Family Stollen Recipe with a Gluten-Free Twist

Stollen has been a Christmas tradition in my family for ages. Our traditional family recipe has been modified somewhat from the German original, but the taste is very similar. The only major difference is in its shape as it wasn't until I learned German that I realized the name Stollen also refers to its shape in the form of a loaf, while ours is shaped into a ring. Since I've been doing lots of gluten-free baking this season, I thought I'd try out our seasonal favorite using Bella's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Mix. I substituted the milk in the recipe for almond milk but still used butter and eggs, so it is not vegan. The recipe makes either one large stollen or 2 smaller ones. I made mine into 2. The only thing I noticed when making stollen with gluten-free flour is that it is denser and did not rise much at all compared to regular flour. But in terms of taste and texture it was fantastic (thanks to Bella's Gluten Free!).

Christmas Stollen
Ingredients:
1 c. milk (or almond milk)
1 c. melted butter
1/2 c. water

Picture from when I made it with real flour in Germany in 2004.
This was made using the original family recipe with real
milk and flour. I made one big loaf instead of two.

5 1/4 c. flour (or Bella's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix)
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 packages of active dry yeast
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/2 tsp. grated orange rind
1/2 c. seedless raisins
1/2 c. chopped candied fruit (fruitcake mix)
1/2 c. chopped pecans (a traditional German stollen would use almonds)
3 Tbs. soft butter

Another view of the massive stollen I made in Germany in 2004.

3 Tbs. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. powdered sugar
2-3 Tbs. water or milk (or almond milk)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
candied cherry halves (optional)

Combine milk, melted butter and 1/2 c. water in saucepan; place over low heat until lukewarm. Combine flour, 1/4 c. sugar, salt and yeast; stir in lukewarm milk mixture and eggs (at the same time - add eggs to lukewarm milk mixture); mix well. Add lemon and orange rind, raisins, candied fruit and nuts. Mix well. (Knead by hand for best results).  Cover dough and refrigerate overnight. Place chilled dough on floured surface, roll into a rectangle (either 1 large one or 2 small ones if dividing in half).  Spread with 3 Tbs. of soft butter. Mix together the cinnamon and 1/2 c. of sugar. Sprinkle over the buttered surface. Roll the dough into a role and shape into a ring. Let rise in a warm place uncovered for 1 hr. Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 25-30 minutes. Combine powdered sugar, water or milk and vanilla. Drizzle over the hot ring. Decorate with candied cherry halves (optional).

An old and very used copy of the family
recipe in my grandmother's handwriting.

Dough made with Bella GF All-Purpose Baking Mix.

Dough rolled out and spread with butter, waiting for cinnamon
and sugar to be sprinkled over it.

Shaped into a ring.

Fresh out of the oven. Did not rise or brown much, but was still
delicious.

More gluten-free baking!

 Made more Christmas cookies this weekend using Bella Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix and have to post some pics! They came out amazing and taste delicious! Just like they used to with real flour.

Recipes used were:

Sugar cookies just substitute Bella Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix for the flour

Cookie Icing I used almond milk instead of dairy milk

Ginger Molasses Cookies just substitute Bella Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Mix for the flour

Sugar cookies... lots and lots of sugar cookies!

Ampelmännchen sugar cookies

Ginger/Molasses Cookies

Mouthwatering gluten-free baking with Bella Gluten-Free!

