Holiday Baking 2010

We're four days from Christmas and I'm just posting about my holiday baking. It could be worse - I could have just skipped it all together. There's no way I would do that though.

This is my second holiday baking season away from home. Last year was tough because I missed my family in the kitchen, but this year - my husband decided to pitch in. Boy was I surprised!?  In fact, he helped so much that I was more the 'helper' than the actual baker. It was a blast. We played holiday music - drank holiday drinks and enjoyed each other's company.

Back up. Holiday drinks were made, but that doesn't mean they got drunk.  My husband attempted to make his favorite, White Russian, but let's just say he used rum instead of vodka. Not the biggest deal, but the drink was so strong that I couldn't force it down.

The biggest thing that was missing from this glorious holiday baking was snow. That's right. We don't have any snow in New England. Fortunately I get to head to the Midwest for Christmas where they have like 24 inches of snow. Phwew! Broomball, here I come!

So you're probably wondering what we made this year. We actually made less cookies than actual sweets. I didn't even do any cookie decorating, which was weird for me, but when thinking about the mess it makes - I got over it pretty quick. My favorites of the following, were the Brown-Butter Toffee Blondies and the Caramels.

Holiday Baking Menu

Brown-Butter Toffee Blondies, Martha Stewart
Rum Balls, Martha Stewart
Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies, Martha Stewart
Caramels, Ina Garten
Gumdrop Fudge, Eleisia - Mom's In A Blog



For the sake of proper reference, I'm going to encourage you to use the link for the recipes above. See my comments along with the photos for tips - in case you decide to make these yourself.

Home-made brownies - they're a good thing.

Lucas is breaking the brownies apart - preparing to pour in the rum.

If you don't have one of these ice-cream scoops yet, just get one.

You can find this sugar at William's Sonoma

These are pretty potent, so if you're unsure about rum, either put less in - or skip it all together.

 

 

The only gingerbread people I made. Advice: don't attempt to roll out dough with chocolate chips mixed in.

If you're looking for a strong gingerbread flavor, these are it! I burnt them though,
so the 'chewy' should probably come out of the title.

The only blonde in the house.

We didn't have toffee chips, so we added butterscotch chips instead. Delish.
I would recommend a little less salt, though.

Not quite as dark-colored as Ina's, but still really good.
Advice: don't eat all of the side scraps. Your tummy will get you.

Again, we didn't have all the ingredients. I used sour gummy worms instead of gumdrops.
If I do it again, I'll take the time to find the gumdrops. These were too chewy and taste like Fruity Pebbles.

 

An easy way to gift your treats. Save some pickle jars and clean them good enough to rid of the pickle smell.
Get a glue-stick and apply the fabric. This yarn can be found at JoAnn Fabrics.

 

Merry Christmas!