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Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Holiday Baking Tips

Posted in Christmas, Entertaining at Home, Holidays, Success Tips, tagged , , , on December 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been up since way too early this morning working on my holiday baking. So far, I’ve turned four pounds of butter into chocolate peppermint kisses, gingerbread brownies, Russian teacakes, sugar cookies and seven layer bars.

As I’ve hustled through the baking, I thought of a few tips I wanted to share with you that make the process go so much easier.

• Invest in some good quality baking sheets. It honest-to-goodness makes a big difference.

• Make baking parchment and Pam your friend (as in non-stick cooking spray.) Spray your baking sheets with a light coating of Pam, line with a piece of parchment cut to fit and then give it a quick coating of Pam. Words don’t describe how much easier this makes my life. Just try it, you’ll see what I mean.

• Use Pam on your measuring cups if you will be measuring out something sticky, like molasses. A quick spray and the molasses just rolled right out of the cup like nobody’s business.

• Invest in a cooling rack or two. If you’ve got pans and pans of hot cookies coming out of the oven, cooling racks can be worth their weight in gold. They give your cookies a chance to cool down appropriately and that really does effect the finished product. Also, if you can find stands that stack, they free up tons of counter space while still providing circulation around those sweet treats.

• Clean as you go. If you are doing a marathon day of baking (like your truly) clean up as you go. At the end of the your baking spree you’ll be glad you did when you have just a few things to wash instead of a huge sink full of sticky, dirty dishes.

• Measure accurately. Seriously, measure accurately. This can make or break your baked goods. Don’t eyeball it. If the recipe says 1 1/4 cups then measure out exactly 1 1/4 cups.

• Follow directions. If you want your baked goods to turn out like the recipe intended, follow the directions carefully and completely.

•Gather your ingredients before you start. Before I start making a recipe, I read through it, gather all the ingredients and have in mind the order of the recipe. If I try and bake by grabbing the ingredients as I go, I will guaranteed forget to put something in. If you’ve got all the necessary ingredients laid out in front of you, it is harder to miss something.

• Use the right ingredients. If a recipe calls for butter and sour cream, don’t substitute margarine and applesauce and think you’ll wind up with a recipe that turns out correctly.

• Enlist help! Put your significant other, the kids or any warm body who happens into your home during a baking frenzy to work. They can cut out sugar cookies, cream butter and sugars, wash dishes, frost cookies. Turn it into a fun activity that you all can enjoy!

She Who Better Get Back To Her Baking

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Peppermint Pillows

Posted in Christmas, Cookies, Desserts, Entertaining at Home, Holiday Recipes, tagged , , , , on December 2, 2011| 2 Comments »

The other day I was wandering around the grocery store trying to find what I can’t at this moment remember, but I came across a beautiful bag of peppermint marshmallows.

I had to have them. No clue what I was going to do with them, but had to have them.

So I mulled over some ideas of what to make with the sweet little puffs of peppermint and came up with the following.

These are super easy and pretty yummy, if I say so myself!

Ingredients

If the cookie dough looks too thick, slice it into thinner pieces. I cut these into thirds.

While the cookies are baking, crush the dickens out of a candy cane or peppermint stick.

A great stress reliever...

When the cookies are almost done but still gooey in the middle, remove from oven and top with marshmallows.

While the marshmallows are turning into molten pools of bliss, warm the frosting in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, until thin and pourable.

Remove from oven when marshmallows start to melt.

Pour over frosting

Then sprinkle with crushed candy. I am hoping you aren't quite as messy as I am in the frosting stage of this production. If you are, line your pan with parchment to cut down on the mess and stress.

Peppermint Pillows

1 bag peppermint marshmallows

1 package chocolate cookie dough

1 can chocolate frosting

Candy cane or peppermint stick

Bake cookies according to package directions.(You could also make your own cookies from scratch. I cut the purchased cookie dough into thirds because I didn’t want the cookie to be too thick).

Just before they are done, while the insides are still gooey, place a marshmallow on top and return for oven until marshmallow starts to melt. While the marshmallows are turning molten, put frosting into a microwave safe pitcher and nuke for about 15 seconds or until thin. Do not over cook or it will taste scorched and believe me – that is a horridly nasty flavor.

It will only take a minute or two for the marshmallows to be ready to take out of the oven. When they are, pour on the frosting and sprinkle with crushed candy cane or peppermint. Let cool then roll your eyes in bliss as you take a bite. Enjoy!

She Who Loves Peppermint

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25 Days of Christmas

Posted in Christmas, Entertaining at Home, tagged , , , on December 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I’m sorry.

I feel like I owe you all an apology for my sad neglect of my blog the past few days.

