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 350º 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 350º 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 350º 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 350º 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!