Day 6 - Garrett Leigh
Hey everyone!
Thanks to RJ for hosting me for her Advent Event! It's great to be here.
I'm a bit like RJ, I like the build up to Christmas more than the day AND, I'm ALL about the food! Leftovers are my favourite bit: my consolation prize for spending a day with my mother! 😂
Christmas Mountain
The probation officer caring for his dead brother’s baby. The wounded gentle giant with the biggest softest heart.
Rami: Sweet Fen Hawthorne is my favourite thing about working in the prison. His broad shoulders and sunny grin. His twinkly flirtation. And he likes me as much as I like him. More seems inevitable until life happens.
One day I’m there, then I’m not, and second chances don’t really happen when your car breaks down halfway up a snowy mountain, do they?
Besides, I don’t remember flirting with a bearded lumbersexual, only dreaming about one.
Fen: Do dreams come true?
Christmas Mountain is my home. But it’s the one place on earth I never imagined seeing Rami Stone again, and now I’m snowed in with him. Trapped, with only a roaring fire for company, and it’s a fantasy come true. The air is thick with more than snow and the eighteen months we’ve been apart fades away.
As the snow clears, though, so does the haze. Rami says he comes with baggage.
But so do I, and I’m here for the heavy lifting.
I’m here for forever.
A Christmas MM romance from Garrett Leigh. Expect: Long lost friends-to-lovers, heart-warming found family, and the swooniest second chance at love with a healthy dose of sweet hurt/comfort. Gorging on mince pies and cinnamon-spiced doughnuts is optional, but deeply encouraged.
Competition
I'd like to offer Hometown Christmas and Angels in the City in either ebook or audio format (US or UK codes only) to two winner. All you need to do is tell me your favourite festive food, bonus points for recipes!
Competition Closes – 12 December 7am London
I love egg nog. I don’t make it myself so I don’t have a recipe.
Stuffing! As a Canadian with British roots my stuffing is moist and one big clump – doesn’t sound appetizing worded like that but it really is.
Also, as a Canadian don’t put me in for the draw as I can’t use US or UK codes.
Rum balls with real rum
Mince pies!
turkey
I love pumpkin pie. Don’t pick me as I already have audio and ebook copies of both stories. I mostly wanted to say how much I love your books. The Darkest Skies series was just wonderful.
Baklava – here is a link to the recipe because there’s too much information to properly fit here – https://www.themediterraneandish.com/how-to-make-baklava/
lovely fresh King Prawns (I’m an Aussie, & in the tropics)
Chocolate Crinkles. They’re such a pain to make, as the dough is super sticky, almost brownie-like, so they only get made this time of year. I’ve found a little workaround over the years though: scoop all of the dough into plastic wrap (split it up if you need to) before you refrigerate them. Basically, turn them into little bricks that you can later cut into cubes. Wear latex/nitrile gloves to roll them into balls before rolling in the powdered sugar. (The dough will warm up and get super sticky/all over the place if you handle it too long, though, so be quick-ish when rolling them into balls.)
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/9861/chocolate-crinkles-ii/
I love to make Cranberry Swirl Coffee Cake. The secret recipe was passed down from my grandmother to my mother. Now my mom and I make it every Christmas c
Mince pies are my favourite.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mincemeat_and_orange_21941
Sweet potato pie
Sweet potato pie
Pumpkin snickerdoodles. They are my holiday treat.
https://www.marthastewart.com/1132583/pumpkin-snickerdoodles
https://insearchofyummyness.com/caribbean-macaroni-pie/#recipe
https://insearchofyummyness.com/caribbean-macaroni-pie/#recipe
Caribbean Macaroni Pie
INGREDIENTS
US Customary
Metric
2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
2 eggs
2 2/3 cups evaporated milk, (measure from 2 cans of Carnation milk)
3 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated, reserve 1/2 cup for topping
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Boil macaroni in salted water approximately 8 minutes, or according to package instructions. Once cooked, drain and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until fluffy.
Add milk, pepper, sugar and salt and stir until combined.
