Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake

Miss Priss's 14th birthday was last month. (I know! Fourteen!) As per our tradition, she and I perused cookbooks looking for the perfect birthday cake for this year. I've made several of her cakes over the years, and some were triumphs, I must admit. (As a mediocre cook, I'll take any triumph I can get.)

Alas, we couldn't seem to find just the right recipe. She wanted a chocolate cake this time, so when our cookbooks and a few cookbooks from the library did not satisfy, I began to search the web. You might ask why I didn't start there in the first place; I actually enjoy thumbing through cookbooks.

I found this recipe; I don't recall exactly how I found it. But I pinned it, so I will always know where it is when I need it in the future!

I didn't have the required number of squares of unsweetened chocolate, which led me to call my chef friend in a panic. As ever, she solved my problem: unsweetened cocoa powder and shortening. It worked like a charm. You can see the Crisco in the photo above.

I also made one other alteration to the recipe: instead of plain water, I used strong coffee. I simply stirred a heaping teaspoon of instant coffee crystals (which I keep around for recipes) into the measured hot water. I like the added depth that coffee provides to chocolate recipes.

For those of you who are culinarily challenged, a caveat: making this cake is a real production! It's not at all difficult, but it takes some time investment. And it IS an investment because the result is SO worth it.

Doesn't the batter look luscious? That's because it is, my friends. It is.

Making the frosting is also quite a production. But it is a major sin to make such a wonderful, perfect cake and then smear it with cloying, chemical-laden canned frosting. I loathe canned frosting.

Here's the recipe for the frosting, by the way. This is one of the best frostings I've ever had the pleasure of eating from a spoon. Which I did. Twice.

Recommendation: If you have a chocolate lover in your house or a big celebration in the future (or both), this is THE cake for you. A+

Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Christmas Tidbits

Today was the second day of our Christmas break, in which we're not taking a complete break because we have some books to finish up. Be that as it may, I spent a few hours in the kitchen whipping up some goodies for the season. Here's how my kitchen looks:

I figure I'll clean it up later. Like tomorrow, after I finish everything.

Today, I made saltine toffee. Here it is cooling.

I also made two kinds of cookies.

Dark chocolate mint cookies:

And ginger crinkles, which my mother and sisters and I made when I was a child:

I prefer chewy, soft cookies to crunchy ones, and both these are perfect!

I also sipped some of this:

I love salted caramel (in fact, I'm making some tomorrow), and this chai is simply luscious.

So what's cooking at your house?

A Little Bit About Our Life... with Photos!

This week was a tad less hectic. But we still had quite a bit going on:

• Miss Priss spent the first few days of the week at my sister's house, helping my mother take care of my niece, who was sick.
• Two days of helping out with pony camp for Tiny Girl.
• Another home swim meet with the mayhem of concessions -- but it's the last this season.
• A birthday party sleepover.
• A day at our city's biggest theme park.
• And planning for our upcoming junket to Maine.

That and a few afternoons at the pool, swim team practice, playdates, and iced coffee, and what more does one need?

Well, if you're me, you need some chocolate:

This is highly addictive dark chocolate filled with caramel and sprinkled with sea salt. I highly recommend it.

You also need a good book:

I highly recommend this book as well. I got it at the library and then bought my own copy on Amazon Used.

Some nostalgia is good for the soul. While the children rode the carousel in the pavilion, my friend, Eliza, and I rocked in wooden rocking chairs and talked:

It was a restful and cooling break on a hot, exciting day.

Although I declined a trip down Thunder River, the tweens had a blast:

This looks cooling as well!

At the end of the day, the caped crusaders were sweaty, footsore, damp, a tad soiled, and mighty happy.

We did absolutely no schoolwork this week, and we didn't get a whole lot of sleep, either, but it was still wonderful!

I'm linking up with Collage Friday@Homegrown Learners, The Homeschool Mother's Journal, and Weekly Wrap-Ups@Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Come join in the fun!

Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Rich Cocoa Cookies

As you know, I am a dark chocoholic. And on Friday, I needed a fix. I'd had my eye on a recipe, which I tweaked just a tad.

