Mom's Sugar Cookies

Mom making apricot filled sugar cookies for Grandma.

One Dough, Two Ways

The cold, wet winter yielded a ton of peaches a few weeks ago, and now the cucumbers, tomatoes, and basil are coming in daily for harvest. I made up some dough last night and so we feasted today on pizza with peach ricotta focaccia for dessert. Yum.

Basic Focaccia/Pizza dough

1 ¼ cups warm water

1 packet yeast

3 to 3 ½ cup(s) bread flour

1 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

Cornmeal to sprinkle on baking stone

Dissolve sugar into water.

Add yeast, allow to soften and begin to blossom on top of the water.

Stir in salt, and add enough flour to make soft dough.

Turn out onto floured surface, and knead for about 5 minutes until indentation in dough will spring back. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated over night in a plastic back sprayed with cooking oil. If refrigerated, allow to sit for an hour to warm up before shaping.) Allow dough to rise until almost doubled, about an hour, until indentation in dough does not spring back. Divide into two balls. Sprinkle baking stone with cornmeal, stretch one of the balls to form a round, let rest on baking stone while you prepare topping and preheat oven.

Peach Ricotta Focaccia

Servings: 8

(WW Points Value: 5)

Ingredients

3 cups fresh (frozen) sliced peaches

1/2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp Corn Starch

1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp butter

Slice and toss peaches in sugar.

Pour peach juice liquid into a small bowl, stir in corn starch until smooth.

Melt butter, add to liquid, microwave for 3 minutes until it begins to thicken.

Spread ricotta cheese over focaccia dough.

Spread peaches over ricotta cheese.

Spoon thickened syrup over peaches.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake at 425° for 10- 20 minutes until crust looks done.

Turkey Sausage & Bacon Pizza

Servings: 8

(WW Points Value: 6)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbsp basil

1 Tbsp fresh oregano

1 cup(s) Classico Tomato And Basil Pasta Sauce

1 cup(s) part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

3 turkey sausage, sweet, cooked

4 small slices Canadian style bacon, chopped

Cook & chop up turkey sausage & Canadian bacon.

Chop & slice veggies and herbs.

Toss chopped garlic and herbs in olive oil, spread on dough.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over dough.

Spread tomato sauce over dough.

Sprinkle pie with mozzarella cheese.

Distribute remaining ingredients on pie.

Bake at 425° for 10- 20 minutes until crust looks done.

A happy happy birthiday cake!



Top and bottom tiers are pineapple cake with almond buttercream; middle tier is red velvet cake with cream cheese filling, covered with homemade fondant.

The birthday girl, Ria, positively freaking out with joy as we sang "Happy Birthday" for the second time, with Mommy and Daddy.

Is she not just too much? She is just too much. TOO MUCH. Forget cake; I want to nibble the birthday girl.

Indian Apricot Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Indian Apricot Chicken with Jasmine Rice, originally uploaded by queenofthemoodswingset2.

Indian Apricot Chicken

modified from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Evins-Indian-Apricot-Chicken/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

* 1 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite-size pieces
* 2 teaspoons garam masala
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* salt and black pepper to taste


* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
* 3 cloves garlic diced (I added this)
* 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, or as needed
* 1 cup apricot preserves (see my recipe below)
* 1/4 cup white vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
* 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco®)


* 1 teaspoon lime zest
* 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Season the chicken with garam masala, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; set aside. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onions and garlic in the hot oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken; cook and stir until the chicken pieces are no longer pink on the outside, about 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the pan and set aside.
2. Pour 1 cup of chicken stock into the pan and bring to a simmer. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan; stir in the apricot preserves and vinegar. Thin with the remaining chicken stock as needed to create a smooth sauce. Season to taste with the hot sauce. Place chicken back in pan; simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in lime zest and butter before serving.
3. Serve with some basmati or jasmine rice

Nutritional Information open nutritional information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 426 | Total Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 73mg


Apricot Preserves

I didn't have any preserves on hand so I made some instead.

1 heaping cup dried chopped apricots
1/2 lemon
1 cup water (add more as it boils)

Start the apricots boiling before you prep anything else and it will be done by the time you need to add it to the sauce.

Chop the apricots, add the lemon and water and let boil while you cook the rest of the recipe. Add water whenever it boils off. I added water 2 or 3 times. Try to let the water boil off one more time before adding it to the chicken sauce.

(This is mom's recipe for her apricot cookie filling)

Cholate Chip Irish Coffee Ice Cream

Cholate Chip Irish Coffee Ice Cream, originally uploaded by queenofthemoodswingset2.

Chocolate Chip Irish Coffee Ice Cream

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk (or any combo of cream and milk up to 3 cups)
3 T instant coffee1 tsp baileys (or vanilla)
1 cup mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings (add in the last 10 minutes)

Dissolve the coffee and sugar in the cream mixture. Add to ice cream machine. Add the chocolate chips about 10 minutes before the ice cream is finished.