Stir in 3 cups of cheese, and the cooked macaroni.
Pour into a greased, 9×11 baking dish and top with reserved 1/2 cup of cheese.
Bake until firm, 35-40 minutes.
Allow pie to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
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NOTES
Tips:
Cold cheese is easier to shred than warm cheese
In Trinidad, people use New Zealand cheddar cheese but you can use whatever you have available
If the cheese on top begins to brown too quickly, cover it with tin foil for the remaining baking time.
Got to be mince pies – love them!
Home made are best, but will make do with Marksies🤣🤣
Lebkuchen, here’s a recipe in English that I think is close to the original.
https://platedcravings.com/german-gingerbread-elisenlebkuchen/
My favorite has always been spritz sugar cookies. They’re so fun to decorate and eat, and they go great with hot chocolate.
Egg Nog and Pumpkin Pie. This year I’ve been drinking Fireball Egg Nog. It’s so good 😊
Ham and fudge. Not together though
Eating ginger biscuits and making vanilla biscuits with the kids. Merry Christmas 🎄
The only things I make at Christmas are sausage rolls from Delia’s Christmas cookbook, and orange mince pies from The Pink Whisk website.
I have a weird one- watermelon pickles!
My favorite holiday food is the dressing! I make the mashed potatoes as my Mom can’t peel the potatoes anymore.
I realky like mashed potatoes!!😁😁
ingredients:
Potatoes, 1 Kg
Vegetable broth, 250 ml
Extra virgin olive oil, 150 ml,
Black pepper, to taste
My favourite Christmas recipe is my Mom’s Orange Salad for dessert.
You cut the oranges in pretty slices, you powder some sugar over it, press one orange to have the juice to add to the mix, then liberally add rum too.
You let it rest some, turning the fruits around in the juice a few times.
I’d love a chance to win the ebook.
Thanks in advance
My absolute favorite things at Christmas are pecan pie and my Dad’s deviled eggs. The only issue I have is he doesn’t have a recipe. I tried to write it down once and he ends every instruction with “add to taste”.
I love Spekulatius Biscuits and can only ever find them at Christmas time. I tried making my own but they’re not as nice(so not good at baking biscuits) but here’s the recipe I used
Prep: 20 minutes Chill Time 1 hour Cooking Time: 10 minutes Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 36
Dry Ingredients
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup sugar
Spices
1½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
▢12 tablespoons butter unsalted, room-temperature, cubed
▢3 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine dry ingredients and spices in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Add eggs and butter.
Use and electric mixer with the dough hook attachment to combine the ingredients. Once the dough becomes crumbly, use your hands to knead the dough.
Shape 4-5 five round dough balls. Wrap each dough ball in plastic wrap and chill for 1-2 hours in the fridge.
Sprinkle a handful of flour onto your work surface and roll the dough to about ¼ inch thickness. Use cookie stamps to mold and cut your dough (usually made with shapes like santa, windmill, etc) Remove excess dough and transfer cookies onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes at 350° F/180 °C/Gas mark 4. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool. Enjoy!
Pumpkins pie we make ours spiced more then most people and tart lemon Meringue pie
I love no bake cookies!
My grandma’s Russian Teacakes (she also called them snowballs)
Russian Tea Cakes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup soft butter
½ cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups sifted all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup finely chopped walnuts
powdered sugar for rolling
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla.
3. Sift in dry ingredients in small batches, mixing thoroughly.
4. Chill dough.
5. Roll dough into 1” balls and arrange on ungreased cookie pan.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes until just set and barely browned.
7. Roll cookies in sugar while still warm. Cool on racks and then roll in sugar again.
Peanut butter kiss cookies!
Because our South African Christmases are in the heat of summer, we never cook a dinner. We do a platter of casual finger food which includes cheese & crackers, liver pate, chips & dips, cocktail toothpicks. We love this. After sitting down to eat at a set time, we cover what’s left and nibble at will. It’s always just mom & me. We very rarely have family on Christmas day. If we do, I’ll do a spread of cold meats & salads.