Let me just say: Yowza. And since I love you, I'll share. The recipe, that is.


Rich Cocoa Cookies

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or kosher salt)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper. Mix together butter and sugar til smooth. Add eggs and vanilla, being careful not to overmix, and scrape down sides of bowl. Add cocoa powder and mix well. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well blended. Drop by teaspoonsful onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes, or until edges begin to firm up. Do NOT overbake. Cool on racks. Let cookie sheet cool between batches.

Optional mix-ins: chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, any sort of nut, dried cranberries, or broken-up peppermints.

* I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, which is appreciably darker than regular cocoa. I like to think that makes a difference, but what do I know about it?

Look at that. Dark chocolate perfection. It doesn't get any better.

The dough was heavenly. Tiny Girl, not a dark chocolate fan herself, gobbled as much dough as I would give her. But since I wanted to make some actual baked cookies, I cut her off. I had to cut off Miss Priss and myself, too. It was getting ridiculous.

Crispy yet chewy fabulousness on a plate.

I made one third plain, one third with chocolate chips, and one third with Craisins. Miss Priss and I like the ones with chocolate chips best. Big surprise there. I'd like them with toasted pecans, too, but no one else  here likes nuts in baked goods. If I'd made any with nuts, I would have had to eat them all by myself. Not a good idea.

Here's an advertisement in real life:

Me, as I snatched another cookie off the cooling rack: "I can't stop eating these!"
Miss Priss: "I know! I've had six already."

An inspiration! Sandwich softened ice cream between two cookies and freeze a bit to cut down on drippage. How's that for a summertime treat?

Update! These turned out crunchier than I usually like, but they are fantastic dipped in hot tea or coffee. Next time, I may make them with half butter and half shortening to see if it makes them chewier.

Confessions of a Mediocre Cook: Velvet Milkshakes = Pure Decadence

I just discovered a most scrumptious recipe that I call Velvet Milkshakes. A step WAY above your average milkshakes, these, my friends, are luxury.

Here's the recipe:

Velvet Milkshakes
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups ice cream, softened
1 (3.4 oz or 3.9 oz) package instant pudding mix

Process all in a blender til thoroughly mixed. Blender will be very full. Serve. Makes 5 cups.

You can choose whatever flavor combo you like. The first time I made these, I used chocolate pudding and chocolate ice cream. The second time, I tried chocolate pudding and coffee ice cream. Both were tasty.

One tip: don't skimp on the ice cream. I didn't measure it either time, but the second time I must have used too little because the shakes were thin. Delicious, but thin. And thick is what you want.

Serve these this summer and you're sure to enjoy rock star status!

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Chocolate and Books

By the time I reached the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle on Sunday night, it was after 11, and I'd been awake for 36 hours. I'd enjoyed my time in Amsterdam and was still a bit keyed up, due to excitement and lots of coffee. So I didn't fall asleep til after midnight.

And then I slept hard.

I didn't wake up until 2:15 Monday afternoon. (When Himself heard this, he replied in disgust, "What a waste of a day!" I had to remind him of my 36-hour "day" that had immediately preceded my Sleeping Beauty snooze.) After a quick shower, I grabbed a map of Newcastle and hit the streets. My hotel was along the Quayside of the River Tyne, so I had to walk uphill to reach the city center. It was a gasping walk.

The first place I stopped was St. Nicholas Cathedral. I love old cathedrals: the stained glass, the memorials, the old burial spots, the carvings, the dust motes, the smell... everything. I picked up some materials on display; it looked like St. Nicholas is a lively parish, which I was glad to see. I especially enjoyed Christopher Dalliston's (the Dean) message for Lent in the Cathedral Notes; I've linked to it here so you can read it, too. Look here for some more photos of the cathedral.

I also snapped a few photos of the Castle Keep and Black Gate, the two remaining buildings of the "new" castle. The keep was built between 1172 and 1177 by Henry II, and the gate was built between 1247 and 1250 by Henry III. "New" is a relative term.

