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Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Be Prepared for Holiday Guests

Posted in Christmas, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, tagged , on December 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Boxing Day Buffet Lunch Christmas Tree and Log Fire

If you’re the one Ho-Ho-Hosting Christmas festivities this year, here are a few tips to help you be prepared for your guests.

There is nothing that can send a host into a tailspin faster than running out of some basic necessities right before or during a party. Make a list of what you need well before hand, stock up and then relax.

Preparation makes entertaining so much more simple and enjoyable!

Some things to be sure you are well stocked on:

Napkins

Paper Towels

Toilet Paper

Facial Tissues

Aluminum Foil

Plastic Wrap

Garbage Bags

Baking Soda (works well for so many things from neutralizing orders to shining the stainless faucets)

Bleach Wipes (you know someone is going to show up sick and these are a quick and handy way to keep things wiped down and as clean as possible)

Milk and Eggs

Ice

Club Soda (mix it with any type of juice for automatic punch! It is also great for removing stains, polishing jewelry and glass, and settling upset stomachs!)

Munchies (people arrive hungry and get hungrier with all the great smells coming from the kitchen. Have an ample supply of munchies like veggie trays, crackers and cheese on hand.)

Games (if children are in the mix, have a few easy to play games ready. Coloring books and crayons are also a great diversion.)

Last-minute Gifts (keep a few generic gifts on hand wrapped and ready for giving. You never know when you are going to need one. It can be something simple like candles or lotion sets for women and candy, a book or a car-related item – think furry mitt with ice scraper attached – for the guys.)

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Baking Tips and Shortcuts

Posted in Christmas, Holidays, tagged , , on December 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

wrigley finished house 2

If you are the midst of holiday baking (or like some of us who are procrastinating this year and haven’t started), here are some tips to help streamline the process:

• 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 really needs to get something baked

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Sugar Cookies

Posted in Christmas, Cookies, tagged , , on December 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you only make one type of cookie for the holidays, make sure it is sugar cookies. These are so, so yummy!

Most everyone has a favorite cookie recipe and this is one of mine. I make this for Christmas every year and have been seen I was about 17.

I loved to bake when I was a kid and received my first Easy Bake oven when I was 5. That was a great Christmas. I remember whipping up something to give to my grandma who had come to stay with us for the holiday.

Experimenting with recipes was something I did, and still do, enjoy. It was this love of experimenting that led me on a quest for  the best sugar cookie when I was in my early teens. It had to be soft and moist, light and flavorful. After many, many trials and errors, I came up with this recipe that never fails to deliver soft, delicious cookies.

In fact, when I made them last night, Captain Cavedweller wandered in as I was pulling the last tray from the oven. Before I knew what had happened, he inhaled eight of  them, some before they were even frosted. For someone who rarely eats sweets, he was really going to town on them. I had to stand guard over the rest just to get them frosted!

Give them a try and let me know what you think. And hopefully you can get most of them frosted and decorated before they disappear!

Ingredients for Sugar Cookies

Cream butter and sugars.

Add in eggs, vanilla and lemon juice.

Mix together dry ingredients and add gradually to creamed mixture.

Chill dough, once mixed, for about an hour.

When you are ready to roll out the dough, make sure your surface is adequately floured. The dough can be a bit sticky.

Cut out your favorite shapes. Mine would be snowflakes!

Pop into the oven and bake until just set – about 6-8 minutes.

Let cookies rest in the pan when you remove from the oven for just a minute before moving to a wire rack to completely cool.

Frost and…

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

dash of lemon juice

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups flour

Frosting

Cream together butter and sugars. Add in eggs, vanilla and lemon juice. Mix dry ingredients together and gradually add into creamed mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Generously flour a flat surface and your rolling pin. Scoop out half the dough and roll until about 1/4 inch thick. You want to work fairly quickly at this point because the warmer the dough gets the stickier it becomes and you don’t want to add more flour. Cut into shapes and bake about 6-8 minutes or until cookies are just set. You do not want them to get brown at all. Cool in pan for one minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Frost and decorate then watch them disappear.

You can use a royal icing if you are of a mind to stir up a batch or, if you are a lazy slug like me, I whip out a can of Betty Crocker vanilla frosting and frost away. I also like to use decorator gels, especially the sparkly variety, along with sprinkles!

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Last Minute Gift Ideas

Posted in Christmas, tagged , on December 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

If you woke up this morning and suddenly realized today is Christmas Eve and you’ve not started your shopping, here are a few last minute gift ideas.

gift-cardGo for a gift card to their favorite store. Don’t know their favorite store? Try one to a nice restaurant, to the movie theater, where they buy coffee or get their hair done.

wine-bottle-caddy

Bottle of beverage. If they don’t drink alcohol, go for a nice bottle of sparkling cider (emphasis on nice – do not buy the $3 bottle of stuff, get a bottle of real sparkling cider). If they hate cider, put together a basket with mugs, hot chocolate mix and marshmallows.

basket of fruitsPut together a basket of their favorites foods – are they into jerky? Love fine chocolates? Healthy eater who likes fruit?

Single green book

If they like to read, get them a book by their favorite author – or a similar author. If you don’t know what types of books they like to read, get a gift certificate to a book store or a retail outlet like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

coupon
Make up a booklet of coupons redeemable for fun items like a free coffee, an hour of house cleaning, etc.

If you know their hobbies, go to a locally owned store and purchase something that goes along with it. For example, if they love to knit, go to the local yarn shop and buy some of the latest yarns.

Good luck with your last minute flurry of gift buying!

She Who Is Glad to be Done Shopping!

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