Wassail. It’s a really good drink we only get at this time of year.
8 cups apple cider
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 whole cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves or 1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in a large pan.
Bring to simmer over medium-low heat. Reduce heat and continue simmering for 45 minutes. Ladle into cups or mugs and enjoy!
I’ve never had this before and it sounds delicious! Going to give it a try. Thanks for posting it.
Boston butt similar to a gammon ham. I boil them with star anise, pepper corns, salt and garlic. Then give a quick roast if I want to or just eat it as cold meat boiled. Awesome as left overs with mayonnaise.
I love to have ham and mashed potatoes with gravy
My Father’s stuffing of which there is no written recipe
Pecan pie.
I miss my mother’s mince meat pie. Her father and I were the only ones who liked it, but Thanksgiving and Christmas a pie would appear, and once My grandfather headed back to his apartment in the city, I had the rest of those pies.
Mom made her own crusts with lard (so it’s harder for me to duplicate) and a box of Borden’s Nonesuch mince meat (which I too can’t find.)
Give me all the pies. Swallow them down with eggnog
My Mom’s pecan pie recipe. She cut down on the sugar and doesn’t boil as long so the pie is soft and nuttier than the traditional hurt-your-teeth-make-your-hair-stand-on-end recipe.
La bûche de Noël : “The Christmas log” is a cake that ends the Christmas meal in France, Belgium,
Switzerland, Quebec, New Brunswick, Vietnam, Lebanon, and generally in French-speaking countries.
It is a rolled cake filled with flavored butter cream. The coffee one is my favorite !
Have a look to the link below and use a translator !!! Greetings from Paris.
https://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/buche-de-noel-au-cafe-30463.aspx
Rum balls!
I don’t have just one. Mine is more about the memories they hold. I start in October and I make banana, zucchini, and two different kinds of Amish Friendship loaves of bread, they all get wrapped up and put into the freezer. As it gets closer to the holiday then I start making chocolate candies, peanut brittle, several different types of fudge, buckeyes, hardtack candies, and cookies. These are all recipes handed down to me for my mother’s mother. We use to do them together but now it’s just me who keeps them going.
Lefse (Norwegian potato flatbread)
Toffee cookies… just use the chocolate chip cookies recipe on the back of the toll house chips bag but replace the chocolate chips with heath chips (use a bit less than you would chocolate chips) and make them with or without nuts… amazing!!
Mincemeat pies
Buckeyes. which are peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate
1 ½ cups peanut butter – 1 cup butter, softened. – ½ teaspoon vanilla extract. – 6 cups confectioners’ sugar. -4 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 ½ cups p
1) In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.
2) Press a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later as the handle for dipping) and chill in freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
3) Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until smooth.
4) Dip frozen peanut butter balls in chocolate holding onto the toothpick. Leave a small portion of peanut butter showing at the top to make them look like Buckeyes. Put back on the cookie sheet and refrigerate until serving.
If you want to be adventerous omit step two. and use a toothpick to dip into chocolate.
I love these! I keep them in the freezer and grab one or two as a treat to make them last longer LOL.
These are one of my favorites. I keep them stashed in the freezer and grab a couple at a time. Yummm!
My favourite is Turkey Stuffing.
Pecan pie
I’m a fan of all kinds of Christmas cookies
Traditional Swedish saffron buns, known here as ”lussekatter”.
Recipe:
About 35 buns
Ingredients:
Starter:
50 g of fresh yeast
2.5 dl room temperature whole milk
100 g caster sugar
350 g wheat flour
Finish:
2.5 dl of room temperature whole milk
150 g of granulated sugar
200 g butter cut into pieces
10 g of salt
750 g wheat flour
1 egg
1- 1,5 g of saffron
Method:
Begin with the starter. Dissolve the yeast in the milk, either by hand or in a stand mixer. Add the sugar and flour and work everything to an elastic dough. About 5 minutes in the stand mixer or 10 minutes by hand. Cover the dough and leave to rise to double size in room tempered place for about 30 minutes.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add the saffron, just letting the saffron fry a minute in the hot butter. (This makes the saffron taste more and better) Let cool for a short while and then add this to the starter together with the rest of the ingredients for the finish. Work the dough properly until the dough is lovely yellow and elastic.
