Blogging With A Purpose

I am very grateful to Laura from aworldinapan.blogspot.com for awarding me with the Blogging With A Purpose Award. I discovered Laura's blog and check back often to see what beautiful recipes and subjects she shares with all of us. Also, from what I understand, Laura offers cooking classes at her home in France. These classes not only sound like a lot of fun, but very informative and exciting.
So, now I would like to pass this honor on to the following people whose blogs I find interesting and believe are Blogging With A Purpose:

1. Blog of Will, cruttenden.blogspot.com. I found this blog from the UK by chance. It is about Will who shares beautiful photos and stories of his life, music, and family.

2.(No longer exists...)
majhipaak-kala.blogspot.com. A food blog I happened upon one day by a young lady in Texas, and now return to often for her tasty recipes of mostly Indian cuisine, which I love.

3. green-clementine.blogspot.com. A food and life blog from the UK that focuses on vegetarian recipes and great photos of the happenings in her life.

4. foodandthoughts.blogspot.com. A food and life blog by Zarah Maria in Denmark. She just seems very sweet and candid, and has great photos.

5. feedingmaybelle.blogspot.com. A food blog from parents of a little girl that discuss recipes and restaurants here in Cleveland, Ohio too.

Award-winners, here's what you should do:
1. nominate 5 blogs which haven't had this award before
2. each of the blogs must have a purpose
3.the nominated blogs must make a link back to this page
4. the logo from the award must be put on their blog and it must link back to this blog!

Thanks and enjoy!

First Sign of Spring Cocktails

The weather is just starting to break after a long and chilly winter. Nothing says warm weather like a fruity and refreshing cocktail. So, here we have the afternoon libation;

Guava Citrus Sensations:

3 1/2 oz. Boru Vodka
1 oz. Guava juice
1 oz. Limeade or fresh Lime juice
Juice of a Navel Orange wedge
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into martini glass.
Top with Cava (Spanish Sparkling Wine)
Garnish with Navel Orange wedge.
(Glass shown is 7 oz.)

Ancho Chile Corn Muffins

So, I don't think I have made corn bread before...So my first attempt I decided to throw some things together and see what happened. A little of this, a little of that...Ancho chiles, milk, onions, corn, corn meal, flour, sugar, egg, salt, the usual I suppose.
I must say, pretty damn good. Could be a bit moister for my taste, but the first one? Pretty damn good.

Hungarian Shortbread

I have been really enjoying baking these days. I even have been planning out more sweet selections to experiment with. My latest creation is this Shortbread recipe that I found in Saveur magazine. I love shortbreads. I love how they are crumbly and not overly sweet. This recipe came out very nice. I did substitute the Raspberry jam with my sister in law's delicious homemade Plum jam though, the hint of bitterness from the Plums is exquisite. Enjoy!

SERVES 8 – 10 The light, crumbly texture of this shortbread owes to a clever technique: freezing the dough and grating it. This recipe is based on one in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan (Morrow, 1996). 2 cups flour, plus more as needed 1 tsp. baking powder 1⁄8 tsp. fine salt 1⁄2 lb. unsalted, uncultured butter (like Straus), plus more for pan, at room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 egg yolks 3⁄4 cup raspberry jam 1. Using a sieve over a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Cream butter in a large bowl, using a hand mixer on high speed, until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and egg yolks; mix until sugar is dissolved and mixture is light, about 4 minutes. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour mixture; mix until dough just begins to come together, about 1 minute. 2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; bring it together with your hands. Divide dough in half and form 2 balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap; freeze for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours. 3. Arrange an oven rack in center of oven; heat to 350°. Grease a 10" springform pan with butter. Remove a ball of dough from freezer, unwrap, and grate, using the large holes of a box grater, directly into prepared pan. Gently pat grated dough to even it out. Spread jam evenly over dough, leaving about a 1⁄2" border around edges. Grate remaining dough over jam layer; pat gently until surface is even. Bake until light golden brown, about 25–30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, on a rack, before cutting into wedges.

Lemon Curd and Grand Marnier Cupcakes

After my successful attempt at baking the other week, I was excited to try again. So this time: Lemon Curd and Grand Marnier. Anything with Lemon Curd involved is divine, and I just happen to have some lying around... Grand Marnier on the other hand can have quite a strong flavor so I was careful not to use too much in the recipe. As I mentioned with the Chocolate Cupcakes previously, I actually had a recipe, these beauties I did not. I just made it up as I went along. So the measurements that follow are approximations because again, I just came up with it. The Cupcakes did come out absolutely lovely. The cupcakes were tremendously moist and the sweet lemon was a delicious addition. Unlike the previous cupcakes, I did not ice them. At first I was going to top them with a similar cream cheese frosting with lemon and orange zest, but when they came out so citrusy sweet, I decided to just dust them with confectioners sugar. Enjoy!

Wet:
1 Vanilla Bean scored down side
1 cup milk (heated with vanilla bean, then cooled)
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp Lemon curd
1 1/2 Tbsp Grand Marnier Liqueur
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 Eggs
Whisk all ingredients together. Whisk in eggs one at a time.
Dry:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
Slowly add dry ingredients to wet. Butter pans then fill with batter and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees.