plum fruit leather

School is now in session. 

Whew.

If you knew what I've gone through to get here you'd understand my long silence. Influenced also by a crashed hard drive and end of summer woes. 

But we don't need to talk about the past. Let's look toward the future. A future of new experiences and all things fall, which can't be bad.

To celebrate fall I've begun a new kind of cooking.

In addition to cooking in the kitchen I've begun to make enamel jewelry. After thinking about it for over a year I finally had a private lesson at Liloveve with the talented Emilie Shapiro and I am now hooked. Expect to see more jewelry in future posts... and hopefully a new Etsy shop.

Another thing I've been wanting to do for a long time is make fruit leather. I figure now is the time since every parent is casting around their kitchen for something relatively healthy and low maintenance to throw into the lunch box. The perfect back-to-school snack.

Plum Fruit Leather

adapted from Natashia's Kitchen

Ingredients

• Plums
• Sugar (optional)

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 400. Please washed, halved and pitted plums skin side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook for 15-20 minutes, you want to avoid burning them, so check on them.
2. Puree in food processor. Add sugar to taste or skip it. I tasted the plum puree and decided to go without sugar.
3. Line same rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour puree into baking sheet and smooth to level out, you want 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.
4. At this point we are just trying to dry the stuff out and not cook it, so if you have access to open air and sunshine, place it in sun for 2 days. If not, place it in an oven at lowest temp, no higher than 140F. Leave in center shelf for 6-8 hours. Leather is done when it is smooth to touch and not tacky.
5. Roll up in the parchment paper and cut into sections.

salted tahini-date caramels {vegan and raw}

I am not going to lie. I ate the entire batch of these caramels in one sitting, by myself.

So, maybe they are not the best Valentine's Day gift. An empty box doesn't make for a great gift.

BUT if you can hold yourself in check, and allow a few to remain in the gift, the recipient will be forever grateful. They are vegan and raw, after all. And there is no extra sugar added: only the sweetness of the dates. Kind of amazing how much they resemble the real deal. I felt fully vindicated in eating them all.

A sinless pleasure.

So, maybe they ARE the best Valentine's Day gift.

Hard to know.

You'll just have to see for yourself.

Salted Tahini-Date Caramels
Adapted from The Kitchn
Makes about 18 candies

Ingredients

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon fleur de sel or other finishing salt

Instructions

1. Combine the dates, tahini, coconut oil, and cardamom in food processor. You should have a very smooth, creamy, thick paste. Mine had a lot of oil which separated from the rest, which I poured off the top.
2. Transfer mixture to a parchment lined loaf pan. The entire ingredients does not fill a pan, so I formed it onto a flat bar or paste and rolled it in parchment paper. Sprinkle salt on top.
3. Freeze until firm. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
4. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month.

bite sized cocoa meringues {leftovers club}

What do you crave on a blustery day, while cuddled up in a blanket, reading a good book? Well, hot cocoa, of course. And don't forget the marshmallows.

I really wanted to send Marissa, over at Pinch and Swirl and my Leftovers Club partner this month, a cup of warm goodness, but the postal system being as it is I settled for bite sized cocoa flavored treats which are a remarkable mixture of marshmallow fluffiness and melt in your mouth crispness, definitely a hot cocoa sensation. I hope they help to keep her warm, if only by association.

The perfect Valentine's Day treat - just enough to satisfy that chocolate urge, but not too much to overwhelm (molten lava cake I am looking at you).

The Leftovers Club is a super cool way to have your blog noticed by other bloggers. It is a way to see what other people are making AND it is a great way to score some yummy treats and share the love at the same time. So, what are you waiting for... join the club!

Bite Sized Cocoa Meringues
Adapted from Hidden Ponies
Yield: 4 dozen small cookies

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250F.
2. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt at high speed of a mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
3. Sift cocoa over egg white mixture; fold in. 
4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper; secure to baking sheet with masking tape if necessary. Spoon batter into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle. Squeeze onto baking sheet in small mounds. They can be very close together as they will not spread much with baking.
5. Bake at 275F for 45-55 minutes or until crisp and dry. Cool on pan on a wire rack. Repeat procedure with remaining batter, reusing parchment paper. Store in an airtight container

An InLinkz Link-up

homemade fluffy raspberry marshmallows

It was inevitable.

