Fifth Annual Holiday Open House

For the past five years we have opened our home for a day in December so friends could come and enjoy some holiday cheer. We consider it the best group gift we could give. With contributions of food and drink from friends (some insist) we also get gifts in addition to the joy of spending the afternoon with people we love. We get the house decorated, holiday music on, all the lights on and we party!

Each year we try to include different elements, whether it is homemade foods, unique beverages, or activities. This way the party never gets stale and the invite is viewed with some anticipation.

This year we decided to focus on beverages and created an activity from one of our ideas. We took the easy road with food so we could focus on socializing and get the most out of our plans.

In my holiday wine advice post I presented a recipe for a mulled red wine. This was new for open houses and it was a hit. I drank the very last glass of it while I was cleaning up. I couldn’t even use the ladle to extract the last bit from the crock-pot meaning my guests had gotten all they could from it. I was so happy. The only tweak to the recipe I made was to add 3 ounces of brandy. I also made a double recipe, requiring two bottles of wine. I used my early bottled (no MLF and limited oak) Chilean Malbec made in May of this year.

The second beverage idea was a holiday beer tasting. Every year breweries all over the world release limited production beers to celebrate the end-of-year holidays. Prior to my research and this tasting I had minimal experience with these seasonal brews. In all of the reading many of the descriptions of the brews intrigued me. The styles span quite a range, with some made merely to celebrate the passing of another year and others representing beers typically consumed during the colder months; with flavors evocative of Christmas. Could I really go wrong?

Some of these beers are not widely available and/or sell out quickly so finding them can be challenge. I lined up the following beers after 6 weeks of searching.

Rogue Yellow Snow
Sierra Nevada Celebration
Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve Ale
Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome
Delerium Noel
Ayinger Celebrator

The order above is the order we tasted them in. I prepared some horseradish cheese and candied pecans to samples with the beers. I always find something to pair add excitement but also helps transition.

( now don't they look happy together! )

A quick break for some food and guest shots.

( Amy's cheese crisps with avocado mousse and roasted red peppers. )

( Ed, Jim, Brian & Margot. Must have been a serious comment about the food... )

( Missy's carefully prepared veggie plate. )

( our tree )

OK, back to the beers.



The overall winner was the Delerium Noel with the Ayinger Celebrator and Sierra Nevada Celebration closely behind. I had more fun than I had hoped and really enjoyed getting to know some new beers. Everyone who tasted had the chance to see what they liked and didn’t, and having had fun at the same time there were no complaints. We are all quite sure Ed does not like hoppy bitter beers!

Here are my notes on the beers:

Rogue Yellow Snow – definitely a golden ale with a nice head and tons of hop aromas. The flavors of citrus were right there for you. It has a bitter finish, but not surprising for an IPA.

Sierra Nevada Celebration – this pours red/orange with a great aroma that isn’t too aggressive. I got great flavors of orange peel, pine and bitter herbs. A bit of spice on the finish.

Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve Ale – this beer has a nice balance of malt and hop flavors with a milder disposition that you might think at first. I didn’t get the spicy flavors I expected, but wasn’t disappointed.

Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome – this is an amber ale with sweet malty flavors and spice that is easy to find. This went down very well.

Delerium Noel – this is a light brown ale with a ton is spiciness and sweetness. Truly makes you think of Christmas. One of the tasters suggested it reminded her of baked beans. This beer is wonderfully balance and shouldn’t last long!

Ayinger Celebrator – this beer is dark brown in color with lots of malty aromas and flavors. It reminded me of Russian Black Bread. The sweetness is there but not beyond beer standards.

( this bottle is so festive! ) 

We didn’t break out the ice shot glasses that I had prepared merely because we didn’t have a second wave that was looking for something new to drink on their way through. We had peppermint schnapps ready to go. Next weekend!

( Melissa and Betsy )

( Wayne & Meredith )

( Andrea and Kristy )

( Paul and Margot )

Everyone who came had lots of fun and some even went home with leftovers!! We had lots of cookies left, but those were shared with Margot’s co-workers.