The Black Gate

This monument to Queen Victoria sits outside St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Queen Victoria, looking dour.

I stopped in Blakes for a coffee and bakewell tart. The server asked me where I was from. When I told her, she excitedly said, "Oh, I love it there! It's one of my favorite places!" Turns out she's visited more states than I have. She's hoping to attend school in Toronto and travel in North America some more. I gave her my email address when I left, in case she'd like some advice planning her trip(s).

After that, I popped into Ma Provence for a croissant to take away. Later, I drooled over the chocolate offerings at Hotel Chocolat, a must-stop-shop if you're ever in Newcastle. I bought some, too! Let me recommend the dark chocolate-dipped ginger strips.

Another must-see: Grainger Market. I visited the market on my first trip to Newcastle four years ago, and I made tracks for there this trip, too. Here are some marvelous photos of the market, which opened in 1835. It's a marvelous place to browse. At one stall, I bought lots of candy to take home for the girls. At a book stall, I perused old books and wished I had enough suitcase space to take some home. I smiled at a butcher as I passed by his stall, and he winked back. There was a lot more to see, but I also wanted to stop by Waterstones bookstore, so off I went.

My favorite thing to do in Waterstones is visit the children's section. Why? Because they offer titles and authors we don't see in America. Deciding to cram my suitcase after all, I bought several books for the girls. The clerk who rang up my purchases, a young girl with maroon hair and completely tattooed arms, held up a Michael Morpurgo book. "Oh, I have this one, and I'm afraid to read it!"

"Afraid?" said I. "Why?"

"I know it will be sad, and I don't know if I can take it!"

We both laughed. "Oops," I said, "I'm buying it for my daughters, and one in particular is tenderhearted. Maybe I'll read it through first."

She thought this was a good idea. As I left, she called out, "I hope your daughter loves the book!"

I looked at my watch. Time to head back to the hotel to meet Tanya and her colleague, Allan. We were going out for Indian food. (It was wonderful, and if I could recall the name of the restaurant, I'd tell you. But I can't.)

A little adventure began. I headed in a direction and ended up in an area I'd never seen before. But I felt okay: I was headed downhill, so I must be going in the right general direction. Then I caught sight of the Millennium Bridge in the distance. It's along the Quayside. I made my way toward that bridge. Following signs to the Quayside, I got back to the hotel with a few minutes to spare.

By 11 p.m., I was back in bed. It had been a packed eight-hour and forty-five minute-day!

Christmas Goodie: Homemade Ganache

Flush with the grand success of Wednesday's salted caramel, I flung myself into today's project with gusto. Homemade ganache was my goal. I Googled around and came across this recipe from Foodie with Family. I armed myself with the necessary ingredients, chocolate and heavy cream, and sped into action.

 The ingredients. Note the lovely brown bowl, which I inherited from my precious Mam-ma.

After adding the hot cream to the chocolate chips, wait five minutes and then begin to stir. 

Just keep stirring until you get a bowlful of bliss. 

The first cute little jar sitting amid our Christmas village.

I made two batches, which perfectly filled the four cute little jars I bought at Michaels, with a tad left over for the chef. I then adorned each jar with a Christmas-themed adhesive border from Martha Stewart Crafts(bought on clearance at Michaels) and a tag with suggested uses for the ganache. I'll give these away as gifts.
Not too shabby for a culinarily- and craft-challenged girl like me. Although I must point out that ganache is easy-peasy to make.

And don't worry that I'll become impossible to live with after a few kitchen success stories. I know better than that. When one's ambitions far outreach one's actual capabilities, one learns to expect catastophes from time to time. One also learns to savor the moment when things turn out nicely, too.

Christmas Goodies: Chewy Chocolate Drops with Salted Caramel Frosting

Oh. My. Word. If ever a taste combination was fashioned in heaven, this is it.

The cookies are Soft and Chewy Chocolate Drops, the recipe for which I found on the back of a box of Baker's unsweetened chocolate squares. The recipe calls for a glaze of melted Cool Whip mixed with melted semi-sweet chocolate. However, I used the salted caramel frosting I made yesterday.

