Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday–Festive Feasts and Holiday Baking

Time for a last look back at the festive feasting season!

We started Thanksgiving week by baking…Christmas Funfetti cupcakes? There’s never a bad time for Funfetti!

Of course, the main attraction Thanksgiving week was the turkey dinner:

And seven pies!

We celebrated Nikolaustag with chicken Döner Kebab and gingerbread tiramisu:

The next special dinner was a week later, for Santa Lucia Day, featuring potato pancakes and kielbasa, with cranberry fluff for dessert…and let’s not forget the lussekattes for breakfast!

We had a gingerbread layer cake filled with gingerbread mousse and frosted with molasses cream cheese frosting on Christmas Eve:

And our favorite cherry coffee cake for breakfast on Christmas Day:

But the best meal of the year is the Christmas Day pick-out dinner!

For our “fancy” Christmas dinner, we had bolognese, breaded artichokes, and fresh baked Italian bread:

In keeping with the Italian theme, we had cannoli for dessert:

On New Year’s Eve, we had black bean soup and corn bread:

And our traditional hot chocolate bar, of course!

Our New Year’s Day dinner was enjoyed a day late…I made pork medallions and spaetzle:

And we had a Glühwein-Kuchen for dessert:

We also had a special “Lord of the Rings Day” celebration (on Tolkien’s birthday!), featuring one of the fanciest chicken recipes I make, and “Westfarthing Fairings” from the Recipes from the World of Tolkien cookbook:

For the last feast of the season, Ryan’s birthday dinner, (which also happens to be Epiphany), we had fry bread and chili:

And Boston Cream Pie for dessert:

We did lots of other baking along the way, including a pair of Italian Christmas cookies for Christmas school:

And all of our favorite fancy Christmas cookies…chocolate crinkles, linzer augen, chocolate peppermint, raspberry almond thumbprints, peppermint meltaways, and fig thumbprints:

With the addition of a few of the pudding cookies Bunny made, they created a beautiful Bunter Teller!

For our New Year’s Eve hot chocolate bar, we baked two kinds of hot chocolate cookies:

In addition to the Christmas cracker candy I usually make, we also tried a new recipe that had sliced almonds on top:

And on the last day of Christmas, we baked and decorated sugar and gingerbread cookies:

I made a couple of bonus pies along the way, too:

And a bevy of festive drinks, including standards like egg nog and wassail, and some frappe kits from Aldi:

And just as we made a special dessert at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, we ended Epiphany week with a carrot cake:

I think that’s it for festive feasts and holiday baking…I’m ready to close the Markel bakery for a bit!

Tasty Tuesday–The “Fancy” Christmas Dinner, A Few Days Late

It’s kind of become our custom to have our “fancy” Christmas dinner a few days after Christmas, instead of on Christmas Day or the day after like we used to. But this year, I had to stretch the definition of fancy, because with grocery prices the way they are, there’s no way I could justify buying something like a beef tenderloin or standing rib roast or pork crown roast like I have in the past. So I decided to run with the Italian theme of our Christmas school, and make bolognese, which isn’t exactly fancy, but is really nice, and also a favorite of everyone here that I don’t get to make a lot because it takes a lot of time. I also baked Italian bread and some breaded artichokes, and made a tossed salad to go with it…it might not be the traditional definition of fancy, but it worked for us!

For dessert, I made cannoli, and if that isn’t fancy, I don’t know what is!

It may have different from our usual Christmas fare, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

Tasty Tuesday–Hawaiian Pulled Pork

Today I’m sharing a quick and easy slow cooker recipe for pulled pork with a Hawaiian twist!

  • 3-4 lb. pork shoulder picnic roast
  • 18 oz. bottle Sweet Baby Ray’s Hawaiian Barbecue Sauce (plus more to taste)
  • 20 oz. can pineapple slices in 100% pineapple juice
  • Hawaiian buns (I like the Sara Lee “Artesano” variety)
  • Sliced pepper jack cheese
  • Jalapeño-cilantro slaw

Place pork shoulder in slower cooker and salt and pepper to taste. Drain pineapple slices, reserving juice. Combine one bottle Hawaiian barbecue sauce with reserved pineapple juice and pour over pork. Cook on low 8-10 hours. In last hour, shred pork and drain off most of cooking liquid, then return pork to slow cooker with additional barbecue sauce if desired and finish cooking.

Serve on Hawaiian buns with pineapple slices, pepper jack cheese, additional barbecue sauce if desired, and a generous portion of jalapeño-cilantro slaw.

