Pavlova Recipe

 Pavlova is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both Australia & New Zealand and is frequently served during celebratory or holiday meals such as Christmas dinner.

"Pavlova is a light and fluffy meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. Both Wellington, New Zealand and Perth, Australia claim to be the home of the dish. The earliest record of the recipe is a cookbook published in New Zealand in 1933, two years before claims made in Perth." ???

"Pavlova is traditionally decorated with fresh fruit and whipped cream. Factory-made pavlovas can be purchased at supermarkets in those countries and decorated as desired." The photo above is a homemade pavlova decorated with pomegranate arils and Chantilly cream.

A popular tried and true recipe:

• 3 egg whites
• 3 tablespoons water
• 250g (9 oz.) caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 5 ml or 1 tsp vinegar
• 5 ml or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (optional)

  1. Beat the egg whites and salt to a very stiff consistency. Add water and beat again before folding in caster sugar, vanilla and vinegar. Beat until the mixture holds its shape and stands in sharp peaks.

  2. Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Slow-bake the mixture at 150°C (300°F) to dry all the moisture and create the meringue, approximately 45 minutes. This leaves the outside of the pavlova a crisp crunchy shell, while the interior remains soft and moist.

  3. A top tip (but not traditional) is to turn the pavlova upside down before decorating with cream and fruit because the bottom is less crispy than the top after cooking and unless you serve it immediately after decorating the "top" absorbs moisture from the cream. Another tip is to leave the pavlova in the oven after turning off the heat - this helps to prevent the middle of the pavlova from collapsing (although if it does collapse, generous application of cream can hide any mistakes!)

Preparation and consumption

"Pavlova is made by beating egg whites (and sometimes salt) to a very stiff consistency before folding in caster sugar, white vinegar, cornstarch, and sometimes vanilla, and slow-baking the mixture to create the meringue. This makes the outside of the pavlova a crisp crunchy shell, while the interior remains soft and moist. The pavlova's internal consistency is thus completely different from that normally associated with meringue, having more of a soft marshmallow texture."

"Pavlova is traditionally decorated with a topping of whipped cream and fresh fruit of sweet/tart flavors, such as strawberries and kiwifruit, or passionfruit and banana or berries and peach slices. Raspberry is a popular topping in the United Kingdom, with the tartness of raspberries contrasting with the sweetness of sugar. Factory-made pavlovas can be purchased at supermarkets and decorated as desired. A commercial product is available that includes pre-mixed ingredients for baking the meringue shell, requiring only the addition of water and sugar."

My Closing Thoughts!

Being American I was not familiar with pavlova but what a treat it was when a true Australian made it for me. Now I know what pavlova is.

"Live everyday like a holiday" Pam

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses some material from wikipedia / gone-ta-pott

Sweetheart Palmiers / sweet treat from Campbells kitchen

www.puffpastry.com/recipe/sweetheart-palmiers

I love it! I think anyone who is looking for red food for Valentine's Day or for a red theme party needs to look at this. It's a recipe I found on campbells.com, puffpastry.com, and ziplist.com websites. Just click the links to get the recipe.

Now Let's Talk About It:

This is so simple but look how beautiful it looks. At first glance you can tell it's made with puff pastry and it's been sprinkled with red sugar. You know sugar comes in several different colors so you could change it up to match which ever occasion your celebrating. 

Red sugar is fantastic for Christmas and Valentine's Day but I bet green sugar would be nice for St. Patrick's Day. I bet a plate of green would remind you of clover just like the red reminds you of hearts. 

Tablescape: Look how pretty it looks served on a white platter. The idea of all the dishes being white is a good move. The red tablecloth just sets off the red cookies too. In the picture they have a bowl of red sugar with a spoon in it. I think that's a fantastic idea as well. Your guests can use red sugar instead of white sugar to add to their hot cocoa or coffee. I bet the red sugar adds a pinkish tent to the cocoa. I just love it. I knew I had to pass this on because I know what a challenge it is to come up with red food ideas and this one is one to remember. Perfect tablescape idea if you ask me. What do you think?

Campbell's Kitchen: Sweetheart Palmiers - Both Pepperidge Farm & Campbell's say "This crisp and delicate cookie is made with puff pastry dough sprinkled with sugar and rolled into the shape of palm leaves. Serve them with coffee or tea, or with your favorite dessert sampling."

Red Parties are Celebrated all throughout February

romantic meals

GO RED! I hope you didn't pack up all your red decorations from Christmas because "Red Parties" are celebrated in the U.S. and Canada all throughout the month of February? Not only does red represent Valentine's and Valentine's Day but it also represents the Saint Valentines Day Massacre, National Wear Red Day and a few others. Because of this; Red Parties are hosted all over the world where it's traditional to wear red, drink red drinks and eat red food all throughout the month. Great reasons to host a Red Theme Party.

