christmas potpourri

 

Every year the Youngs bring us a pretty cellophane bag filled with fresh Christmas potpourri.  I put it into the refrigerator and decided to bring it out this morning so we could enjoy it during home church.  This will be last year we'll be delivered such a sweet gift because we are moving in 2021. 

christmas potpourri (my friend Mandy)

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 tablespoon whole cloves

2 bay leaves

2-4 cinnamon sticks

1/3 cup cranberries

Combine ingredients in a small pot on the stove.  Cover with water.  Heat on a low simmer.  Enjoy as long as it smells good.

easter dinner- raclette

Happy Easter!  I couldn't imagine an Easter dinner without raclette.  I loved having raclette with my grandparents all growing up.  It was such a special treat and is still a special treat. 
My grandparents learned about raclette when my grandparents served 3 out of their 5 temple missions there.  I was fortunate to visit Switzerland twice while they were on their missions.  Once as a 4 year old and again when I was 24.  I love Switzerland!  What a gorgeous, clean, outstanding country.  I hope I am fortunate to go again someday.  My great, great grandfather was 100% Swiss, by the way.  Although I can probably claim every European country I love to claim my Swiss heritage.  Moving on...

Look at the amazing colors of vegetables and meats we'll be eating this afternoon!  Raclette cheese is sometimes hard to find so I was grateful that Trader Joes had some in stock a few weeks back.  If you've never had raclette here's what you do:  First of all, purchase a raclette machine at Amazon.com.  I've been buying them as Christmas gifts for the past few years for family members because gift giving can be so perplexing.  So far everyone has loved theirs.

The top rack is for grilling meats and veggies.  The little trays are for melting trays.
You make sure you have some cooked red potatoes.  You squash your red potatoes on your plate and top with melty cheese, grilled meats and veggies.  My grandparents always offered Mexi-corn and pimientos.  Some like to enjoy their raclette with crusty bread.  You can't go wrong!  Last year we made it and added mushrooms.  I wish I hadn't forgotten the mushrooms this year.

hoppy easter cake

My twelve-year old "beehive" in Young Women's went to mutual last night and made this adorable bunny cake and brought it home.  Previously, she had asked if we could have carrot cake on Easter while our bunny Berkeley munches on carrots but now we certainly don't need another cake- this one takes the cake! :)
Happy Easter weekend!

hoppy easter cake
You'll need two round cakes, baked.  One cake is the face.  The other is the ears and bow tie.
icing
coconut
misc. candy
 

italian meatloaf cupcakes

I'd seen these all over the internet and wanted to make them for April Fool's Day.  I used my favorite Italian meatloaf recipe and they were quite tasty!  As I piped the potatoes onto the base my son said I was using quite a lot of icing.  When we sat down to dinner one of my daughters toasted two slices of toast- she said she thought cupcakes for dinner sounded weird.  She ended up eating one.

italian meatloaf cupcakes
meatloaf:
2 pounds extra lean ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

mashed potatoes (homemade or store bought- great use for leftover mashed potatoes!)
gravy (I used leftover gravy from when we had a roast earlier in the week)
bacon bits


Prepare muffin cups by lining each one with a square of foil.  Lightly spray each cup of foil with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, tomato sauce and  oregano.  Make sure the ingredients are mixed well.  Use a round 1/3 cup scoop to scoop up the meat mixture and put one into each cup.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  
Warm some mashed potatoes and put them into a sturdy zip-lock bag.  Force the potatoes into one corner.  Snip the corner like a pastry bag and pipe the potatoes onto the "cupcake".  Sprinkle some bacon bits on top and drizzle with gravy.

flower pretzel bites

The cutest one-year old human baby showed up on our doorstep dressed as a baby chick to deliver these Easter treats to us.  CUTEST THING EVER!  These treats are super spring-like and super addictive I might add. 

flower pretzel bites (Barlow family)
I'd never seen them before but you can find the recipe all over the internet-
Go HERE
or HERE
or HERE

"love"ly fruit salad

I love Valentine's Day.  What's not to love?  A day to show your love to others.  Fun!!  My friend Shonda made this "love"ly fruit salad to go with our dinner.  All the fruit was cut into hearts!  The fruit was so ripe and sweet and a delicious addition to our meal.  She also made individual heart pies which stole my heart because I knew how much time she must've put into them.

