Tag: Epiphany

25 Treats of Christmas
Party Posts · Recipe Roundup

25 Treats of Christmas

LSieh2 Comments

Hellooooo out there! I’m still here! I had some bad depression episodes and am still pulling myself out of the hole a bit. It made it really hard to have any motivation to do anything other than read silly things and pet the dog. Part of my coping skills for these were to try to do things as normally as I could and that meant that I made Christmas treats for work again! We did have an Epiphany party, but it was super tiny. We were okay with this, as I couldn’t find the table cloth- I put it “somewhere safe” while we were setting up the Christmas decorations and I’m sure will find it again as we put them away. I did have people sign a strip of white fabric though, as I’m going to add a white border and a red border on it to make it fit our table a little better. So when I find it, I’ll add that on for this year.

I didn’t get as many treats made for work this year as I thought. The new staff at work was super excited to be there for this tradition and I got lots of good feedback.

The surprise hit of the year was the gluten free ginger cookies. I got the most compliments on them and am going to send the recipe out to the staff as a whole because I had a bunch of requests for it. It is also nut free and can be made dairy free too, so essentially can be both gluten free and vegan.

The second batch of these were thicker. I think I must have messed up the ratios somewhere. They both had crystallized ginger in them, but the second/party batch also had Chinese 5 Spice in them instead of just ginger. https://smallfarmbiglife.com/gluten-free-ginger-cookies/

I made marshmallow fudge as well and I was told someone hoarded it in the kitchen and was jokingly telling everyone that it was horrible and that she would “save them all from it.” I don’t think anyone believed her because the entire tin of it was eaten up by the time I went home. I was glad I had kept some back for the Husband, who also liked it. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/perfect-chocolate-fudge/

I made these orange cranberry snowballs too, which I didn’t like- they were too dry, but our Practice Manager loved them. I like trying new combinations of flavors. It’s fun to see what people will respond to and what they don’t like. These weren’t as sweet as most cookies are and people liked that they were a little bit unusual. The orange and cranberry combo was a seasonal hit, of course! https://thegoldlininggirl.com/2016/12/cranberry-orange-snowballs/

The last cookie I made for work was these pistachio thumbprints filled with bittersweet chocolate ganache. They were made using pistachio pudding mix! They were definitely green and apparently made the Husband uncomfortable on a visceral level. He wouldn’t even try them and he likes pistachios! I used mini chips in them. they had a powdered sugar frosting for the top originally, but I had a bunch of melted chocolate already and think they were better this way. These were from A Quilter’s Christmas Cookbook.

Of course, for the party, I made all sorts of things! Knowing it was going to be small, I didn’t go as big with recipes as I normally would.

One of my favorite party experiments were these Finnish Blueberry Buns. They’re like Nissu, but have blueberries on the top! https://www.womanscribbles.net/finnish-blueberry-buns/

They were yummy! I would definitely make them again.

Next up is the pickle tray and relish tray, of course. I made homemade dilly beans and squash pickles for the table. Both recipes were from my Small Jars. Big Flavor Canning book.

I didn’t get many pickles this year, although I did have a bunch of cucumbers because I had two jars of pickles burst in the canner. I was pleased with both of these pickles though!

We had Rulle. My favorite years are when I get to eat it twice at Christmas! This batch did not hold the shape as much as I would like, but it was super tasty. And I had just enough to not waste any.

I wasn’t going to make a cake, but I had leftover sparkling wine jelly and mascarpone whipped cream (side note, who is this fancy person with this in their fridge… I feel like this isn’t actually me,) and it’s traditional to have a filled cake on the Scandinavian Christmas Table. Plus, I said something about it to one of my friends from work and she got super excited because I was going to make a white cake. So here’s my fancy Christmas Cake. I opted to leave it undecorated to celebrate the snow (Hahahaha! You know I just didn’t have time or ideas for decorating, right?) It was delicious!

Here’s the whole table with the things I didn’t get individual pictures of: Peanut Butter Balls, clementines, Caramel Chocolate chips, crab dip, sandbakkels, the second batch of ginger cookies, and the blackberry almond cookie cups. The sandbakkels and the cookie cups were from my Modern Scandinavian Baking book by Daytona Strong. The cake is from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. We also had fruit soup, but it was on the stove and I think I did not get a picture. (The elbow in the corner belongs to another K named friend I think she’d be K5? Too many Ks.) the truck in the upper corner is actually a cookie jar! A friend gave it to me a couple of years ago and I was finally able to have room to use it.

