A Small Christmas Poem

I have suddenly been overcome by the spirit of Christmas. Very quietly I have tucked little ornaments and touches of the season in the corners of my little nest. I thought this might be a good time to share a small little Christmas poem I wrote last year....perhaps it will inspire you to begin to pull out the porcelain angel your grandmother gave to you or the special candy dish that always reminds you of cut rubies. Enjoy the warmth and wonder...

The simple beauty of Christmas ...

the smells of pine and spicy apple cider,

the way that childhood comes creeping back

in quiet, unexpected ways

the urge to shake a brightly covered box

or the tingle of delight when you

plunge your hand into a bulging

stocking on Christmas morning

and pull out the first small treasure.

The sitting together at days end,

paper strewn everywhere,

the fire crackling,

the heart at rest.

Why Visions of Sugarplums Dance in My Head

Inevitably, when I put these wonderful little confections on my cookie or candy tray, someone will exclaim "After all those years of reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' I finally found out what a sugarplum is!" And once they taste these wonderful little treats, they also understand why "visions of sugarplums danced in their heads".

I cannot imagine serving Sugarplums without first nestling them in those wonderful little fluted gold foil candy cups or piling them high on crinkly tissue in a special candy box...it seems to conjure up that old fashioned magical feeling one would expect from eating such a famous treat.

 They can be made up to two weeks in advance and kept in an air-tight container in the fridge. Enjoy!

Sugarplums

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/2 cup dried figs
1/2 cup dried cherries (or cranberries...I like the orange flavored ones)
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon candied ginger (optional but delicious)
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (the outer orange skin of an orange)
1 - 2 tablespoon Grand Marnier or orange juice


Toppings Options

White Sugar
Confectioners (icing) Sugar
Coarse Brown Sugar (Turbinado)
Finely chopped nuts (I like pecans, walnuts or pistachios)


Sweetened Coconut (finely chopped or toasted)


DIRECTIONS

Nuts: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool before using.



SUGARPLUMS:

Chop the cooled nuts, dried fruits, candid ginger and orange zest until fine (or use a food processor if you are lucky enough to have one)

 Add just enough Grand Marnier or orange juice to hold the ingredients together.

Shape 1 inch (2.54 cm) balls, pressing the balls in the palm of your hands so the ingredients stick together.

Roll each ball in the desired topping (see below) and place on the baking sheet.

Let the balls air dry for about 2 hours (until they are no longer sticky)

Store in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

Serve in fluted candy paper cups.

Makes about 40 - 1 inch balls

Chili Cheese Dip

Photo courtesy of Bush's Beans

With the holidays upon us I wanted to share a few of my favorite appetizers, beginning with this easy dip. Serve warm with tortilla chips.

(I found this recipe in a magazine a few years ago in an advertisement for Bush's Beans. If that brand is not available you can substitute with any can of beans that are already prepared with chili spices)

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

½ cup chunky salsa
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 can (16 ounces) BUSH'S BEST Chili Beans, undrained
3 tablespoons sliced green onions

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine cream cheese and salsa and spread in bottom of 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle with ½ cup cheese. Spread chili beans over shredded cheese. Top with remaining shredded cheese and sliced green onions  Bake for 15-20 minutes until mixture is thoroughly heated and cheese is melted. Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Old Fashioned Cocoa

"I was 32 when I started cooking . Up until then, I just ate"
~~Julia Childs~~

Awhile ago I invited some young girls over to my home for an afternoon of crafts. Afterwards, since the weather had turned frosty,  I served mugs of old fashioned cocoa, made from scratch like my mom used to give me, with a little extra cream and a splash of vanilla extract. A couple of days later one of the girls mothers called me. "What kind of hot chocolate did you give my daughter? She keeps raving about it!" When I told her that I had made it from scratch she was amazed. "I didn't even know you could do that!" she said, "My mom never really made anything much in the kitchen". When the conversation was over I began to think about cooking as a legacy, as an actual generational blessing to my family.  When I stand in my kitchen each day, I try to sense the delight amid the duty for I truly believe that is what my own mother did for us.

Here is my tried and true recipe for hot cocoa to see you through the cold months ahead  Instead of reserving the beautiful dishes for those who seldom come though your doors, ladle this steaming cocoa into lovely mugs and serve it to those you hold dear. Embrace the beauty of this small and simple act and you will find that such things will be remembered fondly long after your children leave your arms. 

