Lemon Sugar cookies

Ingredients

1.    3 cups all-purpose flour

2.    1 cup sugar

3.    1cup (2 sticks ) unsalted butter softened

4.    1 egg

5.    1 tbsp. milk

6.    Pinch of salt

7.    ¾  tsp. baking powder

8.    1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice

9.    1 tbsp. lemon zest

10. Powdered (confectioners )sugar

Sift flour, salt and baking powder. In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and lemon zest and beat well.  Add 1/2 of flour, then the vinegar or lemon juice mix well. Add the rest of the flour .Once dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, divide it in 2, wrap each half (about 1 inch thick) in wax paper or plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F Sprinkle work surface and your rolling pin (glass bottle works well ) with powdered sugar. Roll out dough ¼ inch thick Add some more powdered sugar underneath, to make sure it won’t stick. Use a cookie cutter (or a wine glass or an aluminum can for round cookies) to cut desired shape, and place in baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) about 1 in apart, bake for 8-10 min or until slightly golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven ,and if you haven’t lined your sheet with parchment paper ,use a spatula to transfer  cookies to the wire rack to cool .To Serve ,dust with powdered sugar while still warm, or decorate with icing when completely cool .

First batch came out as brownies

Raspberry Linzer cookies /Fursecuri Linzer cu Zmeura

Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Last week a friend asked me if I could bake some cookies for an open house .I am not a cookie person, but I could not say no. I didn’t know why people say that baking cookies is fun for kids, until I started baking them while my children were at school. But to me it’s kind of boring to have only one kind of cookies on the table (even if they are shaped and colored differently) so I decided to make 4 different types of cookies: Lemon Sugar cookies, Raspberry Linter cookies, Stained Window Honey Cookies, and Chocolate Almond Spritz Cookies.  

Saptamina trecuta,o prietena m-a rugat sa-i fac citeva fursecuri pentru un evenimet la servici.Eu nu prea ma omor cu fursecurile, dar nu puteam sa o refuz. Si cum mi se pare plictisitor sa ai o masa plina cu fursecuri in diferite forme si culori dar cu acelasi gust ,am decis sa fac 4 feluri diferite de fursecuri :  Sugar Cookies cu aroma de Lamiie , Fursecuri Linzer cu Zmeura, Fursecuri cu Miere "Vitraliu" ,si Fursecuri de Ciocolata si Migdale 

Raspberry Linzer is my children’s’ favorite

Ingredients

1.    1 cup ( 2 sticks )unsalted butter (softened)

2.    2/3 cup sugar (next time I will use just ½ cup)

3.    1 egg

4.    2 cups all-purpose  flour

5.    1 cup finely ground almonds

6.    ¼ tsp. cinnamon

7.    ½ vanilla extract

8.    1 pinch of salt

9.    1 cup raspberry jam

10. Powdered sugar

You will also need 2 different sizes cookie cutters.

Fusecurile Linzer sunt insa preferatele copiilor.

Ingrediente

1. 220g unt la temperatura camerei
2. 2/3 cana zahar (data viiroare voi reduce la 1/2 cana -1cana -240ml)
3. 1 ou
4. 2 cani faina
5. 1 cana migdare macinate fin
6. 1/4 lingurita scotisoara
7. 1 vf cutit sare
8. 1 cana gem de zmeura
9. zahar pudra

Mai aveti nevoie de forme pentru taiat prajiturile diferite forme si marimi

Beat sugar and butter (with an electric mixer) until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well. Mix in salt, almonds, and flour until incorporated. Divide dough in 2 pieces about 1 in thick, wrap each in plastic or wax paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs or overnight.

