Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

One last Christmas post before the big day! These cookies are a favourite of mine around this time of year. My mom always made some and we would spend an afternoon decorating them together. Although, I’m sure I complained quite a bit. These cookies are quite time consuming because of the decorating, but they are totally worth it in the end. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

Cookies
200 g cream cheese softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter softened
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg yolk (you can save the white and make a DIY face mask)

Blend together cream cheese, sugar, butter, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and salt with an electric mixer.  Stir in flour with a wooden spoon, until well blended. Refrigerate dough for two hours.

Preheat oven to 375 ̊F or 190 ̊C. Working with about a third of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 3-5 mm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and place your cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Place in the oven for about 6-7 minutes. Make sure to keep a close eye. These cookies should be taken out as soon as any browning begins to happen. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack. Make sure that they are cooled completely before icing them. I waited until the next day. These cookies can also be kept in the freezer and take out about 30 minutes before eating.

Glaze
powdered sugar
food colouring
water or milk

For every one cup of powdered sugar you use add about a tablespoon of milk or water. You want the glaze to be thick enough that it won’t drip off the cookies, but thin enough to squeeze out of a bag. Add the liquid to the powdered sugar and stir until combined with a rubber spatula. Add in your desired amount of food coloring last and mix again. Spoon the icing into a ziplock bag and cut a small hole in tip. Instant piping bag!

Makes a ton of cookies!

Rein-Beers

A few years back, I made these wonderful rein-beers for the Simmering Seoulmate, and then a year later I made them again for his father. They absolutely loved them and they’re ridiculously easy to make, which makes this DIY perfect for any man on your list. All you need is a glue gun, some pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom-poms and of course his favourite beer! You can also use non-alcoholic bottled drinks or a soda drink for kids at your next holiday party.

These are the ones I made for the Simmering Seoulmate's father a few years ago.

What you need:
6 bottled beers
12 googly eyes, any size
6 red pom-poms
40cm brown pipe cleaner per beer, so I used 240cm.
scissors
hot glue gun, extra glue

What to do:
Take a 40cm long piece of pipe cleaner and cut two 8 cm pieces off. Wrap the longest piece around the top of the bottle and bend the ends up. Then, take the two small pieces and tie each one around the bent ends creating an antler shape.



Next, use the hot glue gun to glue on the eyes and pom-poms below the antlers. That’s it! You’re finished. You can go the extra step and cover the beer case with wrapping paper.

Check out the rest of my holiday posts by clicking here.
Check out my other DIY post by clicking here.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

It’s Christmas baking season! With only a few weekends left before Christmas, there isn’t much time for baking. Today, I dedicated the afternoon to baking these yummy treats. Hopefully, I will have time to bake more cookies in the coming week. I originally wanted to make reverse chocolate chip cookies, but I only had about a half cup of white chocolate chips left. Oh no! Time to get creative! I decided to add some chopped up Hershey’s Cookies and Cream bar, some smashed up peppermint candies, and finally I topped the cookies with candy cane bits before placing them in the oven for a festive touch.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Hershey’s cookies and cream bar, chopped
4 mini candy canes, smashed
15 peppermint candies, smashed (If I had more candy canes, I would have used those)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 ̊F or 177 ̊C. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing completely. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Fold in chocolate chips, Hershey’s chocolate pieces, and peppermint bits. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Push the balls down slightly and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top of each cookie. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Polish Pierogi

Christmas is fast approaching and with the shopping, busy school schedule, and prepping for vacation, I am finding myself slightly overwhelmed. This will be my third Christmas away from my family back in Canada and it’s the one holiday I have the hardest time missing. Being in Korea hasn’t been all that difficult for me as far as adjusting to living in a different country and I haven’t had a difficult time with homesickness, but Christmas is my favourite holiday and there are so many things I miss. I miss our annual tree trimming party and helping prepare all the wonderful trays of food, the smell of a real tree filling our living room, the beautiful flower arrangements my dad makes every year, the decorations…so many decorations, my family, and last but not least, our traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner.