And I am so glad I did.

With my handy-dandy Pampered Chef cupcake decorating kit, I piped a swirl of frosting atop each little cookie.

Then I arranged them in cookie boxes I bought at Michaels for neighbor gifts. Not all of them, mind you. Some stayed here to spend Christmas with me.

Aren't they precious?

Each bite is a tiny bit of joy.

A "Study, Pray, and Serve" Advent Garland

In Sunday school this past weekend, Tiny Girl made what I call an "advent garland." It's now draped across the fireplace mantel in our family room.

It's made of plastic wrap, curling ribbon, ornament-shaped cards with notes printed on them, and Hershey's Kisses.

The notes on each paper ornament include Bible verses to look up and read aloud; good deeds to do, such as "Contribute a toy to a toy drive for children who don't have toys"; specific prayers to say; and many opportunities for family discussions. After completion of the day's "task," the children can enjoy a Kiss.

I found instructions for making a similar garland here at Vanilla Joy; in her version, Kelsey tucks Scripture readings in with the candy, and she only uses one piece of candy per bundle. Tiny Girl's garland attaches the paper ornaments with the curling ribbon when tying off the Kisses bundles, and includes two candy pieces: one for her and the other for Miss Priss.

You might be inclined to have each child in your family make his or her own advent garland, perhaps with different Scripture readings (or individual verses of a reading), good deeds, service opportunities at home and/or in the community, prayers, and topics for family discussion pertinent to the season.

What I love about this advent garland is that it actively engages children in both study and service, making the countdown to Christmas more meaningful.

A Chocolate Thanksgiving Dessert

Every Thanksgiving, my extended family gathers at my cousin's house for a big potluck hoopla. (More on this later.) Since it's about an hour and a half from my house, I can't bring anything that needs to stay hot, so I tend to select a dessert, salad, or appetizer. This year I'm bringing a dessert for the dessert buffet table, and my offering is Anne Byrn's "Darn Good Chocolate Cake," a Bundt cake featured in her cookbook, Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor (page 116-117).

Darn Good Chocolate Cake, by Anne Byrn (with notes from me)
1 pkg (18.25 ounces) devil's food or dark chocolate fudge cake mix (I chose Duncan Hines devil's food because all Duncan Hines cake mixes were BOGO)
1 pkg (3.9 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix (Be careful here! Jell-O brand was the only instant that measured correctly)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water*
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Hershey's Special Dark chips)

* You know I tinker with recipes. Instead of using plain water, I heated 1/2 cup of water in my microwave til hot and then stirred in one heaping teaspoon of instant coffee. I let it cool before proceeding with the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray with nonstick spray and then flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, shaking out excess flour, and set aside. (I used Pam for Baking, which includes flour.) Place in a large mixing bowl cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, and eggs.

Blend with electric mixer on low for 1 minute. Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl. Blend for 2-3 minutes more on medium, stopping to scrape down sides again if needed. Batter will be thick. Fold in chocolate chips, distributing them well throughout the batter.


Velvety smooth goodness!



Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out with rubber spatula.

Place pan in oven. Bake til it springs back when touched lightly, about 58 to 62 minutes. Remove pan from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around edge of cake and invert it onto a rack to cool completely.

At this point, you could dust with confectioners sugar, but I did as Byrn suggests. I gilded the lily with her "Martha's Chocolate Icing," because, with chocolate, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing.

Martha's Chocolate Icing
1 cup granulated sugar
5 T butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat sugar, butter, and milk in a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir til mixture comes to a boil. Continue stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips, stirring until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Pour icing over cake and let it flow over the sides.

I opted to use a ladle to pour the icing, and I found it set up quickly, hence the uneven appearance. I tried to smooth it out with a spatula, but that made things worse, so I let well enough alone. There was a bit of icing left over, which I quickly scarfed down. That stuff is wonderful!

