holiday treats!

Are you making anything fun/tasty/special this season?

We are doing a few special treats. I was very glad to have an experiment work out well.
I made 100 year old rum balls! We had bought an antique bottle of rum (cheap, even for just the bottle) at an auction this spring.  It looked to still be sealed but we couldn't be sure until we opened it. As it turned out, it was in perfect condition, but 90 proof!
To make the balls I used: Marie biscuits,  coconut, cashews and some dulce de leche along with the rum. It had to sit for a few days but once it melded together and I got a coating of dark chocolate on them, we have delicious, rich little rum truffles.  
There aren't many but we'll share some and savor the rest.

I haven't made or given anything yet (most of that happens after Christmas, sometimes after New Year's), but I'm going to do flavored salts/ spice blends/ mixes.  I have some flavored vinegars and homemade condiments for my aunt, who appreciates my more gourmet/ artisan (read: weird) creations.

My husband decided to try making peppermint bark, but, the stubborn creature that he is, didn't use a recipe.  I've told him that he does fine without a recipe after having made something with one for the first go 'round.  Anyways it didn't work.  Maybe he'll try again in future.  He's a great cook, just stubborn about wanting to make new dishes without  a recipe because he thinks he knows how they should go.

This year I made both chocolate walnut bark and walnut pralines.

Unfortunately both did not last long enough to share.

i made a batch of my maple-acorn-spicebush cookies (with black walnuts on top) for a solstice get-together, but will probably need to make another batch shortly. and at least another couple kinds of cookie. i may make dough for chocolate pinwheels today, at the very least.

I have made two types of cookies. The first batch is a long term favorite of both my son and I - Oatmeal shortbread. They were very popular with two of the attendees of the Solstice Dinner at my friend L's house.

I decided to make a double batch of Tahini shortbread because I was pretty sure it was popular a couple of years ago when a different friend gave me the recipe. At least I knew that *I* liked it, and I could always freeze any extras if they weren't popular.

The day I mixed the dough, I ran out of time to cool, cut and cook as I was also off to visit L. So I took 1 roll of the dough, sliced it onto a cookie sheet at her house, and put them in the oven when dinner came out. She adored them! (so much I've marked that on the paper copy of the recipe!)

So when I showed up at the Solstice Dinner with a small quantity of them to add to the desert platter, she refused to share them! She insisted that despite the season, the Tahini ones were *all* for her!!!

Obviously, I need to take her more! Good thing I made a double batch. Hubby likes them too!

The lesson: Sometimes, simple is just as well-loved, or maybe more loved, than fancy and complicated!

Jay Angler wrote:So when I showed up at the Solstice Dinner with a small quantity of them to add to the desert platter, she refused to share them! She insisted that despite the season, the Tahini ones were *all* for her!!!

Ooh! Can you share the recipe with us Jay? Maybe on the tahini recipe thread.

Another thing done. Mince tarts with homemade green tomato mincemeat.
Dad loves them, so I made the mince for him but both my mother and myself were surprised to discover that we like the homemade stuff! Only mincemeat we'll eat!
They will be served with some hard sauce.

I made molasses cookies. We still have family coming in on Monday, to visit for almost a week. I might make more of those, plus buttermilk drops, fudge, & egg nog.

As an Christmas gift we received a platter of cookies.  four different kinds, Chocolate Chip, Red Velvet and two others ...