2012 Has Ended

  

Merry Christmas 2012

From all of us in the Voodoo Kitchen,

Merry Christmas

  

Afrikaans - een plesierige kerfees 

Arabic - I'D MIILAD SAID OUA SANA SAIDA 

Argentine - Felices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo 

Armenian - Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand 

Azeri - Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun 

Basque - Zorionak eta Urte Berri On! 

Bohemian - Vesele Vanoce 

Brazilian - Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo 

Breton - Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat 

Bulgarian - Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo 

Chinese - (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan  (Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun 

Cornish - Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth 

Cree - Mitho Makosi Kesikansi 

Croatian - Sretan Bozic 

Czech - Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok

Danish - Glædelig Jul 

Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! 

English - Merry Christmas 

Esperanto - Gajan Kristnaskon 

Estonian - Ruumsaid juulup|hi 

Farsi - Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad 

Finnish - Hyvaa joulua 

French - Joyeux Noel 

Frisian - Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier! 

German - Froehliche Weihnachten 

Greek - Kala Christouyenna! 

Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka 

Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova 

Hindi - Shub Naya Baras 

Hungarian - Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket 

Icelandic - Gledileg Jol 

Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal 

Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah 

Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit 

Italian - Buone Feste Natalizie 

Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto 

Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha 

Latvian - Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu! 

Lithuanian - Linksmu Kaledu 

Manx - Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa 

Maori - Meri Kirihimete 

Marathi - Shub Naya Varsh 

Navajo - Merry Keshmish 

Norwegian - God Jul 

Pennsylvania German - En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr! 

Polish - Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia

Portuguese - Boas Festas 

Rapa-Nui - Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua 

Rumanian - Sarbatori vesele 

Russian - Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom 

Serbian - Hristos se rodi 

Slovakian - Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce 

Sami - Buorrit Juovllat 

Samoan - La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou 

Scots Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil huibh 

Serb-Croatian - Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina 

Singhalese - Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa 

Slovak - Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok 

Slovene - Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto 

Spanish - Feliz Navidad 

Swedish - God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År 

Tagalog - Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon 

Tamil - Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal 

Thai - Sawadee Pee Mai 

Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun 

Ukrainian - Srozhdestvom Kristovym 

Urdu - Naya Saal Mubarak Ho 

Vietnamese - Chung Mung Giang Sinh 

Welsh - Nadolig Llawen 

Yugoslavian - Cestitamo Bozic 

Papua New Guinea - Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu

Christmas Sugar Cookies

For all of you who are looking for a great sugar cookie recipe, we've got one for you.

You can bake these for office parties, to give as gifts or for school events. 

Here you go:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into holiday shapes with any cookie cutter. 

Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Now, decorate to your hearts content.

Fully-Loaded, Cheeseburger-Bloody Mary

 

Well, here it is, whatever it is: shrimp, cherry tomato, lemon wedge, Polish sausage, cheese, pickled asparagus, scallion stalk, pickle, pickled mushroom, onion and brussels sprout, stalk of celery and, oh yes, a bacon cheeseburger.

It comes with a chaser of Sprecher beer, for a total of $9 

Owner and creator Dave Sobelman offers the Fully-Loaded, Cheeseburger-Bloody Mary, and it's gone viral.

We salute Sobelman's Pub & Grill for their great food and creativity.

Click on so you can check out their menu.

The First Steampunk Soda - Aether Cola

Steampunk continues to grow in popularity, this time it's Aether Cola, which appears to be the first Steampunk cola.

Unlike other colas, Aether Cola is clear, and, in proper 19th century fashion, Aether Cola even has some patent medicine claims in their marketing.

We know nothing about the taste, but from their website we read:

"From a gentler age before new fangled "Energy Drinks" when all a gentleman needed was a tin of moustache wax and a spot of caffeine in his cola."

Maple Baked Apples

 

We love all apples, fresh, roasted or baked, it doesn't matter.

With the winter months upon us we thought we would share a simple but fun recipe for  

maple baked apples.

Some apples are best for baking, here's a few to choose from:

Cortland

This apple is juicy and tart with dense flesh that holds its shape when cooked.

Granny Smith

this apple is quite tart and doesn't turn brown as quickly as other varieties.

Haralson

It softens a bit more than other apples and releases a wonderful juice.

Golden Delicious

This sweet yellow apple is delicious in pies and crisps and it's very easy to find.

Rome Beauty

This fall apple holds its shape perfectly when cooked; it has a sweeter flesh than other baking apples.

Okay let's get started: 

Prep time	10 minutes
Cooking time	50-60 minutes
Serves	4

4 apples, such as Gala, Fuji or Granny Smith
4 pitted dates, chopped
2 tsp chopped walnuts or hazelnuts
4 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup water
4 tsp butter

Remove cores from apples with an apple corer.
Score the skin around  each apple with a sharp knife allowing them to split neatly around the middle when they bake.

Combine sugar, cinnamon and cloves.
Stuff mixture into apples and place them in a shallow baking dish.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pour combined maple syrup and water over apples.

