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Christmas
Recipes
By: Paul Curran, Wed Jun 21st, 2006
Traditional Scottish produce and ideal in a box or tin for a
christmas gift.
Christmas recipe makes: 2 to 3 dozen
Calories per biscuit: 180-270
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Not suitable for freezing
Christmas recipe ingredients:
* butter, 450 g (1 lb)
* sugar, caster 225 g (8 oz)
* flour, plain white 450 g (1 lb)
* rice, ground or flour 225 g (8 oz)
* salt, pinch
* sugar, colored granulated or golden
* sugar, caster for sprinkling
All these recipe ingredients must be at room temperature.
Christmas recipe instructions:
1. Mix the sugar and butter until a creamy and fluffy
consistency. Mix together the salt, rice flour and flour.
Now blend with the creamy mixture and mix until it is
breadcrumb like.
2. Take some mixture in your hand and form a ball shape that
can be rolled into a 2-3 inch (5-7.5 cm) tube shape. Enclose
in cling film and cool till hard.
3. Cut the tube of dough into half inch slices (10 mm) and
coat the edges with the golden or granulated sugar. Bake
until slightly golden at 190 degrees centigrade(gas mark 5,
375 F) for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with caster sugar
after removing from the oven.
4. After 10 minutes transfer to a wire rack for complete
cooling.
Changes you can make to the recipe:
* Add a spice such as 'mixed spice' to the flours to make a
Spiced Shortbread.
* To make a Ginger Shortbread add ground ginger to the
flours and crystallized ginger to the dough from step 1.
* For Chocolate Chip Shortbread blend chocolate pieces into
the dough.
* For Lavender Shortbread, add half a dozen lavender flower
tops into the dough. This time roll the dough into thin
pieces, cut intobiscuit shape and bake for about quarter of
an hour.
* For Rosemary Shortbread, just replace the lavender with
fresh chopped rosemary and carry on as above.
About the author: (c) Paul Curran, CEO of Cuzcom Internet
Publishing Group and webmaster at Gifts-for-Chrismas.com,
bringing you christmas recipes and
unique gifts for Chrismas
including their online home collectibles, russian gifts,
cookies, jewelry.
This article may be re-published in its entirety as long as
the author bylines in the resource box are included and urls
kept live.
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Easy
Christmas Cookie Recipes One Recipe - Many Variations
By: Karen Ciancio, Thu Oct 13th, 2005
There are so many Chrismas cookie recipes around but often
so little time to bake during the busy holiday season.
The solution? A great tasting basic cookie recipe that
quickly and easily turns into such a variety of easy to make
Chirstmas treats, friends and family will think you poured
over all your favorite Chrismas cookie recipes.
Let's start with the basics.
Basic Cookie Dough Recipe
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter (or margarine) at room
temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the
flour. Beat with an electric mixer, scraping the sides of
the bowl several times, until the mixture is light and
fluffy. With mixer at a low speed, add the flour gradually,
beating just until everything is well blended.
Place the mixture on a baking sheet using a tablespoon
measure and press down with a spoon to flatten a bit. Or
roll our and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake at
350 F for about 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.
This basic cookie mixture is also the base for the following
cookie recipes (all baked in a preheated oven at 350 F).
Orange Cookies
(Makes about 32)
Add 1 tablespoon of grated orange zest to the recipe. Shape
into a log that is about 1 1/2" in diameter and refrigerate
for 4 hours.
Slice dough into 1/4" thick slices. Place on cookie sheet.
Cookies can be decorated with candies, rolled in colored
sugar, or cut into pretty holiday shapes before baking. Bake
in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cherry Coconut Chocolate Squares
(Makes about 54 squares)
In addition to the basic dough you will need:
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, well drained and coarsely
chopped
Line a 13"x9" baking pan with foil.
Stir cocoa powder into basic dough mixture. Press evenly
into the prepared pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the
crust looks dry.
