Easy Pink Marshmallow Pops and My G-ma's 90th B-Day

My grandma, Rose or "G-ma," as I refer to her, celebrated her 90th birthday on December 19th. Quite a feat for anyone but my G-ma is a very special 90-year old: She is sharp as a tack, incredibly progressive (she has a crush on Will Smith and recently mastered Wii bowling), attends aerobics class twice a week and absolutely loves to iron. She might have the kindest heart of anyone on the planet and she absolutely loves the color pink.

So, in honor of her birthday, my family hosted a brunch for 30 friends and relatives the Sunday after Christmas. It wasn't just any brunch though...it was "Rose's Pink Ball" brunch. The event was held at the University Club in Rockford in a pretty private room that we absolutely showered with pink for the occassion. Pink tissue paper pom poms of all sizes hung from the chandeliers, windows and door frames. The tables were adorned with tiny arrangements of light pink roses.

My cousin, a pastry school graduate, and I made pink vanilla cupcakes with pink rose frosting. We had a candy bar filled with pink candy of all kinds. Guests were offered pink champagne and pink grapefruit juice upon arrival. Finally, everyone had to wear something pink...even the men.

Never one to shy from the spotlight, G-ma enjoyed every moment thoroughly...she spent the day shaking with laughter and even shed a few joyful tears.

For me, besides the fun of watching her in the spotlight, I absolutely loved planning the thing. My mother, cousins and I spent most of the previous day making pink tissue pom poms (possibly one of the cheapest, prettiest and most impactful decorations ever), baking cupcakes, arranging flowers, and, best of all making easy pink marshmallow pops.

I'd first read about these on Hostess with the Mostess, one of the best entertaining blogs ever! These pops are so easy to create but look absolutely adorable arranged in a vase or standing in a block of foam. They're quite tasty too! They lend themselves well to the pink decor but could easily be switched up to suite any color scheme. I have a feeling these will be a party staple for me moving forward.

Have you ever created a fun party theme that you just loved coming up with? What was it?

Also, I want to wish everyone a safe, restful and very happy New Year!

Marshmallow Pops
Makes about 40 pops

Lollipop sticks (available at craft and candy stores)
1 bag large marshmallows
1 bag white chocolate melting disks (available at craft and candy stores)
1 jar white non-pariel candies
M&M candies in the color of your choice
few drops of food coloring in the color of your choice

1 block of foam (available at craft stores or just use a block of packing foam like the kind that comes in appliance boxes)

Use one lollipop stick or a small screw of a similar size to boar holes in the foam. This will be used as a base to hold your lollipops upright as they dry.

Push lollipop sticks into the marshmallows so that they're about 2/3 of the way through the mallow. Set aside. Melt the white chocolate according to package directions in the microwave or in a double-boiler on the stovetop. When the candy is just melted enough to be smooth, stir in food coloring one drop at a time until you achieve the color you're looking for.

To decorate the marshmallows, dip the top 1/4th of each marshmallow into the white chocolate. Turn upright and shake white non-pariels onto the chocolate to evenly cover (this is best done over a rimmed pan or baking dish so that the excess candies are contained). Then, place a single M&M ("m" side down) onto the top of the pop. Stick the finished pop into the foam based and repeat with remaining pops. Leave the pops to dry for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To serve, arrange like flowers in small bud vases or juice glasses, or place a piece of floral foam in a small, square dish and insert the lollipops in even rows. Cover the foam with extra candies or floral moss for a finished look.

Woodland Spice Cookies

This past weekend, I spent all day Sunday with my dear friend, colleague and neighbor TKTC for our first annual holiday baking extravaganza. Cozy in her lovely, vintage Wicked Park apartment, we donned our aprons at 11:30 am and didn't remove them until well after 7 pm. We baked Russian tea cookies, cranberry cornmeal thumbprints, lime meltaways, graham cracker caramel crunches (delicious!!), chocolate-dipped macaroons and (whew!) these little gems: woodland spice cookies.

While each and every variety was delicious (JiT's favorites are the woodland spice and the Russian tea), these were my favorite to create. I based them off of a Martha Stewart recipe for cardamom spice cookies and borrowed their idea for imprinting the cookies with a woodgrain pattern before cutting them out. But I've changed the flavors significantly....mainly because I didn't have any cardamom on-hand when I made the dough. But the result is delicious in its own right. They're like a cross between a traditional gingerbread and a basic sugar cookie...the flavor is delicate and, depending on how long you bake them they'll come out either very crisp or crunchy with a slight bit of chewiness. I like them with a bit of chew, so we under-baked them a bit.

As for the woodgrain texture...thats probably my favorite part. The pattern is done using a plastic imprint mat called a faux-bois mat thats typically used for imprinting cake fondont. I was able to find one online for less that $15. Its quite easy and fun to use. After rolling the dough, you lay down the mat and gently roll over with your rolling pin to imprint the pattern onto the dough. Then cut the cookies out in shapes as you usually would.

Pair with some cocoa or a tall glass of milk and Santa will want seconds and you will too. Merry Christmas to all!

Woodland Spice Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen

5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lite corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin spice, cloves and pepper in a large bowl. Place butter in a mixer bowl. Bring sugars, corn syrup, and water to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour hot sugar mixture over butter, then beat on low speed until combined.

