Whipped Short Bread: V-Day Edition

I've never really celebrated Valentines Day because I don't see the point. I do, however, like the adorable packaging. It's all cute with pink and hearts! Sometime at the beginning of January I went to the dollarstore to stock up on cute goodie bags. Last year I bought a whole bunch and used them all year round to give out baked goods. This got me thinking....
Mike complained this year that whipped shortbread are the best cookies but people only make them for Christmas. I thought this would make a good Valentines gift but of course I would have to make them pink!
More importantly it was a good inauguration for my kitchenaid mixer!
When I first started whipping them the colour was a pretty pastel pink.

They looked so cloud-like, I was excited to see how they would turn out! Unfortunately after baking, they turned the colour of homemade play-doh. Rats. It's a good thing they taste better than play-doh. I decorated them with cinnamon hearts (how could I not!) and crasins.

It looks like I made the crasins heart-shaped. I did not. They are just a blob, cleverly photographed.

Mike also got me a Valentines Day Present! It's pink and silky and make especially for the bedroom (or sometimes the couch).

Bliss. Unconscious bliss.

That's right! A new Sealy pillow! Yay!

Oven Smores

Sunday we made roast beef with garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans for supper. Which means that I ate fish with garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. I used this fish recipe and it was delicious!
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/dinner_club/cheddar_tilapia.php

The only thing I omitted was the mayo because the only mayo I had was two months past the expiry date.
All in all a good Sunday supper, but for once I hadn't thought about dessert. Mike reached for his standard dessert of marshmallows and a tub of peanut butter (YUK!), but I had a better idea. Here are my pantry goodies

The chocolate sauce was a birthday present. It's chocolate cappuccino liqueur! Next comes the broiling.

And all together!

The peanut butter was quite necessary because the sauce is incredibly rich. My only regret was trying to share one small plate while eating on the couch. Devouring these requires a drop mat or at least a campground. Not living room friendly.

Christmas Revisited

Some Christmas foods are just too good to eat only once a year. That's why we have Thanksgiving. But other Christmas foods are even too good to eat only twice. Broccoli casserole has made it into my regular dinner rotation. It's probably a once-a-month-er, especially during the winter. Like all good Christmas casseroles it involves cradling the broccoli in copious amounts of cheese and a can of mushroom soup. Throw in a box of cooked uncle ben's wild rice, bake for 20ish minutes and you have Christmas delight any day of the week! mmmm christmas calories....

(on a spoon, not floating as it may appear to be)

Mexican Hot Chocolate - A Love Story

I love Mexican hot chocolate. I love it so much that I did a school report on Mexican hot chocolate, while living in Mexico. Now I bring that knowledge here.
Two things make hot chocolate Mexican: foam and spices!
Mexican hot chocolate has a distinctive flavour because of the cinnamon and vanilla. Somehow the distinct flavours make the hot chocolate taste warmer.You can see in the bar of chocolate all the granules of sugar and spices. The octagonal bar is the more traditional way that the chocolate is sold but now you can get a powder too. The bar in the picture above is not a fancy brand name one, its a walmart brand. Instead of having 'Ibarra' stamped into it, mine says 'Great-Value'. Embarrassing, yes, but I bought it in a Mexican Wal-mart so that makes it legitimate. Right?
You have to have foam on the top because Mexicans love foam on the top. They like it so much that you can buy cups of chocolate foam on the streets. Sadly, I did not get to experience the chocolate foam cart first hand. This is the stuff myths and legends are made of.
To get the chocolate to foam you have to two options (short of blowing through a straw, I guess). You can foam it the traditional way or the easy way. The easy way is to mix the hot chocolate in a blender. The traditional way is to use a molino. A molino is a wooden stick with rings around it. You put it into the hot chocolate and roll the handle in between your palms. The agitation mixes the chocolate and makes the foam. Supposedly. This takes a really long time and so I have never been successful at it. It takes so long that Mexican children sing a song while they wait. I can't remember all the words but the first line is 'Bate, bate chocolat'. The sentiment is something along the lines of 'hurry the hell up Mom, why is this taking so long?!'

 

Molino and powdered hot chocolate

If you can't find the Mexican hot chocolate bars or powder you can make a version from scratch. It is actually a recipe from Nigella Lawson (but not her Mexican hot chocolate recipe). I don't use measurements when I make it. It involves milk, semi-sweet chocolate, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, the best vanilla your credit card can afford, and spiced rum. Many recipes might add something like this  '(optional)' after they say 'rum'. You will not find this bracketing here. The rum adds to the spices.
Happy Hot Chocolate Drinking!