Bateti spuma untul cu zaharul, adaugati oul, vanilia si scortisoara,amestecati bine. Adaugati sarea,migdalele si faina si amestecati pina ce toate sunt bine incorporate .Impartiti aluatul in 2 ,inveliti fiecare jumatate(aprox 2 cm grosime) in hirtie cearata sau folie de plastic si puneti in in frigider pentru cel putin 2 ore ,sau chiar peste noapte.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour work surface and the rolling pin (and resist temptation to substitute powdered sugar for flour, it works well on sugar cookies, but not for this) and roll dough about 1/8 in thick. Cut out cookies, then using a smaller cookie cutter cut out the center of half of the cookies. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, place cookies on the parchment paper and bake for 10-12 min or until slightly golden brown on the edges. Remove from the sheet and when completely cool, invert a cookie bottom and spread 1 tsp. jam. Dust top cookies with powdered sugar and place them on top of the whole cookies pressing gently.

Incalziti cuptorul la 180° C .Pudrati suprafata de lucru si sucitorul cu faina (rezistati tentatiei de a folosi zahar pudra in loc de faina,Sugar cookies se ruleaza bine cu zahar pudra dar nu si aceste fursecuri   -   credeti-ma am incercat :)   ) Intindeti aluatul cu o grosime de aprox 1/4 cm . Folositi forma mai mare sa taiati fursecurile ,apoi folosind o forma mai mica taiati mijlocul la jumatate din ele . Asezati prajiturile in tava tapeteta cu hirtie de copt ,si dati-le la cuptor pentru 10 -12 minute sau pina ce marginile devin aurii. Scoateti fursecurile din tava ,lasati sa se raceasca bine,apoi, daca doriti, pudrati cu zahar  suprafata fursecurilor cu mijlocul decupat . Luati apoi un fursec intreg il intoarceti cu fata in jos,ungeti cu o lingurita de gem de zmeura si puneti deasupra un fursec cu mijlocul decupat apasind usor .

Enjoy!

                                  Pofta buna!

Chocolate almond spritz cookies

1.     2 ½  sticks(275g)  butter   

2.     2/3  cup sugar

3.     2/3  cups (dark) brown sugar
4.     1  tbsp. vanilla extract

5.     2  eggs

6.     2/3 cup cocoa

7.     2  cup all-purpose flour

8.     ½  cup almond meal(ground up almonds)

9.     ¼  tsp. baking soda(use ½ tsp. if you don’t have baker’s ammonia)

10.  ½  tsp.  baker’s ammonia

11.  2  tbsp (apple cider)vinegar or lemon juice

12.   ¼  tsp. salt

I know you have a question about baker’s ammonia. This is an ancestor of modern baking powder. It is still used in Europe to make cookies very light and crisp. It may leave an unpleasant ammonia flavor especially if used in baked goods with high moisture. We used it a lot back home, and I was thrilled when I found it here! Some cookies just taste better with BA than with baking powder /soda, which makes them kind of hard.  Do not confuse this with your ordinary household ammonia, which is poisonous.

Now lets get back to our cookies

Preheat oven to 375 °F. In a bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at the time, incorporate well. Add vanilla, cocoa, almond meal ,salt and ½ of the flour. Beat well. Mix bakers ammonia with vinegar and quickly add it to the dough, mix well. Then add the baking powder and the other tsp. of vinegar and mix .I find that mixing the baking soda, ammonia with vinegar reduces that after taste in the baked goods .Add the rest of the flour, fill your cookie press, choose your template and press cookies onto cool ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 min (or less in convection ovens). Remove, cool on rack, and decorate as desired.

ENJOY!                             

Dipped in Milk Chocolate

Meatles taco soup

It’s a nice fall day  but a little windy. Well ,today I  wanted to make a taco soup again ,but since it  was a last minute decision I didn’t  have any meat ,so I decided to make it meatless. After all I grew up eating meatless beans, because my mom would say that beans have enough protein so there was no need to add meat. My son ,on the other hand, told me that  there is no such thing as meatless taco soup, but I proved him wrong. Love you baby!

