Before I retired, I would make candy to take to work - toffee and/or chocolate turtles that I would make in a silicon Madeleine mold, but those were a lot of work, as I had to freeze the mold, add a thin layer of chocolate, freeze it again, add caramel that I had made plus a couple of pecans, freeze that, and then add the final layer of chocolate. Obviously, this took quite a bit of time, and I had to keep the caramel at a certain temperature. I made the caramel with cream instead of milk, and so it had a very rich flavor, unlike most caramel that you can get, and so that made it special.

When I have chocolate Habanero plants in my back yard, I make smoked chocolate Habanero sauce that I bottle and give as presents, but I did not get a crop this year. It is also a bit of an ordeal to make, but I make enough to last a year for my own use in addition to what I give away.

I make copycat Cinnabon. The trick is to use margarine, not butter.

I often make chocolate truffles to give to neighbors and relatives.

I don't make any of the following, but always buy them at this time of year: lebkuchen, pfeffernüsse, and a dark chocolate orange.

I will make kipfrel, Austrian almond crescents, tomorrow. And maybe some gingerbread cookies later on. We usually buy kit gingerbread houses, but this year one of the boys has suggested making a gingerbread Parthanon. Seems like a big leap from kits to diy ancient ruins, we'll see.

Aside from that, I too am in the buy it camp. Yule log, panettone, stollen, candied chestnuts, I like it all really.

Zalco: when I was growing up, the neighbor in the apartment next door used to make delicious kipferl. Thanks for reminding me how good they were.

There are always cookies I am just making for Christmas. It’s been cold and rainy for at least a week, so I made more than usual. And probably more to come. They are mostly German recipes. Tried out some rum glaze on Buttergebäck. Actually pretty good.

Pink snowflake waffles?

Tamales are the #1 Christmas treat around here. People get up at the crack of dawn to stand in line with their buckets to get the good masa. All the ladies, multigenerationlly, stand around the table, filling, folding, tying, arranging, steaming, cooling, packing, delivering. It can go on for days. It's not my holiday, nor my family, but I treasure the platesful that show up at my door. Christmas tamales are the best tamales. Some say it's the good masa, but I think it's the love and laughter that goes round and round that table.

I make a couple of things at this time of year for special gifts. Small loaves of warm gingerbread with a lemony hard sauce are very popular with everyone and a real treat that no one seems to make these days. I also like to take a plate of snowflake rosette cookies to neighbors and friends. Few people are willing to tinker with those things and I have a knack for it. It It’s easy to make a few dozen in just a few minutes, much easier and faster than baked cookies.

Zalco, could you please share the name of that bagel shop? I’d love to try some of those Sufganiyah this year!
Our family tradition is to have latkes for Christmas Eve dinner; I’m in charge of the homemade applesauce.

Crate & Barrel's white chocolate covered pretzels. I love those. I'm happy they only have them during the holidays. I used to get the morning buns from Williams-Sonoma for Christmas morning, but they are ridiculously expensive now, so I've stopped buying them. In fact, for about three years, I was able to buy the same thing at Trader Joe's for one-tenth of what WS charges, but TJ's no longer carries them. :-(

I make Raspberry Jam for Christmas gifts, and already have the frozen raspberries defrosted and macerating. Tomorrow will be jam-making day.

For Christmas Feast we have to have a Jello salad recipe from the distant past...like forever; it is a dense combination of cranberry sauce, orange, apple, and a red Jello as the binder.

Then, of course, there is the big (5 bone) prime Prime Rib roasted on the grill. ( I panicked when the butcher told me that they were only getting in Choice this year. I asked how could a Prime be Choice? He checked with the boss, who looked at me, and said, "OK, give her one of the prime Prime." The butchers all know me well, so I guess I passed the test. Whew! )

SWMBO does some baking every Christmas. My favorite is her Almond Roca. Alas, it is often too damp to make that, in Portland.

China, Izzy's on Cal Ave usually has them. They are delicious, fresh and light. Call ahead, as I am not home and can't be sure they will still be there. Also, since we are chatting, I saw I could not DM you. On the NYT thread I was agreeing with Elmer's assessment of someone's skills, not agreeing with his comment about nurses, in case you checked the likes. I am horrified at the possibility of having offended you.