"love"ly fruit salad (my friend Shonda)
strawberries
pineapple 
cantaloupe

She had her girls cut the fruit into heart shapes.  I don't know how she did it but it was beautiful and delicious.  I'm sure there's a YouTube video out there somewhere with a tutorial. :)

ward party- dessert waffle bar

Primary was in charge of food for our ward's Christmas party.  We anticipated serving 200 people which we came very close to doing.  Being in charge of food is always tricky- will we have enough food?  Will it meet expectations?  Will the event be beautiful and festive?  Can we stay within our budget??!  We decided on a dessert waffle bar.  Waffles were cooked in the kitchen and on the buffet line.  Luckily they we had a bunch made in the kitchen because we blew 2 circuits in the cultural hall. :)  We served waffles with vanilla ice cream, homemade hot fudge, homemade caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, mini chocolate chips, toasted coconut, crushed peppermint sticks, holiday sprinkles and whipped cream.  We had bottled water for beverages.  The decorations on the buffet line were simple- a rectangular plastic tablecloth, a string of white lights over the top then tulle over the lights.  I really liked the effect (before our short circuit, ha ha).  For the serving dishes I bought glass bowls and glass candlesticks at the dollar store and my husband epoxy glued them together.  There was a lot of interest in those! I really wanted the food to be simple and elegant and I think it worked out in the end.  For invitations, paper goods, 200 gold place mats, 9 plastic tablecloths for the buffet tables, extention cords, scrapbook paper to cover the whipped cream canisters, all the food and ice it cost about $450.  Relief Society spent about $35 on table decorations.  They were creative in their decorations and much of it was homemade.  Here are some pics before the event:

dirt dessert, Christmas style

We love Christmas around here and got a head start this year when one of my kids wanted to celebrate Christmas for her birthday.  She wanted dirt dessert and said we should put some trees in the dirt so we came up with these edible trees made out of waffle cones, icing and candy "ornaments".  I thought we were pretty darn clever. :)

dirt dessert
our dirt dessert recipe is HERE. 

birdseed wreath

You can imagine how excited I was when my kids went to my friend Shonda's house to play on Christmas Eve and got to make one of these darling birdseed wreaths and bring it home with them.  I LOVE it!  It's supposed to be hung outside but not where it is too wet which is tricky in the Pacific Northwest so this will be its home until the rain settles down...around the 4th of July. :)  I look forward to finding the perfect tree, and there are plenty to choose from!

birdseed wreath  (Infarrantly Creative)
4 cups of wild bird seed
1/2 cup warm water
1 envelope Knox gelatin
3/4 cup flour
bundt pan (Shonda used a disposable tin cake pan and put a plastic cup in the center for the hole)
nonstick spray
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
ribbon

Spray bundt pan with nonstick spray (or make your own like Shonda did).
Mix knox gelatin with 1/2 cup warm water and whisk until mixed.  Whisk in the flour and corn syrup.
Add the bird seed and stir coating the seed well with a wooden spoon.  Then pour it into your greased bundt pan.  Press it tightly with the back of a wooden spoon into the bundt pan.  Use wet hands to press it more if need be.  Let it dry overnight.  Once completely hardened it will come right out of the pan.  Tie a bow and hang in an area that won't be exposed to the rain.