Our family Christmas Tree a few years ago.

Every year on Christmas Eve, my mother’s side of the family used to get together at my Babcia and Dziadzia’s house to celebrate. We would eat a feast of fish and at least four kinds of pierogi that my Babcia spent all day making. When I was younger I didn’t care for fish, so that meant my plate was filled with pierogi. In fact, my cousin and I used to compete to see who could eat the most. I’d like to think I won every year, but who knows. Now that my grandparents have passed away, and the children have grown, the tradition has lost some of its magic. My mom still makes pierogi and my cousin has made some too, but none will ever be as fantastic as my Babcia’s. Every year that I have been away from home that tradition is the one thing I miss the most.

This year, I will be in Korea on Christmas Eve, so the Simmering Seoulmate and I spend one afternoon making some pierogi, so that I can have a little piece of home this Christmas. We made the classic potato and cheese filled ones and saved some of the mashed potato and made some feta and spinach ones, too. Check out the recipe below to see how to make these polish delights! Merry Christmas.

Polish Pierogi

Ingredients

Dough 4 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup warm milk 3/4 cup warm water 2 egg yolks 3 tbsp melted butter 1 tsp salt

Potato and Cheese Filling 1 onion, finely chopped 1/4 cup butter 6-8 potatoes 1 cup grated cheddar cheese salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Dough: In a large bowl, combine egg yolks, milk, water, and butter mixing well. Stir in flour and salt. Knead for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface or until ingredients are well combined and the dough is smooth and soft. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Filling: Meanwhile, peel and cut potatoes into large pieces. Place potatoes in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Mash potatoes in the pot with a potato masher. Sauté onions in butter over medium heat until they are soft and clear. About 2-3 minutes. Add them to the mashed potatoes. Stir in cheddar cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let filling cool.

Once the dough has had time to rest, working with half the dough at a time roll it on a floured surface to about 3mm thick. Cut circles in the dough using a round cookie cutter (or if you don’t have one, use a cup like I did).  Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle. Fold over creating a half circle and pinch the edges closed. If eating right away, cook pierogi 10 at a time in a large pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes or less. You will know they are ready when they float to the top of the water. Stir a few times to prevent sticking. Serve with sautéed onions and sour cream. If you are freezing them like we did, place in a single layer on a parchment paper liner cookie sheet and freeze overnight. In the morning, move frozen pierogi to a zippered freezer bag. If cooking from frozen, they may need a few extra minutes in the boiling water. Enjoy!

Makes about 6 dozen.

Easy Egg White Face Mask

I have another food beauty DIY for you! This time it’s a speedy face mask. With only 3 ingredients and less than a minute to make, pampering just got a whole lot easier.

What you need:
1 egg white
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp honey

How to make your mask:
In a small bowl, whisk together egg white with lemon juice until frothy. Next, whisk in the honey until combined.

Directions for use:
First wash your face with warm water to open up your pores. Pat your face dry with a towel. Next, use your fingers to apply the mask to your face using circular motions. Be careful to avoid those sensitive areas around your eyes and lips. Now lie down and relax for 15 minutes, while the mask dries. Wash off using warm water.

Mask benefits:
Wow! My skin felt so nice after this mask. It felt so refreshing and my skin was soft and smooth. Egg whites have a ton of benefits for your skin, are great for tightening and toning your skin, and they help to shrink pores. I have combination skin, which means I have a very oily t-zone and dry patches on my checks. I love that the egg white has moisturizing properties, but also helps to remove grease.

As the holiday season approaches, make some time for you and try this mask out yourself. Also, don’t forget to check out my other beauty DIY post here. 

