Refinished the table

Before: The old, tired Superstore coffee table I bought when we first moved to AB in 2009 for a whopping $25.00. We had just moved, we had a new baby and were down to one income. All the really nice coffee tables we looked at were $500 plus. It looked nice, was sturdy and inexpensive.

Fast forward 7 years and that nice looking table was worn, beaten up and sadly in need of replacing. HOWEVER someone introduced me to chalk paint. 

TADA! I found a nice off-white shade and painted out the table. I had originally sealed the table with a clear coat, which immediately turned a lovely shade of smokers yellow. I painted over the sealant and love the off white colour again. I sealed it with plain old bees wax, which smells better anyhow. I have found that the bees wax seals just fine on any furniture that won't directly have something placed on it. For anything that is a table top or will have rings put on top (especially drinks or hold/cold items) you really should put a good sealant on it. It tends to wear better. That being said, it you do end up with a scratch, touch ups tend to be super easy.

I went to a salvage place in the city and found shiplap from an old barn. It was beautifully greyed and dirty. I picked out the least warped and damaged pieces and had them cut to the size of my table, with a little overlapping on the sides.

I did end up doing a little sanding on the shiplap once I had it affixed to the table. I love, love, love the grey patina, but since it had been affixed to the outside of a barn for Im not sure how long, it was splinter-y and needed a sanding in order to not be a hazard. 

I glued and nailed the shiplap to the top of my painted table and absolutely love this piece.

It has given this table another 7 years or so for about $50.00 ($15.00 for chalk paint and $35.00 for wood)

The perfect chocolate chip cookie

I live in a house full of cookie monsters. All of them.

As soon as they're finished, the big Cookie Monster burns the little piece of skin behind his front teeth on the first cookie.

These are the ones that seem to be the biggest hit.

1 cup salted butter (if using unsalted butter add a tap of salt)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/3 cup AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup semi sweet chips

1/2 cup mini m&m bits.

In your trusty dusty kitchenaid add in the softened butter until creamed.

Add in sugar and cream together.

Add in eggs and vanilla and mix together until fluffy.

Add in chocolate chips and M&M's.

Drop tbsp sized globs onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake 9-11 minutes.

Allow to cool on wire baking sheet until chocolate is no longer molten and enjoy with a cuppa or milk. 

Peach fritters with vanilla bean glaze

I went back to the land of fresh produce and humidex last week and brought back a bunch of peaches.  We're all peached out now, but I had peaches left. I made jam (both kid friendly and jalapeño friendly) and b and I went through recipes until we found one we wanted to make.

I cut the sugar way down and made a simple vanilla bean glaze instead of just rolling them in sugar. I also used some freestones and some donut peaches. The donut peaches are sweeter and firmer, so it gives a nice contrast.

Peach fritters

1 cup of AP flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsps sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

2 large eggs

1/3 cup milk

1 tbsps melted butter

1 cup diced skinned free stone peaches

1/2 cup diced skinned donut peaches

Oil and a heavy bottom pan for frying

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

Enough milk to turn the powder into a coating about 1/3 of a cup of milk, give or take

1/2 a vanilla pod.

For the fritters:

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Add in eggs and milk and mix.

With the mixer running add in the melted butter a little at a time.

Using a wooden spoon or spatula mic in the peaches.

Heat the oil and make smaller fritters to ensure they're cooked through.

I used a gravy ladle to get about 3 or 4 bite fritters that cooked through without burning outside.

Make sure your oil is hot so your fritters aren't soggy.

Turn the fritters and cook until a golden brown.

Mix the glaze together and roll the fritters in the glaze and set on a wire rack to cool and dry.

Serve warm or allow to cool and enjoy. 

The only problem is my house smells like Stampede now.

Spaetzel

Every once in awhile I yearn for something I can only get at home. Well up on Manitoulin really. The Hungry Mooses Spaetzel and Schnitzel. I haven't been in 3 years now and I'm in a little withdrawal (and have an awful feeling the husband and wife team finally retired) so I tried it myself.

Not too shabby. b had an extra helping with extra lemon!

4 eggs

⅓ cup milk

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups flour

4 Tablespoons  butter

1 teaspoon white pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together eggs and milk. Add in the flour and saltand mix until well combined. At this point you will hae a bowl full of what looks to be a culinary disaster. You're on the right track.

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil and if you have a fancy spaetzle making machine, follow the directions and meet me at the next bullet, or if you don't, keep reading. You could use a hotel pan (if you have one of those lying around and are clever enough to discern how to make spaetzle with it, please let me know. Or as I did, with wet hands and fingers and a bowl with water ready for more dunkings, pull a small handful of dough into your hand and pull strings of dough off and drop them into the boiling water. It is tedious and there is a learning curve to getting small spaetzel like pieces instead of ramekin sized globs, but it can be done.