Our son used to be a kid who hated cake. He asked for fresh peppers and fresh peas before french fries or popcorn. He wouldn't take a second look at the rows of candy at the grocery checkout aisle.

Then he began preschool.

Now he wants everything: lollipops, ice cream, brownies. All things sweet. All things bad for him.

What's a parent to do?

Mostly when I see a lollipop or other hard candy in his possession I confiscate it before he can see, or on the sly. After a few hours he usually forgets it ever existed. The magic of being 4 years old: you can be entirely focused on the here and now, while the there and then become a distant memory.

So, why, you ask, am I making homemade marshmallows? One of the worse food groups know to man? And something my husband proclaims disgusting?

Blame it on Pinterest. Everyone is making beautiful pink raspberry flavored marshmallows. How could I stand by while the parade marches on?

So, here are my gorgeous raspberry marshmallows. They are not vegan, or even vegetarian. They do not have healthy version of sweetener substituted in. They are all sugar fluff. Concoctions of utter self indulgence. They are my salute to Valentine's Day. Enjoy!

Raspberry Marshmallows
Adapted from Wilde in the Kitchen
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup rasp puree (strained to remove seeds)
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
4 drops or more red food coloring (optional)
1/2 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1/2 cup cornstarch

1. Mix gelatin with ½ cup water and let set for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a pot with a handle, mix together ¼ cup water, sugar, agave and salt.  Heat on medium until all the sugar dissolves.  (Be sure to wash down any crystals that cling to the side of the pot with a wet pastry brush.)  Then heat on high, without stirring, until temperature reaches 240 degrees.

2. Mix raspberry puree with gelatin mixture. Slowly add hot sugar to the gelatin/raspberry mixture. I like to add it down the side of the bowl with the mixer running. Once it is all added, turn the mixer up to high and whip for about 15 minutes, adding 4 drops red food coloring, if using. At this point your mixture should be thick and shiny.

3. Brush a 9x13 inch pan, with oil and liberally coat with the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture. Pour your marshmallow fluff into the prepared pan and smooth out. You might want to spray your hands with a little cooking spray to keep from sticking. Coat top with powdered sugar/cornstarch and let sit overnight to set up.

In the morning, free your marshmallows from the pan onto a surface dusted with powdered sugar. Using a pizza cutter cut your big marshmallow into many smaller ones. Size is all up to you!

Eat all alone, or serve in some hot cocoa. The marshmallows give a mild raspberry flavor to the hot cocoa once completely melted! You can replace the raspberry puree with blackberries or strawberries. Make your favorite flavor!

cranberry eggnog pie

I love the geometry of the gingerbread house. This was my first attempt.

I've been making sure to have a kale salad every day - my own home remedy flu prevention.

Another first for me - candied orange peel dipped in chocolate. They came out a bit crunchy due to the turbinado sugar. I would use finer next time - or not cover them in sugar at all. This recipe calls for keeping as much pith on as possible. I prefer it to the recipes that require all the pith be removed.

I made this tart for Christmas day. It was a huge success. Something about cranberry and cheese cake makes for a lovely combination. Because I had a 9.5 inch tart pan with a one inch rim and the recipe calls for a 10 inch tart pan with a two inch rim, I had excess filling which I put in ramekins and baked with the tart - Bonus!!

We had our second third Santa visitation (my son reminded me of one I'd forgotten)... and more presents!! Will it ever end??

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

apple cider caramels {the leftovers club}

These yummy caramels may be the best thing that has ever come out of my kitchen. No joke.

This was my first foray into the world of candy making and it was a wildly huge success. Recipe was found on Deb's Smitten Kitchen site (need I say more?). Only thing is - and please listen closely - no matter how delicious that soft, liquidy, caramel goodness looks in the pan DO NOT try to taste it before it has set. Or you'll have a burned lip for a week. And that's no fun. Take it from one who knows.

I made these for the Leftovers Club, so this lucky lady - Aly of Cooking in Stilettos - will be receiving them. And hopefully enjoying them. But how could she not?

The Leftovers Club offers a fabulous opportunity to connect with fellow bloggers and get some yummy treats in the mail. Please join us!

{recipe}