Legend of the Christmas Pickle

Legend of the Christmas Pickle

Made this a Tradition in my house when my Oldest daughter was about 4, she acts like she is too old for it but you still see a sparkle when she searches for the Pickle on our Christmas Tree ;)

Congratulations Gamecocks

Yep That's a Fabulous Four-fur over Clemson ;)

RECIPE FOR CHRISTMAS JOY

"Recipe for Christmas Joy"

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Hugs
4 tsp Kisses
2 cups Smiles
4 cups Love
1 cup Special Holiday Cheer
1/2 cup Peace on Earth
3 tsp Christmas Spirit
2 cups Goodwill Toward Man
1 Sprig of Mistletoe
1 medium-size bag of
Christmas Snowflakes
(the regular kind won't do!)

Method:

Mix Hugs, Kisses, Smiles and
Love until consistent.
Blend in Holiday Cheer, Peace
on Earth, Christmas
Spirit and the Good Will
toward Men. Use the mixture
to fill a large, warm heart,
where it can be stored
for a lifetime. (It never goes bad!)

Serve as desired under
mistletoe, sprinkled liberally
with special Christmas Snowflakes.
It is especially good when
accompanied by Christmas
Carols and family get-togethers.

Serve to one and all.

Author Unknown

Have A Happy Holiday Season

Babka

This is absolutely SINFUL, makes a great gift over the holidays.
This particular recipe comes from


I hops you enjoy, I plan to tweak this recipe just a little this year so be one the lookout to see how it turns out ;)

Chocolate Babkas
Yield: Makes 3 loaves
Prep Time: 1 hour (active) 1 hour 45 minutes (inactive)
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours

INGREDIENTS
1½ cups warm milk (110°F)
2 envelopes (¼ ounce each) active dry yeast
1¾ cups plus a pinch of sugar
3 whole large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
3½ sticks (1¾ cups) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature, plus more for bowl and pans
2 pounds semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon heavy cream

For Streusel Topping:
1-2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature


DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar over the warm milk; stir until dissolved. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together ¾ cup sugar, 2 eggs, and the yolks; add yeast mixture, and whisk to continue.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Add the egg mixture, and beat on low speed until almost all the flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Switch to the dough hook. Add 2 sticks butter, and beat until completely incorporated and a smooth, soft dough forms, about 10 minutes. The dough should still be slightly sticky when squeezed.

3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead a few times until smooth. Place dough in a well-buttered bowl, and turn to coat with butter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

4. To make the Streusel Topping:Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger clumps remaining. Set aside.

5. In a bowl, stir together chocolate, remaining cup sugar, and the cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut in remaining 1½ sticks butter until combined; set aside filling.

6. Generously butter three 9-by-5-by-2¾-inch loaf pans and line with parchment paper, leaving a 1½-inch overhang along the sides. Brush more butter over the parchment, and set aside. Punch down the dough, and transfer to a clean work surface. Let the dough rest 5 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, beat the remaining egg with the cream. Cut dough into three equal pieces. On a well-floured work surface, roll out one piece of dough to a 16-inch square, about 1/8 inch thick. (Keep other pieces covered with plastic wrap while you work.) Brush edges of dough with the egg wash. Crumble one-third of the chocolate filling evenly over dough, leaving about a ½-inch border on the long sides. Roll up dough lengthwise into a tight log, pinching ends together to seal. Twist dough evenly down the length of the log, a full five or six times. Brush the top of the log with egg wash. Crumble 2 tablespoons filling down the center of the log, being careful not to let mixture slide off. Fold log in half into a horseshoe shape, then cross the right half over the left. Pinch ends together to seal and form a figure eight. Twist two more times, and fit into a prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

8. Preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack in the lower third. Brush the top of each loaf with egg wash; sprinkle with one-third of the Streusel Topping. Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until dough has expanded and feels pillowy, about 40 minutes.

9. Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F; bake until loaves are deep golden, 20 to 30 minutes more. (If the tops begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.) Transfer pans to wire racks to cool completely. Babkas can be wrapped in plastic and kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Note: A babka can be frozen in the pan for up to a month before baking. When ready to bake, remove from freezer; let stand at room temperature for about five hours. Be careful not to underbake; otherwise, the center may not set properly.