In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, almond extract
and baking powder until well blended. Stir in coconut and
cherries. Pour over the baked crust.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top just begins to brown and a
toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in
the pan on a wire rack. Lift it out on to a cutting board
using the foil ends and cut into 1 1/2" squares. Squares can
be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Coconut Pineapple Cookies
(Makes about 36)
In addition to the basic dough you will need:
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup pineapple preserves (use raspberry or apricot if you
prefer)
Add 1 cup of the flaked coconut to the basic dough mixture
and mix well. Shape the dough into 1 1/2" balls and roll in
the remaining coconut to coat them. Place the balls 1" apart
on lightly greased cookie sheets. Make a deep indentation in
the center of each cookie with your fingertip.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookie is firm and the
coconut is lightly toasted. When cooled, fill each hole in
the center of the cookies with the preserves.
You can vary this basic dough to make a wide variety of
Christmas cookie recipes. Add other flavorings like maple,
ginger or cinnamon. Add chopped dried fruits like apricots
or dates. Or bake them plain in holiday shapes and decorate
with colored icing.
Chrismas is such a wonderful time of year. Here's hoping
these quick and easy Christmas cookie recipes help keep the
pressure off the cook.
About the author: Karen Ciancio is a cook and lover of all
things food and cooking related. Her website
http://www.cookingnook.com contains easy dessert
recipes, plus lots of other recipes, cooking tips,
measurement conversions and kitchen ideas.
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Chrismas
Cheesecake
By: Andrew Krause, Wed Dec 7th, 2005
This is a cheesecake that I have been making for over 20
years if you follow the recipe to the tee you won't have any
problem, it is also colorful as well as the most lucious
piece of pastry that you ever put in your mouth.
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons sugar 3
tablespoons butter ir margarine melted 2 pounds cream cheese
1 cup sugar 8 ounces sour cream 2 eggs 1 cup flour 3/4 cup
heavy whipping cream 2 cup in total chopped candied
cherries, red and green raisins, walnuts, candied pineapple
1/2 cup small chocolate chips
In a 5 quart mixing bowl place 2 pounds of cream cheese and
1 cup granulated sugar and mix on low speed until cream
cheese is softened and smooth, place in bowl 8 ounces sour
cream and continue mixing until well blended, at this time
add 2 eggs, mix for 2 minutes then add 1 cup flour, and 3/4
cup heavy whipping cream, mix on second speed until your
cheesecake batter is smooth and creamy. At this time your
cheesecake mixture should be fluffy like ice cream as it
comes out of the ice cream machine. Add the candied fruit,
raisins, walnuts, pineapple, chocolate chips, fold
everything together.
Prepair your 10 inch x 2 inches springform pan, in a large
bowl place your graham cracker crumbs and 2 tablespoons
sugar, and your melted butter or margarine, then with a wire
whisk, whisk them together until well combined, brush onto
the sides of your springform pan a little softened butter so
the crumbs have something to hold to, place the crumbs on
the sides and bottom of the pan. Now you add slowly to the
pan your cheesecake mix as not to disturb the crumbs too
much, now you should have a full pan. The total weight of
the cheesecake with the crumbs on the sides should be 5 to
5-1/4 pounds if you have some batter leftover just chill it,
put some whip cream on it and enjoy.
Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and not more, when your
oven is hot place the cheesecake in it and bake for 55
minutes then shut off the oven and let it in there for 3
hours, at the end of this time you should have the most
beautiful cheesecake you ever seen, let the cheesecake on
the table for 1 1/2 hours then place it in the refrigerator
for about 2-3 hours. Now remove it from the pan and enjoy.
Before serving sprinkle some red and green edible glitter
that you can purchase at any store that has cake decorating
supplies.
About the author: Andrew Krause is a Chef and Pastry Chef
for over 30 years, at persent I own a Gourmet Bakery called
The Cheese Confectioner. You can visit my site at
http://www.andies.cashhosters2.com
NOTE You are welcome to reprint this article online as long
as it remains complete and unaltered (including the about
the author info at the end), Please a send a copy of your
reprint to pastrie@verizon.net
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Holiday Baking
- The Easy Way
By: Arleen M. Kaptur, Mon Mar 27th, 2006
Baking to many of us is fun and form of therapy. Many
frustrations have been worked out kneading and pushing that
dough around. But to others, it may be difficult, or they
are not sure of themselves around cookies, cakes, breads,
rolls, etc. One quick-word of advice - just dive right in -
its fun, and the more you bake, the better you become at it.