For those of you who follow a gluten-free diet, you probably have had your fair share of unpleasant experiences with gluten-free baking. Unpleasant? Don't I mean catastrophic, mortifying, grainy, disgusting attempts to recreate something you once used to make in sheer delight, attempts that constantly remind you of what you have given up and make you feel like you'll never get it back again.  Well, those experiments are over! If you are gluten-free and love to bake, there is no longer the need to mourn a favorite pastime - thanks to Bella Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Mix. With the Christmas baking season  underway, I thought I'd try out one of my favorite cookies (Cranberry White Chocolate Chip: follow link for recipe, I use vanilla instead of brandy and substituted the flour with Bella GF Baking Mix, for dairy free use margarine instead of butter and for vegan use an egg substitute. I just made mine with eggs and butter) with my miraculous gluten-free discovery. As I was mixing everything together it was unbelievable. Unlike any other gluten-free flour/baking mix I've tried in the past, this one actually has the consistency of flour, the dough looking and tasting just like the real thing. It makes you completely forget that you are actually eating something gluten-free. You'll find yourself saying - OMG, this is so good! I can't believe it's gluten-free. And you won't be the only one! People who aren't gluten-free won't notice anything, and when you tell them they will be utterly astounded. So go ahead and get some! The pizza crust is also amazing!
Available on Amazon and directly from the company:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_grocery?_encoding=UTF8&node=16310101&field-brandtextbin=Bella%20Gluten-Free
http://www.bellaglutenfree.com/

Yes, these amazing-looking cookies are actually gluten-free!

Post-Thanksgiving thoughts

Me and the pumpkin pie.

Me and the turkey I made.

My Mary Engelbreit tree.

Hard to believe it's actually been 10 days since the last post. But then again, the time has also flown by. This is the time of year when I get slammed with one of my quarterly projects - translating a magazine on home décor and Oriental rugs. I don't remember November ever being this busy before though. Since my last post on Nov. 19th, the rugs have literally been rolling in. I've translated well over 2000 lines of rug texts alone (as well as a few other texts here and there) and I even managed to take off last Thursday for Thanksgiving and most of Friday, except for yet another rug text that had to be turned in by 11 a.m. I had 400 more "tufted" lines this past weekend, but it seems that with a little over 300 lines left to go, the end is slowly drawing near (at least until next quarter). It seems I'm becoming an expert in the floor covering industry - at least in terms of marketing texts. I've been regularly translating articles for the magazine (and often the entire magazine) since 2007. In the midst of all the rug commotion, I somehow managed to find time to meet up with a friend from college who stopped by last Wednesday, have a relaxing Thanksgiving (which included spending plenty of time behind the stove!), figure skate, exercise for at least 30 minutes every day except Sunday, read, watch most of "Pillars of the Earth" series with my mom (read the book in 2003/2004), help my mom decorate their tree, and put up my little Mary Engelbreit tree. The Thanksgiving cooking was divided up equally between me and my mom - I made the turkey, stuffing, gravy, pumpkin pies (with homemade French pastry crust), and cranberry sauce; my mom made the sweet potato casserole, green beans, and corn pudding - my stepfather made his famous creamed potatoes. Somehow we actually managed to finish off all the leftovers by Saturday without throwing anything away. For those of you who are wondering, I made a few little dietary exceptions for my favorite holiday, but am back to my regular diet once again.

Today's agenda features translating some more rug texts, proofing, figure skating this afternoon, and hopefully finishing up my article for the GLD newsletter Interaktiv. Knowing how I love working under tight deadlines, I have a strange feeling it might not be done until tomorrow since the deadline is Dec. 1. Time to get started!

Spicy Eggplant and Veggie Medley Curry

For dinner tonight I made a spicy eggplant and veggie medley curry from the many veggies I had in my fridge.

Ingredients (mostly from the Produce Box): onion, garlic,
ginger, hot pepper, habanero pepper, red bell pepper,
sweet potato, green beans, cabbage, mushrooms,
eggplant, baby corn, yellow squash, ginger curry spices,
cumin, soy sauce, coconut milk, oil, salt and pepper

In a wok, heat vegetable oil, add onion and garlic, saute. Next add chopped sweet potatoes and green beans. Add the ginger curry and cumin. Chop the bell pepper, hot pepper and habanero pepper (remember to wear gloves when chopping the hot peppers), and add to the wok. Chop eggplant, squash mushrooms and cabbage and add to wok. Cut baby corn in half and add to work. Grate ginger and add to the work. Mix everything thoroughly and stir fry. Add coconut milk and cook until the sweet potato is thoroughly done. Add a little less than a tablespoon of sugar and some salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice (I used frozen brown rice from TJs).

