Toasted Almond Bark

I have to admit, I am way behind on all things holiday. Until this week, putting up our Christmas tree was as far as I had gotten. Now that we're on break from our regular homeschooling routine, I'm huff'n to catch up. Enter, our favorite Christmas candy - Toasted Almond Bark.

This Christmas treat is a clear sign for our household that the holidays have arrived, and it's super easy to put together. Tons (and I mean tons) of toasted almonds get gently pressed into swirled dark and white chocolate. It still amazes me how something so simple and easy to make can be so gosh darn delicious!

Boston Baked Bean Brittle

Every holiday season I make a batch of nut brittle. Okay, okay, more like two or three. Hee, hee. It's one of our favorite sweet treats. I often opt for a mixed nut and cardamom version from Better Homes and Gardens. It's so delish. This year, I was inspired to do something a little bit different - think outside the box, if you will. So I went all Boston baked beans on my usual recipe.

Isn't the color of this Boston Baked Bean Brittle just gorgeous?

This recipe cooks up in the microwave. Make sure to use a microwave safe bowl and work quickly as the candy hardens within seconds.

You'll want to have all of the ingredients for this Boston Baked Bean Brittle measured out and ready to go.

You'll also want to measure out all of your ingredients and have them ready to go. The whole process will take about 8 minutes and you'll want everything to be on hand to dump and stir.

This Boston Baked Bean Brittle needs to be spread as thinly as possible.

Make sure to have your baking sheet already lined as well. You'll need to pour the brittle out onto your pan very quickly and spread as thinly as possible. Thick pieces are a no-go with this brittle. It needs to be very thin to avoid breaking anyone's teeth. Trust me. I had a few thick pieces in my batch. It was no bueno.

Boston Baked bean Brittle, you shard perfectly.

Once the brittle is cool and hard, break into shards by hand. Isn't the color just gorgeous?




Happy candy making, folks! See y'all next year! 😉 

Boston Baked Bean Brittle

INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups Boston baked beans
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon liner. Measure out all of your ingredients and have them ready to go.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the corn syrup and microwave on high for 3 minutes.
3. Stir and microwave another 3 minutes.
4. Add nuts and butter and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes more.
5. Quickly stir in the baking soda and vanilla and immediately pour out onto your prepared baking sheet making sure to spread as thinly as possible.
6. Allow to cool and harden. Then break into shards.

Christmas Slaw

I know what you're thinking. Cole slaw for Christmas? First of all, it's a little fancier than regular ol' cole slaw (not that I have anything against cole slaw - love the stuff!). Also, this slaw is gorgeous, delicious, and its brightness compliments all of those rich, meaty, cheesy, creamy holiday dishes typical of Christmas dinner. There, I've made my case.

This gorgeous Christmas Slaw is so bright and fresh and looks totally fab on any Christmas buffet table.

Just look at this beautiful dish. It's so pretty and festive. I've served this slaw at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, barbecues... you name it. I most often include it on my Christmas menu, which is why I've named it Christmas Slaw. Also, this side dish is super easy.

This delcious Christmas Slaw is full of festive colors.

This easy Christmas Slaw is crunchy and sweet and savory and nutty and oh so fresh. The toasted pecans, crumbled Gorgonzola, dried cranberries, and fresh green apple hit just the right note. And the colors are simply gorgeous - just perfect for your Christmas buffet table.

I prefer Brianna's poppy seed dressing for this Christmas Slaw.

Here's how easy it is. Throw all the goodies into a large bowl, take a few turns over the top with your pepper mill, drizzle in the dressing, and toss together. That's it!




I like to set it in the fridge for a couple of hours for the flavors to meld before I serve it.

P.S. People will ask you for the recipe.

