Advent Calendar - Day 21

If you're in a place where there's a lot of fresh snow, here's a fun treat. A friend made it for me, for one of my birthdays, and it was fantastic! This is...

Snow ice cream!

Picture and recipe from Sunday Scratchups.

Here's a simple recipe I found on the internet. You could use almond or coconut milk or add fruit or blend in other things, but this is a good base to start with.

1 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
5 cups fresh clean snow

Mix soy milk, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until sugar is dissolved. Mix in snow until you have a nice ice-cream-ish consistency, and serve. (Probably eat it next to the fire or heater!)

Yummy!!

3 days till Christmas (Eve)!

Advent Calendar - Day 18

Here's a list of some homey things I plan to make over the course of the Christmas holiday (I'll have plenty of time to cook for fun!). I'll tell you my Asian alterations too, because of various obstacles...

• Biscuits & gravy 
• Problem: No blender, so it can't be nut-based. It'll have to be flour gravy.
• Granola
• Problem: Oatmeal is expensive. I'll use flat rice that's easily available at the market.
• Apple pie
• Problem: No round pie pans in my kitchen. But I do have rectangular pans... that'll be fun to do the pie crust edges in a different shape!
• Ginger cookies
• Problem: Powdered ginger is expensive. But fresh ginger is cheap. This should be a spicy adventure!
• Applesauce
• Problem: No blender or strainer. It'll just have to be chunky applesauce. Apples aren't the cheapest either so there won't be a whole lot of it.
• Crazy cake
• Problem: I ran out of carob powder. Not sure exactly how we'll fix that. Maybe it'll turn into pineapple upside down cake or something.

And my few ideas that don't have any foreseen complications:

• Spring rolls
• Crazy cake
• Peanut butter cookies
• Cinnamon rolls
• Popcorn

Yum!!

6 days till Christmas (Eve)!

Advent Calendar - Day 12

Here are a few tried-and-true recipes from my collection...

Banana Pancakes

This yummy recipe is from my friend Melissa. It wasn't originally a Christmas recipe really, but with the cinnamon, it really is rather cozy-tasting. :)

2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
dash cinnamon
2 cups soy milk
1 mashed banana
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl combine wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and stir well. Makes about 10 pancakes.

Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe from the Fountainview Flavors cookbook has become a winter classic. I have yet to make it in Asia but I should definitely give it a try this season since I actually do have an oven!

Makes 12-16 rolls.

Dough:

2 cups very warm water

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup oil

3 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups unbleached white flour

Filling:

Applesauce

Sugar

Cinnamon or coriander

Chopped walnuts or pecans

Raisins

1. Mix water, sugar and yeast together and let sit for 5 minutes.

2. Add the remaining dough ingredients, and knead for 4 minutes. Let rise until double (about 25 minutes).

3. While it is rising, preheat oven to 350.

4. Roll out the dough on an oiled surface, 1/3"-1/2" thick into a rectangular shape.

5. Spread a thin layer of applesauce and sugar, and sprinkle cinnamon/coriander, nuts, and raisins.

6. Roll it up lengthwise. Slice into 3/4"-1" thick pieces.

7. Place on baking sheet and let rise for 10 minutes.

8. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Hot Mulled Cider

This is a concoction that shows up at nearly every winter event of my Inchelium home church. It's warm and festive!

Mix in large kettle:

2 12-ounce cans apple juice concentrate

2 12-ounce cans white grape-peach juice concentrate

10 cans water

Blend and add to juice mixture:

1 cup water

1 tsp. coriander

Heat to boiling. Turn down heat and simmer about ½ hour. Makes 30 6-ounce servings; 22 8-ounce servings.

12 days till Christmas!