Merry Christmas!

I feel so blessed this morning as I enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee with some eggnog swirled in ... a bright, clear, crisp sky, and soon we'll pick Kev up from the airport and the family will be together! (Shan and Octavio you're there in spirit!!!) I did a short yoga session in my living room, meditating on how fortunate I am and what a blessing it is this Christmas to reflect on life and being present. Happy Christmas Everyone!!

extra apples? try this unusual snack

yum. i just made an impromptu snack of 2 of my favorites: sauteed apples and greek yogurt. oh, and a 3rd thing tossed in there because it's the holidays: disaranno. yes, the liquor. oh my gosh -- what followed from this combination was a light, delicious, slightly almond-scented treat. it's perfect for breakfast, after lunch, or as an evening snack. you only need a drizzle of disaranno but it creates such a fragrant, warming combination with the spiced apples and tart yogurt.

ingredients:

-sauteed sliced apples (i had a container full after cooking a bunch of them a few days ago in some butter, cinnamon, brown sugar and a pinch of salt)

-full fat greek yogurt

-disaronno

to do:

-in a saucepan, heat the apples to warm and pour over a 'healthy holidayish amount' of the disaronno liquor. let it lightly bubble in the pan for 3 min. or so, stirring ocassionally

-put the apples with juices in a bowl and top with a hefty spoonful of greek yogurt

HEAVEN!

kouign amann

On Sunday I made a recipe I'd been wanting to try ever since I read about it on David Lebovitz' site - Breton Butter Cake. It surpassed all ideas I had and was so delicious that we had it for dessert and the rest went directly into the freezer to have sometime later!

It's a butter cake, made with yeast, that takes a little while to make (between risings and restings) but is really worth it. It's a caramelized, buttery, sugary roll/cake that just tastes like the holidays. There are no added spices, but since I used European butter, Plugra (haven't used that since my days at L'Academie but man is it amazing), the real taste of the butter came through. Add lots of sugar and some crunchy salt and it really tastes like you're in Brittany sampling one of their finest creations.

I started it early afternoon, and after dinner and cooling for about 30 min. it was ready to eat. The only frustration was that our smoke detector went off every 3 min. since the cake bubbled over a bit in the 425 degree oven!

I highly recommend this one! Here's the original recipe:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/08/long_live_the_k.html

things lately

I am craving some Pinkberry fro-yo so I think this afternoon I'm going to make a stop there. It's like 68 degrees in NYC today believe it or not! Last time I had it was in LA visiting Shan and Octavio. Yum.

Some snacks that have been sitting in the freezer have proven to be welcome additions to the day. I always know I'll love having things onhand during the week when I don't feel like cooking but DO feel like eating. Some of the latest are:

-banana nut bread

-soft gingerbread

-chocolate-chip bars (aka congo bars - from David Lebovitz' Chocolate book.)
[Incidentally these were delicious to snack on while watching Glee last night!]