The cake is now resting in my cake saver, awaiting the moment tomorrow when it will be revealed in all its glory.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Love of Pumpkin Muffins

Confession: I love pumpkin. I do not love pumpkin pie. And a mouthful of plain pumpkin puree is not so tasty, either. Trust me, I tried it.

But pumpkin muffins... Heaven on a plate.

We recently tried Tricia at Hodgepodge's chocolate-chocolate chip-pumpkin muffins, which only have three ingredients. Rich and darkly fudgy (I used a dark chocolate cake mix), Miss Priss and I found these to be scrumptious. Eureka! Baked in a mini muffin tin, they'd make a wonderful addition to a dessert or cookie buffet.

Since she's not a chocoholic, Tiny Girl prefers our more familiar variation on the theme, which is like pumpkin spice. Predictably, I like these, too.

Here's our recipe, from my good friend, Julie:

Pumpkin Muffins
1 box yellow cake mix
15 oz can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix all, spoon into greased muffin tin, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

Since we don't eat all 18 muffins at a time, I freeze the leftovers in freezer bags to have on hand. Muffins are marvelous to have on hand, don't you think?

Christmas Treat Boxes for Neighbors and Marvelous Mocha Fudge Recipe

No one who knows me will ever confuse me with a Martha Stewart masochist, but I took the plunge and made treat boxes for some neighbors and friends this year.  Six of them.  But still.  Here's what they look like:

And here's what's in them, clockwise from the top left: German chocolate/chocolate chip cookies, marvelous mocha fudge, ginger chewies, cranberry bark, forgotten cookies, and saltine toffee.

Since I've been kvetching about the "marvelous" mocha fudge on Facebook, and then I recanted, since it really is marvelous, I thought I should at least post the recipe.  So here 'tis:

Marvelous Mocha Fudge
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3 T. instant coffee granules
2 T. butter
1/4 t. salt
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first five ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir for 3 to 4 minutes (I chose 3 minutes); remove from heat.  Stir in marshmallows until completely melted.  Let mixture cool for a couple of minutes, then stir in chocolate chips, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Mixture will be stiff and dry-looking.  Press into an 8 x 8 pan lined with aluminum foil.  Refrigerate until firm, about 2 to 3 hours.  Lift fudge from pan and cut into pieces.

This is a drier, old-fashioned fudge recipe.  It has a creamy "mouthfeel" (I'm stealing that term from wine snobs) and a rich, delicious taste.  Everyone whose had some gives it a big thumbs-up -- even Himself, who doesn't really care for chocolate.  High praise, indeed!

Forgotten Cookies

This morning, I continued my Christmas treat-making with saltine toffee, cranberry bark, and forgotten cookies.  A variety of what is known as meringues in fancier circles, forgotten cookies are easy and ambrosial.  Below is a quote regarding meringues from joyofbaking.com:

Meringue Cookies are airy, sweet and crisp that seem to almost melt in your mouth. I love how the outsides of the meringues are nice and crisp, yet the insides remain wonderfully soft and puffy, almost like mini-Pavlovas. While I often eat these just as they are, they also make a very nice plated dessert that you can top with whipped cream, ice cream, sorbet, and/or fresh fruit.

Or you can eat them as I do: cramming them into my mouth in large quantities while striving to maintain my natural ladylike manners. Ahem.

So called because they are left for several hours in a preheated -- and then turned OFF -- oven, forgotten cookies differ from meringues in that they include chocolate chips and sometimes chopped nuts. There are different versions of the same basic recipe: some recipes (like mine) include other flavorings, like vanilla, while others do not. Some add a touch of salt, and some use less sugar. I've even seen one recipe for forgotten cookies that adds shredded coconut. And I've wondered about using other flavorings besides vanilla, such as peppermint or almond.

I'd post a photo of mine, but they're in the oven right now, and if I open the door, they'll be ruined. So click here to see a lot of photos.

Forgotten Cookies
2 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (I sometimes use mini chips)
1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Add sugar gradually, beating after each addition.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix.  Drop by teaspoon onto parchment paper-covered cookie sheets.  Place in oven.  Turn oven OFF and let sit in oven overnight or for several hours.  Do not open oven door.  Makes about 3 dozen or so.  Store in airtight containers.

