So despite my incredibly slow gait these days (I am seriously waddling like a penguin), I am doing my best to prepare special meals and activities filled with love.

And nothing says love and celebration like handmade food and… dipping sauce!

So in honor of the Chinese tradition of having dumplings on Chinese New Year, I spent most of Sunday preparing a house favorite- Potstickers.

**My usual disclaimer:  In case you do not normally stock rice cooking wine or oyster sauce in your house (if you’re Chinese, shame on you!), this recipe is very forgiving and you can just increase the amount of soy sauce and oil to compensate.  But you will need the sesame oil, white pepper, and the other fresh ingredients.  They are important.  The sesame oil alone will fill your house with an amazing aroma!  Also, this recipe may seem intense, but it is really quite easy.  The time invested is SO worth it, and it yields enough for multiple meals.  Unless of course, you have a husband who eats potstickers by the dozen, then this recipe may be just enough.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp rice cooking wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce (optional)
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 2 stalks finely chopped scallions
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1 package wonton skins or dumpling wrappers (I use round for dumplings and square for wontons)

Yields approximately 40 dumplings or wontons

With most Asian dishes, it is all about the prep work. This one is no different. While onions, carrots and celery make the up a Mirepoix, the “holy trinity” flavor base for many French dishes, in Chinese cuisine, it is often ginger, garlic, and scallion/onion.

Once you are done chopping and measuring your ingredients, whisk together the egg white, rice cooking wine, sesame oil, white pepper, salt, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a medium-size bowl.  Stir in the scallion, ginger, and garlic.  Then add the ground pork using a fork or chopsticks until it’s thoroughly combined.

I like to cover the mixture and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at LEAST one hour before stuffing the dumplings.  They need time to mingle and get acquainted.

After they’ve sat together for an hour or so (or even overnight if you like), fill each dumpling wrapper with about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture.

Keep a bowl of plain water handy.  Dip your finger in the water and moisten the inside edge of the wrapper.  This makes the wrapper sticky.  Just make sure to keep the water away from the pork, or else the wrapper will become gooey and rip.

At this point you can fold the edges together over the meat like a taco, and press or crimp the edges together like a turnover or empanada.  However, if you want to make your dumplings look all ‘official’, moisten the front edge of the wrapper too.  Fold over and pinch down the front edge a few times to form pleats (I aim for 5 pleats) and then join the back and pleated front edges together to seal.  Lightly dabble the edge with more water if necessary.

*However you decide to fold your potstickers, be sure to place your folded potstickers down onto parchment or wax paper so the skin doesn’t rip or stick.

If you don’t get the folding down at first, don’t worry, this recipe yields a few dozen potstickers and I promise by the tenth one, it will be easy peasy.   It will almost feel like molding with Play-Doh.

Once you’re done filling the wrappers, you have many options on what you can do:

- You can freeze portions of the dumplings for later meals (I reserve 1- 2 dozen in the freezer for when I’m in a pinch for dinner)

- You can boil the dumplings in chicken stock with veggies to make a wonton soup. Just boil the dumplings until they float and they’re done!

- You can steam the dumplings in bamboo steamers for 12-14 minutes in a pot over an inch of boiling water.  Line the steamer with a lettuce leaf to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. And make sure the potstickers are not touching the water.

- How I like to eat potstickers the best is by pan frying them.  They are crispy on the outside while soft and juicy on the inside.

Just add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a skillet or pan over medium-high heat.  Allow the oil to heat thoroughly and coat the bottom of the pan evenly.  Add a few potstickers to the pan 1-inch apart from each other and do not touch them for 2 minutes.

Add 3 tablespoons of water to the pan and cover immediately. Turn the heat down slightly and allow it to cook for 5 minutes.

Carefully uncover the pan and cook off any remaining water or fluid.  Gently turn the dumplings using a spatula and shake the pan occasionally to toss them around while they continue to fry for another 2 minutes.  This will help crispify the other sides and turn them golden brown and delicious.

