The actual Christmas candy list

 

 Yes, I mentioned some candy in my post about kitchen gifts, but not all that we made.  So, here goes with a list of candy we actually prepared for Christmas 2022.

Heavenly Delight is always at the top of our candy list.  Originally known as Double Decker Fudge , this is a layered chocolate-peanut butter fudge that is a huge favorite in our family.  It is in the center of the tray below.

Another big favorite with certain people  (and so it must go on our candy list every year) is Special Holiday Fudge, which is chocolate filled with nuts and raisins.  It tastes somewhat like an old-fashioned Chunky bar.   

 

Arlene's Easy Fudge is another favorite of ours.  I don't think I have a photo of it, but it's just a good, incredibly easy fudge that you make by just melting together a few ingredients.  It's possible that's what Sam is preparing in the photo below.

The  Chocolate-Dipped Orange Slices

have become a must for our family and friends.  I like to add them to a cookie tray for interest and color, but also because they are so delicious and festive tasting.

Of course we also did some candy making with four local grandkids.  You see my blog post and my note (miraculously located!) from 2021.

The Easy Salted Caramel Fudge from Something Swanky is just one step beyond Arlene's fudge, as it's the same simple type of recipe with baking chips and sweetened condensed milk.

The peppermint-drizzled oreos were simply purchased oreo-type cookies drizzled with white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermints.

We didn't get to the other varieties of candy on my tentative list, but hope springs eternal for next year.  I used to make peanut butter balls nearly every Christmas.

And that was our Christmas candy making for this year ... although Mr. T continues to produce batches of Heavenly Delight as we proceed through the winter months!

The actual Christmas kitchen gift list

 

So I really need to edge my way back into the Christmas kitchen and talk about kitchen gifts.  I think 2022 may have been one of those rare years when we gave every one of the kitchen gifts that were on our tentative list.  This list doesn't include candy, but it does include a few specific cookies that we gift to certain people every year.  

Sacher Torte Cookies go to one lady on our list; Eggnog Logs go to two others.  Chocolate Mint Crisps go to a male friend and also to a teenage boy.  You can do a search for any of these cookie recipes here on the blog, and they may even be in my post about what we do with all these cookies.

Christmas Granola is simply my old favorite Homemade Granola with dried cranberries and shelled pistachios stirred in at the end.  My son-in-law and several others get jars or canisters of it.  It always seems to go over well and makes a nice gift for a family.

My walking partner gets her very own loaf (or more than one, if the loaves are mini size) of Apricot Cake.  It's sort of a cross between a bread and a fruitcake.

Both Eggnog Logs and little Apricot Cakes are in this photo.

I enjoy wrapping the little loaves up in a pretty way for kitchen gifts:

This year I tried a new recipe for Caramel Cinnamon Chex Mix to use as a kitchen gift instead of the Cinnamon Pretzels I've made for years.  I was very pleased with how it turned out, and will be making it again next Christmas and for the foreseeable future.

And that's the kitchen gift report for 2022!

A little bit of new decor ... and something old

 

 Just a quick post to share a couple of my new-for-2022 Christmas decor items.  There is a fun story about that sweet metal sign above.  

One afternoon before Christmas, I spent a few hours at my daughter Carrie's home, crafting with her and her girls.  This is something we desperately wanted to find time for, and we managed to shoehorn it in.  I'm sure I wrote about it at the time, either here or on my Kitchen Table blog.  One of the things we did was to make the lovely yarn Christmas tree garlands below.

As I looked admiringly at Carrie's Christmas decor, I spied the adorable, very vintage-style metal sign hanging on a wall.  I immediately asked Carrie (who was out of sight in the kitchen) where she had found such a treasure.  "Wal-Mart!" she snickered, coming around the corner with a gray plastic bag in her hand.  "I knew you would love it, so I got one for you, too!"

