Your Favorite Holiday Goodies!
- Thread starter Queen_Dopplepopolis
- Start date
Wombat
First Post
Massive nostalgia by way of ofrendas
I love the holidays. Growing up we tended to do a lot of scrimping and saving, but then the period between Hallowe'en and New Year's Day was blowout city.
One Hallowe'en treat I always remember with fondness was my mother's owl cookies. Make two batches of sugar cookie dough, one plain, the other with cocoa powder. Form the plain dough into a tube; wrap the chocolate dough around this tube. Cut off circles. Put two circles side by side and pinch together slightly. Pinch a bit of the chocolate dough at the top to form "ears". Put a butterscotch chip in the middle of each plain circle. Put a whole cashew at the bottom for a beak. Voila! Owls!
Thanksgiving was pumpkin pie by the overflow method, chestnut stuffing, duchess potatoes, and enough peas to make even me happy. Oh, and some more pumpkin pie -- sometimes even some left over for the next day so we could have it really cold
But Christmas was my father's territory.
Every year my dad baked for Christmas. That baking would traditionally start in September when he prepared the fruitcake. This is a old family recipe we called "Black Bread Fruitcake". When it came out of the over it was a desert tan colour, but then it was put into cheesecloth and doused in brandy. A week later it was turned and doused again. And again. And again. By Christmas it was finally ready -- do not leave open flames near the thing or it will explode!
But most importantly my father baked cookies. Quite literally he baked hundreds of dozens of them. Liebkuechen, speculatius, apricot-brazil nut rounds, scotch reels, chocolate almond shells, gingerbread, colonial gingerbread (a recipe he found in Williamsburg), spritz in infinite varieties, bon bon cookies, orange shortbread stars, Scottish shortbread, Dutch Butter Slices, and on and on and on. One year he bought a second freezer just to fill with cookies!
As a kid, things like Oreos were exotic treats; we would eat these cookies from St. Nicholas Day straight through to March (sometimes April), even after giving them away by the overflow method. Mountains of cookies churned out from his stalwart Kitchen Aid mixer and his marble slab.
I miss those cookies. I miss my dad.
I love the holidays. Growing up we tended to do a lot of scrimping and saving, but then the period between Hallowe'en and New Year's Day was blowout city.
One Hallowe'en treat I always remember with fondness was my mother's owl cookies. Make two batches of sugar cookie dough, one plain, the other with cocoa powder. Form the plain dough into a tube; wrap the chocolate dough around this tube. Cut off circles. Put two circles side by side and pinch together slightly. Pinch a bit of the chocolate dough at the top to form "ears". Put a butterscotch chip in the middle of each plain circle. Put a whole cashew at the bottom for a beak. Voila! Owls!
Thanksgiving was pumpkin pie by the overflow method, chestnut stuffing, duchess potatoes, and enough peas to make even me happy. Oh, and some more pumpkin pie -- sometimes even some left over for the next day so we could have it really cold
But Christmas was my father's territory.
Every year my dad baked for Christmas. That baking would traditionally start in September when he prepared the fruitcake. This is a old family recipe we called "Black Bread Fruitcake". When it came out of the over it was a desert tan colour, but then it was put into cheesecloth and doused in brandy. A week later it was turned and doused again. And again. And again. By Christmas it was finally ready -- do not leave open flames near the thing or it will explode!
But most importantly my father baked cookies. Quite literally he baked hundreds of dozens of them. Liebkuechen, speculatius, apricot-brazil nut rounds, scotch reels, chocolate almond shells, gingerbread, colonial gingerbread (a recipe he found in Williamsburg), spritz in infinite varieties, bon bon cookies, orange shortbread stars, Scottish shortbread, Dutch Butter Slices, and on and on and on. One year he bought a second freezer just to fill with cookies!
As a kid, things like Oreos were exotic treats; we would eat these cookies from St. Nicholas Day straight through to March (sometimes April), even after giving them away by the overflow method. Mountains of cookies churned out from his stalwart Kitchen Aid mixer and his marble slab.
I miss those cookies. I miss my dad.
Queen_Dopplepopolis
First Post
Once it officially drops below freezing, I do love a large cup of hot cocoa with peppermint schnapps. Mmmm.
Queen_Dopplepopolis
First Post
Oh! Eggnog! This reminds me of McDonald's Eggnog Shakes. DELICIOUS!JimAde said:
Katcracker
First Post
Sorry started to ramble... 
Halloween means peeled grapes and basic party food made to look sppoooooooky. Cupcakes with witches drawn on them, Cookies shapped like ghosts, candy laid out to be a spider, etc.
Thanksgiving means Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Patato Pie, and Turkey.
December means my Father-in-laws knock you out with the alcohol egg nog, spiced apple cider, eclairs and cobblers of every sort!
New Years day means Bloody Mary's to knock the hangover
I should mention that no matter the house we are in for these occations, nothing can be pre-made. It makes for a great time with everyone crowded into small kitchens scrambling to work together. We've had some horrible mishaps due to this, but it just makes for a good laugh later on. It's not my fault no one told me the skin of the pumpkin wouldn't be good to use as extra decoration to top the pie!
The drinks get made in huge batches (lobster pots for hot drinks and gallon milk jugs for cold drinks) and when it gets low the shout is made and more is stirred up
I hate being far from all the family, but it is these memories good and bad that make the push to get whereever they are that much more worth it, even if just for a day of the chaos.
Halloween means peeled grapes and basic party food made to look sppoooooooky. Cupcakes with witches drawn on them, Cookies shapped like ghosts, candy laid out to be a spider, etc.
Thanksgiving means Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Patato Pie, and Turkey.
December means my Father-in-laws knock you out with the alcohol egg nog, spiced apple cider, eclairs and cobblers of every sort!
New Years day means Bloody Mary's to knock the hangover
I should mention that no matter the house we are in for these occations, nothing can be pre-made. It makes for a great time with everyone crowded into small kitchens scrambling to work together. We've had some horrible mishaps due to this, but it just makes for a good laugh later on. It's not my fault no one told me the skin of the pumpkin wouldn't be good to use as extra decoration to top the pie!
The drinks get made in huge batches (lobster pots for hot drinks and gallon milk jugs for cold drinks) and when it gets low the shout is made and more is stirred up
I hate being far from all the family, but it is these memories good and bad that make the push to get whereever they are that much more worth it, even if just for a day of the chaos.
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
Halloween just means candy for me, no special treats I can think of.
Thanksgiving means my mother's cranberry-orange relish, my grandmother's (now mine since she passed away) cauliflower casserole, and my mother-in-law's french apple pie.
Christmas means Sugartwist cookies and my mother's Christmas pie.
Suddenly I'm craving something sweet.
Thanksgiving means my mother's cranberry-orange relish, my grandmother's (now mine since she passed away) cauliflower casserole, and my mother-in-law's french apple pie.
Christmas means Sugartwist cookies and my mother's Christmas pie.
Suddenly I'm craving something sweet.