Cheers to another successful holiday open house!

--Jason

p.s. I realized when going through the pictures that there weren’t any of me or Margot and I. We failed on that one!

International Blogger Holiday Cookie Recipe Exchange

( it is too early to leave these for Santa, but it sure is a nice idea! )

What foodie doesn’t love a good cookie swap? But how do you do that amongst food bloggers all over the world? You swap recipes and ask each blogger to post their experience with another participants recipe. When I first saw this I immediately thought “that has to be the coolest idea I have seen in some time.” I threw my cookie chops in and a few weeks later received an e-mail from Joanne from Eat’s Well With Others with the recipe for Maple Brown Sugar Cookies.

Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
Makes 24, adapted from Indulgence Cookies

1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup soft brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 egg yolk
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the maple syrup and egg yolk, beating until just combined.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a soft dough.

3. Shape the dough into a flat disk, cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes or in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (The book tells you to put it in the fridge for 20 minutes. And let me tell you, this was nowhere near enough time. Basically just refrigerate until chilled and slightly hard.)

4. Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until it is 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 2-inch round cookie cutters. Or if your dough is too soft to do any such thing because you are impatient and refuse to wait until it is cold to work with it. (Not that I would know anything about that.) Roll it into balls and then flatten them slightly with your palm. Place on the prepared sheets 1 1/2 inches apart and bake for 8 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Cookies and I are no strangers and this time of year I always make some and I try to make new and different kinds for a little holiday fun. Last week I posted about making cookies with my Mom, something she and I had done quite a bit since I got interested in cooking. I can recall marathon cookie-making days in preparation for swaps that had so many participants we had to bring boxes to cart our haul home. We would end up with so many cookies I swear we could have fed an invading army!

These cookies are spicy, but the cardomom offers a twist that makes them much less like a Snickerdoodle than you might think. The rooty, earthy flavors from the maple syrup makes a New Englander real happy.

For a second serving of the cookies I went with a twist, ice cream sandwiches! I used pairs of the cookies, vanilla ice cream and Demerara sugar to create a treat for a holiday dinner with friends. The sugar was dusted over the edges of sandwiches before letting them rest in the freezer for 20 minutes before serving.

Another holiday season and another successful cookie swap. Lori from Fake Food Free (the organizer of the exchange) was my recipe recipient and posted the story I shared and her experience with my Mom’s recipe for Russian Teacakes last week. I read the post to my Mom while I was down for a visit. She laughed when I said that her recipe and story were making her famous on the Internet. I could tell she was happy and that made the experience complete.

I hope you are taking some time to enjoy holiday foods this year. If you try something new and would like to spread the word, let me know. I’m always up for trying new holiday treats!

Cheers!

Jason

The BostonBrunchers Land a KO with KO Catering & Pies

I was one of the lucky winners of 7 spots for brunch at KO Catering & Pies this past Saturday. There were several exciting aspects to this occasion for me including meeting new-to-me Boston food bloggers and getting to eat food from KO again.

KO has a small space designed for take-out on A street in South Boston. The kitchen space also functions as their base for catering and a truck that will be opening in 2011.

Our host Kara greeted us all as we arrived. KO had prepared a table for us to enjoy our brunch at with favors (Tim Tams!) for each of us to take home. We are invited to order anything off of the “Brekky” menu, which was complimentary for our event, with several special treats planned as well. We’ll get back to the food in a moment.

( these plastic Oragami-looking birds above our head was a nice decorating element )

This week I met my first Boston-area food bloggers. Only being in the city three days a week for work affords fewer opportunities than I would like. Connecting with a community of folks dedicating their time to food and beverage topics like I do is a key step in broadening my experiences, sharing my own and keeping the blog rolling. At this event I met Katie, Athena, Daisy, Rachel, Elizabeth, Kimmy, and our BostonBrunchers host Renee.