sparkly sugared cranberries

This photo doesn't do these sparkly sugared cranberries justice.  That's because I didn't want to make a scene photographing these at my friend Julie's party.  She hosted an amazing party in her amazingly decorated home.  Every square inch of her home screamed Christmas and in a beautiful way.  Our friend Nicole brought these and they are so pretty.  The perfect addition to any holiday party.  And delicious too!
P.S.  Don't feel bad if you weren't invited to the party.  There were two qualifications: Your spouse had to work with our husbands and have a church connection.

sparkly sugared cranberries (Nicole W. got the recipe from Our Best Bites)
12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
additional sugar for rolling
note: You can use regular granulated sugar for this recipe but Best Bites suggests first rolling in a slightly course sugar then rolling in regular granulated sugar that has been pulsed several times in a food processor to create a slightly finer sugar.

Wash cranberries and discard any damaged ones.  Place in a bowl.  Combine sugar and water in a pot and heat until simmering.  Stir until sugar is dissolved and let cool for a few minutes until warm (not hot).  Pour over cranberries and let sit in fridge, covered, overnight.
Use a slotted spoon to remove berries from syrup.  Set berries on a cooling rack that is placed over foil to collect drips.  Spread berries out so they are not touching each other.  Let dry for 1 hour.  Roll berries a handful at a time in sugar.  Place sugared berries on a baking sheet and let dry for an hour or two.  Store in a container at room temperature.  Try not to stack them too deep if possible.

eggnog fudge

I've made all kinds of fudge- chocolate, rocky road, peanut butter, pumpkin but I hadn't heard of eggnog fudge until my friend Rachel mentioned she had made it.  I knew I was in for a real treat with this one.  I can't wait until my husband tries it- he loves eggnog.  Terrific recipe.

eggnog fudge (Brown Eyed Baker)
2 cups  granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup eggnog
pinch of salt
12 ounces white chocolate chips (I used Guittard)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg plus more for dusting the top of the fudge
7 ounce jar of marshmallow creme
1 teaspoon rum extract

Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and let it hang over the side.  Spray lightly with cooking spray; set aside.
In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, eggnog and salt over medium heat.  Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Continue boiling 8 to 10 minutes, until a candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F, stirring constantly to prevent scorching.  Remove from heat.
Using a wooden spoon, work quickly to stir in white chocolate chips and nutmeg until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Stir in marshmallow creme and rum extract.  Beat until well blended and then pour into prepared pan.  Sprinkle a little ground nutmeg on top.  Let stand at room temperature until cooled, then refrigerate overnight until firm.
When completely cool, cut into squares.  Store in a covered container in the refrigerator or better yet share with all your friends!

apple & gumdrop turkey

My kids had a play date yesterday afternoon so we made these fun apple turkeys.  I considered using all fruit but what's the fun in that?!

apple & gumdrop turkeys
to make one:
1 apple
6 toothpicks
15 gumdrops
1 sugar gummy orange slice

Just look at the picture and take a stab at it. ;) 

 

sugar "glue"

Every Christmas season we like to decorate with candy whether it's sugar cone trees, sugar cookies, gingerbread men or houses.  Then we have the tradition of eating the sugary decorations on New Year's Eve...the kids go wild as I watch with a big grin and camera in hand.  My oh my how my kids love candy!  For future reference, I thought I should jot down how to adhere sugar cones to the paper plates (it also works for gingerbread houses).

sugar "glue"
Simply pour any amount of sugar into a pot and cook over medium heat until the sugar melts completely.  Turn the stove off.  Dip the top of the sugar cone into the melted sugar then place on the paper plate.  It dries in minutes.  Once it's on, it's on!