What a wonderful early Christmas gift!  She is so incredibly thoughtful.  The photos are of the metal sign on my own wall.  I simply adore this sign.  It speaks to my heart and says so much of what I feel about my Christmas memories.  And the sign itself is a lovely memory of our afternoon together.

Another new sign has a much more prosaic source -- Dollar Tree.  This is in our front hallway hanging among all the Christmas cards.  Through the doorway you can glimpse our living room and photo wall.

 

Below you see the cropped photo giving a much closer look at the sweetness of this sign.  I really like that except for the "Christmas Trees" part, this is really more of a winter sign.  You can't tell, but in spite of its shabby look it has many touches of glitter.

And just one more thing to show you.  This is not new, but it's my first time displaying it: a vintage mint tin found at my childhood home.

 

I put this out for February with a nod to red Valentine sweetness, even though it isn't a Valentine item.  I tucked it in a corner of my hutch with non-vintage jadeite style sugar and creamer and a sparkly card from cousins, with a wintry scene.  If you can't read it (I know the photo is a bit blurry), the writing on the tin says "Snow Drop Mints."

Decorating for Christmas, then winter, just makes my heart glad.

The actual 2022 Christmas cookie list

 January was certainly busy!  I didn't find a minute to get in here as I usually do to report on the actual holiday output of the Christmas kitchen.

At the top of the post, you see our tentative Christmas cookie list.  Of these my hubby baked:

Lemon Shortbread Thumbprints

Secret Spice Cookies

Chocolate Mint Crisps

Whipped Shortbread

Chocolate Spritz

Almond Raspberry Thumbprints

Eggnog Logs

Christmas Tree Spritz

Sacher Torte Cookies

Gingerbread Men

He made multiple batches of most of these.  He also baked several varieties of cookies not on the list:

Macaroon Kisses

Lemon Spritz

Peanut Blossoms

And I made a few cookie varieties  myself:

Chocolate No-Bakes

Chocolate Nutters

Chocolate Orange Cookies

Mint Chocolate Spritz Trees

(Hmmm ... I am sensing a theme in the cookies I chose to bake. 🤔)

And that's a wrap on this year's cookie baking.  I have no idea on total numbers, and no wish to know just how many pounds of butter were used. 

"What do the two of you do with all those cookies?"

 

Inquiring minds seem to ask this question every year.  Yes, that is a wooden glider on our screened front porch, stacked with many cookie containers and a couple of fudge tins!  We live where it gets very cold in December, so this is a workable way of storing cookies for the season.

My hubby started working on Christmas baking in November.  By November 25, he had already made three batches of Heavenly Delight fudge, along with double batches of Secret Spice Cookies, Chocolate Spritz, and Chocolate Mint Crisps, and a large batch of Whipped Shortbread.  By Christmas he had made Lemon Shortbread Thumbprints, Macaroon Kisses, Peanut Blossoms, Lemon Spritz, Christmas Tree Spritz, Eggnog Logs, Sacher Torte Cookies, and Gingerbread Men.  I had made Chocolate Nutters, Christmas No-Bakes, Chocolate Orange Cookies, and possibly another kind.  I forget.  Most of his varieties were double batches.  There were several kinds I had hoped to make that there just wasn't time for.

Hence the question: What do the two of you do with all those cookies?

Well, we do share a lot of them with other people.  Some wing their way to family in Nevada.  Several people on our list get a special, personal plate of their very favorite cookies.    Like the plate below of lemon shortbread thumbprints.

We give cookie plates to several of our neighbors.  (The plates below are examples from previous years.)  If we hear that a friend or family member is stopping by, we prepare a cookie plate for them to take home.  And Mr. T has been taking a cookie tray whenever he goes to his volunteer job at The Wilds of New England.  I took a plate to the staff at my dentist's office.

We take a cookie and fudge tray to Christmas dinner, where it is often all the dessert that's needed.  Below you see a partially depleted tray.