Tasty Tuesday–Brazilian Lemonade

Today I’m sharing a recipe for one of our family’s top three favorite beverages…Brazilian lemonade, which I’ve been making ever since the 2016 Rio Olympics! Spoilers…there are no lemons in this drink, but rather limes, which makes it even tastier! I usually double (or even triple) the recipe because it’s so popular!

  • 2 limes, washed well and quartered
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 handfuls ice cubes

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain and serve over additional ice, if desired.

Tasty Tuesday–Moscow Mule Inspired Milkshake

I’m still playing around with milkshake flavors, and this week, I’m sharing a non-alcoholic variety inspired by the famous Moscow Mule, with ginger syrup and lime juice. I topped it with ginger whipped cream and lime zest for a little extra punch of flavor, too!

  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup ginger syrup
  • 1/4 cup lime juice

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Tasty Tuesday–Lavender Milkshakes

My obsession with lavender continues! I’ve made lavender lemonade milkshakes in the past, but I decided I wanted to try to come up with a recipe that featured only lavender, and this fits the bill…it’s bright and refreshing!

  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup lavender syrup

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Tasty Tuesday–Matcha Malts

My quest to find as many things to do with matcha as possible continues! This time, it’s matcha malts, and they’re bright and delicious! I served them with lavender whipped cream, but you could use any whipped cream, or none at all…the star here is the malt!

  • 2 cups milk
  • 4 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 6 Tbsp. original malted milk powder
  • 4 Tbsp. culinary matcha

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy with your favorite whipped cream, if desired. Serves 3-4.

Tasty Tuesday–Matcha

I really love preparing food and drinks with matcha, which is funny, because it was a flavor that I originally wasn’t a huge fan of! But it grew on me, and now I’m always looking for new ways to use it. Drinks are obvious, and sweet treats are a natural pairing for green tea (I’ve used it in everything from waffles to cheesecake and madeleines to crinkle cookies), but I’ve also found that it words well in savory preparations like matcha-garlic knots.

I’m still working on an idea for using it as a rub on a pork tenderloin, and I’m always on the lookout for new dessert recipes, too!

Tasty Tuesday–Star Wars Days

Time for a look at this year’s Star Wars celebration!

It began, of course, on May the Fourth, with two breakfast recipes from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook. I made Keshian Spice Rolls….that color is all natural because there was a puréed beet in the dough! I also made an unusual coffee drink called “Sunrise Caf” which featured turmeric and five spice.

We had an afternoon treat of Cassius Tea Cookies from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook…they’re kind of like sugar cookies, but with black sesame seeds!

Of course we had our favorite Ronto Wraps, with roast pork, sausage, Ronto Wrap slaw, and peppercorn sauce from Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World. The Ronto Wrapper flatbreads were based on the recipe from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook, but I improvised a bit.

We also had a side of Yalbec Stingers from Star Wars: The Life Day Cookbook:

And every special dinner calls for a special drink…this time, we had the Aleen Firefly, which was a combination of pineapple juice, Sprite, and Jello cubes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook.

For dessert I made Kowakian Crumb Cake, a type of blueberry crisp from the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Cookbook.

I also had a special Her Universe outfit to celebrate the day!

You can’t celebrate May the Fourth without also celebrating The Revenge of the Fifth, so I picked a few more recipes from Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook. For dinner the main course was Nal Hutta Swamp Stew, which was a delicious pork stew with potatoes and roasted green chilies.

We also tried another new drink recipe, Seezelslak‘s Speciality, which was a light and refreshing smoothie made with coconut milk, frozen cantaloupe, and lime zest.

And for dessert, Ladybug made Cloud City Bread, which was like a cross between a meringue and a marshmallow, and so melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

I look forward to this fun little celebration every year!

Tasty Tuesday–Lavender Matcha

Iced lavender cream matcha season at Starbucks may not last all year long, but now that I’ve learned how to make one at home, I can have it any time I want!

Iced Matcha

  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 2-3 tsp. matcha powder
  • 1 cup milk (Starbucks uses oat milk, but you can use your milk of choice)
  • 1 Tbsp. simple syrup

Whisk matcha powder in hot water (I used an electric whisk). Add milk and simple syrup, and whisk until well blended. Add ice if desired.

Lavender Foam

  • 3 Tbsp. cream
  • 2 Tbsp. milk
  • 2 Tbsp. lavender syrup
  • Purple food coloring and dried lavender (optional)

Whisk cream, milk, lavender syrup, and food coloring until frothy. Spoon desired amount on top of iced matcha and sprinkle with dried lavender.