Spreading a Little Christmas Cheer
I loved to cook long before I loved to garden (not sure why I didn’t start a cooking blog). I’m not a huge baker other than breads, probably because I don’t really like cookies and cakes. I make them when requested for gatherings, but my real love is cooking savory dishes and baking beautiful breads.
This is 98.4% Whole Grain Seeded Sourdough from Wild Yeast.
Since I don’t like to make cookies I leave those to my mom this time of year. She does a great job, making the perfect gingerbread people soft and chewy just like I like them and crispy but soft butter cookies with icing. She also makes the most wonderful spritz cookies in all shapes, colors, flavors and sizes. Since my mom is the cookie person of the family, I specialize in a little something different. My contribution to the holiday sweet table is chocolate. Delicious chocolate covered cherries to be exact. I’ve been making these for many years and my request list keeps getting longer every year. Friends come out of the woodwork around Christmas and ask when I’m going to be making them. It’s always nice to have a special thing around the holidays.
Usually I start making my cherries right after Thanksgiving. This year however, we’ve been super busy so I started a week late. I made my first batch on Sunday evening and then another on Monday. These were brandied cherries, so I soak the cherries in brandy for a while in the back of the fridge. Then I make brandy flavored fondant to wrap them in, and then they’re enrobed in delicious semi-sweet chocolate.
On Thursday I made a batch of regular almond flavored cherries (these are my favorite). This year I’ve been playing with my recipe a little, I’m using local organic butter and I’m trying to cut the corn syrup out of the recipe. It was a success! I must say, tempering chocolate isn’t for the faint of heart. If you want to make these quickly, just buy dipping chocolate from the store. Most people won’t be able to tell the difference. But if you’re a chocolate lover like me, a little semi-sweet or dark real chocolate is the way to go. Once you learn the trick to tempering it’s not too bad (it just takes longer).
Here’s the recipe in case anyone wants to make some.
CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES
50 maraschino cherries, well drained
3 tablespoons 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 darkCombine 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.
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 over hot water, stirring constantly. Dip cherries and place on wax paper-lined tray (I find those tiny muffin cups to be perfect). 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 at least 2 days. Omit almond extract and add 1/2 teaspoon brandy flavoring instead. Follow recipe as stated above.
So what are you famous for? Cookies, chocolates, breads?
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Christmas in Zoar
Yesterday Mr Chiots and I and some friends headed down to Christmas in Zoar. The whole town is decorated up for the holidays with fresh greens on every fence and every door decorated with wreaths and fruit. Several of the houses are open for touring and they are also decorated up with trees and other decorations. It’s a great way to kick off the holiday season.
We started off the day at our home with a delicious brunch of oatmeal and lemon pancakes with blackberry syrup, local sausage from the farmer’s market, roasted local potatoes and some farm fresh eggs. After filling up we bundled up and headed down to Zoar. It was a cold cold day, 20 feels like 5, BRRRRRRR.
It didn’t feel too cold as we walked around enjoying all the decorations and the beautiful gardens in the winter (I really need to go down there in the summer to walk around). Since the houses were all built in the 1820’s many of them have been restored and have traditional gardens surrounding them. It’s always interesting to see how others decorate their gardens for the winter.
Touring the insides of the homes is also very interesting. Each year there are different houses open, which is nice so it’s not the same each year. Most of them are decorated with vintage feather trees and glass ornaments.
You just can’t beat a day like to that for putting you in the Christmas spirit.
What kinds of things do you like to do to kick off the season?
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Putting up Christmas
I’m a big fan of all the decorations that come with Christmas. We love to see other people’s houses all decorated up with lights and garland (although I’m not a huge fan of those blow up things). We usually take one evening during the season to drive around to look at all the Christmas lights.
We’re a bit old school, we love the big white Christmas lights (I know they use tons of electricity), I tried buying the LED ones but they just weren’t the same. So we put up 3 strands of the big C7 lights across the front of our house. To help save electric we bought at outdoor timer, so they’re only on for 4 1/2 hours each evening.