And below you see how it might have looked before anyone had dessert.  This was last year.  Just have to brag on Julia, who made those amazing caramel thumbprints, which taste even better than they look.

And she made them again this year, but this photo is from 2021.

We also served a cookie tray when our two older granddaughters came on Tuesday for their Christmas with us.  Christmas No-Bakes are one of their favorites.  Below is an older version.  This year's were simply drizzled with white chocolate, but I didn't get a picture.  Truth to tell, I'd forgotten about the marshmallow variation.

And of course, when we are invited to a Christmas party or there's an event at church or elsewhere, a cookie and fudge tray comes along with us.  There have been several such events this year.  Below you see a cookie tray and then a cookie and fudge plate, both ready to head out the door for Mr. T's work Christmas party.

And that is what the two of us do with all those cookies!

A festive breakfast

  Prior to our candy making and craft adventures,   these four of our grands -- three teens and an 8-year-old -- came to our house for breakfast.  (The photo is from the fall.)  Astute readers will notice a resemblance (but not an exact one) to last year's menu.

I kept breakfast simple but hearty with breakfast sliders and a Hash Brown Casserole.  The hash brown casserole is always a big favorite with this crowd.  The little one wasn't sure ... but she tried a serving and came back for more!

The sliders were from Jamie at My Baking Addiction.  I had made these for our friends Syd and Cyndy back in November and we all loved them, including some of these very same teens who snacked on the leftovers.  I made homemade sausage patties instead of using purchased sausage.  I used sliced cheddar for the cheese component.

Photo by Jamie at My Baking Addiction

I imagine some readers might like to have the homemade sausage recipe.  I have posted it here before, but it's been a few years.  So here it is:

HOMEMADE SAUSAGE PATTIES

1/4 cup water
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. rubbed sage
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
2 lb. ground pork

In a bowl, stir together water and seasonings. Add pork and mix well. Shape meat mixture into eight 4” patties (or a larger amount of smaller ones). In a skillet over medium heat, cook patties for 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in the center.

This is such a yummy recipe for homemade sausage! I often cut the amounts in half to make a smaller batch. This sausage is very lean and not at all greasy.  For these sliders, I used about 1 1/4 pounds of ground pork, which is what I had, and used half the amount of seasonings specified here.

 Along with the sliders and hash brown casserole, I also served some Cinnamon Fried Apples.  This is a recipe which my Nevada daughter sent me.  It tastes similar to, maybe better than, the Cracker Barrel fried apples.

As before,  every scrap was eaten.  I just made a couple of changes to the recipe as written: rather than cut the apples in bite size pieces, I sliced them; and I used only 2/3 the amount of cinnamon called for.  I used three Ginger Gold apples and 2 Cortlands, all a little on the soft side.  I didn't peel them.  A good use for apples that are on their way out.

That was our breakfast!  It fueled us up for a fun and busy day.

The traditional ice cream sundaes

 Once again this year we took four of our local grands for ice cream sundaes.  This is a tradition of some years' standing.  (Photo at top is an older one.)  For a number of years we did a meal out, Christmas shopping for their parents, and the ice cream smorgasbord at Kellerhaus, with 3 of the kids.  Their little sister joined in for December 2019.  In 2020 we tweaked the tradition, serving both breakfast and ice cream sundaes at home.

In 2021 we changed it up again, skipping the shopping trip and having breakfast, craft and candy making, all at home before heading off for ice cream sundaes.  We followed that same general format this year.  Maybe tomorrow I can post our breakfast recipes.

Josiah with spoon poised for a first taste!

Sam, Josiah, Grampa and I were at this table.

Julia and Ari had their own table.  The tables are fairly small.

I was a little disappointed in Kellerhaus' Christmas decor this year.  It wasn't as festive as of old, and the player piano still isn't working.  But the homemade ice cream is better than ever, and there are many more flavors to choose from.  Most still prefer vanilla, though, as there are so many toppings.

And that was this year's ice cream extravaganza!