I have excuses!

I had to finish writing at 50,000 word novel as part of the National Novel Writing Month Contest. I am happy to report I finished with 50,008 words at the eleventh hour yesterday. I’m feeling pretty good about reaching this goal!

I also had some stuff going on at work. Our local chamber has a banquet every fall and businesses decorate tables as part of the festivities. This has become a personal challenge for me to come up with something more fantastic and elaborate every year. Yesterday was the banquet and I spent a good amount of time getting our table ready. I have many people to thank for their help in pulling it all together. This is what the finished product looked like:

I’ve also been plotting and planning some fun for this blog.

As some of you may recall, I like to have fun with the 25 Days of Christmas here  as we count down to the big holiday.

Each day you’ll find posts with entertaining tips, decorating ideas, shortcuts, helpful hints and, of course, recipes!

Today’s helpful hint is about getting organized!

Here is an easy game plan designed to help keep you on track, cut down on stress and get you through the holidays with a little more order and a little less fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.
Start by looking at your calendar, organizer or day planner. Pull out all those post-it notes with dates and appointments scribbled on them and start entering them into your calendar. The idea is to get everything into one calendar so you can see at a glance what days you have appointments and commitments and what days you have open.
Think about everything coming up in the next month like church programs, rehearsals, the kids’ school concerts, any parties or gatherings you will be attending, any doctor appointments, hair appointments, manicures and pedicures (if you are so lucky!), and so on. Get all those dates entered into your calendar.
Now, make a list of all the things you want to accomplish before Christmas. Are you planning to send out holiday cards? Will you be doing holiday baking? Hosting a party? Making ornaments? Having the best outdoor light display on your block?
Write down everything you would like to do this holiday season.
Once your list is complete, compare it to your calendar. What dates are open? You will probably find that your want-to-do list is far longer than the dates you have available.
Be realistic.
This is a very important step to maintaining your sanity and some level of fun through the holidays. Set realistic expectations and stick to them. The holiday season, no matter how hard you wish for it, will not magically bestow you with super-hero powers that enable you to accomplish the impossible or miraculously stretch time so you can add an extra three hours of activities into each day.
What can you cut out or cut down? Instead of baking yourself silly for two days straight, why not invite over a few friends for an afternoon, bake together, share the spoils, and be happy with your accomplishments. Do you really need to make 14 different kinds of Christmas cookies?
What can you delegate? Your spouse and kids can certainly put up outdoor lights. The kids can make ornaments. Your spouse can handle a few extra responsibilities. Don’t be afraid to spread around the chores. You don’t have to do it all yourself. Really!
Take another look at that want-to-do list. Circle the top five things you absolutely want to happen and choose dates to enter them on your calendar. Look at the rest of your list and decide what other things could be delegated or could be optional. And when I say optional, I mean that if they happen, that is great, but if they don’t you will not allow yourself to stress or fuss because they didn’t. That is why they are optional. Get it? Great!
And please remember, at the center of all the holiday hub-bub, no one cares if your house is perfectly decorated, if your cookies came from the store or your holiday greetings weren’t the first out this year. You’ll find what your family and friends really care about is the relationships, spending time enjoying one another and sharing from the heart.
If you focus on that, I guarantee you’ll have a very Happy Holiday season.
Quick Tip: Choose one day on your calendar between now and Christmas that is just for you. That’s right! A day just for you. Whether you spend it getting a massage, reading a good book by the fire, or at the spa with a friend (oh, sign me up for that one!), carve out one day for you to rest and recharge. You’ll be glad you did and so will your family. You’ll feel refreshed and ready to tackle all the jolly holiday fun you can handle.

Check back often so you don’t miss out on anything exciting!

She Who is Almost Ready for the Holiday Season to Begin

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Favorite Holiday Recipes

Posted in Christmas, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , on August 15, 2011| 4 Comments »

I realize with the temps hovering in the 90s that it is hard to even stir up any interest in the holidays, but I’m hoping a few of you will humor me today.

I’m interested in knowing what are some of your favorite holiday recipes or traditions.

What recipe do you have to make or it just isn’t Christmas?

What traditions do you follow every year?

What new traditions have you started?

I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts.

I’ll start the ball rolling… I must make sugar cookies at some point during the holiday season. It isn’t an option. I’m sure if I didn’t the world would slip off its axis or some other tragedy would descend upon life as we know it… at least at my house. Generally, Captain Cavedweller can’t even wait until the cookies are decorated to start devouring them.

Let me know what you love to make (or your family insists you make) during the holidays, what one tradition you couldn’t give up.

She Who is Eagerly Awaiting Your Responses

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