Old Fashioned Cocoa
Five 8-oz. servings.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
Dash salt
1/3 cup hot water
**4 cups milk (not skim)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir together sugar, cocoa and salt in medium saucepan
Stir in water and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.
Boil and stir for 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add milk, stirring constantly (Do not boil at this point, simply heat to serving temperature)
Remove from heat; add vanilla.
Beat with a whisk until foamy.

Serve plain or top it with marshmallows or whipped cream and sprinkles, if desired.
** My mother used 3 1/2 cups milk and 1/2 cup of canned milk to add creaminess. I do this as well whenever I have canned milk in the house, but it is perfectly delicious even without this extra creamy addition 

VARIATIONS:
Add one of the following at the same time as the vanilla extract:


SPICED COCOA: 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
MINT COCOA: 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
SWISS MOCHA: 2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee.

Homemade Marshmallows

Last year, at my womens small group study, my friend Becka brought homemade marshmallows to share at coffee time. Up until that point I had only thought of these fluffy treats as things to melt in cocoa or toast on a stick. But one taste of the homemade variety had me thinking of marshmallows in a whole new way. More dense and flavorful that the bagged puffs I grew up eating, these confections make a nice addition to fudge and truffles on a hoiliday candy plate.
Eat them plain or try the varieties with nuts,coconut and chocolate (instructions to follow recipe).

**Keep in mind that these marshmallows need to set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours so you will have to plan ahead.

**As with any candy, a thermometer will take the guess work out of wondering if it has reached the right stage. Barring that, you will need to check for the proper temperature by testing a few drops in a glass of cold water. In this case when you drop a little of this syrup in cold water, if  it forms a rather firm ball  (one that won’t flatten when you take it out of the water, but remains pliable and will flatten when squeezed)  then you may assume it has been boiled long enough. But a candy thermometer is a wise investment if you plan to make candy or fudge in the future.

Ingredients

3 packets (3/4 ounce) unflavored gelatin (like Knox)
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon cold water

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teasonn salt
1/2 cup water

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

Confectioners sugar (for dusting)

First spray an 8x12 inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray and then dust with confectioners sugar ("icing sugar" in Canada). Set aside.

Using a hand mixer, combine gelatin and 1/2 cup plus 1T cold water until blended. Let sit for 30 minutes

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup water and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and cook the syrup until it registers 245 on a candy thermometer, start checking at 6 minutes boiling time but it may take up to 10 minutes or so. Remove from heat.

Take bowl with cooled gelatin mix (it will be very thick) and begin to beat it on low speed with hand mixer. Using your other hand, slowly pour the hot syrup mixture into the gelatine while mixing. Increase speed to high and beat until the mixture is very thick and white and has nearly tripled in volume (about 8 to 10 minutes) and then beat in vanilla.

Scrape the marshmallow mixture into the pan and smooth the top with a spoon that has been dipped in water to keep it from sticking. Sprinkle the surface lightly with confectioners sugar shaken through a sieve.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Turn out onto a cutting board and cut into 1 inch squares. (An easy way to do this is to dust a pizza cutter with confectioners sugar). Once cut , roll each marshmallow until it is lightly coated with confectioners sugar and store in a covered container at room temperature up to 3 weeks. 

**Once marshmallows have been in the fridge overnight and cut into 1 inch squares, you may drizzle them with melted chocolate or dip the tops in melted chocolate and then sprinkle them with chopped walnuts or almonds or coconut.Transfer to a plate and refrigerate until set.

PS--While I was making my first batch of marshmallows I got distracted and over-boiled the syrup/sugar mixture. Before I could get too dismayed however , my son directed my attention to the sign over the entrance to our den...

Ah ha! High on the list of cooking rules is , when things go wrong, improvise. So I sprayed a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and continued to boil and stir the syrup to a hard crack stage, 300 degrees or until  it forms a brittle hair-like strand when dropped into cold water, that snaps rather than bends. At that point I removed it from the heat, added 2 T of rum flavoring and 1 T of butter and stirred.

Then I dropped it by the teaspoon onto the cookie sheet (even finding two left over lollypop sticks to make the boys each a sucker) and put it all in the fridge for 5 minutes. The result? A lovely batch of rum and butter drops!