(Source: Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

Homemade Rugelach

I am always up for something new when it comes to the Holiday Cooking.
Usually it is a new holiday sweet. This is one of the more recent faves, I made them at our Christmas Eve get together several years ago and they all but flew off the plate. I though I would share this relatively easy recipe for some of you to try this holiday season.
This is wonderful filled with the flavors of Christmas, but this is utterly awesome at the peak of your seasons with freshly made jams, jellies, preserves, and freshly collected nuts ;)
A little history on this delicious confection, The history of rugelach, much like babka, is that they were first brought to America by Eastern European immigrants and are popular during Jewish holidays. I will share Babka as well in this blog;) jUST IN A SEPERATE ENTRY ;)


RUGELACH
Prep Time: 1 hr min
Total Time: 9 hr 25 min
Makes: About 5 dozen cookies or 32 servings, 2 cookies each

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2-1/4 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped PLANTERS Walnuts
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon, divided
1/4 cup raspberry preserves

DIRECTIONS


BEAT cream cheese and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add flour, mixing well after each addition. (Dough will be very soft and sticky.) Divide dough into 4 portions; place each on sheet of plastic wrap. Pat each portion into 1-inch-thick circle, using floured hands. Wrap plastic wrap around each circle to enclose. Refrigerate overnight.
PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Cover baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. Mix walnuts, 1/2 cup of the sugar and 2 tsp. of the cinnamon; set aside. Roll each portion of dough to 11-inch circle on lightly floured surface, lifting dough occasionally to add more flour to work surface as necessary. Spread each circle evenly with 1 Tbsp. of the preserves.
SPRINKLE nut mixture over preserves. Cut each circle into 16 wedges. Roll up each wedge, starting from wide side. Place, point sides down, on prepared baking sheets; shape into crescents. Sprinkle with combined remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon and 2 Tbsp. sugar.
BAKE 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove from baking sheets. Cool on wire rack.


Great Substitute
Substitute PLANTERS Pecans for the walnuts and/or apricot preserves for the raspberry preserves

Recycle an Old Jar into a Decorative Night Light

When Home for the Holidays I am always on the lookout for quick, easy and attractive projects for the kids to work on whilst I am working around the house. This onw would be a great one for older kids with little supervision. But for younger ones they need tobe supervised.

What You Need :
Tape or Stickers, Spray Paint, exacto knife, Flameless tea lights, old glass jar to recycle.

What To Do:
Place tape in various places or stickers onto the glass jar surface. If using tape cut desired designs into tape and peel away excess. Spray paint entire outside of jar desired color (we used Gold in the photo) and wait about an hour to dry to touch, and remove the stickers/tape. Allow to dry and then place flameless Tea Lights into the jar...Viola...A very cool recycled lamp. You could use these as party decore if you added a bit of wire to the rim and hang in clusters. Or use them on individual tables with other festive decor. Try using different sixed jars maybe with letters on them to spell out a special message any time of the year ;)
Enjoy, V~

Save Money Make Your Own Holiday Cards

Create a one of a kind memory, and share it with your family on a very special time of the year. Regular cards get tossed, but most photo cards find a place into a photo album and kept for years. I try to remember this through the year as a Snap away and get a few really jazzy snaps, it seems a little easier around the hollidays from Halloween to The beginning of December with family gatherings and festive outings. Take advantage of some of the FREE family fun around and start a stockpile of cool and interesting photos. The photo above was created at Thanksgiving Dinner, the tree actually had some significance, in the fact that my Grandmother, which passed this year and her hubby planted this right after they got married, I though with her not being there this year we'd take the pic by their tree. Could have easily been turned into a Christmas Card photo with the sun shining on the top like a star... Anyway, just a share, folks save your money, a memory in not cheap...Where I get my cards done it runs me about $..$0.27 per card including envelope, and then of course postage. This year I am sending an actual card with the picture attached, Because I ran into an awesome sale at Target after the season was over and picked up several packages of cards 12 pack for $1.27 each marked down...Do the math... Shop local and sensible and this fits right into your budget. Miss eating out what one time with a family of four. My cards will come out to be approximately $0.79 each total.Personalized...