Christmas Slaw

INGREDIENTS
1 cup pecans
1/2 large head of red cabbage, chopped relatively thin
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 large green apple, chopped small
1/2 to 1 cup poppy seed dressing (I like Brianna's)
fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes to toast. Cool and roughly chop.
3. Throw all your veggies and fixings into a large bowl.
4. Grind a little pepper over the top and then pour in 1/2 cup of dressing and toss.
5. Taste and add in more dressing until all of the goodies are well coated and you can taste the dressing in every bite.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate a couple of hours for flavors to meld.

* This recipe is easily doubled for a big crowd.

Easy Cranberry Spice Cake

This is a fabulous Christmas cake - and it is so fabulously easy, too.

These gorgeous sugared cranberries turn this Easy Cranberry Spice Cake into something special.

My Easy Cranberry Spice Cake starts out with a box of yellow cake mix. I know, I know. I'm all about the cake mix these days. We gotta keep things easy, right?

I baked this Easy Cranberry Spice Cake in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

I like to doctor my cake mix by adding an extra egg, subbing whole milk for the water, subbing melted butter for the oil, and then doubling the amount of butter. For this cake, I also added a bunch of fresh cranberries and some Chinese five spice (heck yeah!). I baked it up in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan to keep things easy.

I love 9 x 13 cakes. They are the easiest cakes ever. They aren't as glamorous as layer cakes or as cute as cupcakes, but they really are the easiest and they're just as yummy. You can totally bake this cake into a batch of pretty cupcakes if you are so inclined.




The sugared cranberries are also a breeze. I dump my cup of berries into a mixture of meringue powder and water, and then toss them into a dish of sugar. Then, they dry out on a piece of parchment paper. Dump, dump, and dry. So easy.

Aren't these luscious slices of Easy Cranberry Spice Cake tempting?

This lovely cake is very tender and moist. The flavor of the tart berries really pops in your mouth and pairs perfectly with that fabulous spice. And the sweet and fluffy Chinese five spice buttercream? Well, that stuff just sends the whole cake over to amazingly-delicious-ville!

I used Chinese five spice because that's what I had in my pantry. I've also made this cake with chai spice, which is also delicious. Look for these spice blends in the spice aisle.

Easy Cranberry Spice Cake - a festive, delicious, and easy Christmas cake to whip up this season.

I sprinkled the sugared cranberries all over the top of my cake so that each piece of cake would have some. There are far prettier ways to use these gorgeous berries for decorating your cake, but I like an even distribution for eating. 😋

Easy Cranberry Spice Cake

INGREDIENTS
For the sugared cranberries:
2 tsp meringue powder (I got mine at Michael's)
2 Tbsp water
1 cup fresh cranberries, rinsed and dried
1 cup granulated sugar

For the cake:
1 15.25 oz box yellow cake mix
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup unsalted butter, melted (2 sticks)
2 tsp Chinese five spice or chai spice
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

* These ingredients are based on a cake mix that calls for 3 eggs, 1 cup of water, and 1/2 cup of oil. I added an extra egg, subbed whole milk for the water, and subbed melted butter for the oil, and then doubled the amount of butter.

For the buttercream:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp Chinese five spice or chai spice
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 to 3 Tbsp whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. For the sugared cranberries, mix up the meringue powder and water and whisk until well combined.
2. Throw in your rinsed and dried cranberries and toss to coat.
3. Fill another dish with sugar and scoop the berries out of the meringue mixture. Drop them into the sugar, roll them all around, and set them on a piece of parchment paper to dry. They should be done in a couple of hours. They will feel crisp when you touch them.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish or pan.
5. Mix up your cake batter, except for the cranberries, and let it sit a few minutes on the counter.
6. Fold in the cranberries and dump into prepared pan. Spread evenly.
7. Bake the cake for the time recommended on your box and then cool completely.
8. For the buttercream, beat butter for 30 seconds and then beat in the powdered sugar, spice, and vanilla.
9. Beat in cream one tablespoon at a time until you have a nice spreadable consistency. I used 2 Tbsp. Beat on high for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
10. Frost your cake and decorate with the sugared cranberries.

