Nanna's Shortbread

There are a lot of shortbread recipes out there. Some better than others. This one is simply a traditional shortbread. The kind usually rolled out and cut into festive shapes :) It's a favourite of mine but I don't cut them into shapes anymore I simply roll some into a ball about the size of a cocktail meatball and make an indentation into the middle which sort of flattens the ball a little and then I put a half teaspoon of jam or lemon curd into the depression. Delish! Much easier than all the fuss of rolling it out cutting some shapes, gathering the bits and rolling them out again ... although if that's your thing shortbread is the way to go, it's very forgiving and you can keep rolling out the scraps until you've cut all the cookies you can ;)

In memory of my Mom, I miss her dearly, but at least I have all her recipes :)

Nanna's Shortbread

Ingredients:

• 1 lb butter
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 4 cup flour, all purpose
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1.2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. Cream butter and icing sugar with a fork in a large bowl.
2. Add almond extract and mix in well.
3. Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl then add to butter mixture. Stir in well with a large wooden spoon then turn out onto floured surface.
4. Knead til dough no longer clings. It will go from VERY sticky to almost none after enough kneading. You may have to add a little more flour but it shouldn't take much. It will be obvious when you are done.
5. Pinch off a small amount about the size of a cocktail meatball and roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Make a depression in the center of each ball and fill with jam or lemon curd.
7. Bake at 345' for exactly 12 minutes. Edges should just show a HINT of browning the lighter the better, these must NOT be overcooked or they aren't nearly as nice and can get too crispy tough. They should be light and almost melt in your mouth.
8. Alternately you can roll out dough to about 1/4' thickness and cut with your favourite cookie cutters. Scraps can be gathered and rerolled out to use up all the dough. Decorate individual cookies if you like by using colourful sprinkles, flakes or icings :)

These cookies are quite light tasting and a nice addition to any holiday table. Another shortbread recipe which can be quite nice as well uses cornstarch instead of baking powder. That type of shortbread is even lighter and more melt in your mouth but more delicate as well. Both types are lovely but I prefer this one because , well it's my moms.

Christmas is coming oh my!

Ok some of you may not know this but it isn't something I hide ... I am an atheist. Even so, I really really like Christmas ... maybe it's a throwback to my childhood but I love the festivity of it. No, I don't buy into the Christian hijacking of what was once a pagan ritual but that's sort of beside the point. I really like the gathering of family and the pomp and circumstance of the holiday. Heck I even like the songs ... even the Christian songs. I love giving gifts and I love receiving them as well ;) Even more relevant to this blog anyway I love the food! Every year I go to great lengths to have all kinds of home baked and store bought goodies on hand ... my gang has a hard time even making a dent in all the decadence I provide, but that never seems to stop me from overdoing it year after year .... I mean you never know when an army drop by and gosh if you didn't have a ton of cookies and squares set aside you might not have anything to feed them! Horrors .... so I always stock up ... and we eat well for a month after the big day ...

This can make it hard to maintain weight or lose weight for the months of December and January but if I limit myself to only one or 2 treats a day .. even I can manage :) Everything in moderation ... and it's the holidays already ... enjoy!

I will post a few of my family favourites over the next few days starting with what I made this afternoon ... My mother's shortbread recipe.

Curried Squash Bisque

Made a delicious curried squash bisque last night. Stashed most of it away in the freezer in handy one cup servings ... this will go sooo nice for a light lunch paired with a half sandwich! It was really yummy and I'll definitely keep this recipe around for more.

Curried Squash Bisque

Ingredients

• 3 cups squash puree ( I didn't have 3 cups so I used 2c squash puree and 1c pumpkin puree)
• 1 onion, rough chopped
• 1 large carrot, rough chopped
• 1 apple, peeled and rough chopped
• 2Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp Thai red curry paste (I used a little more, it was fairly mild in the soup)
• 2 cloves Garlic, rough chopped
• 15 oz chicken broth, no salt (I used my home made stock)
• 2 bay leaves, whole
• 1/4 cup whipping cream (could prolly use less fat cream without any discernable difference in taste, I'll have to experiment)
• 2 Tbsp honey

Directions:

1. Saute onions, carrots and apple in butter for 5 minutes over medium heat.
2. Add curry paste and garlic and cook another 2 minutes or so
3. Add stock, puree (actually doesn't HAVE to be puree, I just had some already prepped in my freezer, you could sub in frozen squash or fresh or even fresh roasted, this will all be eventually pureed anyway) and bay leaves, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. May add water as needed if it gets too thick
4. Remove bay leaves and puree soup either with an immersion blender or in batches in a food processor/blender and return to pot
5. Add honey and cream. stir to blend.

May garnish with some sour cream or cilantro if desired, but I didn't

Overall calories are approximately 141 with about 2g of fiber for a cup serving. This recipe makes about 8 cups.

Complete nutritional analysis for recipe as written can be found here :

http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/curried-butternut-squash-bisque/

IA