Double Spiced Rum Balls

It is fun to learn about the holiday traditions of friends and family. Especially when it comes to food, I am impressed by traditions from all over the world. Brian's family has some wonderful traditional recipes, and every year we try to take one old recipe and make it our own. We stick to some aspect of the old recipe such as the food's look, but vary it with ingredients we like or find locally.

Brian's maternal grandparents have been making these amazing "rum balls" for ages. When we talked to his Grandpa and Grandma a few days ago, they were making these cookies and we had to get the family recipe. Grandpa wasn't sure how old the recipe was or which of their mothers had carried the tradition over, but it has been in the family for generations and they love making rum balls year after year. Since it involves rum of course, it gets even more fun to make it! Grandma also likes to joke around about how much rum goes into the cookies.

In the recipe below, the original version is in parentheses next to my variations. My Double Spiced Rum Balls started with an incredible, fresh Mayan cocoa from World Spice Merchants in Seattle with many spices in it already, which I substituted for regular cocoa powder. We never use corn syrup like the original recipe calls for, and honey would serve the same purpose along with adding a light sweetness, so I used a local mountain wildflower honey in its place. In fact, Grandpa said he will try using honey next time instead of corn syrup :) The third ingredient I substituted was spiced rum, the only rum we had on our shelf. All of the above, combined gave the most flavorful touch to this holiday tradition to make it even more festive!

Thank you! Grandma & Grandpa, we have had a great time making these and even more fun eating these snow covered rum balls as it snows away in Seattle for days now!

I used:
3 cups crushed Franz vanilla wafers (that's a local, Pacific Northwest brand with Austrian roots; the original recipe uses the Nabisco Nilla Wafers)
1/2 cup roughly chopped toasted walnuts
1.5 tablespoons Mayan cocoa from World Spice Merchants; sift the cocoa if you don't like whole spices (original: unsweetened cocoa powder)
8 tablespoons spiced rum (original: a regular Jamaican rum)
5 tablespoons local Mountain Wildflower Honey (original: corn syrup)
about 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

My method:
1. Put the wafers in a plastic freezer bag you can seal, and bash them up with a rolling pin till you get them finely ground. You can use a food processor as well, but this way is more fun.
2. Roughly chop up the walnuts, which give a crunch to the cookie.
3. Mix the wafers, nuts, and cocoa in a big bowl.
4. Add the honey, mix it up, and then add the rum!
5. Scoop a ball or two with a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon. Roll them smooth into balls with your palms. Grandpa says that if no balls form, then you need more rum! Somehow it is the rum that makes the balls stick together according to his years of experience. This is where the fun begins :) Once the balls are ready, drop them in a shallow dish filled with confectioner's sugar and roll them around until they are completely covered!
6. Put them in a parchment lined tin and refrigerate. It is better to make them a day or more before you plan to serve or eat them, as that way the flavors really infuse.

Peppermint Pistachio Fudge

Nigella Lawson's Pistachio Fudge is one of the easiest fudge recipes I've seen. It comes out of Nigella Express, a book Nigella personally signed for me :) I was originally a bit skeptical about this book, but once I bought it, I caught myself making more things out of it than I had expected. Mind you, I don't just make things as in the recipe, but Nigella Express has been great inspiration.

My favorite part of the book has been its awesome photos -- straightforward but with style, and at least one photo for EACH and EVERY recipe. They are the mesmerizing work of photographer Lis Parsons. That photos are often lacking in cookbooks is the biggest reason I don't have as many as I'd like. I just can't get myself to pick one up with no photos. In the last month, I've been to so many bookstores and even a cookbook stall for crying out loud. I've made some great purchases, but so many I otherwise liked, I was disappointed to put down for the lack of photos.

Enough said about cookbooks, now about Nigella's fudge: the only thing I changed (because knowing me, I had to ;) was to add a little peppermint extract. This was to make the fudge more seasonal for the holidays. I also substituted in some dark chocolate. It's a very rich recipe, so small pieces are perfect to serve your guests.

The recipe as adapted from Nigella Express, by Nigella Lawson:

I used:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 oz. bitter-sweet, or dark chocolate chips (my addition, Nigella uses all semi-sweet chocolate)
14 oz. can organic condensed milk
1 cup roughly chopped pistachios
1 teaspoon concentrated peppermint extract (my addition for a holiday flavor, vary this based on the strength of the extract you find - taste test before pouring into the pan to set!)