Serve them immediately just plain or with a little soy sauce for dipping and they make the perfect finger food, appetizer, or addition to any meal for someone you love.

Enjoy!

So despite my incredibly slow gait these days (I am seriously waddling like a penguin), I am doing my best to prepare special meals and activities filled with love.

And nothing says love and celebration like handmade food and… dipping sauce!

So in honor of the Chinese tradition of having dumplings on Chinese New Year, I spent most of Sunday preparing a house favorite- Potstickers.

**My usual disclaimer:  In case you do not normally stock rice cooking wine or oyster sauce in your house (if you’re Chinese, shame on you!), this recipe is very forgiving and you can just increase the amount of soy sauce and oil to compensate.  But you will need the sesame oil, white pepper, and the other fresh ingredients.  They are important.  The sesame oil alone will fill your house with an amazing aroma!  Also, this recipe may seem intense, but it is really quite easy.  The time invested is SO worth it, and it yields enough for multiple meals.  Unless of course, you have a husband who eats potstickers by the dozen, then this recipe may be just enough.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp rice cooking wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce (optional)
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 2 stalks finely chopped scallions
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound lean ground pork
• 1 package wonton skins or dumpling wrappers (I use round for dumplings and square for wontons)

Yields approximately 40 dumplings or wontons

With most Asian dishes, it is all about the prep work. This one is no different. While onions, carrots and celery make the up a Mirepoix, the “holy trinity” flavor base for many French dishes, in Chinese cuisine, it is often ginger, garlic, and scallion/onion.

Once you are done chopping and measuring your ingredients, whisk together the egg white, rice cooking wine, sesame oil, white pepper, salt, soy sauce, and cornstarch in a medium-size bowl.  Stir in the scallion, ginger, and garlic.  Then add the ground pork using a fork or chopsticks until it’s thoroughly combined.

I like to cover the mixture and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at LEAST one hour before stuffing the dumplings.  They need time to mingle and get acquainted.

After they’ve sat together for an hour or so (or even overnight if you like), fill each dumpling wrapper with about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture.

Keep a bowl of plain water handy.  Dip your finger in the water and moisten the inside edge of the wrapper.  This makes the wrapper sticky.  Just make sure to keep the water away from the pork, or else the wrapper will become gooey and rip.

At this point you can fold the edges together over the meat like a taco, and press or crimp the edges together like a turnover or empanada.  However, if you want to make your dumplings look all ‘official’, moisten the front edge of the wrapper too.  Fold over and pinch down the front edge a few times to form pleats (I aim for 5 pleats) and then join the back and pleated front edges together to seal.  Lightly dabble the edge with more water if necessary.

*However you decide to fold your potstickers, be sure to place your folded potstickers down onto parchment or wax paper so the skin doesn’t rip or stick.

If you don’t get the folding down at first, don’t worry, this recipe yields a few dozen potstickers and I promise by the tenth one, it will be easy peasy.   It will almost feel like molding with Play-Doh.

Once you’re done filling the wrappers, you have many options on what you can do:

- You can freeze portions of the dumplings for later meals (I reserve 1- 2 dozen in the freezer for when I’m in a pinch for dinner)

- You can boil the dumplings in chicken stock with veggies to make a wonton soup. Just boil the dumplings until they float and they’re done!

- You can steam the dumplings in bamboo steamers for 12-14 minutes in a pot over an inch of boiling water.  Line the steamer with a lettuce leaf to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. And make sure the potstickers are not touching the water.

- How I like to eat potstickers the best is by pan frying them.  They are crispy on the outside while soft and juicy on the inside.

Just add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a skillet or pan over medium-high heat.  Allow the oil to heat thoroughly and coat the bottom of the pan evenly.  Add a few potstickers to the pan 1-inch apart from each other and do not touch them for 2 minutes.

Add 3 tablespoons of water to the pan and cover immediately. Turn the heat down slightly and allow it to cook for 5 minutes.

