Snow!

It came the day after Christmas.....

Christmas Dessert Buffet

After what feels like weeks of baking and projects, our dessert table is finally done! A few of the desserts were eaten before I got around to taking the picture....but that's ok, that's what they're there for!

Holiday Baking :: Hot Cinnamon Chocolate

Once again, this one isn't technically baking, but it's going right along with my holiday baking and holiday treats so I'm going to share it. :)



Ingredients:

* 2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
* 1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Add 2-3 tablespoons of the mix to a mug of hot water and stir! You can also add 2-3 tablespoons of mix to a mug of coffee for Cinnamon Mocha!

I measured 9 tablespoons of mix into the jar (to give about 3-4 servings). I filled the remainder of the jar with a plastic sandwich baggie of marshmallows and closed the lid. Then I decorated the jar with an individual tablespoon for measuring, a mini whisk for stirring, a candy cane and a cinnamon stick to add more flavor, and a gift tag with mixing instructions.

Holiday Baking :: Maple Cookies

Maple reminds me of my Grandparents, and how they always brought maple syrup and maple candy back to us from Vermont, which in turn reminds me of the holidays. So, I decided to include a maple cookie on our dessert buffet. They are tiny cookies in the shape of a maple leaf, frosted with icing that has the slightest hint of maple,and then sprinkled with brown sugar. In honor of Grandma & Grandpa Hawkins!



1 cup margarine or butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or maple flavored syrup
1/3 cup milk
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger

In a medium saucepan, combine the margarine or butter, brown sugar,and maple syrup. Bring the mixture to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature. Stir in the milk.

In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, baking soda and ginger. Add the cooled syrup mixture to the flour mixture. Stir till thoroughly combined. Divide the dough in half. Cover and chill about 3 hours or till the dough is easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough to to 1/2 inch thickness. Using a maple leaf or other leaf shaped cutter,cut dough into leaaf shapes. Place 1 inch apart onto un-greased cookie sheets. Using a table knife, score vein designs in the cookies (I didn't do this part because I was frosting mine. With no frosting on the cookie, the veins will be visible).

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 6-8 minutes or till bottoms are lightly browned. Remove cookies; cool on wire racks. Makes about 40 cookies.

Our Basement :: My Studio

I always wanted an office/studio to work in, and now it's finally done! (Well, almost...). I'd like new flooring of some type, and a new desk and chairs. So we've still got a little ways to go with adding the finishing touches....but the hard work part is over!

Move-In
September 2009





Beginning to Transform after a coat of paint...
November 2009






Finished Product (Almost...)
December 2009

Holiday Baking :: Russian Friendship Tea

This isn't really "baking"...... but it's mixing of ingredients..... so it can go under Holiday Baking I guess. :) This warm, spicy, tangy and sweet drink (according to Jamie) is like "Christmas in a Mug". It's our new holiday favorite!



2-1/2 cups Instant Orange Drink Mix (like Tang)
1-1/2 cups Instant Lemonade Mix (like Country Time)
1-1/2 cups Instant Unsweetened Tea
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Cinnamon sticks (garnish)

First of all, you need to mix your tea ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly combined. (This made almost exactly 40 servings for me, or 80 tablespoons). Stir 2 tablespoons of the mix into a mug of hot water and enjoy!

Holiday Baking :: Apple Tea Cakes

I started the holiday baking today! This was in my cookie book as a pecan tea cake, but since I'm not a fan of pecans I decided to change it a bit. I used the last apple I had in the fridge to replace the nuts. Yum! They're heavenly little bites! Here's the photos and the recipe!



1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 3oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 cup all purpose flour
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter or margarine (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 large Gala apple, peeled and diced

For crust, in a small mixing bowl beat the 1/2 cup margarine or butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed about 30 seconds, or until softened. Stir in the flour. Cover and chill for about 1 hour or till dough is easy to handle.

Form the chilled dough into a ball. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions,roll each portion into a ball. Place each ball into an un-greased muffin cup. Press the dough evenly against the bottom and up the sides of the cup. Cover and set aside.

For filling, in a small mixing bowl stir together the beaten egg, brown sugar, cinnamon, melted margarine or butter, vanilla, lemon juice and diced apples. Fill each dough lined muffin cup with the apple mixture.

Bake at 375 for 20-24 minutes or till filing is set and crust is lightly browned. Cool slightly in pans before serving.

Holiday Decorating

We finished decorating the living room for Christmas! That handles the first round.

In the Holiday Spirit!

After 10 days of the flu - or cold - whatever it was that I had, I'm finally feeling better! Good thing too, because I've been itching to get my Christmas decor up! Today I finished the mantle over the fireplace, setup the table in the kitchen for a dessert buffet, compiled a list of addresses for friends and family to send Christmas cards, and cleared a corner in the living room for the Christmas tree.... all the while listening to some jazzy holiday music! When Jamie gets home from work in just a few minutes we're going to buy our Christmas tree and do some Christmas shopping, then home to set up the tree and start gift wrapping.

Oh - and we had our first snow today! I'm sure that helped me get into the holiday mood! I just wish we could decorate outside! Until this year we've always been in an apartment, so no need (or place) for outside decor. Now that we have a house I'm really looking forward to decorating outside for all the holidays. Guess I can hit the sales on decor after Christmas and begin stocking up for next year! :)

I'll post some pictures later of our fun night of decorating!

Thanksgiving & Jamie's Birthday

Jamie's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year, so I made a birthday pumpkin pie for him. :) Happy Birthday Jamie!









Then we had the Thanksgiving/Birthday dinner, which was way too much food for us to eat by ourselves. We'll have leftovers for a week! :) But I'm traditional, so I had to have the turkey, the stuffing, the cranberries, and all the fixin's (that's Texan) that go along with it. So, we also had ham (which is my favorite holiday food), homemade macaroni & cheese, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. Plus, I made my mom's cheese dip & tortilla chips for us to snack on during the Cowboys game while we waited on the turkey to cook. Oh yeah, I made apple pie and blueberry pie, too. :)