Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip Heart cookies

I used chocolate chips that I bought at the bulk food strore 

I am not the biggest fan of these kind of cookies, but I have a very good reason to make them - my 4.5 year old son asked me to. Looked at some of my cook books, found the recipe that appealed to me. My son, as soon as he came from school today, he asked me to make these cookies. And since cooking is passion, I am determined to make them well. The least I can do, is please people I love with my cooking!

You will need:
Half a  pound soft, room temperature butter ( about 230 grams)
1/2 cup of regular sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 cup of chocolate chips (I used the bar of chocolate that my neighbor gave me with almonds and chopped them in the little chopper)
1/2 tsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt (if using unsalted butter)
about 2 cups of flour, sifted ( you may need less)
Tip. If you want these cooking to be healthy, add some chopped nuts and/or pumpkin seeds. It gives a nicer taste and your kids ended up eating healthy nuts that otherwise they wouldn't eat.

Mix with the electric hand mixer butter and both sugars until creamy and fluffy, for about 10-15 minutes. Scrape the sides few times with the spatula. Once it's nice and creamy, add eggs and vanilla. Then add your nuts and seeds, if using. Mix some more.
In a separate bowl, combine sifted flour, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Add most of the flour mixture into the butter batter, leaving some, just in case, if it's not enough.
Your mixture should be soft, but not too soft. By hand, make walnut size balls, I made bigger-no patience-pat them to make pancake like shape and put it on the parchment paper on the baking sheet. Bake at 350-375 F. I like to be cautious...for about 15 minutes, until the sides become lightly brown. Take it and cool it.
My son in the winter likes to cool his cookies in the balcony. We did just that now, he tried it and his first reaction was:'Mmmmhmmm, so crunchy, so good, thank you, mom!'
I think they really did come out very good, they definitely look much better than the ones last time. I hope your kids will enjoy it, too. My son was helping me through the process, he was holding the chopping button on the chopper, he was breaking the eggs and pouring sugar. What a great little helper. Ask you kids to help you, they love to participate and be helpful.
My cookies look somewhat different than the regular chocolate chip, because I didn't have the chips, I chopped the bar of dark chocolate with almonds. There were a lot of tiny pieces among the few bigger ones..It tastes great!

Braided bread

This is for you, Kristina! By a popular demand, here is the very first desert, a must have with tea of coffee when your friends or family come over.
At first glance difficult to make, this sweet bread-cake is quite easy to make.
It has a filling. I created several different fillings over time. Some of my favorites are cream cheese-raisin-raspberry jam filling, apple pie filling, cottage cheese-jam filling. The possibilities are endless, fill it with whatever you like. That is what I did. And it keeps on changing depending on the event. For example, for Christmas, I did poppy seed-raisin filling, as it's custom in Lithuania to bake with poppy seed for this time of year.


This dough recipe is made in steps.
You will need:
Flour
sugar
instant east
warm water
sour cream
butter
2 large eggs
vanilla extract
cream cheese
raisins
jam (I like raspberry)
Pearl sugar for sprinkling (optional)
This is what you need to buy or to have in order to make this cake.

Sponge
6 tbsp. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant east
1/4 cup unbleached flour (just regular flour you use for baking)
To make a sponge. In a small bowl combine the sponge ingredients, stir well, loosely cover with plastic cover (let it breath), and set aside to proof for 15-20 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is. After some time, you will notice, the sponge has risen, is light and fluffy.

Dough
sponge
6 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup (about 4 tbsp) softened unsalted butter
3 large eggs (1 for the dough, 1 for the cream cheese filling, 1 beaten with 1 tbsp of water for brushing at the end)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (don't put all at once, this is just a guide, but depending on your products, you may need more or less)
pearl sugar, if you have any, optional
To make dough. Whisk together sour cream, butter, egg, sugar, salt, vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in sponge. Add the flour and mix with wooden spoon. Finish with hands. Kneed on the counter, for about 5-10 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl (I just wash the one my dough was at the beginning), cover with plastic loosely and allow to rise 60-90 minutes, until it is quite puffy and nearly doubled in size.

