Perfectly Imperfect

Kir Royale

New Years Eve is tomorrow night and I could not let the holiday go by without a post about a champagne cocktail. My favorite being the Kir Royale.

A Kir Royale is a pre-dinner aperitif made popular in France after World War II. There are a variety of Kir Royale recipes but all are made with two basic ingredients: champagne and creme de cassis (black currant liqueur). I discovered Kir Royales the first time I went to Paris with my mother. I thought there was nothing more glamorous than sitting at a sidewalk cafe drinking Kir Roayles and eating Parisian pastry - our favorite being the ones from Fauchon — to die for!

Kir Royale

• 6 ounces champagne
• 1/2 ounce crème de cassis
• Lemon twist

Pour the champagne and cassis into a champagne flute. Stir. Garnish with lemon twist.

So bust out some killer pastry and whip up a batch of Kir Royales and toast a sweet New Year!

*Note: If you are in San Francisco and want to get a Kir made for you, try one of our favorite little bars called Bar 821.

Cheers!

Kim

*image courtesy of cocktail.uk.com

Homemade Granola to Die For

I was at a fun-filled brunch at my friend Julies house yesterday (Poppy made a new friend with her doggie, Comet!) and she served the most delicious granola with Greek yogurt. Before I left her house, I had to secure the recipe so I could share it with you. And, funny enough, it is from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook - love her!

Make a big batch of this and share it with friends as a New Years gift.

Homemade Granola

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 Cups sweetened, shredded coconut

2 Cups sliced almonds

3/4 Cup vegetable oil

1/2 Cup good honey

1 1/2 Cups small diced apricots

1 Cup dried cherries

1 Cup dried cranberries

1 Cup roasted, unsalted cashews

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the oats, coconut and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil & honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. Pour onto a 13x18 inch baking sheet . Bake, stirring occasionally with a spatula until the mixture turns a nice, even golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally. Add the apricots, cherries, cranberries and cashews. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

xo,

kim

*granola photo courtesy of the Food Network

Chow Down with the Reindeer

With all the last minute preparations required to successfully pull off Christmas as a parent - filling the stockings, wrapping the gifts, eating the cookies left for Santa, making paw prints from the reindeer - I found I was in need of a hard core snack that would satisfy my sweet tooth but be easy to make. Enter Reindeer Chow. Not only is the name adorable, but the stuff is like Christmas Crack- totally and completely addictive. You'll gobble it down by the handful and don't be surprised if you need to make a second batch. Just tell them it's for Santa.

Reindeer Chow

Number of servings:
approx. 12-16

Ingredients:
one box of Crispix cereal (approx. 12 cups)
one 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 c. powdered sugar

Directions:
Use a very large pot and over low heat, melt chocolate chips and combine with peanut butter.

Remove from heat; stir in cereal. Gently stir to thoroughly coat the cereal.

Dust mixture with the powdered sugar, and continue stirring to thoroughly coat the cereal.

Cool, and place in a container. Keep in a cool place.

*recipe courtesy of familyeducation.com

Merry Christmas to All!

xo

K

Double Dipping this Holiday!

Each and every Christmas Eve since I can remember, my mom made a huge pot of cheese fondue with a million little nibbles to dip into it. Then when our bellies were full of molten cheese, she would bring out the fondue big guns - chocolate! By the end of our meal we were the happiest children on the face of the earth. Who even cared about opening gifts at that point!

Because we've had a little one in the house the past few years, Marc and I have put off our holiday fondue tradition, but now that Poppy is nearly 4, we think it is high time to initiate her into the cheese & chocolate party and I could not be more happy to bring this tradition into our little family and to share it with you.

What to dip is always a question and I recommend the following broken out by the cheese and chocolate course:

Cheese:
(blanch the veggies first)
Cubed Ham
Mini Salami Sticks
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrot Sticks
Pepper slices (red, orange, yellow)
Steamed fingerling potatoes
Apples
Pears
Cubed French Bread chunks (day old works best)


Chocolate:
Strawberries
Bananas
Pretzel Sticks
marshmallows
Graham Crackers
cookies
Pound or angel food cake
Biscotti

Classic Cheese Fondue:

1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. Gruyere cheese, shredded (or 1/2 lb Gruyere + 1/2 lb Emmental cheese)
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
A splash or two of kirsch (optional but yummy)

Toss the cheese with the flour. Rub the interior of a medium saucepan with the peeled garlic. Place over medium heat and add the wine. Bring to a simmer and add the cheese mixture, one handful at a time. Stir in the nutmeg.

Stir over low heat until smooth and cheese is melted and bubbling. Add a splash or two of kirsch (optional). Continue stirring until it starts to bubble just a bit. Transfer the cheese mixture to a fondue pot and you are ready for dipping. Continue to stir frequently.

Chocolate Fondue:

1 lb. premium semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, well chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

In a medium saucepan over low heat bring the cream to a simmer. Add the chocolate. Simmer, stirring until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the mixture to a fondue pot and use strawberries, cherries, oranges sections, graham crackers, marshmallows, or ladyfingers for dipping. Continue to stir frequently.

And, for your shopping pleasure, check out these fondue pots from Williams-Sonoma, the first one is All-Clad, totally sleek and minimal and the second is more old school - love the red color!

Happy Dipping & Happy Holidays!

xo

Kim

*main image courtesy of www.raclette-fondue.com

That's a Wrap!

