Wednesday, July 16, 2025

A unique project: transferring a picture to a candle

 


 I've had this idea saved for awhile, and it occurs to me that summer might be a nice time to try it.  This is not the same as what I have pictured at top; that one was made very simply with card stock cutouts and ribbon.  As you will see, the project I'm linking to today does not involve an actual candle, but the flameless type which makes the procedure much safer.

This tutorial is from Diana at Dreams Factory: How to Put a Picture on a Candle.  

The tutorial includes some beautiful printables to create candles for either Christmas 

or Autumn.

Other than the printables, supplies needed include a printer (laser for best results); tissue paper (plus paper tape and card stock to use in the tissue paper printing process); scissors; wax paper; flameless battery-operated WAX candles (not plastic); and a hair dryer or heat gun.

After printing your design of choice on tissue paper following Diana's directions, you then proceed to apply it to the candle using wax paper and a heat gun or hair dryer.  I won't go into detail here; you can read Diana's post for yourself and see just how it's done.

What do you think?  Is this a technique you would attempt?  The result is certainly beautiful!


Tuesday, July 15, 2025

An adorable Christmas pillow to sew!

 


Okay, so first I have to tell you about this gorgeous Christmas fabric, Santa's Tree Farm by Lisa Audit for Riley Blake Designs.  Then I can tell you about the pillow.  I had in mind to only post about fabrics once a week, but this fabric is too lovely, and is essential to the pillow project, so I have no choice but to post about it. ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

Here's how Riley Blake Designs describes the fabric: "Grab a mug of cocoa as you peruse the main and coordinating prints of snowy scenes, woodland creatures, snowflakes, plaids, berries and boughs. The cozy palette of sky, green, snowy, forest and Rudolph will have you dreaming of a white Christmas and making all kinds of project plans for those wintry days ahead."

The link in the first paragraph should take you to the storyboard where all of the fabrics are pictured.   (There's also a free quilt pattern, among other goodies.)  They are beautiful!  Here are just a few of my favorites that I took screenshots of.

Here is Berries & Boughs in the Forest color, plus Green Plaid and Sky Snowflakes.

Snowy Plaid and Snowy Snowflakes

This is Berries & Boughs in the Sky color

Now, for the pillow.  It's Santa's Tree Farm Applique Pillow, and it's designed by Sara B. of @SaraBQuilts.  Sara has shared a great tutorial as to how she designed and sewed the pillow.

 
Isn't it sweet?  This is a project I would love to sew!



Monday, July 14, 2025

Pink Lemonade Bars

 


 I mentioned a few days ago that I would try and post the recipe for Pink Lemonade Bars featured in the little cookie booklet Visions of Sugarplums.  To me these would be perfect for a summer cookie tray, but they would be pretty at Christmas time as well.

PINK LEMONADE BARS

Crust:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Topping:
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 Tblsp. freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
5 drops red liquid food coloring

Confectioners sugar for topping

Heat oven to 350ยบ.  Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil, letting foil extend above pan at both ends.  Coat foil with nonstick baking spray.

For crust, beat butter, flour, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with mixer until blended and crumbly.  Press over bottom of prepared pan.  Bake 15 minutes or until light golden.  Remove from oven but do not turn the oven off.

While crust is baking, make topping.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice, flour and baking powder with mixer to combine.  Add food coloring and beat until topping is pink in color.  Pour over the hot crust.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes until top is golden and topping has set.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Lift foil by ends to cutting board.  Cut bars in 6 rows lengthwise and 8 crosswise to make 48 bars.  Dust with confectioners sugar.  Makes 48 bars.

(No mention of when to remove the foil.  I think I would do it before cutting the bars, so as not to get shreds of foil mixed in with them.)  

There it is!  Enjoy!

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Mistletoe & Holly -- another gorgeous Christmas fabric collection!

