Mom! What's for dinner?

Love of a mother

I have a story to share with you, I read it a while ago….not sure where I found it…but a friend of mine re- posted it and so I was able to read it again. I wanted to share this with you, as it has touched me and makes me appreciate my mother and grandmother and the sacrifices they made.

The sacrifices a mother makes for her children is something that is amazing and just comes naturally. A mother sacrifices even the last morsel of food for her children, this mother sacrificed something even greater.

No matter where your from in the world, we all can relate as mothers….the love, bond we have with our children is something we all share!

Mothers day is this weekend…but who says its only one day in a year! Mothers day is everyday! Wouldn’t it be nice to surprise your mom when she least expects it at any time of the year!?

To all the Moms out there, thank you for your care, love and compassion and sacrifices! We love you!

Now to the story!

A story of love and sacrifice,

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family.

There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.

How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, ‘EEEE, your mom only has one eye!’

I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, ‘ If you’re only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?’

My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings.

I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study.

Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.

When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, ‘How dare you come to my house and scare my children!’ GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!’

And to this, my mother quietly answered, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,’ and she disappeared out of sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity.

My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.

‘My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children.

I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.

You see.. when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine.

I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.

With all my love to you,

Your mother.

Chocolate glazed donut

This chocolate donut is for all you lovers of chocolate glazed donuts from Timmies! That is my favourite donut including the walnut glazed chocolate and toasted coconut! Ohh there’s an idea!

I made the batter with coffee for added flavour, you can’t tell or taste the coffee it just gives the chocolate a richer flavour. As this was my first time making it, I was adding the liquid 1 tbsp at a time till I got the right consistency it came to 9 tbsp, you may find that you may need an extra tbsp or not.

Baked donuts are only good the day they are baked, so do not make a day ahead! I recommend serving as soon as the glaze is hardened, as they tend to dry out fast if you have them out for too long.

What you will need:

• 1 and 1/2 cups organic or unbleached white flour
• 1/2 cup dark Dutch cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp softened unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 9 tbsp hot coffee

Sift dry ingredients except for sugar. Beat sugar and butter, add eggs mix and add in the flour mixture, add in the hot coffee and vanilla. Stir until well mixed. Pour into a Ziploc bag and cut a small  slit in the corner of the bag.

Pipe out in the greased donut pan. Bake at 350 for 10 mins for large pan and 5 mins for mini donut pan.

 For glaze:

1 and 1/2 powder sugar

3-5 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Stir milk into the powder sugar starting with 2 tbsp and vanilla, then continue to add milk till it becomes a thin texture.

Fill Ziploc bag with batter and squeeze out into the donut pan

Baked and out of the oven

Cool donuts on cooling rack for 5 mins before dipping into glaze

Dip into glaze and set on cooling rack, have a sheet of wax paper to catch the drippings

Glaze hardens up in about 10-15 minutes

Delicious and tasty baked chocolate donuts with glaze

Stove top burek

Stove top burek! What an idea! An idea that actually worked out! I followed the method on how my mom makes lakror dough, its how the layers of dough become tender and flaky, instead of just rolling it out once. Since this was stove top all I needed was some feta and parsley, as spinach takes time to cook.

I cooked this in my cast iron pan on low heat. It came out delicious! My mom was surprised that it cooked so well on the stove top! My son who happens to be a picky eater and not a fan of lakror or burek…surprisingly (watch him beg for it when he is older;) loved it! He wanted more! So yes even your pickiest eater will enjoy this!

What you will need for dough:

• 2 tsp salted butter
• 1 and 1/2 cups organic unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup organic wheat flour
• Approx 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 tsp salt
• softened butter for layers and cooking

roll dough on floured surface cut into slits, and lightly butter each piece

Fold over all the pieces and press it in with your finger tips

Roll out thinly

Spread filling across the bottom layer of dough

Top over with the other layer of dough, and pinch and close in edges. Spread some butter on top and flip over onto pan

As you can see the dough is bubbling and the bottom is cooking up:)

Tastes just like lakror!

Flaky tender pastry dough + feta = party in your mouth;)

 

Pumpkin donuts with maple syrup glaze

Made baked donuts for the first time, and they turned out great! Moist and delicious….so happy I tried this recipe out! Found it on tasteandtellblog! I love Pumpkin donuts from Timmies, and always wanted to try a homemade version…this comes very close!

I made a few changes from the original recipe, I used real maple syrup in the glaze, and used 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice in the batter. Another thing is I don’t have cooking spray so I greased my donut pan with oil using paper towel.

For this yummy recipe please follow this link: tasteandtellblog

I made both mini donuts, and regular

Pumpkin donuts with maple syrup glaze!

Homemade bread rolls

My Grandfather always made homemade bread,  eating it fresh from the oven with salted butter always tasted so good!

After reading some of the ingredients in the breads we eat, I decided to make my own bread just like Grandpa did!