You can’t go wrong with a gang like this! The conversation ranged from what Vegemite is to whether you would trade a dishwasher for a washer & dryer in a typically small Boston apartment to dogs snoring at night to where to get a great burger in town. That’s a lot of ground to cover. Thank you to Renee for organizing and it was so exciting to meet everyone, something that seemed to be shared by all.

Kara indicated that our first special treat would be Vegemite on sourdough toast. I knew of Vegemite, a yeast extract spread, but had never had it. Some research ahead of time yielded the knowledge that Vegemite was originally made from spent brewer’s yeast and blended with spices to produce what has become a staple of Australians. I was prepared that it would be very salty and that stereotypically Americans don’t like it. Interesting.

( looks can be deceiving, but not this time. )

( I forgot to buy some, but I'll be heading back! )

The most straigtforward way I can describe it is that it tastes like very salty beef gravy. With some butter on sourdough toast it is excellent, and I can’t really see where any dislike would come from; except maybe the saltiness.

Elizabeth ordered the granola and passed it around to share. Kara indicated that they make it on site. It was very sweet and crunchy with what looked like dried cranberries, apples and bananas in it. I could see eating this for breakfast with some vanilla yogurt.

( you can almost taste it... )

I was last to order and at that point the menu had been covered pretty well, except for the Croque Monsieur. Feeling like we shouldn’t leave a man behind I ordered it. Smoked ham and provolone on sourdough bread grilled to a golden brown. The ham was very flavorful and the cheese was melted all over the place ensuring everything in one bite. As some of my readers well know I have a weakness for cheese and bread so getting some more of the sourdough bread was alright by me!!

( looks great doesn't it? )

I took some pics of a few other dishes as they came around. The cold food after photo shoot food blogger joke created some good laughs.

( sweet corn fritter with bacon & avocado )

The final special treat was the sausage rolls. When Margot and I had the KO pies at the Wine Riot in October I don’t recall seeing the sausage rolls on the menu. When I first took a look at the shop menu in anticipation of the brunch I knew I had to try some one way or another. First the photo.

( that will keep you coming back! )

Kara explained that they source the sausage from a local polish butcher and add their own secret blend of herbs and spices wrapping it all in their flaky crust. I hadn’t yet heard anything that would change my mind. The texture of the sausage was wonderful, so soft and yielding. The spice blend was balanced nicely and the finish with the crust surely made me happy.

A final act of sampling was set in motion with the order (Elizabeth again who has a self-professed sweet tooth) of one serving of the Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream. I had one small bit of this and it was amazing. I might come back for just this sometime! It had lots of flavors going on and was warm and sweet. A great way to finish a fantastic meal.

( it looks so good and it follows through! )

Australians definitely have a sense of humor. As evidence I offer the caption below the clock showing the local time hanging on the wall. Pie time!!

There was a flurry of activity at the register before we all headed off to our respective next destinations. I ordered four pies and two sausage rolls to bring home for future enjoyment. I felt like I need a security guard to keep my treasures safe!

I took a few shots of treats waiting in the warmer. If this doesn’t make you hungry you might want to check your pulse.

I am looking forward to future opportunities to go out with the Boston Brunchers. Monthly events are being planned and the mix of faces at each event will likely change so there should be something new for everyone in the coming months. You can follow the group on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with what is going on and when the next chance to win a spot will be.

A huge thank you is must for KO Catering & Pies. Both Kara and Sam took great care of us on Saturday morning. Much thanks also goes out to Renee for organizing the event. She was talking about logos and the web site for the group during brunch. Hardcore!

( the BostonBrunchers at KO. photo thanks to Kimmy. )

You see lots of smiles and from the wrap-up above I am confident this should be no surprise. I enjoyed my time with the Boston Brunchers and hope some of my readers will check out KO Catering & Pies when they have the chance.

Cheers!

--Jason


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Making Holiday Cookies with Mom

The weekend before Thanksgiving my father found himself in the hospital and as a result my parents didn’t make it up to VT. My mother and I had planned to do some holiday baking during that trip, something we both look forward to and especially when we get the chance to team up. Margot and I went as planned and I cooked the pies for our holiday enjoyment.

