Happy New Years...Eve

Happy New Year's...Eve

sorry in advance for all of the formatting issues...for some reason the spacing looks perfect when I write it but when I post it, it is all over the place!

First of all...Happy New Year! Hope you all have a fun and safe night celebrating with all those you love! Just a few quick recipes I'd like to share with all you wonderful people before I head back to Victoria!


Lebkuchen

Makes about 50 cutout cookies - or in my case about 20 medium sized gingerbread men

If you like a mild, yet spicy cookie with a hint of cocoa, these are for you! I highly suggest putting an icing over top of them such as icing sugar and water...even though I didn't get the chance to do this I'm sure it would taste lovely!

Ingredients:

• 100 grams honey
• 30 grams butter
• 50 grams brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 250 grams all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt the honey, butter, brown sugar, and salt, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the mixture is completely melted and homogeneous, remove from the heat to cool until it is lukewarm.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cooled honey-butter mixture with the egg until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and sift them into the mixer bowl. Beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate every last bit of flour.
4. Transfer the dough to a very lightly-floured worksurface, and knead it for a minute to make sure that all the ingredients are well combined.
5. Divide the dough in two, forming each half into a disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour until the dough has firmed up.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
7. Take one disk of dough from the fridge, and roll it out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch. Using lightly floured cookie cutters, cut out festive shapes  and transfer them to a silpat/lined baking sheet
8. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes.
9. Cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack.
10. Continue with the rest of the dough. The dough scraps can be rerolled a few times to make more cookies.
11. Store the baked cookies in a airtight plastic container to keep them chewy. 

**My Oma was over while I went on my baking frenzy and she tasted the dough! She said it tasted just like the traditional lebkuchen she remembers from home, which is exactly what I wanted! I searched high and low for a recipe like this and it is a sure keeper!**

**I cut mine quite thin so they were quite crunchy, but just as delicious as I wanted them to be**

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures while I was making these and these are the only two that are left.... Still though, they are quite cute!

"Hi, I'm cute!"

Curry Chickpea "salad"

This is from Kriss Carr's website, crazysexylife.com! (I just got her inspiring book Crazy Sexy Diet from my sister for Christmas and it is amazing)! She calls this recipe a salad, however, I would say it is more like a stew! Serve over quinoa, whole grain rice, brown rice pasta or your grain or choice! Garnish with unsweetened shredded coconut!

-1 tablespoon coconut oil (we used olive oil but coconut oil would be fantastic as well)
-1 tablespoon curry powder
-1 medium onion, chopped
-1 bay leaf
-1 sprig thyme
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-chickpeas, fresh, soaked and boiled, or canned, drained and rinsed
-1 carrot, sliced or shredded
-¼-½ cup cabbage, shredded (we used cauliflower)
-½ cup water
-½ cup coconut milk
-hot pepper, to taste (we used tobasco)
-Himalayan salt or sea salt, to taste

Heat coconut oil and add curry powder, onion, bay leaf, thyme and garlic. 

Heat coconut oil and add curry powder, onion, bay leaf, thyme and garlic. Add chickpeas, carrot, and cabbage and stir.

Add water and coconut milk. Increase heat to a slight boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add hot pepper and salt. If too thick, add water. If too runny, add mashed chick peas. Garnish with a beautiful piece of thyme or unsweetened shredded coconut, or even better, grate fresh coconut on top!

Have a wonderful day/night everyone! All the best in 2012!

Amy