Vintage scraps

 

 I'd forgotten all about this little bit of history and I am so happy to have stumbled across it again!

Back when I was cleaning out my childhood home, I spent a lot of time sorting through Christmas wraps, cards, tags, etc., both new and used.  Some things, I kept; used (and some unused) cards are being sold on Etsy; boxes full went to the thrift store.  At some point I came upon this little "craft" that I made as a child.  I tucked it in with the tags I was keeping and forgot about it. 

This year, I think it was on Christmas Eve, I was looking through my box of tags to find some that had strings so I could tie them to the handles of gift bags.  And again I came upon this little scrappy item.  

 It's something I made, of that I am sure.  I'm guessing it was something I did (or something my mother suggested that I do) to keep me busy while she was working on projects of her own.

It's pretty simple, you see; just rectangles cut from wrapping paper and laced together at the top with a bit of silver cord.  You can see that I embellished the top one with a snowflake sticker.  Some readers may recall that I found the partial package of stickers in a box of crafting odds and ends from my childhood home. 

 

I'm sure it must have been wrapping paper that I cut the rectangles from.  Wrapping paper featuring various Christmas stockings.  You see how the top rectangle has a green stocking with a poodle applique and a gray fur trim at the top.  I'm thinking it had a large gray pompom on the toe, that I covered with a sticker.

 

The second "page" in this creation featured a red stocking with a green cuff, a train applique and golden jingle bells on the toe.

The third "page" featured a real stunner of a stocking: one fashioned to look like a white high-button shoe with green heel and trim and golden buttons.  It's stuffed with mistletoe and holly!

And the last page -- I am terming them "pages" for lack of a better term -- is a red and green stocking with a knitted look.  It has a white fur cuff and a kitten peeping out of a gift box.

I'm not sure what this crafting effort was intended to be in the end.  A gift tag?  A package embellishment?  A tree ornament?  One thing it surely did accomplish was to start my lifelong love of Christmas crafting. 

Hope this little bit of crafting history has brought a nostalgic smile to someone!

Making candy and crafts with the grands

 

 This year our special activity with four of our local grandchildren took place the Tuesday of Christmas week.  It was the day that worked out for everyone.  As they get older there are things that could potentially conflict, and their responsibilities of work, orchestra, and other activities have to be worked around.  

Some readers may recall that last year we tweaked the tradition and did some candy making and crafting with them, and skipped the shopping part of the expedition.  We did, however, continue our ice cream sundae tradition at Kellerhaus.  In today's post I'll only describe our candy making and crafting.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was thankful to be able to find the candy making plan I had made last year.  I thought it was permanently lost and that I might have to start over with a new plan.  So very thankful that was not the case!

So those are the candies I planned for us to make.  You can find the recipes here if you search, but I'll link to most of them:

Chocolate Dipped Orange Candy Slices are such a fun and easy homemade candy.  We make them most every year!  

Arlene’s Easy Fudge is another favorite of mine -- so incredibly easy!

  Drizzled Peppermint Cookies is another super easy recipe, starting with purchased oreo-type cookies.

And Easy Salted Caramel Fudge is just one step beyond Arlene's fudge, as it's the same simple type of recipe with baking chips and sweetened condensed milk.

We shared a nice breakfast before beginning, but I'll share the particulars on that another day.  

Last year I found that it was good to have some crafting opportunities available during the candy making, in case there was any down time while waiting for different steps in a recipe.  So I brought out a lot of craft supplies and Christmasy embellishments right at the start.  Of course that meant that some wanted to jump immediately into crafting!

Sam prepared both kids of fudge.

Josiah was in his crafting element!

Julia and Ari worked on the drizzled peppermint cookies.  They also made the chocolate dipped orange slices.

Ari made the ornament above with a little gluing and lettering help from Julia.

Josiah is a detail guy for sure.  He may be working on a snowman here, I'm not sure.

All in all, it was a sweet time together!