Fast forward a few weeks later. Dad is quickly recovering from bypass surgery and I visited today to check in and spend some time with my parents. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my mother had planned to make cookies while I worked. I had my camera with me so this made for a great opportunity for an unexpected post.

My mother subscribes to the e-mail newsletter of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The daily recipe sent to subscribers on December 4th was for Scotch Rosemary Biscuit Cookies created by Andrea Newberry of the Forkable blog.

The recipe is intriguing for a couple of reasons. First off, it contains scotch. I haven’t baked with scotch before so I didn’t really know how much or little of the smoky flavor from the scotch would come through. Secondly, rosemary. Our friend Amy made rosemary shortbread cookies earlier this year, something that was new for me. I have to admit I ate way too many of them, but the rosemary flavors wrapped in butter and sugar were just too much.

The cookies came out fantastically and I have a nice satchel of them to take home. They aren’t going to last long! I couldn't detect any remnants of the scotch, but the rosemary flavor can't be missed. The coarsely grated parmesan cheese creates a chewy texture that really brings these cookies together.

I am participating in the International Blogger Holiday Cookie Recipe Exchange this month. I’ll be posting the recipe I was assigned early next week. The recipient of my recipe, Lori from Fake Food Free, posted her recreation of the recipe and the story I sent along with it yesterday. As you can see there is a history with my mom, me and cookies!

Cheers!

--Jason

Celebrating Christmas 1912 at Hildene

( Hildene, restored and cared for by local volunteers )

A quick bit of background. I have been travelling to southern Vermont for summer and weekend trips since I was kid. More recently my family purchased a vacation home that draws family members up there year-round.

Hildene, the estate of Robert Todd Lincoln, is located in Manchester Center, Vermont.

Spending more time up in VT inevitably results in explorations of the surrounding areas to find outdoor activities, tourist attractions and cultural events. A few years back my mother visited Hildene, shared the history and related how beautiful the house (mansion) and grounds were. I figured we’d get there eventually.

We spent the past weekend up at the house again with some holiday baking on our To Do list. With some time to spare I got to looking for holiday themed activities that we could check out while we were there. As luck would have it the holiday celebration at Hildene was kicking off this weekend. This meant the house would be decorated and there would be music and activities at the welcome center.

When you arrive at the welcome center you are met with a couple of options for tours. We went with the self-guided house an grounds tour. You start with a short video that lays out the history of Hildene and a little bit about Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham and Mary Lincoln to survive into adult-hood. The key point I took away from the video was that when visiting the Manchester area as a child Robert was taken by the natural beauty of the mountains and river valleys; making it known he wished to build a home there one day. Those are some big dreams.

As luck would have it his life, and all of its twists and turns, brought him into the association of a family who lived in Manchester, Vermont. This association helped him locate a 500 acre parcel of land he eventually purchased for what would become Hildene. Aside: the wealth required to take on this project came from several sources including his tenure as the president of the Pullman Rail Car company.

The house and grounds are absolutely beautiful. This time of year the outside is trimmed back and cleaned of leaf debris. If you close your eyes you can imagine what it might look like in the spring or summer. A return trip specifically to see the cutting and kitchen gardens is planned for next year.

( cutting and kitchen garden )

We entered the home through the main entrance right off the driveway. The smell of pine wreaths was a welcome aroma. We were greeted by one of the many energetic volunteers who invited us to explore the public spaces as we chose. He also explained the new exhibit available upstairs focused on the second inaugural of Abraham Lincoln. The joke about Robert Todd Lincoln’s father being of some minor import to American History was a good laugh.

Based on the way we decorate for holidays today Christmas in 1912 would seem rather spartan. The tree was plainly decorated, and the style of tree called back to a time before commercialized trees designed for visual appeal with dense clusters of needles on full branches. Less is more! Each of the rooms , except for the kitchen and pantry, had some form of holiday decorations presented including mantle-pieces, wreaths, candelabras and bows. It reminded me of my grandmother’s house during this time of year when I was a child.