The Husband and I knew we’d probably be wanting actual dinner, since we didn’t think people would be coming all day, so I made this yummy Swedish Meatball Pasta Bake. You make the gravy and cook it like a casserole. It was actually something I think we’ll make for our Christmas years by ourselves. I didn’t have the make the Husband gravy this way and it reheated very nicely and kept the meatballs moist, even though I over broiled them slightly. Not the prettiest, but tasty! https://thebeachhousekitchen.com/swedish-meatball-pasta-bake/

I didn’t quite make it to 25 Treats this year, but I’ve definitely been feeling the urge to keep baking, so I think I might be in a better mindset than before. Hopefully that spirit will continue to be uplifting all year. I hope your year is filled with little comforts and joys, just like our party!

Party Posts · Recipe Roundup

Epiphany Party 2020

LSiehLeave a comment

It never fails with parties. I make several towers of cookies and treats and not very many people come. But if I make less, lots of people come and they I don’t have enough cookies! It’s a struggle. This year the weather was bad too, so some of our regular crew couldn’t make it. It was lovely to have the people who were able to come though and we had some new guests as well. Everyone was charmed by the tablecloth story as usual and we did pretty well on eating up leftovers. We still have cookies though…

Cookie stacks

I was excited to try pepperkaker this year and have them actually work! The last time I tried them, they went horribly wrong and I cried. This year, they were a hit and I figured out some tricks for the dough. I used this recipe from Outside Oslo- http://www.outside-oslo.com/norwegian-christmas-cookies-pepperkaker/

So the trick for me was to let the dough warm up just a little and then just wale on it with the rolling pin. Once it started getting too sticky, I would put it back in the fridge. The recipe makes a lot though, so I would halve the recipe next time. They are delicious! This particular recipe doesn’t have black pepper in it, so I would be interested to try one with that added. I eye measured the spices and so probably had some of the proportions off, but they were a hit at the party.

They are pictured here with the Tahini Blossoms which were from the Better Homes and Gardens cookie issue from 2019. People were surprised to find out that these weren’t peanut butter blossoms! They have a nice nutty taste. They did take some extra prep work. You had to chill them, make the dough into balls, and then freeze the balls for a while to prevent spreading. I don’t think it helped that much because they still spread a bunch. They weren’t my favorite, but were liked in general.

The top cookies on this plate are Malted Butter Riches, which were pretty plain. I didn’t have a chance to make the frosting for them, so I might have liked them better with it instead. They were one of the Retro Recipes from the BHG magazine. I was intrigued by the name, but probably wouldn’t make them again. Also from the magazine were the Linzer hearts on the bottom. My friend sent us home from our visit with sugarplum jam, which was delicious sandwiched in between the cookies. We also had sandbakkels from this recipe: http://www.outside-oslo.com/norwegian-christmas-cookies-sandkaker-sandbakkelse/

I really enjoyed reading Outside Oslo, by the way, and have several other recipes that I want to try. Lingonberry cake is high on my list, but I will need to order some lingonberries.

Last, but not least, on this plate are Cranberry Spiced Shortbreads. I didn’t end up making the eggnog icing, but the cookies were still good. They are from Sally’s Baking Addiction. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cranberry-spice-cookies/

We, of course, had to have peanut butter balls.

It wouldn’t be Christmas/Epiphany without them!

We also had some dairy free, gluten free, and vegan cookies this year. On this plate were the gluten free/dairy free Almond Spritz Cookies and the Vegan chocolate chip. I was surprised to find vegan chocolate chips from Nestle at the store. I taste tested a few of them and they weren’t too far off what I was expecting. You know I’m a huge chocolate snob too, so if I liked them, they had to be good.

The Vegan Chocolate Chip were from the BHG magazine and the almond spritz were from here: https://www.mamaknowsglutenfree.com/almond-spritz-cookies-gluten-free-dairy-free/

I don’t remember tasting a vegan chocolate chip, so I couldn’t tell you how they tasted, but they were on the table with Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip and people were eating them both up, so they must have been good. The Almond Spritz had a grainy texture, which is sometimes an effect of the gluten free flour. My gluten free blend is nut free, which I learned is not always the case. I was glad to be able to offer them to my friends with different dietary needs though.

On this plate, we have chocolate banana bread and Nissu. The chocolate banana bread was from one of my cookbooks. I want to say Baking Unplugged, but I’m not entirely sure. It was pretty good.

Of course, we had to have a pickle and veggie tray!

We had homemade dilly beans and spicy pickles. Fancy charmed everyone into giving her carrots. 🙂

Another traditional item was the Rulle. It was delicious! I had freshly ground allspice this year again, which made a big difference, I think.

We tried a new savory item this year, in addition to the crab dip and meat, cheese, and cracker tray. These are ham and cheese crescent rolls.

