! Can you share what was in the box? I am sure I’ll be sampling several things tonight ” Yes, I can – shortbread buttons, Southern Pralines, Choco/Mint Christmas Trees, and Eggnog Logs.

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Katie Patch sent me some great cookies. Shortbread, poppy seed tea cookies and Almond flavored tea cookies. All of it was delicious. I would have to say that shortbread is one of my favorite cookies and this one certainly filled the bill. Thanks, Katie.

There are two more bakers who got some great cookies, but I haven’t heard from. When I do , I will add them.

If you are looking forward to Round III, you can Sign up with Tracey for January.

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Margot’s baker was Mary Ann of Meet Me in the Kitchen Instead of redoing her conversation I am just going to link to her post about her goodies from Mare.

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Helga said, “Tracey sent me soft and chewy gingerbread, candy cane sugar cookies, and double chocolate coconut cookies.” And the pic is on the way.

My Favorite Pecan Pie was chosen for this week’s TWD by Beth of Someones in the Kitchen with Brina. The Pie is a basic SOUTHERN Pecan Pie with the addition of bittersweet chocolate and expresso. I made it for Thanksgiving (and again today for Christmas Dinner on Friday) but left the expresso out. I have to say the Family didn’t really care for the pie with the chocolate. I don’t think it really enhanced the pie. But then I am a purist when it comes to Pecan and Pumpkin Pie.

Go check out the other TWD bakers and see how they liked it.

Just got home from our annual Lunch Bunch Christmas Party. We worked together (until I retired) and we still party together – at least 3/4 times a year. No matter how busy we are we always have our Christmas Party. Buffet. Everyone brings something. And it is always good.

So here is a short post to share one dish everyone enjoyed – Beth’s Grape Salad.

Red Grapes
Walnuts or Pecans
Broccali
FRESH Bacon Bits
Red Onion, chopped fine
1 cup mayonaise
3 Tbl White Wine Vinegar
2/3 Tbl Sugar

Mix all ingredients together. Let set for at least 2 hours before serving.

It’s not very photogenic, but it is good. Nuff said.

I am a big fan of Cup Cakes. Small little cakes. Amply satisfying in just a few bites. A personal sweet for just one person. Yeah, I like cup cakes. For that reason I obtained Martha’s Cup Cake Book. Which led me to a baking group called MSC or Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. As a group we bake one, just one, of Martha’s Cuppys every month. Fun!!

This month’s pick comes from my Twitter Buddy Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table –

Gingerbread Cup Cakes with Gingerbread Cutouts

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This was a perfect pick for this time of the year. All the holiday spices – ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and molasses. Topped with a fluffy white layer of Royal Icing. The Cookie Cutouts were optional, but I couldn’t pass them up. And since it is Gingerbread House season it seemed only right to do the village. The frosting snow. Perfect. Fun to make.

Now go visit the other members and see their ‘interpretations’ of this little cuppy.

Actually they are called Cafe Volcano Cookies . And they were the pick this week for TWD chosen by Macduff of Lonely Side Car. I was wondering if they were called volcano cookies because they would explode in my oven – which would NOT be a first in my Kolin Kitchen. Then I thought of the lava cakes that were THE THING a few years back. Would I have molton egg white streaming out of my oven?? But nothing as dramatic as either one of the those things happened.

Instead I came out with a crunchy, nutty, sweet little cookie that exploded with flavor and sizzled (well, maybe not sizzled, but…) in my mouth, “You’d think you were eating expresso Pop Rocks.” (Quote from Dorie.)

I was leary about making these cookies today. It is raining buckets and they had meringue in them. If I had bothered to read ALL of the recipe CAREFULLY I would have seen they just have egg white. Plain. Simple. Eggwhite. Whew!!! Maybe these wouldn’t fail after all!!!

I did make a couple of changes. I used up the last of my almonds in some toffee so I subbed pecans (like a good Southern Belle). And since I NEVER buy expresso I subbed in Cocoa (but the flavor was mild, so next time will add more).

Now, if you look closely at the ‘innards’ of that cookie, I think you can see why they might be called Volcano Cookies. Look at those lava tubes running through them.

Try these. Simple. Delicious.

And check out the other bakers at TWD and see how their’s came out.

For many years I subscribed to Taste of Home, Cooking For Two, Simple and Delicious. I looked through them, but very rarely cooked/baked anything from them. Now that I have to time I am going back through them and am constantly surprised at how much I missed by NOT using the recipes from “1000″ cooks across the country. SO!! I am starting early on one (maybe the only) New Year’s Resolution – to cook/bake more from all those mags that are gathering dust in the storeroom (Thanks, Recipe Girl!!)

I was looking for Christmas Cookies for Secret Baker and came across this:

Cranberry Eggnog Braid

Sweet, with a hint of eggnog flavor, studded with dried cranberries, drizzled with an Eggnog glaze and sprinkled with fresh ground nutmeg.

I am surprised this bread came out at all. I put it to rise about 4:30, went to a Christmas Party, forgot about it until about 11:30 last night. Ran to the kitchen and threw it into the chill chest until this morning. Warmed it up and baked it. It should be taller – it was beautiful before I threw it in the fridge. But it was still GOOD!!!

