Yes, that spread does look very good. I hope it all got gobbled up. Christmas punch looks very yummy!!
That border is simply ingenious! Auntie, you have a husband who bakes cookies?! May I have a clone? Pleeeeze? No Christmas tree up yet, only an ivy garland with a few small ornaments woven through the bannister and a few stars stuck to the windows. In Bavaria, we traditionally put the tree up on the 24th in the afternoon. Secretly. No kids allowed, keyhole stuffed and curtains drawn. The kids are supposed to think that the Christchild brings the decorated tree and the presents. In the evening after supper a bell is rung and then everyone may go into the Christmas room. They sing christmas carols and get their presents =) Handing out the presents on the 24th in the evening is less troublesome: the kids play with their new toys till they drop into their beds and are so exhausted that for once the parents get a chance to sleep long. We think it's a better strategy than handing out the presents on the morning of the 25th and risking that the children throw their parents out of bed at 3 am We keep the tree till Feb 2nd (candlemas), btw I'll take pics. Mom wants a red and gold colour scheme this year.
Nice trees both this year and last, RAMA. Looks like a big one, and a classy selection of garlands and ornaments.
Well, he's very OCD, so you may want to rethink that. But he's also a very good baker. His mother can't/couldn't cook for CRAP, so he learned to bake the things he wanted. On our first official date, he didn't bring me flowers; me brought me a dozen, homemade chocolate chip cookies. Our house sitter/cat sitter asks only to be paid in cookies. 3 days of feeding the cat and getting the mail = a dozen snickerdoodles. When he tries out a new recipe, we sit and test-taste them and talk about it like it's a wine tasting. "It's a full-bodied aroma but it's disappointing that the texture seems to be lacking the depth of the previous batch."
^Nice My dad worked a bit on a recipe for a few years -eventually making what we now call "dad's cookies" - real butter, decent dark chocolate and chopped hazel-nuts being 'the secret'. One of his childhood-friends, a professional pastry-chef, eventually "stole" the recipe and produced loads, naming them after my dad These days I don't think I know anyone that doesn't make those cookies this time of year
I am debating with myself if I should make a White Christmas or not this Christmas and I was wondering if this is an Australian/NZ food or whether it is eaten elsewhere. Its main ingredients are Rice Bubbles, desicated coconut, glazed cherries, copha, mixed fruit etc - some photos here
Our bookcase topped with some of our Star Trek favorites: Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like Picard in a Borg alcove... And of course, the Spock shuttlecraft with greeting is an all-time classic.
It is beyond disgusting. Can't you just feel it coating your arteries? A friend of mine once made two 4 litre ice cream containers of white xmas squares to bring for xmas day and it was 38 degrees and they all melted in the car and it was just buckets of rice bubbles coated in white stuff. Also I seem to recall they don't really have copha in the US. Maybe it is called something else.
I don't eat it myself, far too sweet, but one of my sons has especially asked for it. His ex-girlfriend's family has it every Christmas. Maybe I might buy the ingredients and tell him if he wants it he has to make it himself.
It looks very much like Turkish Delight (what the French call Nougat). Yummy stuff! Your hubby sounds adorable! I'm experimenting, too, atm: my mom vaguely remembers a special kind of lemon cookies from her childhood which she loved but never learned how to make. I'm trying to restore the recipe, based on her description. So far I came up with a few quite good cookies but not exactly what she remembers. Gotta ask my uncle if he recalls the cookies. With more information my chances are better to get the recipe right.
Thanks, I made them myself. Although, The Tribbles are to be worried more about. The tree is full of them.
At least they're not little Mogwai. All the bright, twinkling lights would fill your house with another type of squeaking, hungry furball in no time.
It's the copha I find so repulsive. If I made it I would fill it with mini marshmallows and raspberry jellies.. BUT it would still disgust me because of the copha. I think it is pretty easy to make though, and would be fun to do because you can put anything in it. Looks like I was right about copha.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copha "It is 100% fat, at least 98% of which is saturated." "It is popular in Australia.." "In the United States it is not easily available."