Cinnamon marshmallows

I’ve been watching my SATC DVDs again and am surprised by how differently I feel about the show now: I still love it, Samantha continues to be my favorite girl, but Carrie is the biggest pain in the neck ever – my goodness, the woman is annoying!

I cried like a baby watching Charlotte and Harry getting together at the synagogue – I’m such a marshmallow... Some things never change. :)

Peanut Butter and Blueberry Shortbread Bars

Shortly before Christmas, I received a press release and care package of some Gay Lea butter to make some shortbread. Gay Lea launched a bake-off contest back in the fall to find the best shortbread cookie. Robert Maxwell of Liaison College entry was judged the most creative. He submitted a recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Shortbread bars. How could I resist trying these!

I meant to make them for Christmas, but I usually make my famous Rum Balls and with so much activity going on over the holiday season, didn't get a chance to make these moist and sweet bars until yesterday. The occasion was a dear friend's birthday. Shortbread is a treat anytime of year as far as I am concerned! The recipe is only moderately adapted from the original.

On the menu with Poppy Seed Cheese Biscuits and Mushroom Oven Pancake with Chive Sauce.

Peanut Butter and Blueberry Jam Shortbread Bars

For the shortbread

1 cup of unsalted butter, softened (I used Gay Lea Butter)
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 small egg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
2 1/4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

For the filling:

3/4 cup of blueberry jam
1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
1/2 cup of icing sugar
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened

Line a 8 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.

Divide the dough until 2 equal portion, knead briefly and wrap in plastic wrap. Leave the dough in the fridge overnight or freeze for 1 - 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove half of the dough from the fridge or freezer. Shred the dough with a coarse grater or food processor. Pat the shredded dough down into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for about 20 minutes.

While the shortbread is baking, prepare the filling. Blend together the peanut butter, icing sugar and butter until smooth. Spread the peanut butter mixture over the shortbread base. Drop spoonfuls of jam over the peanut butter and gently spread over the peanut butter layer.

Remove the remaining dough from the freezer and shred it. Sprinkle over the jam layer and spread it out so it covers the jam. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the top is set and golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

Makes approximately 16 bars, depending on how large you cut them.

More shortbread recipes from Lisa's Kitchen:
Rosemary Parmesan Shortbread
Jalapeno Cheddar Shortbread

On the top of the reading stack: Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

Audio Accompaniment: Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk

Free form cherry and blackberry pies

I got a little carried away with all the beautiful cherries available at this time of the year and ended up buying tons of them: some I ate – delicious! - and some were transformed into baked goods. :)

After some email talk with my friend Ana Elisa – she’d been deciding on whether or not to buy a food processor – I decided to buy one, too. I’ve been using it a lot and even regret not buying it

Apple crumble ice cream

In one of my days off I woke up decided to organize my bookshelf – it was a huge mess, you have no idea...
Going through all those books, magazines and recipe prints I ended up finding a CD I thought I’d lost for good – in moments like that I understand why my grandma always told me to be organized... :)

My favorite song on that CD is “Up from under” and from it comes one of my all time

Ovaltine brownies

You must be thinking I’m crazy for making brownies after all the food indulgence of the holidays, but in my defense these were made especially for my nephew: he loves brownies and I like spoiling him. :)

The recipe comes from DH magazine - oh, what a surprise – and originally called for Horlicks. Since I’ve never seen it here in Brazil, I slightly adapted the recipe to use Ovaltine instead.

Pear and honey cake

Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope you had wonderful holidays with your loved ones, with lots of good food. I thought the first post of the year should be something simple yet delicious, and golden, as I hope 2010 will be.



Pear and honey cake
from Donna Hay magazine

3 pears (600g), cut in half, then each half into four wedges, seeds removed
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ cup + 1

No Croutons Required - The Winner for December and the Theme for January

For December, we decided once again to go with festive photos. I'm delighted to announce the winner for December's roundup is Wendy of a Wee Bit of Cooking with this lovely photo entitled Wee Bird. Congratulations to Wendy who also won last year's festive photo challenge.

I will be hosting the next edition of No Croutons Required. The challenge for January is to make a soup or salad inspired by Thai cuisine. You have until the 20th of this month to submit your entries. For a recap of the rules, go here.

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope to be visiting your blogs again shortly.