Elderberry Twirls

Elderberry Twirls are a new favorite for our Christmas celebration:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 eggs

1 tsp. rum extract (for an egg noggy taste)

3 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup elderberry jam (any jam can be substituted)

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, eggs, rum extract and flour. Divide dough in half and chill for one hour. Heat jam and cornstarch until thick and bubbly, add pecans. Set aside to cool. Roll out chilled dough, spread jam mix on it. Roll into logs and refridgerate for 4 hours. After chilling cut logs into 1/4 inch slices, bake 10 to 12 minutes at 375.

Frosting Cookies

One of our family traditions is to bake and frost sugar cookies. Both my husband's family and my family frosted and we are carrying it on in our family. Since we already had the table full with treats we did our frosting on the coffee table. Yes, this could have been a recipe for disaster but it actually worked out quite well. The kids frosted, Dad oversaw the process and took pictures and I finished up the last of my cookie baking. I have learned to let go of visions of perfectly frosted and designed cookies and just let the kids have fun.

We are frosting people. I do not care for fondant. Frosting: 1 cup butter, 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tblsp. milk, 2 tsp. flavoring (vanilla, peppermint etc.) Mix all together. More milk can be added to get it to a consistancy that you like.

We use cake decorator's paste food coloring to make the different base colors and then we buy tubes of other frosting from the baking aisle of the local grocery, we also use sprinkles, colored and candied sugar etc. if you can put it on a cookie... we have probably used it.

For those of you who dream of beautiful and precisely decorated cookies check out The Flour Pot Cookie Book: Creating Edible Works Of Art by Margie and Abbey Greenberg or check out their website www.flourpotcookies.com. They work with fondant but with a little more work you could do quite a few of the designs in frosting.

Success!

I, for the first time in my life, made my Mother-in-Law's divinity correctly! It wasn't too soft or too hard. It was light and fluffy! Small victories make me very happy! I also made peppermint bark yesterday. As you can see, my youngest was all too ready to help out. LOL! I still have my cookie making to do now. Grandma Ethel's Sugar cookies and a little jam filled number that I discovered last year. I'll post the jam cookie recipe tomorrow but Grandma Ethel's is a family secret!

Dana over a My Simple Gifts also spent the day making candy but she had a little "cat" incident. Never-the-less I thought her candy turned out beautiful! Check it out at http://mysimplegifts.blogspot.com .

Christmas Tray Finds

I found "such a deal" at a local thrift store! I went in looking for a couple Christmassy plates, tins or trays so that the DH could take treats to work and not have to worry about bringing the plates home. I found a plastic Christmas tree shaped tray for $1 and a pretty plastic plate with a jolly looking St. Nick on it for .50 cents. I was good to go. I figured I was saving at least half buy purchasing them used but when I got to the counter I found out that they were both half price. I paid .80 cents total! (Tax you know.) What a deal and so much more festive then tinfoil or one of our everyday plates. Yeah!

Show and Tell Friday

One of the best things about having a birthday five days before Christmas is that I have great reason to use some of my "hospitality" orientated presents right away. My husband was spot on with his present to me: A four tiered dessert server. Of course every time I walked by it in Costco I was "oohing and ahhing" at it so it was an obvious pick... I made it that way on purpose. Now it sits on the table waiting for the rest of my Christmas baking and candy making to get done so I can fill it. For more show and tell Fridays go to http://www.kellishouse.blogspot.com .

Candy Making Dreams?

I have recently been dreaming about opening a candy store: fudge, toffee, chocolates etc. Candy is big business in Michigan's Upper Penninsula. Mackinac Island is loaded with fudge shops, as is the mainland in that area. I make a great fudge, but my divinity never turns out quite right- it's either too hard or too soft, I made too soft carmel earlier this year (it was in-between dipping consistancy and being solid enough to cut into soft pieces) and too brittle/slightly burnt toffee a few days ago. Making my own candy isn't looking too good. Perhaps if I made each thing more than once a year?

Making candy always has this romantic notion tied to it but I think it is a very difficult skill to master and is a lot of work. I tip my hat to people who make a go in the candy biz as manufacturers- especially small home businesses.

Perhaps I'll just open a candy store that sells other peoples candy. Dylan's candy bar in NYC is very popular. http://www.dylanscandybar.com/

Now I'm off to make some more fudge, try my hand at this year's divinity and make a batch of peppermint bark.

www.christmas-cookies.com/reicpes/recipe191.fantasyfudge.html for my fudge (It's the recipe on the back of Kraft's Jet-puffed marshmallow creme.)

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/5739 for layered peppermint bark

Mom Lewis' Divinity: Dissolve in Pan: 5 cup sugar, 1 cup Karo syrup, 1 cup hot water, 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix until boils. Stop stirring, wash off grainy stuff from top of pan, cook to 248 degrees (250 for rain). Beat three egg whites till stiff. Slowly add hot mixture and 2 tsp. vannilla to eggs. Beat until it loses its gloss. Add nuts when gloss returns, pour into baking dish. Refridgerate. I should say that my mother-in-law lives in Western Oregon which is not a high altitude place so if you live at a higher above sea level place you will need to determine the right tempurature to cook your candy to. Please don't ask me to do the math for you. LOL!

Let me know how these recipes work for you!

You know your 9 year old isn't feeling well when...

She is laying on the couch, covered with a blanket and asks for water in a sippy cup. She hasn't drank from a sippy cup in years. She asked for, "Water in a sippy cup with a plug." This is so she can drink while lying down. On the plus side, she did eat a good breakfast and says she's just feeling tired. I checked her forehead and she does have a slight temperature. The boy had the same thing last week for a couple of days- a fever and tiredness. These are actually sick times I don't mind. The kids are quiet and content on the couch and there is no mess to clean up. Where is wood for me to knock on. LOL!