Royal Frosting – Great with the Gingerbread Recipe

Ingredients

1 egg white
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
Food colouring

Method

1. Place egg white in a clean, dry bowl and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
2. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Divide icing into bowls. Add food colouring to each bowl and stir until combined.
4. Spoon the icing into a small freezer bag using a separate bag for each colour. Snip the end of one corner from the freezer bag and pipe the icing onto cooled biscuits.

From http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/gingerbread-man-icing-L3440.html

Made these for the court – Christmas 2013

Potato Leek Soup

Based on http://www.care2.com/greenliving/creamy-potato-leek-soup-vegan.html

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 large leeks, white and light green parts washed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
4 regular sized chopped yellow onion
2 celery stalks
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cubed into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups vegetable stock (no added salt Go-Bio)
1 bay leaf

1. Heat a 4-quart soup pot over medium heat and add the oil.

2. Add the leeks, onion, and sea salt and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent.

3. Add the garlic and stir well. Cook for 1 minute more.

4. Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Ready in 20 minutes.  But simmer for the whole afternoon

Gingerbread Cookies

The kids and I made the Gingerbread Cookies yesterday.  We followed the recipe, but it turns out that you should be able to replace the ground ginger with about 2-3 times the quantity of fresh grated ginger.

Worth trying!

http://www.food.com/recipe/the-most-wonderful-gingerbread-cookies-80156

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
Directions:

1 In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until well blended.
2 In a large bowl (KitchenAid’s great for this) beat butter, brown sugar, and egg on medium speed until well blended.
3 Add molasses, vanilla, and lemon zest and continue to mix until well blended.
4 Gradually stir in dry ingredients until blended and smooth.
5 Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
6 (Dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. Return to room temp before using.) Preheat oven to 375°.
7 Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
8 Place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
9 Sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
10 Roll dough to a scant 1/4-inch thick.
11 Use additional flour to avoid sticking.
12 Cut out cookies with desired cutter– the ginger bread man is our favorite of course.
13 Space cookies 1 1/2-inches apart.
14 Bake 1 sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies– very good!).
15 Remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
16 After cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like.
17 I usually brush them with a powdered sugar glaze when I am in a hurry, but they look wonderful decorated with Royal icing.