I used

1.       1 lb beans 1 onion

2.       1 tsp baking soda(optional)

3.       2-3 tbsp oil

4.       2-3 tbsp taco seasoning

5.       1 cup mixed vegetables

6.       ½  cup corn

7.       ¼ cup tomato paste

8.       Salt to taste

9.       1 cup diced bell peppers

I soaked the beans for a few hours, then I drained them, placed them in a large pot covered them with about 2-3 times their volume of fresh water. Boiled them for about 5-10 min, reduced the heath, added 1 tsp. baking soda. Now be ready to stir so all that foam from the baking soda won’t end up on your stove. Don’t turn your back like I did lol.In the meantime fill another pot with about same amount of water and heat it up .Let beans  cook for another  5 min or so ,then drain ,  add the other water that you have  warmed up, place back on stove ,or if you like, in the slow cooker. Add oil ,finely diced onion, and let it cook for another 30 min to 1 hour ,depending on the beans. I set my slow cooker on low and in about  3 hours they are done ,but this time I cooked them in my cast iron pot. Bad idea when nobody’s home to help you drain :( When beans are almost cooked, add the other vegetables, tomato paste, and taco seasoning. Adjust salt and taco seasoning to taste. Cook for another 15-20 min. 

 

 Serve hot with tortilla chips (and pickles). Delicious! Even my son liked it!

Pumpkin Cake /Tort de bostan

 

For those of you who are like me and  love pumpkin ,here is a delicious  recipe . I made it twice, it came out light ,moist and delicious! You can be sure I'll make it again for Thanksgiving .

Daca va place bostanul la fel de mult cum imi place si mie, incercati reteta urmatoare! Am facut-o de 2 ori ,a iesit delicoasa! Si puteti fi siguri ca o voi face iar cit de curind!

Ingredients

1. 1 cups white sugar
2. 3/4 cups vegetable oil
3. ½ cup apple sauce
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 2 cups canned (or pureed ) pumpkin
6. 4 eggs
7. 1 ¾  cups all-purpose flour
8. 3 teaspoons baking powder
9. 2 teaspoons baking soda
10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
11. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
12. ½  tsp Nutmeg
13. ½  tsp ground cloves
14. 1/8 tsp allspice
15. 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
16. 1-2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (optional)
17. 2 tbsp  oranje or lemon  juice ,or  even apple cider vinegar

Ingrediente:

1. 1 cana (240 ml) zahar
2. 3/4 cana ulei
3. 1/2 cana sos de mere(mere fierte si pasate)
4. 1 lingurita vanilie
5. 2 cani pireu de bostan
6. 4 oua
7. 1 ¾ cana faina
8. 3 lingurite praf de copt
9. 2lingurite bicarbonat
10. 1/4 lingurita sare
11. 2 lingurite scortisoara
12. 1/2 lingurita nucsoara
13. 1/2 lingurita cuisoare (macinate)
14. 1/8 lingurita Ienibahar
15. 1 cana nuci tocate (nu risnite)- optional
16. 1/2 cana merisoare sau visine congelate  -optional
17. 2 linguri suc de lamie sau portocale sau chiar otet( de mere)

 Directions

 

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 12x18 inch pan or a round pan . Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

 Incalziti cuptorul la 175*C .tapetati tava cu faina . Cerneti faina ,bicarbonatul , praful de copt,sarea si siscortisoara.

2.   Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then continue beating while slowly adding the sugar until stiff peaks have formed. Fold in egg yolks until evenly mixed, add oil a little at the time , then fold in apple sauce and pumpkin and the flour ,baking soda ,baking powder ,salt and cinnamon. Add orange juice,and stir  in nuts and cranberries . Spread batter into prepared 12x18 inch pan.

Bateti albusurile spuma adaugati zaharul si bateti in continuare pina devine o spuma tare,incorporati galbenusurile,Adaugati uleiul ,cite putin odata. Apoi incorporati pireul de mere si de bostan ,si celelate ingrediente uscate. Adaugati sucul de lamiie, nucile si merisoarele.Turnati in tava.

3.   Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Coaceti aproximativ 30 minute ,sau pina ce scobitoarea iese curata . Lasati sa se raceasca.