This takes about 15 minutes by hand or 10 minutes in stand mixer. Don´t cheat with this, you want a lot of gluten in the dough and a really elastic dough. On a floured surface, divide the dough into small pieces, all weighing about 70 grams each. Round-roll (roll) to smooth round buns and gently transfer them to a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Make sure to leave some space between the buns as they will grow to about double the size) Leave the buns covered to rise to about double the size.
Roll the “dough-cigars” into thinner strings on a clean surface (no flour) Then shape these thin strings into “lussekatter” by spinning each end to each other in different directions, on to the left and one to the right. (the end result should look a bit like the number 8) Push 1-2 raisins in the middle of each “spin”. Put the buns gently on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Let the buns rest in a cool place (like in a cold basement on in the fridge) for about 4-5 hours. Then take the trays to room temperature and allow to rest until the buns are fluffy and about twice as large. Bake in the middle of the oven at 220°C / 435°F until they start to get a little golden-brown color and brush immediately after they get out of the oven with loosely whipped egg to make them shiny and nice. Let the buns cool and freeze those that are not eaten on the same day.
Vanille Kipferl
Pfefferneuse (German spice cookies)
I love Molasses Ginger Cookies!
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C shortening or lard (I prefer lard)
2 eggs beaten
1 C Molasses
4 C flour
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cream sugar and fat
Add eggs & molasses
In separate bowl sift flour and spices (I usually just use a whisk to combine)
Add to sugar mixture and combine
Roll into 1” – 1 1/2” balls
Place on cookie sheet 2” apart (they will spread into circles)
Bake 9-11 minutes less if you want soft (they’ll crack a bit and still look a little wet in cracks) or longer for crispy (cracks are dry. they will be soft coming out but will hard as they cook)
Although a bit laborious, I love making springerle cookies with my mom. I was never a licorice fan, but have grown to love the anise flavor in these cookies. Plus, I think they are beautiful!
Frozen cranberry salad- mostly because it’s super easy to make. One can of jellied cranberry sauce, 1 tub of Cool whip (or substitute) & 1 block of cream cheese. Mix together well. Put in a 8×8 pan & freeze.
i love pumpkin cheesecake
Pie. I love pie! Especially Plymouth Cranberry Pie. https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/plymouth-cranberry-pie/6475
Butter tarts
One of the most favorite things to drink during the holiday season is Coquito. It’s the Puertorrican twist of the Egg Nog without the spices, other than cinnamon. If you like coconut cream, milk, and rum, you’re gonna love this recipe: https://thenoshery.com/coquito-puerto-rican-coconut-nog/
We love Tamales for Christmas! I’ll attach a recipe for the dough but I fill them with shredded meat from the shredder. Steam 30 minutes in the pressure cooker or 60 minutes in the traditional steamer.
https://www.myfoodandfamily.com/recipe/065429/tamale-dough
Homemade rum eggnog (recipe from my mom):
Beat 12 egg yolks until light.
Beat in 1 and 1/8 cup sugar.
Stir in 1 quart milk and rum to taste (you can start with 3 oz. and increase until you think it is just right!)
Chill for 3 hours.
Fold in 1 quart whipped cream.
You’ll never go back to the carton from the store!
I think the regular way of doing yams or sweet potatoes is too sweet. Instead of a sweet dish with marshmallows, I make a savory dish with lots of root veggies. Chop any of the fallowing, enough to fill a 9×13 inch pan (that’s been sprayed)
Potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Sweet potatoes or yams
Rutabaga
Parsnips
Then mix a packet of powdered onion soup mix (think Lipton) with 1/3 Cup cooking oil. Pour over the veg and stir.
