a lovely living

It’s December and very obvious that the holiday shopping season has commenced.  You’ll be excited to realize that’s it’s also cookie season! Oh, and diets don’t count in December, especially if you’re pregnant ;) This year I started out with a slightly less typical Christmas cookie, the GirlScout Samoa! This is my absolute favorite of theirs, although frozen thin mints come in second. When I came across the recipe I had to give it a shot. Although slightly time consuming with the melting etc., these cookies are totally worth it. I even had my husband helping me in the kitchen as the clock approached midnight one evening, but you should have seen how proud he was to serve them to his family. He made sure each cookie was appreciated!

Homemede Samoas via Just A Taste:

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the coconut topping:
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
3 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces dark chocolate (I needed 10-12 ounces)

Directions:

Make the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In three increments, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until combined and the dough begins to come together in large pieces.

Use your hands to divide the dough in half, pressing it together to compact it into two disks. Wrap the disks securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate them until firm, about 1 hour.

Once the dough has chilled, roll each disk out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter (or a cookie cutter and a spice lid etc.). Place the cut-out cookies on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Make the coconut topping:

Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the coconut for about 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven until toasted, stirring frequently to ensure even browning and so that it does not burn. Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and set it aside.

Melt the caramels, milk and salt in a double-boiler by placing the caramels in a medium saucepot set over a large saucepot of simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the caramels are fully melted. Remove the saucepot from the heat and combine 3/4 of the caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl.

Carefully spread the remaining 1/4 cup of caramel atop the cooled cookies then press on a portion of the coconut mixture. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much at any point while pressing it onto the cookies, return it to the double-boiler and warm it until it’s spreadable again.

Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate hardens fully.

I’m sure many of you will be finding yourselves in the kitchen at some point today or tomorrow. Whether you’re hosting or doing your part in bringing along a side or dessert to your Thanksgiving dinner, chances are you’ll be keeping yourself busy. And it won’t end there. December is likely the month where your oven, and all of your kitchen gadgets get put to use the most. I have the below group of items titled ‘kitchen essentials’, however this would work just as well as a gift guide for the chef/baker in your family. I’m no pro, but all of these items have certainly aided in many of my kitchen adventures, yet funny enough, before I had them I never knew what I was missing. Trust me, if you know someone that’s lacking one of these items, do them a favor and help complete their kitchen. They’ll surely thank you, possibly in baked goods ;)

1. Dutch Oven: This pot just may be my favorite item in the kitchen. From soups, to one pot meals and braising meats, it’s put to use at least once or twice each week. It cleans easily which is another big plus. You can find a less expensive option here.

2. Pampered Chef Mix ‘n Chop: Although it can be used for chopping fruits and vegetables as well, my main use with this utensil is breaking up ground meat while browning it. A spatula or wooden spoon just can’t compete here.

3. Garlic Press: For years I spent extremely too much time mincing garlic with a knife. I’d now be lost without this guy.

4. Bundt Pan: You can literally find these in hundreds of shapes and sizes and once you have one and discover the wonders of a bundt cake, you may end up a junkie like me!

5. Mesh Strainer: Great for sifting, but it’s main use in my kitchen is for rinsing quinoa which we eat often around here.

6. Crock Pot: Chances are you have one, but if you don’t, it’s life changing. We’ve had to up-size ours as our family has grown, but for the relatively inexpensive price, they’re totally worth it.

7. Wooden Spoon: Nothing new here, but I’m constantly grabbing wooden spoons for baking and cooking. I couldn’t have enough.

8. Salad Spinner: We eat salads year round and this thing is a huge time saver. A nice perk is that you can use the bowl for serving your salad as well allowing you to have less dirty dishes, yay!

9. Mini Spatulas: These things are life savers when it comes to getting brownies or baked bars of any type out of that darn pan. Knives just won’t cut it (ha).

10. Pastry Mat: Before purchasing this mat, I had one without any grip and it would drive me crazy sliding all over the place as I did my best to roll out dough. Not only does this one stick, but it also has some very convenient measurement markings which allow me to roll my pie dough accurately.

I know you’re all about to get yourselves into turkey overload, but before that happens I wanted to share with you an awesome recipe I tried last week. I love lasagne, but I’m not a fan of the time consuming prep work that is required. With my fondness for soups, I knew this one was right up my alley. With minimum preparation and a whole lot of taste I’m already looking forward to making this one again.

Lasagne Soup via Cooking Classy:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups)
3 – 5 garlic cloves, to taste, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 3/4 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 lasagna noodles, broken into bite size pieces (6.5 oz)
1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (5 oz)
1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese (2 oz)
8 oz ricotta cheese

Directions:

• Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, crumble beef into pot, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Drain majority of fat from beef and set aside (you can drain it all if you want it to be healthier I just like the little bit of flavor a small amount of the fat gives). Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in pot, add chopped yellow onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Add in chicken broth, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, rosemary, fennel seeds, thyme, sugar, parsley, the cooked ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles according to directions listed on package, reserving 1 cup pasta water before draining pasta.
• Add cooked pasta to soup along with 1/2 cup – 1 cup pasta water as desired. In a mixing bowl, using a fork, stir together mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta.
• Ladle soup into bowls, dollop with a large scoop of the cheese mixture and sprinkle with chopped parsley (you can help the cheese melt better by cooking in the microwave after dolloping over soup for a bit or you could put the soup in oven safe bowl, top with cheese mixture and set under broiler to melt well. Or just stir into very hot soup and it should melt well).