I use semi-sweet chocolate chips and omit the nuts, as my family does not love nuts in baked goods.  For a Christmas theme, you could tint the mixture red or green before baking, if you'd like.  And they make a great addition to a cookie platter since they are a perfect counterpoint to dough cookies.

Enjoy!

Christmas Delights

Isn't Christmas lovely?  We are taking time this week to enjoy some of its special enticements.  At our house, I'm the one who enjoys treat-making; the girls prefer Christmas crafts.  It's become tradition for them to paint two or three Christmas pieces, which we date with Sharpie on the back.

This morning, they painted village houses and ornaments, purchased at Michaels, while Christmas music played on the stereo.

Yesterday, I baked German chocolate/chocolate chip cookies, ginger crinkles, and sesame parmesan thins.  The latter was a first for me, and about one third of them crumbled as I removed them from the cookie sheet after baking.  They were still tasty!  On Sunday, I made another batch of mocha fudge; this time, I mixed the marshmallows in first, stirred til they melted completely, and let the mixture cool a few minutes before adding the chocolate chips.  Alas, the result was the same as last week.  My conclusion: this is just a dry, crumbly, yet delectable fudge.

Today, I'm planning to make cranberry bark and saltine toffee.  Himself asked this morning as I described my plans for the day, "What are you going to do with all this stuff?"  I opted not to point out the obvious (eat it), and answered instead, "I'm giving it to neighbors."  Which I am.  Six cute cookie boxes, three tins, and several decorted treat bags await to be filled with all sorts of goodies.  After the girls and I nibble a few, that is.  You should know that Himself is not a sweets lover, so it's up to the girls and me to make up the difference.

Well, somebody's got to do it.

Weekly Wrap-Up: Deck Them Halls

Our last week of structured school before we take our Christmas/New Year's break!  This week we hit the high points: Bible, copywork, math, French, piano, grammar, spelling, and, of course, our independent reading.  We even took some time to study the digestive system.  Click here to discover some of the online resources we were delighted to find.  But we were busy with other activities, too!

Monday was Jasper's first birthday, and we celebrated big. 

Wednesday was my dad's 70th birthday, and he and my mother came to visit.  We all went to church that evening for the fellowship meal and (drumroll!) the children's Christmas musical.  Tiny Girl sung one of the solos (in French) and Miss Priss served as one of four narrators.  The drive home was tricky, though.  Our area has had unseasonably cold weather this week, and the rain quickly made icy, treacherous roads.  It took us almost an hour to get home from church, and we had to turn around once to find an alternate route.  Thankfully, we made it home safely!  I was at the wheel, as Himself met us at church on his way from work, and I have no interest in duplicating that experience any time soon.

We've been decking our halls in the last two weeks, a bit at a time.  I thought I'd display some of my old favorites in ornamentation:

This candy cane came from my parents' first Christmas tree way back in 1965.

My sisters and I loved the dancing Santas when we were children!

 I made this ball in the fourth grade and it has miraculously survived several moves.

We have two of these nativity ornaments.  Hand-carved in Israel, they were gifts from the girls' baptisms a few Christmas Eves ago.

And here's our tree in all its glory.

We don't have a decorator tree.  Nor do we have what I've heard someone call a "junk tree": one with all the handmade ornaments that dare not sully the other, lovelier tree.  No, our one Christmas tree proudly displays fancy, store-bought ornaments alongside a myriad of handmade, child-made ornaments.  Those are treasures to me.

Miss Priss received a Christmas Tree in a Box for her birthday last month.  She loved putting it together.

My first treat-making session was a disaster.  The Marvelous Mocha Fudge was not.  I followed the directions perfectly, but when I added the chocolate chips, marshmallows, vanilla, and cinnamon to the hot, cooked milk, sugar, butter, and instant coffee crystals mixture, the chocolate seized; the result was a fudge that's hard and a bit grainy.  The flavor is wonderful, though!  My dear friend, Jennifer, at Half-Baked Homeschool assured me that traditional fudge is crumbly and a bit dry.  Since she is a trained chef, I felt better.  But I still can't give it as gifts.    I guess I'll have to eat it myself!  I think I'll try again and add the chocolate chips last, after the mixture has cooled a bit.  If you have any ideas, please share!

