Simple and delicious chocolate cookies

These are the easiest cookies to make, as they don't require me to lift down the kenwood chef from the high shelf, as they are made in a saucepan. 

Ingredients: 

• 125g butter
• 175g soft light butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150 plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g white, milk or dark chocolate chopped (I used a bag of chocolate chips)

Method

Preheat oven to gas mark 5 (180 degrees) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

Melt butter in a large saucepan, then add the sugar and take the pan off the heat. Beat in the egg, add the vanilla extract, then sift in the dry ingredients, giving it a good stir so that you don't start cooking the egg. Stir in the chocolate chunks.

These spread well, so leave a good gap when you spoon onto the baking sheets. 

Bake for about 10 minutes.

Leave for a few minutes to settle before sliding them on a wire rack to cool

Healthy Home Cooked Baby foods (no jars in sight)

My little person is 10 months now and the bigger little person is nearly 2 and a half, so I thought I'd share some little person foods.

Currently my 2 year old is munching through a bowl of blueberries and the baby is making lots of mess with spaghetti! 

As I have previously shared I am a huge advocate of baby led weaning, although my husband is majorly not a fan - due to the mess and wastage! 

Although I do think the problem lies with the fact that little person sits on this Mamas & Papas Snug seat and will not keep the tray on, and big little person sits in the high chair, therefore little person drops food all over the floor. The reason for this, is the toddler will not sit still for 2 minutes unless firmly strapped into a highchair, and I don't want to go down the route of buying another high chair, when she really should be sitting at her little person table and chairs that my dad very kindly got made and shipped to us!

Here is just a small selection of easy little person foods thats good to keep handy

• Hard boiled egg cut into quarters 
• Potato (cooked whole potato sliced or small ones left whole)
• Roast potatoes
• Toast soldiers 
• Steamed broccoli - long stem is great
• Pasta tubes/spirals/Spaghetti served plain or with a try small sprinkle of cheese or tomato sauce
• Steamed rice especially sushi rice as sticky and easy to pick up
• Sliced fruit
• Mashed banana on toast
• Little wholemeal pancakes 
• Vegetable batons and hummus
• Frozen/ tinned sweetcorn and peas are great if your little person has the dexterity, I add them to rice and pasta

What we often do is cook extra for us, and leave a variety for the girls for a pick and mix for their lunch, sunday lunch or friday night dinner is great for this. 

I agree with the BLW theory that there is no such thing as baby food - that all food can be suitable for little people and eating what we eat (as long as it's healthy and suitable) is best for little people.

Note: I'm not preaching, but I never add salt when cooking, as babies kidneys can't process salt well, also no honey to under 1's.

Rosh Hashanah Family Dinner

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה‎, literally "head [of] the year"), is the Jewish New Year although the real name for this Feast of the Lord is called Yom Teruah (Hebrew: יום תרועה‎, literally "day [of] shouting/raising a noise") or the Feast of Trumpets according to the correct biblical calendar of the 1st and 2nd temple period, not Rosh Hashanah. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im("Days of Awe") which usually occur in the early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Rosh Hashanah is a two-day celebration, which begins on the first day of Tishrei. The day is believed to be the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in God's world. Rosh Hashanah customs include sounding the shofar (a hollowed-out ram's horn) and eating symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey to evoke a "sweet new year".









For Rosh hashanah this year I had 7 people for dinner. and on reflection I probably shouldn't have took the photo's with my phone!
Before dinner we say prayers with kiddush wine and apple challah dipped in honey. The reason why we eat sweet things during this holiday is to signify a sweet year ahead. 

This year for a change I hollowed an apple and filled it with honey! It looked good for about 5 mins and then leaked out, but I think that still looked really interesting. 


First course - gefilte fish platter. Gefilte fish was bought from the kosher butcher along with salmon cutlets, served on platters of green leaves with smoked salmon.

Second course - chicken soup with knaidlach, this was brought by grandmother in law, but when I do one next, I will link in a recipe.

Main course - Roast chicken cooked in pieces with stock and lemon slices, boiled green veg, white cabbage cooked in butter and roast potatoes.

Dessert - Apple & honey cake

Prior to Rosh Hashananah, I was perusing many websites for recipe ideas, and came across this: http://theshiksa.com/2013/08/16/honey-apple-cake/ so thought id give it ago. Well it tasted great, but certainly didn't look as great as Tori's, I will try better next year.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup honey

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1 1/4 cup canola oil

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

• 3 cups all purpose baking flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp allspice

• Dash of ground cloves

• 4 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, and shredded

Method

Ok I am not a trained chef, I am a busy working mum of 2 very little children, and although I want to eat proper home cooked food and like to eat well, I don't have all the time in the world. If you want to do this recipe properly, check out the link above. I just throw everything in the electric mixer and then into a cake tin. I did buy a bundt tin especially for this and it did look more interesting than a normal cake tin.

Bake at 190 degrees for 75 mins until skewer comes out clear.

