Christmas Boutique Tour(Day #1)Mrs. Claus' Kitchen

Since we pretty much finished our Home Tour of
what kind of things I make & decorate my house
with during the Christmas Season..I thought you might
like to tour my home when I have my Annual Santa's
Gift Shoppe Christmas Boutique...So let's see what
you'd find if you came shopping to Santa's Gift Shoppe
the first FRI/SAT of each Dec.
****If you are in Central California..come join us..
we have a blast!!!

First stop is going to be Mrs. Claus' Kitchen..
You can probably smell all the Cinnamon Rolls,
Steaming Hot Wassail, Breads, Cookies &
Candies..

Don't those Chocolate/Peanut Clusters
just call out to you???

BELOW: Is looking in from the living room to Mrs.
Claus' Kitchen..These are some of the things you'll
find..
Cinnamon Rolls..with lots of creamy frosting
Breads of All Kinds: Cinnamon Bread (Sm/Lg),
Banana Nut, Cranberry, Date, & Pumpkin
1st place Award Winning Jams (County Fair)
300 jars of 15 different blends...
Salsa..3 kinds
Choc/Walnut Biscotti
Choc/white Peanut Clusters...
Choc/Mint Walnut Brownies
English Toffee...4 kinds of Fudge...
Misc. Cookies
Fun Gifts..like Snowman Soup..Reindeer Food..
Mrs. Claus' Kisses..Elf's Favorite Snack..
Santa's Favorite Hot Chocolate.....

Below: We also have some other things

besides Food...We have a great assortment

of fun Aprons for Mom, Grandma, Auntie

& a matching one for your Daughter, Niece,

Grand-daughter..There's count down items,

trees, wreaths, snowmen, Santa's, angels...

But FOOD was our main VISUAL today.

*****Many of these items can be shipped to you

from the blog...with the exception of Food products...

We are in the process of adding a

Shopping cart to the blog for your Christmas

Shopping convenience...Coming Soon!!! We

are going to be making some changes on the

blog...so please bare with us...

Getting hungry yet?????????

Update on Foodista Blog Cookbook Contest/Omelets made Easy

Before we start talking about "Omelets made Easy"
I wish to express to all of you my heartfelt
Thanks for all your support & encouragement with
the "Foodista Blog Cookbook Contest."

There are only a few days left to "Vote" if you would
like to help me out with the Contest (it closes.....
Feb. 28th 2010) You can connect to the "Foodista"
Blog by clicking on their Button on the sidebar.

This will take you to their website & where my
entries are... & you can "Vote." You guys are
wonderful... Have I told you that lately???
Thank You Again!!!

Now...
"Omelets made easy"...
Ingredients:
2 tsp. butter
2 lg. eggs
1/4 c. milk or water (I used water)
1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2-1 c. shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend)
dash salt/pepper

Directions:
1) To Saute Mushrooms....Take a frying pan
(I like the slanted side one) Place pan on Med/High
heat & put 1 tsp. butter or margarine.. melt & add
(rinsed & paper towel dried) mushrooms.
SEE BELOW: (2 photos)

2) Sweat Mushrooms...Cook mushrooms for

a few minutes until their have lost some of their

water by "sweating" (They should be soft & shiny)
Don't overcook...Set Aside

1) To Make an Omelet:...Take 2 eggs & beat

with fork (when blended well) add 1/4 c. milk or

water (I used water) & beat until frothy..(The air

inside will make it fluffier)...
SEE BELOW:

2) Heat up pan on Med/High heat & add 1 tsp. butter

or margarine until melted (I pick up the pan and swirl it

around til bottom of pan is covered (so the omelet

won't stick) See Below:

3) Add egg mixture into pan...add salt/pepper

4) After adding the egg mixture...take a pancake type

turner & start "pulling" (the mixture from the middle out)

to make a hole in the middle & keep filling it up with egg

from the sides that are still "runny" until it all starts to

firm up a little...SEE BELOW:

5) Sprinkle 1/4 of cheese over egg mixure....

6) Add sauteed mushrooms & any other veggies
(slices of bell pepper or tomato) to one side of the

omelet & almost the rest of the cheese (save enough

to sprinkle on top of omelet)...SEE BELOW:

7) Take Turner & slide around the edges to make

sure the omelet will turn smoothly & not stick..

Turn the half of the omelet (that doesn't have the

filling on it) over to the other side (to make a half circle)

Sprinkle rest of cheese on top...SEE BELOW:

8) This is an important step: Cover pan with

paper plates or a pan cover & put in microwave...

(DO NOT TURN IT ON!) It's just to trap the

heat in a small area so the cheese will melt on top

9) After a few minutes cheese should be melted

on top

You did it!!! Enjoy.........

How to make Aebleskivers (Danish Pancakes)

Well the title of this post is:
How to make Aebleskivers....It's even
hard to pronouce but I hope to
show you how through this tutorial.

THE TOP PHOTO SHOWS YOU THE END
RESULT (or what we hope they will look like)
with a selection of my homemade jams: Straw-
berry/Boysenberry, Strawberry/Raspberry/
Blueberry, & Strawberry/Blackberry..Ymmm!!