I've never had a tamale and have no idea what they are but have heard a lot about them and how labor-intensive they are to make. I'm from the mid-west and married a guy from New England. Fruitcake has always been in my Christmas vocabulary - usually from Collin Street Bakery since I was a kid. DH never had fruitcake until he met me. His parents were French Canadian and always made a tourtiere - French meat pie - and we continue that tradition to this day. We make one for Christmas Eve.

Zalco, I’ll try to make myself DM-able. I appreciate the tip about Izzy’s! My son lives in Menlo Park, and can check it out. And no worries about that other matter…

I will make about 3 or 4 dozen tiny sweet mince pies. The smallest rounded tray size just one bite size. I buy the jars of mince and the pastry I make is my old English mother in law’s version of rough puff pastry. It is made with lard which is cut in with a knife and no sugar except some sprinkled on top. The sweet mince is sweet enough.

Back in the day, Mom did Easter, my Aunt did Christmas and my Grandmother did Thanksgiving. When it wasn't Mom's turn, she brought dessert. Loved the pumpkin chiffon pie for t'giving. But for xmas, she always made "Sugar Bush Walnut Cake" which was like a sponge cake done in a tube pan that had a lot of finely chopped walnuts in it. I never cared for the cake, but she made a mocha whipped cream to go with it, so the cake became a "cream delivery mechanism." It is one tradition I discontinued. Talking to my cousin, I come to find out she had exactly the same feeling toward that cake that I did. I wonder if the whole family felt that way except my Mom and no one ever told her...

We have our traditional favorites for each holiday--always the same but different for each event. Christmas will certainly be homemade Caramel rolls for breakfast while we open our stockings sipping cranberry mimosas! I do sooo much baking/candy making prepping for our celebration I don't bake desserts per say. We graze on an array of plate of treats after each meal!!

I usually make a couple apple and cinnamon Pannekoekons on Christmas morning when the kids are over. If you haven't had them before they are a real Dutch treat. Sometimes I throw some blueberries on them as well.

Like Pillog we usually have tamales at least once over the holiday week. Sometimes Christmas eve/day, or New Year's eve/day. We buy them from a local Mexican grocery store. I've never attempted making them myself. I need to get down there and buy some soon.

This year I am going to smoke a turkey on Christmas eve, weather permitting, just to get the bird out of the freezer.

LoneJack - we lived in the Netherlands for a few years and our favorite local restaurant was a Pannekoeken Huis. We usually ordered savory fillings for ours.

Seagrass - I've never had them with anything other than fruit. I might have to look up some recipes for savory fillings. Sounds interesting!

I don't host Christmas Eve, but the steadfast family traditional food for that meal is pierogi.

For Christmas morning at my house, it is omellettes and some sort of bread and sausage or ham, and for dinner always a nabe (nabemono), either yosenabe or kamonabe.

No special holiday treats, DH doesn't like sweets (yes I think this is weird...) so I don't make anything for us, and my family got out of the cookie-making tradition years ago. I do miss the traditional Christmas cookies, though. I guess I could always stop at the bakery this year and pick up some to take to the party.

LoneJack - this might make you gag, but our favorite was brandied chicken livers and onions LOL! Came with a little saucepot of gravy.

As far as a purchased treats go (instead of something I'd make myself), booze filled chocolates. The Vermont Country Store has a large selection.

seagrass - yep, gag! Sounds like it might make good catfish bait though. LOL

Christmas is the one time per year that I will spend the time to make molasses cut-out cookies. My parents started that tradition. They always frosted theirs and made a huge container full. I don't like frosting on them so mine stay 'naked.' The only decoration they get is, I'll use a knife to engrave a pattern on them before they are baked.

My grandmother’s fudge (the old See’s recipe) and my shortbread cookies. I was never a big fudge fan but this is pretty cream/dreamy.

Mxk3: you reminded me about perogi; I’ll need to try to make that too. It is one of my family’s favorites.

Thank you, China.

