So...let's talk about holiday treats!

15 years ago

What special foods do you make just for the holidays? You can share where the tradition came from as well as the recipe if you'd like.

I don't do the cooking and baking like I did when we lived in NH with family so close, but I still make a few favorites.

I make marshmallows as a treat for Dh. I like them a little stale but that's tough to acheve here in FL. LOL I just use Martha Stuart's recipe. They are yummy!!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

manature
15 years ago
Oooh, holiday treats that are traditions in your family? I love that theme! I don't have anything TOO unusual. We always do a big turkey (at least 20 pounds) with stuffing(usually sausage and dried fruits), smashed potatoes (well, that's what I call 'em), and the rest of the usual suspects. But my mother started making stuffed pears for us when I was little, and I have to have them every year, without fail. My DIL now loves them, too, and just before Thanksgiving, my daughter Erin called me from California to ask how to make them for her first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

They are nothing difficult or even gourmet, but they taste so good. Just plain ol' canned pears (though I guess you could use poached fresh pears if you wanted to). But the "stuffing" is a sweetened cream cheese & pecan mixture that is so yummy. Sometimes I stuff celery with it, too, but the pears are a MUST have at our house.

I make my own cranberry sauce and a butternut squash soup seasoned with Caribbean jerk seasoning and topped with a dollop of sour cream. And a dish of sauteed fresh pears and parsnips, braised in butter and sweetened with brown sugar.

I don't bake, except for pumpkin pie, so no special Christmas cookies.

I'm dying to see what others make special for the holidays so I can get some new ideas to add to the mix!

Ms. Marion, I've always wondered what home made marshmallows would taste like. I've never had them. They always sound so good.

Marcia
cindeea
15 years ago
YIPPEE!!! Finally something FUN to talk about! thanks Marion, and I owe YOU, Kat, BarbC, Jan and others phone calls...been a bit busy when ya all called...

OK Holiday Treats. I found a recipe for a cookie my mother used to make for my best friend LONG BEFORE she would make MY fav cookies. Got to call her tonight and tell her I FINALLY found the recipe 10 years since my Mom was last here making them for her. They are called "Melting Moments" a simple flour cookie with orange zest in the dough and orange juice in the the frosting that is just powdered sugar and orange juice! One of my dads favs was stuffed dates. Split dates stuffed with cream cheese. Mom and I would use food coloring to make the cream cheese green and red and then punch the stuffed dates into a bowl of chopped walnuts or pecan meats...YUM what a sweet treat to pop in your mouth.

