A new Christmas tradition Rock Buns

A few years ago I purchased The Gentle Art of Domesticity *by Jane Brocket (at the recommendation of my friend Jill on a post I cannot now find on her blog) as a gift for  Mary, my husband's mother and a good friend of mine (I dislike the term Mother-in-law).  Mary and I love this book , because it is all about crafting and creature comforts.

One of these such things is Rock Buns, which have now become a seasonal treat in our house that are much enjoyed warm out of the oven with a glass of scotch.

They are sort of like scones or a giant cookie made with candied fruit and peel, and lots of spices. They are nothing like fruit cake, but are very rich and sweet (made with brown sugar), our whole family loves them.

All that being said I am not going to post the recipe, because I feel they are a unique recipe (maybe only in Canada) and needs to go along with the story in her book of the place they have in their (the authors) family.

My own mother visited Mary and discovered the book as well and so I sent her a copy last Christmas.
Recently I purchase Jane's newest book Turkish Delight And Treasure Hunts  for Mary's birthday, which features recipes from children's books. I have not read it yet, but Mary says it is quite cute. I did take a peak and the first recipe was Pickled Limes from Little Woman, which I have always been curious about and am dying to try.

*Note: If you do purchase this book, beware that when converting the recipes from English to American measurements there were some errors made and you should print a copy of the corrections .

Gingerbread Cupcakes With Lemon Butter Cream

I made these gingerbread cupcakes courtesy of Martha Stewart and then used a Lemon Butter Cream Recipe of my own devices.

Lemon Butter Cream

6T (6 oz) Butter
3 Cups Icing Sugar
Lemon Zest from 1 lemon
Juice from one Lemon


Whip butter until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes) with electric mixer, add sugar 1 cup at a time. Icing will be quite stiff, add zest and juice and beat another 3 minutes. Pipe onto cupcakes.

My mother in law has the Squeeze-It Kit from Tupperware, and it ices cupcakes really well and doesn't (in my opinion) waste a lot of icing. I thin the next time I go to a Tupperware party I will order one.

Amazing Lemon Pudding Cake

I made this Lemon Pudding Cake last week from one of my favorite recipe blogs (Mennonite Girls Can Cook)and it was really yummy. I would say it is a good company desert because it looks pretty and it was not too tricky. It was not a really cakey pudding cake, it was like a cross between angel food and meringue; I am definitely keeping it in my repertoire.

Variations on Lemon Loaf

So I was making Mrs Stratfords Lemon loaf a few days ago and wanted to mix things up a little and couldn't decide between adding blueberries or chocolate chips. In the end I went with blueberries, with amazing results. I also mixed things up a little by baking it in a round bundt pan instead on a loaf pan again, it was a nice change.
Today I needed to bake something and thought I would go for chocolate chips but it turned out we had no lemons, so I used a Honey Tangerine...SO GOOD! Again I went with the round pan which l;ooks pretty and makes nice little pieces. My coworker Sabine somteimes made a Nutella cake that was something similar so I think next time I will leave out the citrus and try swirling the Nutella in the batter.

Betty Stratford's Lemon Loaf

When I got married my Mum's friends through me a shower where they all gave me one of their favorite recipes, this one was much coveted when they found out Mrs. Stratford gave it to me, I guess it was a secret....but I am not one for not sharing good recipes, so enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter
1 C White Sugar
Grated lemon rind
1 1/2 C sifted flour
1t baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 C milk

Glaze

Juice from one lemon
1/2 C White Sugar

Method:

Set oven at 350, grease and flour a loaf pan (9x5x3)

Cream butter with sugar, beat in eggs one at a time and then add milk.

Sift and fold into the mixture flour and baking powder, add lemon rind.

Pour evenly into loaf pad and bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Place loaf onto cooling rack (over a plate) and spoon glaze evenly over the top. Mrs. Stratford said she poked holes in the top with a fork first to let the glaze in, but I have never been able to do this without breaking the crust.

Slice when completely cool.

Lemony Chicken Linguine

Delicious dairy and tomato free pasta dish (my son is allergic to both).

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced thickly
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
4 chicken thighs on the bone
2 Tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1 lemon or 2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 yellow pepper, sliced
cooked linguine for 4 people

Heat oil on medium high heat in frying pan. Add garlic, rosemary, basil and salt and saute for a few minutes until garlic is lightly browned. Add chicken, turn down to med. heat and cover, flipping occasionally until chicken is cooked. Add a tiny bit of water, if needed, to stop chicken from sticking. Let simmer for 10 min.

Add peppers and let simmer for 10 more min.

Remove chicken. Add sauce ingredients and stir until blended. Pull chicken off bone and add back into the pan. Stir until covered in sauce, then simmer for another 2 or 3 min. Add cooked pasta. Stir everything together and serve with salad.