Delicious!

Making more of mornings / Pumpkin Spice and Pecan Oatmeal

I have completed week one of my "making more of mornings" regimen. Those of you who have read some of my earliest posts know that I have had the tendency (or habit) to climb right back into bed after waking up to take care of the dogs around 5 AM each day. No more! My neighbor and I have agreed to be gym buddies and starting this past Monday, we start the day together by meeting outside at 5:15 and walking over to our neighborhood gym. We work out for at least 30 minutes and start the day off right. I find that I now have even more energy to get things done in the morning, rather than climb back into bed. Eventually it does catch up with me and I take a nap later in the day, but at least now I feel like I deserve it. I have also started eating breakfast earlier - or at least having an earlier Primo Colazione (as the Italians call first breakfast), sometimes followed by a Secondo later in the morning (around 11 AM, which was my usual breakfast time). I've come up with a wonder fall oatmeal variety that is absolutely scrumptious: Pumpkin Spice and Pecan Oatmeal. Thank you Trader Joe's for providing most of the ingredients: frozen steel cut oatmeal (already pre-sweetened with maple and brown sugar), pumpkin butter, pecans and a splash of almond milk. Simply heat up the oatmeal per the instructions, then stir in a tablespoon of pumpkin butter, sprinkle some chopped pecans, and add a splash of almond milk. Sooooo yummy and perfect on a fall morning!

This week's Produce Box November 17, 2010 (aka Kiwis grow in North Kakalaky)

Pardon for the delay, but it's been a rather insane week (again). This week's Produce Box was the last box of this year's growing season and included a special treat: NC grown kiwis! They are still ripening up in the bag, so I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but I bet they are delicious! I also now have a ton of beets for juicing and making a warm beets sauteed with fresh squeezed orange juice. The remainder of the items were green beans, eggplant, radishes and apple cider. The next Produce Box installment will be back in April. Until then I'll have more recipes and other things on my mind. As always, here's a few pics for you to enjoy. 

Beets, green beans, radishes, cider, eggplant, KIWIS!

Closeup of the Kakalaky kiwis!

Eat your greenies!

In last week's Produce Box I got a head of bok choy. Thankfully the newsletter included a couple of recipe ideas. Seeing that it was starting to wilt and needed to be eaten ASAP, I made a plate of oven roasted bok choy seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. I basically used the idea from newsletter but added garlic. It couldn't have been easier. I pulled off the individual leaves, then washed and dried them. Next I put them in a bowl and added olive oil, 2 pressed cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, and the juice of one lemon. Next I laid the leaves out on a greased cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and baked at 450 for about 10 minutes. The result was delicious. What a nice, green afternoon snack! (Perfect before taking a light nap!)

Shoebox Packing Party!

This year's collected boxes. 13 in all!

Today was my 2nd annual shoebox packing party - i.e. a get together with a small group of friends and family to pack boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This year's party put together 13 boxes to be sent to needy children around the world. Items in the boxes included candy, small toys, games, school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and washcloths and soap. I first began doing these boxes when I was a child and it has since become one of the things I most look forward to each year. In 2008 I was even able to go to the distribution center in Charlotte to help with processing the boxes from around the country before they were shipped. Last year's party was my first, which was also a bit of a delayed housewarming party. It was also the first year that the shipping labels included a tracking bar code. Shortly after Christmas I got an e-mail to let me know that my boxes had gone to Ukraine. Where will they go this year? I'll let you know as soon as I find out.

Of course no party would be complete without food and beverages. The featured items were my vegetarian chili (also made in the mountains last month) served with tortilla chips (Archer Farms black bean and jalapeno flavor from Target - the best!), homemade Glühwein (mulled wine) and hot apple cider. I made Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Brownies for dessert, but was a bit delayed in putting them out, so I had to send some home with the guests that were still here when everything was done.

