Christmas Baking 2019

Every year I say I'm not going to go to all the time and expense to do all the Christmas baking. The cost of ingredients has really skyrocketed but I seem to enjoy it so much (both the baking and the eating) so I guess I'll keep doing it until I don't.

Baking 2019
Traditional Shortbread
Whipped Shortbread
Almond cookies
Mini Chip Shortbread
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares
Chocolate Marshmallow Squares
Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
Cadbury Caramilk Cookies
Nainamo Bars
Chipit Cherry Jewel Bars
Cherry Shortbread Squares
M and M cookies

This year I got together with my cousin and her boys as is our annual tradition and our family friend and her daughter joined us. We made 3 types of cookies. It was a fun afternoon.

My friend Keri and I got together and had a mini exchange. We were exchanging 3 types but she wanted peanut brittle as one of my selections so I was happy to oblige. I made a lot of Peanut Brittle also.

I also make my old favourites and I always try to make at least one new type. This year it was the Hot Cocoa cookies and they were really good.

So we will see what next year brings. Maybe I'll continue the baking or maybe not. I'll put my money on YES!

KISSES Hot Cocoa Cookies

It's been so long since I logged onto the Blog, I almost forgot my password. There always seems to be something more pressing to do than sitting down and typing out a post. I DO know there are still a few people that like to look up recipes, myself being one of them so I'm going to keep putting out my hopefully more frequent posts.

I was scrolling through Instagram(another time waster) and spotted this recipe. Every year I do a lot of Christmas baking and I always like to try a new recipe or two. Well I had a helper coming over to hang out for the day (Thanks Kate) and since this recipe involved a few more steps, it was the perfect time to try it.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips
36 Kisses (approx)
18 marshmallows
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cut each marshmallow in half. Set aside. Take wrappers off Kisses. Preheat oven to 350F

Beat butter and sugars,add eggs and vanilla, then dry ingredients. Chill dough.(They suggested 10 min in Freezer but I would chill it longer in fridge)
Roll dough into balls about an inch and a half. Flatten slightly.
Bake 6-7 min: top with marshmallow half and bake an additional 3-4 min( I didn't think the marshmallow was cooking so I went with 4 but I think I would bake slightly less next time)
Remove from oven. Cool one minute and top with KISS.
Allow cookies to cool completely.

These cookies were delicious! and the dough even better!  They are a soft cookie and the topping was yummy. A great addition to your cookie tray

July Swap Card

Whaat? How did I fall so far behind? Life is busy. We did swap these cards awhile ago but I won't lie we are not keeping up (or I should say I am not!)
Keri used the Stampin Up set, I believe is called Cocktail hour to make this gold on gold birthday card...

This might be the set she used. LOL....

But I could be wrong.

I did a cute Fall card using one of my MFT Pure Innocence sets...

I just love paper piecing. Then all your patterned paper coordinates.
This is the set that I used. Its called Sending Blessings.

I'm hoping to visit the My Favourite Things store when I'm back in Florida. It's always a fun roadtrip.

Lemon Zucchini Bread

I can't believe we are heading into the last weekend of the summer. My little blog has been sadly neglected. It's just been too nice to spend time sitting on a computer. I haven't touched my scrapping stuff for 2 months other then to attend a couple Planner classes which I promptly put on the back burner uncompleted. Oh well, Fall is coming and I've set aside a few dates to get going again on some of my hobbies.
I DID make time to try a couple new recipes and this one is a winner!
My garden has reached the end of the zucchini harvest but I'll be buying a few more and grating some to freeze so I can make this delicious bread all winter.

I did make it in a couple different size loaf pans. An 8x4 and a long narrow, single layer lasagne pan which I found made it a little drier. I need to get a second 8x4 pan as I think that's the ideal size or use my ceramic mini loaf ones.

Lemon Zucchini Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups white sugar

Zest of 2 large lemons

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups grated zucchini (squeezed out if its really moist)

Glaze

2 cups icing sugar

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1.      Preheat oven to 325F, prepare 2 8x4 loaf pans. Set aside.

2.      In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

3.      In a medium bowl combine sugar and lemon rind

4.      Add to wet ingredients, whisk until smooth. Stir into dry ingredients. Batter will be thick.

5.      Stir in the zucchini and divide evenly into pans.

6.      Bake 60 to 65 minutes

7.       Right after it comes out of the oven you can add glaze. ( I forgot )

June Swap Card

How can I just be posting the June Swap card now? Well, I'll tell you how it goes, something like this.
Step 1 - Keri and I get together to swap cards (usually we're a bit late but not terrible)
Step 2 - I take the cards home and promptly lose them somewhere in a pile
Step 3 - Locate the Swap Card
Step 4 - Take a photo of the Swap cards
Step 5 - Transfer the photos to the computer
Step 6 - Try to remember the brands used and search for an image online
Step 7 - Do a Blog Post
So you see it is rather a lengthy process but without further ADO: the June Swap card....