I found the kitchen and pantry spaces intriguing. The large cast iron stove and cooktop looks like it would be a lot of fun to experiment with! Some of the gadgets look pretty high-tech for their era and were no doubt made possible by the family’s success.

The entire house was constructed in such a way to allow the staff to quietly and efficiently serve residents and guests. Right off of the foyer was a staircase, dumb-waiter and pantry space used by the butler and staff to hide some of the inner workings of the home.

( festive entryway )

( 1912 Christmas tree )

( the library )

( cast iron cooktop )

( the dining room with your patron looking over you )

( the desk of Mr. Lincoln's secretary )

( the parlor and some Christmas music )

The views from most of the rooms were incredible as expected. Knowing this area for as long as I have it is no surprise that its majesty made such an impression on Robert Todd Lincoln and his family. The last picture is a side view of the house and the new snow line on the Equinox mountain range.

Cheers!

--Jason

Chocolate Chili Panna-tini

Last week Brian from A Thought For Food shared his recipe for Chocolate Chili Panna Cotta which is his entry in the A Chile & A Spoon Blogger Recipe Challenge sponsored by Marx Foods. Voting is no longer open. We got to sharing tweets about it and I mentioned a possible pairing with our homemade Jalapeno Dessert Wine. Brian was intrigued.

I got to thinking about it a bit more and wondered what adventure a recreation of the dish as a cocktail would take me on. The quest for the Chocolate Chili Panna-tini was on!

There are basic recipes for chocolate martini’s everywhere. Not being a favorite of mine I can’t recall ever actually making one. I opted not to consult any recipes to determine my starting ingredients/proportions as a test of my growing mixology intuition. I knew the challenge to create the richness of panna cotta was going to take a few tries which I’ll walk you through.

I started with the following for a base cocktail:

1 part dark Crème de Cacao
1 part hand-infused vanilla vodka
1 part Ancient Fire Jalapeno Dessert wine
1/2 part Kahlua Mocha
1/2 part fat free half and half
4 drops Bitterman’s Mole bitters

I chilled the ingredients down and shook them well before pouring into a rocks glass for testing.

The chocolate flavors were excellent, but I felt the drink was little thin. The heat from the wine didn’t come through as much as I wanted which was a suspicion I had when I started. I added ¼ tsp of hand-infused habanero vodka to create some heat and determined that would be a too much for some people, but spot on for folks expecting the cocktail to have heat.

For the next round I dropped the wine and added 1 egg white to the ingredients before shaking. I also extended the shaking time to encourage the egg to foam up.

This time the drink had more body and texture from the egg white and with the heat is definitely fun and a worthy homage to the dish that inspired it. You could use regular half & half or cream which would produce even more body in the drink. Both Margot and I feel that this cocktail isn’t a volume drinker. I would expect you would want to switch to something else after 1 or 2 of them, even without the chili vodka. As a novelty or celebratory drink however, it presents flavors sure to please!

The Jalapeno Dessert wine would definitely pair well with the panna cotta (we know because we have had it with chocolate cheesecake) because the heat is fairly low and it doesn’t build beyond a point that casual sipping is no longer possible. For that reason I think the wine will not likely be as worthy to cook with as we had hoped. Since it is drinkable though, nobody loses! In the end we didn’t use it but found other ingredients that functioned much like we expected the wine to.

I didn’t get any good pictures through the process and can only say that maybe this drink demands you enjoy it firsthand and shies away from the camera! The cocoa bean photo above is a Creative Commons Licensed photo that makes a nice rustic touch for a spicy chocolate cocktail kicked up with mole bitters.

Cheers!


--Jason


Photo Citations

1 - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cocoa_beans_P1410151.JPG

Pecan Pies Are Christmas For Me

( Ready to eat, nutty and sweet, a real Christmas treat! )

I don’t make them every year and some years I don’t even come across one to have during Christmas, but somehow one of the images I always think of around Christmas are pecan pies.

