Notes From Swan's Nest

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Celebrating 2012 With A New Book

 

It’s raining….wonderfully refreshing, earth-renewing rain that will help refresh Texas’ long-parched fields, plains, forests, and home lawns and gardens. My pansies, daffodil bulbs, and rose, hydrangea, and hawthorne bushes are drinking up every single drop, and I can almost hear their collective sigh of contentment and relief after so many months of dryness.
 
Yesterday, I raked leaves and acorns out of garden beds for the sheer joy of being outdoors. Temperatures were chilly, but nothing like mountain winter weather, and it felt good to work hard for a couple of hours, restoring order to gardens that needed attention after my recent travels. Daffodil and tulip bulbs planted in the fall are starting to sprout, and I find myself glancing out the window several times a day to catch a glimpse of their progress. The promise of their colorful blossoms in the weeks to come makes me smile in happy anticipation.
 
Working in my gardens has always inspired my creativity….and I have lots to be creative about! I’m currently working on my next cookbook – my 3rd – and can’t wait to share it with you this fall when it’s published by Bright Sky Press. It’s going to be a gorgeous book, with beautiful recipes and gorgeous photographs, plus some lovely surprises.
 
If you or a group to which you belong are contemplating speakers or presenters for next fall, please give me a shout. I’d love to celebrate this beautiful book with you!
 
-Christy

St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas Day – A Simple Gift of Kindness
 
Tuesday December 6th is St. Nicholas Day, named for the benevolent saint of children and fishermen. A much-loved holiday in Europe, I “adopted” this tradition into my own celebration of the Christmas season because it celebrates the ideals of simplicity, goodness, and sharing. Translation: it’s a day set aside to do something nice for friends, neighbors, and someone who needs a bit of cheer.
 
One of the reasons I love St. Nicholas Day is that many Americans are unfamiliar with this traditional European holiday, making it easy to surprise friends with a small gift of kindness. When little is expected, a simple gift can mean a lot, and I’ve always felt that gifts from the kitchen are particularly treasured because they are made with love by one’s own hands.
 
Last year, I created red and white felt mittens, filled them with homemade gingerbread men, and hung the mittens from neighbors’ doorknobs where they were sure to be discovered.  Another year, I made heavy craft paper cones, filled them with candy cane-shaped sugar cookies, and wrapped them in clear cellophane before delivering them anonymously. There’s something so fun about being a “Secret Santa” on St. Nicholas Day, imagining the surprise and joy of the recipient when your gift is found.
 
This year, I’m making Holiday Molasses Spice Cupcakes, generously adorned with fluffy cream cheese frosting and decorative garnishes – some homemade like the Santa faces I piped with frosting, and Royal Icing poinsettias, holly leaves, and Santa bears I received from ExpressCreations (www.express-creations.com). After the frosting was dry, I tucked my gifts-from-the-kitchen into festive boxes that are as special as the sweet treat within.
 
For me, the packaging is an important part of any gift – hopefully evoking what I like to call the “how cute!” reaction. This year, with the help of adorable holiday packaging from Wilton (www.wilton.com), my cupcakes will be delivered in “gingerbread house” boxes tied with red ribbon; colorful holiday “cottages” perfect for a single cupcake; winter wonderland cookie boxes decorated with friendly snowmen and reindeer sledding down hills that comfortably hold four cupcakes, and “yummy” snowman treat boxes decorated with images of gumdrops and peppermint candies. Who could resist….
 
On St. Nicholas Day or any day throughout this beautiful season of giving, think how fun it would be to share a little surprise from your kitchen with unsuspecting friends or family. A simple gift from the heart, made with one’s own hands, can leave a treasured memory long after Christmas is past.
-Christy
 
Holiday Molasses Spice Cupcakes
 
Ingredients:
1 ¼      cups milk
2          teaspoons vinegar
1          cup unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾      cups granulated sugar
1          tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1          tablespoon molasses
5          eggs
3 ¼      cups flour
1 ¾      teaspoons baking powder
1          teaspoon salt
11/2     teaspoons Saigon cinnamon
1          teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½         teaspoon ground cloves
½         teaspoon ground ginger
1          teaspoon vanilla (add 2 teaspoons vanilla when baking at high altitude)
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine milk and vinegar, stir, and set the mixture aside until the milk sours.
 
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars together until the mixture is light; stir in the molasses. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
 
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger until well blended. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, alternately with the sour milk, scraping the bowl often, until the batter is thick.
 
Line cupcake pans with inserts and fill each cup ½ full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove them from the oven and cool 3 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans and transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
 
Cream Cheese Frosting
¾         cup unsalted butter, softened
4          ounces cream cheese, softened
            Dash of salt
9          cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
5 to 6   tablespoons whipping or heavy cream
1 ½      teaspoons vanilla
 
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese, and salt. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, alternately with the cream, beating well until the frosting is light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla and mix well.
 
When the cupcakes are cool, transfer some of the frosting into a large piping bag fitted with a large star tube, and pipe a swirl of frosting to cover the top of each cupcake. Sprinkle with holiday sprinkles or tinted sugar and set them aside. If desired, tint the remaining frosting as desired, transfer it to piping bags, and decorate as desired.
 
Yield: 34 – 36 cupcakes

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s snowing outside, a turkey is defrosting in the refrigerator, and the mantle and tops of book cases and the china cabinet are decorated with autumn leaf garlands, pumpkins and tiny white lights that glow softly on this overcast day. One of my favorite family holidays is just days away and I’m excited.
 