 

1950s Christmas card

 Wow, here is more glorious Christmas fabric!  This Mistletoe & Holly collection is from one of my favorite designers, Beverly McCullough, who does so much more than simply designing fabrics.  Visit her at Flamingo Toes for more inspiration for sewing, embroidery, and more -  and to visit her shop.  You are sure to be charmed and inspired.

But on to Mistletoe & Holly!  I will just share a few of my favorites from this collection.

Mistletoe & Holly Forest main yardage

Cloud Snowflakes yardage

Sage Snowflakes yardage

Silver Mistletoe yardage

Sage Floral yardage

Cloud Plaid yardage
 
Aren't they beautiful?  I love the vintage look.  I can think of many projects I would use these fabrics for.  In addition to the yardage, there is a full variety of precuts in this collection and also a good number of panels to make different projects from.

Saturday, July 12, 2025

A beautiful Christmas card -- "The Lights of Friendship"

 

This is not a super old card -- it's a Leanin' Tree design, likely from the late 1990s -- but I loved the sentiment and the detail in the artwork.  The cover features an original painting by artist Clayton Nicles.  I'm sure if you double-click on the card image you will be able to see it better.

Look at the lovely details: -- a ball of green yarn and a basket of knitting beside the rocking chair; a teacup and bowl of apples at the ready; the teakettle heating over the fire; a well-worn Bible on the mantel.

The tree is simply trimmed with popcorn strings and clip-on candles. 

Gifts are everywhere including in the pocket of the plaid jacket hanging on a hook at left.

And the dear message: "In every home, in every heart the lights of friendship glow."  Don't you love that?  Somehow in our world and culture today we have gotten away from that.  

I want this sentiment to be true of my heart and home.  Wouldn't you agree?  Let's keep the lights on for friendship!

Friday, July 11, 2025

More Readerville projects for handmade gifts

 


Today I will post links to a few more of the gifts I made using the Readerville fabric.  The tote was the first thing I made, and I actually made two of these for book-loving granddaughters.  

I had saved this pattern some time ago: Three-Ten Tote Bag -- three fabrics, ten steps -- and let me tell you, I am so thankful that I did save it and finally got around to making it.  As I mentioned, I made two and they will not be the last ones that I make.

I also made a bookmark, as mentioned earlier, and a pocket size tissue cover.

And then I also made a mug mat (I can't find the pattern I used, but you can see it is six squares of equal size for each side).

and coaster -- 

because both girls are aspiring writers and might enjoy coffee and/or a snack as they work at their computers.

This fun to make gift ensemble was very well received!


Thursday, July 10, 2025

Visions of Sugarplums -- a fun find!

 


This fun little find was the Woman's Day annual Christmas cookie cookbook for 2005, bound into its magazine pages.   

The cookie recipes include Shortbread Trees, Cherry Checkerboards, Peppermint Tea Cakes, Honey Hazelnut Triangles, Raspberry Brownie Cups, Pink Lemonade Bars, Chocolate-Dipped Pistachio Biscotti, Santa's Whiskers, Cranberry Double-Chip Cookies, Ginger Drops, Almond-Orange Macaroons, and Lime Snowflakes & Ornaments.

The Pink Lemonade Bars are pretty and sound so perfect for a summer day!  Essentially it seems one might add 5 drops of red food coloring to a regular lemon bar recipe.  I will try and share the recipe later this week.  

Are there other cookies from this booklet that sound tempting to you?  Let me know and I will share.

Wednesday, July 09, 2025

Easy Quilted Fabric Bookmarks

 


A bookmark is a small gift that almost anyone can use!  Even with all of the books available to read on phones, iPads or tablets, many people (of all ages) still prefer an actual book.  So a bookmark can make a wonderful stocking stuffer or is also a nice flat small gift to give or mail inside of a Christmas card.  

When I made the above tote bag from Readerville fabric by Kris Stammers for Maywood Studio, I had some scraps left over and wanted to make some coordinating pieces to go with the bag.  I had patterns for a coaster, mug rug and tissue holder, but had to go looking for a pattern for a fabric bookmark.

