I love making Christmas cookies but get tired of making the same ones year after year. My family likes tradition and by the time they are two most of my kids can tell you what should be on the cookie plate for each holiday, what dishes should be on the table, and if I forget or try to do something different, you can bet I hear about it.

I can add to the basic stuff but never, never take away and do something different. Read more

Since we live in a 1910 house, once in awhile I treat myself to something that was made in 1910. I have collected a series of magazines, Ladies World, all published in 1910. I put them out according to the month or holiday,and so this month is the Christmas Issue. Now, people lived very differently in 1910 but it was such a fascinating time period to me…The foods and the recipes, the way they were written and presented all intrigue me. Following is an excerpt from an article called Sweets for the Christmas Table .

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My friend, Mary, makes the best sugar cookies ever. She got the recipe from her mother in law and I don’t know where it originally came from.

Now, Mary has been my best friend, side kick, and confidant…my counselor, my shoulder, and my sister for…uh….eighteen years. And every Christmas of those eighteen years she has made us sugar cookies at Christmas. I make them too but they are just not the same.

These are easy to roll out. They are so easy to roll and cut that we used to have all of the kids from the kids church ministry come over and make them to sell to raise money for missions. If a cookie can withstand THAT it can with stand anything!

These are great to leave out for Santa, they keep well (if they last that long), freeze well, and handle well. They are a soft cookie so if you are looking for crisp you may want to look elsewhere. I am sure that I have forgotten exact measurements over the years..it seems that every year I call her, beg for the recipe, promise I won’t lose it, write the recipe down, make it and then promptly lose it!

Give them a try. I think Santa will approve.

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Christmas morning. Visions of children with joyous expressions quietly opening their gifts in front of a crackling fire as the snow falls softly outside and Christmas carrols play quietly in the background. A beautiful table is set in the dining room with a delicious breakfast waiting for the family…

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I am about to post a fruitcake recipe. Now..don’t click the X yet ….

I grew up loving fruitcake and i could never figure out why people didn’t like it..To me, there was nothing more delicious than a piece of the moist and chewy cake, slathered with cream cheese or butter and  resting next to a cup of hot chocolate.  Mmmmm - Christmas!

Until..until the fateful day when I tasted someone ELSE’S fruitcake. EWWWW! I finally understood the jokes..the grimaces..the gagging.

I used to sell this cake on ebay for $30 …and that was ten years ago! Noone that has tasted this cake doesn’t like it…It is moist..and more chewy than cakey…there are no raisins in it and no “junk” candied fruit…It is sweet, intense and just good.

If you are looking for the best fruitcake recipe ever I will submit that it is right here…from the family files…I have NO clue where it began, or how old it is. I just know that you have to try this because you will be addicted. If you really want to be treated to the best taste experience anywhere go on over to Kettle and Cup and enter for the weekly coffee giveaway…that way you will have coffee to go with it!

I am still without the ability to upload pictures…hopefully that will be resolved soon.

Best Ever Fruitcake 

1 lb pecans

1 lb dates-pitted and chopped

1/2 lb candied cherries  (red and geen)

1/2 lb candied pineapple (green and yellow)
3/4 c sugar

3/4 c flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 250 degrees (that is not a typo-TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY degrees)  Place a pan with boiling water in the oven to create steam. Fill the pan as needed during baking.
Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and line with wax paper. spray wax paper with cooking spray.

Chop fruit and nuts.

Sift dry ingredients over fruit and nuts and mix in.

Beat eggs until light, add vanilla and pour over fruit, mixing well. Spoon into prepared pan, pressing down gently to remove large air bubbles and spaces. Bake at 250 for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Let cool.

1 loaf

Is there anything more cozy that blogging on the laptop next to the fire in the kitchen, watching the cold, gray drizzle and ..uhh..listening to the kids argue over the breakfast dishes?

Texas is such an odd climate. I spent the first 12 years of my life in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and I always have a hard time associating this weather with Christmas! It was 80 degrees three days ago..then we had some snow flurries..then it was in the 60’s and now, today, it is in the 30’s again. I miss the Currier and Ives Christmases of the North East!