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins, muffins, muffins! It’s time for another marvelous muffin recipe. Last week, I had a bunch of bananas that were going brown and was thinking about making some lovely banana bread, but the Simmering Seoulmate had a hankering for muffins. So, we decided to make oatmeal banana muffins. I’ve got quite a sweet tooth, so I incorporated some chocolate chips. You can customized this recipe to suit your preferences by omitting the chocolate or by adding add other types of chocolate chips, such as peanut butter chips, or even add some nuts or berries. These delightful treats make a great mid afternoon snack or a quick and easy breakfast. I like to eat them warmed up with a bit of butter on chilly mornings with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F or 190 ̊ C. In a large bowl stir together all of your dry ingredients, with the exception of the chocolate chips. In a smaller bowl, combine vanilla, butter, eggs, and bananas. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until all the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 15 muffins.

Kitchen Tricks: Pomegranate Seeds

Oh boy, do I love eating pomegranate. However, it can be a super pain just thinking of how much effort goes into being able to eat these delicious seeds. I’m going to share with you how I remove those seeds quickly and easily.

Step 1: Score a line with a knife along the equator of the pomegranate, as if you were going to cut the fruit in half. 

Step 2: Use your fingers to pull the pomegranate in half, by placing them along the scored line and pulling in opposite directions.

Step 3: Loosen the seeds by gently pulling on the edges all the way around each half.

Step 4: Place one half of the fruit in your hand, with the seeds facing your palm. Hold your hand over a large bowl filled with water.

Step 5: Smack the outer skin of the fruit with a wooden spoon and watch as the seeds fall. If any of the pulp falls it will float to the top of the water so you can easily remove it.

Step 6: Drain your seeds and enjoy!

If you want to save some seeds for awhile you can freeze them, by placing them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, pour into a zippered freezer bag. I hope this post was helpful. If you have any tips about removing pomegranate seeds share them in the comment section below. If you missed my last kitchen trick check it out here.

Apple Cider Cocktails

In my last post, I wrote about my adventures in making homemade apple cider. If you haven’t read about it yet check it out here. Since I was only able to make about two cups of apple cider, I decided to make some cocktails, to warm anyone up on a cold day. These cocktails could be served up at your next holiday party and don’t require too many fancy alcohols or ingredients. Feel free to substitute store bought cider if you decide to try these out yourself.

The first cocktail was simple and made me feel quite classy. This cocktail only required two ingredients, hence it’s super thoughtful name.

Champagne Cider

What you need: Champagne glass, a dry brut champagne, one shot of apple cider, sprig of rosemary (optional).
What to do: Pour the shot of cider into the bottom of a champagne glass and top with champagne. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary for bonus class. (I didn't have any L)

Serves: 1
Taste: 3/5  I think I prefer my champagne solo.
Difficulty Level: 1/5
Classiness Factor: 5/5

The next cocktail was a bit manlier for those men out there who think cocktails are lame. This drink is a variation on a Shandy, which is a beer mixed drink that is mixed half and half with a carbonated beverage or juice. I really enjoyed the taste or this one, and again it’s super easy to make with only two ingredients.

Cider Spice Shandy

What you need: Glass beer mug, a pint of Lager beer (I used a Stella Artois) and 1/2 cup apple cider.
What to do: Fill your beer mug up to a little less than half with apple cider and top with your lager. Clink beer mugs with a friend. Enjoy!

Serves: 1
Taste: 4/5
Difficulty Level: 1/5
Classiness Factor: 3/5

The last cocktail is perfect for curling up next to a fire or, in my case, under my electric blanket and reading a book. It reminds me a lot of mulled wine, but the gin adds a different kick, with a slight warming sensation on the way down.

Cider Gin and Tea

What you need: Your favorite mug, a black tea bag, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 shots of gin, about 3/4 cup apple cider, and a lemon wedge for garnish.
What to do: Bring cider and vanilla to a boil in a small pot. Remove from heat, add tea bag and steep for 3 minutes. Add gin. Pour into mugs and add lemon wedge to the rim.

Serves: 2
Taste: 4/5
Difficulty Level: 3/5
Classiness Factor: 4/5

Cheers!