My holiday television special, “A Home for Christy Rost: Thanksgiving” is airing nationwide on PBS and Create TV stations today (Nov 19), and I’m receiving emails and Facebook posts from viewers who enjoyed the show and want to share stories about their own holiday celebrations and home renovation projects. Many viewers are also searching for more recipes and entertaining tips. You can find them here on my website at www.christyrost.com, and also on PBS Food’s new website at www.pbs.org/food.
 
At PBS Food, you’ll discover my Ten Essential Thanksgiving Planning Tips, and since tradition is such an important aspect of the Thanksgiving holiday, I’ve shared some of our traditions in an article titled Celebrate Thanksgiving Family Traditions. And please don’t miss my Thanksgiving recipes and slide show in the section Discover New Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas – cranberry relish in orange baskets, Southern Brussels sprouts with brown butter and pecans, pumpkin pie with autumn leaf border, and many more family favorites.
 
I look forward to sharing more easy holiday decorating tips and spectacular holiday recipes with you in the coming weeks, so please check back. For now, may you and your loved ones enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving!
 
-Christy

Squirrels, Pinecones and Autumn's Harvest

My husband, Randy and I have been watching an industrious squirrel race back and forth past our breakfast room bay window every morning and evening for the past month. Much smaller than the variety we’re accustomed to in Texas, this little mountain guy lives in the forest behind Swan’s Nest, but has a special affinity for the large pine cones that grow on a tall spruce tree in our front yard.
 
Like clockwork, he begins his trek around 8 o’clock every morning, runs at full speed past the windows along the driveway, stops briefly at a pine tree to make sure the coast is clear, and then darts under the spruce tree about 20 yards away, where he briefly disappears from sight. A few moments later the squirrel reappears, clutching a pine cone tightly in his mouth, and retraces his path at full speed. The pine cone, held lengthwise, is almost as long as the squirrel. Past the windows, between the mums, over the far end of a newly created garden bed, through the large rock garden onto the back driveway, over the huge boulders that line the driveway, and a mad dash through the meadow until he reaches the relative safety of the forest. Only to repeat the process over and over again. Does our little squirrel know something we don’t? Is he preparing for another extra-cold, extra snowy winter?
 
While I can’t predict the type of Colorado winter we’re going to have, I do know that summer’s hot weather has transitioned in much of the country into autumn’s cooler temperatures, and nature’s display of rich colors, textures and fragrances is beginning to transform landscapes into colorful, breathtaking palettes . In the mountains, the aspen leaves are turning to shades of gold, orange and red, and the willows along our creek and ponds are becoming more colorful each day.
 
Taking a cue from nature, our front entry and home interior now proclaim to all who enter that autumn has arrived.  Copper-hued mums line the newly-landscaped garden along the front driveway. A luxurious autumn wreath hangs on the door. An arrangement of yellow chrysanthemums, bales of straw, pumpkins, and a basket of pinecones brighten the area next to our front door. The fireplace mantel, tops of the china cabinet and bookcases, and bookshelves in my kitchen are accented with autumn leaves, pumpkins, and gourds. And, a deep red woven throw drapes in soft folds over an arm of the sofa, ready to offer warmth and comfort on chilly evenings.
 
It’s easy and fun to add touches of fall to your home, whether you live in an apartment, studio, condo, or house. A stroll down the street or around your yard, or a visit to the countryside can reap countless natural materials to work with – dried grasses and flowers, nuts, seedpods, pinecones, horse apples, and twigs can all be used as decorative accents. Add candles, a stack of old leather-bound books, a bowl of shiny apples, and a few small pumpkins to grace your home with the warmth and beauty of autumn’s harvest.
 
-Christy

A Little Summer Dinner Party

My mother-in-law, Pat is visiting us in Colorado for a few days – a blessed relief for her from the scorching Texas heat. During her last visit, Randy and I hosted a large dinner party on the lawn in his mother’s honor, so it goes without saying that a dinner party is on the "to do" list for this summer’s visit.

This evening's dinner party will be an intimate affair for nine - hopefully seated on our large veranda if Mother Nature cooperates. I’ve focused pretty heavily on locally-produced ingredients, from the Colorado beef and bison steaks, to Olathe corn-on-the-cob, Rocky Ford cantaloupe for the fruit salad, and bell peppers, tomatoes, and fresh greens in various salads. It’s a make-ahead menu except for the grilled steaks, which means I can visit with our guests when they arrive instead of running around the kitchen, and Randy can “bond” with the guys around the grill.

As I write, the filling for lemon meringue pie is cooling in the saucepan before I pour it into my pie shell and pile it high with meringue. There’s nothing local about the pie, except that I made it in my Swan’s Nest kitchen, but its cool, refreshing flavor and silky texture will be the ideal finale to tonight’s late-summer gathering. I enjoy nothing more than seeing smiles on my guests’ faces when they tuck into a memorable dessert, and this pie is a sure winner. I’m happy to share my recipe with you for your own summer gatherings. Enjoy!

-Christy

  Lemon Meringue Pie
   
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 package unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Place flours, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse several times to mix. Add cold butter and pulse until butter is pea-size. Add ice water and pulse until the pastry forms a ball, adding a bit more ice water if the pastry feels dry. Remove the pastry, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the pastry on a floured pastry cloth or counter. Transfer the pastry to a 10-inch pie plate, flute the edges, and prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the pastry is golden browned. Remove it from the oven and cool completely.

In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, gelatin, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in egg yolks, water, lemon juice, and zest. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and just comes to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside 20 minutes to cool, stirring every 5 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled pie shell.

In a large mixing bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until the whites are foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. With an offset spatula or knife, spread meringue over the lemon filling, sealing well at the edges of the pastry. Bake in a 400 degree oven 5 minutes until the meringue is pale brown. Cool 40 minutes, then chill at least 4 hours or until ready to serve.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings