Gingerbread Houses 2011

I knew I needed to cut out some of the things we like to do around the holidays with the new baby and my recovery and everything- but Bobby loves gingerbread houses and I love seeing him get so excited about them. And it really wasn't that much work once I got the gingerbread baked and put together. We had most of the candy because we save what we don't use each year. We had so much stuff and two big houses so we invited the Johnson's to come over and join us. Our kids had a blast with their kids and I was totally impressed with the way both houses turned out. It was a fun night.

CAKE!

I made this cake for a Christmas party the other night and it was a big hit. This is the kind of thing I love to make for Christmas parties. Decadent and rich- the perfect kind of thing to serve to a lot of people, so everyone gets a little slice of paradise. (Confidence.) Actually, I was pretty relieved when people liked it. It was a new recipe and the frosting was a ganache and really hard to work with. Next time I will definitely use this recipe instead. I wasn't sure how good it would taste or if the cake was going to be moist enough so I didn't bother taking a picture of it before it was cut into pieces. But then I looked and there was only a couple pieces left so I hurried and took this super crappy picture. I was glad for the almonds on the side and it was my friend Marie who suggested piping whipped cream on top to cover some of the unsightly blemishes on the top of the cake. (And the whipped cream was a nice addition to the cake anyway.) It actually looked really pretty covered with all those almonds and whipped cream. So if you want to impress your friends, bring this to your next holiday party! Oh, and as for the fleur de sel- I had some sea salt in my cupboard, but I completely forgot to add that to the caramel layers. I did add a large pinch of it to the caramel, though.

Chocolate Cake with Fleur de Sel Caramel Filling

Ingredients

CARAMEL FILLING

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Large pinch of fine fleur de sel* plus additional for assembly

GANACHE FILLING AND FROSTING

• 1 1/2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream

CAKE

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee
• 1 1/4 cups almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped

Preparation

CARAMEL FILLING

• Stir sugar, 1/4 cup water, and corn syrup in deep medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; cover pan and cook 4 minutes. Uncover; increase heat to high. Boil without stirring until syrup is deep amber, occasionally brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Whisk in butter, then crème fraîche, lemon juice, and pinch of fleur de sel. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before using.

GANACHE FILLING AND FROSTING

• Place chocolate in large bowl. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate; let soften 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is smooth. Cool, then cover and chill overnight. DO AHEAD Ganache can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Bring to room temperature before using.

CAKE

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of each with parchment paper; butter paper and dust pan with flour.
• Sift sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Add milk, eggs, and melted butter. Using electric mixer, beat at low speed until blended. Increase speed and beat 2 minutes. Stir 1 cup hot water and espresso powder in small bowl to dissolve. Add to batter; beat until blended (batter will be thin). Divide batter between pans (about 3 cups each).
• Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 32 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Cut around cakes; turn out onto racks. Peel off parchment and cool completely.
• Using long serrated knife, cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 layer on platter; spread with 1/2 cup room-temperature ganache. Spoon 3/4 cup ganache into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch plain round tip. Pipe ring of ganache around edge of layer. Spread 1/4 cup room-temperature caramel filling evenly inside ring. Sprinkle caramel with large pinch of fleur de sel, then 1 tablespoon almonds. Top with second cake layer, ganache, ganache ring, caramel filling, fleur de sel, and almonds. Repeat with third cake layer. Top with fourth cake layer, cut side down. Spread remaining ganache over top and sides of cake. Press remaining almonds onto sides. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and chill. Let cake stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• *A type of sea salt; available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores.

Christmas Eve 2009

I really enjoyed Christmas Eve, although it went by really fast! I got up early and made macarons. I wanted to include them with some of the Christmas treats we delivered to friends that day. I figured they would take about an hour. WRONG! Three hours later I was putting the finishing touches on two very lackluster batches of green and red macarons. BOO. But the day just got better from there. The girls got up and played with Bobby while I worked on his Christmas quilt. I took my time getting read for the day and we headed out to deliver goodies. Everyone was pretty hungry for lunch by then so we thought we'd treat the girls to lunch at McDonald's, a special treat for the girls and a major sacrifice on our part. We hate McDonald's, but of course, they're kids- they love it. After that we stopped at the Yost's to deliver treats and visited for a while. We are big fans of theirs as well as their daughter Ivy. After we left, I looked at the clock and my jaw dropped- 3:00 PM! Three in the afternoon and I hadn't made any preparations for our Christmas Eve dinner. I hadn't started the rolls or decided on a glaze for the ham. We still had about ten treats to deliver. We stopped at all the houses we could on the way home and then Bobby dropped the girls and I at home so he could go back out and I could get to work on our Christmas Eve dinner.

