Busy Busy Busy
It’s been a busy week around here. Since we’re celebrating Christmas tomorrow with my family I have to make sure all of my gifts for our “homemade Christmas” are finished. I finished a lot of them last week, except for my little nephew’s gift. He requested a superhero cape this year for Christmas. Since I’m the crafty aunt, my sister asked if I’d be willing to make one for him. I made one on Thursday (photos to come on Monday, I don’t want to give it away), I think it’s the best handmade gift I’ve ever made.
The kitchen is a flurry of activity with several batches of dinner rolls and some sourdough bread being made.
I also made some lemon marmalade with some of those Meyer Lemons I have. I’ll be giving some of this away as gifts, of course some will stay here for us to enjoy on toast (and maybe those dinner rolls on Sunday).
Mr Chiots learned to knit just for our gift to our nieces. He spent yesterday afternoon finishing up his contribution to the gift. They’re going to be thrilled that he actually made these for them! I had to take some photos so they’d believe it. (I’ll share those next week as well, can’t give away the gifts)
I wrapped up the last of the gifts last night and we’re all ready for our family holiday. It’s nice to be finished so early, I’ll be able to relax next week. All I have on my Christmas to-do list is to make caramel corn for the friendly library ladies and the post office workers. Oh yeah – and our awesome UPS man.
Are you all finished with holiday shopping, gift making, cooking, or are you going to be busy, busy, busy this coming week?
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I Love Nativity Sets
I’m a big fan of nativity sets. I’ve always wanted to collect interesting ones from around the world. I only have 3 right now, but I’m sure I’ll acquire more throughout my lifetime. Mr Chiots and I bought our first nativity set on our honeymoon. We went to Seattle and while at Pike’s Place Market we saw this lovely little set made out of volcanic ash from Mt. Saint Helen’s.
It’s an interesting set not because it’s made out of volcanic ash, but because one of the characters is the little drummer boy!
The second nativity set I got a gift from “our pets” although I think Mr Chiots had a hand in it. Each year I’m given a few more pieces to this wonderful set. It lives atop our TV cabinet throughout the season with some lights behind it.
My newest nativity is a family set. My parents purchased this set in Cartagena, Colombia while we were there on vacation (since I grew up in Colombia that was the usual vacation destination). It’s a wonderfully interesting set, I think it was modeled after the art of the famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero. It’s handmade of clay and has such interesting metallic accents. I have fond memories of this always being out at home and I was thrilled when my mom gave it to me for Christmas last year.
My favorite pieces in this set are the animals, particularly the little fat sheep with their curls. I really love this one because it’s from the country I was born and raised in. It reminds me of Colombia when I look at it.
I always look for nativity sets when we’re traveling, they’re not your typical touristy item though, so they’re difficult to find. Especially interesting and unique ones. I don’t mind though, I don’t want to have 50 sets, just a few that I really love. There are some beautifully interesting nativity sets over at Etsy.com.
Do you have a nativity displayed in your home during the holidays?
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The First Sign of Christmas
You know that the holidays have arrived here at Chiot’s Run when you see chocolate covered cherries on the counter. I usually try to start making my famous chocolate covered cherries the week after Thanksgiving. This year, I was too busy so I started last Wednesday evening. I don’t really making cookies during this season, I spend my time making chocolate covered cherries and a few peanut butter cups. I also make a few batches of caramel corn for the wonderful people at the post office and the library.
These cherries are famous. A week or two before Thanksgiving people start asking about them, wondering if I’ve started making them yet. They want to make sure I remember to make them and they want to make sure I remember that they’re on “the list”.
Making cherries isn’t difficult, but it is time consuming, especially if you use real chocolate that you have to temper (which I use on about 2/3 of my cherries). It’s as simple as making a fondant to wrap around the cherries and then dipping them in chocolate. I’ve developed a few tips during my 10 year cherry dipping career. The fondant recipe below is the best, I’ve tried 10-15 different recipes and this is the easiest to work with because of the corn syrup. You can buy non-GMO corn syrup at your health food store if you’d like. Using anything else; milk, golden syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc. makes the fondant stickier and much harder to wrap around the cherries without a big mess!
Make sure you get the fondant fairly thin, too thick and it won’t turn into liquid. I cut the fondant into small balls and knead each piece, then flatten into a disc to wrap around each cherry. Kneading the fondant makes it smooth and warms it making it more pliable for easy wrapping. You don’t have to chill your fondant if your kitchen is cool.
I find that wrapping the disc around each cherry, then cutting off any excess before rolling works perfectly. I lightly roll them between my hands to smooth out the fondant, don’t use too much pressure or you’ll make the cherry leak juice which will turn your fondant into a sticky mess. Keeping a bowl of confectioners’ sugar close for dipping your hands and cherries into will help in case this happens. If you have a cherry that starts to produce juice too soon, simply dip in powdered sugar and then roll lightly between hands. Keep a wet rag and a dry towel around as well to clean your hands every so often. This keeps the process moving along smoothly.
I have found that putting parchment paper on the the cookie sheet and coating it with shortening makes it much easier to remove the cherries once they’re cooled and set. If you don’t do this they often stick, when when you pick them up they leave a small bit of fondant stuck to the sheet and then they start to leak juice.
Make sure you chill your cherries for at least an hour in the fridge before dipping. If you don’t allow the fondant to cool and set up, it will have a tendency to melt with the heat of the chocolate and start to drip off the cherries with the chocolate.
CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES
50 maraschino cherries, well drained
3 tablespoons room temperature butter
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 pounds dipping chocolate, white or dark
Combine butter, corn syrup and salt; blend until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix well. Knead until smooth and shiny; wrap in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes (if your kitchen is cool this may not be needed).
Meanwhile, drain cherries. Shape a marble-size piece of fondant around each cherry; place on wax paper-lined tray. Chill until firm, about 2 hours.
Melt chocolate according to kind you’re using (tempering real chocolate or simply melting to dipping consistency for chocolate coating). Dip cherries and place on wax paper-lined tray (I find those tiny muffin cups to be perfect, especially if you’re making different kinds (brandied & regular), they’re easy to keep separate if you use different colored cups for each kind). Store in covered container in a, cool dark place for 10 to 14 days to fully ripen and to attain the “liquidy” inside.
Brandied Cherries
Soak cherries in brandy for a minimum of 2 days (I soak mine for up to 1 year, but a week or two will do). Omit almond extract and add 1/2 teaspoon brandy flavoring or brandy instead. Follow recipe as stated above.
Next year I’m going to try to make my own maraschino cherries. I’m sure these will be even more delicious if I use fresh local cherries. I may even leave the pits in them to provide the natural almond flavor that comes from cherry stones. I’ll have to find a farm where I can pick them myself so I can make sure I get some with stems.
What are you famous for during the holidays? Or what is someone else famous for that you love?
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All-Natural Outdoor Christmas Decor
I spent the day yesterday putting Christmas up out front. When it comes to outside Christmas decor I’m a big fan of the natural look so I stick to all-natural ingredients. No big blow-up things, colored/flashing lights, santas or plastic things decorate our home. We stick to an all-natural Christmas.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and bright. It wasn’t very warm, so I started around 11 am after it had warmed up, frosty fingers don’t do well wiring lights. I unrolled the garland and stretched it out on the front lawn to dry. Then I carried containers of lights, pine cones and grapevine stars down from the attic.
Of course all of the strands of lights have to be checked to make sure they work and any burnt out bulbs get replaced. I find that buying an extra strand or two of lights is a cheaper source of replacement bulbs than buying those little replacement packs.
Then came the wrapping of the lights around the garland (we get a lot of wind here so this is a necessity). Out came the ladder and up went the garland, I find that I like turning the lights on while I’m putting them up. The lights go on a timer when I’m finished so they come on after it gets dark and they go off around 11 pm.
It’s always tricky getting each swag to be the same, or at least close enough. I’d put up one and climb down the ladder head out to the front of the lawn and see what I thought. It sure is a good amount of exercise putting up this garland!
After getting the garland up, I realized it was two o’clock and I hadn’t eaten lunch yet. My stomach was grumbling, so I headed inside and warmed myself with a steaming bowl of chili. I ate in the living room so I could enjoy what I had accomplished with all my hard work.
After lunch it was time to wire the pine cones into the garland and put the grapevine stars up.
The pine cones and stars were laid out so I knew where they were to be placed along the garland. Adding the pine cones adds more work, but I really like the end result!
Along with the pine cones I use grapevine stars everywhere. I made star topiaries to flank the front door. These were put in big terracotta pots (out came the tomatoes out and in went the stars).
Some greenery was added to finish them off and a few smaller terracotta pots were filled with pine cones. I left the watering can up there as well because I thought it looked nice, although I may replace it with my old zinc one. I may add a few more pots filled with other natural things as well.
Not too long after I was finished with the front porch the sun started to set. I could hardly wait for it to go down, I was so excited to see what the lights were going to look like in the dark!
The lights came on at 5:30 and it finally feels like the holiday season at Chiot’s Run. I hope that people driving by smile and get that feeling of Christmas. I always do when I pass houses all dressed up for the holidays!
This is the view from the inside of the house. I love sitting on the couch in the evenings with a cup of tea, listening to my favorite Christmas music and watching the lights outside.
This doesn’t conclude my decorating efforts. I still have to add garland, lights and stars around the garage door. The front fence will get some garland and stars as well and I may put up some more lights in our little pine trees on the back hill. I also have to decorate the inside of the house, but this gets to be less and less with each passing year. I appreciate the outside decor much more than I do the inside decorations.
What’s your favorite outdoor or indoor Christmas decor?
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Christmas Greens
It’s that time of the year to put up Christmas, at least outdoors. I like fresh mixed greens and big white lights gracing my little cottage. There’s just something so welcoming about them.
I like big colored lights as well and I think about using them every so often, but when it comes time to decorate I just can’t use anything but white.
I bought my garland last Tuesday, and I soaked in in a garbage can of water (from my rain barrels) for 5 days. I took them out Sunday to dry, but then it rained, so I’m hoping it will be dry enough to put it up today or tomorrow. Oddly enough it was December 3 last year when I put up my garland (I have these great photos of Dexter, helping me, before he was officially ours).
I need to gather everything I’m going to need to get our holiday cheer going. I have grapevine stars and pine cones to go along with the garland and lights. I love the natural look! I don’t have tons of time this year, but I’ll make time to put decorations up outside. I may not get any up inside, but I don’t think I could go without a little outdoor Christmas cheer.
Do you put up lights outside for Christmas?