We had a panic moment the night before trying to figure out another savory item to have, as we thought we didn’t have enough. I do tend to focus more on the cookie part. I made the crescent dough because I’m an overachiever when it comes to hospitality. We also had a balela bean salad, which was vegan and fancy. Also, delicious. I ate it for lunches and didn’t have to share after the party. https://reluctantentertainer.com/balela-salad/

So like I said, it was a smaller party, but definitely worth the work. Fancy was in heaven with children and adults to rub her belly. We had the guest room set up with the Husband’s loose Legos and a book of Lego Christmas ornaments. Fancy kept shooting worried glances down the hall, as she could hear them, but not see them. We didn’t get any actual Christmas ornaments, but did get some pretty neat towers.

Next year, I might try to reign it in foodwise…

Ha! Who am I kidding? I’ll see you at the Epiphany Party 2021 post wild eyed, battle weary, covered in sugar, and holding 4 pounds of butter clutched to my chest.

Party Post and Recipe Catch Up
Party Posts · Recipe Roundup

Party Post and Recipe Catch Up

LSiehLeave a comment

I realized I never shared the party post! And I have a lot of recipe catching up to do! I’ll start with the Epiphany party, because that’s much more fun. 🙂

I made way too much food as usual, and people kept getting th cold or flu that was running around, so it was a smaller party this year. The Husband’s Grandma and some of the other family came though, so that was fun. Fancy got to see her favorite uncle who buys her fun toys. 🙂

Fancy did very well at the Epiphany party. We kept her on leash and in her party harness, so she seemed to be a bit calmer. We had several friends who were comfortable holding the leash for us too, so we could actually talk to people. She had one incident of guarding/biting a box, but she did give it up when the Husband got out a beef chew for her. She was very sleepy that night and the next day.

New recipes included two gluten free/dairy free cookies, one of which was Keto friendly. We also had pigs in blankets with homemade crescent dough, because I couldn’t help myself.

I mean, I could have used the crescent roll dough in a tube, but that doesn’t taste nearly as good.

The smaller ones are gluten free almond flour chocolate chip cookies from off of the Trader Joe’s almond flour bag. The butter was switched out for margarine.

The other ones are Keto friendly snickerdoodles from I Breathe, I’m Hungry. https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/low-carb-snickerdoodles-keto-gluten-free/

They were both pretty good. They ended up being soft, due to the almond flour. I’m not the biggest fan of artificial sugar, so I borrowed some from my friend Kayla.

She was lovely enough to come help the Husband and I food prep for the party and it worked out well to have help. Something hilarious happened though that kind of made the kitchen look like the Mayhem commercials happened…

This would be what happens when you hit the mixer switch to the highest setting by accident and have just put about a pound of powdered sugar in the mixer… After the initial shock, Kayla laughed too and I’m pretty sure she was the one to remind me to take a picture for the blog. 🙂 I had removed a few things from the counter  before taking the picture, I think, the spatula and a measuring cup. It was a mess. We got it all sorted though.

I made peppermint bark from the December Food Network Peppermint Insert, but completely forgot to serve it! We had plenty of other sweets. 

I had frozen the other honey sugar cookie dough, so those were made into sweater bears. The Husband likes bears in sweaters, ever since I bought a tin with a bear in a sweater holding a tree a few years ago.

We also had regular chocolate chip cookies, Berliner Kranzer, peanut butter balls, and the peppermint sugar cookies.

Other savory options were crab dip, a cheese and sausage tray, chicken salad, and the traditional rulle.

Also, a veggie tray and pickle tray. The Husband brought home some fancy popcorn and sugar cookies, so we had those too. It was lovely. We have been happily munching on the leftovers.

So that’s the party part of the post. On to the regular recipes!

I think I mentioned we got an Instant Pot and maybe the fact that I was a little terrified of using it…

It wasn’t as scary after I let the steam out the first time. I made a tomato, hamburger, and pasta soup.

https://www.skinnytaste.com/beef-tomato-and-acini-di-pepe-soup/

It needed more seasoning and I already added more than what the recipe called for. It was good enough to add to the recipe bank though.

I also tried two recipes from the Gordon Ramsey’s In The Heat Of The Kitchen cookbook. Homemade pasta and Tagliatelle with Mushrooms, with the homemade pasta. Technically this is fettuccini, but it worked.

We had the mushroom dish with steaks on New Year’s Day.

The pasta was delicious. I thought it was one of the better batches that I’ve made. It was silky and smooth. The dough was drier than previous dough and I think it made it less prone to sticking together.

Fancy was very determined to share our dinner.

I have made two recipes from the 2018 January/February Food Network Magazine already.

It has 12 muffin recipes! I used the Lemon Zucchini muffin one, but switched out the lemon to orange. I had the latter, but not the former.

Mmmm… they were delicious! I will happily make them again.

We had the Chili Shrimp from the stir-fry insert tonight and it was also good.

The last couple weeks have been a blur, so I’m sure there are ones I’m missing. I’ll post them when I remember them.

Have a wonderful weekend! My back is acting up again, so I may not be able to do much, but can maybe get some meal planning done. There are more Instant Pot recipes to be explored!