I will always remember 2009 as the year Franny started to take an interest in my cooking and our food traditions. It has been such a treat for me. It's very sweet. At dinner she says things like, "This is very yummy, Mom." I asked her what she thought we should have for Christmas Eve dinner and she thought hard and came up with some good ideas. She asked for a Christmas drink (my Mom's Christmas punch), chips and salsa (our appetizer), orange rolls, and sauce for the mashed potatoes (gravy, but I didn't get around to it. That one was really cute, because she doesn't like gravy.) Her only objections were the ham and the green beans, but I told her I wasn't willing to budge on either of those. Clearly, family food traditions are really important to me. I mean, if I'm feeling homesick, a big batch of rice pudding does just the trick. So Franny's excitement over my cooking and our family traditions is pretty much the coolest thing ever.

One more thing that happened was my father-in-law called pretending he was Santa Claus to ask the girls what they want for Christmas. I love that he does this! Franny was just beside herself to be getting a call from Santa. She told him she wanted an iCarly microphone (and he did not disappoint) and then she said, "well thank you, Santa." Sophie told him Dora stuff and he made good on that, too.

Before dinner, Bobby took the girls out to sprinkle "reindeer food" that Franny made at school so they would have something to munch on while Santa was here.

We're ready to eat!
Orange Rolls and plain rolls. Orange rolls per Franny's request.
"I'd like a nice slice of Christmas Pam." - The Office
This was a new ham recipe. It was tasty, but not hugely impressive, so I'll probably try something else next year. Ham just tastes good. I'm pretty sure if you sprayed it with Febreze it would taste fine. (I certainly am not recommending this.)

It tasted so delicious. I just have to have my Dad's green beans on Christmas Eve. And my mother's orange rolls.

After dinner we had dessert, some Peppermint cheesecake, and then we put milk and cookies out for Santa. Last year her got sour cream cookies decorated with frosting and sprinkles. This year he got Oreos. Sorry Santa.


An all-girl nativity scene. I'm a girl who likes her traditions. So much that I insist on Bobby as the head of our household reading from Luke 2 and the children posing for the nativity. That's how it was always done in my family. I heard my Great Uncle George read from Luke 2 until I was 19 or 20 years old when he died. After that it was Great Uncle Merlin, then it was my grandfather, then my mom's cousin Rick, etc. The patriarch of the family. Since our family has not been blessed with sons yet, our two older girls will have to take turns playing Joseph and Mary. Next year of course Claire will play baby Jesus, so the Christmas story cross-dressing will perpetuate. Hey, I guess there's one of our own Christmas traditions.

We opened pajamas and also our Christmas Eve presents, since if we were in California we would have been at Gayle's participating in the Sant family gift exchange.

This was the first year we really needed to stay up late making magic for our kids. We assembled the Barbie dream house Santa delivered and then I stayed up late late late sewing Bobby's quilt. The next morning the girls woke up at 7 AM sharp and ran in to tell us that Santa really came! And that he brought more presents! And that he filled their stockings! When we went upstairs I pointed out the cookie crumbs on the plate and the nearly finished glass of milk, as well as a thank you note from Santa. They were thrilled!

Christmas Sleepover

Last night we tried camping out by the Christmas tree for a slumber party and watching "Home Alone" for the second year in a row. It was the end of a really fun family day. Bobby took the kids shopping to pick out presents for me and each other, we ate lunch at McDonald's (which Bobby and I both consider a huge sacrifice we make for our children about five times a year), and... hmmm, I can't remember what else. I do remember we took turns hanging out the window and screaming at the top of our lungs, "Merry Christmas" at noone and everyone. I found a bag of english muffins that morning mistakenly placed in the wrapping paper box the night before and realized that I had left our Sant Family address list at the post office. We had a good laugh about that. And the giant cup of caramel apple cider that Bobby accidentally knocked over when he was getting Sophie out of the car at McDonald's about three minutes after he bought it. That was pretty funny, too. The kids were really excited about setting up the bed downstairs, watching a movie, and sleeping by the tree. It was cute to see how much they were looking forward to it. This is the first year Franny has really seemed to notice our family's traditions; it's also the first year she seems to remember what we did the year before. I love it! We got a lot of questions like, "Is it nighttime yet?" "When are we going to have dinner?" And confirmations of plans already made: "Mom, you and Dad are going to sleep on the couch?" Me: "Mmmhmm." Franny: "Can you say 'yes'?" I don't understand why "sure", "you bet", "yup", and "mmmhmmm" do not satisfy here as acceptable affirmative answers. It cracks me up.

Last year Bobby's brother Wes and his family joined us for Christmas and we had so much fun with them. This year they're heading out for New Year's. Franny and I were talking about Christmas (probably about how they're allowed to start eating the gingerbread on Christmas Day), and she said, "What about our cousins?" I said, "They're not coming this year, sweetie." She said, "AH! Isn't that sad? Why are we having Christmas all by ourselves?" It was pretty cute and I was thrilled she remembered and enjoyed that part of Christmas last year.

I snapped a few shots of our sleepover. I was there, too. I just don't like being photographed when I'm pregnant. Sometimes I think I'm the only person who carries pregnancy in her face (among other places.) Yikes and I still have over three months. "Home Alone" wasn't as much of a hit as last year, but I still enjoyed the tradition. The girls were pretty hyper and after a while they were playing with their Simpsons dolls, Bobby picked up his book, and I (surprise, surprise) fell asleep early. But between Franny's snoring and Sophie's coughing, I woke up quite a few times and it was fun to look over and see the Christmas tree. That's my favorite part of the whole thing, I think. I think it's worth one night sleeping on the couch. The next morning I woke up to Franny poking my leg. I moved a little and she said, "What did you say?" It was so funny how she was trying to be sneaky and wake me up. I totally understand since as a kid I was usually the first one awake in my house. Anyway, this was definitely a fun Christmas memory. Maybe "Miracle on 34th Street" next year? I'll take your suggestions if you've got them.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot. New pictures of my sister, her husband, and her twins on her blog. Very cute!

Cranberry Lime Tart

This tart and I go way back. Way back to before Franny was even born- December 2003. The company I worked for held a Christmas boutique and employees, their spouses, or associates came and sold their crafts, food items, etc. One employee's wife was selling homemade tarts and cinnamon rolls and she was handing out samples of what I believe was this tart. We loved this tart! We all stood together trying to guess what the flavors were. I remember my friend Missy's mom was there and she was able to identify almonds in the shortbread crust. We could all taste lime. A few months or years later (I'm really not sure), I took these clues and headed for the computer to search high and low for the recipe.

It led me here. Cranberry Lime Tart, Bon Appetit, 2003. So I held on to the recipe, waiting for the perfect opportunity to reunite with such delicious memories. I chose a cooking club about 3 years ago. The recipe calls for Chinese Five Spice Powder. Leave this out! It will ruin your dish. Though the tart was a hit at cooking club, I was terribly disappointed, knowing it was not what it ought to have been. Not the tart I had tasted so many years before at the Christmas boutique at MyFamily.com. I decided to go for it one more time and make it for a Christmas party that my friend Krista was throwing for the ladies at our church. I left the Chinese spices out and was much happier with the result. Definitely the same recipe and I was so happy to try it again after such a long separation!

Cranberry Lime Tart
The white chocolate cream recipe is not very impressive to me. I followed this recipe as written, however, for two reasons. #1) I was too tired to care about a preferable alternative. #2) There are so many flavors in this dessert, that I didn't think the extra effort for a better quality white chocolate cream sauce would be noticed. I think I made the right choice. I also didn't bother with the garnish. I am so lazy about garnishes and picture-taking these days. But I'm sure the white chocolate curls and lime zests would have been lovely.

Lime curd
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 1/2 teaspoons grated lime peel

Crust
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole almonds, toasted, cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cranberry Topping
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder* (optional)- Consider yourself warned. This is a bad idea.
1 12-ounce bag (3 cups) fresh cranberries or frozen, partially thawed

White Chocolate Cream
5 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

White chocolate curls
8 thin lime twists

For lime curd:

Whisk lime juice and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk in sugar and yolks, then add butter. Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture simmers and thickens, about 8 minutes. Strain into small bowl. Mix in lime peel. Cover; chill overnight.

