Time in Greenwich

There was a definite nip in the sunny December air as we took the tube to Greenwich, England from London.
Wanting to take a break from the madding shopping crowds, we rode to this quintessential English town that is just 6 miles from London. A short walk brought us to the Old Royal Navel College which stands on the grounds of the birthplace of Henry Vlll, Queen Mary l and Queen Elizabeth l. This was originally the location of Greenwich Palace, or Palace of Placentia. The Old Royal Navel College, designed by the renowned English architect Christopher Wren, was originally built in 1696-1712 as the Greenwich Hospital. The most spectacular parts of the Old Royal Navel College are the Baroque Painted Hall and the Chapel. Services are held here every Sunday. We were here on a Saturday so we didn't get to hear this magnificent organ that is flanked by Grecian columns. The Spiral Tulip Staircase is thought to be the first spiral staircase in Britain. Some believe it is haunted, but these are my friends walking down...I promise. Outside looking up, you can see the Royal Observatory at the top of the hill. This was the original location of the Greenwich Castle and was a favorite place for the insatiable Henry the Vlll to bring his mistresses, since they could easily be shuttled between the Palace and Castle. After a steep climb to the top we arrived at the Observatory. A very lively gentleman was giving some background history, by the Prime Meridian, 0 degrees longitude line. Until 1954 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was determined here. There is a museum here that takes us through time, literally and the process of how latitude and longitude were devised. After touring the museum, it was time for tea at the Pavilion Tea House. It wasn't a fancy place, but the hot tea and cream scone couldn't have tasted better on this chilly afternoon. By the time we finished, the short winter's day was winding down. The walk back down into town brought us to a majestic gate to the streets lit in Christmas regalia. It was a wonderful day with my friends. My only regret was that I had brought my point and shoot camera with me instead of my DSLR, which my back thanked, but my eyes objected to. Each time I don't bring my DSLR, I swear I'll never do it again, but I do :-(

Next time.

Let It Snow...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! What do you do when life gives you a snowstorm? Make snowmen...truffle snowmen. I'm on a truffle roll. I had some ganache made for truffles to give to my crew on our trip before Christmas, so I thought I'd try making truffle snowmen. They were fun to make, but like my penguin truffles, a little labor intensive. I experimented and think I have come up with the easiest way to do it. This recipe is for 20 snowmen, but I made about 10 and made single truffles with the rest of the ganache. They are really more of an accent, and not something you'd want to give some a dozen of. It is said that to be a good truffle maker, you need cold hands and a warm heart. So dust off your small motor skills, grab your patience, take the phone off of the hook and let it snow!

Snowman Truffles

For the ganache:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

For the dipping:
12 ounces white chocolate

For the buttons:
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

For the twig arms, eyes and mouth:
1/3 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate (approximate)
wooden skewer
toothpicks

For the "carrot" noses:
2 tablespoons melted white chocolate
orange food coloring

To make the ganache: Break 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate into small pieces and process in a food processor until very fine. Heat the cream until just boiling and pour through the food processor feed tube in a steady stream, with the motor running. Process just a few seconds, until smooth. Transfer to a bowl to firm. This should take a few hours at room temperature. You may also put it in the refrigerator. Once firm, using a 1 inch melon baller or ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of ganache and place on a parchment lined tray. Dust hands with powdered sugar and roll ball between your hands to smooth into a round ball. For the snowmen, make 3 balls for each one. Make the largest 1 1/8 inch, make the middle size 1 inch and make the smallest 3/4 inch. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Stack them on top of each other, largest on the bottom and smallest on the top. Press down slightly so they are flat on the bottom. Put aside. To make the "carrot" noses:
Dab a toothpick into the orange food coloring and mix thoroughly into the melted white chocolate. Color the melted chocolate a carrot orange color. Put the colored chocolate into a small zip lock bag, seal and diagonally snip a 1/8 inch piece off of the bottom corner. On a parchment or plastic lined plate, pipe the chocolate into carrot noses by pressing the chocolate out of the bag and then tapering to a point. Make 20-25 and let harden.To make the "twig" arms:
Place the melted semi-sweet chocolate in a small zip lock bag, seal and diagonally snip a 1/8 inch piece off of the bottom corner. Onto a parchment lined tray, pipe a 3/8 inch wide "V" shape. Then pipe a straight line through the "V" continuing for about an inch long. Make about 50. Let harden.
To coat in white chocolate:
Melt 12 ounces white chocolate by breaking it into a medium bowl placed over a pot of hot water. The bowl must not touch the water and the water must not simmer, but just remain hot. Stir until melted and then take off of heat and cool until it is about 84 degrees, or dab a small amount on your upper lip. It should feel slightly cool.

With a wooden skewer, poke a hole at a slight downward angle into the middle truffle of the stack of 3. Carefully insert a "twig" arm into the hole. They are delicate, so be careful. Place a grilled rack (cooling rack) over a lined cookie sheet. Holding the stack in your fingers over the slightly cooled melted chocolate, carefully spoon the white chocolate down the top and sides of the snowman. Do not let the white chocolate get onto the twig arms. Make sure the snowman is covered and let the excess chocolate drip off. Then place on the grilled rack to continue dripping. The carrot nose may be placed on while the chocolate is still soft or applied later with a dab of melted white chocolate as the glue. The mini chocolate chip buttons may also be placed on at this time or later with a dab of melted white chocolate. Let harden.

