Peanut Brittle

During the holidays we are busier than ever. Between work and holiday parties, plus shopping and organizing everything for traveling, it can get hectic. I always carve out time to do some baking. This year, I had to adjust some baking a bit after finding out I'm gluten intolerant. So I've gone on a search for some tasty holiday treats that have no gluten. Candy has become a new passion!

This is the first year I've made nut brittle and it has quickly become a favorite. I like it because it is fast and easy, 30 minutes active, and 30 minutes to cool, an hour from start to finish. You have to know your way around a candy thermometer a bit, but practice makes perfect. This recipe does call for baking powder. Make sure the brand you buy says 'gluten free' since some brands do contain gluten.

Once the brittle has set up, you just crack it and package it. 

Candied Citrus Peels

It's holiday baking time and here is where I begin my OCD baking! In the beginning of December, I get started so I can bake throughout the entire month. During our visit to France, I saw these candied citrus peels in store windows and fell in love with them. They are time consuming to make, so it's kind of precious to receive. You can also dip them in chocolate as well. 

I like this recipe because it can be made in two parts or two days. On day one, you can prepare the peels, and on day two sugar them. For some reason it doesn't seem like so much work to me if I can split up the time. 

Ingredients:

8 – 10 oranges (I hand pick theses looking for beautiful rinds)

10 – 12 lemons

If I do a batch of oranges and a batch of lemons, I do them separately so the flavors do not co-mingle. 

6 cups of sugar

Part One: Prepare the Peels

Cut the top (stem) and bottom ends off the citrus. Then, cut in half. Scrape out the pulp and set aside. Place the peels in a large pot and cover with water so they can move around freely. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool in the water. 

Once peels are cool, scrape the pith out with a spoon. We have tried many techniques to see what works best, but we find a regular old teaspoon, pulling towards you. This is the most time consuming and difficult part. So get some wine and sit down to do this. Cut into 3/8" strips and set aside. 

Prepare the syrup. This syrup is a 2:1 ratio, 6 cups of sugar to 3 cups of water. Bring syrup to a boil in a large pot. Once the sugar is dissolved, reduce heat to medium. Add the peels and cook for 45 minutes. When done, turn off heat and cover with lid, let rest overnight. 

Part Two: Sugaring

Remove the peels from the pot with a slotted spoon. Using your fingers like a squeegee, squeeze off any extra syrup. Roll in sugar. If sugar gets too clumpy or wet, run it through a sifter. Let the peels air dry on cooling racks for a few hours. Place in air tight container, these keep for about a month.

Strong Vines

Between the Holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) we love to entertain, a lot. So we always like to have a few cases of wine around. This year we will have a story to tell about the wine, we've been enjoying and the circumstances around it. 

One of our favorite places to buy wine in the city is Pasenella and Sons, located on the very south of our island of Manhattan. During hurricane Sandy, that part of Manhattan saw some very bad flooding, with upwards of 6 feet of water in some areas. Local business down there came to a halt and some still haven't recovered. While NYC might seem like a big city to most, to us its a small town. We've lived here 13 years so as you can imagine we bump into the same people on the streets, our local deli, the subway and even the wine store. So when we saw an opportunity to support a local business, that has been a part of our lives for years, after hurricane Sandy, we jumped on it. 

Pasenella and Sons sent out an email saying they were having a 'storm sale' to clear out all of the wine bottles that sat under 6 feet of water that flooded their store. Of course we were in, we were super excited to see what jewels we would find and went downtown to buy them! The wine was perfectly fine, only sitting underwater for a short amount of time, nothing like this ship wrecked champagne or even this ship wrecked wine. Maybe a little time in the East River flood waters might do these bottles some good?

We have been enjoying our sampling, tasting wine that we might not have ventured over to in the store, and we are pleasantly surprised. If you are ever downtown, stop by and say hi to the gang at Pasenella and Sons. 

The Brinson's and APA: Recovery Act

This month on November 28th at Calumet in NYC Susan and I will have our first talk together with the APA (American Photographic Artists). We will share our behind the scenes, trials and tribulations of my photo career after the recession and what we did as a team to make it survive and thrive.

I know some of you know Susan as a stylist on our blog, but she is also a design director at a design and branding firm in NYC. With Susan's knowledge of design, branding, marketing and social media and my knowledge of the photo industry, we tipped the scales in our favor and the outcome has been amazing.

This talk can be applied to anyone looking to improve their craft and be recognized for it. It was a long road, and were here to share it. Come see us on Nov 28th.

Cranberry Sauce

It's almost time for Thanksgiving in the U.S. and we have a full house this year. I made cranberry sauce this weekend to get a head start. I love canning it because it is one less thing in the fridge during a time when there is barely enough room to fit everything. If we don't use all the sauce, canning it allows me to save it for Christmas or another time we have turkey. If you aren't into canning you can make this sauce, but it has to store in the fridge until you are ready to serve it. 

True confession: I love the texture of the cranberry sauce that comes out of a can from the grocery store. However I don't like all the high fructose corn syrup. My recipe using the food mill will get the texture pretty close, and you can adjust the amount of sugar to your taste. Cranberries are really tart so they require a lot of sugar or pucker up!

Ingredients

2 qts fresh cranberries

1/2 cup orange juice

3 cups of sugar (more or less depending on your taste)

Directions

Place two plates in the freezer. Fill a non-reactive pot with an inch of water and boil the cranberries until you hear them pop! and soften. They will need to be soft enough to run through a food mill. Once they have boiled and softened, about 20 mins, run them through a food mill to remove the skins. After discarding the skins, return the liquid to pot and add orange juice and sugar. Continue cooking on medium low heat until sauce sets correctly. Test using the plates in the freezer. Even if you are not canning, you can take this step to ensure the sauce sets correctly. See how on one of my favorite canning blogs, Food in Jars, does it.

If you are preserving, process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes about 4 pts.