Kolochkis

Every year around Christmas my Mom makes a few batches of kolochkis. They're a tasty, popular, simple cookie that are great to serve around the holidays. I don't mind having a few for breakfast even... I mean, they have preserves in them, right?

*Disclaimer:Other favorite breakfast meals of mine include left over pasta, pizza and thai food.

I poked around the net before writing this blog and found that there are all different styles of kolochkis. (Different spellings, too.) The ones I made are the only ones I am familiar with, but will probably give another style of these a try one day, since they all look so tasty.



The ingredients are basic but I learned that there are a couple things to watch out for while making these.

1) Don't make them too big
2) Make sure the thumb prints are deep enough to hold the preserves
3) Don't use too much preserves or they'll spill all over the place.

Keeping those things in mind, here is the recipe for you to give it a shot.


Ingredients

1 Cup sugar
1 lb unsalted butter
4 egg yolks
4 cups flour
Preserves or other filling such as lemon curd or nutella


Preheat oven to 375.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.Once mixed, add the egg yolks and beat well.

Add the flour gradually, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Mix until completely combined.

Roll dough into 1" balls and place about 2" apart on a cookie sheet. I lined mine with parchment paper, but that step is optional. Press your thumb into the balls and fill with preserves.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie appear golden.

Happy (almost) New Year!

Will you be making anything fun for NYE? Tell me about it!



Eggnog Cheesecake Bars

The holiday season is great for a lot of things... getting together with family and friends, eating, giving and receiving gifts, but more importantly (for my purposes here, anyways), trying new, festive recipes!

This year I needed a relatively simple dessert with a holiday flair but didn't want to make cookies for this particular get together. A Google search later and a few clicks around on the Martha Stewart site and whammo, eggnog cheese cake bars we on the menu.

Normally I'm not a huge fan of eggnog. I wouldn't want to try it homemade (raw egg... ew) and the store bought kinds are super sweet and cloying. If I mix in some brandy I can take the nog but if I have brandy, I'd be making Brandy Alexanders anyways. When I do drink eggnog, I drink the Silk brand, which is soy. It tastes SO good. All the egg-noggy goodness without that thick sweet coating in your mouth and that feeling like you've just poured motor oil down your throat. OK- maybe I'm exaggerating. Yeah, I'm definitely exaggerating. Still, the soy stuff is way good. Try it while it's still in season!

Check out Wikipedia for some theories on why they call it "eggnog". (*Spoiler* They don't really know why.)

I used the soy eggnog in this, but otherwise followed this recipe pretty much verbatim.


Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray, for pan

12 graham crackers, finely ground (1 1/2 cups)

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

2 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup eggnog

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon brandy

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Crush up your grahams. I put them in a sealed sandwich bag and roll them with my rolling pin for some fast crushing action. You can use a food processor of course (I GOT ONE FOR X-MAS!) but that means more dishes. No thank you!

*I used to use my hands and punch the bag, but as fun as that was, it left my knuckles pretty sore. Using the rolling pin is a much better method.

Mix together your grahams, sugar and butter. Press down into a 9 x 9 baking pan (oops... I lied about the "followed it verbatim" part.... I used an 8 x 8 pan) and bake until just browned on the edges, 12-16 minutes. Let cool.

Time to make the delicious filling. Beat cream cheese on med-high until fluffy, for about 3 minutes.

Add sugar, eggs, yolk, eggnog, flour, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. (Phew.) Beat until smooth.

Pour the filling into the cooled crust, and place the tin in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water until it comes about halfway up the baking pan. Carefully place in oven and cook at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until just set.

These bars are nice and creamy, so make sure not to overcook them, thinking they're under done.

Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Lightly sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

Happy Holiday baking (and eating)!

Tickled Tuesday

Not long ago I had an especially rough day at work. The next morning, I saw a friend of mine had posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was just fantastic. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday!

Happy Tuesday!

Tickled Tuesday

You all probably know how much I love cats. Dogs too, but cats are just, well, special. They're playful, cuddly, grumpy, moody, fun, happy, angry... they're just so much like us only way cuter. I'm allergic to cats, but have had at least one my entire life, so my immunity to them is pretty well built up. (We had FOUR when I was born!) I'm glad of it, because animals make me smile no matter what. They make you feel better without saying a word. They just don't have to.

That being said, here's a cat who makes me happy because he looks like a total bastard.

Happy holidays!

Chewy Gingersnaps

This week I had a dilemma. I needed a treat to bring to a get together, and I refused to go store bought, even though I didn't have a whole lot of time to bake. I looked around for an easy yet holiday-themed recipe, and found these chewy gingersnaps on the Real Simple website. My buddy Leslie was always in love with their site and magazine, and although I was always impressed with what she showed me, I never got very into them. Now I'm going to add them to my "go-to" list for recipe sites. These were super good and, well, real simple.






Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated or coarse decorating sugar


Preheat your oven to 350.

Begin by mixing together flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in a bowl and set aside. If you want to make a face like I do, go for it. Why not add to the fun, right? These were literally cookies made with a smile.







In a separate bowl, beat your brown sugar and butter together until light and fluffy on med-high (about 3 minutes).

*Tip: If you forget to let your butter come to room temperature or it hasn't been out quite long enough, let it sit on your oven while it's pre-heating. Keep an eye on it though, as you don't want it to be too soft or melted!

Add the eggs, oil and molasses. Beat until combined.

With your mixer on low, gradually add your flour mixture. Don't over mix! I had a bit of flour on the bottom of the bowl that my mixer wasn't grabbing, so I missed it in with my rubber spatula instead.

Spread the sugar out on a plate. Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 " (about 2 Tbs) and then roll in the sugar. Put on a non-greased baking sheet, about 3" apart.

Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes, rotating half way through.

Allow to sit on baking sheets for a couple of minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Now share and enjoy!

Happy holiday baking!

Eclecticisms- The Best of 2011

2011 was a pretty blogtastic year for me! I made a goal in January to blog at least once per week and I obviously went way above and beyond that goal. Although it's very important to me to stay active here, I'm honestly happy with once per week, if that's all I can do at the time. The important thing is that I don't lose sight of my goals and let my blog be forgotten. It really does mean a lot to me and I'm very thankful to everyone who reads it! (I hope you get something out of it too... fun, food, anything!)

Annnnnd... I'm approach 10,000 views!!! I never thought I'd have so many by now and I'm "super jazzed" about it!

As 2011 is wrapping up (only 2 weeks left... yikes!) I wanted to post some of my favorite blogs from this year. Check them out and enjoy!


Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies I'm proud to say that this is my recipe. It's a great substitute for peanut butter cookies when you have someone with nut allergies in the house!

Flan Cheesecake I don't think I need to explain why I love this one.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Because they were so good I made two batches in one week!

Blizzard 2011 It's hard to believe this really happened. What a storm!

Parsnip and Carrot Mash with Feta Because it's delicious and healthy.

Adler Planetarium Trip I love museums and I'm actually going to more lately!

Fun Soap Recipes DIY fun with my cousin! I love trying new things.

Strawberry Cake It was tasty, and in honor of my Momma's B-day.

Featured Ingredient: Rhubarb! A fast and delicious treat for the summer- learn to use this yummy vegetable!

Cake Decorating I finally have some decorating skills!

Quinoa Tabbouli Salad Healthy. Yummy.

Tickled Tuesday Because animals amaze me.

Mushroom "Caviar" Perfect for anytime, anywhere.

Biscuits and Veggie-Sausage Gravy So tasty- I can finally enjoy this dish again!

Ginger Pie It's Maude related. How would this not be a favorite?!

Best-Ever Mushroom Cream Sauce Because I made it up and it's one of the BEST sauces I've ever tasted. Seriously.