With Chirstmas and get-togethers coming in bloom, sharing
baking can be a fun event. Early in the Seaon, family,
friends, neighbors, and offices and factories everywhere
should have a Cookie Exchange - its not a lot of work - in
fact, you only have to bake one kind of cookie - if there
are ten guests, you will have an assortment of ten delicious
treats to use for the Holidays. The more guests, the more of
an assortment. There will be a lot of laughter, and no one
will be counting calories. Ask each guest to bake one type
of Chrismas cookie - a family favorite, or one that they
found while surfing the net, or reading their favorite
magazine. They can be drop cookies, filled cookies, or
special ethnic treasures.
Your invitations should be small index-size bookets, with
several blank cards inside, tied together with a festive
ribbon. This way if your guests write out their recipes on -
say six to eight cards, depending on how many guests you are
inviting, everyone can get a recipe and keep it in their
booklet not only to check back when they want to bake, but
as a wonderful memento of a fun time.
If a lot of people are included in your cookie exchange,
then printing the recipes for everyone to cut and paste in
their booklets might just be a lot easier.
The decor for your party should be Holiday oriented, of
course, but with a slant toward baking. Garlands of scented
gingerpeople could hang from arches and doorways and a
centerpiece could include miniature baking utensils found in
toy stores. Tiny cake boxes, spoons, measuring cups, etc.
add a whimsical touch.
To serve your cookies, divide a large table into sections
with ribbons that have wooden spoons attached to the ends so
that the ribbons are weighted down and don't move as people
encircle the table. You could ask your guests to pre-package
their cookies in individual wrap so that everyone can take
just one - or in small packages as they see fit - just make
sure that there are enough of each type of cookie so
everyone gets to take some home.
Keep your menu simple and informal. You could provide
decorative canisters or paper bags that you have enhanced
with Holiday cheer for taking home all those goodies.
A cookie exchange is a wonderful way to get your Holiday
baking started - and you get a wonderful array of cookeis to
serve to your family and friends or just to munch on as you
sit by a fire or watch the snow fall and the cold winds
blow. ENJOY! Arleen M. Kaptur 2002 November
About the author: Arleen has written numerous books and
articles - subscribe to her Holiday newsletters at:
http://www.Arleens-RusticLiving.com
http://www.arleenssite.com
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Grandmas
Fruitcake
By: Andrew Krause, Fri Nov 25th, 2005
This is the recipe that my grandmother brought with her when
she and her family left Russia in the early 1900"s. As a
child around 1920's or so, while living on a farm in
Pennsylvania which at that time there were a great amount of
of people comming from europe, you needed to be able to do
for yourself, she learned from her mother how to make a most
delicious white fruit cake, a white fruitcake is a fruitcake
that does not have any molasses, molasses which is very
bitter, not having the molasses in the fruitacke gives it a
lighter color, this gives it the name white fruitcake.
This fruitcake in the days in which my mother lived as a
child with her parents this was only made during Christmas
because the only time you could get walnuts, cherries, and
some other ingrediance was in the fall of the the year,
remember now they didn't go to the store to buy what they
meeded, they had to grow them, raisins were dried by the
people themselves, they even had to shell their own walnuts,
and candy their own cherries,and such the pineapple and
coconut I do believe they must have purchased.
To keep with tradition the only time of the year that I make
or sell this fruitcake is during th Chrismas holidays, and
In my mind you cannot get a better fruitcake.
Here we go now gather up your ingrediance and set them on
your table, all ingrediance need to be at room temperature.
1 pound butter
12 eggs
1 pound sugar
1 pound flour all purpose
1 pound white raisins
1 pound walnut meats
1 pound red and green candied cherries
1 pound bakers flaked coconut
1 pound candies pineapple
1 tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
2 cups brandy--any brand
Soak the raisins, walnuts, cherries, coconut and pineapple
with 2 cups brandy overnight in a stainless steel bowl.
In a 5 quart mixing bowl cream butter and sugar, then add
eggs slowly, then add your flour and blend well, add the
bakingsoda and water and mix a minute more, add all other
ingrediance and mix until well blended.
Mow you are going to bake it in 2 pound pan, or in the pan
of your choice, foil or hard pan, line the pan with wax
paper or baking paper or better yet a pan liner the size of
the pan.