This one, from Pin Cut Sew Studio, really fit the bill: Easy Quilted Fabric Bookmark.  

 

Photo from Pin Cut Sew Studio

This pattern is a really nice one and I especially like that one can use smaller fabric scraps to piece the bookmarks, or just use an entire piece of fabric, as I did.  In the photo above, you can see that the bookmarks on the right and left are pieced from scraps, while the center one is made using larger scraps in their entirety and then simply quilted.  That's the method I chose to use, as I felt my fabric was busy enough without piecing it.  But I do love the look of the pieced and quilted bookmarks too.

Have fun with this idea!  I hope to share the links for the other Readerville projects too -- if not tomorrow, then later in the week.

Tuesday, July 08, 2025

Christmas in July sale at my Etsy shop!!

 



Just a little public service announcement!  I'm running a Christmas in July sale over at my Etsy shop, 
Now through July 24, all items in the vintage Christmas category are 25% off.  There are approximately 70 listings in this category, which includes vintage Christmas cards, both new and preowned, vintage craft books, candy boxes and even a couple of handmade crafts.  Hopefully I will be listing a few more items before the 24th.

Head on over to browse and shop!

Monday, July 07, 2025

Salted Butterscotch Bars

 


Time for a cookie recipe! I like bar cookies, especially in summer, because they are so quick and easy to make.  The oven is not on for long, and a 13x9 pan usually yields at least 24 bars.

These Salted Butterscotch Bars come from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life.  I've shared before how much I appreciate Jocelyn's recipes.  She has a great instinct about putting flavors together and what's going to work in a recipe, plus she keeps the recipes simple.

The bars are made with melted butterscotch chips and brown sugar, along with basic ingredients like butter, eggs, flour, vanilla and salt.  The frosting is made with salted caramel chips (or, if you can't find those, more butterscotch chips) and whipping cream, plus coarse sea salt for the garnish.

Photo from Inside Brucrew Life
 
From my limited research, it looks like Hershey's may not make the sea salt caramel baking chips any longer, but it seems that perhaps some other companies (Lily's, Trader Joe's) do.  In any case it's good to know what to substitute if you can't find the caramel sea salt ones.

Hope you enjoy this recipe if you try it!

Sunday, July 06, 2025

Jingle Bells Christmas fabric!

 


Even if you know me in person, you might not know I'm a Christmas fabric hoarder.  I tend to save even tiny scraps.  I'm also a vintage hoarder, especially drawn to Christmas ephemera from the 1950s and early 1960s.  (I don't hoard it all; I do sell lots of vintage Christmas goodies in my Etsy shop!)  When the love of vintage and the love of Christmas fabric intersect, watch out!

This is one of those times.  This Jingle Bells fabric by Lindsay Wilkes, in a gorgeous vintage green color called "Cottage",  just checks all the boxes for me.  The classic bells, embellished with ribbon and pine, the retro green -- well, I just love everything about it.


This fabric would make lovely pillow covers or even a tree skirt.  Maybe a table runner or place mats.  What would you make with this lovely Christmas fabric?


Saturday, July 05, 2025

Christmas in July iced tea!

 


Recently on Instagram I noticed a giveaway for Christmas in July cranberry hibiscus iced tea.  I was intrigued!  Although I didn't meet the criteria for entering the giveaway, I absolutely had to visit the Republic of Tea website and check it out.

It's a limited edition -- only available while supplies last! -- and this is the description: "This juicy caffeine-free herbal blend has a base of sweet-tart ruby hibiscus and cranberries and finishes with a touch of yuletide spice."

These are the ingredients: Hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, carob bits, apple bits, sweet blackberry leaves, cardamom seeds, natural flavors, chicory root, pepper, cloves, cranberry bits and star anise.  

What an amazing blend of flavors!  It sounds so delicious for a hot July day, don't you agree?

