Cute Easter Cookies

Easter is coming up this Sunday, April 24. Why not spread some holiday cheer by bringing your neighbors, friends and loved ones some fun, delicious homemade Easter cookies?

These cookies are both cute and delicious and sure to bring a smile to everyone's face. The recipe below is courtesy of Checkcity.com














The Cookies:
# 1 1/2 cups white sugar
# 4 cups all-purpose flour
# 1 teaspoon baking powder
# 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
# 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat 1 egg with 1 cup softened butter or margarine until light and fluffy. At low speed with an electric mixer, add 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Mix until well combined, using hands if necessary. Cover dough and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into egg shapes or any kind of festive shapes you'd like. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

The Glaze:
# 1 cup confectioners' sugar
# 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
# 2 tablespoons water
# 10 drops food coloring

Stir confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, and water together. Place small amount of glaze into different small cups and add desired food coloring to each cup slowly until you've achieved your desired colors. This glaze must be stirred each time you use it. If it is not stirred before each use it will dry with a mottled look instead of a solid color.

Deliver with Love

If you make egg shaped cookies, delivering them in a clean, empty egg carton adds a cute touch!

Happy Easter!

Cape Breton Pork Pies

I remember reading about pork pies not having pork inside so how did it get its name?

There is no pork in a pork pie - indeed, there is no meat at all. Pork Pies are tender little morsels of short bread tart, date and maple icing according to Pondside which the recipe below is borrowed from. Incidentally, Pondside is today Blogger's Blog of Note. Congrats, Pondsite!

Pork Pie Shells
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 cup butter, softened


Filling
2 1/4 cups chopped pitted dates
1 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Icing
1/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon maple extract
Directions


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Pork Pie shells: Sift together flour and 2 tablespoons icing sugar in a bowl. Cut in 1 cup butter; knead until well blended. Form dough into 3/4 inch balls. Press into 1 1/2 inch tart cups into the bottom and up the sides, forming a shell.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Let shells cool in the pan. Using a knife, gently loosen and remove shells from pan.


Filling: Combine dates, water, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook gently for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly and mashing dates as they cook. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow mixture to cool before spooning into tart shells.


Icing: Cream 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar, continuing to mix. Add the milk, the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, and maple extract. Beat until smooth. Icing should be thick enough to pipe. Use a pastry bag with a small round or star-shaped tip. Pipe a swirl of icing on each tart. If you don't have a pastry bag, use a small plastic zip-lock bag and cut a tiny hole in a corner.


These will freeze well.

Moroccan recipes

If you like Moroccan food and would like to try cooking it, here is a site that will interest you..Moroccan Recipes

Claypot Chicken Rice

Yet another popular dish in Ipoh is Claypot Chicken Rice. This one-pot rice meal dish is also found elsewhere in foodcourts around the country.

The pot arrives at the table piping hot, and once the lid is lifted, you would be hit with the aroma of the chicken and its sauce, dried fish and Chinese sausages sending those salivary glands into overdrive.


Recipe

500g (2 pieces) chicken whole leg

marinade

¼ tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

¼ tsp ground white pepper

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornflour

½ tsp salt

300g long grain rice

420ml water

sauce (mixed together)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp hot water

1 tsp sesame oil

½ Chinese sausage (lap cheong), sliced

2 pieces salted fish (optional)

chopped spring onions for garnishing

Cut chicken into smaller pieces. Combine the marinade ingredients and marinate chicken in it for one hour in the refrigerator.

Wash the rice in several changes of water and place into a claypot with 420ml water. Cook, covered, over medium heat, until water is almost absorbed. Add the chicken with its marinade, the Chinese sausage and salted fish (if using), over the rice, and drizzle in about two tablespoons of the sauce. Lower the heat and cook, covered, until rice and chicken are cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Flake rice, cover lid and cook for a further five minutes. Remove from heat and top with spring onions. Serve immediately.


Source: The Star

Salt-baked Chicken (Yim Kok Kai)

Salt-baked Chicken (Yim Kok Kai) is another famous food in Ipoh. It has its origins in the Hakka community.


Recipe

1 kg organic or free-range chicken, washed and patted dry

marinade

1 tbsp ginger juice

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

½ tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp sugar

stuffing

20g codonopsis root (dong sum)

10g angelica root (dong quai)

1 tbsp wolfberries (kei chi)

15g Solomon’s seal (yok chok)

2 pieces greaseproof paper measuring 60x30cm

1 tbsp potato flour, mixed into a gum paste with a little hot water

3.5 kg coarse rock salt

Combine the marinade ingredients; rub or coat chicken with the marinade. Wash the stuffing ingredients and place into the cavity of the bird.

Set the chicken on the two pieces of parchment paper for a double-layer wrap. Fold the paper, overlapping, around the chicken to form a parcel. Seal with the gum paste to form a water-tight parcel.

Place the rock salt into an old wok. Heat salt over medium flame, stirring continuously for five to eight minutes. Make a well in the middle of the hot salt, place the chicken parcel in, and cover completely with salt. Cook, covered with a lid, over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn chicken over once halfway through the cooking time, making sure no juices spill out. Remove and serve warm.


Source: The Star