For crust:

Finely grind flour, sugar, almonds, and salt in processor. Add butter and vanilla; cut in, using on/off turns, until mixture just forms soft moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Using thumb, press dough up sides to extend 1/8 inch above rim of pan. Freeze crust 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crust until golden brown, pressing with back of spoon if crust bubbles, about 25 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

For cranberry topping:

Whisk 1/4 cup water and cornstarch in heavy large saucepan to blend. Add sugar, honey, and five-spice powder, if desired. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil. Add cranberries; cook until mixture boils and berries just begin to pop but still maintain shape, occasionally stirring gently, about 5 minutes. Cool completely (mixture will thicken).

For white chocolate cream:

Stir chocolate in top of double boiler over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water; whisk in sour cream and vanilla. Cool completely.

Spread white chocolate cream into crust; freeze 15 minutes. Spoon curd over; spread evenly. Spoon cranberry topping by tablespoonfuls over, then spread carefully to cover completely. Cover and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Remove pan sides; transfer tart to platter. Sprinkle chocolate curls around edge of tart. Garnish with lime twists.

Gingerbread House Party - Our New Family Tradition

I don't remember ever making gingerbread houses growing up, but it was a big tradition in Bobby's family. His mom would make her own gingerbread and then construct a gingerbread house for each of her children to decorate! Amazing. And last night Bobby told me that she used to make a bunch of extra houses and decorate them to give out as gifts! The girls were a bit disappointed when they realized I was only making the one gingerbread house, but I think it was a good way to start for us. Bobby has suggested this become one of our family traditions a few times and I feel bad that in our 8+ years of marriage this is the first time I've ever attempted it. We did make them once with Louise the day after Thanksgiving, but she provided everything for us. It was then that I first saw Bobby's talent and skill for gingerbread house decorating. He's a pro. Did you notice the Necco wafers as shingles in the first picture of Franny? That's a Bobby original. He totally came up with that idea on his own.

So! Recipes and patterns. There are tons of patterns online- some you can buy, many are free. I chose a very simple and traditional pattern for our first year. I really wanted to cut a window and make my own stained glass window panes, but I forgot to cut the windows out during the baking phase. I'll have to make a note of it for next year.

Gingerbread House Recipe
from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup dark molasses
• 1 Tbsp water

Make the Gingerbread Dough

1 Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.

2 Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed the butter and brown sugar until fluffy and well blended. Beat in the eggs, molasses and water until well combined.

3 Beat half of the flour mixture into the molasses mixture until well blended and smooth. Stir in the remaining flour. Knead (or use your mixer's dough hook) until well blended. If dough is too soft, add a little more flour.

4 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours, preferably overnight. You can make it up to 3 days ahead of time. Let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before rolling out.

Icing Cement Recipe

from Homecooking.about.com

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons water
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar

Icing Cement:
Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and water until frothy. Blend in sugar on high speed until stiff, 5 to 10 minutes. Use immediately or cover and use within 8 hours.

Yield: about 1-1/2 cups icing (this was just enough for one house.)

Instructions for Constructing Gingerbread House:

from Simply Recipes

This is where it really helps to have more than two hands working on a house, and why making a gingerbread house is so much more fun with company than alone. If you are working on this alone, it may help to grab some canned goods from the pantry and use the cans to help prop up the pieces while the icing mortar is drying.

1 Pick a solid base for your gingerbread house - either a flat cookie sheet, or a thick, sturdy piece of cardboard. If you want, line the base with aluminum foil or wax paper.

2 Pipe a thick line of icing along a short end of one of the side pieces. Press the iced side piece against the edge of either the front or back pieces. Hold in place for a few minutes until the icing is partially set. Repeat with the other side piece. Prop up with cans if necessary. Repeat with the other short edges of the side pieces and the remaining front/back piece. Pipe icing along the seams, inside and outside of the house, to fill in any gaps and to add extra stability. Pipe icing along the edges of the house where it meets the base. Let set for at least an hour before attempting to add the roof pieces.

If any of the gingerbread house pattern pieces breaks, as can happen easily when working with what are essentially cookies, most likely you can repair them. On my house I forgot to cut out the door and window until the front piece had almost completely cooled. When I went to make the cuts, the piece broke. Fortunately, it was easy to mortar back together with royal icing. We even created a "splint" out of cardboard and used royal icing to hold the splint to the piece. Let harden completely before using the piece for the house construction. When it comes time to decorate, you can pipe icing right over the broken seam and no one will be the wiser.

