Cooking lots of holiday treats

About a week ago, it was time to make our gingerbread men. I make these every year, but I vary the size of the men, and sometimes make gingerbread ladies, as well. Many years ago, my daughters received little baking sets, that came with tiny baking sheets, small rolling pins and tiny gingerbread men and women cutters. I saved the cutters, when they outgrew that set, and use them for cookies. I also inherited my mother's large gingerbread man cookie cutter, which I use with great sentimentality. And then there's the mid-sized gingerbread man, that I bought in an after-Christmas sale when my children were all young. I think it makes the "right" sized gingerbread man, so I do favor this one. And that's what I chose for this year, mid-sized gingerbread men. I filled a tin with gingerbread men, and had some left over to give to my son's GF.

I like the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, for gingerbread cookies, as it doesn't call for any eggs or baking powder, and very little sugar. The dough handles well, too. I can make the dough up one afternoon, refrigerate it overnight, and roll, cut and bake the cookies the next day.

Also about that time, I had some heavy whipping cream near expiry. As I mentioned before, I whipped a couple of cups and froze in mounds, to use later. But I also used 2  1/2 cups of the whipping cream to make peppermint ice cream, to serve on Christmas Day with our Buche de Noel. I really enjoyed the washing up afterwards on that one (lots of spoons, spatulas, beaters and the ice cream paddle to lick).

In addition to the heavy whipping cream, I used whole milk, a bit of sugar, pinch of salt and crushed candy canes. That's it. I didn't cook a custard, but microwaved the milk, to heat enough for the sugar and some of the crushed candy canes to dissolve, before adding the heavy cream and salt.

For our tree decorating party, I made a batch of chocolate and peppermint covered pretzels. These are pretty easy to do, and everyone in our family enjoys them. In a large bowl, I melted 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of Crisco in the microwave, then tossed about 8 ounces of pretzels in the melted chocolate. I just kept adding pretzels, and tossing and tossing, until it looked like I had used all of the chocolate. I dumped the whole shebang onto a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, and separated them with a fork.

I had about 1/2 cup of Wilton peppermint melting disks in the cupboard from 2 years ago, not quite enough to make a batch of peppermint bark candy. So I thought topping the chocolate-covered pretzels with a drizzle of that stuff would be festive. I melted those with Crisco, until thin enough to drizzle over the chocolate-covered pretzels. I put the peppermint-white chocolate in a used (but clean) zip loc baggie, then snipped the corner to make the drizzling go quickly and neatly. And finally, before the chocolate and peppermint melting disks had hardened, I sprinkled the whole mass with crushed candy canes.

I still have the Buche to bake and fill. Cake rolls can be filled, rolled up and frozen until just before serving or icing. I'd like to get this done in the next few days. We'll see how that goes. I'm working on a mostly make-ahead Christmas dinner this year. I'd like to have the bulk of Christmas Day "off".

How about you? What are your favorite Christmas goodies to make? Are there any family favorites that you just can't not make?

You know this, right? Gift-wrapping on the diagonal

If you can't get the paper to wrap all the way around a gift, but it's close, try shifting the package to the diagonal on the paper.

Your wrap will resemble the layout of an envelope, on the backside.

On the front side, with many gift wraps, you wont be able to tell that the paper is wrapped parallel or diagonal around the gift. And on some wraps, the diagonal may also be more interesting (like a stripe).

Here are some slippers that I couldn't get the paper quite around, when the slippers' edge was parallel to the paper's edge. I turned the slippers to the diagonal, and they fit.

And you know this, too, right? If you run out of tape, you can raid the art supplies and use glue stick, or in some cases, skip sealing the paper, altogether, and let ribbon hold it closed.

Welcome to my home

As you come up the drive, two urns flanking the walkway to the front door. These were bare, with frozen soil. Too heavy to move to warmth, I used a mug of hot water to thaw the dirt, then a screw driver to jab holes into it, so that I could add branches of cedar and barberry, plus an outdoor bow.

At the front door sits a bench which needs repairs. Too rickety for anyone to actually sit on, but nice for placing decorative items.

If you come to the kitchen door, there's an urn, similar to the 2 urns flanking the opening to the walkway to the front. This urn was lightweight, and could be brought into the kitchen to thaw and place branches into. I used cedar, juniper, ivy, salal, barberry and cotoneaster in this planter, and another outdoor bow.

Inside the kitchen, between the two windows, a faux wreath. It lives in a box in a closet out of season, along with all of the other lasting Christmas decorations.

Out the back door, outdoor bows tied onto railing posts. the bows bought on clearance at Jo-Ann's, for 50 cents each last January.

Around the house, messages in Scrabble tiles.

A lighted garland above and around the dining room window.

The dining table centerpiece.

Several faux poinsettias, grouped together.

A faux floral arrangement (below). (I've collected these faux floral/greenery items bit by bit, on clearance, over the years. At this point, I spend very little on new items and just use what I've got stored away. When I am wanting something new, I look at what I already have, and find a new way to use the materials, or display the items.)

I can't forget what we're really celebrating.

Wishing you . . .