Bake at 400F, stirring every 15 min. until soft (45min to 1 hour)
The pecan melt away cookies
I am Italian so definitely Panettone from Milan
Pineapple Upside Down Cake – My mom always used a box mix. A few years ago my family created our own easy version. Take a smaller crock pot. Dump one can of crushed pineapple (even out the top), a box of pineapple flavored cake mix (even out the top), one stick of butter cut into little pieces and spread across the top of the cake mix, sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook on low for about 3 hours. Pineapple Upside Down Dump Cake. {this recipe can be used for any variety of dessert goodness. Replace pineapple with a can of pie filling and use any flavor cake mix. Add the butter but skip the brown sugar.} This is great to take to a pot luck as well.
Buttermilk pie
My favorite food for the holidays is lasagna. My twin also makes cookies and cream cookies for Christmas and I love those.
I have the original recipe from Lindy’s Deli in NYC and I make it from scratch every year. I also have another one “Chocolate Cherry Balls” with marschino cherries, peanut butter, powder sugar rolled up and then dipped in melted chocolate chips.
Chocolate peppermint cookies. So good!
One of my favorite cookies is the Shortbread. So easy to make and customize them to whatever flavor you want.
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 sugar
1 cup salted butter, cold cut into cubes
Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl and whisk.
Add in the butter and use a pastry blender to mix in the butter. Should look like little peas without any flour left.
Optional: add in any flavorings you would like or skip altogether. My favorites are dried cranberries and orange zest with a little orange juice
Form into a long log, wrap in plastic and chill for an hour or overnight.
Cut 1/2 inch slices and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.
Ooh, this sounds simple enough that I can’t mess it up, lol. Thanks for sharing!
gingerbread cookies
Ginger Snap baskets filled with piped thick fresh cream yum!
I’m already on your mailing list x
Fudge, peanut butter balls( buckeyes) coconut balls… all that good chocolate candy!
Christmas butter cookies or molasses crinkles
Turkey and dressing. I have a tiny kitchen, so my friends always send me home with plenty of leftovers. Thanks for the chance to win an ebook
Egg Nog
This cranberry cream cheese dip: https://jamiecooksitup.net/2010/11/cranberry-cream-cheese-dip-hold-the-wood-chips/
Sweet Potato Casserole
I love holiday cookies like sugar cookies or spiced cookies.
I love homemade shortbread cookies!
Cheesecake with caramel and pecans. Recipe is order cheesecake from the grocery store. While there pick up caramel sauce and shelled pecans. Go home and grab a fork.
I love baking, so it’s always going to be a desert for me. My favorite cookies during the holidays are Snickerdoodles and Peanut Blossoms, oooh so yummy!! https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/11624/snickerdoodles-i/ and https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/9920/peanut-blossoms-ii/ I like to share with my friends, so I make up care packages for them during the holidays.
Pickled herring is an only-at-Christmas favorite of mine. However many thinly-sliced onions your recipe calls for, add double! Better make sure your sweetheart has some too, or else you might not get kissed under the mistletoe.
My favorite festive food: easy Peanut Butter Blossom cookies.
INGREDIENTS:
1 package (16 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Ready to Bake!™ REESE’S Peanut Butter Cookie Dough (24 Count)
2 tablespoons sugar
24 HERSHEY’S KISSES milk chocolates, unwrapped
STEPS:
1 Heat oven to 350°F. Shape each dough round into ball; roll in sugar. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart.
2 Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with 1 milk chocolate candy, pressing down firmly so cookies crack around edges. Cool 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely before serving, about 20 minutes. Cool at least 2 hours before storing cookies.
Christmas sugar cookies
Peanut butter balls.
Pecan pie and anise cookies from my Grandmother’s recipe.
Green bean cassorole. It counts bc I only get to eat it on holidays. The recipe is on each tub of those fried onion things.
pavlova
buy a pavlova case, smother in whipped cream, put on whatever your favourite fruits are….easy!
I like strawberries, raspberries, peaches, passionfruit
Christmas in Australia is in summer so it’s fresh Australian Tiger Prawns and juicy Queensland mango’s
Spiced Mocha Coffee
½ cup instant coffee
1 cup non-dairy creamer
1 cup instant cocoa
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together. Makes approximately 3 cups of mix.