Ok, well got a phone call this afternoon from someone who wants to come over for Christmas dinner and offered to buy a hunk of prime rib if I cook it. There goes my Christmas dinner tradition --- can't pass up that offer LOL! Maybe I can get DH to make the nabe on New Year's :0p

Having lived here in Northern New Mexico for almost 40 years now, I’ve been heavily influenced by so much here, including by the delicious foods. For our Christmas Eve supper I always make these special dishes for us:

Appetizer: Green Chile Pinwheels, which are very easy to make. Spread good quality flour tortilla with a mixture of chopped green chiles, softened cream cheese, a bit of garlic powder, salt and I sometimes add chopped red bell pepper to give them a more festive red & green Christmas look. Roll them up tightly, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for at least an hour. Slice into pinwheels and serve.

For this special dinner itself, I serve homemade Posole, a pork, hominy and red chile soup, along with Tamales and red chile sauce sauce. Delicious!

And for dessert, my homemade Biscochito cookies. They are so loved out here that our state has made them the official state cookie! They’re made with butter, flour, anise, etc. and dusted heavily with sugar and cinnamon.

Here’s my Posole and Tamales

LynnNM, the Biscochito cookies sound delicious. Would you share your recipe? And what do you use for the green chiles in the pinwheels?

All of your treats sound so delicious! I make an array of Christmas cookies - my kids have their favorites, so kolaczki and iced sugar cookies are always on the menu, along with several other treats. I always make English toffee for gifting, my friends and family have come to expect it. And I can’t forget about fudge (though sometimes I’d like to!). I make the old fashioned cooked Herschey’s cocoa fudge, and it can be hit or miss sometimes.

For Christmas day dinner, I always make the same thing - a beef tenderloin roast with port wine reduction sauce, mashed potatoes, and green bean bundles - bundles of green beans wrapped in slices of bacon with a butter garlic sauce. My family would revolt if I decided to make anything else! :-)

Scandinavian almond bars. I made them early this year. My daughter brought me some more on Thanksgiving that she made. A few years ago I gave her a copy of a Christmas cookie book I've had for years. I don't remember where I found it but I did and it was in good shape.

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!

Thank You, Lynn!

I used to make probably 20 kinds of Christmas cookies and candies, but have scaled back over the years. I now take one request per immediate family member and their significant others and make a batch of each request. This year is Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, Chocolate Crinkles, Rum Balls, Surprise cookies (shortbread balls with either a cherry or a toasted pecan in the center) and Cheese Wafers. I'll also make a batch of pecan tassies for my eldery neighbour because he is crazy about them. I put together trays for a couple of other close neighbours. I also make a couple of double batches of biscotti for the ER break room at the hospital where my daughter is an RN.

Things I like to have the month of December, is a small fruitcake I soak in rum and orange juice, a panettone, and York peppermint patties. For Christmas dessert there is always frosted sugar cookies daughter makes. Additional desserts are red velvet cake, or real mincemeat pie. Daughter started making stollen a few years ago. It seems kind of tough, but tastewise ok. I have never had other stollen, so I don't know what it should be like. But I dont dare ask. LOL

I see panettone has been mentiones a couple of times. This I love.

Wouldn’t attempt to make my own but have found excellent ones at the Italian delis or even Aldi has good ones. We like the sultana one not the choc chip.

Aldi also do a good Stollen, I guess your daughter’s homemade ladypat1 is good too.

I buy quite a few of the Aldi Panettone and give them as a gift or extra gift to people we see at Christmas. We went to a gathering at my daughter in laws parents last weekend and I took one. Her mother had never had it and was very pleasantly surprised. The aroma of the vanilla when it was opened filled the room. Before opened my little Grandson was carrying it around by the handle like a suitcase saying ”it’s cake, it’s cake” Very cute.

Neely and floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK Yes, I have seen Stollen at Aldi, where I get Panettone. I see you make mince pies too. My grandmother's recipe uses a cooked chuck roast, then ground up with the apples, oranges, and lots of wine. Is that an English thing? Cute story about your grandson!

Ladypat1, it's an olden days thing. "Mincemeat" pies used to have meat in them! Just like your grandmother's with the fruit and all. Then it evolved to mean just the fruit. Which I always thought was a really weird name until i learned about the history. :)

Re panettone, I'm certainly down with the buy at Aldi method, but I've made similar and it's not that different from other enriched doughs. Food & Wine has what looks like a good recipe: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/panettone