It was a great afternoon - beautiful weather for the kids who were here to play outside and cool enough to enjoy the chili and hot drinks.

I'm already looking forward to next year and hope that even more people will be able to come. I also found out that the church I've been attending does not have OCC in it's ministry program, so maybe I'll be able to do something about that. This is one of my favorite things to do every year and want to share it with even more people!

This week's Produce Box November 10, 2010

Just a brief post with pics of yesterday's Produce Box. It's been so busy around here lately, it's hard to find time to blog - even those 15 minutes I'd hoped to find each day somehow keep escaping me. This week's box contained: Bok Choy, sweet potatoes, an eggplant, RASPBERRIES!!!, garlic (hidden under the radishes), red bell peppers, radishes, and a sample of candied pecans. I already used the bell peppers last night making stuffed peppers with leftover eggplant filling I froze from the last time I made the recipe a couple of weeks ago (recipe to follow soon). BTW: The raspberries are absolutely delicious!

A happy ending

This morning the SPCA called to let me know a man had reported a lost dog matching the description of the boxer I found yesterday. Within 30 minutes the owners were here. Her fear was instantly transformed into happiness - her stub of a tail in rapid motion as she jumped up to reunite with her owners. What a happy dog and a happy ending. So glad she made it home safe and sound! Turns out she hadn't gotten too far away - the owners and their four children live on the street behind my section of the neighborhood. Leila (her real name) certainly had a night outside of her comfort zone. Having been used to sleeping on a faux fur blanket at the end of her owners' bed, she spent last night outside in the cold wrapped up in a fleece blanket after refusing to come inside. I'm sure Leila won't be so eager to run away from home again, and her owners will take better precautions to make sure that never happens again.

A traumatized boxer

This afternoon as I was driving home from skating and running errands, I saw a dog on the side of the road not too far from the entrance to my neighborhood. Roadkill kills me. I can't stand the sight of a dead deer or raccoon, and the sight of a dead cat or dog breaks my heart. I quickly drove to my house, grabbed one of my dogs' leashes and went back to rescue this abandoned dog. When I finally caught up with it, it was clear that this was a female boxer, spayed, perhaps around a year old and she was terrified. She barely let me come up to her, but finally gave in. She had no identification, only a shoestring tied around her neck. I managed to put the leash on her, got her in my car, and drove her back home where she's been in my fenced-in backyard since around 3 PM. I have an ad on craigslist, several posts on Facebook and have called both the boxer rescue and the local SPCA to report her. I made the mistake of trying to bring her inside to get warm, but my ferocious dachshunds traumatized her. They both bark incessantly at her and Quintin tried to attack her several times. I really wish I could bring her in out of the cold, but she is so scared of Quintin that she refuses to come back inside. Tomorrow I'm going to go see if she is microchipped and hopefully reunite her with her owner. One person in the neighborhood who is already a boxer owner has potentially agreed to take her if no one comes forward. She is a really sweet and smart dog. I wish I could keep her, but that would never work.

Applesauce and other things from the last few days

As I write, I have a pot of apples on the stove - 1 kg of sliced apples (peel still on), the juice of one lemon and 3-4 Tbs. of sugar to be more exact. They will cook for about 20 minutes and then I'll mash everything up. I love homemade applesauce, so I can hardly wait!

This past week has been extremely busy as I've been trying to catch up with my real work and my work-related activities. On Friday I finally managed to finish at least one thing on my list, the new resume, and have already started sending it out to contacts I made at the conference. Saturday I addressed my house - mainly the downstairs, replacing the spring tablecloth and couch pillows with my winter red tablecloth and pillows more appropriate for fall. The best part was lighting the apple cider scented candles and dancing around the house to Bollywood music as I cleaned and rearranged. I also made some more progress in the de-cluttering department and have a whole pile of stuff ready to put in a yard sale. There are still several boxes of stuff that I need to go through and/or put in the attic.