Divide into gift portions, or hoard it all for yourself.
Add 3-4 heaping tablespoons of mix to a mug of hot water, stir, top with marshmallows, and enjoy!
Cinnamon Roll Wreath!
Recipe: Take your favorite roll recipe. Take the raw dough, fill & roll up for cinnamon roll dough. Cut the roll ends off back to the filling. Then place the roll on your baking pan, and wrap the whole roll in a circle butting the ends together. Using scissors, cut from the outside almost to the inside of the roll **without cutting all the way through the dough**. You want to turn the partially cut rolls onto the cut side so you see the inside of the roll! Lean each on the the one next to it. You wind up with a solid inside section & partial rolls laid out like a wreath. Let rise, brush top with (choose one: butter/egg wash/milk) if you prefer… Bake as per your usual recipe until dough is cooked. Let cool & DECORATE the wreath. Drizzle icing over the top & sides, add red, silver, & green accents…. Mom used gummy leaves cut into thin slices, tiny sugar silver balls, and tiny cinnamon candies. Cut & serve. Best served the same day. You can make the roll/wreath & let it rise overnight in the fridge.
Favorite has to be fruitcake cuz well…tis the season! I have no idea how to make it since I get so many as “gifts”. They are just gifting them forward if you ask me.
Mince pies. Made with real mince (ground beef), plus grated apples, suet, raisins,sultanas, currants, grated fresh orange peel, candied peel (small amount, finely chopped), and lots of rum. Or for weaklings, brandy. (UK recipe, of course!)
Cooked in shortcrust or puff pastry (and I cheat at this point with ready-made from supermarket).
Peppermint. Anything with peppermint. Hot cocoa, cookies, candy canes, ice cream, you name it.
My favorite festive food for Christmas is ham done up with cloves and brown sugar with sweet potatoes served on the side.
Tamales and eggnog! I always look forward to eggnog lattes.
Eggnog and rice tamales!
egg nog and pumpkin custard – https://comfybelly.com/2017/11/pumpkin-custard-2/
I love to make (and eat) candy cane rice crispy treats – it’s easy, just add a little mint extract to the marshmallow and top with crushed candy canes. It’s festive and easy and so yummy.
I love kielbasa.
Peppermint Chocolate cookies or most any type of cookie
Egg Nog, no recipe.
Mince pies are my favourite lost the recipe I used in the last house move.
My mom’s Christmas cookies. They are thin butter cookies with a layer of icing. They are soooooo good.
My fave is Ghiradelli’s peppermint bark candy…although my lactose intolerance makes it harder to sneak pieces, lol. Happy holidays!
pignoli cookies are my favorite
My favourite is Mocha Cakes, which I thought was just part of my weird ass family’s goodies. Then several years ago I discovered that they are very common in New Brunswick (where my mum is from, I live in Alberta) and searching for info, I discovered that it’s an Irish dessert called Gold Bricks. I loved learning about that. Here is my recipe.
Pound Cake for Mocha Cakes
4 c butter
8 c flour
4 t baking powder
¼ t salt
2 t vanilla
6 c sugar
1 1/3 c milk
12 eggs
Preheat at 350°F
Grease 3 – 8×4 inch loaf pans, then line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the flour alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.
Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. After removing them from the oven, immediately loosen cake edges with a knife. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans. Strip off the parchment paper and cool completely on wire racks.
Once cooled, I wrap and refrigerate/freeze for a few days at least.
Then I cut the cake into little cubes (i take off the brown crust on top, good for other things like eating). Then i dip in a thin icing of (icing sugar & milk, salt & vanilla). Then I dip in well crushed peanuts (roasted, can be salted but not too salty). I put them on a baking sheet and let them set, then put in containers and cover.
Good for all of Christmas.
My moms stuffing
My moms stuffing
Coquito
I make mini mincemeat pies. My nana used to make them and they always remind me of Christmas, now I’m the nana and I make them for my grandkids.