Marcia, the pears sound YUMMY! We had Dennis's sisters cranberry relish at Thanksgiving made with orange Marmelade. I gotta get that recipe for sure. Dan (dennis's son) is home this yeear for the first Christmas 11 yrs Den and I been together! So I am sure we will have lots more treats than just the usual!
Merry Christmas eating!
Related Discussions
Cinderblock raised beds - let's talk about this
Q
Comments (51)
Hello everyone. I have been trying to figure out what to do about my existing raised beds, which were made with untreated lumber and are now rotting after about 6 years. After reading about these concrete block beds, I'm considering just removing the screws from the rotting lumber and putting concrete blocks down around the the existing beds and just let the wood continue to rot away. I have two 3x8 foot beds, four 4x4 foot beds, and a 3x6 foot bed...all of them are only 6" high. The 3 block height beds pictured above are really nice looking...are they high enough to keep rabbits out? If that would let me get rid of my rabbit fencing, it might be worth the expense and back pain of rebuilding them with concrete, although I would have to get a ton of additional compost to fill the beds. The additional height would also allow to me to quit worrying about weeds, grass, etc, growing in between and sometimes into the beds...I could just spray vinegar around and/or take the weed whacker through the area. I appreciate any advice!
...See More
Anything You Wanna Talk About IV (Prolly mostly OT)
Q
Comments (149)
Rina - I grew up as one of four adopted kids, with extra foster kids always a part of our family. We numbered at least 6 kids at all times, sometimes 8 or more! My parents took us camping every opportunity they got! We were fortunate enough to see all the sights, from coast to coast, and everything in between, all as a result of camping trips! We went fishing often, and as I got older, my friends and I would hunt and trap, too. I've always lived way out in the country, always lived a more self-sufficient and down to earth life... and I've always had so much fun doing all those things! I couldn't even imagine being told to stop singing, or stop playing a musical instrument! Who goes camping to sleep, or goes to a lake and finds a reason to complain about a single harmonica player? Good grief! Neighbors never even complained when we'd have large parties with a rock band! We'd have a stage set up on the "back 40" with power running to it, a horse trough with 3 barrels of beer on ice, about 200 people, a giant bonfire, grills of food cooking, and tents set up for people to spend the weekend! Never got a complaint! Everyone would pitch in and help, throw a few dollars in to pay for food, beer, and the band... and we'd all have fun! And if no one complained about a huge party out on a farm, why would anyone complain about a single harmonica? Or kids singing? What a messed up world we live in. This is why I could never live in such a controlled environment. I don't need a babysitter or a parental figure telling me what I can do, and what I can't... I'm an adult. I think I can figure out for myself what is considered courteous, neighborly and decent. If we thought our party would be too loud for the neighbors way down the road, we'd contain the noise, keep it down a bit. But the neighbors were more inclined to come down and listen to the band with us, or they were situated far enough away that it didn't bother them. We could hear other weekend parties going on elsewhere, occasionally... but we certainly had no intention of calling anyone to make them stop having fun. Who does that? Al - I can barely find Christmas spirit this year! We don't celebrate anything here... we only celebrate because of the grandkids... it's a season of fun for them. We usually drive up and spend a few days with the family, but we only do gifts for the little kids. Adults in our family just don't have the budget to splurge anymore. Everything has gotten so expensive. We gather for dinner, watch the little kids have fun opening presents... and that's it. We stay a few days, visit, maybe do some side work, then come home. Without snow, it doesn't even feel like Christmas... and the older I get, the less I like all the commercialism and everything. I don't know... it just doesn't feel like Christmas this year for some reason. I almost feel like the Grinch! LOL! I don't know... maybe I'm getting old and grumpy, or maybe it's because I just don't feel physically good this time of year... or maybe it's because of the weather... it just doesn't feel much like Christmas. I'll feel differently once we're up north with the kids, I'm sure! I do hope everyone else has the spirit of the season, and enjoys time spent with family and friends! I wish everyone the very best this time of year has to offer! Well... my chores won't do themselves, unfortunately... time to get busy! Have a good one!
...See More
Let's Talk about Late Bloomers....
Q
Comments (23)
I don't want anyone to think I was saying people should not post their bloomers no matter what zone they were in. What is not helpful information for me in my garden might be just the thing to know for someones elses garden. As far as what I have gotten in late bloomers. I went for all those Olallie late ones that they list as September bloomers. Then I do have some growing here I hope will be the right bloom time. I have Richard Norris' CORAL MAJORITY which should bloom late. Bloomed here its first year (put in this spring) around peak bloom. But I did get late bloom from Brian Culver's VICTORIANA and Melanie Mason's GUAVA JELLY. Both new this spring. JUM MURPHY's LAST CHANCE FOR ROMANCE is listed as very late and just bloomed. I also have Jim's ALCHEMIST, should be late but first year flowers bloomed earlier. I have Don Herr's IN HIS HANDS listed as late blooming, bloomed earlier on first year plant. I have Bret Clemment's BLAST FROM THE PAST, has not bloomed. New this year listed as very late. I have FINAL DESTINATION from Karol Emmerich. Blooming now. Then I have 6 Dale Thomas intros that I put in late this spring from Perfect Perrenials in PA. Dale hybridizes in PA zone 6 and these all should bloom in August as listed as late and very late. Bloomed at peak bloom here their first year. Hope thats not going to be the trend with them as I really liked the flowers on them and would really be liking to see them in August when there was not much going on here. Even early August would be wonderful. I liked them so much I would like to find more of them but they seem impossible to find. I also would like to find some of Betty Harwoods late bloomers but again, impossible to find. I feel this was a small start to my plans of expanding bloom here into August. Sime I have so many "normal" season bloomers and don't have room for 200 late bloomers (do that many truely lates even exhist?) it means I will probably never have as much bloom in August as July but I will work on it. This of course, doesn't count rebloom. I have no idea when and how much rebloom I will have here as the northern hybridized "guaranteed" rebloomers were just put in this year and too new too rebloom. The exception seem to be many Emmerich intros that are just as new but have rebloom scapes currently.
...See More
Is it too early to talk about Valentine's Day?
Q
Comments (30)
Claudia, What a great story! I hope you make it that long too. I think that would be anyone's wish who still liked their spouse. It sounds like you had great role models and a lot of incentive to win your bet. Our anniversary is December 20. We got married at our old farmhouse, and the water froze that day. The whole system was rather antiquated, and our water was pumped up to the house with a tractor into a cistern. Actually, it was the tractor that froze, not the water. You know, washing my hair was an adventure. The pastor asked if I promised to ''love, honor and obey'' and I said, ''OBEY!!! I'm not promising to OBEY.'' He told me he wouldn't marry us unless I did, so I told him I'd say it, while I crossed my fingers and offered a ''You know what I mean!'' Good Grief. It was after all, 1980! We were standing next to our new wood stove that had hedge wood in it and it was HOT. We were still figuring out how much wood we needed to load it with, so we were sweating. Profusely. I kept asking everyone to back away from the stove. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, you could almost see your breath, it was so cold. My cake was quite FIRM, and hard to cut. Those were the days. I will say, I'm glad we've moved on from there!
...See More
shellfreak
15 years ago
Everything sounds YUMMY. I do a Christmas Cookie Exchange every year. It's a lot of fun and a great way to get lots of different cookies without the work. Although I do love to bake. If any would like to come-- the more the merrier. Dec. 21st 2pm at my house in Royal Palm Beach.

