Holiday Cutout Cookies

Charlene also demonstrated some Holiday Cutout Cookies in the Peach Mennonite Church Community Kitchen. This is a fun session as everyone can participate in rolling out the dough, cutting out the cookies, and decorate the cookies.

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Above are some samples of the decorated Holiday Cutout Cookies.

Ingredients:

For cookies:

  • refer Raspberry Diamonds

For Icing:

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2-3 tablespoons water

For decoration:

  • food coloring
  • sprinkles

Tool:

  • cookies cutters
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Raspberry Diamonds

After the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen Christmas Potluck, a few of us went to Peace Mennonite Church Community Kitchen for a cookie making session. This cookies making session is sponsored by Family Services and demonstrated by Charlene.

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We made 2 types of cookies, one filled with raspberry jam and the other one is just holiday cutout cookies decorated with icings. The dough for both the cookies are the same except that for the holiday cutout cookies, the dough has to be refrigerated for a firmer texture.

Ingredients

For cookies:

  • 2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (8oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest of 1 lemon, grated
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

For filing:

  • 1/2 cup raspberry jam

For glaze:

  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • drop of almond extract (optional)

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Canape

The last dish Minoo made for the seniors Christmas celebration is Canape. Canape is a finger food which often served during cocktail hours. Canape are usually salty or spicy. Traditionally, canape are build on stale while bread but for simplicity, we use baguette as the base and topped with a mixture of olives and nuts.

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Minoo made two different flavours of canape, one with black olives and another with green olives. I prefer the one with black olives as it’s milder in taste. For those who love olives, the green one has a more intense olives flavour.

Ingredients

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Tex-Mex Bean Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

This is one of none Danish dish which the seniors made for the Christmas celebration. It’s called Tex-Mex Bean Salad with Creamy Salad Dressing. It’s kind of Mexican. Christina and June were in-charged of making this salad.

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The Tex-Mex Bean Salad is great for potluck but it is advisable to assemble the salad just before serving. This is especially so for the tortilla chips so that they wont get soggy by the salad dressing.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup salsa
  • 3 tablespoons light sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar
  • 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or you can prepare your own black bean from dry ones)
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 3/4 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels (or can ones)
  • 1/2 avocado, peeled and diced
  • 4 scallions, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 6 cups shredded romaine lettuce
  • 24 baked low-fat tortilla chips
  • 1/2 cup cubed cheese (pepper jack or cheddar)

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To store the leftover half of the avocado, sprinkle the cut flesh with lemon or lime juice or white vinegar. Place it in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 2 days.

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Danish Brovst Dream Coffee Cake

For dessert, Charlene, Frank and Karen made this Danish Brovst Dream Coffee Cake. As it was Minoo’s birthday, this cake also serves as her birthday cake.

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This cake has a topping of baked coconut flakes which resembles little ant and hence this cake is also known as “ant cake”. This cake is dense and sweet.

Ingredients

  • 250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 50g (about 3 tablespoons +1 teaspoon) butter or margarine
  • 300g (about 1.5 cups) sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 200ml milk
  • 3 teaspoons (15ml) baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

  • 125g (1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons) butter or margarine
  • 100g grated coconut
  • 250g brown sugar (275ml packed or 1 1/8 cup packed)
  • 50ml milk

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Danish Sugar-browned Potatoes (Brunede Kartofler)

Minoo made this Danish Sugar-browned Potatoes specially for Paul. Paul described this potato dish to Minoo and Minoo was able to get the recipe from a Danish in a grocery store she visited. When Minoo tried the recipe at home, she ate all the potatoes by herself because they are that good.

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The Danish Sugar-browned Potatoes are tender and sweet. They pair well with roast beef, chicken, pork or lamb.

Ingredients

  • 12 – 15 Parisian potatoes
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter

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