We always use real greens, this year I was able to find mixed white pine and cedar. Usually I can only find white pine and I add different kinds of greens to add texture. I also like to use things like pine cones and grapevine stars, I’m kind of a natural kind of decorator. Every year I decorate a little differently. This year I used grapevine stars mixed in with the garland.
Yesterday was the perfect day for hanging the greens. I was sunny and warm (until about 2, then the clouds rolled in and it got windy and cold). I was able to get all the Christmas decorations put up and a few other outdoor tasks finished up! I had some help from our new little friend, he sure was enjoying the warm weather as well.
He’s making his case to stay. He followed me around all day everywhere I went. He’s even been snooping around the garage (hopefully he’ll catch a few mice in there!). It was so warm I even took off my gloves, and he stole them to play with.
So what kind of Christmas decorating do you do outside?
By the way, there’s a new poll about when you decorate for Christmas.
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It’s Not Over Yet
Thanksgiving is gone for this year but it’s not over yet. Not as long as there are leftovers in the fridge. Everyone has their own method for using up leftovers. Some refuse to eat them at all, some eat the same Thanksgiving meal over and over until it’s gone, others try to creatively eat them up so their families don’t ban turkey until next Thanksgiving.
We do a little of everything here. First, we try to not end up with too many leftovers by cooking smaller amounts of things. Second, we eat a meal or two of Thanksgiving day menus. Our best way of getting rid of leftovers however is to come up with creative ways to eat them up. In the past we have enjoyed things like grilled turkey & cheese sandwiches, turkey & vegetable stew, turkey chili and turkey quesadillas. This year will be no different, I’ve been searching around the internet and reading through all my cookbooks looking for some good suggestions.
I haven’t decided exactly how to consume these leftovers (I was able to give some to my sister & my parents so we don’t have much turkey left to eat). I am making some stock to keep in the freezer, that will flavor winter soups & stews. I found a few interesting recipes on-line that I might try.
Kalyn’s Kitchen had a delicious looking Turkey & Barley Soup recipe Wednesday that I may try.
Jenny Yu over at Use Real Butter is eating turkey reubens, that could be interesting.
I also found another page devoted to leftover turkey recipes that has some interesting options, perhaps a turkey curry (that sounds good to me!).
Any suggestions? What’s your favorite leftover meal?
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Thanksgiving Day Success
Yesterday morning Mr Chiots and I woke up before the sun to head to Canton to run in the 12th Annual Perry Rotary Turkey Trot. We have been doing this for 4 years now. It’s always a fun race, nothing like starting your Thanksgiving off on the right foot. When you run a 5K you don’t feel so bad for eating tons of turkey & trimmings later that day!
This morning we packed up the car (with all of the food we were taking to my parent’s house) and headed out. It was a crisp 18 degrees on our way in to town, perfect running weather. We stopped in town to meet some friends that were running with us and off we went. By the time we arrived and picked up our numbers, the sun had come out and it was warming a bit. It was the perfect morning for a race (although I do love it when it’s snowing). There’s nothing like running with 1,400 other people to kick of your Thanksgiving day festivities.
After the race we headed to my parent’s house to get the cooking started. The turkey went in the oven, the rolls and stuffing were made, chestnuts and sweet potatoes were roasted. A few cups of coffee were enjoyed (and a quick slice of pie) while everything was baking, roasting and rising away!
I must say it ended up being the perfect meal. Everything was fantastic, from the delicious local turkey to the local green beans & corn my sister brought, all the way down to the perfect turkey gravy, 3 different kinds of squash pie and the wine a friend gave us (a delicious Winter Reisling from a friend’s winery in Indiana), I don’t think there was a better Thanksgiving feast being eaten anywhere in the country!
We still have 2 more official Thanksgiving meals to go to (not counting all the leftover meals), so our festivities are not over yet, we’ll be eating more turkey and trimmings. So how many Thanksgivings do you attend?