This is a family tradition I remember my
mother making these a lot..not just at Christmas..
but all the time!! She was Norwegian (& was
raised by her Norwegian grandmother who
did not speask any English)

One of her favorite places was Solvang (a Danish
Community by Santa Barbara/Buellton area..
Calif.) where she got her pan (as well as I did)

According to Wikipedia, Aebleskiver
(Danish meaning apple slices, are traditional
Danish pancakes in a distinctive shape of a
sphere) They have been described as a cross
between a pancake & a popover... They are light
& fluffy & delicious with jams & confectioners
sugar or syrup & butter...

RECIPE

Mix together:
1 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt

Beat together with a whisk or fork:
1 C. Buttermilk
2 Eggs
1 C. Sour Cream

Below: are some of the dry ingredients (I only
had dry Buttermilk which when mixed with water
is the same as regular buttermilk) I hope that doesn't
confuse you...I should not have had the buttermilk
in the picture or sour cream.



Below: These are the dry ingredients: Flour, Baking Soda,
Baking Powder & Salt in a bowl.

Below: These are the wet ingredients: Buttermilk,
Eggs, & Sour Cream

Below: This is how it looks mixed together (dry
& wet ingredients)

Below: This is the original Aebleskiver Pan..
You can get the original in Solvang or probably
online...Now I see similar ones everywhere..but
I don't know if they heat the same or are as
heavy & sturdy as this one is..It should last a
lifetime.



To Make: Combine the dry & wet ingredients
until smooth..put 1/2-1 tsp. oil in each space in
the aebleskiver pan. (I tried several different
ways: Non-stick spray burnt them, not enough
oil made the outside mushy, butter would probably
burn) The Canola Oil worked well..
Heat the pan until Hot...You should hear
the oil sizzle...before adding the batter.
Below shows you how they bubble like
regular pancakes (when they are ready to be
turned)

This is the tricky part..The Solvang people
say to turn them in 1/4 turns..Which I have tried
to show you here in the following 4 photos.

You can turn them completely over the first
time but it will be a flatter sphere & not as
fluffly inside..It should be round all the way around.

My mother turned them with a knitting needle..I
found a wooden skewer grabbed it the best.
I have seened people use a fork to turn them as well.

Below: This shows you how they should

look when done...Crisp on the outside &

soft/fluffy on the inside...

After you put them on your serving plate sprinkle

Powdered Sugar on top (either with a special

can for sprinkling or take a sifter..here is a smaller

sifter size for rolls & such)

and now dip them into your favorite jam or

melted butter & syrup....is your mouth

watering yet???

AND ENJOY!!!!

156 jams & counting

Sorry I haven't been putting up recipes or
something lately, but this is what I've been busy
doing.....Making jam, jam, & more jam for about
the last 3 days.....Plus in between trying to save
a "2 yr. old" freezer from quitting on me. The
saying "They sure don't make things the way they
used to" comes to mind....So does a saying my
daughter uses (which I like a lot)......"Life's tough...
get a helmet".....I think I'll make that the "Quote
of the day"............At least it's not the air
conditioner in this 106 degree heat!!!!!

Anyway......besides my feet hurting and a little tired
1/2 of my jam for the year is done....Yeah...
it's only 1/2 (of what I make) for Santa's Gift Shoppe
Christmas Boutique...(coming in only...133 days)
but..it's better than not having started yet.....

These are the kinds I have right now: Strawberry,
Strawberry-Plum, Plum, Straw/Blueberry/Plum,
Straw/Blueberry, Apricot, Straw/Boysenberry, &
Straw/Rasp./Blueberry......Wow..That's a lot even
for me to say...

I love experimenting with different mixtures
or blends of jam to come up with unique flavors...
(& I have come up with quite a few).....Some friends like
to try these new blends & end up getting 10 or more
jars at a time....("It's a good thing"......they make great
gifts anytime).......

I've probably made thousands of jars of jams in
32 yrs. & hope to be doing it for another 32...

I am having the price remain at $3.95 (for an 8oz. jar)
because I like giving my customers a good deal.....
Other boutiques have charged $5 (but I haven't
increased the price in 6 yrs. or so) I have customers
who love it so much they've gotten 10-15 jars at a
time. Some have even hidden it from their kids...

I'm always humbled by what my customers
say concerning their finds at the Boutique...
I appreciate them soooo much....Well on to the next
project!!!!

REMEMBER: "QUOTE OF THE DAY"
"LIFE'S TOUGH......GET A HELMET...."

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA"

We love America..... and all the veterans that have
given their lives and have sacraficed on our behalf
to have the freedoms that we enjoy daily. Thank you
to all of you from all of us at Santa's Gift Shoppe.

At our Gift Shoppe during the summer months we
are constantly trying out new recipes for jams,
cookies, candies & craft ideas which will be available
in December....4th & 5th 2009 at our Christmas Boutique.

Mrs.Claus' kitchen filled with jams in July

This is how Mrs. Claus' kitchen looks in the middle
of the summer.....really busy...... creating at least 20
kinds of blends of unique tasting jams. They have
found their way into the Fresno County Fair's record
books by winning 1st place ribbons.

Canned Plums

These are the plums from our backyard trees.
It has been the best tree producer for so many
years.......Thanks Mr. Plum Tree..... Many
hundreds of jars of jam have also come from it.

Canned Apricots

These are the 17 quarts of apricots that came from our
backyard trees. Another 5 bags have been frozen
for this years jams yet to be made. This next week
is going to be cooler so I'll try to start that project then.