Cream cheese Pumpkin frosting

  

1. 1 8oz pkg cream cheese
2. 1-1½ cup pumpkin puree
3. 1   cup powdered sugar
4. 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
5. 1 tsp  vanilla
6.  2tbsp orange juice

 Crema de brinza si bostan

1.  240 g Crema de brinza(Philadelphia )
2.   1-1½  cana pireu de bostan
3. 1 cana zahar pudra
4. 1/2 lingurita scortisoara
5. 1 lingurita vanilie
6. 2 linguri suc de portocale(nu din concentrat)

  Beat the cream cheese in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Add pumpkin,vanilla and orange juice. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable.

     Frecati bine crema de brinza pina devine usoara si pufoasa. Adaugati zaharul pudra,apoi bostanul,vanilia,si sucul de portocale . Amestecati bine pina ce crema devine omogena si usor de intins.                       

 

 

                                                               ENJOY!!!!!!    Pofta buna!

 

 With a Halloweenish look

Bread

 Bread recipes may not sound too exiting ,but only think how many things you can make with just one dough and none or very little variations: pizza , rolls, bagels, monkey bread ,croissants, donuts  and many, many more! It is fun and relaxing. Yes you heard me (or... maybe read it) right it is relaxing, and nothing compares with the aroma of freshly baked bread, that transforms any house into a home instantly.  

Ingredients (for about 2 loaves)

1.       5 1/2-6 cups flour (1/2 cup may be whole wheat flour) 

2.       1-2 tbsp sugar

3.       1 3/4 cup water

4.       1/2 cup oil

5.       1 1/2 -2 pk dry yeast( 1 pk = 2 1/4tbsp dry yeast  =0.6oz fresh yeast)

6.       1 tbsp salt

7.       2 eggs(optional)

 Directions

Swift flour.

 In a cup mix 1tsp sugar ,1 tbsp. flour, yeast  and add warm(not hot ) water just enough to get a pancakes mix consistency let it sit in a warm place. Wait about 5-10 minutes. The yeast should be foaming or beginning to foam.

 In a bowl mix 3/4 of the flour and salt and add eggs, yeast, warm water and stir until the dough forms. Roll up your sleeves.

 Take off your rings and wash your hands.    

  Liberally sprinkle about a quarter cup of flour on the dough. Work the flour in with your hands .Use a little oil to grease your hand now and then, and prevent dough from sticking. Add the rest of the flour 1/4 cup at the time. Continue working flour into the dough with your hands.  

 Begin to use a kneading motion. (Fold half of the dough over itself and press it in. Turn it a quarter turn and repeat the process all over again.) To save clean-up, you can do all your kneading in the bowl. Have fun: knead, twist, punch, toss the dough for about 10-15 minutes. You’re done kneading when the dough loses its stickiness becomes elastic and smooth. The texture of the dough will be similar to that of soft skin. Other signals that you’ve kneaded the dough sufficiently are:  it springs back after you poke it, sounds hollow when you tap it with your fingers, you can see bubbles forming on the surface.

Coat bowl with corn or sun flower oil. Form the dough into a ball.  Coat it with oil. Coating the bowl and the dough with oil prevents the outside of the dough from drying out and getting crust.

  Cover the top of the bowl with clean cloth. Place the bowl in a nice warm, relatively draft free place. Try on top of your refrigerator or in your oven. Let it rise for about 1 hr (or until it doubles its volume) then punch down.

 Grease your baking sheet or surface. If you’d rather not grease it, sprinkle it with flour or cornmeal (my favorite) or flax seeds. Form the dough into a loaf or loaves make it into a ball or cylinder ,use a knife  to cut slashes in the top of the dough (if not the bread will break open while it bakes), place it on your baking sheet ,cover it and let it rise again for another 30-45 min.

 Preheat oven to 370°. Pizza stone is great for baking bread. If you choose to use it leave it in the oven and heat it to 370°. Sprinkle it with cornmeal and carefully transfer raised dough on it.

 Place a small bowl with water in the oven. Bake for about 25-35 minutes. The bread is done when a tap on the bottom of the loaf makes a hollow noise. Remove the bowl. Brush the bread with water (or 1/4 cup water or milk and 1 tbsp. sugar or honey for a nice shiny golden crust) and return it in the oven for another 3-5 min. Remove it from the oven, let it cool before slicing and eating.

Enjoy!