My method:
1. Over a double boiler, melt the butter on low heat.
2. Add the chocolate and stir till it all melts smoothly.
3. Add the condensed milk and peppermint extract, and mix.
4. Add the nuts, mix, then take it off the heat and pour it into a big, shallow foil pan. A bigger pan means more pieces, and shallow means not as large a piece.
5. Let the whole thing cool to room temperature, then refrigerate till the fudge sets.
6. Slice the fudge into little squares like I have, or whatever shape your heart desires.
7. Store them in a container lined with parchment in the fridge, if you'll eat them soon. Or, freeze the fudge and it'll last forever (well not really, but for a long time.) Nigella suggests storing them in your freezer then eating them straight. I keep mine in the fridge because I know it'll be gone in a couple weeks, or likely less :)

Roasted Masala Cashews

Roasted Masala Cashews are a quick nutritious snack, or a popular bite to pass around with drinks when you warm up your guests. In India we eat many different types of spicy nuts and this is a method my mom used to make cashews a bit more interesting. You will need some self-control when you make these though, as they are so simple & tasty. I suggest making them for a party so you're not the only guilty one snacking!

If you are going to pick one season to eat cashews, pick winter. Their thiamine helps kick up the nervous system to cope with winter blues and holiday stress! They also contain some of the same good fats as olive oil, which are good for your heart.

When we were little, we nagged the adults to buy us streetside snacks of nuts filled in newspaper cones. I decided to serve Roasted Masala Cashews the same way, but I lined an Indian newspaper with parchment paper and served up some healthy nostalgia, a favorite snack from when I was a girl.

I used:
1 tablespoon ghee
2 cups raw cashew halves
1 teaspoon finely crushed, fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

My method:
1. On low heat, melt the ghee in a skillet, then add the salt & pepper to mix.
2. Add the cashews and toss them around to coat with ghee and seasoning.
3. Keep tossing till the cashews are slightly pink, which means they're toasted. Have a taste and adjust the salt if you like.
4. Serve them right away, or cool before storing in an air tight container.

Market and Coffee in Old Philly

We recently visited the Philadelphia area to spend time with my brother and his wife for the holidays. One weekday we took the local train into the good City of Brotherly Love. We saw some historic sites and turned Old Philly's Reading Terminal Market inside-out. It was brisk and chilly for Philly on foot that day, so we were happy to enter the market right at the Old City Coffee espresso stand -- how convenient! We had two right-on Americanos and learned they also have a roasterie inside the market.

Warmed up, we wound and tasted our way through some local, some international foods to the Old City Coffee roasterie, where they had coffee from all over the world. What really caught our eye was coffee from India. I know South India is a major coffee producing region, but we don't often find Indian whole beans in the States, and Old City had brought it direct from the farm. They sell "India Plantation A" from the state of Karnataka, freshly roasted, in five pound bags. Thinking of friends and family back in Seattle who would enjoy it with us, of course we had to buy a bag!

It is a light to medium roast and Brian wrestled with getting the extraction just right to reveal the most flavor. He knows coffee better and I'm including a few of his notes here, too -- it had to be pressed, first of all. For how to use a press pot or "French" press, see CoffeeGeek. Brian suggests a coarser than usual grind, stresses it needs to be even, and he steeps this coffee for a full 4, maybe 5 minutes. India Plantation A is less forgiving to brew than a dark or super sweet roast, but when you get it right the subtle flavors really shine. Even people who never drink coffee without cream or sugar have enjoyed this coffee "black" or as it is, a nice medium brown. We tasted tobacco and butterscotch in a super smooth body, it had a lot of sweetness without being dark, and was still balanced with pleasant acidity. Old City roasts these beans well :)

We still have plenty of India Plantation A and we'll share with anyone in Seattle who makes it to our place before they vanish. That's an invitation, people! so truly anyone, if you're out there ...

Coffee was the only shopping I can brag that we did in Philly for ourselves, believe it or not! But we did enjoy our time walking around this local market, which opened in 1893. It has fewer produce stands than Pike Place or a typical United States farmers' market, but it stands behind the same old principles of supplying the fresh and local with love! It is known for its amazing prepared food stalls and I can testify it's a great place to eat.

Nothing makes me happier than visiting old markets to meet hard working people who bring everyday goods to all of us. I can go without "shopping" for myself for months, but ask me to go to a good market everyday and I will. It also reminds me, my grandmother went every morning to pick fresh vegetables from our local market ... some ways you do turn out like your parents and grandparents :)

We enjoyed lots of different, small delights, instead of one big meal at the market. Indian samosas and Middle Eastern baklavas were two highlights. I found some great herbs for my Thanksgiving side dish and Brian had a good old beer at a tiny Biergärten inside the market. Most of all, I'll never forget that they had a Cookbook Stall, something I think all markets should have. With everyone shopping for food right there, where better! Enough said, enjoy a few more of my shots from good old Philadelphia!