Friday, July 04, 2025

A wartime Christmas greeting from a serviceman

 


Today I am sharing a special vintage Christmas card.  This beautiful pre-owned card is a keepsake from the 1940s and World War II. The die-cut card front features a design of red poinsettias, green holly leaves with red berries, a lighted candle in brass holder, and an ornate-looking album in pale green and pink. The words "Merry Christmas Wishes" appear in a pretty black vintage font on the center of the album, which has a wide blue bookmark in place. This design has a colorful yet classic vintage Christmas look that is very appealing.

Inside the card is the message "May Christmas be merry And gay with good-cheer, And may you be happy Through all the New Year!" in black in the same pretty vintage font. There is a poinsettia and sprays of holly at bottom right, setting off the words. At the top and right is the suggestion of the edges of the allbum pages. An army corporal has signed the card in blue ink.



On the back of the card, the corporal has written a note in the same blue ink.


This keepsake card is currently listed in my Etsy shop. I thought it would be the perfect thing to share for July 4, as this serviceman was part of the Greatest Generation.  We are able to still celebrate Independence Day in a free land thanks to their generation's sacrifice.

Thursday, July 03, 2025

A holiday e-book to download for Christmas baking

 


 Some time ago a friend and I were having a conversation regarding molasses.  I don't even recall the context, though it surely must have had to do with using molasses in a recipe or recipes.

I love the old-fashioned flavor of molasses in baked goods.  Growing up, the only way milk tasted good to me was to stir in a spoonful of molasses.

Many older Christmas recipes for cookies and cakes call for molasses, which is a plus in my book.  

As my friend and I chatted I mentioned that I like the Crosby's molasses, a Canadian brand which our local supermarkets sell.  She was not familiar with the brand, so I looked up the website to send her a link.  In so doing, I discovered that Crosby's has a nice variety of recipe e-books.  You can check them out here: Crosby e-books.

Today I just want to share one of the recipe books.  This one is called simply The Holiday Book.  Here's a screenshot.

 
The description at the beginning reads:

There’s an appealing nostalgia around
molasses. The word alone is rich with
memories of cozy kitchens and warming food:
a slice of gingerbread with butterscotch sauce,
warm buttery biscuits drizzled with molasses,
crispy gingersnaps dunked in hot cocoa...

There are 23 recipes in this ebook, and more than half are cookie recipes.  There are also recipes for candy, snacks, and a couple of beverages.  The cookies pictured on the cover are Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies.  The cookie recipe that caught my eye is a molasses cookie stuffed with cut-up Lindt white chocolate truffles!  Not anything I would have thought of doing, but they look delicious.

If you enjoy baking with molasses at the holidays, you will want to download this ebook!

Wednesday, July 02, 2025

Thinking way ahead to Christmas baking


 Last winter our old nut chopper bit the dust.  Unbeknownst to us, the threads at the top of the glass jar began to disintegrate.  The way we discovered this was somewhat disconcerting.  We had made some coffee cakes over the Christmas season, and had frozen the leftover squares of various coffee cakes.  Enjoying a snack of these leftovers one evening, we came upon small shards of glass in the nut topping on one of them.  It took a bit of detective work and careful inspection of the nut chopper to figure out the source of the problem.

We immediately threw our nut chopper away (along with the remaining squares of that coffee cake!).  If we've needed chopped nuts for anything,  I've used a handheld metal chopper that we've had for years.  But I knew that we were going to need to find a good replacement before any Christmas baking could begin.

Fast-forward to June.  Friends suggested a day trip to the Vermont Country Store in Weston, Vermont.  And -- although we weren't specifically looking for one as we browsed -- there we found this nut chopper that was just what we've been looking for.

The quality looked good and the price was right.  It feels good to have that detail for Christmas baking all taken care of so far ahead of time!

