Fresh Ginger Tea

I recently noticed a post on a blog praising fresh, homemade Ginger Tea. So then I did a Google search with the words 'fresh ginger, tea, & Blog'. Apparently, a lot of people brew ginger tea at home from fresh ginger, which frankly makes me a little embarrassed. I mean, I should be doing this as a self proclaimed kitchen witch and all.

Now, I have heard of brewing fresh ginger to make tea or ginger beer, but, for some odd reason, I never did it myself or even thought much about it. I always bought little bags of organic, dry ginger at my local health food store. Well, not tonight! I brewed some fresh ginger root in boiling water and then strained it into our mugs, which were awaiting the brew with some turbinado sugar and a hefty pinch of cinnamon. The result was an absolutely delightful and fragrant tea.

In the realm of herbal medicine, ginger is known to help with nausea, digestion, and headaches amongst other ailments. I always particularly appreciate its ability to relieve nausea and stomach ailments. So I hope you will consider a pot of fresh ginger tea next time you brew up something nice and hot for yourself.

Instructions: Boil about 3/4 tablespoon of sliced or crushed ginger for every 1 cup of water for about 5-7 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to steep for another five to ten minutes. Add cinnamon and sugar or whatever you like.

Enjoy!

*Photo by Huimin @ PhotoXpress

Valentine's Day Post

If you are like me, Valentine's day isn't necessarily too high on your list of priorities. For me, this isn't due to not having a Valentine or anything of that nature, because I certainly do and he expects something on this coming day of love. He says he doesn't think much of Valentine's day either, but I know that if I did nothing his feelings would be hurt. I suppose that might be a vice versa situation too!

Being though that I want to celebrate Valentine's Day without spending a lot on dining out, expensive candies, or other items that can quickly empty my pockets (though I do love these things), I usually make some nice creations for my Valentine along with sending loving messages to his e-mail throughout the day. This way, he can anticipate an evening of coming home to an extra clean house with the fire going, candles lit, and a few items like these:

Easy Cheesecake Brownies (My Valentine's Favorite)

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 Tsp. Baking Powder

Pinch of salt

6 Tbsp. Cocoa

1/3 Cup Oil

1 Tsp. Vanilla

3/4 Cup Sugar

2 Fresh Eggs

1 Tbsp. Strong Coffee (optional)

Cheesecake Topping:

1 Package Cream Cheese (softened)

4 Tbsp. Confectioner's Sugar

1 Egg

1/2 Tsp. Vanilla

(whip sugar & cheese, then add egg & vanilla-whip till smooth)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees & butter a glass baking dish.

Make cream cheese topping as instructed above and set aside.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt thoroughly. In another bowl, mix the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and coffee till smooth. Slowly add the dry mix to the wet mix in a gentle fashion. Pour into prepared glass pan (mine is 8 in. by 8 in.) or any pan that you know won't burn cake/brownies. Whack it against the surface to release any air. Pour your cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie mixture, and use a fork to mix and make designs if you like. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes. Enjoy the praises that only cream cheese brownies can bring!

Or instead of eating out----:

A night at home by the fire with homemade tomato soup & grilled cheese! What? It's red and everyone loves it! I drew the heart on with Photoshop if your'e wondering.

Tomato Soup for 2:

1 15 oz. Can Organic, Diced Tomatoes

2 small carrots-peeled & diced

1/2 onion-minced

2 cloves garlic-minced

1 Tbsp butter or earth balance

1 bay leaf

pinch of dry rosemary sprigs

1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth (low sodium)

salt and black pepper to taste

Whip Cream (optional but good)

In a soup pot, bring the butter to medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and allow to sweat for about 4-5 min. Add the can of tomatoes, broth, rosemary, bay and about 1/8 tsp of black pepper with a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer, stir, cover and lower the heat to a low simmer. Allow to cook for about 10-12 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool a bit. Use an immersion blender to puree or leave chunky. Salt & Pepper to taste.

Make your favorite style of grilled cheese. We are making jalapeno jack on whole grain pita this year....

*And I leave you with a cute valentine for your blog or to send out in e-mails to friends. I love this one. It is one of Old Dame Penniwig's works. You can find more of her stuff here: http://penniwigs.blogspot.com/

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Buttery Pineapple Cake

I have sat here for quite a while trying to figure out what approach to take in order to describe the deliciousness of this cake. At this point, I'm sure that I don't have the words, so I am just going to say that this is one of those recipes you keep in your arsenal for life. This is for two major reasons:

1. Deliciousness!
2. Ease

There are other reasons too like this being one of the greatest cakes I've had with my ginger tea or the fact that there is not a lot a cleanup, since it is a one bowl and no mixer required cake. This cake is also so moist and fragrant that it would work great for a layered cake with something like butter cream icing. However, I feel the top two suffice for firing up the oven and trying it. Be sure to brew a nice pot of tea or coffee and have some whipped cream handy.

