Festive Floof! Resolutions!
4 years ago
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Festive Food Floof! Christmas Treats!
Comments (44)Lizbeth: For my Green Chile Pinwheels, I use one drained, 4-ounce can of chopped green chiles (Hatch or Bueno are my preferred brands for quality). Here's my recipe for my Biscochitos. Biscochitos Ingredients ¨ 3 cups butter (originally called for lard) ¨ 1 1/2 cups sugar ¨ 2 large eggs, beaten ¨ 1 teaspoon anise extract ¨ 3 teaspoons vanilla extract ¨ 7-8 teaspoons anise seeds ¨ 1 teaspoon salt ¨ 1/’4 cup brandy ¨ 5 cups all-purpose flour ¨ 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder ¨ 1/4 cup sugar + 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon for topping Directions: 1) Cream sugar and butter. Add in beaten eggs. 2) Next add in the anise and vanilla extracts, anise seeds, salt and brandy. Mix well. 3) Mix in the flour and baking powder. Roll out your cookie dough, thick or thin depending on your preference. 4) Cut into star or flower shapes with cookie cutters, and sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Move to cookie sheets. 5) Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for approximately 12-15 minutes, BUT WATCH THEM! Bake only until golden. Browned cookies will taste terrible! ** This baking time is for our high altitude here at 6,000 ft. You may need to adjust it for lower altitudes!...See MoreFestive Floof! Trees!
Comments (23)morz8 ^^^^ -- There is a fabulous artificial tree (IMHO) called the Noblis Fir -- notice this specific spelling please. I have had a 7-foot one of these, bought online, for the past six years. It is perfect. Like you, I prefer a tree whose branches are spaced and open enough for my ornaments (which must "hang' properly, and fill all the way into the center trunk, NOT lay along the outer plane of the branch tips!!!). This tree is exactly what I wanted -- I personally loathe the sheared look. (grin) https://www.grandinroad.com/un-lit-noblis-fir-christmas-tree/698014 (the photo looks odd as the branches have not been "fluffed" which is an easy accomplishment) Above is one link for a current source of the Noblis Fir -- and it is on sale now! If it is the right size for you, get it now for next year... =) At the going rate this year for a natural real tree, this is a bargain as the cost will amortize nicely thru the years ahead. FULL DISCLOSURE NOW of my personal eccentricity: Bought mine six years ago. The first year, it was a delight to decorate and easy to tweak the branch placement. It came pre-lit, but I added more, all white. And then went to town using tons of my ornament collections. Over-done? Some would think so, perhaps, but not to me! When I finished, I stood back and admired the gorgeous thing. And promptly decided I could not improve on this perfection, SO IT HAS BEEN LEFT IN PLACE, FULLY DECORATED, EVER SINCE. LOLOLOL. Fortunately, the living room is very large, so the tree does not impact the overall space the rest of the year. It still makes me happy every time I see it. And I don't have to lug out the decorations every year, nor put them all away again. BONUS! At almost 77 years of age, and less than 4"10". I am totally keeping this tree as it is for the rest of my life (with a bit of dusting as needed). In fact, I doubt I could take it down anyway, as after all this time I cannot remember where the the specific ornament boxes are located by now. That will be a job for my children & grandchildren to deal with after I have shuffled off this mortal coil. (Hee-hee -- payback for all the times I had to pick us their stuff and put it away) Would love to hear your thoughts on this artificial tree, morz8!...See MoreFestive Floof! Thanksgiving 2023 plans?
Comments (40)Oh man, it all looks delicious. At first I was concerned, then I saw the pink bowl for the stuffing and the pink pan holding spinach dip and all was right with the world. It's amylou, it's gotta have something pink. I think George has taken the correct measures, LOL. He looks a lot like my 25 pound cat, Spark. Orange cats gotta do orange cat things, you know. My Thanksgiving won't be until next Saturday, that's when Ashley has the girls and Makayla can come home for dinner and all other family obligations are fullfilled by all. Elery and I joined the neighbors at the B&B for dinner, the chef there did the cooking and I provided some of the "raw" ingredients. Well brined free range Amish turkey, nearly 30 pounds, some apple/cranberry stuffing, green bean casserole with no C of M soup, just some nicely seasoned white sauce and crunchy pan fried shallots, mashed potatoes from our Kennebecs in storage, gravy, fresh cranberry relish and dinner rolls, dessert was a really nicely spiced apple cake with cream cheese frosting. A couple of cups of coffee, chatting with friends and rooting for the Detroit Lions (who, true to tradition, lost), made a lovely day. Having lost my mother and my brother within the last year it was actually good to have something completely different. I'll start my cooking about Wednesday... Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Annie...See MoreFestive Food Floof! Christmas!
Comments (45)I managed to do everything I planned to do despite having a bad reaction to the latest round of chemo on the 20th. We went back to our home in the country and I was feeling relatively OK the next day so I did some prep for cooking, making the sausagemeat stuffing for the turkey and freezing it. I had made pumpkin pies and brownies before we went down to the city for the treatment and put them into the freezer in our unit there. I was glad that I did as I felt dreadful on the Friday and Saturday. I was a little better on the Saturday so I continued with prepping, chopping bread cubes and celery and onions etc for the bread stuffing, then we had to pack it all up and head down to the city again as DD and her little family were arriving at the airport in the early evening. We were lending them DH’s car so at least he had to be there. It was touch and go as to whether I would be up to driving my car down (as opposed to DH’s sister bringing him back to the country and then him driving both of us in my car) but through sheer stubbornness I made it :-). Sunday morning I felt almost human again so I put the ham I had pre-studded with cloves into the oven and basted it with a mix of orange juice, cranberry sauce, honey and mustard at regular intervals. It turned out delicious and moist :-) As it happened I didn’t need to bring salads so I made the cheesecake I had planned to make and that was me done for the day. We took the ham and the desserts and all our presents to my BIL’s place and had a great evening with the whole extended family and then divvied up leftovers. I gave away a fair amount of ham, which was fine with me as I had bought a large one just for the purpose. Christmas morning I made the bread stuffing then stuffed the turkey buffe with it then sealed it in with the sausagemeat stuffing. We took that, the remaining ham and a pumpkin pie to the holiday apartment where DD is staying. Her DH made waffles with fresh fruit and maple syrup for brunch, then we played with DGS and opened presents while the turkey roasted along with the potatoes. After a while DD made an appetiser of brie wedges coated in panko and fried, along with cranberry sauce and rocket salad. Then we had the turkey, ham, green beans with prosciutto, roasted Dutch carrots, cauliflower cheese, hasselback potatoes, bread sauce and gravy and big puffy mini Yorkshire puddings (made by DSIL), followed by pumpkin pie at a decent interval. It was a lovely low key day and we had a great time with DD, DSIL and DGS, who is the most delightful baby 🥰...See More
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