Today, at my house, we are going to make cookies and cream bark. It is easy, delicious, and makes an awesome gift. The kids have a great time doing it too! Give it a try and see what you think. It may well become a yearly tradition.

2 lbs white chocolate

1 half package mint oreos, cut in pieces. Use more if you like.

Spray a large cookie sheet or casserole pan with PAM or any cooking spray. Line it with waxed paper. Spray waxed paper with more spray.

melt 2 lbs of white chocolate and spread over the waxed paper. Quickly sprinkle chopped oreos over the top and press in carefully. Allow to set in the fridge. Remove and break into pieces.You can, at this point, melt milk chocolate and spread it on a prepared cookie sheet and lay the cookies and cream bark on it for a second layer of chocolate.

You can use nearly anything in place of the oreos:

regular oreos, m & m’s, peppermints, macadamia nuts, etc.

I will try to get pictures later…I am not on my regular computer (yeah..it is sulking again) .

This Banana Chocolate Chip Bread recipe is my eldest daughter’s favorite. I usually give her a loaf of this along with a container of Russian Tea Mix ( you know, the kind with orange, clove, red hots, and tea?) and she is blissfully happy. Always a good thing.

It is a particularly moist and delicious bread, and unusual enough to make a gift that is different from what other people are doing. I swear one year I am going to try it with macadamias and white chocolate chips but so far I haven’t done so.

If you are giving it as a gift then make it in mini loaves and wrap in colored cellophane. Nestle several in a basket and add some coffee or tea. Toss in some Hershey’s Kisses and you have a really pretty basket. Another way I like to present gifts like this is arranged on a vintage plate. You can find beautiful vintage china for not much money and it does make for a special gift.

This bread freezes well, although it does not keep at room temperature long due to the moistness.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
1 c chocolate chunks
1 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 .

Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir in nuts and chocolate chunks.

Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

1 loaf

I thought I had better obey Jennifer before she put on her mad face and write about my nice quiet weekend.

I just wrote a LONG article about making chocolate from scratch. Yep. Scratch. Like buying green cacao beans, roasting them and then making chocolate. I DID love the move, Chocolat, but I am not sure I am up for going through all of that to feed the chocolate monster that lives inside me.

I also wrote a tutorial for making the gingerbread houses from graham crackers .

I am making homemade pizza tonight for supper and we are probably going to watch It’s A Wonderful Life . We have a series of movies we watche very single year…Miracle on 34th Street (the original in black and white) for me and then It’s A Wonderful Life (original in black and white) for Marc. Those, being most important are followed in quick sequence with: (let me just add that all movies are original and not colorized if they were done in black and white)

A Christmas Story

Christmas In Connecticut

Holiday Inn

White Christmas

Santa Clause 1,2,3

Grinch (cartoon)

Charlie Brown Christmas

Frosty, Rudolph et al

Bells of St Mary’s

well and more. Yes. We LIKE Christmas movies here. I will soon begin to read to the kids various Christmas stories… and I think this year I am adding Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory.

I think that it is funny but our family seems to be overly interested in the foods of the season. When we are reading the kids will stop me to ask about a food that is mentioned in the book. “Fruitcake? Is that like the one you make, mom? Or is it a different type do you think?” “Mom, What exactly ARE roasted chestnuts?”

And on. I have a family of foodies. They read cookbooks. Seriously.

Anyway..here are some more pictures from the Gingerbread house Party last night. We had 11 kids here (not all were mine) and we celebrated Sean’s 9th birthday at the same time. He requested spagetti and meatballs, homemade french bread with garlic butter,and a spinach-dried cranberry-smoked almond salad with cranberry vinaigrette. At this point my life is nothing but relaxing until Christmas. My shopping is done..my baking is basically done..and I plan on hibernating with the spinning wheel from this point on…except the felt food I am making for four year old Chef Kyrie.