City Girl Smores Campfire food in the kitchen. These will add lots of pounds if I don't watch it.


That's it! There's a lot here, I know. I'm not very decisive. I hope you keep reading and start following via RSS (if you arent' already) so you can keep up when I move over to Wordpress soon!

2011 Improvements- I don't want to lose you!

*Correction! You SHOULD follow using Feedburner. I'm so bad at this stuff... this is a great example of why I am not doing the Wordpress switch myself!*

Now, on to the original blog!



I will soon be moving my blog to Wordpress, which means great changes, but if you follow via GFC or Feedburner I will lose you! (AGH!) If you don't already, please use the banner on the right to follow me via e-mail and/or RSS so you don't miss a recipe, rant or craft.

I hope to see you all after my super exciting transition!

(P.S. When I say "I" will move my blog, I really mean that Kiersten, who is super talented and awesome, will be moving my blog for me.) I can't wait!

Chicago's Shedd Aquarium

Last week I took a trip to The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I hadn't been there since I was a kid am so excited that I finally made it back. The building is beautiful, the exhibits are educational and the aquatic life is just breath taking. From watching a snake eat a rat to dolphins jumping in unison, it was a wonderful visit that I won't soon forget.

Check out some cool facts about the aquarium on their website. One of the coolest facts...

"Shedd has the oldest aquatic animal in a public aquarium in the world, an Australian lungfish named Granddad. In 1933, a Shedd collecting team received Granddad and his mate from the Sydney aquarium. Traveling by steamer and Shedd’s railroad car, the

Nautilus, the fish arrived at the aquarium for the opening of the Century of Progress World’s Fair. Granddad was fully grown when he arrived, so he is at least 75 years old."

...and I got to see him!



Here are some of the pictures I took. I forgot my camera at home (UGH!) so I had to use my phone. Between that and the glare on the tanks these aren't the most fantastic pictures, but hey... more reason to get your lazy butt up and go yourself, right?

Stingrays

Tarantula! He had apples in his cage.

Toitle! (Turtle.)

See him? Yeah- he'd totally sneak up on anything he wanted to.

This Monkey Frog, along with many of his buddies, looked so much like he was made of plaster that we didn't realize he was real until we saw him breathe!

There was snake skin EVERYWHERE.

Here's the giant snake whose skin was all over... eating a rat. Ew.

Blue clawed prawn

Fly River Turtle... check out that handsome face!

Granddad! (Australian Lung Fish)

They briefly brought penguins out during the dolphin show- SO cute!

One of the whales featured in the dolphin show.

Coral is amazing. It would take coral 320 YEARS to grown to my height, 5'4".

Garden eels... these cuties were some of my favorites!

Frog Fish... doesn't he look a little like a Muppet?

Australian Southern Rock Crab

Look closely... can you see him?

He may look like a large rock, but this guy is actually an Alligator Snapping Turtle! He was huge, and not feeling overly photogenic, apparently. His face did resemble that of an alligator.

Iguana

The "Jellies" exhibit is small but exhilerating. Jellies have no brains or lungs. They breathe through their skin!

One way that Jellies reproduce when the sperm and egg meet and form a polyp that plants itself on the sea or ocean floor. These polyps can remain dormant for long periods of time, waiting for the perfect conditions.

Here's a site with some neat info on Jellyfish reproduction.

Egg Yolk Jelly.

Jellies lives anywhere from a few hours to several months. The Shedd is breeding them, and they allow you to see a jelly fish at it's earliest stages, when they're pretty much the size of fleas.

Jellies come in all sorts of colors and are mezmorizing to watch, as they float through the water.

This one almost looks fake, like he's in space. The specs are just debris/food floating in the water which created a pretty cool effect.

I hope everyone reading this gets a chance to visit The Shedd Aquarium. It's a trip not to be missed!

Happy exploring!