Turkey and potatoes
Anything dessert!
Orange Coconut balls
1 stick butter melted
1 box vanilla wafers (finely crushed)
1 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
Approximately 1 lb of powdered sugar
1/2 of a small can of frozen orang juice concentrate (thawed)
Mix the first five ingredients together. If the dough is runny, put in frig for a few minutes
I use a small scoop to scoop out balls. Roll them in the coconut.
I love homemade shortbread but do not bake 😳😢
Mini pecan pie muffins are a requirement in our home, and at any party we attend. Everyone thinks it’s a family secret – little do they know!
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pecan-pie-mini-muffins/
Hello! Apologies if I answered this already…I may have answered the same question in another forum.
I like mince pie (I’ve only had store-bought) and pumpkin pie, and apple pie with no sugar added, the way my mother makes it (raisins put in for sweetness). My grandmother’s friend used to make eggnog pie. She had a secret recipe. We never learned it, and my grandmother (Dad’s mother) and Mrs. R. have passed away. But my family has fond memories of that eggnog pie. I remember my other grandmother saying that people made fun of fruitcake, but that she liked it. I like it, too. She used to order tins of cookies; and baskets that had sausages, cheese and crackers in them; and little cakes. I remember those tins of shortbread and the baskets of meat and cheese fondly, too. 🙂
I am the baker in the family and my favorite cookies are Sparkling Butter Toffee cookies:
https://www.landolakes.com/recipe/19871/sparkling-butter-toffee-cookies/
I love traditional recipes passed down through family, like Grandma’s butterscotch sweet potatoes or Chris’s cornbread casserole. Yum!
There are a few recipes that we only make for the holidays. One is a warm apple cider beverage that has spices and other things added for more flavor. Another is a family recipe for Bread dip)best with sourdough bread).
Homemade hot chocolate & CHRISTMAS cookies. Any & all. The more the merrier
i love christmas candy
so this is mozarts “balls”
its´s with marzipan, nougat and milk choklad
My Nan’s Xmas dinner is the best, and then I have somehow gotten myself into the habit of giving loved ones a baked goodies box which includes brownies, banana bread, choc chip muffins, choc chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and gingerbread biscuits
So many great recipes and ideas on this page. I’m going to have to come back here and jot some down. I love christmas cookies but my favorite this is the overnight baked french toast with praline topping that I make for Christmas Morning. YUM!
https://www.pauladeen.com/recipe/baked-french-toast-casserole/ Here is a link to the original Paula Deen recipe. I have adjusted it when I make it but the original is still delicious.
my mum cooks cawliflower with her secret sauce… I do not know the recipe, but I love it
Sweet- muddy buddies lol. Savory- honey glazed ham
Latkes!
– 6 medium size potatoes
– 1 small onion
– 2 eggs slightly beaten
– 3 tablespoons flour
– 1/4 tsp white pepper
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
– Olive oil and vegetable oil mixture
Instructions
1) Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Place in cold water. Grate potatoes and onion in blender. Strain and place in mixing bowl. Add eggs, salt, pepper and baking powder.
2) Place oil in pan and heat. Place potato mixture into strainer and allow the balance of the fluids to drain off. Place potato mixture onto tbs and drop into hot oil. Fry. Place on paper towel to drain.
Can be made in advance and frozen. Heat on racks in oven.
Latke batter should be room temperature; cold batter will lower the oil temperature, causing the latkes to absorb too much oil.
Latke batter should not be too wet – A very wet batter will produce steam. The result? Soggy, greasy latkes. If the batter has thrown off a lot of liquid, drop a measureful of batter into your hand, so you can gently squeeze out the excess moisture before slipping it into the hot oil.
Use a high-smoke-point oil to make latkes. Try canola or peanut oil for your latkes, olive oil has a lower smoke point than canola, thus it requires greater vigilance in regulating the heat. (the recipe I shared suggests combination of olive & veg oil . . . I use canola)
Make sure the oil is hot enough before cooking latkes. To test the oil temperature, stand an untreated wooden chopstick in the oil. If little bubbles form around it, the oil is ready. Or flick a pinch of flour into the oil; if it sizzles, start frying.