I also make cinnamon rock candy. My husband hates when I do it because one year I burned the phone-- don't ask.

Other than that we open the house on Christmas Eve to the neighbors and anyone that wants to stop by. We eat, visit, eat, drink, eat and be merry. Did I mention we eat?

Have a Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah everyone.

Beverly
manature
15 years ago
Cindee, do you just use plain cream cheese in the dates? I'm looking for an EASY treat like that to add to my nibble list. Plain cream cheese and then moosh it down in some chopped nuts so they stick to it? Sounds REALLY good!

Oh, those Melting Moments cookies sound lovely, Beverly. Are they hard to make? I like recipes where I can dump everything into the bowl, stir, spoon out and bake, preferably. Hehehe.

Marcia
shellfreak
15 years ago
Marcia:

The Melting Moments cookies are Cindeea's. They sound awesome.

Cindeea- any chance of you posting the recipe?

Beverly
solstice98
15 years ago
Snickerdoodles!!!!!
For me, special Holiday treats are all about baking. Everything else I make throughout the year, but Christmas is the time for snickerdoodles (a German soft sugar cookie rolled in sugar and cinnamon before it's baked), molassas crinkles (a dark cookie with a sugary, crinkley top) and ginger creams (yes, another cookie! this one is like gingerbread, with a cream cheese frosting).

For our neighborhood Christmas party each year I make Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup. It's cheese and it's beer... how could that be bad?!? And Jim always makes a savory Asian Pork Meatball, with lots of sweet&sour sauce, ginger, 5 Spice and pineapple. It's oh so yummy but he only makes them once a year.

Great idea for a topic, Ms Marion! Thanks!