Beat cream, egg, and vanilla in a bowl, then add to butter mixture. Beat on medium speed until well combined.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Divide dough into thirds, and flatten each into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 disk between lightly floured parchment to 1/4-inch thickness. Place a woodgrain patterned plastic faux-bois mat on dough, pattern side down. With rolling pin, lightly roll over mat to imprint dough. Carefully remove mat and repeat on any remaining sections of the dough.

Cut out shapes with holiday cookie cutters and transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, grouping similar sizes together and spacing them 1 inch apart. Roll out and cut scraps once. Repeat with remaining dough disks.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cookies will still be light in color. Do not overbake. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. Cookies will keep, covered, for up to 2 weeks.

My Next Adventure: Culinary School

I've been holding out on you. I admit it. I've been plotting and planning and thinking and investigating for quite some time now, but I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything until it was all finalized. But now it is: I'm going to culinary school.

One year from now, I will be the proud bearer of a Culinary Certificate degree specializing in "Catering & Personal Chef." Its a part-time program; 5 hours a night, 3-nights a week for one year. I'll still be working my day-job at Edelman, but reducing my work week to 4 days, to give myself some time for homework (and maybe laundry too??). I feel very, very lucky to work at a company that supports this dream -- and hopefully it will end up being a value to them to, since I work mainly on food and nutrition accounts.

Of course, I'm MOST lucky to have JiT by my side. I've been considering culinary school for years but without his unwaivering encouragement and support I never would have taken the leap to do it. While there is no way I'll ever really be able to pay him back for everything he's doing for me....hopefully a steady supply of my "homework" will be a good start (I have a feeling Baking & Pastry class homework might be his favorite).

Anyway, I'm expecting to be pretty frazzled for the next few months...at least until I get the hang of this double-life I'll be leading. But I'm also extremely excited! The school I'm attending -- Kendall College -- is one of the best. They have amazing facilities and wonderful staff...I got so excited on my tour. Listening to the chefs debate the best cuts of meat for a certain dish, or which cooking method to use....it was rivetting!

Please bear with me in January. I'm sure when I first start classes I might be a little spotty on the blog (don't get me started on the irony of cooking all the time and not having anything to blog about). But as soon as my uniform arrives, I promise a picture of me in my chef's coat and funny hat, standing with my knife kit Top Chef style!

Baked Cod with Truffled Panko Crust

As I'm sure you'd all agree, the start of the holiday season has been a whirlwind! Frankly, I'd originally been thinking that things might slow down a bit for us after Thanksgiving...that work might take a breather in lieu of the holidays; that our free weekends might have stayed blissfully free. Boy was I wrong! Which is why I've been having trouble getting a healthy dinner on the table, let alone anything blog worthy.

Luckily, during a quick trip to the supermarket over the weekend, I managed to pick up some fish filets in the frozen section. I've been trying to make fish more regularly during the week, given its many health benefits, ability to pair with healthy sides and....best of all....quick preparation time.

This dish in particular is a favorite for winter. You may be scrunching your nose at the idea of fish with truffles, but the combination is really quite delicious. Cod is such a light, mild fish that it marries perfectly with the earthy flavor of truffles. This works wonderfully paired with garlic mashed potatoes and some lightly steamed veggies. It makes for a surprisingly hearty and elegant meal. In fact, although we happily eat this on weeknights, its really elegant enough to serve to company and could be an excellent meal for a holiday gathering.

The ease of preparation makes it especially perfect. Simply cover a baking sheet with foil or parchment, spray lightly with a mist of olive oil. Place the fish filets, sprinkle on the panko topping and gently press it onto the fish with your fingers. Spray a mist of olive oil over the crust and pop into the oven. Within 15 - 20 minutes, they're ready to serve. Delicious!

Okay...so before I get to the recipe, I have to do some bragging. I mentioned I haven't had time to cook much this past week, but that doesn't mean I haven't been in the kitchen. JiT and I undertook a little project this weekend on a whim. We stopped at Home Depot for some lightbulbs and walked out with all the materials to add a stone tile backsplash to our kitchen. Having no experience with this sort of thing, we werent' sure what we were getting ourselves into, but about 5 hours (and a second trip to Home Depot) later, we were done.


Here are a before and and after shot (sorry the "after" is a bit fuzzy). I think the tile makes the kitchen look so much nicer!! Just goes to show, anybody can do anything, if you put your mind to it!
Now, on to the recipe:

Baked Cod with Truffled Panko Crust
Serves 2-3

2 filets cod, thawed if frozen
1/2 cup Japanese panko bread crumbs
1 dried shitake mushroom, chopped very finely (optional)
2 tsp. truffle oil
Fresh ground salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil in a mister, or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and lightly mist with olive oil or cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine panko crumbs, mushroom (if using), truffle oil and a few grinds of salt and pepper.

Place fish filets on the baking sheet. Sprinkle panko mixture evenly over the top of the fish filets until they have a nice coating. Using your fingers, gently pat the crumb mixture into the filets to make them stick. Mist a light coating of olive oil or cooking spray evenly over the top of the breading. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on thickness of the fish. Fish will be opaque and flake easily when cooked. Don't overcook. Serve immediately (with a squirt of fresh lemon juice if desired).