Friday 30 December 2011

Time for New Year's resolutions!

Today, my cute little niece came over and we had so much fun! I sent her home with a couple dozen cookies - apologies to my brother and sister-in-law for the sugar high I'm causing this evening!

Since it's almost New Year's I guess it's time to make some New Year's resolutions. Let's see....

1. Cook more - definitely!
2. Bake some more too! A given.
3. Exercise more to work off all the food I eat.
4. Blog a lot.

Ok. I think thats pretty good. Now to have some tea and cookies.

I know, I know, but I figure it's not New Year's yet! And I'm having fruit too so that cancels out the cookies, right?

Thursday 29 December 2011

Pizza! Homemade that is.

Tonight we made homemade pizza. There really could be no better. You cannot order this. It is so good. Maybe I haven't eaten enough pizza, but this is by far the best I've ever had.

Perhaps it's because I made it to my liking. I got what I wanted on it and more than enough sauce, toppings and cheese. No skimping here!

Maybe it tastes better because I made it myself; because I chose the ingredients, I made the dough, I put it all together. Cooked it to how I liked it and I got it FRESH out of the oven. Yes, it's all of the above. Best of all? I get to eat it again for lunch tomorrow. Mmmmmm!!!!






Thursday 22 December 2011

Breakfast masterpiece!

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I could eat it for lunch or dinner too. It is one of those meals that screams comfort all year round. You can make all types of breakfasts and the possibilities are endless.

This morning I made eggs on toast with strong, aged cheedar and half an avacado on the side. So yummy, filling and meets almost all food groups. How can you go wrong?

I've provided a lovely pic with this post of my masterpiece for today! It's almost a croque-madame - minus the ham and extra piece of bread.

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Checkers anyone?

This evening I've continued with my Christmas baking and tonight, I made my hubby's favourite: checkerboard cookies! I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's website. I've been making these every Christmas since 2002 and there are never any left come New Year.

I did make a boo boo though when baking. I realized once I started cutting the cookies that I did not have any parchment paper. I thought though that they had enough butter in them (1 cup) they would be ok on my silver pan. Wrong! Some of them stuck fast. I was so mad at myself! But, I was able to get most of them up without too much damage. I've included a pic below.

Now, I better get them in the freezer and hide them deep in there if I expect to eat any on Christmas Day!


Monday 19 December 2011

Shortbread Cookies

So all I could think about this afternoon at work was coming home and eating the shortbread cookies I made yesterday afternoon. I ate two. Then I ate one more. Hard to resist.

I've decided to share my recipe since it is too good to keep to myself and it's easy to make. I hope you enjoy it. You'll need a scale.

Shortbread Cookies

230g Butter
100g Sugar
38g Rice Flour
260g Flour (all purpose)

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy in mixer. Add the two flours. Let it combine well. Place dough in chunks on floured surface and roll to about 1/8" and cut into shapes.

Bake at 350F about 10 minutes (8 minutes if you you use a dark non-stick pan).

Sometimes I'll dip them in chocolate or you can just leave plain. They freeze very well and are great to give as gifts in tins.

Madame Cuisine Everyday

Welcome to my blog! I enjoy cooking, baking and trying new recipies every day. Basically I just like being in the kitchen - it's my sanctuary in the house. I'm a bit of a servingware addict and also collect cookbooks new and old. I subject my husband to my culinary triumphs and mishaps. He doesn't mind since it's mostly triumphs. I look foward to sharing with you!