Finished product is a lovely light moist fruity cake

Rosh Hashanah Apple & Honey Cake

Prior to Rosh Hashananah, I was perusing many websites for recipe ideas, and came across this: http://theshiksa.com/2013/08/16/honey-apple-cake/ so thought id give it ago. Well it tasted great, but certainly didn't look as great as Tori's, I will try better next year.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose baking flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• Dash of ground cloves
• 4 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored, and shredded

Method

Ok I am not a trained chef, I am a busy working mum of 2 very little children, and although I want to eat proper home cooked food and like to eat well, I don't have all the time in the world. If you want to do this recipe properly, check out the link above. I just throw everything in the electric mixer and then into a cake tin. I did buy a bundt tin especially for this and it did look more interesting than a normal cake tin.

Bake at 190 degrees for 75 mins until skewer comes out clear.

Finished product is a lovely light moist fruity cake

Banana and chocolate chip mini muffins - baby led weaning treat

I'm lucky enough to still see all the mums and babies from my antenatal classes that we attended prior to my oldest little person, and today I'm having them all round, as one if the mums is due another little person in a few weeks.

When having a gathering of little people and adults in can be difficult to decide what to serve. Obviously my favourite limoncello mini cupcakes are out, and so is anything with chocolate - toddlers and my cream couch don't mix - I learned that one the hard way! 

So I'm making my old favourite mini chocolate and banana muffins. 

Very easy to do, and healthy - as far as cakes go!

Also freezable!

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas mashed
• 100g chocolate chips
• 75g caster sugar 
• 100ml milk
• 1tsp baking powder
• 200g Self raising flour 
• 2 large eggs
• 100g butter 

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Line 2 x 12 hole mini-muffin tins with small paper cases, or use  silicone tins. Melt the butter in a small pan and leave to cool slightly. Peel and mash the bananas.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the milk, sugar, eggs and melted butter.
3. 
   Sift in the flour and baking powder and add the banana and chocolate. Using a large metal spoon, fold everything together until combined but don’t over-mix.
4. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and bake for 25 minutes until risen and golden. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Bread Machine Banana Cake

What to do with those soft, nearly black bananas?

I have made this recipe so many times, with my old faithful bread machine. The bread machine I was desperate for, for my wedding, but everyone said I would never use it, and I do - all the time!

This is the easiest cake recipe ever!

Ingredients

• 260g (9 oz) plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 150g (5 oz) caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 bananas

Method

Throw everything in the bread machine, turn on dough setting for 10 mins, then bake setting for 1 hr 10 or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

I often make this for friends, I've given it to a friend who hadn't long had a baby and today I'm taking my little person to a play date and bringing it along too, goes great with a nice cuppa.

I've also made this with kiwi.

Enjoy 

Coconut macaroons

Well I was sorting out the food cupboard as hubby used my last tin of tomatoes, as he couldn't see the 3 jars of pasta sauce! So I figured it was time for a tidy, and I found 3 packets of desiccated coconut. I wish I could remember the reason I kept buying them, I'm sure I was making something tasty at the time, but I've completely forgotten. 

Anyway every Pesach my mother in law kindly brings us macaroons, so thought I'd figure out to make them and share the recipe.

Ingredients 

• 300g dessicated coconut 
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 egg whites 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

Method 

• In a bowl over a pan of water mix together the eggs and caster sugar until the sugar is dissolved and is a frothy consistency.
• Take off the heat and add coconut and vanilla extract
• Mix thoroughly 
• Place in the fridge for 30 mins to firm up 

There seems to be a few ways to mould the mixture, egg cups, hand, spoon, I actually used an ice cream scoop!

• Place on parchment paper on a baking tray
• Cook until brown and crisp - about 10-15 mins at 200 degrees 
• Cool on a wire rack 

We're off to friends for dinner tonight, so I'm taking some in a gift bag, hope they like it 

Bread Machine Challah

Friday night wouldn't be the same without delicious challah.

Here is my very easy method using the bread machine - I do love a kitchen gadget.

I'm not going to tell you the method for doing it the manual way, as I always cheat and use the dough setting!

Ingredients 

• 2 tsp dried yeast 
• 200ml warm water
• 500g strong white bread flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2 eggs
• 60g unsalted butter (use non dairy if parve)

Egg glaze

• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp poppy seeds, to decorate  

Place all ingredients in the bread machine and turn the dough setting on.

Mine takes 1 hour 27 mins, where it mixes and rises

• Remove from bread machine and place on a floured surface
• Divide into 3
• Roll out each piece to form a 40 ins long rope 
• Plait together
• Place on a buttered baking sheet or on parchment paper
• Cover with a tea towel until doubled in size - about 45 mins to 1 hour
• Brush with the egg glaze and sprinkle with poppy seeds 
• Bake in a preheated oven for 45 mins, on the middle shelf, until golden and hollow sounding when tapped underneath.
• Cool on a wire rack 

Shabbat shalom 

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