3 Once the royal icing has dried enough so that the base structure is solid, you can go to work on the roof. Pipe icing all along the top edges of the structure, front and back and two sides. The roof pieces are a rectangular shaped. Place the roof pieces so that the long ends of the rectangle are running along the top of the house. It helps if you have two people working together to place the roof pieces on the house at the same time so that they meet easily at the top center, and extend out a little bit, forming an overhang at each end. Gently hold the roof pieces in place for a few minutes until they are set enough so they don't slide off when you remove your hands. Pipe the top seam of the house with extra icing. Let the house stand for at least an hour, and preferably 8 hours before decorating.

Note: If you have pets in your house, keep them away from the gingerbread house during all phases of construction and decorating. Non-gingerbread-house-building-participating adults and children should be informed to keep their hands off the house as well.

4 The chimney. The dimensions of the chimney can be a bit tricky because of the angle of the roof. Although you may have cut your chimney out of a pattern, these small pieces likely have spread a bit through cooking, and you may have to use a chef's knife to cut the pieces and adjust the angles of the pieces so they align better with the roof. It's easiest to assemble the chimney first upside down, separate from the house. Pipe the pieces together with royal icing and let set until stable. Then, turn the chimney right-side-up and attach it to the roof using piped royal icing. You can do this either right after the house has initially set (1 hour after assembly) or later, during the decorating process.

Christmas at our house

It was awesome having a professional photographer taking our Christmas morning pictures this year! Thanks Jen.

Nicole decorating cookies.

Colton's Santa cookie.

Yummy. Sour cream cookies just like my Grandma Warner used to make.

Bobby and Franny hard at work.

Santa came to our house and here is the proof. The kids were so excited about the note and especially the half-eaten cookie.

My bro-in-law Wes posing by the stockings. He's so funny.

What a beautiful sight.

Yikes. But here we are on Christmas morning in our new Christmas pajamas. Thanks Jen for doing the best with what we gave you in this family shot. :) Bobby looks good at least. Poor Franny was sick on Christmas.

I love this picture. It was taken right after Bobby opened the gift I was the most excited to give him- a digital scrapbook I made especially for him of all the big things that happened last year. Sophie stops to give him a hug.

Sophie loves this dog. If her current owners didn't love her so much, I'd ask if we could adopt her.

That's a cute face.

Jen took pictures of all the kids opening their big presents. Franny's was a Kid-tough digital camera.

This wasn't Colton's big present, but obviously he was really excited about it.

Nicole and her "purple 'puter." My girls loved this. Nicole was so sweet to share with them.

Sophie got a grocery cart.

Hunter and his PSP!

Me and my gorgeous sister-in-law Jen in our matching track suits. So comfortable. Perfect attire for playing the Wii all day long.

Sophie giving her new best friend a kiss.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Look, I know everybody is trying to eat healthier now that the holidays are over, myself included, but if I don't get these recipes up now then I never will. I know I'm tempting you now but you'll thank me next year when I have an organized section on my blog where you can find all my holiday recipes!

During the holidays I never like to stray too far from the traditional family favorites. I decided on my Dad's green beans with bacon, my Mom's Christmas orange rolls, and raspberry pretzel jello. I used to feel a little embarrassed about serving raspberry pretzel jello. I think because it's a casserole dish and the name of it makes it sound like a relative of "funeral potatoes." I don't care anymore. I'll say it loud and proud. I LOVE RASPBERRY PRETZEL JELLO! That felt good.

Wes and Jen (Bobby's brother and his wife) shared one of their traditions with us on Christmas day- a delicious Chicken Cordon Bleu with a rich and creamy sauce. When we were planning the menu on the phone, I suggested we serve a ham on Christmas Eve, so we could use the ham in the Chicken Cordon Bleu the next day. Anyway, It was perfect not only for Christmas Dinner, but also the day after Christmas when Wes made omelettes for us. I probably don't even need to say this but I did not take this pictures. My talented sis-in-law Jen took them. I look at these pictures and I feel a little sad because my own attempts at food photography are pathetic in comparison. Jen, thanks so much for sending these pictures!


Mmmm... I sure am missing all the delicious leftovers.

