Monthly Archives: December 2022
‘This The Day …
… Before Christmas.
And it’s cold.
I chose the Fahrenheit scale so it doesn’t seem as cold but it is VERY cold today. Not as cold as yesterday but … brrrrrrrrrrrrr.
If possible, stay inside and stay warm.
Chicken Livers
A comfort dish from my childhood was chicken livers and spinach rice. This is my lazy way of enjoying at least the chicken livers especially on a gray and cold winter’s day.
No real recipe is involved. Just clean the chicken livers by removing the membranes etc. and cut into bite sized pieces that are about the same size. Rinse in several washes of water, drain and pat dry. In a frying pan, saute a diced onion in some vegetable oil until softened and just beginning to colour, add the chicken livers and fry until they’re no longer pink. I like them nice and firm. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I like to push the chicken livers aside to leave an empty spot and then add about half a teaspoon of a good quality sweet paprika (Hungarian preferred) and fry it off then stir into the chicken livers.
Decorating for Christmas
Sadly, I don’t have a fireplace to hang my stocking on … yes I DO have a Christmas stocking … so I taped it up on my bookcase.
It keeps falling cause the ribbon slips through the tape so I keep rehanging it.
Oh well.
I tried.
Rum Balls (Redux)
I can’t remember the last time I made these but I was reminded of them recently, when I visited a local European grocery store. They were charging $2.99 per piece for the large size. I was horrified, and since I had just restocked my supply of rum, I made a quick half batch today. The recipe was shared with me by my BFF, Ann, more than 50 years ago, from her family recipes.
I didn’t have much in the way of items to roll the rum balls in so I made do with scraps from my baking supplies. I had less than a tablespoon of two different kinds of candy shot so I rolled the rest of the balls in finely chopped walnuts and icing sugar.
Ann’s Rum Balls – makes 7 dozen 1″ balls**
2 x 7 oz (200 gm) pkgs chocolate wafers (1 box of Oreo baking crumbs)
1 cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
1 cup sifted icing sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup rum, light or dark
Additional icing sugar for rolling.
Crush wafers to equal 4 1/2 cups. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Let stand at room temperature for 10 min. Coat hands in icing sugar and roll the mixture into small (~1″ diameter) balls.
Decorate balls by rolling in icing sugar or chocolate shot. Best if aged for a week before eating them so they become truffle like and the rum flavour mellows a bit.
May be frozen but also keep well in an air tight container in a cool place.
** Half batch made 16 balls. I used a 1 inch melon baller.
Cooking is Fun ... Really!! 