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Creaking open the door to the Christmas Kitchen this July

 


Yes, although I've been absent from the Christmas kitchen since early April, I'm creaking open the door this morning and welcoming you all to Christmas in July.  I can barely express to you in words how very, very busy the past few months have been.

My hope is to post every day (or nearly every day) in July.  I have a few ideas for posts but mostly I will be winging it.  I plan to share ideas, recipes, craft projects, Christmas fabric collections, some vintage Christmas cards and other goodies, and much more.  We will see how it goes!

I've been doing Christmas in July for a dozen or so years, and I often think my ideas are running dry, but somehow I always come up with blog fodder for most days in July.

For today I just want to share a line or two from the Helen Steiner Rice poem "Let Us Live Christmas Every Day".  I featured this poem a number of years ago, but it is worth repeating.

"If we lived Christmas each day, as we should, 
and made it our aim to always do good, 
We'd find the lost key to meaningful living
 that comes not from Getting, 
but from unselfish Giving."

Let's think about at least living this out every day this July.  I will see you tomorrow here in the Christmas kitchen!

Monday, June 30, 2025

Christmas in July begins tomorrow ...

 


... theoretically, anyway.  We will see what happens.

Usually I prepare a good number of Christmas in July posts ahead of time and schedule them to post during the month of July.  That just hasn't happened this year.  I have ideas and plans for posts, but time seems to have flown so quickly and I have been occupied with other concerns.

I intend to do my best to get here to the Christmas kitchen every day in July, but it's all kind of an unknown right now.  I will see you all here tomorrow and we will go from there!

Friday, April 04, 2025

Thinking back to the 2024 miscellaneous cooking & baking list

 


 As I mentioned back in December, I have never made a list like this before, though I often gift food to random people who are not on my "kitchen gifts" list.  The recipients might even vary from year to year.  But I think it's a good idea to have such a list.  

So heading up my list is a cheese log and crackers that we took to a Christmas party along with a cookie tray, just as a help to the very busy hostess rather than a "hostess gift".  I talked with her a few weeks ahead of time and asked if we could help out in this way.  I find that it helps people if I just make a suggestion up front as to what I might bring, and they are often relieved not to have to decide what to ask for.

Friends of ours who live exceedingly busy lives often have a houseful of guests over Christmas.  When this happens, I like to help them out by preparing some frozen entrees, some breakfast foods, and an assortment of cookies.  In 2024 I made granola, a cranberry coffee cake, two frozen lasagnas and two pans of cheeseburger macaroni.  We also gave them an assortment of cookies in a large plastic container to keep in the freezer and bring out as needed.

Here is the Cheeseburger Macaroni recipe:

CHEESY BEEF MACARONI BAKE

1 onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb. ground beef
15-ounce can tomato sauce (the Contadina kind that includes herbs is wonderful!)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups elbow macaroni, boiled and drained
1 cup whipping cream OR half & half
2 1/2 to 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the crumbled ground beef and onion and garlic in a large skilled until beef is no longer pink.  Stir in the tomato sauce and seasoning, salt and pepper.  Spread this mixture in the bottom of a greased 13x9-inch baking pan.

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan; when it bubbles a bit around the edges, stir in the shredded cheese and whisk until smooth.  Mix the cooked macaroni into the cheese sauce and spread this mixture over the meat sauce in the pan.

If you like you can sprinkle with chopped parsley or a bit more shredded cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350ยบ for 25-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

This freezes well and reheats nicely.  If you freeze it, thaw it out (take out of freezer and place in fridge the night before) before baking it.

Will serve about 6.

I have shared the freezer lasagna recipe before, but this is the newest tweak.  I honestly don't think I will tweak it again after this; I have now developed a meat variation in addition to the vegetable one.  I use both of these and the macaroni bake over and over in my volunteer work preparing meals for work crews, so they are absolutely tried and true!

VEGETABLE LASAGNA to freeze

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced (a total of about 1 teaspoon)

16 ounces frozen chopped broccoli (or spinach), thawed

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 1b. ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided use

1 egg

3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese


1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon oregano (or Italian seasoning)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 jar Alfredo sauce (16 oz.)