For 2 pound pan:
Place 1 pound 12 ounces of the mixture in the pan and level
it with a spoon, don't bang it on the table.
Bake it at 350 degreese for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes,
depends on your oven and how brown you want it. It's done
when a pick is placed in the center and it comes out clean.
Let it cool on a rack for a while and then sprinkle it with
1 ounce of brandy and then another ounce when it is cool and
then pack it away for about 3 days in your refrigerator and
then enjoy.
About the author: Andrew Krause is a Chef and Pastry Chef
for over 30 years, at persent I own a Gourmet Bakery called
The Cheese Confectioner. You can visit my site at
http://www.andies.cashhosters2.com
NOTE You are welcome to reprint this article online as long
as it remains complete and unaltered (including the about
the author info at the end), Please a send a copy of your
reprint to pastrie@verizon.net
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Planning a
Christmas dinner party
By: Rose Lenk, Thu Dec 22nd, 2005
Entertaining friends and family in your home during the
Chrismas holiday is one of the most popular activities of
the holiday season. Many people choose to host small,
informal gatherings in their home, while others plan
extravagant dinner parties which are destined to generate
more than one urban legend in the community in which they
are held.
While many of us do not aspire to such heights as those held
by the socialites in our community, we would still like to
host an unforgettable Chirstmas dinner party that will be
remembered fondly among our closest friends and family for
years to come.
If you are like me, and many are if they would just admit
it, the thought of all of the work and skill that goes into
throwing a successful dinner party leaves you a little weak
in the knees and wondering how in the world you are going to
pull it all off without a hitch.
But don't let the fear of juggling the tasks involved with
putting on a dinner party keep you from hosting the event
that your family and friends will talk about for a long time
into the future. It's really not that hard if you follow a
few simple steps and guidelines for putting on a successful
dinner party.
Here's how to plan the perfect Cristmas dinner party:
Make your list, check it twice, and invite, invite, invite.
The first thing you need to do when planning a dinner party
is to create your guest list. Keep in mind that not all
invited will attend. So, if you want to have 50 guests at
your party, you will have to invite quite a few more than
that. Send out invitations no less than three weeks in
advance so that people will have a chance to RSVP.
Plan to cook your own meal or plan for others to plan it for
you. If you are no Betty Crocker, admit it to yourself
before signing on to make a large homemade meal. Having
someone cater your dinner party or ordering takeout is
perfectly acceptable depending on what type of atmosphere
you want to create. Remember that buffets are informal and a
sit down dinner is more formal. I'm not saying that you are
not capable of cooking a large meal for your guests. If you
are and want to take on the work load of cooking for
multiple guests, then by all means do so. Just keep in mind
your limitations and time constraints. Doing so will save
you a great deal of headache in the end.
Menu planning. When planning your individual dishes to serve
at your Chirstmas dinner party, choose dishes that are both
delicious and easy to make. Choose recipes that can be made
ahead of time or that require just a little heating right
before the party to be finished. The last thing you want to
be doing during your dinner party is slaving over a hot
stove sequestered away from your guests. Another important
thing to remember when planning your menu is to never, ever
attempt to cook a recipe for the first time. Trust me.
Take inventory. Create a list of all of the supplies that
you will need to host your dinner party. Items may include
tables, chairs, service pieces, cutlery, plates,
candlesticks, decorations, table cloths, etc. Do not forget
your food items from your menu as well. Shop and Clean till
you drop. About a week before your dinner party, you should
take the time to do your party shopping and give your house
a thorough cleaning.
Cook and decorate. Cook and prepare as many foods as you can
ahead of time, preferable the day before the party. Save the
day of the party for setting up your tables and adding the
finishing touches to your d cor.
See, hosting a memorable Cristmas dinner party is not so
hard after all. In fact, I'm sure that you can do it. So,
get out there and start planning, and if at any time you
feel overwhelmed, simply hire a caterer.
About the author: By Rose Lenk
For more Christmas and holiday tips and articles visit me at
Cristmas Visions
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A
Reduced-Stress Holiday Dinner...Is It Even Possible?