Filling: Take one brick of cream cheese, add one egg and 1/3 of cup of sugar and beat it with the mixer. Add raisins (also optional)

To prepare the bread
Gently deflate the dough and roll out on a parchment paper on the counter.This is very important, otherwise you won't be able to transfer your finished product to the baking pan! Make a rectangle that the width you could easily divide in three, like 12 inches, 15 inches. No need to make any bigger. The length orientate on how long your baking dish is. I do it about 18-20 inches. So my rectangle is 12 by 18 inches. Divide your rectangle in three horizontally, or the 12 inches side. Cut in at the top, then proceed barely making a mark 'till the end. The outer sides, not touching the middle part, cut into stripes. About finger or so thick. Refer to the picture, as it may seem confusing at first. Cut into stripes both sides, making sure you have an even number. You will have to fold them later, like a braid.
Once you have your bread ready, on the parchment paper, add the filling in the middle part of it. Add jam, if using. Now, fold the middle part and start braiding one by one your strips. Before you finish with the last one, fold the middle little piece and then put the last strips on top. It will look nicer. Brush with egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
Once the strips are ready and braided, carefully transfer with parchment paper to the baking sheet. Let rise for 50-60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.
To freeze. When the braid is braided, with the parchment paper, wrap well and freeze for up to a week. It also can be refrigerated (for a day). If freezing, put in the fridge before letting it rise for the last time. When ready to bake, take it out and let it rise then. This recipe can be easily doubled.

White salad 'Olivje'

The traditional salad, no festive table is complete without this one. It's similar to Potato salad, but this one is far better.

You will need:
2-3 medium size potatoes
2-3 carrots
3-4 eggs
5-6 pickled cucumbers in brine
a can of sweet peas
dill (optional)
mayo (to taste)
salt and pepper ( I omit salt, because there is salt in mayo, plus pickles are salty, too)

Take a big pot with water and cook potatoes and carrots (not peeled, as is). In another smaller pot, cook eggs. The best to cook eggs so they wouldn't brake is in a cold water, with some salt added. It won't affect the taste (the salt), but supposedly helps eggs from cracking. Once the eggs are hard boiled, takes about 5 minutes, run them under cold water and leave there until you are ready to peel them. If you will leave boiled eggs without water, it will be very hard to peel them.

Cool everything. Then peel and cut into pieces, as small as possible, about 0.5 cm in size.
Cut eggs and pickled cucumber as well. Add drained peas into it. I use a big bowl or pot for that.
Add fresh, cut dill, if you are using it.
Then add mayo to taste, salt and pepper.
I usually make a big bowl of this salad and use it throughout the week or so. I add mayo only to the part of the salad. The rest keep it in the fridge for the next time. That way it keeps longer.
If you like onions, you can put some finely chopped onion into this salad as well.

Beet salad

Very easy and even more tasty way to eat beets.

You will need:
few medium size beets
1-2 big onions
salt and pepper to taste
dried mushrooms (optional)

Boil beets in water, until soft, cool. Once cooled, peel them and grate them with a grater (medium sized, not mushy).
Cut onions and cook in a frying pan with some oil until golden brown. Add beets and cook some more, about good 15 minutes, 'till incorporated. You will see the onions and beets almost becoming as one....If using dried mushrooms, now you can add them. If you don't have dried mushrooms, the bullion cube of mushrooms will do. Will add the taste and salt at the same time.
Add fresh grated pepper and salt. If you use the bullion cube, be careful with salt. Always taste and try not to put too much. This dish has a nice distinguished taste. Good as a garnish or on a piece of bread.

Beet salad for the rest of us

I call this one 'for the rest of us', because I don't like beets. But there are two ways I will eat it. Considering how healthy the beets are, this is worth trying.

Beet salad with mayo and garlic

You will need:
2-3 bigger size beets
mayo
garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Boil beets in water. Once cooled, peel them and grate them medium size grater, that looks like little droplets ( do not make a mush).
Add mayo to taste, few cloves of garlic (minced) and pepper. I omit salt because there is salt in mayonnaise. You can add crushed walnuts, if you like.

