How To Make Your Holiday Cookies Look Even Better

Shaun and I have off from work today so after a quick trip to the gym, we're heading out to finish off our Christmas shopping and pick up some supplies for food that I signed up for to bring to my parents house tomorrow and his parents on Saturday. On the list? A vegetable tart (which I also made for dinner one night and cannot wait to share with you guys)

my sundried tomato + olive tapenade...

and perhaps a seasonal cupcake (contemplating one of the eggnog variety...thoughts?). Topping off the day will be present wrapping, a viewing of Scrooged (one of my favorite holiday movies) and a fancy dinner at Edward's here in Jersey City. Let's get this party started!

Meanwhile, I wanted to do a quick post for you guys and share a super simple tip to make all of those holiday cookies look extra awesome come Christmas. The key? Powdered sugar! There's nothing like a snowy white dusting of powdered sugar over holiday cookies to make them look extra special...and extra delicious to boot.

 

To get the look, I picked up a small sieve at Walmart for about $2. I scooped in a tablespoon of confectioners' sugar and sifted it right over the top of the cookie platter.

and in for the close up...

So there you have it. A super simple way to turn those cookies up a notch. Oh and this is a great way to jazz up any cookie, be it store bought or homemade. Easy peasy. So what do you think? I do have one more cookie recipe to share with you, which I will try to post this evening for any of your stragglers still looking for the perfect dessert or have ample time tomorrow morning to bake. And just a hint...there's Nutella involved.

How are you kicking off the holiday?

DIY Gingerbread Coffee Syrup

Want to contribute your favorite cookie recipe to our  Virtual Cookie Swap? Email them on over (with photo, please!) to theavidappetite [at] gmail [dot] com, we'll start posting them as they roll in!

On Saturday, I was psyched to find a copy of Rocco DiSpirito's Now Eat This! in my mailbox. I won a copy from Heather's giveaway and was so thrilled that I did since, well...I really wanted this one. Can you tell?

Oh and not only is it a winning copy, but it's also signed by the man himself. Not to shabby, right? I can't wait to dive right into this one since the entire book consists of Rocco's own recipes on how to make classic indulgences a bit healthier. Some sample recipes include macaroni & cheese, penne a la vodka and even chocolate chip cookies. I will believe the deliciousness when I taste it, but I have high hopes for this one!

Meanwhile, you may remember my tirade regarding overpriced coffee beverages earlier this Fall, which resulted in my DIY Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup. Many of you seemed to love this recipe (as did I!)! After speaking to some of you about the winter beverages (and my continued righteous indignation), I decided to change it up for the holiday with a Gingerbread Coffee Syrup! It's not all that different than the pumpkin syrup, just a few changes which altered the flavor for the season.

DIY Gingerbread Coffee
2-3 tbsp molasses (or more depending on your desired level of gingerbreadness)
1/4 C Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1/2 C water
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
ground coffee (as much as you want to make)
half and half or milk of your choice

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine molasses, Splenda, water, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir or whisk together until ingredients have melted together. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens, resembling syrup, but making sure that it doesn't get too thick. Stir frequently so that it doesn't burn. This entire process took about 5 minutes. Like the pumpkin syrup, the Splenda blend worked like a charm to turn these ingredients to coffee bliss.

And you might remember that I store my coffee in a sweet mason jar that I snapped up at Michael's for around $1 or so. Gotta love an inexpensive item that goes a long way to make your cabinets look nicer!

And while I was picking up some new baking sheets at Bed Bath & Beyond on Sunday, I also snapped up 2 new coffee tumblers for Shaun and me. Sold in a pack of two, these sweet travel cups were a mere $9.99 (for both). Add your 20% coupon, and you've got 2 new mugs for $8 total.

So there you have it. My answer to a $5+ calorie-filled latte. Oh and for another spin on holiday lattes, try adding a splash of eggnog to your coffee! It's delish and way healthier! Meanwhile, how are you getting down with holiday beverages this season? Lattes? Hot chocolate? (My weakness is the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate from Starbucks, so when I master that, I'll be set :)) Coffee? Chai? Ooooh chai....

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Oh soup. That's really all I have to say.

But I guess you are looking for more than that, huh? Once the cool weather hits, it’s like a button is switched on and all I want is soup, soup and more soup. So comforting, so warming, it’s like a miracle cure for the blues, for a chill that you just can’t get rid of, or for an empty stomach just grumbling to be filled up. Suddenly my daily lunch of ham & cheese sandwich or homemade chef’s salad (complete with Shaun’s ham & cheese pinwheels that he often prepares for me...love ya honey!) just wasn’t cutting it. Soup it would need to be. So after a couple of weeks of picking up soup from local eateries, I realized that while it seemed like it was a small expense, it was adding up to around $5 per day (sometimes more like $7 at fancier places like Moomah). And since you know my feelings on spending mucho moola on food that I can easily DIY, I realized it was time to tackle the soup-for-lunch challenge. In the midst of post-dinner party clean up and game day relaxing, I got my soup on. And oh how happy I am that I did.

Since I had some nice tomatoes in the fridge and all of the other ingredients on hand, I decided that tomato soup it would be! And this version is low fat, filling and hearty to boot. Oh and did I mention that it gives my favorite tomato soup from ‘wichcraft a serious run for its money?

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
3 lbs tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
2 large onions, roughly chopped
1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans low sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp heavy cream
olive oil
kosher salt
fresh black pepper
1/2 C fresh basil leaves
parmesean cheese

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Roughly chop the tomatoes and onions. Spread out on a foil-covered sheet pan (this will make clean up a snap!), drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast (this is the key to flavorful, delicious soup since roasting softens the veggies and brings out the yummy, carmelized flavors!).

Roast for about 25 minutes or until tomatoes and onions are soft, carmelized and smelling like heaven. Add them to a big stock pot or dutch oven. 

Pour in the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes and whole peeled tomatoes (I always use Red Pack, unless grocer gives me another brand when I lazily order my groceries!). Stir in the bay leaves and butter. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, chop up the basil. I grabbed the last bit of leaves from our urban herb garden, which has recently been moved indoors. No word on how long that will last!

 

Add to the soup. After the 20-30 minutes has elapsed, it's time to blend the soup together. I use my handy immersion blender (a tool that I have come to obsess over) but using a blender or food processor to blend in batches should work as well.

Stir in the heavy cream (use as much as you'd like or omit altogether to keep it lower in fat). When serving, stir in a bit of parmesean cheese. Since I used up all of my basil, I garnished with a sprig of parsley that I had recently purchased for my upcoming Thanksgiving dinner (stay tuned for lots of Turkey Day recipes!)

So there you have it. A delicious and comforting bowl of soup. This recipe made a giant batch, which is perfect for a family, spreading over a week's time or even freezing to use throughout the winter! I also like my soup chunky so I didn't completely blend it through, though I'm sure it would be equally as delightful. Oh and to bring it to work, I simply load it up in an air tight container, keep it upright on my commute and heat in the microwave for lunch. Voila! Homemade, comforting soup! All that's missing is a giant, buttery grilled cheese sandwich...

So the question of the day is: What is your favorite food or beverage to warm you up on a cool day? Is it a bowl of soup? A hearty chili? A sweet mug of hot chocolate? Or maybe a simple chai tea?