Blessings from our home to yours for a wonderful, peaceful, blessed Christmastime.  Veni, veni, Emmanuel!

It's That Time of Year Again!

When mediocre cooks like me begin to dream about all the delicacies with which they'll grace their friends and neighbors this Christmas season, you know it must be time to bake!  However, if you were with me last year, you also know that this is a particular challenge for me.  Feel free to hop into the Time Machine and re-visit last year's debacle here and here, if you so desire.  I did and laughed my head off.

This year, I decided to get a jump on things, so I made a batch of dough to freeze, which we'll bake closer to Christmas.  I chose a childhood favorite of mine.  We called them gingersnaps, but I have since learned that gingersnaps are thin and crispy, while the cookies from my youth are thick, soft, and chewy.  They are so easy to whip up, and, I'm thrilled to report, the dough tastes exactly the same as I remember.  The girls and I each ate about three cookies' worth of dough, so I'll need to make another batch to freeze.

I'm also planning to make the saltine toffee and Tuscan shortbread I made last year.  If you'd like the recipes and photos, pop over here.  And I'll make what we always called forgotten cookies, which now seem to be better known by the fancier name of meringues.  However, forgotten cookies feature chocolate chips, and meringues pale in comparison, since they offer no such delights.

Last year, my English friend, Jackie (whom I quoted in my Drawbacks to Globalization post yesterday), asked, "Why don't you just make a Christmas cake and call it a Christmas?"  Because that's not what we do in the States, Jackie, where we have Martha Stewart and hundreds of other chef-cum-lifestyle gurus to make us all feel guilty and inadequate.

However, this year I'm sticking with the tried and true, and I'm starting earlier.  So things should go much more smoothly.  Right?

A Few Kitchen Successes

Not everything was a flop this season. The red velvet cupcakes with the white chocolate peppermint cream cheese frosting were tasty. I even managed to locate four candy bows that weren't hideous or embarrassing and put them atop four of the cupcakes, which I gave to friends.

The Tuscan shortbread is always a winner, and so is the saltine toffee. I've had requests for recipes for the latter two, so here they are.

Saltine Toffee

Everyone who tastes these thinks they are divine. I have to agree.

At least one sleeve saltines

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

2 cups (1 12-oz bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 chopped nuts (optional -- I never use them)

more butter for greasing the pan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter well a jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with sides) and then line with the saltines in a single layer, breaking pieces to fit if needed. Set aside.

Combine butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and melt over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil for three minutes, stirring constantly.

Immediately pour over saltines and and spread to cover as best you can. there may be a few at the edges that remain uncovered. Bake for five minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over top. Let sit for five minutes.

Spread melted chocolate over all the crackers and then sprinkle with nuts, if using. Cool completely. I often pop them in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.

Break into pieces. A pizza cutter helps immensely. Whatever you do, remember to hide some of this stuff in your pantry. After one bite, you're going to crave it.

Tuscan Shortbread

Not your run-of-the-mill shortbread, these scrumptious bars are fantastic with a cup of tea. Frankly, they're fabulous any way you eat them.

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 T chopped fresh rosemary or 2 t dried (I've used both successfully, but prefer fresh)

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pine nuts on a cookie sheet and toast in preheated oven til they are a bit darker and fragrant, about five minutes. Take care not to burn them! Remove from oven and pour onto a plate.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. remove from heat and stir in confectioners' sugar, rosemary, and pine nuts. Then stir in flour to make a stiff dough.

Pat into an ungreased 8-inch square pan, making sure the dough is even. Bake until golden and firm at edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cut with a sharp knife into 16 squares. Let cool in pan at least 10 minutes before removing with a small spatula.

The bars can be stored tightly covered for five days, but I highly doubt they'll last that long. You can also freeze them for future use.