Holidays

The holidays have passed. Lots of new recipes were born and tried. I had a lot of fun during these holidays of 2010-2011. For my family the biggest holiday of the Year is Christmas, especially Christmas Eve (we are Catholic), followed by the New Years. I know New Years is not much celebrated in North America, but in my culture it has stayed one of the most celebrated events. It's going back to Soviet times, when Lithuania was occupied by Russians. We were prohibited to celebrate Christmas, so all we had left were New Years. My family always celebrated Christmas, despite the Soviet ruling, and my grandma always took me to church. I want to instill the same values into my son, I want him to appreciate our traditions and to have a rich background. We are going to church on regular basis and now, since my son is going to Catholic school, that is especially important.
On Christmas Eve, we have 12 vegetarian dishes. 12, because there were 12 apostles at the Last Supper. Some regions of Lithuania, base 12 dishes because there are 12 months in a year.
The main dish is herring and cold sweet soup made from poppy seed. I won't bore you on how to make the soup or the poppy seed cookies that are eaten with the soup. I would like to give you few nice and easy recipes that are made with vegetables and herring. Especially, since the herring is the highlight of the Christmas Eve table.
Don't be afraid of herring, it's very healthy and easy to do. In regular stores you can get marinated herring. I am not the fan of that. There is a lot of vinegar and salt. Not very healthy. I buy my herring from Russian stores. Herring can be easily obtained from Polish or Ukrainian stores as well. I dissect my hearing my self, because I buy it whole. That may sound challenging at first. If you are not familiar with herring (or dissecting the preserved fish), just buy fillets that are in oil. They are very good, too. They key being is that the herring fillets must be in oil. That means, they are not marinated and have as few unpronounceable ingredients as possible.
So there it goes.



Herring under carrots

You will need:
Few herring fillets
4-5 regular size ( like the bigger ones) carrots
2 big onions
ketchup
1 portobello mushrooms (optional)
salt, pepper to taste
oil for frying

Take whole carrots and boil in water 'till soft. With skin!
Meanwhile, cut herring into very small pieces.
Cut the mushrooms into pieces as well, about half an inch by half an inch in size. Take the frying pan and cook them in a bit of oil, 'till all the juices are evaporated. About 15 minutes.
Put aside. Once your carrots are cooked, cool them, peel them and cut into pieces. I cut them lengthwise few times and then cut horizontally.
Cut the onion. Take the frying pan with oil, put onions and cook them until golden. You can add a touch of salt, so the juices of onions will evaporate faster. Once the onions are done, add cut carrots and sautee some more. Then add the portobello mushrooms you have cooked earlier into the pan with onions and carrots. If you are not using mushrooms, skip the step and proceed to the next one. Add ketchup, about 5 tablespoons or to you liking. Now you can taste it and add salt and ground pepper to you taste. I do not add salt, since there is enough salt in a ketchup and herring. Cool the mixture.
Now, take a nice plate, put a layer of cut herring and top it with a layer of cooled carrots mixture.

And the soup was born

Last weekend I had bought several kinds of squash. Peppercorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash... The reason? I got to love them recently and they were really cheap. Lately, I have been experimenting with different types of squash. Quite successfully I might add. First, the safe way, I just put cut pieces with some turkey pieces in the oven. Then, I peeled it and baked it. Getting more comfortable. I even tried to make 'pasta' from spaghetti squash. The dish was very impressive and even my 4 year old ate it.
Today, I wanted to make the mashed squash. Peeled it, cut in to pieces and boiled it. The water, after boiling the squash, looked so good, that I didn't want to throw it out. So I made the soup. Kept on creating it as I went along the process and the result was so good, I decided to share it with you.
And the it is.

You will need:
1 butternut squash
ground meat
egg
stale bread or breadcrumbs
1 can 'Cream of mushroom'
chickpeas
salt and pepper to taste

Peel the squash and cut into pieces, as you would potato for the mashed potatoes. Boil the pieces in a medium size pot with about two to three cups of water for 10 minutes. Drain the squash, keeping the water they cooked in. Now prepare the little meat balls as you usually do. Or simply add an egg to your ground meat. Then put either soaked bread in hot water, or some bread crumbs. Season it with salt and pepper. If you are salt conscious as I am, you can get enough salt from bread. Usually, I use Italian bread crumbs. It already has added spices and even some parmesan cheese. Today, I used multi grain bread, because my bread crumbs were already packed into the boxes (we are moving in few days).
Add two more cups of water into your pot and a can of cream of mushroom. Whisk it well not leaving any pieces from the mushroom soup. When it starts to boil, slowly add small formed meat balls into the pot.
Then add chickpeas, squash pieces and a touch of thyme, if you have any. Or season to your liking with salt and pepper. The soup is born! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.