I noticed though some homemade breads can be dense and heavy, most times because they are made from a bread machine. I personally like a softer, lighter bread….so I went searching for the perfect recipe!

My mom and I tried a recipe from the top of our heads, it was good but a little dense for my liking…so back on the search I was!

This recipe that I share with you is an adaptation from a recipe that I found on allrecipes! I had cut down the amounts to make less bread, and I use all purpose flour not bread flour!

You can bake this in a loaf pan, 12 size muffin pan for 12 buns, or add all rolls in a large round pan to make a ‘honey comb’.

What you will need:

• 1 and 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 pkg yeast
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp melted butter

Mix these 4 ingredients together in a large bowl, then stir in:

• 2 and 1/2 cups organic white or unbleached white all-purpose flour together, let rest for 30 minutes.

To that add another:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 and 3/4 organic wheat flour

Knead into dough (I use my mixer with the hook attachment) I drizzle some olive oil to help bring it together while kneading, let rest in greased bowl till doubled, shape into balls if making rolls or buns using some olive oil. Let rise again till rolls double, bake in greased loaf pan, or muffin pan or round pan at 350 till golden. Brush melted butter on top of baked buns.

I made these ones in a muffin pan

E=mc2

A friend of mine asked me to make some ‘math’ cupcakes for a surprise party she was having for her math loving friend! Its a good thing she told me what she wanted on them! Math is not my strong suit!

Although in High School I had a math teacher who made me understand and look at numbers in a different way, I was no longer scared of them…..I actually began to love them!

I now know why that is, its because he loved math! He understood it and wanted everyone to understand, he had a passion and you can tell by the way he taught!

I may have made these cupcakes for her, but I dedicate these cupcakes to all the math teachers out there! The ones that encourage their students, and help them understand and fall in love with math!

Pi = 3.14

Graph chart

Triangle

Apple

Math cupcakes for you all math lovers!

What you will need:

•  1 lb of fondant
• Gel Food colouring: red, green,black and blue
• Black edible pen
• 24 chocolate or vanilla cupcakes
• 3-4 cups chocolate or vanilla frosting

Lakror me qepe, piperka, dhe domate (onions, peppers, and tomatoes)

Lakror is Albanian style burek, that is taught by generation to generation and is filled with a variety of fillings. Popular fillings are, spinach and cheese, leek and cheese, ground meat and onion mixture, onion, tomato and pepper like the one in this recipe and more!  The dough is a thicker filo closer to yufka  depending on how thin you roll it. This dough is thin and flaky as there is no yeast added to it.

I hope you enjoy this tutorial, even if you don’t end up making it! It is  a labour of love, takes time and effort and a second hand is always helpful! This is a special dish to me,  I remember making it with my grandparents, and now my mom makes it with my girls and hopefully they will pass it on to their children <3

There are two methods of making lakror, one is to make little balls and roll them out individually buttering each layer and attaching them all and rolling into one big sheet, or the easy way… and that is the method I will be sharing with you.

This is a large pan,  you can make less dough for a smaller pan. This sorta thing is not really made by measurement its by eye and hand! When making dough you feel with your hands the texture when kneading the dough when all ingredients are combined and the dough is soft and smooth it is ready to rest.

You will need approximately 5 to 6 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 to 3 cups warm water and while kneading you will need olive oil.

Depending on how big your lakror is will depend on how much dough you need.

Its just like making pizza dough except there is no yeast added.  Add more flour if its too watery or add more water if its too dry. Use oil to help form the dough. After your done kneading divide in 2 half’s, let the dough  rest in a greased bowl and cover. While the dough is resting make the filling.

For filling what you will need:

3 Cubanelle peppers

1 red shepherd or bell peppers

3 large yellow onions

1 and 1/2 cups of pickled cabbage  (sauerkraut) optional

3 small to medium sized tomatoes

Chop onions, and peppers saute them in a pan with butter and oil. When tender add the tomatoes and cabbage if using. Set aside.

You will need 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1/4 cup oil mixed together for the layers and drizzling.

The is the filling cooked and ready to use

Now to put it all together!

Simple way of making layers! Roll ball of dough into one thin layer, cut about 10 slits, brush melted butter on each piece and flip over one by one, you will be making this 2 times, 1 layer for top and 1 for bottom

All the layers pressed together

Rolling out the layers to make one large flat sheet of dough

Fold over for easy transfer into greased pan

Transfer layer of dough and spoon over the filling into the bottom layer in pan and spread all around the dough

Drizzle some melted butter along edges

Roll over the top layer and fold in the edges to make the crust, spoon over the melted butter. Bake at 400 till golden takes about 40 mins (check on it)

Its ready when the top layer poofs up like this and its golden, cover it and let rest for 20 minutes. Oh and this was my Grandfathers pan, the same one he made his lakror in, the edges are worn as you can tell but it bakes the best pizza's and lakrors <3

Cut lakror in wedges like a pizza!