Give the pieces a good stir and let them cook 1-2 minutes. When they begin to float to the top, it's a good chance they're done.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep going with this process until you're finished with all the dough (or you throw in the towel)

Once all cooked and drained add in butter, salt and pepper to taste and toss the spaetzle in a hot fryig pan for a few minutes to crisp up some peices and add some golden brown colour.

I serve with a wedge of lemon and a little more pepper.

Classic hollandaise

I've been craving eggs Benedict all week. We didn't have any ham or English muffins, but poached eggs with a classic French hollandaise fit the bill.

Hollandaise sauce:

3 egg yolks (or 4 if the eggs are small)

1 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp (plus more to taste) of fresh lemon juice

6 ounces butter

Freshly ground pepper to taste

(**if you use salted butter, you will not need salt, if using unsalted butter, add salt to taste)

Using a heavy pan whisk together egg yolks, water and lemon. It should be thick and pale before setting the pan over low heat.

Continue whisking the mixture cooking until it becomes frothy and grows in volume. Remove from heat when you can see the bottom of the pan through the whisk streaks.

You can increase the heat at this process, but I keep the heat low to control the eggs cooking. If you do go the higher heat route and your eggs begin to cook too quickly, remove the pan from the heat or put the bottom of the pan into cold water to cool the pan quickly)

Add in the soft butter a spoonful  at a time, whisking constantly until each spoonful is fully encorporated.

If it isn't warm enough and begins to seize, but over the element and allow to melt the butter a bit while whisking.

Keep adding the butter until the sauce gets to your desired thickness.

I add about another 1 tsp of lemon juice drop by drop at this point to taste.

I add cayenne on top of my sauce once it's over my eggs. And black pepper too.

** if your sauce curdles, or you have a small break in the sauce, just whisk it well to emulsify the sauce again. If it's worse, I'm sorry I can't help you because when I've buggered up a hollandaise to the point of seizing, I start from scratch... 

Warmed goat cheese, beet and mixed green salad

With pomegranate vinaigrette 

Caramel Baileys fudge tarts

These were a hit this season! I wish I could tell you they weren't a failure turned into a hit, but that would be a lie. 

I wanted baileys fudge. It wasn't baileys enough for me, so I added more and more and more of my husbands homemade baileys and the fudge wouldn't set. So I made shortbread cups to put it in and voila, got my coworkers drunk on dessert. 

Tart Shells

1 cup softened butter (if salted, add no salt. If salted add a pinch or two of salt)

1 large whole egg

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 - 3 cups AP flour

Cream together butter and sugar

Add in yolks and whole egg, one at a time mixing well each time.

Allow to mix on medium to creamy/fluffy texture before adding flour.

Add in baking powder and then flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough cones together. Do not add too much flour or over mix it will make for a tough cookie.

Divide dough into 3 balls and wrap in plastic or into freezer bags.

Throw in the fridge/freezer/outside in -30 weather for about an hour or so to chill.

Take first ball out and break chunks off and roll into 1" balls. Make them bigger or smaller depending on the size of your tarts.

I use mini muffin tins, I'd love a set of fancy tartlet pans, but not really necessary. I don't have the room to store them or the money to spend o the damned things! 

Place the balls into the tins and use a wooden tart press to hollow out a place to put the filling. I don't actually have a tart press thing (I thought I did, but apparently don't) so I actually used the wrong end of a little egg masher thing. It did the trick. It's not fancy and Martha would be appalled, but it worked. 

You could also roll the dough out and cut circles with cookie cutters and place into the tins. Both work. The cookie cutter way will give you thinner tarts with more filling, the ball way make thicker, chunkier tarts with less filling.

If cookie cutter way, prick the bottoms so they don't puff up too much. 

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes -/+ depending on thickness until golden.

If you did the press way, put the press into the tart again to hollow it out. Do this quickly when the cookies are hot and haven't begun to set.

Let cool.

Baileys Fudge

1 can of eagle brand (or sweetened condensed milk)

3 1/2 cups chocolate chips

3/4 cup of baileys (you might need more to get desired consistency)

1-2 tbsps Jamesons. (if you're so inclined)

Put chocolate chips and eagle brand into a glass bowl.

Heat in microwave in 30 second spurts, stirring after each 30 seconds until melted and smooth. DO NOT OVER HEAT, you'll burn the chocolate chips and it will seize. That's gross.

Add in the baileys.

Layer a 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and pour half of the fudge into the dish.

Using either home made caramel sauce or in my version the Ghirardelli caramel sauce run about 6 or 7 thick lines through the fudge.

Layer the rest of the fudge on top.

Let set for 10-15 minutes until fudge begins to set up.

Once the tart shells are cooled, scoop fudge (it should still be warm and slightly runny) into the shells.

Top with chopped pecans and don't drive after eating one. They've got bite!