I'll start with me. I like using the Pure Innocence stamp sets. They are reasonably priced and seem to fit a lot of themes. One can always use a birthday card so here's mine...

The little dress is paper pieced and there is some sparkly frosting happening. This is the set used. It is called Happy Cake Day from My Favourite Things.

Keri used a Dog set from Taylored Expressions which I may just have to borrow. I believe she used Lawn Fawn Spring Fling paper...

This is the set that she used...

Keri colours her images with Prisma pencil crayons. So there you have it, another monthly card posted. Now I have 3 days to come up with a card for July.

Memories

I've been doing some cleaning and purging lately. I'll confess, I'm not really bad at having a lot of stuff around (except my office and scrapping room) but I'm pretty sentimental in a few ways. I came across these vases that held plant arrangements on our birthdays many years ago. They were given as gifts at the hospital. By my Dad? I'm not sure anymore.  My brother (1958) and myself (1959). Can you believe my Mom kept these and then myself all these years????

I cleaned them up and do you know what? I'm NOT going to get rid of them. I'm going to put them somewhere where I can see them occasionally and be reminded of a very special Mom who treasured her kids and wanted to keep these momentoes.

Oatmeal Date Sandwiches

Thin Oat Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup milk
2 cup quick oats

Cream shortening and butter. Add sugar and vanilla. Add milk and oats.
Add dry ingredients. Chill dough thoroughly. At least 2 hours or overnight.

Roll and bake at 400F for 8 to 10 min until light brown around edges. (I roll pretty thin, maybe 1/4 inch)

Date Filling
1 cup chopped dates
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Combine and cook over low heat until the consistency of jam. Remove from heat and cool. Assemble cookies.
* I double this for one recipe of cookies

EXTRA- These were my Dad's favourite cookies. We didn't make them as often as other types because they are labour intensive and I think that's what made them even more special. They're worth the work though.

May Swap Card

We got together a little late this month but we still got our cards done.

Keri used a Taylored Expressions set called Party Grumplings, I think and made this cute card....

She always does such a great job on the inside too...

This is the stamp set she used...

I borrowed an MFT Blueprints die set from another friend (love my dies) and made this simple but striking card...

It's much brighter in person. I left the inside blank but put a little quilt piece in the corner.
This is the MFT Blueprints set that I used...

You can see that they would be many awesome combinations that are possible with this set.

I'm working really hard trying to keep my blog posts coming. Its almost half way through the year so I should be at 25 and I am.Now I need to get going on my reading.

Cranberry Orange Scones

When we go to the cottage, one or more of the gals always stops at our Local Gourmet Food shop and picks up a frozen pack of these scones. There are so delicious, I just had to go and pick up a pack to have on hand at home. Well, when I saw the price I was determined to duplicate the recipe at home and I'm happy to report that my recipe was voted better then the original.

I'll confess I just whipped up a batch of these last night and I messed up. Didn't put in enough liquid and then too much so we will see how this batch turns out. A necessity of scone consumption (in my opinion) is that they are eaten warm from the oven slathered in butter and jam if desired. The beauty of this recipe is they can be frozen raw, taken out of the freezer the night before you want to bake them and placed in the fridge. I also found out recently that you can freeze your dried cranberrries so it makes it super economical to buy a Club Pack and always have some on hand.

Cranberry Orange Scones

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup sugar plus more for topping

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup cold butter

¾ to 1 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp orange zest

1 Tbsp orange juice

½ cup cranberries, dried

Preheat oven to 400F. Line cookie tray with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter to bowl and cut into flour with a pastry blender until the pieces of butter are the size of a small pea. Stir in cranberries. And rest of ingredients. Press dough together in the palms of your hands. If it doesn’t hold together, add more heavy cream. DO NOT OVERMIX!

Pour dough onto a lightly floured countertop. Pat dough into desired shape and cut into portions. Melt about 2 Tbsp butter and brush on top of dough. Sprinkle sugar.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown.

Can wrap securely in Saran wrap and store in freezer up to 3 months. Defrost before baking. 

Boterkoek (Dutch Butter Cake)

When you need to take a dessert and you have just a few ingredients on hand, Boterkoek is a good choice. It's quick and uses up the Club pack of sliced almonds that you have in the freezer. It's not too sweet and I took a few fresh raspberries and blueberries to complement the plate.