February 3: Now just so you know.... today (February 3, 2012) is National Wear Red Day. It's always held on the 1st Friday in February. For those of you who are new to this observance; we wear the color red in the United States to support awareness of women's heart disease. The UK promotes heart disease awareness as well but it's celebrated later in the month.

In the US: It occurs in America on the first Friday in February each year.
The Heart Truth—is a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Designed to warn women of their #1 health threat, The Heart Truth created and introduced the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002 to deliver an urgent wakeup call to American women.

In the UK: Wear Red Day occurs every year on February 26 and is run by the British Heart Foundation. February is National Heart Month for the BHF and the National Wear Red Day is an annual campaign at the centre of raising awareness of heart disease in the UK. It was created by the BHF and has gained interest year on year.

The best part about red parties:
They can be hosted on any date.
You have an excuse to over-do it with the color red -go for it.

Red Food & Drink Ideas:
Pictured: drink for entertaining: crantinis-recipe
Dessert: Red Velvet Cake, Strawberries & pink whip cream
Veggies: Baked red potatoes, red cabbage for coleslaw
Misc: Red apples, jello,
Meat: meat with red sauce: spaghetti sauce, red BBQ sauce

External Links

• NIH Wear Red Day page
• British Wear Red Day
• American Heart Assocation Wear Red Day

Cherry-Topped Brownie Dessert Squares

Cherry-Topped Brownie Dessert Squares 
Originally uploaded by Pillsbury.com

Like most people; during the many holidays throughout the year, I like to find as many recipes that I can- that let's me serve the colors of the observance. Colors like green for St. Patrick's Day, orange for Halloween, red for Valentines Day and red & green for Christmas.  Well these cherry topped brownies have been added to my list for red foods for sure.  This recipe has also been added to my list of brownie recipes found on the bottom of this post under "labels.

Note: This is very easy dessert to make. Also remember this recipe for National Brownie Day which is celebrated December 8th and National Cream Cheese Brownie Day too.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box (1 lb 2.3 oz) fudge brownie mix
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 eggs
• Filling
• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 container (1 lb) vanilla ready-to-spread frosting
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Topping
• 1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling, chilled

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening. In large bowl, stir brownie ingredients until well blended with spoon. Spread in pan.
2. Bake 24 to 26 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
3. In large bowl, beat filling ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours or until set.
4. To serve, spoon pie filling over top. Cut into squares.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake brownies following High Altitude directions on box for 13x9-inch pan.

Here's how to make the blood for a wickedly tasteful drink

What makes Halloween or a vampire party so special? It's the spooky creations that set the theme of the party right. Well spooky drinks are no different. You can easily go from plain & mundane to errie blood creations in just a few steps. Or should I say in just a few bites....

• 1 c. Sugar    
• 1/2 c. Karo Syrup
• 1/2 c. Water
• Red Food Coloring

The "Blood Rim" is made from the same kind of mixture as you use to make hard candy. Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage – which is 300 degrees F. Add food coloring.Turn off heat. While the mixture is still hot, all you have to do is dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim. whichever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool. Now, Do you need a recipe for the drink to go inside? How about a Blood- Tini?
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The Bloody-tini is simply a fun Halloween cocktail and would be great for a spooktactular dinner party. Other great drinks would be the Black Martini or Vampire Kiss.

• 2 oz VeeV Acai Spirit
• 1 oz acai juice
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• Top with fresh champagne
• lime wedge for garnish

1. Combine VeeV, Acai juice and fresh lime with fresh ice in a cocktail shaker and shake.
2. Strain into a chilled martini glass and top with champagne.
3. Serve with a fresh lime wedge or bloody rim glass.
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Here's another recipe

• 1/2 cup Grenadine Syrup
• 1/2 cup Corn Syrup
• 1 to 3 Drops Green Food Coloring

Mix the Grendine and Corn Syrup. Add green food coloring one drop at a time, mixing thoroughly after each, until the 'pink' edge has been taken off the mixture. Pour into a wine glass, and swirl. The concotion looks very good under bright light. If you plan to drink it, though, I recommend you cut it half-half with water. It all depends on how you want to use it. Inside a glass, rim of a glass. Or even on someones face!
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• Hey yall.... remember this idea for Christmas too. Not the blood part but the red part inside a Christmas drink would be great! 
• Did you know there;s also chocolate blood? 

photo by By Love Manor Johnny Love