Gingerbread cookies

As a kid I never liked ginger cookies (I think everyone says this heh). For the life of me I don't know WHY I ever decided to bake any (maybe I wanted to do a house but chickened out), but I did for my 2012 christmas cake party, and they were such a hit, even with me, that I have made them a bit of a tradition now. The recipe is from the lovely Annie, of course duly tweaked by yours truly.

Christmas is here!

And you have two recipes! First up, Christmas Cake.

When I moved to Delhi in 2010 the Dragon and I were thrilled with our spanking new house and decided we wanted to have a christmas party. We made many plans but I don't remember if we did bake all the things we planned, and we didn't have many guests--only the Glare if I remember right--but I did make my hero Joe's Old School Fruitcake for the party. And dear lord in heaven. I decided immediately that I had to make it every single year. And thus was born the annual Christmas Cake Party, in it's fourth edition this year.

Wholewheat pizza!

You might remember my excited experiments with pizza in the past. Recently I discovered how easy it is to get fresh yeast in Delhi and since then my pizza making has gone to a whole new level. For starters, please ditch the false lore that states pizzas require sauce and cheese. They don't. No, really. Second, also toss out the idea that they need to be round. Ever since my pizza revolution, as I like to call it, I've been making them all the time in my rectangular baking pans and putting all sorts of things on them. I've done potatoes+cheese+onions, random pasta sauce+cheese, potatoes+sausage+cheese, random veggies+cheese and my most recent favourite, blanched spinach, potatoes, onions and eggs. That's right, no sauce, no cheese. Of course all these things get eaten so fast I rarely get pictures, so here's one I took this morning of reheated lunch, terribly lit in the direct sunlight from my kitchen window and gently speckled by the shadow of the mesh.

Tortilla de Patatas or Spanish Omelette

I've ALWAYS loved this. Yum. And seriously, don't listen to anyone if they tell you not to put other stuff in, I used to fill em full of mushrooms and paprika and whatnot. I wouldn't advise offering that to a Spaniard though. Especially one far from home. I finally took photos of the process this time, so can remove the unwieldy description of how to cut potatoes!

Breakfast

Is so important to me. Living the US made me just so happy, because they take breakfast almost as seriously as we do down south. There are pancakes, and waffles, and eggs, and toast, and lordy lordy, home fries! Never been so happy in my life. Whenever I have the time, I like to make sure I have a nice cooked breakfast, otherwise i make do with cereal or porridge or something. This morning, I managed to have a cheese omelet, home fries and a slice of my oat bread.

Now there are tons of recipes for home fries, and everyone has their favourites. I remember one place in Berkeley that puts SOUR CREAM and green onions on their home fries. The horror. Me, I like em Burger Heaven style, with green peppers, caramelised onions and a titch of paprika. Or like EJ's, in big chunks, with the skins on and loads of paprika. Today's was a super simple recipe, that took about 20 minutes to make.

Eggs are also deeply subjective, I hate mine runny, and have never willingly eaten a sunny side up fried egg. I usually like them scrambled, but nice and creamy, with only cheese and salt - egg bhurji is for other meals. Omelets are I like with minimum additives, especially not tomatoes or green chillies!

Kitteh made a Quiche (Spinach and Mushroom)!

Wow long time.

Serves 4

For the Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used wholewheat, but use whatever)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup butter (the more the butter, the flakier the crust)
• Ice cold water as needed

For the filling:

• 1 packet mushrooms (in india now so those be the measures)
• 2 bunches spinach
• 1 medium onion
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• grated cheese to taste
• garlic, salt and spices to taste (I used oregano and basil, but paprika would also go well)

To make dough:

Put the flour and butter in a deep, wide bowl and begin to slash with a knife or two, so you end up with a mixture that looks like crumbs. I swear I never thought this would work, but it does! Add cold water bit by bit to form a soft, but not sticky dough. Roll it out into a circle, to fit your pie-dish. Remember it has to go along the sides too. Place in the dish and prick all over with a fork. Bake at 250C for 10-15 min depending on browning and how sure you want to be that the bottom is COOKED. Remove to cool.

To make filling:

Slice mushrooms. Set aside. Finely chop onions. In a skillet, heat some olive oil (or whatever), and add garlic (crushed. I used paste) and onions and brown slightly. Add mushrooms, salt and spices, and toss nicely. Cook covered for a few minutes. Once the mushrooms start leaking liquid, cook uncovered, tossing occasionally. Wash spinach and remove stalks - unless you like them. Tear or chop - doesn't matter much cos it shrinks so much - and add to mushrooms. Toss about and cook till liquid evaporates. Meanwhile, beat egss, milk and salt in a bowl, and add grated cheese. Once veggies are over, add them to eggs and milk, and pour entire mixture into pie shell. Bake at 200C for 30 min. Test with a knife to see if it comes out clean, if not bake till that happens. Remove, allow to cool a bit, slice and serve!

Alternate fillings: Sausage and cheese, ham and cheese, random veggies, mushroom and potato (substitute one large potato peeled and sliced for the spinach. Add early on so it cooks soft.)