Archive for December, 2008

Whoever invented the slow cooker deserves some sort of Nobel prize or something. Probably for peace, since it allows the tired and/or sick mom to still make dinner without losing her patience and keeps the family safe from the terror known as hungry children.

The kids woke us up at 5:50 am yesterday. Add to that, my young downstairs neighbor (yes, the smoking one) plays bass-y music until the wee hours of the night, just preventing a deep sleep, and the fact that the kids jumped on our bed a little too hard, so my back hurts before the night is over. In other words, I am exhausted.

I know that there is no way I will feel like making dinner in a couple hours. Luckily, I was able to put the left over ham in the slow cooker with some split peas (left over from the bean soup jars I made for Christmas presents) and the carrots and celery from yesterday’s crudites platter, and voila, split pea soup for dinner.

Slow cooker = life saver. Or at least, sanity saver.

Anyway, is it wrong that I already started thinking about what I am going to make for homemade gifts next Christmas?

Answer: yes.

I hope you all had a happy day. I did. It was great. Our family time in the morning was very peaceful and fun. Then, my extended family came over, which was not-so-peaceful, but fun also.

Christmas is only a couple of days away.  I have mostly everything done, since we had an early Christmas on Saturday with Bob’s parents.  All of the cleaning and decorating is out of the way, except for the basic daily cleaning.

Today, I am making gingerbread houses and cookies.  I found an awesome PDF from King Arthur Flour with tips and templates for making a gingerbread house.  The PDF also has a recipe, but I used a gingerbread recipe from Martha Stewart (you can click close on the video, if you want).  I used less pepper, since I did not want it too spicy for the kids.  I will post a picture of the decorated house after we do that.

I still have some candies to make and I need to finish the stuffed dog that I am making for Little E, but I am not feeling the pressure and stress that I have in years past because I did most things early this year.

Today, I am printing out the recipes for my menu and making sure that I have everything I need from the store.  Later, I am making one last run to the grocery store.  I hope it is not as packed as it was yesterday!

This is my menu.

• Dijon Maple Glazed Spiral Ham
• Scalloped Potatoes (cheesy variety)
• Rutabaga (boiled and mashed)
• Green Bean Casserole
• Corn
• Parker House Rolls
• Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting
• Decadent Truffle Bottom Chocolate Cream Pie

I have never made or eaten Green Bean Casserole.  I thought it would be fun to try this classic holiday dish.

I always have a hard time getting things done in the couple of days before Christmas because the kids are so hyper and wild.  This is one of those times that I wish I could put them in school for just one day!

I had Bob take the day off tomorrow, so I will be able to get my baking done without all of the hassle.

I hope everything is going well with your holiday preparations.  Try not to get too stressed out.

Consider this a grown-up pumpkin pie.  It is unbelievably delicious.

Maple Pumpkin Tart with Cinnamon Shortbread Crust

Crust

• 1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted) butter, softened
• 6 Tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Filling

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (2 cups)
• whipped cream (optional, for serving)
• maple syrup for drizzling (optional, for serving)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.  Butter a 9-inch pie pan or a 9- to 9 1/2 inch tart pan with removable bottom.

Prepare crust.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended and smooth, about 1 minute.  Sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt and add to bowl.  Mix on low speed until dough forms crumbs and flour is blended, about 15 seconds.

Transfer crumbs to prepared pan.  With clean dry hands, press dough smoothly and evenly into bottom and sides of pan.  Using a fork, prick top of dough lightly  Bake crust 15 to 18 minutes, until firm and lightly colored; edges should not begin to brown.  Let crust cool for 20 minutes before filling.  Lower oven temperature to 325-degrees.

Make filling.  In a large bowl, whisk eggs, brown sugar, and maple syrup, until smooth.  Add cream, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt, whisking just to incorporate.  Use whisk to blend pumpkin in thoroughly.  Pour into partially baked crust.

Bake tart until filling is just set in center and edges are firm, about 52 to 58 minutes.  Transfer to rack; cool completely, about 2 hours.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours, up to overnight.  To serve, gently loosen edges with small knife.  Serve chilled or at room temperature, topping each slice with whipped cream and a drizzle of maple syrup, if desired.