I used the same crust recipe from my earlier pie post, but after rolling out the crust and crimping it into the pan I refrigerate the shell before adding the filling and baking.

Pecan pies are very easy to make. One quick scan of the ingredient list for the filling and you can see why they taste so good. When you realize a whole pie has a 1000 calories in it from JUST the corn syrup you might starting debating whether you want to eat a slice though!

Pecan Pie

1 bag shelled pecans
8 oz light corn syrup
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 pie refrigerated pie shell (homemade or god forbid store bought!)

Dump the pecans into the prepared pie shell. I leave mine whole although some people will chop the pecans first. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour the mixture over the pecans. Place in a 350 oven and cook for 50-55 minutes or until set. Cool completely before serving. Pies can be frozen and warmed up for future service.

( Waiting for the filling... )

Luckily for us the pies we made were for a friend who would ordinarily buy their pies at the store but heard of my pie crust and asked if I would make them for here instead. It is an honor to make the pies that will be served on our friend’s holiday tables to be enjoyed by their guests this holiday season.

( To the oven with you! )

Because of the intense sweetness of pecan pie finding worthy beverage pairings can be a challenge. A maple liqueur on the rocks or coffee with Irish cream and/or Kahlua are two choices that come to mind from experience.

Keep an eye out this week for posts on a spicy chocolate martini (thanks to Brian at A Thought For Food), a holiday dinner we had with friends to end the week and a 1912 Christmas at Hildene in Manchester Center, VT.

Cheers!

--Jason

Chocolate Raspberry Port Wine

At the awards dinner during the WineMaker Magazine conference in Stevenson, WA earlier this year the WinExpert Chocolate Raspberry Port wine garnered a lot of attention. Numerous medals, made by the winemakers of the year winner and by several members of the club of the year as well. Firsthand experience with this wine was a must!

The kit ended up being a pre-order special edition this year. Too much of a good thing, perhaps? Constrict the supply to lock in the buyers at a high price, maybe? We bought.

We started the batch in September and it fermented quickly producing an earthy light red wine base. There was oak in the initial fermentation and it was obvious in the stable wine. The chocolate and raspberry flavors come from the affectionately named F-Pack added in the final stage.

The completed wine was sweet and flavorful with a full nose that gets to you before you can get the glass to your face. We didn't specifically think it needed something more, but Margot had a brilliant idea. It's port style wine so why not fortify it with a little Chambord? Why not, hell of an idea! After a bit of settling we racked into a clean carboy and added the Chambord. Stopped it up and tucked it away again.

We let the wine rest until last night. The aroma is still huge and the flavors are rich and extended. Sweet chocolate, raspberries, some acid with a gooey Tootsie Roll texture. And it is warming to be sure. The closest thing we have made to date would be our Black Currant after dinner wine and/or the Cabernet blended with it. Totally different flavors, but similar core wine flavors.

This is going to debut next week at our annual holiday open house and I am sure there will loyalists by the end of the day!

This is also the cornerstone for our 2011 wine awards. We hope it is worthy.

Cheers!

--Jason

‘Tis The Season!

I work only a few blocks from Downtown Crossing in Boston and a walk through the carts and shops available there is always worth the time. Today I wandered up and happened upon a holiday market going through December 24th. It felt like Christmas with wreaths, trees, holiday music and treats.

The market doesn’t have to be about your long term shopping if you handle that online or elsewhere. Several vendors were familiar to me from the Dewey Square Farm Market including the Swiss Baker, Q’s Roasted Nuts and Pigs Can Fly Breads. I have brought food from all three back to office for everyone to try! I tasted three flavors of honey any of which would make a great pairing with some goat cheese and crusty bread for an afternoon snack.

All sorts of gift items including prints from local artists, hand knit winter hats & gloves, jewelry and other selections were represented. If you live or work nearby it works out to a nice way to support local businesses and have some fun.

( We go with a fake tree, and ours is up already! )

( The 411 on the market. )

Happy Holidays!

--Jason