By: Joe Johnson, Sun Feb 19th, 2006
Planning a Chirstmas holiday dinner or for that matter, any
large gathering really isn't as daunting as it may first
appear, especially when you realize that the more thought
and consideration you can give to the prep-work and the
meal, the easier it will be. The key is to do as much work
ahead of time as you can, so you and your guests can enjoy
yourselves the day of the party.
To help you create a reduced-stress dinner, here are some
great tips for making your next holiday function a memorable
and enjoyable time.
1. Decide how many guests you plan on inviting at least two
to three weeks beforehand. Basic fact - the more notice you
can give your guests, especially during the busy holiday
season, the more likely you will receive positive responses
to your invitations. Be sure to assess how much space you
have, both at the table and in your home when planning your
guest list.
2. If you want to invite more guests than your table will
seat, consider a buffet, using your dining table as the
serving area. For a buffet, make sure to divide all the food
into small portions and bring them to the table from a warm
oven as needed that way everything stays warm and tastes at
its best.
3. Compose your menu well ahead of time to give yourself
plenty of breathing room to obtain any obscure or difficult
to find ingredients. When thinking about how much to cook,
plan on each person eating one and a half to two pounds of
food.
4. Take your menu and put the different tasks and
preparation steps into a to-do list format. This will
prevent you from forgetting anything along the way, and will
also allow you to better time things.
5. Make your big list of non-perishable items and head to
the grocery store a week ahead. Most items, with the
exception of salad greens and some fruit, will keep for a
week, and you will miss the brunt of the last minute crowd.
For those items that won't keep, pick them up two days
before your dinner party. Because you did the bulk of your
shopping early, you will be able to pick up the few
perishable items you need and use the express checkout!
Don't worry about having too little food because most of
your guests will have eyes far larger than their stomachs.
Don't worry about overdoing it either - who doesn't love a
warmed leftover turkey on a Kaiser with seasoned mayonnaise
the next day!
6. If you are trying a new recipe, now is the time to test
it out. You don't want a recipe that isn't quite as tasty as
it sounded, or that doesn't quite cooperate like the
instructions said it should, to rear its ugly head the day
of your gathering.
7. To save yourself even more trouble, serve foods that
don't need to be cooked. Foods such as salad, crudit s,
stuffed jalapenos, dips, cheese and crackers, and fresh
fruit are always winners, and will save valuable oven and
counter space.
8. Clean out as much of the refrigerator as possible and
make for lots of shelf space about one week ahead. The more
free space you have in the fridge, the more you can fill it
with food prepared ahead of time, leaving you less to do the
day of your event.
9. Decorate your home two days ahead, and if your party
guests will be sitting at a table for dinner, get the table
ready. This will give you enough time to buy or borrow
things you may need. If you are having furniture brought in
for additional seating, get this done two days before as
well. You don't want to risk the delivery van not showing or
showing late when you have guests and dinner ready to go!
10. Peel and cut all vegetables two days before. Carrots and
potatoes can be stored in ice water in the fridge; onions,
celery and other vegetables must be kept dry and wrapped
well in plastic wrap or zipper seal bags.
11. Many baked items freeze quite well when tightly sealed
with plastic wrap. Prepare cookie dough and pre-bake cakes
in advance, wrap them tightly, and put them in the freezer.
Pre-bake your pies and wrap tightly in plastic wrap as well.
The morning of your party, pull out your cakes and decorate
as needed, allowing them to defrost throughout the day. Just
before you sit down for your holiday meal, place any pies or
cookies that need baking in the oven to bake or warm. Most
pre-cooked frozen pies will take about 45 minutes to warm
completely, which will usually have them ready just as your
guests are getting to dessert.
12. Make as many dishes the day before as you can. Start
prepping your meat of choice for the meal - start brining
your turkey or rub down your roast beef with your
dry rub. Seasoning your
meats (excluding seafood) with your favorite dry
rub the day before really
allows your rub to penetrate the meat and bring out the
flavors.
I hope these tips help you as much as I have found them to
have helped me over the years. There really is nothing like
feeling in control when hosting a dinner party, and not
having to worry about what is going to happen next!
Happy Holidays to all!
About the author: Joe Johnson is a founding partner with
Caroline's Rub - Fine Spice Creations,
where he is in charge of product promotion and development,
and where he serves as the executive chef.
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