Butter Cookies

Time to bake some cookies... and we (me and the kids) wanted to make them pretty and tasty!

Butter Cookies,
by James Peterson "Baking"
2 and 3/4 cups flour
3/4 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter, at cool room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
In bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a mixer beat the butter with the sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Beat in the egg and egg yolk. Mix the flour mixture with the butter/egg mixture just until it well combined. Roll the dough between waxed paper. Refrigerate until cold. Then cut it in shapes.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Bake for 15 to 20 mins. Let it cool.

Decorate with Royal Icing!

Royal Icing
1 egg white
1 cup confectioners' sugar, or more as needed.
Combine the egg white and the sugar, mix with a whisk until smooth and thick enough. Add colour if desired!

This winter busy week...

...we have been celebrating Mateo's 5ht BDay! First at home with us, and on Saturday he finally had a fun party for him and his friends.

I really wanted to go and hang out somewhere before the winter holidays begin. Toronto's busiest The Distillery District was packed with people at night watching the beautiful lights and enormous decorated tree!

Finally, I have tried to get the kids to smile for the camera so we could send some holiday cards to the family and friends! Silly - is what I get!

Happy Holidays!

Easy Raspberry Buttermilk Cake and a Magical Snow

Last night I looked out of the window and saw some huge snowflakes coming down.... so beautiful! Puts you in the mood for the holidays! Then right after I had this urge to bake...
Chosen recipe for that night was Raspberry Buttermilk Cake from here.

I love the combination of fruits in the cakes... a specially raspberries, it got that sourness with the sweetness. How do I explain that, mmmm... just try!

And here are some images of the beauty of outside this morning. When I was driving Mateo to school today, he told me that we are in the magical world of snow!

Whole Wheat Blackberry Ricotta Scones

Now I get to experiment with scones! The original recipe has raspberry instead of blackberry, but as usual I use what I do have in the fridge at the moment. Plus I bought a lot of ricotta, which is amazing for my breakfasts.

Here is the link to this recipe: Whole Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones!
By the way holidays are around the corner.... gotta make lots and lots of cookies! Coming up!

Cocholate Cake for my Big Boy's Birthday!

My little / big boy has turned 8 today! I am so very excited for him, because he looks so happy and overjoyed! While Andre was enjoying his new toys and games, I was enjoying making him a cake.... he wanted a Chocolate Cake!

 This cake called "Devil's Food Cake" , by James Peterson.

Needed:

Butter and flour for the cake pans.
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tspn. baking soda
1 tspn. baking powder
1/4 tspn. salt
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar (I have used brown)
3 eggs
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Combine butter, sour cream, chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Stir until smooth, once the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat.
In large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in the chocolate mixture and the flour mix over. Mix!
Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for about 25-35 min. until the toothpick comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

And here is the left over for tomorrow, and a closer look at the texture of this pretty good cake!

Scones for Breakfast...Oh, and a Last Night's SECRET!

Sometimes we are out, and there is a coffee and a nice fresh scone... usually toasted with butter in it. Tastes great, a specially if it's a chili cold day!
The other day I saw a post on Joy The Baker's blog. There are so many different recipes for making scones!!! I have tried this one Chocolate Coconut Almond Scones so easy to make, and super tasty with tea!

Last night the kids were in their room....shushing about something!
They wouldn't let me go in and said it was a Secret. Once everything was ready and set up, we walked into the room to see the reading chair full of beautiful messages with drawings of all of us! I had to run and grab the camera, because these moments make us remember this special feeling and love that is surrounding us as a family!

Love, love my boys!!!!

Salsa Salad

This Saturday! Finally I had all the ingredients at home.... I keep forgetting to buy either tomatoes... or cilantro!

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic

2 firm red tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers
1 bunch of green onion
Juice of one lime
Handful of cilantro/coriander
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Half teaspoon black pepper powder
Salt

Olive oil

Chop the vegetables as finely as you can. Don't forget to remove the seeds from the peppers before chopping.

Mix it all up in the large bowl. Top with the spices and seasoning and add freshly squeezed lime juice with olive oil.

Chill it in the fridge before serving!