Kate
cindeea
15 years ago
Kate, I made snickerdoodles for the first time today...YUMM-A-LICIOUS!! I am going o have to make another batch they are so buttery and cinnamon-y! The guys and I really went for them.

Marcia, dates...easy peasy and so yummy for a party take-a-long. People just LOVE THEM!
Buy pitted dates, cut them in 1/2. Take plain cream cheese, softened. Mix in a dab of red food coloring to 1/2 the cheese and green to the other 1/2. Fill the pit cavity with cream cheese, dip in chopped nuts. I let them chill before serving. EASY!!

Melting Moments-I was wrong, all the orange goes in the frosting. However, today I made up my dough and refrigerated it and I squeezed about a tablespoon of fresh juice in the dough mixture from the orange I zested.

Melting Moments(courtesy Ladies' Home Journal, Dec. 1980)
1 cup softened butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups cornstarch
3 tablespoons orange juice
grated orange peel(optional)

In large mixing bowl with mixer at medium speed beat butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in flour and cornstarch until well mixed. Wrap and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325F. Roll dough into 1 inchballs. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes until firm but golden. Cool cookie sheet slightly and then remove cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix remaining confectioners' sugar (1 1/2 cups) with orange juice. When cookies are cooled place wax paper under wire racks to catch drips. Spoon on glaze. If desired, add grated orange peel to glazed tops. Let dry on racks. Makes about 3 1/2 doz about 85 calories each.

I hope they store ok. There is no storage info. My Mom used to make them ahead of my friends arrival for Christmas and just store them in tins, so I guess that works! I am baking mine tomorrow along with Spritz cookies. I just read tonight that butter spritz cookies can be frozen! YAY one storage problem solved.

Who else has some yummy recipes?
shellfreak
15 years ago
Cindeea-
Thanks for posting the receipe. I think I'll make it for my cookie exchange.

Beverly
cindeea
15 years ago
Note on the Melting Moments-i ended up baking mine 14-15 minutes. Add some of the zest to the icing as well as sprinkling on top...it can be a pain. the cookies are quite fragile and break easily so only make them bitesized, otherwise if someone takes a bite, they will have crumbs left in their hands. They did turn out delicious and melt-in-your-mouth. Oh yeah, forget about the mess of drizzling the frosting, i just dunked mine in head first, about 6-8 at a time then sprinkled the zest. Otherwise the glaze will harden and the zest won't stick if you do all at once. HAVE FUN Bev, let me know how they turn out!

NOW I need a good Spritz recipe. The one s I find aren't like my Mom's browned crispy treats. My Mom's were always buttery and crispy...she used to let me decorate them!!
Also, does anyone have a good cookie-cutter cookie recipe?
imatallun
15 years ago
Yay!!!! Cindeea and Marcia both back, hip, hip hurray! (((Hugs))) from SE Fla!

And MsMarion, I owe you a big debt of gratitude! I read your post last night. Hauled out the recipe box and started reading from back to front. (My "box" being filed in chronological vs. any rational filing method.)

It was a trip down memory lane. There were recipes from people I've totally forgotten, (college friends, coworkers over the years), some of my mom's recipes that I'd obviously copied in a hurry, with the additional notation in a different color, triple underlined with an exclamation point...probably when I made something that failed, called Mom, and and she told me what was missing.

There were notes from canning: "Takes ALL DAY!" My favorite was "Yielded 24 quarts, but 7 were JUST JUICE!!!!!"

I found the one and only recipe from my paternal Grandmother for Shrimp Salad. I'm calling Aunt Pearl tomorrow to see if she has Grandma's recipe box.

And the surprise ending came at the end of my travels through the chronological recipe box.

A girlfriend I've known for many years invited me to a Christmas Party on Saturday. She specially requested that I make my Chocolate Bourban Cake again, because everyone loved it. Her last party was three years ago. I responded back that I would look for the recipe, but only remembered that I made it because someone had left a pint of Jack Daniels at our annual Thanksgiving doo, but I'd be happy to bring another dessert.