I found this recipe in a magazine put out by my local grocery store.  I could not find it on the internet, so I am posting it here because – oh my! – this is the best pie ever.

Update: Wouldn’t you know, after all that work typing out the recipe, I found it online!  Maple Pumpkin Tart

This year, we gave money to our niece and nephew.  I hate giving money because it seems like a cop out, but they are at the ages, and we see them so infrequently, that we just had no idea what to get them.  So, money it is.

I did want to at least make a money holder myself to give it a personal touch.

I found these clever ideas from – wait for it – Martha Stewart.  (I know, I never link to that site.)

Festive Envelopes made from different decorative papers.

Book of Money, an adorable handmade book with money for pages.

Fortune Cookie made from paper with a personalized fortune and a small fortune, too.

Paper Stocking.  This is what I made.  I used hot glue, rather than sew the two sides together because my sewing machine was put away.  Then I embellished the tops with a piece of felt embroidered with the recipient’s name and a hanging ribbon.

Yesterday, we Bob’s parents came up for an early Christmas celebration.  It was wonderful.  I made a roast beef and it came out very tender and delicious.  That was, I think, the first time I ever made a beef roast that did not come out tough and dry.

This year, we got them a nice basket and filled it with local products – a bottle of wine from a local winery, Champlain Chocolates made right down the street, local meats, cheeses, and, of course, maple syrup.

This is a great idea for relatives that live in a different state, or even locally.

I finally finished the gift basket of homemade bath and beauty products for my aunt-in-law (is that a real title?).

Contents: six bars of plumeria soap, plumeria lotion, a plumeria candle, and plumeria bath fizzies.

I changed the label on the bath fizzies from the hand-drawn one I showed you before to a printed one.  (Sorry, it’s a little blurry.)

Here is the basket, which I picked up at Michael’s craft store on sale.

I finally finished making all of the bath fizzies in different scent/color combinations.  Leaving the base plain and customizing small batches was a great idea, if I do say so myself, and very fun.

Here is the link to the post with the bath fizzie how-to.

One of my favorite homemade gifts to make is the jar mix.  You know, those jars layered with the ingredients to make a soup or some baked dessert, like cookies?

I have three books filled with recipes and ideas, but one of my favorites comes from right here on my trusty old internet – Confetti Bean Soup.  It even comes with a printable tag with directions for the recipient.  This jar looks great and makes a nice warm meal for a cold winter day, just add tomatoes.

If you use this recipe, throw in an extra bouillon cube.  I taste-tested this recipe before I made the jars to give out last year and it really needs the extra cube.

My mother-in-law said she loved the soup, as did Bob and I.

For a special touch, you can decorate the fabric cover with some embroidery.  You could even personalize it.

If you don’t embroider, try glitter glue pens for a personal touch.

The past few days, I have been working on making bath fizzies to give for Christmas, along with other homemade bath and body products – soap, lotion, and lip balm.

The Soap Queen has a great tutorial (part one, part two).  Here is another method from Martha Stewart.

I used the Soap Queen method, except I used water instead of witch hazel because I forgot to buy witch hazel.  I used a 1/4 measuring cup as my tablet-shaped mold.

I mixed a big batch of fizzie base – 1 lb citric acid and 2 lb baking soda.

Then I scooped out smaller portions to fragrance and color.  Here is the plumeria, which I colored with rose mica.

These are scented with Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey fragrance and colored with light gold mica.

And here is the final packaging for the Plumeria fizzies.

These I will put together with the Plumeria soap and candle I already made, along with some lotion, in the gift basket I am making.

I still have a few more fragrance/color combinations to do, including lavender, to which I will also add some dried lavender.

If you were my husband and you didn’t know what to get me for Christmas, you could go to either Michael’s or Wal-Mart and get me just about anything from Martha Stewart’s craft lines.  Especially if it had to do with glitter.  Or pens.  Or glitter pens.  (Really any kind of pens make good stocking stuffers.)

I’m just saying.

Not that my husband needs any help figuring out what to get me for Christmas.