Holiday Baking

As stated previously, I did quite a bit of holiday cooking this week. My favorites are the simplest ones. I'm always a bit skeptical of recipes that have 5 ingredients or less, as some cookbooks like to promote, because I usually end up adding all the seasonings they have apparently deleted, or something else along this line. However, with the following two recipes, simplicity makes these the best ever. The first thing, shortbread, is something I began making several years ago because I often heard of it around Christmas but hadn't had it, so I found a recipe and tried it. Turns out, they're amazing! Not necessarily super-attractive (I had to jazz them up with cookie cutters and sprinkles), but it makes a beautiful dough (you'll understand if you make it) and they are SO good, SO simple (3 ingredients!) and a little unhealthy. :-) But hey, it's the holidays! (By the way, these are way, way, better than sugar cookies.)

Scottish Shortbread

2 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar, packed

4 1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter and sugar together. Add 3 3/4 c. flour and mix well. Sprinkle board with remaining flour, and knead dough for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3x1 inch strips or cut out shapes. Prick several times with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Yield: 3-4 dozen

The second simple sensation (man, I love alliteration!) is toffee. For some reason, the image that remains in my mind is from when I made this at home a few years ago. We broke it up and put it into a big Grinch mug (yeah, that's how we roll), and ate it up while we played Settlers of Catan, a family favorite :-) While candy might seem complicated, it only assumes you can do one thing: boil stuff. And that is really all there is to this: boil 3 things together until it gets to 285 degrees (use a candy thermometer), spread it in a pan, put chocolate chips on top, sprinkle nuts on top, and done! Give it a shot! It's definitely a Christmas classic in my house now!

Super Easy Toffee

2 c. butter

2 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

2 c. chocolate chips

1 c. finely chopped nuts

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Combine butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Heat until butter has melted, bring mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally while mixture boils, until it turns a dark amber color, and reaches 285 degrees on a candy thermometer. [Watch carefully.] Immediately pour into prepared pan. Spread into pan with spatula. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and allow to warm 2-3 minutes. Spread melted chocolate over toffee with spatula. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of chocolate and press down so they don't fall off. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Remove foil, break into pieces and store in airtight container.

Christmas Food!

It has been WAY too long since I last wrote, mainly because the past 3 weeks found me coming home at 6 or 7 most nights (or later) then making dinner, and then flopping down, exhausted on the couch. There were so many things that didn't happen in the last couple weeks, not the least of which are blogging and sleeping. So, when school was finally over Friday, I was thrilled to have time to myself, in which I slowly checked off things on a giant list. And slept. And now, Thursday night has come, and I'm finally able to sit and relax. [And this, folks, is why teachers need two week breaks during the school year. But that's another whole blog post...]

One of the few things I allowed myself to do this week that was just for fun, was to make my favorite Christmas foods. I love to make the classics, like Chex Mix which I adore, and Peanut Butter Blossoms with the Hershey's kisses in the middle. However, I also like to make some ethnic foods and family recipes (peppernuts, caramels, etc.). I was inspired to make one of these after my Grandma Schmidt made these seasoned oyster crackers over the Thanksgiving holiday (and we ate the entire batch during the weekend). They have a tangy lemon-pepper seasoning and are then baked for a nice toasted flavor. It turns out, they are also perfect for teaching the dog to balance food on his nose and eat it before it hits the floor. (This didn't happen too many times though, since Ben and I ate most of them!)

Savory Oyster Crackers

1 (1 oz.) pkg ranch dressing mix

1/2 t. dried dill

3/4 t. oil

5 c. plain oyster crackers

1/4 t. lemon pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250. Combine all ingredients but oyster crackers. Pour over oyster crackers and stir. Spread on cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Stir once during baking. Store in airtight container.

Chocolate & mint in the air!

Last week, I was reading the events section of the newspaper and came across this article which talked about the Chocolate Walk in Cottonwood, AZ, one of the many tiny, old, mining towns in rural Arizona. This quote from a shop owner in the Old Town area of Cottonwood made me decide that we MUST do this:

"It is by far my favorite night of the year in Cottonwood, with everybody strolling and the lights on and the smell of mint and chocolate. You just meander in and out of the shops, which are all decorated, and pick up your chocolate."

So, on Saturday afternoon, I sat down to buy tickets online, about an hour before Ben, Marilyn and I left. I was crushed to discover that, according to the town website, it sold out quite early. However, I kept reading and saw that a few local shop owners still had tickets, so I started calling them. The 3rd one answered, and the woman said she had 3 tickets left. I said we were from Phoenix and would she possibly hold them for us? Thank goodness for small town kindness, because she said she would :-)

As per usual, it took us forever to get out of the house and on the road, but when we finally got there, I was more than a little concerned that the shop would be closed up tight, and we'd be stuck. However, by asking a few people, we found our way to her shop and were good to go.

The event itself was fantastic, and totally worth the one hour/40 minute drive. Essentially, it was trick-or-treating for adults, minus the costume. At the Civic Center, we received a map of Old Town, and a decorated paper bag (decorated by the local glitter merchant!) From there, we walked up and down the Old Town area, where each merchant checked off their name on the map, and then we each received a hand-decorated something or other from the merchant (none of whom were actually chocolate shops). The treats included everything from chocolate-dipped pretzels, to many variations of brownies, to fudge, to truffles, to brittle, to rum-soaked chocolate cake balls.

As we meandered through town, many merchants had hot chocolate or cider, some had live music, and many were decorated marvelously. We were highly impressed with the quality of stores, including a gelato store, a cute coffee shop, a fantastic retro diner in an old gas station (Bing's Burger Station - see photo) where we had supper after we'd collected our bags of treats. For an added bonus, it was a beautiful night, as we're in the middle of a warm snap, with highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 40s. One of my favorite stops was an olive oil and vinegar store, where I bought an AMAZING fresh peach white balsamic vinegar :-) Finally, in a chocolate-glazed fog, we headed for home, down the mountain. What a lovely time!

Needless to say, this is something I'll definitely try to attend next year! What a great way to get in the Christmas spirit!