When making latkes, keep it clean. Between batches, scoop out any burned fragments from the pan. Every two batches or so, it may be necessary to wipe out the pan to remove burnt oil or bits and add fresh oil.
Prepare ahead when making latkes. You can keep latkes for a few hours at room temperature, in a single layer on a rack, loosely covered with a kitchen towel. Refrigerating leaves latkes sodden and lifeless. But you can freeze them for longer storage. Arrange drained, cooled latkes on a cookie sheet and slide into the freezer until solidly frozen. Store in a strong, resealable plastic bag or airtight container. To serve, reheat the latkes on a rack set on a baking sheet in a preheated 400ºF oven until hot and crisp.
Grate Latkes – 2/3 of the potatoes should be shredded coarse, to make a crispy crust, and the rest grated rather fine, to ensure a little creamy layer within. All coarse would mean all crunch without an intense potato taste while completely fine makes latkes with too much mush beneath their thin crisp coat, causing them to absorb huge amounts of oil.
It’s best to flip the latkes only once, so that they don’t absorb too much oil. So, before turning, lift the latkes slightly with the spatula to make sure the underside is crisp and brown.
Norwegian Lace Cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cup regular rolled oats
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Recipe
Step 1
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in the oatmeal.
Step 2
Beat egg until foamy with the sugar. Mix together the baking powder and flour and stir into the egg mixture along with the oatmeal mixture.
Step 3
Drop batter, 1 level tablespoon at a time, onto greased and floured baking sheets, 2-3″ apart.
Step 4
Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 5
Place baking sheets on wire racks to cool, about 1 minute (cookies should still be hot and flexible, but cooled until firm enough to move). Quickly lift cookies with a spatula.
Ginger Bread Men
N/E
Hi, I can’t enter because I am Canadian but I am just posting in case we need to enter all giveaways.
Roasted potatoes to go with the pot roast!
Thanks for the chance!
My favourite holyday food is Panettone!
One of our favorite things to do around holiday when our relative get together is making snowball drinks. It’s a mixed drink consisted of:
crushed ice, lime, cream of coconut, pineapple and coconut flavor vodka. Mix together in a blender and garnish with salt if you like. Cheers!!!
I do lots of baking for my family. One of my and my family’s favorites is Pecan Pie Bars. I like them better than a big slice of Pecan Pie. I will be happy to send a recipe if desired.
Honestly, most cookies will do, but it just isn’t Christmas without these tasty treats. Bake em, hide them and bring them out one week later. So worth the wait! Merry Christmas!
Swedish Butter Cookies
:
Ingredients
1/2 lb Butter
1/2 Cup powdered confectioner’s sugar
1 3/4 Cups All-purpose flour
1 Cup Chopped nuts (can be a combo or single of pecans, walnuts, or almonds)
4 tsp Vanilla extract
More powdered sugar for coating cookies.
Directions
1. Cream butter; add sugar slowly, then flour, nuts, and flavoring. Chill well.
Roll into small balls and lightly pat down on cookie sheet. (Cookie sheet does not need to be greased.)
Bake around 12 minutes at 350°.
Roll in powdered sugar while hot. Store in an airtight jar when completely cooled.
These cookies improve with age.
Mom and I make Christmas cookies each year to share. We do 6 or 7 and 2 or 3 are new ones.
This year’s winner were Almond Joy Cookies. A very coconutty dough with coconut, chopped almonds and choc chips.
Sorry I don’t have the recipe with me, it’s still at Mom’s.
Sweet potato casserole, just mashed sweet potato woth corn flakes, butter, brown sugar and pecans mixed and sprinkled on top.
I enjoy making & eating spritz cookies.
I enjoy pesto pizza on Christmas Eve plus a healthy serving of cookies and other goodies while unwrapping gifts.
Happy holidays to all who read this!
Pigs in Blankets.
Gingerbread (bread, cookie, flavor ❤)
Green bean casserole
Latkes