It Suits My Fancy ~ Pumpkin

I thought this might be a more fun way to share some of my creations over the Holidays. I love taking recipies and revamping them, especially when you have an abundance of fresh ingredients around. Right now we got pumpkins, and I Love Pumpkins and like veggies so I can go until the Beginning of the year just with recipes about these items. I have Butternut & Hubbard Squash, Rouge de en temps, Jaharradale, and a NOID New Mexico variety pumpkins. This particular day I am going to share a Pumpkin Butter made from Jaharradale and a Pumpkin Pound Cake made from the Rouge de en temps. Both of these varieties are used in decoration during fall and Halloween just because folks don't know exactly what to do with them. Pumpkins are so full of nutrition from the flesh to the seeds, take a moment from your day of online shopping and search some of the different ways to prepare, some are old fashioned, some are ethnic, it is interesting and they are relatively easy to prepare and cook. Well anyway hope you try and enjoy my recipies Spicy Pumpkin Butter Total Time 6 hours INGREDIENTS 6 cups pumpkin cubed 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon, powdered 1 teaspoon ginger, powdered 1 teaspoon nutmeg, powdered 1/2 teaspoon clove, powdered 1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper, powdered (you may want to increase this for a more spicy flavor) 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon butter (to add later) DIRECTIONS ~Put pumpkin into a pot and put in all sugar and spices on top. Add water, cook undisturberbed on Medium heat for 1 hour. ~Look at pot after 1 hour. Stir just to check pumpkin doneness. Set heat lower and cover, cook for 2 more hours. This should cause the mix to get quite watery looking and dark. ~Cook for 3 more hours on low. Add butter now and check each hour. When there is 2 hours left mash with potato masher and cook fonal hour uncovered to thicken. (If it is not thickened at the end of this time cook and check in 30 minute increments, it should be the consistancy of a loose preserve, but the thicker you allow it to get the more intense the flavors, so make it your own) Pumpkin Pound Cake Total time ~1 hour 35 minutes INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 cup dark brown sugar 6 ounces sour cream 1 cup pumpkin 3 cups flour, self rising 6 eggs (organic, home grown makes the richest cake) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 teaspoon cloved, powdered 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon cayenne 1 teaspoon cinnamon DIRECTIONS ~Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. ~Cream butter and sugar. ~Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. ~Sift flour and slowly add flour alternately with pumpkin and sour cream. ~Add remaining ingredients and mix well. ~Pour into a well greased pan, seems to work out at the same timing for 9 X 13 rectangle, bundt, or tube cake pans. ~Bake 1 hour and check doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean now it is done. If not bake for the remainig time. Allow to cool and add glaze, cing, or garnish with powdered sugar. (Tips, make your glaze with a little of your favorite holiday cheer, let harden and wrap for amazing gifts...The alchol will evaporate during the hardening process but leave the flavor behind, Captin Morgans Spiced Rum is the BOMB) I guess in all fairness I need to add how to get your fresh pumpkin for your recipies FRESH PUMPKIN PUREE you will need: pumpkin water pan icecream scoop potato masher or blender cut pumpkin in half scoop out seeds and sringy gut parts (roast seed, save seed got growing a couple next year) place pumpkin halves cut side down on a foil lined pan (for easy breezy clean up) pour about 1/2 cup water into pan to help steam pumpkin through. cook in oven for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees F Check with a fork it should be super tender from the outside in to be done. Let cool and then scrape insides from the skin with the ice cream scoop (IF IT SEEMS OVERLY WATERY AT THIS STAGE TO YOU IT PROBABLE IS...place all scooped pumpkin into a mesh colander and let it drain over a bowl in the fridge empting as needed about 2 times should have enough moisture out of a normal pumpkin)and mash or puree in blender. You can put into portions sized sandwich ziplock bags at about 2 cups each and then place into a 1 gallon freezer bag, clearly marked with a date and how much each bags in holding, and save for later.

2012 Holiday Madness...LOL...It's a journey

Well here we go approaching my 40th ,Bailey's 4th, & Andie's 14th holiday seasons. We usually begin our shopping at Labor Day, Hopefully by Christmas I remember where I have stashed everything. And the cooking, trial of new recipe formulations that begins about a week before Halloween. With craz school event scheduling I am glad I start early...because it all wouldn't get completed otherwisr. Today we are even addressing envelopes to be filled with Holiday Wishes...we'll post some of our photo attempts as there is always some entertainment value in the culls... Well hell I'm bloggin...lol