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Christmas 2024

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

I always made mince tarts

 

I made my own from scratch 30+ years ago. I can get all the required ingredients here in China, but living alone means I don't need so many! It's not worth the trouble making a big batch and my friends aren't interested. Also, there is a slight problem in that, like almost everyone here, I don't have an oven.

 

My daughter still makes them back in England.

 

 

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
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FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted (edited)

A friend and I made up some Christmas cookies together. Sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. Neither of us had made royal icing before. It's easy to over-decorate these things! More icing than cookie on some of these, hahahaha. KInda fun to do though even if far from perfect. 

 

For some reason our red food colouring was not a true red but it was still redder than it looks in these photos! 

 

 

Cookies4.jpg

Cookies3.jpg

Cookies2.jpg

Cookies1.jpg

Edited by FauxPas (log)
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FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Nice work!  Did you make the wreaths on the cookies too?

 

Yes, from the royal icing. 

  • Like 2
  • Delicious 1
Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

A friend and I made up some Christmas cookies together. Sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. Neither of us had made royal icing before. It's easy to over-decorate these things! More icing than cookie on some of these, hahahaha. KInda fun to do though even if far from perfect. 

 

For some reason our red food colouring was not a true red but it was still redder than it looks in these photos! 

 

 

Cookies4.jpg

Cookies3.jpg

Cookies2.jpg

Cookies1.jpg

GORGEOUS!  I LOVE frosted sugar cookies.  

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, FauxPas said:

A friend and I made up some Christmas cookies together. Sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. Neither of us had made royal icing before. It's easy to over-decorate these things! More icing than cookie on some of these, hahahaha. KInda fun to do though even if far from perfect. 

 

For some reason our red food colouring was not a true red but it was still redder than it looks in these photos! 

 

 

Cookies4.jpg

Cookies3.jpg

Cookies2.jpg

Cookies1.jpg

I baked off my sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies last night, but the decorating will have to wait until the weekend. I have the same snowflake cutter, but use slightly different Christmas tree and star shapes (I always do snowman shapes, as well. I'm weeks late (they should have all been in the mail by the 10th or so, but we had a mail strike so...).

Tonight I'll be doing baking the linzer cookies and almond kipferln (sp?), and hopefully the cinnamon stars if my back holds out. Then on the weekend I'll shift to decorating and assembling cookies, and baking off mini-loaves. There's also a walnut roll recipe I want to try, using a yeast dough. It's a recipe I rewrote this summer for a client, and it looked good. This version is Czech, IIRC, but apparently there are slight variations on the theme all across central and eastern Europe.

  • Like 4

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MaryIsobel

MaryIsobel

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, FauxPas said:

A friend and I made up some Christmas cookies together. Sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. Neither of us had made royal icing before. It's easy to over-decorate these things! More icing than cookie on some of these, hahahaha. KInda fun to do though even if far from perfect. 

 

For some reason our red food colouring was not a true red but it was still redder than it looks in these photos! 

 

 

Cookies4.jpg

Cookies3.jpg

Cookies2.jpg

Cookies1.jpg

Gorgeous! 

  • Thanks 1
TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, chromedome said:

I baked off my sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies last night, but the decorating will have to wait until the weekend. I have the same snowflake cutter, but use slightly different Christmas tree and star shapes (I always do snowman shapes, as well. I'm weeks late (they should have all been in the mail by the 10th or so, but we had a mail strike so...).

Tonight I'll be doing baking the linzer cookies and almond kipferln (sp?), and hopefully the cinnamon stars if my back holds out. Then on the weekend I'll shift to decorating and assembling cookies, and baking off mini-loaves. There's also a walnut roll recipe I want to try, using a yeast dough. It's a recipe I rewrote this summer for a client, and it looked good. This version is Czech, IIRC, but apparently there are slight variations on the theme all across central and eastern Europe.

 

I hope you show us the walnut roll (and tell us the recipe). And any other cookies you make!

  • Like 2
Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, TdeV said:

 

I hope you show us the walnut roll (and tell us the recipe). And any other cookies you make!

 

Yes indeed! I probably won't be baking much, if at all, this season -- but I hope to get back into the swing of things in the future. In the meantime, it's lovely to drool and dream. 🙂

 

Edited to add: and I do especially love walnuts in baked goods, especially at this time of year.

Edited by Smithy (log)
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Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted

Made a couple different cookie doughs earlier this week and baked them yesterday.  They are all in the downstairs freezer so that I don't eat them.  Ronnie's kids and grandkids are coming on Christmas Eve for brunch so I'll get them out the day before.  

 

Double Chocolate Crinkle Cookies  and Christmas Cookie Sparkles (I love these they have a hint of cream cheese) 

IMG_6898.thumb.jpeg.9e4eac86b1f35d3d6ca4c8d5e8eafb58.jpeg

 

Just got home from the big city grocery store.  It was brutal in there.  Packed.  Going to put away groceries and then figure out what I'm going to make for brunch lol.  Glad I have a few days to figure it out.

