Closed Kitchen

To my faithful followers, I'm sorry to say that I will be taking an indefinite leave from Furry Kitchen. I just don't have enough time to take photos and sit down to write blog entries for you, though I wish I did.
Feel free to check back occasionally in case I find more time.

Thanks for staying with me over the past few months.

Andrea

Clementine Cake

We had a bunch of clementines in the fridge that needed to get used up, so I went searching around for a recipe that would help empty out the fridge. I found a recipe that was originally for an orange cake, so I took that and substituted the clementines. I also made some clementine juice just by juicing them by hand. Deliciously sweet!

Clementine Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

grated zest of 12 clementines

3 eggs

1/4 cup clementine juice (you can substitute orange juice)

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour and baking powder and set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the zest and combine.
• Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
• Alternating, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the juice, ending with the flour mixture. Stir until fully combined then pour into loaf pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. With about 15-20 minutes remaining, check to ensure that the top doesn't burn. If it is getting dark, lightly cover it with foil.

Anna Olson's Tea Loaf

I was on a search for a recipe that I could whip up quickly and toss into the oven without much effort. I came across Anna Olson's recipe for a tea loaf that sounded like it fit the bill perfectly. Here's my version of the recipe which adds a bit more spice to the loaf.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups hot brewed earl grey tea

1 cup raisins

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup butter

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Pour hot tea over raisins and set aside to soak.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and spices. Cut in butter until blended thoroughly.
• Pour in tea and raisins and stir to mix until smooth.
• Pour mixture into a greased and floured 9x5-inch loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove loaf from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.

I didn't make the glaze that Anna did, but it might be good. I thought the loaf was okay, but still needed more flavor. Next time, I will try it with a different tea, maybe use cranberries instead of raisins and add some orange zest. That might make it a bit more exciting.

Quick, Yummy Sandwich!

Sometimes, all you need is a good sandwich. It's quick and easy, and if you add the right stuff, it's delicious!

INGREDIENTS

1 multigrain baguette

cheese (we used marble cheddar, but smoked gouda would be perfect!)

1 cooked chicken breast (ours was marinated in spicy bbq sauce and baked in the oven)

1 avocado

ASSEMBLY

Slice the baguette in half so that you can put the filling inside. Cut it into servings. Slice up the cheese and lay it on both sides of the baguette. Put in the oven on 350 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is bubbly.

While the cheese is melting, slice up the chicken breast (if it's leftovers, then you can reheat it quickly in the microwave) and the avocado.

Remove the cheesy baguette from the oven and top with chicken and avocado. Serve it up with some chips or veggie sticks.

Mmmmm!

Soft, Chewy Ginger Cookies

I love ginger cookies, both hard like gingersnaps or gingerbread men and soft like these chewy cookies. They're quick and easy to whip up and this recipe is foolproof!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons molasses

2 tablespoons white sugar (for rolling cookies)

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium mixing bowl, blend flour, baking soda and spices together and set aside.
• In another bowl, cream together butter and 1/2 cup of sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg until well mixed. Then add the molasses and mix to combine.
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
• Using rounded teaspoonfuls (or not quite full tablespoons), form dough into balls the size of walnuts and roll them in the extra 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, approximately two inches apart and lightly flatten.
• Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Cat Day

We know that things have been particularly tough on the cats lately, so we spent a few hours one day spoiling them rotten. They got some tuna and the water from the can. They got snuggled and petted. They got to climb on a bunch of stuff that they thought was super cool. Then, they got to play for over an hour straight! Stick toys, kitty strings, stuffed mice, stuffed fish. You name it, they got it!

Suffice to say, not much cooking has been going on lately. Although, I did whip up a pizza rather quickly. Well, as quickly as homemade dough can be made, anyway. But by the shape of the pizza, I think you can guess how quickly it was done. I like to call this the amoeba pizza :)

Well, at least the cats enjoyed eating the few pieces of cheese they got as a treat!

Apple Cake

We had some apples that needed to be used up, plus we wanted to make the house smell really nice, so I decided to bake an apple cake.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

4 cups apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used Granny Smith apples)

STEPS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease and lightly flour a 9x13-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper so that the cake comes out easily.
• Cream together butter and the white and brown sugars.
• Add the eggs and beat well. Then add the vanilla and mix to combine.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
• Once the flour is fully mixed in, fold in the apples by hand. The batter will not fully cover all of the apple pieces.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool fully on a wire rack.