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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Jesu Church


I took this picture of Jesu Church in Milwaukee in the summer, on one of my many feeble attempts to tour the inside of this beautiful church. Jesu Church, is a historical church which sits among the many stately buildings of Marquette University.

On this particular day, my daughter's boyfriend told me that the Church would be open for service so we could get a quick look inside of the French Gothic structure. It was open, but only the basement was open, and the basement looked like any other church basement! So I told the security guard my plight and asked if I could go upstairs and look at the church. He said he couldn't let me. I told him I had been trying to visit the upstairs numerous times to no avail and asked "When is it open?" For which he replied "Sunday"---YES, I felt like an idiot!!!

But we finally made it to the inside, on Christmas Eve for the Candlelight Mass! We were told to arrive an hour early to insure a seat and avoid standing room only. The inside was impressive, but even more impressive was the priest who before service came to each pew to welcome us and to wish us a Merry Christmas.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Brownie Shooters


I am always looking for new desserts to add to our annual holiday party. This year brownie shooters made their debut with much success!

For the base:
Use your favorite brownie recipe

For the mousse:
(I found this recipe in the Chicago Cooks Cookbook) and I love it's simplicity and ease.)

1 1/2 heavy whipping cream
12 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
5 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons amaretto

In a small sauce pan, heat the cream just to a boil. Meanwhile, combine the chocolate chips, egg yolks and liquor in a food processor or blender. With the motor running, slowly add the hot cream to the chocolate minuter. Blend for one to 2 minutes.

For whip cream topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a chilled small mixing bowl and with chilled beaters, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until soft peaks form. Store in the refrigerator.


Garnish with fresh raspberries.

MY TIP: Use the leftover egg whites to make a low calorie white egg omelet.

MY OTHER TIP: Brandy or rum or your favorite liquor can be substituted.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Easy Baklava


You all know that phyllo dough and I have this thing--it hates me and I am not happy with it. However, those cute little phyllo cups and I get along fine. I put everything in them and they never disappoint and make a great presentation. This year I stumbled upon this recipe and knew I was going to make it for our annual holiday party. They were super simple and isn't that what you need this time of year??

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup pistachios
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/2 cup almonds
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 1/4 cup, plus 3Tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 boxes mini filo shells, 15 shells each
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • (12-cup) mini cupcake pans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Arrange the pistachios,walnuts, and almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Let nuts cool slightly and add to a food processor along with the lemon zest, 3 tablespoons of sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla and pulse to combine.

Place mini phyllo shells in wells of 2 mini cupcake pans. Add 1 teaspoon of the nut mixture into each shell. Bake until filling is hot, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat add the water, 1/4 cup sugar and honey and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until reduced and slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour 1 teaspoon syrup into each cup and allow it to soak in, then repeat with another teaspoon. Refrigerate at least 5 hours, or overnight.

MY TIP: I made these a month before our holiday party and they froze nicely!

Oreo Cheesecake


(Picture from Royal Bakers blog)

Aren't these gorgeous??? When I first laid eyes on this dessert on the internet, I knew that it had to adorn my holiday party table. But first, I had to order the $26 specialty pan that was required to make these. Oh, 7 to 10 business days to ship seemed endless and than finally UPS delivered!!! I could not wait to duplicate this recipe..how could it go wrong...it was a no bake recipe...what could be simpler?? or so I thought.

I followed the recipe exactly and then waited in anticipation as it sat in the refrigerator to set up. Then, six hours later... I became totally frustrated that it did not appear as beautiful, as simple and as elegant as the internet picture, in fact they looked horrible!!

Despite it's looks it tasted great! I was determined not to throw it out. I decided to roll it into balls, thinking that I would then dip it in chocolate (hey, everything is better in chocolate right?), but they were too soft to roll. So then I decided to put it into small bite size glasses, but it looked sad, ok not sad... BAD!!! So, I garnished it with graham cracker crumbs...and then it looked sad and bad!!! Then, I decided to make chocolate garnishes (like a crowned jewel--okay, maybe, that is being a little dramatic, but you get the point!!) Turned out they looked good (certainly not anywhere near the gorgeous internet picture!) and the recipe tasted great, very light and fluffy!! Better than that everyone loved them at our holiday party!



Crust
1 1/2 cup crushed graham cracker
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
7 tablespoon unsalted butter(melted)

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs with sugar.
2. Add melted butter and blend until combined.
3. Press into pan. Set aside.

Cheesecake

2 ¼ cups heavy cream

1 pound cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoon vanilla powder

¾ cups Oreo Cookies, crushed

Instructions:

1. Beat heavy cream until medium peaks form. Set aside.

2. Add cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla powder, lemon juice to a bowl and beat with a paddle attachment until smooth (approximately 3-5 mins). If you do not have a stand mixer or a paddle attachment a hand beater will work as well, but will take twice as long to achieve a smooth consistency.

3. Add cream cheese mixture to heavy cream and beat until incorporated.

4. Gently fold in Oreo cookies.

5. Fill chosen pan with a slight mound at the center, as the cheesecake will become slightly sunken at the center.

6. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours to set or overnight for best results.

7. Layer crust in the bottom of small glasses and pack down, scoop cheesecake mixture next and garnish with chocolate. Makes 16 mini desserts.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...



When I first saw these monogram ornaments on the Creativity Exchange blog, I fell in love. I love monograms!!!! I knew I would make them for our Christmas tree! I was amazed at how simple, emphasize very simple, these were to make.

I went to the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby and bought the single large rhinestone sticker letter ($1.99) and the rhinestone alphabet sticker letters ($5.98) along with 4 large ornaments (on sale for $4.50). Then I simply attached the letters to the ornaments. The stickers are forgiving so if you do not line them up perfectly the first time you can adjust them so they are perfectly aligned. To make these literally takes a few minutes but looks like you painstakingly applied each rhinestone. Plus the effect is gorgeous!

I bought extra ornaments so when our family expands I can add more monograms to our "family tree".