9 uncooked no-boil lasagna noodles

Additional parmesan if desired 

In a large skillet, cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil until soft.  Add the thawed vegetables and the Italian seasoning.  Stir to combine, cover the skillet, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes.  Turn off heat and set aside.

In a large bowl combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, egg, parmesan, and seasonings.  Mix well.

Grease a 13x9 foil baking pan.  Pour a thin layer of Alfredo sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Layer on 3 noodles.  Spread half of cheese over the noodles.  Spread half of the vegetable mixture over the cheese layer,  then evenly drizzle about 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce over the vegetables.  

Repeat layers: 3 noodles, half of cheese mixture, half of vegetables, another 1/3 of sauce.  

Top with 3 noodles and spread the remaining third of sauce over them.  Cover with remaining 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella.  Sprinkle with additional grated parmesan if desired.

Cover tightly with foil and freeze.  


The night before you want to serve it, remove from freezer and leave it in the fridge overnight.  


1 1/2 hours before serving, bake the lasagna, covered, in a preheated 350ยบ oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand, still covered, for 15 minutes before serving.


CLASSIC MEAT LASAGNA to freeze

1 Tablespoon olive oil 
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (a total of about 1 teaspoon)
1 pound more or less of ground beef (can also use ground pork or sausage)
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 1b. ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided use
1 egg
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon oregano (or Italian seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 jar spaghetti or marinara sauce (24 oz.)
9 uncooked no-boil lasagna noodles
Additional parmesan if desired 

In a large skillet, cook the onions, garlic, and crumbled ground meat in the olive oil until meat is no longer pink.  Add the Italian seasoning and cook a minute or two more.  Turn off heat and set aside.

In a large bowl combine ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, egg, parmesan, and seasonings.  Mix well.

Grease a 13x9 foil baking pan.  Pour a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan.  Layer on 3 noodles.  Spread half of cheese over the noodles.  Spread half of the meat mixture over the cheese layer,  then evenly drizzle about 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce over the meat.  

Repeat layers: 3 noodles, half of cheese mixture, half of meat mixture, another 1/3 of sauce.  

Top with 3 noodles and spread the remaining third of sauce over them.  Cover with remaining 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella.  Sprinkle with additional grated parmesan if desired.

Cover tightly with foil and freeze.  

The night before you want to serve it, remove from freezer and leave it in the fridge overnight.  

1 1/2 hours before serving, bake the lasagna, covered, in a preheated 350ยบ oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand, still covered, for 15 minutes before serving.

As you can see, these are assembled in the same exact way.  I will often double the filling recipe and make two lasagnas at the same time.  

 Well, this has morphed into a longer post than I intended, but I hope it will be helpful to readers!

 

Monday, March 31, 2025

On the last day of March

 


I just wanted to pop in and put up a short post so there would be something for March.  It's simply crazy how busy life has become.  This is the very busy season at our volunteer jobs at a Christian camp.  No campers, but lots of projects!  Mr.T is heavily involved in a remodeling project, making two apartments from an existing space in staff housing.  When other volunteers come to stay, I cook for the work crews.  So we are away from home a LOT.  I do blog while we're away if I find the time, but there's not much extra time to be had in between meal times.  I find too that as we age, everything seems to take longer than it used to.

Mr. T does bake cookies to take with us for lunch desserts, and often it is the old favorite Christmas cookies that all our friends love, such as Chocolate Mint Crisps, Whipped Shortbread, Chocolate Spritz, Secret Spice Cookies, and more.  Lately he has rediscovered my recipe for Cookie Dough Brownies, although I tweak this Taste of Home recipe in a major way by using my own favorite brownie recipe for the base. 