As far as de-cluttering is concerned, some other de-cluttering took place in my personal life last week. After privately reaching a decision to end a 10-year friendship a couple of months ago (having heard very little from this person since May), the other person in the friendship contacted me to let me know that he had been having similar thoughts. What a relief to learn we were both on the same page. Had I been wiser and listened to common sense at the time, the friendship never would have progressed in the first place.

Applesauce is almost done - time to get back to some proofing!

Today's Produce Box! November 3, 2010

Since getting back from Denver, it seems as though my life has been in a whirlwind! I have a to-do list a mile long that takes into account pretty much everything that I learned last week. Add to that the real work that was waiting for me, and I've been going non-stop since Monday morning. Today I should have a couple hours of time for me, which really just means time to work on some of the items on my to-do list, most importantly getting my translation specific resume ready to send out to potential new clients. I've started decluttering so that I have some things to put in a yard sale this weekend - the declurring and organization in itself could almost be a full-time job for a few days.

Since I've been so busy, it's a good thing I don't have to go to the grocery store to get fresh produce. My refrigerator was almost empty since I didn't get a box last week. Thankfully replenishment arrived today and one item in particular makes me want to sing "What do you do with a Daikon Radish?" to the tune of "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" I'm going to have to search for some ideas, but if you have any, let me know. That said, this week's box included a huge Daikon radish, apples, yellow squash, cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. I made a couple of recipes before going to Denver that I still need to post, and I'm sure I'll be making some yummy things with the contents of this week's box.

Time to work on that resume! So much to do!

Departing Denver

The ATA Conference has come to an end and as I sit waiting in Denver Airport at Southwest's ghoulishly decorated gate, I find myself reflecting upon all that I have learned over the last few days. In a profession that can often be somewhat isolating, it was wonderful to get together with like-minded individuals who understand what I do and share the same passion. The networking opportunities were abundant and invaluable, providing opportunities to learn from seasoned professionals who are more than happy to share their experience with the next generation. My to-do list for things I need to do or address once I get back home has already filled a few pages of a notebook and I'm not even done yet. Although I had done quite a bit on my website before coming to the conference, I now have tons of ideas of things I can do to further improve it. In addition to this "fun" blog, I also need to start a professional blog about translating that can be integrated into my website or hosted elsewhere. On the social media front, my wunderbartrans Twitter account needs to become more active with "value-adding content" and I need to be more active on XING and LinkedIn to connect with other translators and potential direct clients. Needless to say, there is a ton to do - all one step at a time. The plane is about to board, so I'll be posting more later. Exciting things are on the horizon - I just know it!

Greetings from the ATA in Denver

Since my last post, I've been extremely busy with work in preparation to be where I am now: at the ATA (American Translators Association) Conference in Denver. I got into Denver Tuesday afternoon and have been going non-stop ever since. Despite thinking that I had packed correctly, I arrived and after being hit by chilly winds realized that I had, in fact, neglected to bring a warm coat. Thankfully a TJmaxx is just across the street from the hotel, so I rushed over there ASAP and found a nice Columbia jacket for half price. I also picked up a couple more long sleeve shirts, since one of the ones I got at Old Navy last week proved to have a hole in the side when I got ready to put it on.

Yesterday I attended two pre-conference sessions that gave me excellent information on how to better run my business and what I have been doing "sub-optimally". The biggest "mistake" is definitely that I have been pricing myself too low and that will have to change ASAP. I also need to reach out and try to find more direct clients to make myself less dependent on agencies. I've got lots of new ideas and a lot of work ahead of me - but I am certain that I can do it. I hope to make lots of valuable contacts over the next few days to help me grow my business. Last night was the welcome reception, followed by the German Language Division open house (I got to wear my Dirndl :-) ). Today I have a few sessions with a speed networking session tonight.