Boterkoek
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup softened unsalted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and extract. Add dry ingredients. Press into greased 8 in cake pan. Top with almonds pressing down lightly. Bake at 350F for 20-25 min. I like mine slightly underbaked. This time I did the full 25 just to make sure it was cooked through.

More Lemon Cards

Here are a few more from Loonies for Lindor...
Love this technique when you just use a lovely patterned paper and separate it slightly...

Penny Black, your images are even cuter then House Mouse (gasp!)...

Another Penny Black image...

I love these Pure Innocence girls from My Favourite Things. They always seem to have one to fit every theme...

Your Next Stamp provided these cute little 'Tini Sayings... I love the sugar rimmed glitter around the cocktail glass.

We even had lemon diecuts on the lemon soaps. It was a great theme. I really enjoyed working with it.

Lemon Cards

Everytime I host a Loonies for Lindor Fundraising Crop, I make a variety of cards as gifts for the participants who are not scrapbookers. It's really fun coming up with cards to fit the theme. This year I did about 10 different cards and I usually make 10 or so of each. I forgot to post them after the Event so here's a look at a few of them....

This one was so easy.. a great way to use up some really pretty patterned paper. I believe the sentiment is from Your Next Stamp...

I love this Flip card die.. another great way to use up patterned paper. The Happy Birthday sentiment was cut on the Silhouette...

I saw this idea on Pinterest.  It uses 2 different sets of Lawn Fawn dies. Perfect for our lemon theme...

Stay tuned for the rest of the lemon cards!

Maya is 12!!!

I can't believe my sweet girl is 12 years old! She has slowed down considerably due to her arthritis from an ACL repair but with lots of meds, she is comfortable and getting around pretty well. We don't walk with our fur sister anymore (she's a little too fast) but we enjoy moseying around the neighbourhood enjoying all the sweet smells of spring.

The Cutest puppy camping at Tobermory

Freshly groomed

A stroll around the neighbourhood

Sunbathing

 

 

Time to rest!

Oven Baked Chicken

I have struggled with finding a tasty way to doctor up boneless, skinless chicken. I finally found a great recipe that is delicious from The Skinnyish Dish. I modified it a bit (mostly because I didn't know what kosher salt was) but I agree with her that the secret is brining the chicken.

I cut down the amount of salt recommended and just used table salt. 1 tsp for 3 breasts. Mix into lukewarm water and put in your chicken. Store in the Fridge for at least an hour.
Take it out and pat it dry.

Then rub in the following mixture of spices or whatever you like to use:

Oven Roasted Chicken
1-1 1/2  Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano

Mix into a paste and rub onto chicken.
Place on a cookie sheet covered with foil or in a baking dish.
Bake at 450F for 22-25 minutes.
You can broil for 2-3 minutes at the end to brown and crisp if desired.
Let rest for a few minutes and its ready to serve or store in the fridge for a quick high protein snack.

April Swap Card

Still getting caught up after a busy spring, but Keri and I actually exchanged these cards back at the beginning of May. So we are all caught up and I even have my May card ready to go for the end of the month.

Keri did not one but TWO sweet baby cards. I can't remember what line of stamps she used but she coloured them with Prisma pencils and hung them on a clothesline with the most adorable mini clothespins. And now I have one ready for a boy OR a girl...

I used an MFT Cat set that I've used before but I wanted to use a peek a boo die set that I hadn't used before. I actually cut off the doors as I wanted to directly showcase the cats....

I thought about it after I was done and realized I used dog bones as my background paper but I don't think its TOO noticeable. Here are the products that I used....

And there you have it. All caught up. Off to do some yardwork. The Sun is finally shining after days of gloom and rain so it will be nice to get outside for a bit.

Lemon Loaf

My sister-in-law gave me this recipe to use for the Crop. It's a family favourite and so easy to make. Once you remember to put the water in, that is. I add some lemon zest to give it extra zip. The glaze on top is what "makes" the cake.

Lemon Loaf

1 Lemon cake mix
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup oil
1 pkg Jello instant lemon pudding mix
3/4 cup water

Glaze
1/2 cup white sugar
2 - 3 Tbsp lemon juice

Beat eggs. Add rest. Beat all 10 min
Bake at 350F for 45 min
Makes 2 loaves

Immediately after removing from oven, add glaze.

March Swap Card

Am I really this far behind?  I still haven't posted our Swap card for March so here it is..
I made a fairly basic card using the cute doggie and heart from Sunny Studios Pet Sympathy set...

I think I was trying to follow a sketch. I think the card is too large for the image but it's cute enough for many occasions..

Keri used the cute I'm SO Hoppy set from Stampin' Up to make this sweet card...

Don't you love the googly eyes?