Homemade Apple Cider

Last weekend, I was in an adventurous mood. I have always wanted to try to make apple cider from scratch and since I still had a ton of apples left from my trip, I thought, why not try it out. After looking up several recipes, I decided it wasn’t too difficult. Lies! This was definitely a struggle, based on several kitchen mishaps, but more on that later.  First, I cut up the apples into quarters and place them into a large pot. Then, I added enough water to cover the apples and poured in some sugar. I tied my spices up in the closest thing I could find to cheesecloth in Korea. The cloth I bought is used to make tofu, but unfortunately it’s not quite as permeable as needed for this task. Also another note, after making this cider, I don’t think it is necessary to use the cloth to wrap the spices. Just let them float freely in the water and pick the cinnamon sticks out later.

I have a pretty big pot, but it turns out it was just slightly too small. When I began boiling the apples, the water kept splashing over the edge. That was the first small mishap. 

The next step was to let it cook for what seemed like an eternity. The first hour involved cooking the apples on high. Almost all the water had evaporated and I was left with a pulpy mess. I added about a quarter cup of water and then, following the directions of my recipe, I turned the temperature down to low and waited for two more hours. Finally, the cider was done right? Nope. The next step is to strain the apple mush over cheesecloth to separate the liquid from the pulp. This proved to be extremely difficult with the particular cloth that I had. I tried squeezing with all my might and only managed to get a few tablespoons into the bowl. Since I had spent almost all afternoon on this project, I didn’t want to give up. I tied the cloth around a glass pitcher, squished the pulp down and threw it into the fridge to let drain overnight. I woke up in the morning to a disappointing sight. The glass pitcher looked like there was only about a cup’s worth of liquid in it. Boy was I angry. The cloth I was using was two layers so I cut it so it was only one layer and the Simmering Seoulmate and I took turns squeezing by hand. Finally, after about twenty minutes of struggle and frustration, I called it complete. There was about two cups of liquid. It tasted very sweet, so after adding some more water to dilute, we enjoyed a small shot glass taster portion. I don’t really enjoy super sugary drinks, so I have decided to use the cider to make some delicious cocktails.

All in all, I probably won’t be making this cider again in Korea, but I might try making it again with the proper tools back home in Canada. I’m still calling this adventure a success, because now I can warm my belly on a cool fall night with a delicious cocktail or two. Plus, my house smelled absolutely heavily the entire day. Check out the full recipe below and let me know if you’ve ever tried making your own cider.

Apple Cider

Ingredients

8-10 apples

1/2 cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp ground cloves (ground or whole)

Directions
Cut apples into quarters. Don’t worry about peeling and coring the apples. Next, place the apples in a large pot and fill with enough water to just cover the apples. Stir in the sugar. Wrap the cinnamon sticks and cloves in doubled up cheese cloth and place in the pot. Boil uncovered on high heat for one hour. After an hour, turn heat down to low and let simmer for another two hours. Remove spices, and mash mixture with a potato masher. Last, squeeze mixture through cheese cloth into a bowl and discard remaining pulp. This recipe only made about 500 ml of cider.

Salted Caramel Apple Cookie Cups

Here is another delicious apple recipe. This time it’s a sweet and savory treat for those colder afternoons. I have been looking for excuses to use my favorite treat from HomePlus, salted caramel sauce, so I combined them with my other favorite thing, homemade cookies. Check out the recipe below!

Salted Caramel Apple Cookie Cups (Adapted from Life, Love& Sugar)

Cookie Cups
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Topping
1/2 jar of salted caramel sauce
2 large apples
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter
pinch of nutmeg

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush some canola oil over the muffin tin to grease the pan or spray with cooking spray if you have it. Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Make balls out of about 2 tbsp of dough and press into the bottom and up the sides of each muffin cup. Bake for about 10 minutes. After you remove them from the oven, use a spoon to push down the middles of the cookies reforming the cup shape. Place back into the oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Once the cookie cups have cooled spread about a tbsp of salted caramel sauce into each cookie cup. Set aside. Cut apples into small chunks leaving skin on. Place in a pan with sugar and nutmeg and toss to coat. Add butter and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Top cookies cups with apple and drizzle with more of the salted caramel sauce.

Makes 15 cookies cups.