whole wheat snickerdoodles.

Over the past few years we have switched over to using only whole wheat flours. For bread we often grind our own flour, but we use whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat white flour for baking everything from cookies to scones. My boys actually like the rich chewiness that whole wheat flour adds to recipes. I often will take traditional recipes and just substitute the whole wheat flour - but with some things (like cookies) it is good to tweak the recipe a little to compensate for how much moisture the whole wheat flour absorbs. In this recipe I used organic stone ground whole wheat pastry flour, turbinado sugar, and have a non-traditional ingredient in the mix too...coconut. It doesn't add much actual coconut flavor, but gives a nice texture and keeps the cookies from getting dry, I think.

::whole wheat snickerdoodles::

ingredients::
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups organic sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups white whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup organic UN-sweetened dry coconut flakes
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

to roll the cookies in
2 tsp cinnamon
3 Tbsp turbinado sugar

directions::
-Preheat the oven to 375 ºF
-Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper
-In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar. Put aside.
-In a mixer, beat sugar with butter until light and creamy - about a minute or two.
-Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
-Add in the flour mixture a bit at a time until combined...

-In a small bowl, combine the 2 tsp cinnamon and 3 Tbsp sugar
-Roll bits of dough into balls (about 1 1/2 Tbsp per ball) and then roll in the cinnamon mixture to coat.
-Put the cookies about 2-3 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
-Bake for about 10 minutes...cookies should be light and golden.
-Let the cookies cool for a minute or two before transferring them to a cooling rack.



ingredient tip::

The health benefits from whole grains comes from the nutrients and fiber found in the grain kernel, including the germ and bran. So, whole grains contain the good stuff such as dietary fiber, starch, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, lignans, and phenolic compounds that have been linked to reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases!

glühwein

Glühwein, or mulled wine, is a favorite this time of year. There is nothing like the smell of aromatic spices and red wine wafting throughout the house on a cold day. While it can be made any time of year, there is something about the holiday season that makes me want to make it - and the process (and smell) is as much fun as the drinking. This is a great recipe for a party, but also lovely to have around the house. I also like making a batch, filling up a few bottles and giving as gifts!

It is very simple to make. I like making it in a slow cooker (on warm/low) so that it can just be on during the day to simmer and intensify in flavor. You can also easily make it on the stove in a large pot.

::glühwein::

1 bottle red wine
1.5 cups orange juice
1-2 thick slices lemon (with rind)
2 cinnamon sticks
10-15 cloves
5 allspice
1 star anise
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar (or muscavado)

You can tie up all of the spices in a little bit of cheesecloth, or just toss it all in the pot and strain to drink. Simply heat it all together (don't boil). Keep on low heat from 30 minutes up to several hours - the longer it it together in the pot, the more intense the flavor. Serve warm. Garnish with a cinnamon stick if you like!



ingredient tip::

Organic and biodynamic wines are very available nowadays - even in the aisles of many supermarkets. Buying wine made using organic grapes, grown biodynamically, and/or from vintners using sustainable agriculture practices means that not only are you steering clear of any nasty pesticides, but also supporting a more human and earth healthy business. And if you can find an organic wine made locally? Bigger bonus!

"With grapes topping the list of the most chemically "sprayed" (with insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and other nasty "cides") categories of produce on the market today, it is no wonder that many are seeking an organic alternative to their conventional wines. Tides are certainly turning as more vintners are discovering that the common-sense approach to both organic and biodynamic growing methods, results in not only "healthier" vines, but in wines with greater flavor..."

::molasses-spice cookies::

We have been looking for a good dark cookie that the boys like but that isn't overly sweet or too spicy. Today we had success with these Molasses-Spice cookies. These are not the traditional molasses heavy cookies (my boys will not eat them!). These cookies are a little chewy in the middle, crisp on the edges, slightly sweet with a gingerbread richness. I love that they all cooked so perfectly and evenly - which is great for cookie exchanges or gift bags!

This recipe is slightly adapted from the recipe in this book. Rather than using all purpose flour we used an organic whole wheat pastry flour - which keeps the rich nuttiness of a whole wheat flour, while still being light and tasty. We also used a rich organic dark brown sugar, and organic turbanado for the granulated sugar.