If I have time I'll post more later.

This week's Produce Box - and what I've done with it so far!

Homemade apple juice made
with 3 of the many apples
I've been collecting.
Delicious! My food
processor also has a juicer
attachment. Hot homemade
apple cider coming soon!

Contents of this week's Produce Box,
shiitake mushrooms in the brown bag.
Mixed hot peppers behind cabbage.

 This week's Produce Box contained several ingredients perfect for an Ethiopian feast! I chose Box C this week and got shiitake mushrooms, several bulbs of different garlic varieties (Chesnok, Music, Silver White), collard greens, a hot pepper mix, apples and green cabbage. Ethiopian happens to be one of my favorite cuisine and I finally happened to have essentially all the ingredients on hand (except for ginger root carrots and a couple of spices, which I got from the grocery across the street) to make two of my favorite dishes: Ethiopian collards and a cabbage-carrot-potato dish. I found a few recipes online and then used them to create my own dishes.

Here are the links to the collard recipes that I essentially combined:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gomen-Wat/Detail.aspx
http://girliegirlarmy.com/blog/20100607/ethiopian-collards-on-mini-injeras/

Basically I started out following the directions in the second link.
I cooked down the collards, drained off and saved the liquid, then chopped the collards. Then I cooked the finely chopped red onion in oil. In the food processor I chopped 4 cloves of garlic 1.5 inches of peeled ginger root, 1.5 long green chilis and 1 green bell pepper and then added them to the onion and oil in the pot. Next I added the chopped collards to the pot along with about 1 cup of the collard cooking water. Then I added the spices from both recipes: freshly ground sea salt, freshly ground pepper, turmeric, paprika, allspice along with the juice of one small lemon. I let everything continue to cook and added a bit more of the collard cooking water. It tasted amazing. I was worried that it might be too spicy because I forgot to de-seed the chilis, but it had just the right amount of spiciness. I think combining the recipes made it all the better.

Almost simultaneously I was preparing the second dish. Here I basically followed this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ethiopian-Cabbage-Dish/Detail.aspx

The changes I made here were to double the spices (except for the salt) and I used 1 sweet potato and 3 white potatoes instead of only 5 white potatoes. I figured since there are already carrots in the recipe sweet potato would be an added bonus. It was a great choice - absolutely delicious!

I also tried making the injera bread (used the recipe on the 2nd collard recipe link), but since I didn't have teff flour (GF) I substituted sorghum flour (GF) and GF all-purpose mix and the results were ok, but not the way it is supposed to be. If I try it again I will make sure to get teff and hope it turns out right.

Homemade Ethiopian: cabbage-carrot-potato-sweet potato dish
and spicy Ethiopian collards served on my homemade attempt
at injera

The best part is that I now have tons of leftovers!

I've got a whole slew of other recipes I want to make soon, so keep posted - I'm in a cooking mood!

Yellow Squash and Mushroom Risotto (vegan and gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free)

So for those of you out there looking for some more risotto ideas, on Friday I made a yellow squash and mushroom risotto. Go back to my post for Butternut Squash Risotto and instead of using butternut squash, add in chopped yellow squash and mushrooms (I used baby bella and shiitake). This time don't use cardamom and cinnamon (good for accentuating the flavor of butternut squash, but not needed here); instead use fresh thyme like I did. Other than that all of the steps were the same. As a side I made some over baked orange and purple sweet potato bites.

Here's a picture of Friday's meal. Enjoy!

Yellow squash and mushroom risotto garnished with Crema di Balsamico and almond cheese, side of oven-baked orange and purple sweet potato bites with Arabic spices. A perfect fall meal!