Aiming to please Judy, I looked through my most likely cookbooks, googled the recipe and nothing looked like the cake I remembered making.

The last recipe in the box was (drumroll) The Chocolate Bourban Cake Recipe!!! And by gosh it looks like there is still 1/2 cup of that original pint of Jack Daniels in my little liquour cabinet. I'm tickled positively pink.

Here's Grandma's Shrimp Salad, verbatim from the recipe card...

1 pkg spiral spagetti
celery, chopped - green olives, sliced
shrimp 6 eggs

Dressing - 1 cup mayo, 1 cup catsup (Brooks Tangy best)

It sounds horrible, doesn't it? If memory serves, (pretty sure it does) that salad was wonderful. Ya'all know to hardboil and chop those eggs, right? Grandma used canned shrimp. Isn't it grand that we don't have to use canned shrimp?

Cindee, I'm gonna make those cookies, thanks so much for sharing! If anyone's interested in the Chocolate Bourban Cake recipe, I'm happy to share. Ingredients list isn't long but the method is.

My only sad moment was seeing Mom's recipe for Rhubarb Custard Pie. Yum! We had a patch of Rhubarb...

Thank you, thank you msmarion. Are you going to make it easy on us, or do we have to google the marshmello recipe?
msmarion
Original Author
15 years ago
Great recipes and stories everyone. LOL I just knew that talking about food would make us all feel better! Those that are using WW I hope there are some great treats for you. I should be joining you...my jeans are getting a little snug these days.

Shellfreak thanks for the invitation. May I have a rain check for next year? Cookie exchanges are as much fun as a plant swap!!LOL We had a huge one in NH with 35 attendees. Yikees! that's alot of cookies, but lots of fun.
Cindee I can't wait to try your recipe. They sound delish!

Marsha, my great aunt made a different kind of stuffed date. Just slit the date in put in some chopped walnuts and roll the date in granulated sugar. I'm going to try them this year with raw sugar.

Kate have you ever made chocolate snickerdoodles? Yummy!

Marilyn I added a link for the marshmallow recipe. If you'd like to get together and make some let me know. I'd like your cake recipe.
I'm calling my aunt tomorrow for my grandmother's snowball recipe. I only remember rice krispies and coconut I think there are dates in them too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check it out!
cindeea
15 years ago
It's more YUM here than an Italian Bakery at Christmas...well almost!
Snicker Doodles in the tin and Melting Momemts cooling on the rack!
{{gwi:764147}}From Christmas 2008

Anyone make what my Mom called "Russian Tea Balls"? they were a round flaky cookie with nuts and little sugar in the dough. While still warm they were rolled in powdered sugar to sweeten them. They were another melt-in-your-mouth Moment!

Today I am making "Ivy's Almond Cookies" from a neighbor in our old townhouse before we moved to the new one. The last few days there was Christmas with no decorations or cookies, just boxes and furniture all waiting to be moved when we closed on New Years Eve. Neighbor felt sorry for us and knew we loved almonds, so she made a HUGE batch of her friends cookies and brought us a big tin and a bottle of rum Christmas eve. We sat on the floor eating cookies and drinking rum surrounded by boxes! I was tickled to find the simple recipe. These are light and falky and once you eat one you want MORE MORE MORE!!

Cream together 1 cup softened butter and 1 cup white gran sugar.
Add 1 egg yolk to the cream mixture(save the egg white)
Gradually add 2 cups sifted all purpose flower and blend thoroughly. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Spread the mixture thin on a cooled cookie sheet. Baste with beaten egg white and top with thin sliced almonds.
Bake 300F for 25 minutes. I'll let ya know how they turn out.
What else is cooking?
patty_2006
15 years ago
Well since my husband is Portuguese, I have learned to make a traditional Christmas Eve dinner and have gotten to be quite the chef over the years!! Calde verde (green soup), bacalhau a gomes de sta(codfish casserole) and arroz doce (rice pudding) I enjoy cooking this every year. It's nice to be able to bring tradition and culture in to our home , especially for our children who love this meal and friends who have never had portuguese cuisine.