Brush with butter and bake until apples are wrinkly and soft and starting to puff, about 50-60 minutes. Serve with custard, heavy whipped cream or ice cream.

Quebec's Tourtière Meat Pie

 

We started making and eating the Tourtière meat pie this year again and it's easy to see why it's so popular.

The Tourtière meat pie originated in Quebec and is traditionally served on Christmas eve after holy mass, and it's popular during the winter months.

1 1/2 lbs duck, boned and diced

1/2 lb veal, diced

1/2 lb beef, diced

1/2 lb lean pork, diced

1/4 lb salt pork, chopped

3 small onions, chopped

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon clove

1 pinch nutmeg

to taste pastry for double-crust pie

3 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cups boiling water

The night before, combine the first 13 ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and let rest overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, prepare potatoes and then prepare pastry.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Use 2/3 of pastry to line the bottom (not the sides) of a 4 to 4-1/2 quart coverable pot.

Add potatoes to the meat mixture. Pour mixture into pastry lined pot. Add boiling water.

Roll remaining 1/3 pastry and cover mixture. Make slits to allow steam to escape. Bake, uncovered, until top is golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Cover, reduce oven to 300 degree F, and continue baking for another 5 hours, until meats are tender.

Uncover and let rest about 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

Pampanga's Tibuk Tibuk

Pampanga is a region in the Philippines that is known for its culinary heritage and brilliant recipes that have been passed down through many generations.

We prepared a great Pampangan holiday dessert called Tibuk Tibuk, and devoured it.

It's a milk pudding topped with fried coconut milk solids called latik. It is a specialty in the region of Pampanga, and it's also better known as maja blanca to the rest of the Philippines.  

Tibuk Tibuk which literally means "heartbeat", describes how you can tell when the pudding is done; the bubbles just barely touch the surface so it looks like a beating heart.

Here's the recipe for your enjoyment:

Ingredients

    • 2 cans of coconut milk

    • 2½  cans evaporated milk

    • 1 can coconut milk

    • 1 cup cornstarch 

    • 1 teaspoon sugar

    • 2 teaspoons of coconut Macapuno syrup.

Pour 2 cans of coconut milk in saucepan and divide the lump of coconut into ¼ parts.

Allow to simmer on medium heat without stirring at all.

It's done when you see the oil appear.

Take the oil and pour it into the baking dish, cover the inside completely.

Continue to allow the coconut to brown in the saucepan.

You'll be using the coconut on top of the dessert.

In a saucepan pour the evaporated milk, the coconut milk, and while still cold blend in the cornstarch.

Now stir until there are no lumps.

Turn heat up to medium and add the Macapuno syrup and sugar.

Continue to stir until thickens.

When it thickens, pour the mixture into your baking dish.

Let it sit until it cools down.

We know there are variations, but this is our favorite recipe.

Marguerite Patten's Christmas Pudding

 

Marguerite Patten was a celebrity chef long before the current group of celebrity chefs.

Born 1915,  now at the age of 97, she is busy broadcasting and even podcasting.

Probably the world's most prolific cookery writer, Marguerite has over books to her name and worldwide sales over 17 million.

Here she makes the perfect Christmas pudding, and yes, it's in the microwave.

We usually show the video, but this year we have the Christmas Pudding recipe for you, this way you can actually make it.

This is a very special, traditional pudding but it can be cooked in 10 minutes in the microwave, the quick, modern and simple way.

The Ingredients

65g of Anchor,

50g of flour (preferably plain),

A teaspoon of mixed spice,

75g of soft breadcrumbs,

100g of soft brown sugar,

150g of sultanas,

75g of raisins,

50g of currents,

25g of chopped peel,

50g of soft dates, chopped up into small pieces

50g of glacier cherries,

2 tablespoons of black treacle or golden syrup,

2 eggs,

The juice of half a lemon,

Two tablespoons of orange juice,

75ml of apple juice,

Method

Put 50g of butter into a mixing bowl.

Place an additional 15g of Anchor into a basin in which the pudding is going to be cooked. Cover the basin on top with cling film or paper and put it into the microwave, for 30 seconds to soften the butter.

Mix all the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl, and stir them all together.

With the small bit of melted butter, grease the pudding basin. Put at the bottom of the basin a small round piece of greaseproof paper to prevent the basin from sticking.

Now, spoon the mixture into the pudding basin. Put a greaseproof paper lid on top of the basin. (Make sure it is double or treble the thickness of the one used at the bottom.)

Make a few holes in the paper with a fork or scissors so that the steam can escape.

Place into the microwave. Set the microwave timer, at medium or medium to high rather than high to get a better steamed pudding.

Microwaves vary though, so take the pudding out and have a look at it after nine minutes.

Insert a  toothpick into the centre of the mixture, take it out and see if the mixture is still sticky, if it is, place the pudding back into the microwave for another half a minute or minute longer.

When there is no sticky mixture on the skewer, after doing the test, the pudding is ready.