Remove from the rack carefully by slicing underneath the snowman and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Using a toothpick dipped into melted semisweet chocolate, place 2 dabs of chocolate for the eyes. For the mouth place 4 smaller dabs, into a smiling face. Don't worry about any pointy ends, once hardened they can be broken off if desired.
Let the snowmen harden at room temperature.

Have fun by displaying on a bed of freshly fallen powdered sugar and with a satin ribbon (1/4 inch wide) scarf tied around the neck. A little glue stick glue helps to keep the ends of the tied scarf in place.Makes 20-25 truffle snowmen.

Snowman Truffles recipe.

I always try and use the least amount of packaging as possible, and I thought I'd share a way I wrap presents. Many times I use extra fabric and wrap a present with it. Or I make the wrapping part of the present, like a scarf or tea towel. Years ago I bought some silk organza napkins...don't ask me why, and they seem better suited to wrapping presents than wiping mouths. Just place the present in the center and bring opposite corners together and tie. I also recycle old Christmas cards to use as gift tags the following year. I think this makes for a prettier and more interesting package.

Enjoy your holidays!

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Holidays in London are always festive and busy. The high street shopping seems to be mainly for the brave, as the stores become elbow to cheek with holiday cheer. Saturday my friend Robert and I took a walk to Harrods department store for a yearly ritual to see the window displays. They have gotten away from anything religious as the diversity of the city has grown. This year Harrods is celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. Just a few blocks away from Harrods, I noticed this doorstep and couldn't help but wonder....hmmm....not quite a Ruby Slipper, but there must be a story here. London had a rare snow a few days ago adding a little holiday atmosphere. Wizard of Oz music is pumped out onto the sidewalks and inside the store. "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high..." In this rendition, Harrods dropped full force onto the witch. You can only imagine what this young man was thinking. And Dorothy got a little gussied up as well as a few other characters. The witch never looked more beautiful, and not wicked at all.There is just a little drama and opulence in this version. The scarecrow,the tinman, the cowardly lion, and the monkeys all had an extreme makeover. Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore! Going inside, the store and mainly the food halls were jammed with shoppers with full wallets. There were many chocolatiers displaying exotic chocolates and goods to sit beside them.And there was no shortage of the ubiquitous Harrods green shopping bags. I managed to get away only with photos and no green bags. The next stop was the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is just down the road. Another magical vision appeared before us as a stunning bride was leaving the Brompton Oratory from what looked like a storybook wedding. Best wishes to them! Later on in the evening as I looked out of my hotel window, the streets of London were lit up like a Christmas tree as the holiday traffic filled the streets. If you look closely, you'll see the Emerald City of Harrods lit up in green....a slight movement of my camera gave a vision of candy canes Happy Holidays from London!

Visions Of Sweetness...Rolled Sugar Cookies

While finishing my shopping this week, I stopped in the Williams Sonoma store. Oh what fun! I have a collection of copper cookie cutters and was drawn to their new trio of holiday cutters. The catalog really doesn't do them justice. The curvy, swirly shape of the candy cane just begs to be picked up. Then it cajoled me to the cash register as visions of sweetness danced in my head....OK, I'm easy;-) Another new addition this year is a Brigitte type cutter with holiday images. It's from my one of my favorite cookie cutter ebay sellers, Harsefeld-online-shop. My kitchen was well stocked with butter, sugar and flour, so I went about making sugar cookie dough to chill. I substituted the lemon zest for 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract for a change. I pulled out my other cutters along with sprinkles, pearls, and dragees. I've collected these decorations from as close as my local grocery store and as far away as Paris and London. So, the holiday music went on, the oven fired up and I rolled, cut and decorated. Fa-la-la-la-la.

For more holiday inspiration click here for Food With Style, it's a great collection of food bloggers posts. Thanks Jain!
Rolled Sugar Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In large bowl or food processor, cream sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract until well blended. Add the flour and salt and mix until it begins to form a ball, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. If the dough is too dry, add a few drops of water. Scrape dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press together to form a thick flat disc. Wrap well and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a baking sheet.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick (1/4 inch, if using Brigitte cutter), or desired thickness. The dough needs to be just the right temperature to roll and cut properly. If it is too cold, it is hard to roll, and if it is too soft it becomes difficult to cut and pick up. Roll any scraps back into a ball and chill again. Use as little flour as possible to roll out, so they don't get tough. After cutting, place on a baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes or until just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. I use an insulated baking sheet to prevent the edges from getting too brown.

Makes 4 dozen, 3 inch (1/8 inch thick) cookies.

My tips: Keep dough chilled just enough so it is easy to roll and cut, but not so cold that it is hard and cracks. I like to roll between 2 layers of plastic wrap. This keeps the dough from sticking without extra flour that makes the dough tough. I even roll it to desired thickness, between 2 layers of plastic wrap before chilling. Then when it comes out of the refrigerator, you won't have to roll and you'll be ready to cut. If the dough warms up too much while working with it, you can slide the whole layer onto a cookie sheet and chill, without disturbing what you've already done. Also, bake sugar cookies in insulated pans for even browning. Happy baking!

Rolled Sugar Cookie recipe (pdf)
Links:
Suber Winter Cookie Cutter
Brigitte Cookie Cutter
Williams-Sonoma Candy Cane Cookie Cutter