Sparkling Christmas Sangria

I'm no mixologist, but I make a pretty mean Sparkling Christmas Sangria. It's time for a holiday partay y'all!





This recipe makes a big batch, but it can easily be halved for a party of four.




First, muddle slices of red apple, green apple, pear, and halved cranberries. Aren't the colors just gorgeous?

Mix in a bottle of red wine and a bottle of 100% cranberry juice. Cover and refrigerate overnight for the flavors to meld.




When you're ready to serve, mix in some spiced rum and some simple syrup to taste. The ratios I use are in the recipe below. I make my mixture a little sweeter than I like it so that it balances out when I add the club soda. If you don't like yours sparkling, mix in less simple syrup.

For a big party batch I mix up my preliminary wine mixture in a large plastic pitcher and then pour it into a pretty drink dispenser before adding in the simple syrup, rum, and club soda. For a half batch, I just use my favorite glass pitcher and everything fits nicely into it.

Merry Christmas folks!

Sparkling Christmas Sangria
(serves 10 to 12 people)

Ingredients
1 red apple, sliced
1 green apple, sliced
1 pear, sliced
1 cup cranberries, halved
1 bottle red wine
1 64 oz bottle 100% cranberry juice
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
6 oz spiced rum or to taste
1.5 liter bottle club soda or sparkling water, cold

DIRECTIONS
1. Dump fruit into a large pitcher and muddle, or smash up, with a wooden spoon.
2. Mix in the wine and cranberry juice, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
3. Make a simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small pot over medium low heat, stirring often, until sugar is completely dissolved. Pour into a sealable container and refrigerate overnight as well.
3. Pour sangria mixture into your drink dispenser along with the fruit.
4. Mix in the rum and about 8 oz of the simple syrup.
5. Pour the club soda down the side of the container to preserve as many bubbles as possible. Stir carefully.
6. Taste and add in more simple syrup and rum to taste.

* This recipe is easily halved for a smaller dinner party and should fit nicely into a pretty glass pitcher.

Eggnog Cream Pie

Boy did I have a ball baking up pies for the blog last month. And I have the waste line to prove it. Ha! Here's another holiday gem I just had to share with y'all - Eggnog Cream Pie!

Want guests to die in their pie? Serve them this gorgeous Eggnog Cream Pie!

This holiday pie has a gorgeous Christmas cookie crust, a rich and creamy eggnog pudding filling, and a fresh and luscious nutmeg & rum whipped cream. It's also topped with bright red maraschino cherries and adorable Christmas cookie sprinkles. Want guests to die in their pie (not literally, of course)? Make this one!

This fantabulous pie starts with a bag of store-bought red and green sprinkled Christmas cookies. Zap 'em in a food processor till you have fine crumbs.

The red and green flecks in this Eggnog Cream Pie crust are so pretty and so very Christmas-y.

Reserve a little bit of cookie crumbs for the top of your pie and mix the rest with melted butter. Press the mixture into your pie plate and bake for 8 minutes.

The red and green flecks in this pie crust are so pretty and so very Christmas-y. 

After your cookie crust has cooled, whisk together a box of vanilla pudding mix with full fat eggnog. Also very Christmas-y.



Pour into your crust and refrigerate while you make the whipped cream.

The beautiful whipped cream that tops this Eggnog Cream Pie is spiked with nutmeg and rum. It's quite delectable. Taste with caution as you may end up needing to make a whole new batch just for the pie.

Tada! The finished Eggnog Cream Pie.

Top the pie with puffs of whipped cream and sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Then, top each puff of cream with a maraschino cherry.

Ho, ho, ho! Me-rry Christmas!

Christmas cookie sprinkles and sweet cherries finish off this fantabulous Eggnog Cream Pie.