THE PASTOR’S WIFE’S BROWNIES

1 cup flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup melted butter

2 scant cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a mixing bowl beat together the remaining ingredients. Sift in the flour mixture and stir it in thoroughly. (Some people will add 1 cup chocolate chips here.) Scrape into a greased 13x9” pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or just until done. Don’t overbake or you’ll lose the fudgy texture.

 I don't always use chocolate chips in the cookie dough, but if I do they are the minis and I use only about 1/2 cup.  He has in fact just baked a batch to freeze and take with us next week.  These have become a huge favorite with the staff.

Let's see, other doings .... I have been thinking ahead a lot to Christmas in July posts and even to December daily ones.  I keep coming across ideas and quotes it would be fun to share.  As time allows I will probably write and schedule some posts, but time is currently not allowing.

And I'm continuing to work on the Poinsettias and Pines sampler.

It still feels like winter here so it seems perfectly appropriate!

Thursday, February 27, 2025

The actual 2024 Christmas cookie list

 


 It's high time that I share the actual Christmas cookie list for 2024.  It did not turn out to be a carbon copy of the tentative list.  So let's see.  We made 

Chocolate Mint Crisps*
Secret Spice Cookies*
Lemon Shortbread Thumbprints*
Whipped Shortbread*
Chocolate Spritz*
Eggnog Logs*
Almond Raspberry Thumbprints*
Chocolate Orange Cookies*
Sacher Torte Cookies*
Christmas Tree Spritz
Gingerbread Men
Blond Brownies*
Pepparkakor Spritz*
Chocolate-Filled Gingerbread Thumbprints*
Coffee Maple Spritz

* = multiple batches

 I have never made blond brownies as a Christmas cookie, but my hubby loves them and he insisted on doing so.  I'll share the recipe at the end of this post.

The recipe titles in color indicate new recipes -- sort of.  The Pepparkakor Spritz is a recipe we'd tried in 2015 and forgotten about, so I posted about it this year.

The two recipes in color at the end of the list were brand new to us ... recipes I had pinned to try, and I am so glad we did.  Both were unusual and scrumptious!  In fact, our friend Colby told us that the Gingerbread Chocolate Thumbprints may have become his new favorite.  We actually made two batches of those.

Now, for the promised recipe:

BEST  BLOND  BROWNIES

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup vanilla chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped almonds, divided use

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.  Add the eggs and vanilla; mix well.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in the vanilla chips, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped almonds.  Spoon into a greased 13x9” baking pan; spread dough to evenly cover bottom of pan.  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup almonds on top.  Bake at 350ยบ for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.  Yield:  2 dozen.

These blond brownies truly are the best.  They are so easy, and I like the fact that they only call for 1/2 cup butter.  The almonds add a very nice crunch.  These are very quick to make and take along to a potluck or a friend’s house.  Or to add to a Christmas cookie tray ... 

And that's the 2024 Christmas cookie list!



Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Rudolph Day!


 I just realized that today is Rudolph Day for February.  I don't have time for a lengthy post, and realistically nothing Christmasy is happening today, but I thought I would at least acknowledge the occasion.

Above is just a tiny bit of my February decor, which I am sharing today because it includes a Rudolph -- well, at least a deer.  You see him at the left of the photo.  Though he looks almost new, he is actually a ceramic candleholder from my childhood in the 1950s.  The little framed crewel of the skating boy was stitched by me in the 1970s.  The little beaded heart was made by grandchildren and the tag at right was one of my first attempts at paper crafting.

The wintry pitcher was a thrift store find a few years back, and the cardinal in the middle was found in a kitchen drawer while cleaning out my childhood home.  The sparkly runner underneath it all was hand woven by my friend Patty.  It looks like it's black and silver, but what looks like black is actually a very dark green.  So pretty!

One thing I plan to do today is to sort through my box of seasonal paper decorating treasures and winnow out what I no longer use.  So I guess we could call that a legitimate Rudolph Day activity.  Happy Rudolph Day, everyone!