::molasses-spice cookies::

ingredients:
2 1/4 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
Some extra turbinado sugar for rolling (the larger crystals are great)

directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375º F.
Stir the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together in a bowl.
In your mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup turbinado sugar until light and fluffy - a few minutes on medium speed.
Scrape the sides of the bowl.
Add the egg, vanilla extract, and molasses. Beat until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
Put some turbinado sugar in a bowl.
Roll dough into 1-2 Tbsp balls.
Rolls the balls in the sugar and put on ungreased baking sheets - space a few inches apart.
Bake for about 7 minutes and then rotate the cookie sheet and bake for an additional 4-6 minutes. For soft chewy cookies pull out when they still look soft - longer time means more crispy!
When you remove them from the oven let them cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack via spatula.



ingredient tip:
I always feel that if we are going to take the time to bake something sweet, then we should use the good stuff! We try to avoid using refined sugars. But with cookies, you need sugar! By using organic less refined sugars, you are retaining more of the natural vitamins and minerals present in the sugar cane, and not getting any chemical by-products of the refining process. Or, what she said:

"I was on the lookout for sweeteners produced from crops that had been farmed without chemicals and pesticides. I was looking for sweeteners that didn’t contain additives and preservatives, and were as close to their original source ingredient in form and flavor as possible. I want to spend my money supporting sustainably minded producers, working in concert with the environment and giving a fair shake to their workers in fields and factories to produce great tasting products and ingredients."

what we do for good food.

Today we drove out in this. Willingly. What for? To pick up meat, vegetables, eggs and more. No, not at the store. We continue to buy direct from farmers as much as we can - even throughout the winter.

So what did we get today? We had two stops to pick up peppers, sunchokes, parsnips, eggs, meat, and more (the photo below is our portion, we also picked up for a few other families too).


Even in December, we still buy meat, dairy, cheese, eggs, vegetables, wheat, honey - the list goes on - from farmers. People we know. I tell you - in the middle of a snowstorm a giant bag of vibrant colored and amazing smelling peppers is an awesome sight.

No, we don't put a lot of miles on doing it this way either. When we buy things I try to buy as much as I can at a time, try to include other families to get as much as possible in one trip, pickup from more than just one place per run, and set regular pickups for more regular things and do big quarterly pickups for the rest. There is so much that is close to home!


The boys are used to it all - they love the rides in the country, seeing friends at the door with coolers as we trade pickup days, visiting farms, and chatting with some of their favorite people along the way. And they love unloading the car when we get back - egg pickup day means maybe we can bake cookies! And G must ooh and ahh over the egg colors each time and sort and re-sort by color and size until he gets it just right.

And speaking of eggs - my friend and egg/chicken/duck lady extraordinaire loaned me her shop vac and all is well in the oven again (thank you!!!). I have been working on some recipes for baked goods using all whole wheat flour - I have a lot of catching up to do!

pieces.

I haven't fallen off of the cook.eat.think. wagon here. I actually had a Pyrex explode into a million tiny pieces in my oven. I have a thing with glass. It always breaks no matter how careful I am. And, it always gets stuck in my fingers or feet, no matter how obsessively I clean it up. And it stays in my feet sometimes for months - even with my attempts of digging it out with sharp objects. So, this was a big thing.

So, I left it for a few days. Cleaned the floor 120 times (yes, it blew up just as I opened the oven, and glass literally flew OUT of the oven at my head, and landed up to four feet away). Put a rug in the kitchen. Let it sit for a few days. Bought big giant thick gloves. Pulled out the big pieces. Let it sit for a few days. Wondered how in the world I would ever get all that glass out of my oven. Looked for a shop-vac rental. Tried to sweep it out a little. Let it sit a few days. Wished I could just get a new oven (ha!). Let it sit for a few days.

I don't know when I will feel that I got enough glass shards out of the oven to EVER feel that I can cook in it again, but here's hoping. The holidays are coming. And a big birthday for a four year old is only 9 days away ... hmmm ... maybe I should order a cake...

So while I have been cooking a lot, it has been in the slow cooker on my counter. Big long all day soups and stews. Bread in the bread machine. Beans soaking on the counter. Panini's on the counter top grill. Now if I could just make this oven disappear and a new one magically appear in its place, I'd be set! ;)

The final CSA Box!

Today was it! The final CSA pickup of the season. We usually also do a late November storage share, but did not this year and are instead relying on our garden and a few local farmers for our final stocking up and some regular pickups throughout the winter!

In our box this week: sorrel, brusselini, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, celeriac, squash, onions, turnips (purple top & hakuri).

In our box this week last year.

winter garden.

While we have been busy in the kitchen we have also been out in the garden. I love yard work (yeah, I love shoveling too!). I will admit that we have a LOT of clean up after growing food plants rather than ornamental bushes, but it is worth it. The glorious weather has helped make the garden clean up even nicer. We are pulling, clipping, raking, and planting. We prepped and planted garlic and shallots. I love planting even as the cold comes. Speaking of planting...


This year we are planning to try to grow certain herbs and greens inside to see how much we can stay local for veggies even throughout the winter. Our pantry and freezer is packed with everything we preserved from farms and our garden all summer, but we still wanted fresh greens. With a sprouter we have a lot of variety throughout the winter for salads as well as bread, but we wanted more! So lets give it a shot and see how far we can go.

We plan to do a few succession plantings as we figure out what works best (or doesn't work). Our first planting::

-mustard greens
-salad bowl lettuce (cut and come again)
-spinach
-cilantro
-chives
-swiss chard
and by special request we will try
-window box roma tomato

To winter greens!