Whew! After 8 nights of Hanukkah and with Christmas only a few days away, I have been a gift wrapping machine these last few weeks. While sitting on the floor surrounded by gift wrap, bows, ribbon & tape I made a pact with myself that I would hunt for some eco friendly wrap going forward. And, BINGO! I totally scored while walking through Japantown and saw the lovely fabric wrap called furoshiki -  a traditional wrapping cloth.

Not only is furoshiki way more eco, it is just so darn pretty and I love that it can be reused and re-purposed and there is no tape or bows required. There are so many lovely colors and patterns to choose from - consider me hooked. 

You can get your own at many of the stores in Japantown in San Francisco, or online here at Furoshiki or on Etsy at this awesome little shop, FuroChic. This fabulous poppy print might have to become Poppy's signature wrap for all the birthday parties we attend.

Happy Wrapping & Happy Holidays!

xo

Kim

The Easiest Holiday Cookie & Craft (ever!)

For the first time in 2 months everyone in our family is healthy (knock on wood) and I was feeling festive and inspired to do some simple baking (for office gifts) and a fun (non-messy) craft for Pops and I to do together so I decided to make Chocolate Chip Meringue Kiss Cookies and some popsicle stick reindeer, dreidels and trees.

Making the cookies is seriously so easy. You need four ingredients and a mixer. Love it. The recipe is from Real Simple and could not be more so...and they got rave reviews from my hubby, who claims he does not like meringue and Poppy (who will eat anything if there is a chocolate chip in it)!

 

CHOCOLATE CHIP MERINGUE KISSES

Ingredients:

3 Large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat Oven to 225 degrees

2. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium until foamy. Increase the speed to high and gradually add the sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time; continue to beat until stiff and glossy, 2 to 3 minutes. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Drop mounds of the meringue mixture (each equal to 2 tablespoons) onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until firm & dry, 75 to 90 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheets and store in an airtight container at room temperature. Will keep 2 days stored in the airtight container.

Our finished popsicle crafts are here. Just some colored popsicle sticks, craft glue, googly eyes and fabric puffs and a few minutes later - Viola! Cute and easy decorations or ornaments.

That's What It's All About

Raising kids in our consumer focused society can be challenging even to the most socially aware family, so since Poppy was a baby we have been trying our hardest to instill a sense of social consciousness in her. She also attends a Erev Shabbat school at our temple that has taught her the meaning of "mitzvah" which can be understood as performing an act of kindness that is above and beyond the normal act of kindness. It is performing an act that is completely selfless. 

Each year we have taken a toy and donated it during the holidays to teach Poppy this act of kindness, so last year, she let me know that she wanted to save part of her money all year long and wanted to pick a gift at the holidays to donate on her own. She also stated she wanted to donate her gift to a little girl who had lost her house in a fire. Wow. She blew me away with that. Sometimes as a parent you get caught up in all the day to day things and then your kid does something that just floors you and nothing else seems to matter. This was one of those moments. We felt very proud of Poppy that at 3 years old she had thought through all this.

So, she saved and saved and saved some more and we went online to the Disney store and she selected a Snow White doll (as she is a bit princess obsessed right now) and we made a big deal about bringing it to our local fire station in Noe Valley where we met Jack, one of the firemen. He was amazing and gave Poppy lots of reinforcement about what a good deed she had done. 

The best part is as we walked away, she said to her Dad and I, "wow, we need to do lots more stuff like that- that felt really good." Priceless.

To learn more about the San Francisco Fire Fighter's Toy Program click here.

Happiest Holidays to you and yours.

xo

Kim

I'm a Little Latke

 

Well, it's been a long time since my last post and we've battled two cases of H1N1, pneumonia and stomach flu since then so to say the least, all we want in our house for the holidays is to be healthy. Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah and I was inspired to share my favorite latke recipe with you because Poppy has been singing the "I'm a Little Latke" song nonstop the last few weeks. Feel free to sing it as you make your latkes- the best ingredient you can put in latkes is lots of love!

 

Mini Potato-Carrot Pancakes with Festive Sour Cream

 

Makes 2 dozen

Make these easy bites ahead, if you like. Once cooled, layer them between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container then re-crisp on a lightly oiled baking sheet in a 400°F oven just before serving. There are three choices for flavoring the sour cream—spicy, savory or sweet and sour. Choose your favorite or reduce the amounts to make all three and offer a variety.

Ingredients

1/2 cup light sour cream
1 small chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced OR 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard OR 2 tablespoons cranberry
sauce
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 small yellow onion, grated
2 large carrots (about 1/2 pound), peeled and grated
1 large russet potato (about 3/4 pound), peeled, grated and squeezed to remove excess water
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

Method

In a small bowl combine sour cream with your flavoring choice: chipotle pepper, mustard or cranberry sauce. Set aside. In a large bowl, fold together onions, carrots, potatoes, egg, flour, salt and pepper until well combined. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, form each pancake by dropping about 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture into the skillet. Space pancakes about an inch apart, flatten and cook, flipping once, until deep golden brown and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes total. (Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to skillet halfway through.) Transfer to a paper-towel lined baking sheet to drain briefly. Serve with a teaspoon of flavored sour cream on each. 

*Recipe courtesy of Whole Foods

I'm a Little Latke Words (sung to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot) - courtesy of Meredith at Sherith Israel

"I'm a little latke, a fine potato pancake, I come to you on Hanukkah for everyone to eat. Some like me with applesauce, some like me with sour cream, some like me with jam, or just like me the way I Am... I'm a little latke, a fine potato pancake, I come to you on Hanukkah for everyone to eat! “

 

Happy Hanukkah everyone!