Delectable Dessert Collection

I love to bake, especially with two boys in the house, I will need to bake and freeze my breads, treats and goodies. When you soak certain fruit in alcohol, the alcohol draws out the flavor and aroma. Aroma is a very important part of flavor. Have you ever noticed that when your nose is stuffy, food does not taste right? The same process is at work when making extracts. It is a matter of making a tincture. A tincture uses a solvent, such as vodka or rum, to extract oils, nutrients or phytochemicals of a plant.

This is my first attempt at making Polish Borscht Soup. I found several recipes and YouTube tutorial videos.борщ and featured on Ukrainian postage.(see image) Borscht is beet root based recipe popular in many central and eastern European countries. The original Ukrainian name does not end with a 't', the final t sound was added when the dish was adopted by Yiddish speaking Jews.

My base recipe came from the following YouTube video. Red Borscht - Barszcz Czerwony - Christmas Menu Recipe #51. There is a follow up video, how to make miniature Polish mushroom dumplings, Uszka. Ukrainian Borscht is more complicated, as it calls for carrots, potato, cabbage and beef.

As this is my first Borscht, I do not know if I prefer the Polish version or the Ukrainian version. I will be making it my own way. In Ania's video, she strained the soup with a cheese cloth, and recommend we do not bring the soup to a boil more than once as it will turn brown. In another Polish language video, (featured below) they used a strainer instead of a cheesecloth. Ania recommended letting the soup sit overnight, then slowly reheating it the next day.

• 1 can beets
• 1 red apple
• 2 cans water
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 tbs orange juice
• 1 bay leaf
• sugar
• salt
• pepper

How Was it Served?

I served it with a dollop of sour cream and chopped green onion. The sour cream sank right to the bottom, which I did not like. I think that the sour cream is intended for the Russian/Ukrainian recipe and not the Polish recipe. I served it with chopped green onion, as I did not have time to make the mushroom dumplings.

How Did it Turn Out?

I thought that it was delicious, my husband thought it was too tart. Next time, I will replace 4 tbs Orange Juice with 2 tbs lemon juice. My intention is to make this soup again during the Winter Holidays. The Polish Borscht should be transparent, not cloudy, much like a red won-ton soup whereas the Russian/Ukrainian version can be cloudy, and hearty.

I often wondered what was the connection between Easter Rabbits and Eggs. Rabbits do not lay eggs.

Rabbits and Eggs are fertility symbols. Rabbits were once believed to be hermaphrodites  and it was also believed they could reproduce without sex. Birds lay eggs and rabbits give birth in large litters in early spring, the two became symbols of rising fertility of the earth at the March Equinox.

Ēostre or Ostara (Northumbrian Old English: Ēostre; West Saxon Old English: Ēastre; Old High German: *Ôstara) is a goddess in Germanic paganism who, by way of the Germanic month bearing her name is the namesake of the festival of Easter.

The fertility symbols (rabbit, egg), the word Ēostre ( sounds a lot like Easter doesn't it), were incorporated into Christianity. I could care less. It is a lovely holiday. There are not nearly enough holidays in the spring. 

Lets take a look at some public domain Easter cake and cupcake images. Maybe they will inspire you to make a cake at home this year.

Today I am making a Classic Chocolate Cake for the Children's Therapy Center and Dynamic Partners 23rd annual charity event. I am donating this dessert, on behalf of Seattle Soap Company, for their dessert rush auction.

Each table will donate money to the charity, the tables that donate the most get to choose the most desirable cake. My goal is to make my cake as desirable .. as possible. Nobody can see inside the cake, desirably is all in the decoration.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 2/3 cup white, granulated sugar
3 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups milk
Frosting







CAN YOU SUBSTITUTE BROWN SUGAR FOR WHITE SUGAR?

I had a bit of a mishap when making this cake, I only had 1/3 cup white sugar. I substituted the rest with brown sugar. White sugar is considered a 'liquid' when baking because it melts quickly. Dark brown sugar is different in that it contains 6.5% molasses, the molasses is what gives it the brown color. The presence of molasses will change the baking chemistry. When brown sugar melts in the batter, it becomes a liquid in its own right, of sugar and molasses.

To make the swap balance itself out, reduce the water content of the recipe. If you swap 1 cup white sugar for 1 cup brown sugar, reduce other liquid by 3 tablespoons. I reduced the milk content of my recipe just a tad.

Brown sugar is used for heavier, richer recipes and will impart its own flavor. I tasted the batter before putting it in the oven. It tasted delicious to me.

DECORATING THE FINAL PRODUCT

This is the fun part!














UPDATE

Children's Therapy and Dynamic Partners made $11,000 from the cake rush this year! Yeah!

One of My Best

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup Apriva (zero calorie sweetener) Fred Meyer Brand
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

As of late, I have been carefully watching my nutrition. For the past three months I committed myself to resistance training: lunges, squats, leg bridges, and many other exercises. My goal is to build as much muscle as I can until mid March. In March, I am going to jump into an intense cardio routine and try to get cut.

Building muscle requires eating six times per day, eating carbs before a workout, and most important - eating a good amount of protein. The problem with female diets is that we tend to eat more carbohydrates and fats.

In the images, I am showing you what I logged in today for breakfast and lunch. The ratio of protein, fat and carbs are perfect.


I expect that many of the recipes I publish on this blog will be high protein recipes involving salmon, almonds and egg whites.

Final Product

Okay, so lets get started with this. I made my red enchilada sauce early in the day. If you are using traditional enchilada sauce it will come in a green can. But, this is the United States and I am doing it my way. Unless I am eating salad or guacamole - I do not like eating anything green. Dr. Seuss can take that green eggs and ham and eat it himself.

I am feeling a little lazy today, so I will spare you the details and just show you in photos how I made this recipe.

If anyone wants the recipe, leave a comment on this blog and I will respond.

Many of you have noticed by now that I am not making as many treats as I did before.

My two year old son has been eating too many cookies, and it is completely my fault. He is not getting chubby or anything, but he is getting too spoiled and picky. He is on a no-cookie diet for a few months.

I am on a high protein diet, so many of the things that I publish are things only my husband will eat. My diet consists of egg whites, chicken, fish, rice and vegetables. I have not had time lately to really sit down and think of creative ways to cook high protein meals.

If you are wondering why I changed my diet, it is because I started a new workout routine almost two months ago. It consists of weights and a lot of resistance training. I am trying to put on as much muscle as I can until late March. In March, I will cut back the protein, increase the complex carbohydrates and start high intensity cardio workouts. I am getting ready for bikini season ten months early.

I will be publishing some high protein healthy recipes for you health nuts soon.

xxxooo

Naomi

I made this yummy dish a couple days ago for my husband. It was simple and very healthy.

Ingredients:
chicken
garlic
carrots
potato
onion
chopped up into chunky pieces

Herbs
Rosemary and lots of it
Salt and Pepper
Butter
Italian Seasoning

Hello Readers,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night I was busy making three different stuffings. Some say that the stuffing is the most important part of a Thanksgiving Dinner. I do not know if that is true, but here is what I made:

1. Apricot and Almond Stuffing
2. Apple and Pear Stuffing
3. Carrot and Ginger Stuffing

For the cranberry recipe, I made the Tangerine Cranberry recipe published by Food Wishes. It is featured below in this blog if you would like to keep it. I substituted orange for tangerine. Normally I make pumpkin pie from scratch, but due to time constraints I had to make it from a can. Sorry guys - nobody is perfect.

If you need to carve a turkey tonight, here is a quick tutorial video on how to properly cut a turkey. Rule Number One: do it in the kitchen and NOT at the table. Bon Appetit!