Dad's Green Beans with Bacon

6 or 7 slices of bacon
1 large bag of frozen green beans (I like to use the steamer bags)
freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp garlic, minced

Prepare green beans according to directions on bag. Cut bacon into 1 inch pieces. Fry in a large skillet until crisp. Add green beans and garlic and cook in bacon grease. (If there is an excess of bacon grease, drain some of it off. Just don't send it down the drain!) At this point Dad likes to sprinkle lemon juice over the top. Maggie likes to add a little bit of minced garlic, maybe 1 teaspoon.



Orange Rolls

Your favorite roll recipe. Make the dough at let it rise until doubled:

1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
rind of 2 oranges, grated
juice of one orange
enough powdered sugar to make a thick glaze (3 cups?)

To make orange rolls, take dough out of refrigerator three hours before baking. Roll out into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough. Mix sugar and orange rind together and sprinkle over butter. Starting with the end of the rectangle, roll up, jelly-roll style. Cut into 1-inch slices using a long piece of floss. Feed it under the roll and take each end of floss and tie a knot right through the roll for a clean slice. Bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees in a greased muffin tin and drizzle with orange glaze.

Christmas Candies

Chocolate Truffles

I saw this on Martha Stewart one day and my mouth just filled with saliva. Butter, cream, and chocolate. Yes, please.

Ingredients

Makes 117 truffles.

• 24 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, preferably Valrhona Manjari
• 8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped, preferably Valrhona 42 percent
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 11 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups cocoa powder (not Dutch processed), preferably Valrhona, for rolling

Directions

1. Line a 13-by-9 1/2-inch rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap; set aside.
2. In a heatproof bowl, set over (but not touching) simmering water, melt 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate together until it reaches 120 degrees.
3. Place cream, vanilla bean, and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat; heat until cream just comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Let cream mixture cool until reaches 120 degrees; remove vanilla bean and discard.
4. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and add to cream mixture. Using a heatproof spatula, mix together, starting from the center of the saucepan and working your way to the outer edges until mixture is emulsified. Add butter and mix with an immersion blender until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared baking sheet, evenly spreading mixture with an offset spatula; cover with plastic wrap, pressing down gently on chocolate mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to overnight.
5. Line the back of another 13-by-9 1/2-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Uncover chocolate and invert onto parchment paper; remove second piece of plastic wrap. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, and a steel ruler as a guide, cut chocolate into 1-inch squares.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Roll each square of chocolate between your hands to form a smooth ball. Transfer chocolate balls to baking sheet; refrigerate for 1 hour.
7. Melt remaining 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl, set over (but not touching) simmering water. Place cocoa powder in a shallow dish. Place some of the melted chocolate in the palm of your hand and roll a chocolate ball in the melted chocolate to coat, then roll in cocoa powder. Repeat process with remaining chocolate balls. Transfer truffles to an airtight container, stacking truffles no more than 2 to 3 inches high, and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Bring truffles to room temperature just before serving.

Last year my friend Natalie invited us over to try and recreate the Williams Sonoma peppermint bark. We were so pleased with the results. I made it again this year and I couldn't find Natalie's recipe, but I found this one and I think it's basically the same.

Peppermint Bark

12 oz chocolate chips (bittersweet is best I think)
1 pound white chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon

peppermint extract or 1/8 tsp peppermint oil
1/2 cup peppermint candy, crushed

Preheat oven to 250. Line a 9x13 pan with foil, letting it hang over the sides. Spray foil. Pour the chocolate chips in an even layer on the foil. Place in oven for 5 minutes or until almost melted. Remove from oven, smooth with an offset spatula or knife. Place in refrigerator until cold and firm, about 20 minutes.

Melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler or in a metal bowl over simmering water (don’t let bottom of bowl touch water), until chocolate is almost melted. You can use your microwave for this if you’re brave! Remove bowl from water and stir until completely melted, stirring in extract. Let cool a little bit so it doesn’t melt the chocolate layer when you pour it on top. Pour this over chocolate layer, and, working quickly, spread to cover. Sprinkle with crushed candy.

Chill until both layers are firm. (At least all day before you try and break it into pieces. Otherwise the layers will not stick together.) Lift foil out of pan and shake off excess candy. Trim edges. Cut into 2” wide strips. Peel bark from foil and cut each strip as desired. Chill in covered container. Makes about 2 pounds.