So by all means, whenever possible when cooking or baking (or even in life) keep in mind "If you stumble make it part of the dance"

Perfect Butterscotch Pumpkin Pie

“Vegetables are a must on a diet.
I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”

~Jim Davis quotes (American Actor. 1915-1981)~

"Perfect" is a subjective word so I know that there may be a few (very few) who might not agree with the name I have given to this pumpkin pie. But after trying out several recipes, all of which were good but not yet worthy of the title , I kept the best feature of each and combined them to make a designer pie that lives up to its name. "Perfect"

Heat oven to 425
Roll out pastry to fit a 9 inch pie plate (See Never Fail Pie Crust in October post archives)
Crimp edges with fingers into a wavy pattern, chill until ready to fill

Butterscotch Pumpkin Filling

1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup evaporated milk (not light) or heavy cream

1 (15 ounce) can of pure pumpkin (2 cups)
1 egg plus 1 yolk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small saucepan combine butterscotch chips and canned milk (or cream) over medium low heat until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Cool slightly

Meanwhile, stir together the pumpkin, egg and yolk, brown sugar, spices and salt until smooth.

Add cooled butterscotch mixture and blend until mixed together.

Spoon into crust and smooth evenly

Roll out the second piece of pastry. Create a pretty pattern either by cutting leaf patterns free-hand (as I did in the photo) or using a mini cookie cutter, make you own design.

Place the top crust over the filled crust and pinch them together

Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.

**Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 35 minutes more.

Cool to room temperature on a wire rack

(A dollop of whipped cream at serving time is an optional, but wonderful, over-the-top addition)

**BECAUSE FRUIT PIES USUALY BAKE FOR OVER AN HOUR, THE EDGES OF THE PIE WILL ALMOST ALWAYS GET TOO BROWN. AT THE POINT IN THE BAKING TIME THAT YOU REDUCE THE TEMPERATURE, I RECOMMEND EITHER COVERING THE EDGES WITH FOIL OR USING A PIE SHIELD (IN PHOTO), AVAILABLE IN MANY DEPARTMENT OR GROCERY STORES

Never Fail Pie Crust

"A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around"

I am not sure why the baking of a pie crust is considered a monumental acheivement. The ingredients are simple and the one absolute rule is uncomplicated...treat the dough gently.

To tell you the truth, I think it was those Crisco Shortening advertisements from the 1970's. A family was gathered at the dining room table while the hostess brought out a pie that looked magazine perfect. But as the guests began to eat it, the mood changed. The crust was tough, so tough infact that no one seemed able to cut through it. Such disappointment gripped the baker that she became dismayed beyond consolation. As she hid out in the kitchen the voice over said, "You should have used Crisco". And from that point on the possibility of a tough crust made women all over North America fearful of such results!

If you haven't tried to make your own before, the folowing recipe is a great basic crust that has been my standby for years.

No Fail Pie Crust


2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick ) butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, chilled and cut into pieces
6 to 7 tablespoons water, very cold


Mix flour and salt in a large bowl.

With pastry cutter or fingertips (I use my fingers), rub the butter and margarine into flour mixture until it resembles coarse oatmeal.

Gradually add water, tossing with a fork lightly until the mixture begins to cling together.

Divide dough in half, shape and flatten into two discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured board or counter top begin to roll out the dough without too much preasure, into a round shape that will cover and overlap you pie plate. (if the dough begins to stick add a light dusting of flour...the less the better)

Gently lift the dough and transfer it to the pie plate. With a knife trim the edges evenly with the edge of pie plate.

For a one crust pie, prick the bottom with a fork at two inch intervals, pinch the edges to make a wavey pattern and bake at 425 for 10 to 14 minutes until golden

For a two crust pie, roll out as above (without pricking the bottom) and dampen edges with a little water, add filling, roll out second pastry piece and lay over the top. Trim edges to fit pan and then use your fingers to make a wavy design, making sure to push the two crust together firmly with your fingers to seal them together. Cut vents in the top crust to allow steam to escape (you can do this randomly or in a pretty star or flower pattern) Bake according to pie recipe directions.

** Use left over pastry scraps to make "Pastry Kisses" (recipe in October's post archives)