 

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TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Shelby said:

They are all in the downstairs freezer so that I don't eat them. 

 

I love this!

 

They do look awfully enticing, Shelby. 😋

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

Some last minute supplies for Wednesday.

 

McVitiesDigestiveBiscuits.thumb.jpg.1d7a0a6eb981f6b98597bd1f0442a8b5.jpg

 

There is a local brand of digestive biscuits, but seriously only McVitie's make the grade. Great with  cheddar. (Don't grate with cheddar!)

 

GreenGordalOlives.jpg.28b8e3c89291939c520517640c3d7525.jpg

 

and 

 

SweetPickledGordalOlives.thumb.jpg.517b0b6402b78fbf72dae1965a0cd1d1.jpg

For with my manchego.

 

These are BIG. Here they are with a regular black olive for scale

 

OliveScale.thumb.jpg.1515fd878d099dd66974cbe3d0b570d8.jpg

 

Then this

 

pernod.thumb.jpg.8ca42263a204e0b716ac113c91e9dff4.jpg

To be used as a desert with frozen grapes.

 

All I need to do now is decide what to eat. Probably fish, but what type? Decisions! Decisions!

 

Possibly not with this gravy!

 

 

The back story.

 

The lyrics.

 

 

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted
22 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

To be used as a desert with frozen grapes.

 

What do you do? Is it just the Pernod over the grapes or ??? 

 

McVities are indeed tasty!!! I never get tired of a good digestive biscuit. 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

What do you do? Is it just the Pernod over the grapes or ??? 

 

It's a desert I encountered in the 1980s in a French restaurant in London very near my home. Simple frozen, peeled grapes in a one part Pernod to four parts water pond.

 

I was always glad my house was just round the corner. Now I can only have it at home, which is probably for the good!

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Haha 3

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted (edited)

@liamsaunt, I was looking for some ideas for Xmas dinner as step-daughter is largely vegetarian and I was thinking of a Butternut Squash Wellington. I did a search here and looks like you did one a few years back for Xmas. 

  

On 12/16/2019 at 8:42 AM, liamsaunt said:

I am hosting Christmas dinner.  The menu: prime standing rib roast with au jus (ordered from Heritage Foods), butternut squash and mushroom wellington for my sister and me as we do not eat red meat, twice baked potatoes, spinach gratin, roasted cauliflower, whiskey glazed carrots, homemade rolls.  My mother is bringing a pecan pie for dessert.

 

Your whole menu that year sounds lovely but I wonder if you remember the veggie Wellington? Was it the one from NY Times? Was it good? I am thinking of doing this one with wild rice and mushrooms which leaves the squash neck whole. 

 

Local farms are still picking some things like Brussels sprouts, kale and kalettes and want to make use of some of those items. Thinking of a shredded Brussels sprouts salad with pomegranate seeds, toasted almonds, shaved Parmesan and a lemon vinaigrette.

 

I also have some kalettes but not sure if I will use them for Xmas or not. Does anyone else cook with these? I might add some in to the salad or roast some but wonder if anyone has tried anything different with them? 

 

I'll cook a turkey breast roast with stuffing on the side, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry-orange sauce, corn and edamame, several roasted veggies if I don't do the Wellington, pumpkin pie. My husband likes a fairly classic (maybe slightly boring, ha) dinner and I'm happy with whatever. 

 

We have some local smoked Pacific oysters for appetizers from a cannery just south of here.  I'm going to make some eggnog of some kind. I ordered a few different white wines from one of my fave BC Okanagan wineries, including some bubbly for NYE. 

 

Our cat will probably have Feast of the Seven Fishes, kitty-style.  hahahahaha   🙂

 

Edited by FauxPas (log)
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TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted
On 12/20/2024 at 8:58 PM, liuzhou said:

It's a desert I encountered in the 1980s in a French restaurant in London very near my home. Simple frozen, peeled grapes in a one part Pernod to four parts water pond.

I was always glad my house was just round the corner. Now I can only have it at home, which is probably for the good!

 

White or red grapes?

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, TdeV said:

White or red grapes?

 

The restaurant used white (green) grapes but I suppose any type would work. I have green grapes in the freezer now in readiness for making it later in the week.

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

We will be six boomers and six millennials plus some partners. Half, cutting across the generations, are vegetarians. There will be an eggplant parm, various salads and sides, and one of my nephews makes dynamite sri racha chicken wings. Our contributions will be cheese straws from Edna Lewis and smoky roast almonds to add to the apps,  raw carrot salad that is Indianish and  pickled vegetables. The sister-in-law who can't cook is doing dessert this year. I hope she doesn't bring her standard, which is a pear crisp of sorts that typically has undercooked under-ripe pears and oats that somehow stubbornly remain soggy.  But there will be lots of Napa Valley wines and it will be a party. Cheers!

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