By the way…my house, if you didn’t know, is in a state of restoration. The kitchen has a LONG way to go….keep that in mind when looking at these pictures…

Sean the Birthday Boy!

Shiloh, Nick, and Chef Kyrie get started

Sean, ready for construction

Matt works on his house

Chef Kyrie in Action

We are not sure if Shiloh is eating more or gluing more !

My friend Juanita is serious about gingerbread houses!

Ethan shows off his handiwork…and his goofy expressions.

Shiloh’s house….she MAY have it a day before it is gone…

I hope you enjoyed this small weekend tour of my life.

I don’t have much time but I wanted to check in and say..Marc, my brilliant, wonderful and extremely hot husband has yet again wheedled my computer into complete submission!

Today is our annual gingerbread house party. We have done this since..gosh…1993? Without missing a year. In 1998 I was in active labor and my midwife was in attendance at the party! We always host the party on the first Friday of December and invite as many kids as possible. Because I am making so many houses I just use graham crackers for the construction. This makes it quick and easy. Everyone brings candy and the kids have a great time adding candy to the houses with royal icing.

Here is one I finished to show you…I will try to get the step by step pictures uploaded this weekend. I am trying to learn how to resize the pictures so the pages load better.

This year I am trying just confectioners sugar and water with a little almond extract instead of the traditional royal icing..we will see how it works.

I am taking a break..I have 12 houses done so far..and a few more to do..Then I have to make Sean’s birthday cake, AND he has requested homemade garlic bread, spaghetti and meatballs for dinner so I am fermenting the sponge now for the bread.

What, me worry?

Yikes!

I will be back later with pictures.

To make the gingerbread houses out of graham crackers you need to use 8 squares per house.

glue 4 together in a box with the icing. Let dry.

glue one flat on top to support the roof.

Cut 1 in half so it is triangular and use for the peak.

Glue on the roof support.

Carefully glue 2 more squares to the peaks to make the roof. Let dry thoroughly then allow the kids to decorate as they like.

I FORGOT to add the 1/4 c molasses ….sorry if this caused a problem..the recipe is fixed now….

I am making these in the next day or so, so will post pictures then..I am about to run to the store because our pantry seems to be oddly empty. I can’t imagine why…except that my kids seem to eat enough to keep a herd of elephants alive.

I love gingerbread, and gingerbread man cookies! The recipes I have used in the past have been borderline at best because they  were either very tasteless or very hard or something. they never had quite the flavor I imagined they would or should.

Now, I have a gift in that I can taste things in my head.  I guess it is kind of like the way my oldest daughter, Erin, plays the piano by ear.  She listens to music and then plays (she also has a voice that is incredible- operatic soprano with no training!) whatever it was.

I can think of things, flavors and what-not, in my head and know how they will taste together. It is cool. So, when I was thinking about how I thought gingerbread should taste I came up with these.  And…they are exactly as I think gingerbread should taste!

Let me know what you think.

 Gingerbread Men

1 cup dark brown sugar packed
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 c crisco (do not substitute)
1/4 c unsalted butter
1/4 c molasses
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c white flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300F

Mix dry ingredients (not sugars) in bowl, set aside.

Cream wet ingredients (including sugars) together until fluffy and sugar crystals are pretty much dissolved.

Mix in dry ingredients until smooth.

Added this: For the first time ever I had to chill this dough before I rolled it out. I don’t know why but keep in mind that you may need to chill the dough about 30 minutes in the freezer.

On a heavily floured surface ( or a silpat sheet) roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter. You can poke small holes in the tops to string ribbon through ( after cookies are baked) if you want, so that they can be hung on the tree or just look festive.

You can bake them as is…or you can try this:
Mix 1 whole egg with a tsp of cream. Brush over tops of cookies and sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Place on parchment, or silpat or cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake at 300 for 15-18 minutes. Only bake one sheet at a time for the best results…the oven temperature needs to be very steady.

Allow to cool and decorate as desired. You may need to adjust time to get just the texture that YOU like.