Here is the recipe:
1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour (Arrowhead Mills is excellent)
3/4 Cup of Light Brown Sugar (no substitutions, please!)
1/8 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 Cup Milk
1 Fresh Egg
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Drained Pineapple Chunks (tossed in a bit of flour)

*Recipe makes one layer cake*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees & prepare a glass or no burn baking dish with butter or Pam.

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, & baking soda thoroughly. Create a well in the center, and add the egg, oil, milk, and vanilla. Mix gently till homogeneous. Add the wet, floured pineapple and mix. Pour into dish and bake for 27-30 minutes. Did you notice there isn't really any butter?


















Oh, and please vote for me!

Haloua with Raisins

Some delicious baked goods...

A pot of tea, Hmm?

It's Tea Time!

Haloua is a North African cookie made in both Morocco and Algeria. Like any sweet or tea cookie I can think of from these countries, it is delicious. The outside is a butter cookie that hides an interior of raisins and nuts mashed with cinnamon and orange blossom water. There is almost nothing better I can think of save maybe date haloua! Oh, and the only sugar used in this cookie is the powdered sugar in which they are rolled. And one can use Earth Balance buttery spread instead of butter (both are excellent), which renders a vegan cookie. Enjoy with tea or something nice and hot!

Haloua with Raisins:

1 1/3 cups of flour

1 stick plus two tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons orange blossom water

Filling:

3/4 Cups raisins

3/4 Cups toasted walnuts or almonds

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2-3 teaspoons of orange blossom water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, place the dates, nuts, cinnamon and orange blossom water. Blend till you get a nice paste. Set aside.

For the pastry, cut the flour with the butter until mixture is crumbly. Add the orange blossom water to pull into a dough. Gently work into a smooth dough. Make quarter size balls and flatten in the palm of your hand enough to place some mixture in the middle. Pull the dough over the mixture and crimp the dough together.

Place the cookies on a baking dish and bake for about 15 min. Allow to cool and rub in powdered sugar or sprinkle through a sifter. Enjoy!

Kate's White Onion Soup

This onion soup is one of those recipes that you keep in your mind forever because it is so easy and also healthful and delicious. I found it on a blog called Serendipity. The original version is made with a rich homemade chicken broth. I just changed it a bit by using vegetable broth and making croutons with olive oil, garlic, black pepper & salt.

I could not get a good photo due to making the soup at night. I am not the best photographer as is, but night photography is the worst. Luckily, Kate from Serendipity very sweetly allowed me to use her picture to give you an idea of how it looks. She also encouraged me to look at another soup of hers to veganize, so I might post that soon.

Vegan Version:

3 onions-sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 heaping teaspoon flour

1/2 cup white wine

2-3 cups of vegetable broth (low sodium)

Salt & black pepper to taste

Bread for toasting (olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, pepper)

Slice onions thin and place in a pan with oil on medium heat. Cover with a lid and turn down to medium low heat. Allow to caramelize for about 45 min. I checked on mine and stirred from time to time. Then add flour and allow it to toast for about 2 min. Add the wine & turn up the heat a bit to encourage evaporation. Once the wine mostly evaporates, add stock and allow to warm through. Salt and Pepper to taste and top with vegan crouton...

Yum! Thank you, Kate, for a delicious dinner! Stella & Adam

See more from Kate at http://serendipity-kate.blogspot.com/

The Best Banana Bread

Yeah, I know. Everyone says that their recipe for whatever they are making today is the best. And I'm sure that there are a lot of wonderful recipes out there for banana bread, however, thus far I have not come across a better banana bread than this. You may not believe me, especially being that this bread does not have the rich cream, butter, or eggs that many others do. But all I can do is beg you to try it. So here goes "please make it, pwease!"...

This recipe is also a one bowl wonder, and no machinery or mixers are needed. Oh, and to you vegans, fire up your ovens. Yes, it's vegan and it's better than theirs!

1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour (Arrowhead Mills is excellent)
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3/4 cup of soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 banana (mushed through your hands)
Chocolate chips, Pecans, Oatmeal, etc for topping (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a bread pan with oiled parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon thoroughly. Make a well and add the mushed banana, milk, oil, and vanilla. You can run chocolate chips through the batter if you like. Stir gently till smooth and pour into bread pan. If using topping, add about 15 minutes into baking to avoid burn. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Photo by Stella at The Witchy Kitchen

Tis Still The Season!

Yes, it is still the season to indulge in a little extra libation. Why? You might ask. Well, being cold is a bit uncomfortable as many of us have been reminded in the last month or so. And a drink or two can actually cause for a warm sensation through our knickers and, of course, can often take the edge off when it comes to most types of stress. The old remedy of gargling with hard liquor is also helpful for those suffering from sore throat and such, and is especially good if you don't like taking medicines until it is absolutely necessary.

You may have some leftover guilt from Christmas indulgence or a New Year's resolution promising to cut calories and fat, but don't feel too bad about the calories or alcohol associated with a drink. Allowing yourself this luxury in moderation just may help your health a bit this winter season. So Cheers Everyone!

Ooh, I just realized I am writing this post mid morning. I promise I'm not getting tipsy-not yet at least!

Photo by Stella at This Witchy Kitchen