Eggnog Cream Pie
(makes 1 deep dish pie)

INGREDIENTS
9 oz bag red and green sprinkled Christmas cookies
5 Tbsp melted butter
5.1 oz box vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
2 1/2 cups full fat eggnog
2 cups whipping cream
1 Tbsp boxed vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
2 Tbsp spiced rum (optional, but preferable)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup powdered sugar
about 10 to 12 maraschino cherries

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Throw the whole bag of Christmas cookies in the food processor and zap until they're fine crumbs.
3. Set aside 2 Tbsp of crumbs and mix the rest with 5 Tbsp of melted butter. Press into pie plate and bake for 8 minutes. Cool completely.
4. Whisk together the box of vanilla pudding mix and the eggnog for 3 minutes until nice and thick. Pour into your cooled crust and refrigerate while you make the cream.
5. In the bowl of your stand mixer (I like to put my bowl and whisk in the fridge so they're nice and cold) pour in the cream, the Tbsp of vanilla instant pudding mix, the nutmeg, the rum, and the powdered sugar, and whip together until stiff peaks form.
6. Cut one corner of a Ziploc freezer bag a little smaller than your piping tip, insert tip, and fill with whipped cream.
7. Pipe puffs of cream all around your pie, sprinkle the puffs with the reserved cookie crumbs, and top each one with a maraschino cherry.
8. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Pipe all the leftover whipped cream into a pretty dish and serve alongside your pie.

* You can also just pile all of the whipped cream on top of your pie all at once like a traditional cream pie.

Paper Poinsettia Ornaments

The boys and I have Christmas fever. We can barely focus on our school work these days. Luckily, I had planned out this Christmas ornament craft ahead of time. We make homemade Christmas tree ornaments every year - usually out of scrapbook paper. This year we're making these gorgeous Paper Poinsettia Ornaments, both for our tree and to give away as gifts. The boys are so excited to give them out, and working on them a little each day is scratching that Christmas itch - along with copious amounts of Christmas music and the eating of many a Christmas cookie. 😊

Our Paper Poinsettia Ornaments turned out fabulous!

We mixed and matched different shades and patterns of red paper to really make the ornaments pop.




Here's what you'll need:
several sheets of various red colored and patterned paper (one scrapbook sized page will make about 2 flowers)
a printer
a pencil for tracing (see note below template)
sissors
a glue stick
red and/or yellow pipe cleaners (1 per flower)
red curling or mylar ribbon (6 to 8 inches per flower)
glue gun (optional)

Start by printing and cutting the template below. Trace the cutouts onto the back of your pretty red paper and cut 'em all out. Each poinsettia will require 6 large petals, 5 to 6 small petals, and one circular base.

For each petal, cut an inch up from the bottom, put a generous amount of glue on the back of one end and glue it over the other end to create a pucker at the bottom. Hold that pucker closed for several seconds to secure while also bending the petal back at the middle. Poinsettias are an open flower and you'll want the petals to tilt out instead of in. Allow the petals to dry.




To the base, glue a six inch piece of curling ribbon to make a loop for hanging. Let dry.

If you have smaller children, you'll want to do this preliminary glue prep for the petals and bases beforehand. It's a little tedious.




To prep the center of the flower, cut a pipe cleaner in half and then in half again to get 4 equal pieces. Curl in the ends of each piece. Then, twist all four pieces together at the middle and separate out the little tendrils.




To put the flowers together (this is the fun part), glue the large petals, one at a time, onto the ribbon side of the base overlapping them a little as you go.




Now glue the smaller petals in the center, also, overlapping them a little as you go.




Glue a pipe cleaner center smack dab in the middle. This is where you may want to use a glue gun if you have one. Pipe cleaners need a lot of glue to stay secure.

These paper Poinsettia Ornaments turned our little fake Christmas tree (we call it our "humble" tree) into something spectacular. Aren't they just gorgeous on the tree?

Here's that template:




Note: If you're using 8 1/2 x 11 inch colored paper, you can load the paper right into your printer, making sure to print the template on the back side, and then cut out the petals for use. No tracing! If you're using scrapbook sized paper, you'll need to print out the template (card stock is best) and cut out 1 large petal, 1 small petal, and the base to use for tracing.

Happy Christmas crafting!