Tuesday, January 14, 2025

The actual 2024 Kitchen Gifts list

 


 Above you see the tentative Kitchen Gifts list from this year.  We did multiple batches of the Eggnog Logs and  Sacher Torte Cookies, and Chocolate Mint Crisps   so we would have plenty for various giftees.

I made a batch of the Golden Apricot Cakes and found that using the bakeable paper loaf pans I got on sale at King Arthur worked very well.  I was able to make 4 little loaves (and really, they're not all that little).  As I mentioned previously, I liked these paper pans a lot.  They were easy to work with and fill, nice and sturdy, and the cakes baked well in them.  When cooled, it was an easy matter to just wrap them in foil -- not plastic wrap and then foil, as I would do with cakes baked in ceramic or metal pans and removed to cool on racks.   

I made two double batches of Christmas granola, I think, and gave two jars and one tin away as kitchen gifts.  


Holiday Special Fudge winged its way to Nevada as a seasonal kitchen gift.

I had BBQ Pecans on my tentative list, but then I found a recipe for Spicy Peanuts that looked easier and less expensive, so shifted gears on that one.

And I needed one more gift for a grandson who enjoys spicy condiments (like barbecue sauce) but buying one was iffy because he can't have high fructose corn syrup.  So I made him a jar of our favorite maple barbecue sauce (recipe to follow here at some point) and he seemed quite pleased with it.

And there we have the actual Kitchen Gifts list!

Saturday, January 11, 2025

The actual 2024 Christmas candy list

 

-- Photo from a few years back -- Josiah making buckeyes, one of his favorite treats, in his own home kitchen --

I always like to review my lists and compare the tentative list I made before the holidays to what I actually did end up doing.

So below is my tentative candy list:

As you can see,  I had six different candies on this list.  Of these, we made only four: 

Multiple batches of Heavenly Delight fudge,  and there will be at least one more, since my hubby has a half can of evaporated milk to use up.

He made one batch of  Easy Salted Caramel Fudge which lived up to his original nickname for it of Tasty Disaster Fudge.  It's delicious though and everyone loves it, so he's planning to make another batch.  (Sugar fast on the horizon!)

He also made Special Holiday Fudge, a chocolate fudge filled with nuts and raisins.  It tastes somewhat like an old-fashioned Chunky bar. This year we experimented with using marshmallow fluff instead of the marshmallows it calls for.  It actually worked out better, so that is going to be a permanent change, and the Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme is available at the dollar store, which helps with cost too.

Of course we had to make Chocolate-Dipped Orange Slices since they have become such a favorite.  So easy!  Just dip orange slice candies from the supermarket into melted dark chocolate.  These are always a fun addition to a cookie tray. 

And we tried one candy that wasn't on the list: the ones made with a small pretzel topped with a Rolo candy.  AllRecipes calls them Rolo Pretzel Turtles.  We just used the recipe from the Rolo bag.  Mr. T and granddaughter Ari made these.  We used the square waffle style pretzels.  We didn't want to put pecan halves on every one, so we used red and green M&Ms on some.  They were very easy to make and very good, but the Rolos were outrageously expensive, so we probably wouldn't do that again unless we found a great sale.


And that was our Christmas candy making for this year!

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Happy New Year!

  


A warm thank-you to everyone who visited my Christmas Kitchen in 2024, and especially during the busy and wonderful month of December!  I hope that each of you will have a happy, healthy, and spiritually prosperous new year.

Isn't the border around the vintage greeting above just precious?  Look at all of the little vignettes!  I love the skaters, the deer in the woods, and the lighted candle in particular.

I believe that God has already given me a word for the coming year, and will be sharing that once I've had time to get my thoughts in order concerning it.  And --like most of us -- I have many goals for the coming year, and I hope to articulate them and blog about them either here or over at my Kitchen Table blog.  One of my goals is to spend more time in my Christmas Kitchen in 2025, sharing projects, ideas and inspiration with all of you.  See you again soon!