Next time I think I will try some fresh cranberries, add some nutmeg to the dough and TRY. NOT. TO. FORGET,. ABOUT. IT!!!

From a 1990 Taste of Home Magazine.

Yep!! Tuesday again, already. And therefore time for the Weekly chapter of Tuesdays with Dorie. After two weeks of complicated sweets – Rosy Poached Pear and Pistachio Tart for December 1st and Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake for November 1st (but not done until the last week in November by many) it is nice to have a simple little cookie for this week.

Sables…

…which are nice little buttery cookies. Rolled, chllled, rolled in sugar, sliced, and baked. Nothing to it. These cookies were mild in taste and just right if you want something with just a touch of sweetness. Dorie said we could go with the Christmas theme and roll in colored sugars – so I did.

Thanks to Barbara of Bungalow Barbara for making things easy this week.

There are a number of reasons I love the winter. Besides the fact that it is cold and I feel like I can breathe, it is the time to build fires in the stove, take long walks in the woods, and make lots and lots of soup. My mainstay is usually tomato/beef/vegetable, but it is time to try some new ones.

One I have been wanting to try is Chicken Tortilla Soup. There are plenty of recipes out in the blogosphere and in magazines for it, but I have a friend who grew up in Laredo, Texas, and this is the recipe she uses, and her mom before her used.

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed or stripped, cooked
2 cups water
1 can chicken broth
1 can beef broth
1 14.5 ounce can tomatoes { I had a jar of home crushed}
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can corn, drained
1/4 cup chopped green pepper {left out, MH not a fan}
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Tortilla Chips, coursely crushed {Made my own from corn tortillas and left them in strips}
4 ounces shredded Montery Jack Cheese

In large saucepan combine water, broths, undrained tomatoes, onion, and pepper.
Bring to a boil.
Add chicken, reduce heat.
Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
Add corn, chili powder, cumin and black pepper.
Simmer covered about 10 more minutes.
Place tortilla strips (or crushed) in bottom of each bowl
Ladle soup into bowls.
Sprinkle with cheese.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this recipe. I added triple the cumin and extra chili powder and it was still rather bland. I will work on this one and see if I can increase the flavor. It was easy to make with lots of good veggies in it. I’ll take any suggestions!! Ah, well.

There are many Breads I have never tried to make. But as The Slow And Steady BBA group bakes through The Bread Baker’s Apprentice the list is getting shorter and shorter. Over the last few months I have managed to tackle (with some degree of success) such things as brioche, bagels, and ciabatta. We have about 30 breads left after Fococcia (some I am not familiar with) and I am looking forward to each and every one of them. Early in November we made

Focaccia, which is a flat oven-baked Italian Bread.

Focaccia is quite popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables. However, by far the most typical focaccia is simply baked dough topped with olive oil and a simple herb like rosemary or sage, and salted with coarse salt. It is very popular as a snack in Italy and school children will often purchase a slice from a baker on the way to school, to enjoy at break time.

{Wikipedia}

Although I had eaten Fococcia before It was rather flat and tasteless. This was not!! It was packed with flavor and very thick. I drizzled EVOO over the top along with some rosemary and oregano. It was wonderful.

Fococcia makes a great pizza dough which will be how I fix it next time. Please visit the other members — Kayte, Nancy, Cathy, Audrey, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Di, Karen, Natalia, Tracey, and Leslie, of the Slow and Steady BBA and see their Fococcia. If they haven’t posted it yet, keep going back because they are all great bakers.

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I am still trying to catch up, so also made Anadama Bread. Good stuff!! What makes this bread different is that it contains molasses and cornmeal. Different texture than most breads. Great toasted!!

I read the introduction to Steven Gdula’s book and was quite intrigued. I got into the first chapter and lost my desire to read the book. It. was. boring. But I forged on and ended up enjoying this history of the American Kitchen very much.

Steven breaks down his chronology of the changes in the room we all take for granted by decades. Beginning in 1900 he takes us decade by decade through WWI, the years of the Great Depression, WWII, The Reagan Years, and into the last decade of the 20th Century.

While I have lived through 6 of the decades he described, I was so unaware of how diffferent NATIONAL events influenced the kitchen- three decades of deprivation because of two wars and a depression. A time when the American wife/mother/cook did everything she had to to put food on the table that was nourishing AND tasty. The sixties saw a back to the earth movement where fresh was everything. The eighties were again a time of deprivation for many. Now, out of choice, we are going back to some of those habits – growing gardens, canning foods, eating fresh. We thought they were new ideas in the nineties, but now we know, our grandmothers and moms were way ahead of us.

The Internet brought about a ‘new’ kind of recipe swapping. Our moms/grannys swapped recipes all the time – we just do it differently beginning in the 90s.

“The proliferation of cooking and food-related Web sites made the contents of countless cookbooks readily available. Recipe-swapping among friends – and even strangers — was made quicker by e-mail, lending an added warmth to the exchange.”

Recipe swapping is now Blogging .

I have to tell you I ended up enjoying this book, 99% of it (some of the technical stuff was a little dry {interesting, but dry} like gene splicing explanations,etc.

If you get a chance, read this one. I won’t take the things I do in the kitchen for granted any more.

Please visit the other members of The Kitchen Reader and see their review of Gdula’s book.