Exciting Friday and weekend so far (including Dave Ramsey)

Since I usually work on the weekends, I often take Fridays off to relax a bit. With the State Fair in town and beautiful weather to lure me out, I was very tempted to spend Friday at the fair with my parents, but ended up spending the majority of the day building my business website in preparation for attending a conference later this month. So far it's coming along quite nicely: www.wunderbar-translations.com. I still have a lot to add, but think it makes a good impression for promoting my business for now. This next week one of my work-related activities will be I'll be working on vamping up my business cards to take with me to the conference. Friday afternoon I made a wonderful yellow squash and mushroom risotto (I'll post separately) and baked orange and purple sweet potatoes - yummy! Friday afternoon I went skating and had a make-up lesson since I missed Monday's class due to recuperating from a cold. For those of you who don't know, I've been figure skating off and on since I was about 5 years old, have had lessons at various times in my life and after a nearly 16 year break from lessons (only skating here and there over the years) started taking lessons again this past winter (inspired in part by the Winter Olympics). I took a summer break and am back at it again, this time with a much more challenging coach. I can still jump and spin but have a lot of bad habits to overcome.

The theme for Saturday was Dave Ramsey! He was speaking live in Raleigh today and I had purchased tickets for me and my parents back in May as soon as they went on sale. It was great hearing him speak live and definitely motivating to continue working to get out of debt. I have another blog on which I've been trying to track my efforts to get debt-free (http://creating-a-debt-free-life.blogspot.com). Now with more motivation directly from the source, I hope to strengthen my efforts and make even greater progress. Apparently some of the things I have been doing have not been in the right order, so hopefully now I can make the necessary changes to drive down my debt. Check out the other blog for more info on that.

The next highlight of this weekend comes tomorrow afternoon... more on that tomorrow or Monday.

Honey Balsamic Vinegarette (and some doting on my food processor)

There are some recipes that make it absolutely worth owning your food processor. As you have seen in previous recipes, I use if whenever I get a chance. I use mine several times a week and consider it one of the most valuable appliances in my kitchen - I loved it so much I brought it back with me from Germany since they no longer sold the same model in the US at the time. I was lucky enough to find a second used one on Ebay for my mom's house so that I can use it when I cook there and have spare parts in case I ever need them. Apparently they are now selling them in the US: my model can be found here: Braun Food Processor (Double). The single version is here: Braun Food Processor (Single). This is one food processor I would never want to live without! It is so much nicer and easier to use than a Cuisinart - you may disagree at first, but that's just because you haven't tried it yet! Regardless of which brand you have, it is highly recommended that you have a food processor if you want to make this salad dressing. I also use it when making homemade mayonnaise (recipe to come another time).


Now on to the recipe. I found this recipe (in just written form) on the Internet somewhere well over 3 years ago and have been making it ever since. My secret tips for making it as delicious as possible are to use local honey and organic chili powder. I once made it with non-organic chili powder and the extra preservatives and salt in the mix really messed up the flavor. Make sure that whatever chili powder you choose only has natural ingredients and contains no preservatives or salt. Simply Organic has a great chili powder that I have used for a while until recently running out. This time I used Earth Fare's organic chili powder which had the same ingredients as Simply Organic.

The ingredients: local honey, balsamic vinegar, Dijon
mustard, mayonnaise, chili powder, oil, salt and pepper

Measure out a little over 1/4 c.
of balsamic vinegar.

Add a little over 1/4 c. of honey.

Pour into food processor.

Add a little under 2 TBS of Dijon mustard.

 

Measure out a little over 1/4 c.
of mayonnaise.

Add about 1 TBS of chili powder

Blend together

Measure out a little over 3/4 c. of vegetable oil.
Canola oil works well and contains importantomega-3 and -6 fatty acids.

Slowly add oil to mixture while blending at a low-medium
speed.

Keep blending. The dressing will start to thicken
up and become creamy. If you want a
thicker dip, add more mayo and less oil.

Perfect dressing consistency.

Put in a jar (this recipe makes about 16 oz.)

Serve over a delicious salad - here's one I made this past spring.
It is also delicious on baked potatoes, as a dip for veggies,
and many other uses!