Gingerbread Cookies

I have grown quite the reputation in the gingerbread department. Everyone knows that I am the queen of gingerbread cookies. Really I owe my crown to Martha Stewart though. It's her recipe that I use and have always used to make the gingerbread cookies that everyone seems to love. I think I've been making this recipe for close to 10 years now and it hasn't failed me yet. This time of year we're all looking for a recipe to really make the season. And a foolproof recipe at that! What better to way to fill your home with all things seasonal than with the smell of gingerbread. If you have kids it's a great family activity to decorate these cookies with them (or you could even make a gingerbread house!). These cookies also make a great little gift to friends or family members that you just want to give a little something. The very best part about this recipe is how well the cookies freeze. You could make these well in advance, freeze them and pull them out of the freezer if you have guests over during the holidays. I really truly think that this is THE perfect holiday recipe. Which is why I'm passing it on to you. Enjoy this festive season with your friends and family and maybe a little sugar too!

RECIPE:

http://www.marthastewart.com/343445/gingerbread-cookies?czone=holiday/workshop-christmas/workshop-christmas-house&center=307034&gallery=274868&slide=285771

Spicy Sweet Green Beans

Yesterday was Christmas with my family. We did it a little early this year because with Husband and I living almost 3 hours away from my family it's just not practical to see bot hour families in one or two days at Christmas time. So we've been alternating families for Christmas for quite a few years now. Hence this past weekend was "Christmas" with my family. It was a nice relaxing weekend at my sister's house and I brought a vegetable dish as my share of the family dinner. I thought of bringing green beans and then found this recipe in my Mark Bittman Food Matters cookbook. It's a mixture of sweetness, spice and nutty that really goes great together and was a nice compliment to our traditional Christmas dinner. Everyone really liked it even my sometimes hard to please with food father and Husband too who was not exactly glad to hear that I was making green beans.

I made these at my sister's house but if you wanted to take a dish as your contribution to a meal this is also great because it doesn't have to be served warm. It can be served at room temperature, but it can be served warm too for those of you freaking at eating something less than hot.

I think this is a terrific vegetable dish and you might be able to convince all the "greens" haters out there to give this a shot because the nuts make this seem like something other than just a pile of veg on your plate. Anyhow, I'm telling you to give this one a chance you will not regret it.

http://markbittman.com/spicy-sweet-green-beans

Vanilla Tzatziki

The other night I found myself faced with a daily question "What will I make for dinner?". As I stuck my head in and out of cupboards, the freezer, the fridge, I came across a box of falafel mix and decided that was it. Falafel for dinner, with rice and greek salad, perfect! Things went great making the meal but I realized that I really wanted some tzatziki to go with it and I didn't have any. I wasn't going to run to the store for it but I thought why not google the recipe and see if I have what I need to make it. I chose a recipe from "allrecipes.com" and checked my cupboards against the ingredient list. I had everything I needed except the only yogurt I had was vanilla flavoured. This made me doubtful that I was doing the right thing but I thought "What the hell, worse case scenario I throw it out." I didn't make the portion of the recipe they instructed for - it was calling for 2 containers of yogurt! I just needed enough to get me thru my meal so I scaled it back considerably. I used 3 tbsp of yogurt as my base and just winged it from there on portions of other ingredients. And I have to tell you I am sooooo glad that I went ahead with it. I think I actually liked this version of tzatziki better than regular tzatziki. The vanilla gives it just a little bit of sweet that is so delicious. I love it when my careless kitchen habits turnout for the good. This one paid out in spades. I now want to always make my own vanilla tzatziki and I'm going to share my "recipe" with you.

3 tbsp Vanilla flavoured Greek Yogurt (Liberte brand)

2 inches of a cucumber peeled and finely chopped

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

a few dashes of lemon juice

a dash of salt

a good grinding of pepper

1.5 tsp of fresh (or frozen) dill

1 small clove of garlic minced

put all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Taste and alter as your taste buds allow.

example - if it tastes too sweet add more lemon juice, if it tastes too tart add more yogurt - but only small portions at a time.

I think you will really like this, I had a couple people at work give it a taste and they liked it as much as I did so it's not just me!

Enjoy!