Carefully uncover the pan and cook off any remaining water or fluid.  Gently turn the dumplings using a spatula and shake the pan occasionally to toss them around while they continue to fry for another 2 minutes.  This will help crispify the other sides and turn them golden brown and delicious.

Serve them immediately just plain or with a little soy sauce for dipping and they make the perfect finger food, appetizer, or addition to any meal for someone you love.

Enjoy!

My guess is since we tend to eat and run on most weekday mornings, by the time the weekend arrives, everyone in our house is ready for something better than a bowl of Cheerios.

So on Saturday and/or Sunday morning, I try to make breakfast special.  It is usually comprised of a mix of items such as pancakes, biscuits, eggs, bacon, grits, and always, mixed fruit.

If I feel really motivated, I will bake fresh bread from scratch.  I love fresh bread, especially the sweet bread used in cinnamon rolls.

However, I will admit, I usually lack the patience for all the chemistry involved in bread making.

When I wake up, and my pregnant stomach is growling, I have no patience for dissolving yeast in the perfect temperature water, and then waiting hours for the dough to rise.  I will shove fistfuls of Lucky Charms down my pie-hole while waiting.

So this past weekend, I figured why not combine a biscuit dough recipe with cinnamon rolls?  Biscuit dough omits the need for yeast and rise time, plus there’s cinnamon and sugar. Win-win!

Now before I go any further here, allow me to place this disclaimer on the recipe:

If you are a die hard cinnamon roll fanatic, and live for soft oowey-gooey Cinnabon-like rolls, THIS IS NOT THE RECIPE FOR YOU.  These are biscuits, flirting with cinnamon rolls.  So if you’re afraid of the commitment of bread making, this makes a sweet couple.

Dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3/4 cup milk

Filling:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• *Optional- 1/3 cup walnuts or pecans

Icing:

• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 package of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4-5 teaspoons milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

2) In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt).

3) Cut in 4 tablespoons of chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (reserve 2 tablespoons of butter for filling).   Make sure the butter is cold as it helps keep the cinnamon biscuits soft. I toss the butter in the freezer for several minutes before adding it to the dry ingredients.

4) Stir in milk slowly just until moistened.

5) If using a stand mixer, ad the dough hook and knead just until the dough starts to cling together. If not, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a 7-8 times.  Just remember to handle the dough as little as possible.  You want the fats to stay chilled.

6) Roll dough into an 12 x 9 inch rectangle.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and brush over the dough.

7) Combine brown sugar and cinnamon (plus optional nuts) in a bowl, and sprinkle over butter.

8 ) Roll up dough like a jelly-roll starting on the long edge. Cut into 12 equal slices. Place with cut side down in a greased baking pan. Brush the tops with any remaining melted butter.

9)  Bake at 450 degrees F for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.

10) Combine frosting ingredients and spread over warm (not hot) biscuits.

ENJOY!

My guess is since we tend to eat and run on most weekday mornings, by the time the weekend arrives, everyone in our house is ready for something better than a bowl of Cheerios.

So on Saturday and/or Sunday morning, I try to make breakfast special.  It is usually comprised of a mix of items such as pancakes, biscuits, eggs, bacon, grits, and always, mixed fruit.

If I feel really motivated, I will bake fresh bread from scratch.  I love fresh bread, especially the sweet bread used in cinnamon rolls.

However, I will admit, I usually lack the patience for all the chemistry involved in bread making.

When I wake up, and my pregnant stomach is growling, I have no patience for dissolving yeast in the perfect temperature water, and then waiting hours for the dough to rise.  I will shove fistfuls of Lucky Charms down my pie-hole while waiting.

So this past weekend, I figured why not combine a biscuit dough recipe with cinnamon rolls?  Biscuit dough omits the need for yeast and rise time, plus there’s cinnamon and sugar. Win-win!

Now before I go any further here, allow me to place this disclaimer on the recipe:

If you are a die hard cinnamon roll fanatic, and live for soft oowey-gooey Cinnabon-like rolls, THIS IS NOT THE RECIPE FOR YOU.  These are biscuits, flirting with cinnamon rolls.  So if you’re afraid of the commitment of bread making, this makes a sweet couple.

Dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3/4 cup milk

Filling:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• *Optional- 1/3 cup walnuts or pecans

Icing:

• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 package of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4-5 teaspoons milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

2) In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt).

3) Cut in 4 tablespoons of chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (reserve 2 tablespoons of butter for filling).   Make sure the butter is cold as it helps keep the cinnamon biscuits soft. I toss the butter in the freezer for several minutes before adding it to the dry ingredients.

4) Stir in milk slowly just until moistened.

5) If using a stand mixer, ad the dough hook and knead just until the dough starts to cling together. If not, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a 7-8 times.  Just remember to handle the dough as little as possible.  You want the fats to stay chilled.

6) Roll dough into an 12 x 9 inch rectangle.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and brush over the dough.

7) Combine brown sugar and cinnamon (plus optional nuts) in a bowl, and sprinkle over butter.

8 ) Roll up dough like a jelly-roll starting on the long edge. Cut into 12 equal slices. Place with cut side down in a greased baking pan. Brush the tops with any remaining melted butter.

9)  Bake at 450 degrees F for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.

10) Combine frosting ingredients and spread over warm (not hot) biscuits.

ENJOY!

Sure I have professed my love for brownies, cream cheese and all things chocolate here, but it is atypical for me to entrust anyone with my recipes.

I’m usually not a recipe share-er, at least not until I have met you and determined you are worthy.

I kid. But I seriously love baking, and I covet the recipes that actually turn out well after much trial and error in my kitchen.

So after following recipes over at Rachel’s Mouthwatering Mondays for months, I could not resist joining in and sharing at least one recipe with you here.

Particularly my all time favorite shortbread cookie recipe that was a huge hit over the holidays. They are perfect for Valentine’s Day coming up as well.

Okay, before I go on with the instructions, allow me to say this up front.  It may sound complicated, but it is really simple.  I promise it is an incredibly versatile cookie dough, so you can pretty much add anything you like to it.  Rather than making these 2-layered linzer-like heart cookies,  you can always stick to a 1-layer cookie with cranberries and almonds, or half-dipped in chocolate.  The possibilities are endless!

Here is another version I made using the same dough.  I just rolled the dough into 1″ balls, placed a thumbprint in the center, and filled with almond slices.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
• confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) for dusting

Directions

- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt.  Set aside.

- In another bowl, using an stand or hand mixer, cream 1 cup of butter until smooth (about 1 minute).  Add 2/3 cups of sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes).  Beat in the 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.

- Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated!  Do not over mix.  The dough may seem crumbly, but it will work.  Just ball into into large piece of plastic wrap, flatten it into a rough disk shape, and place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.  Again, it may be crumbly, but stick with it.

- Cut out the dough using a *heart shaped cookie cutter (or whatever shape you like or have handy).  Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet (use parchment paper if you have it). Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out the center of half of the cookies (these will be the top cookie halves with the peek through window showing the jam).

- Place the baking sheet with unbaked cookies into the refrigerator for a 15-minute chill to firm up the dough.  This will help them maintain their shape in the oven.

- Bake in a 350F degree oven on the center rack for 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned along the edges.

- Cool on a wire rack.

Assembling the cookies:

Place the cookies with the center cut-outs on a wire rack and dust the tops with confectioners sugar.

Once the full cookies have cooled, spread about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry jam on the bottom of the cookies.

Gently place the cut-out cookies on top of the full cookies with raspberry jam, sandwiching them together (the bottoms of both cookies should face each other).  Be careful not to smudge the confectioners sugar.

*I actually do not have linzer cookie cutters, so I bought these fondant cutters at Michael’s with their weekly coupon instead.  A set of three hearts was less than $2.  I used the largest and smallest of the set.

I brought these cookies to a Christmas party over the holidays and they barely lasted a few minutes!

Enjoy.