What I have to say-  I used about 3/4 cup sugar to secure about 72 sugar cones this year and had leftover.  I also need to say that when you have used all the sugar glue, rinse it out of your pot right away or it will harden and you'll have to soak your pot overnight to get it out.  I have experience here. : )

candy corn popcorn balls

My kids went to their friends' house for lunch bunch and were introduced to these little goodies that my friend Julie made.  My kids LOVED these.  I had to take a little nibble and was delighted that they were made with marshmallow (I cannot eat a plain uncooked marshmallow but there's something about melted or burnt marshmallow-they're delicious!).  I need to make these for my activity day girls.

candy corn popcorn balls (Julie B.)
2 bags light microwave popcorn or 1 batch air popped
1 bag mini marshmallows
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
candy corns

Pop corn.  Melt butter in microwave.  Add bag of marshmallows and heat until you can stir it all together easily.  Add vanilla.   Pour over popcorn and stir.  Add candy corn.  Put cold water on your hands and form balls.  Press hard or they'll fall apart.

christmas mouse cookie

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house...  Isn't he cute?  He was innocently sitting on a huge platter full of delicious cookies so my husband brought him home. 

christmas mouse cookie (someone my husband works with)
oreo cookie
chocolate dipped cherry
Hershey's kiss
sliced almonds
melted chocolate for glue
icing for holly decorations
edible pearls

cranberry honey butter

This Christmas I've been making various treats to give to friends and neighbors.  Tomorrow when I host gourmet club, my gourmet club friends are each getting a container of cranberry honey butter.  When I saw this recipe it looked delicious so I had to give it a whirl.  I will drizzle a little more honey over the top of each container of butter.  It will be delicious over warm buttermilk biscuits or pancakes.

cranberry honey butter (Taste of Home, November 2012)
1 cup softened butter
1/3 cup finely chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Beat all ingredients.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Makes 24 servings.

nauvoo gingerbread cookies

I just experienced "Christmas" at Disneyland for the first time.  It was splendid.  Now I'm ready for more and more and more Christmas. There really can't ever be too much Christmas.  I made these little men for Activity Days this week where they will be adorned with more icing than there is cookie...at least that's my prediction.  These are the best gingerbread cookies I've  made yet.

nauvoo gingerbread men (allrecipes.com)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup molasses
3/4 cup lard
1/2 cup hot water
2 eggs
6 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, lard and hot water until smooth.  Stir in eggs.  Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger; stir into the batter to make a soft dough.  Add more flour if needed.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface.  Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters.  Place cookies onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies appear dry in the center.
okies appear dry in the center.

acorn cookies

spooktacular halloween treat plate

You'll have to agree with me that this is the cutest Halloween treat plate you've ever seen!  My friend Joyce brought it over with a container of fresh apple cider that she and her family pressed themselves.  My kids and I sat and stared at these cookies for quite a while and studied them closely. We even waited for my husband to come home and see them before everyone got to choose one thing to eat.  I almost couldn't let anyone eat the spider because he was soooo cute.  Take a look at the photos below so you can recreate them yourself!  Happy Halloween!

 

ressurection rolls

Every year I try to make Easter a bit more special for my family.  This year we added making Resurrection Rolls to our activities and made them together for dessert.  It was a nice time to be together and talk about the symbolism of this treat.  Like I said, they were very enjoyable to make and everyone in our family loved them.  As I've mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of marshmallow and I did not try one but everyone said they could not taste the marshmallow at all.  It truly disappeared!

Here is the symbolism:
marshmallow- body of Jesus
melted butter- oils of embalming
cinnamon and sugar mix- spices used to annoint the body
crescent roll- the wrapping of Jesus' body
oven- tomb
cavity in bun- the empty tomb

ressurection rolls (I used a combination of this blog and this blog)
1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent rolls
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 large marshmallows, cut in half
14 cup butter, melted

Separate rolls into 8 triangles.  Combine sugar and cinnamon.  Dip each marshmallow into butter, roll in cinnamon and sugar and place on a triangle.  Pinch dough around marshmallow, sealing all edges.  Make sure to seal well or the marshmallow will escape.
Dip tops of dough into remaining cinnamon and sugar.  Place with sugar side up in a paper liner in muffin cups.  
Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.  Serve warm.