My favourite part since I was a kid, is pulling the top layer and eating the crust first!

Cookies and milk can't get better than that:)

Oh Pinterest how I love thee…but this has got to stop! All these pictures of yummy food and desserts, I can’t keep up with it! I found this cookie on Pinterest and just had to make it! I followed the link to this blog othersideoffifty the recipe was an adaptation from nytimes.

The original recipe calls for bread flour and cake flour, plus it needs to be refrigerated for 24 hours! I dont have the patience for that….I love cookie dough so there is no way that would stick around…..so I improvised!

One thing you may notice is that I ask for organic flour, I have been trying to get as organic as I can! I do use organic cane sugar when possible but with all the baking I do I can’t afford to use it all the time! It is a pricey item! If you don’t use organic flour at least use unbleached that is what I use as well.

As intrigued as I was and really wanted to try this recipe that everyone is raving about, I found myself just using one part of it….it is the part that got me interested in the first place!

When I first seen this cookie I noticed the chocolate specks and wondered what they were! Well that’s the best part see….its grated chocolate! Genius! Grated chocolate in a chocolate chip cookie! Which is perfect for me as I always have bricks of dark chocolate around, since my hubby is the only one that eats it…..now I get some use of it yay!

Grated dark chocolate

I will share with you my cookie recipe, can’t tell you that it tastes like the original as I haven’t tried it myself….but these ones were pretty darn good if I say so myself!

'Bite me' Yes the cookie talked to me

What you will need:

• 1 cup organic wheat flour
• 1 cup and 1/4 organic white flour minus 1 tsp
• 1 cup softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chunks or chips
• 1/2 cup grated dark chocolate

Beat butter and sugars until fluffy and creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Sift the flours, salt, baking soda and corn starch together. Mix into the butter mixture till well combined. Add in the grated chocolate mix in and then stir in the chocolate chunks.

Drop tablespoon full of cookie dough on parchment lined baking sheet 2 inches apart . Bake at 350 for 10- 12 mins. Remove from pan onto cooling rack. Enjoy:)

Stirring in the grated chocolate....oh this is getting exciting!

Found these little treasures during one of our shopping trips to the U.S.A!

You can really see the the chocolate in the picture, if you love chocolaty chocolate chip cookies this is the one for you!

Peanut butter cookies with peanut butter filling, got to be the best peanut butter cookie I have ever tried!

If you follow me on Pinterest you will know that I am always looking for new recipes to try! I seen a picture for these cookies and followed it to the blog cookiesandcups  she had posted these yummilicious cookies!

Hers look more like peanuts than mine, I struggled at first with the sizes…first batch came out really big, the second time I made it turned out medium size then finally third try came out just right….reminds of Goldie locks and the three bears!

I ended up with extra filling, but that’s ok I will find another use for it:)

For this yummy cookie recipe follow this link: homemade-nutter-butters

Shaping the cookie to make it look like a peanut! Pinch middle even more so than in the picture as it spreads while baking

Papa bear, mama bear and baby bears cookies <3

Make sure to take them out of oven when they are still soft, frost and keep in tight lid container as they harden quickly

Speca me djath

Piperka as I grew up calling it or speca means peppers in Albanian, djath means cheese in this case feta cheese! One of the first foods that I remember eating when I was a little girl was peppers and feta! My Grandfathers favourite! Especially when the peppers came from our garden. Today is April 12, 1912 my Grandfather Haxhi was born this day 100 years ago! He passed away 13 years ago this coming May and I miss him dearly!

I can’t keep the tears from falling as I write this out.

I wasn’t much of a cook when I was younger though I tried….I did make a few things.  We would make this dish together he liked his peppers fried whole and then scrape the skin off, the sizzling of the oil and the noise it would make while the peppers cooked always excited me!

We would sometimes cut the peppers up and cook them like that both ways are good, you can do either.

Cubanelle peppers work best for this, its the flavour I grew up on and could live off of!

Another dish my Grandfather taught me was feta with eggs, I never could get mine to taste like his! It was so good and tasty with just 2 ingredients! Eggs and feta!

To make this breakfast, lunch or dinner as it were in the hot summer days growing up all you need is:

Cubanelle peppers

Eggs

Feta

Depending on how many your feeding is how many peppers and eggs you would need, adding the cheese is your own personal preference.

Clean your peppers and cut them removing the stem and seeds, pan fry them in a hot pan with oil on medium heat, you may cover them if you like so the steam helps with the cooking. Season with salt, and crumble feta cheese on top.

Love when the feta melts in the hot eggs

For eggs:

Scramble eggs in a bowl, in a hot pan add 2 tsp salted butter and add the eggs to pan. Cook eggs stirring with spoon to make them scrambled!;) Crumble the feta cheese on top.

Serve with a fresh loaf of bread and enjoy with a nice cup of tea or coffee.