Calde Verde (I'm sorry I don't know the exact measurements)
Sautee a lot of garlic / 1 onion in EV olive oil
Add a bit of Chorizo sausage (gotta get the good stuff from Seabras supermarket(a Portuguese market in Pompano)
Add 2 boxes of chicken stock and 1 box water
Add potatoes (3-5lbs)and a bay leaf
Bring to a boil and put mixture food processor or I have a hand held thing that purees
Chop the rest of the chorizo in thin slices and add
Shred Collard greens and add.
salt and pepper to taste
sometimes I add a can of canellini beans & puree

Merry Christmas or shall I say Feliz Natal!
natives_and_veggies
15 years ago
Ok, this is a silly request from this southern child, but anyone have a good cornbread recipe? My mother says she always uses the recipe on the back of the bag of corn meal, but I live in Miami, and my bag of cornmeal came with a recipe for arepas!

I love arepas, but it wasn't what I needed for the Thanksgiving dressing. I used a recipe in a book I have that is supposed to be very southern, and it tasted right (not sweet! sweet cornbread is not southern!) but it had the consistency of a combination of cardboard and concrete.

Mom didn't know what to tell me because she had an Italian thanksgiving at my brother's in-laws this year (grandchildren will do that to you), so she didn't buy her usual bag of cornmeal for thanksgiving. Sweetly, she offered to go find a grocery store near their house and read off the recipe on the back of their bag of cornmeal... but it was getting a little late for that. I had already forgotten to buy the bacon for the dressing (in southern cooking, everything requires bacon, never run out) and had to substitute sausage, which worked well but... the consistency was all wrong because the cornbread was wrong, so I ended up soaking the whole thing in milk before I put it in the oven.

It worked, came out tasty, but the rest of the cornbread, that we normally eat with the leftovers, was truly inedible.

Help this southern child find the right cornbread recipe before Christmas!

I'll trade my biscuit recipe, which is great, but I can't claim is no-fail because it took me years to get them right. Biscuit is an art, truly. I remember my grandmother making them lickity-split (as she would say) and they were always wonderful. And mine are sometimes good, sometimes all wrong, and occasionally great. It all depends on how I feel when I start. The bigger the existential crisis, the better the biscuit comes out, I've found. So I hate to offer anyone a recipe that requires a deep funk to make well.

I can offer a good celery soup recipe instead....

Susannah
naplesgardener
15 years ago
Great photo Cindee! Martha Stewart will be calling for your recipes :-)
wanda662
15 years ago
Susannah, here's the recipe that I have for corn bread:

1 c corn meal
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbl.sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 c. buttermilk

Mix dry ingrediants, mix with rest of liquid. Melt bacon fat in pan. 475 degree oven for 20 min.
This will fit in a 9X13 pan or in a 9 Inch skillet.
Enjoy!
natives_and_veggies
15 years ago
Thanks Wanda. I'm saving it! I was so disappointed in the recipe I had. I double checked and triple checked and my measurements were right. It was just wrong. Tasted right, which was important for the dressing. But gosh it was like concrete! it didn't have baking soda or baking powder, which I suspect are crucial.

Susannah

So...let's talk about holiday treats!

Comments (17)

manature

cindeea

Related Discussions

shellfreak

manature

shellfreak

solstice98

cindeea

shellfreak

cindeea

imatallun

msmarion
Original Author

cindeea

patty_2006

natives_and_veggies

naplesgardener

wanda662

natives_and_veggies

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

So...let's talk about holiday treats!

Comments (17)

Related Discussions

msmarionOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

msmarion
Original Author