hooray for the holidays

merry christmas

happy hanukkah

happy winter solstice

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

xo

♥

photographer: Tom        stylist: Tamara        model: Mel

still baking...

I've been in the kitchen for most of the day today.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I love to bake and had so many ideas for the cookie swap, that I had to just keep baking knowing I still had people I wanted to gift some home baked goodies to and also have places to bring my goodies to this weekend for Christmas!  I started with a dough that needed to chill so it could sit in the fridge for a few hours while I worked on other goods...the Linzer Tart.  My husband claims his mom made this cookie when he was young and I asked my mother in law for her recipe, unfortunately it is one of those recipes that comes without any measurements.  I decided I will wait for her to come over and watch her make them so I can create a recipe to work from.  For this batch, I found a recipe on the internet that seemed tasty and followed that.  I did however use the "infamous" grape jam my husband grew up with in place of raspberry the folks at Epicurious suggested.  I will caution you, this dough is very delicate, but if you have experience with rolled/cut cookies, you should be good.

linzer dough rolled out & cut

making the "sandwiches"!

finishing touches...sprinkle with confectioners sugar

The next two cookies I made were from the 2010 Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies Special Issue.  I love these special issues and never throw them away.  They always have so many good ideas!  The first one is an Italian cookie called Ciambelle (Lemon Wreaths).  They actually look like little doughnuts!  You have to roll the dough out and shape them into wreaths.  It was just like rolling coils in ceramics, very cool.  The best part was dipping them in the lemon glaze and sprinkling on the nonpareils...a very fun cookie to make.  If you have kids they would love to help with this part.

wreaths baked & waiting to be glazed

glazed & drying...mini doughnut anyone?

The next one is bar cookie and was a bit of a challenge at first, but surprisingly easy.  My husband loves eggnog, so when I saw the Eggnog Cheesecake Bars, I thought they would be perfect.  It wasn't until I read I had to bake them in a hot water bath that I got very nervous.  I usually shy away from cheesecake or any recipe that has a "bath" process...but honestly, it was very easy and they came out perfect (I haven't cut them yet, they are still chilling, but they do look perfect!)  

bars in water bath ready to go in oven...I used my turkey roasting pan!

While the bars were baking I was onto a special cookie for my dad.  My grandmother (his mother) used to make a soft raisin cookie, similar to a soft chocolate chip cookie (with raisins instead), but no one in the family has the recipe.  My mother did find a dog-eared recipe card that is "thought" to be the recipe, so I decided to give it a try.  I think they look pretty darn close, however I will have to wait until Sunday for the taste tester to give them a try! 

Dad's raisin cookies cooling

One last item on deck, not really a cookie, but something I remember my other grandmother making and sending my way, Festive Chocolate Pretzels.  I recently thought about these pretzels since M&M introduced the chocolate covered pretzels, of which I can not be left alone with a bag of!  These festive pretzels are so easy to make I even enlisted the help of my husband and we were done in no time.  This is another one kids could easily have a ball with!  I couldn't find the exact recipe I wanted, but with the one I used, I substituted the Hershey's Hugs or Kisses for the Candy Melts you can buy to make your own candies out of.  They are those colored disks they sell many times at stores like Michael's Arts & Crafts.  I bought red ones and then used the holiday red and green M&M's in the center.  I love sweet and salty together so these festive pretzel treats are just perfect.  I plan to make up little cello bags for everyone, and of course keep a few for myself!

Tom placing M&Ms in the melted chocolates

cooled & set...don't forget to save a few for Santa!

I still plan to make a banana pudding for dessert Christmas Eve and bread pudding for Christmas Day!  

What have you been baking?

holiday baking & sharing

packaged and ready to go!

I love to bake.  So when we were invited to my bff's this past weekend for a holiday party and was asked to bring some festive cookies for a "cookie swap", I was super excited to partake. I was however overwhelmed with choices of what to bake!  There are always so many recipes to choose from, and during the holidays especially, so many fun, festive, and delicious ones!  After a few sifts through my recipe "pile" (I have yet to find the best way to organize my recipes...some are in a folder, others in a binder, some are on my computer, and the others are scattered throughout the internet, friends and family)...I decided to make 2 of my favorites.  I made one of the more challenging "cookies" that I only attempt every few years when I really have the time and patience, petit fours (I used this basic recipe but filled mine with raspberry jam, tinted my frosting green and decorated with red hearts, red flowers and sugar gingermen).  After working at Martha Stewart TV for so many years, I really learned the tricks of these by watching John Barricelli, one of the master chefs in the prep kitchen there, (really I would eat the "scrap bowl" while he was making the beautiful creations!)  They are definitely labor intensive and I have to be honest, I did lose about 1/2 of them in the making...but the 1/2 I "lost", were just not as "pretty" for the swap and they stayed home for my husband and I to enjoy.  The other "cookie" I chose to make was not really a cookie either.  It is one of my favorite recipes from a good friend I used to work with at Martha, the worlds best Gingerbread Cake from Gramercy Tavern!  If you love gingerbread the way I do, I really recommend trying this recipe.  The original one is made in a bundt pan, however I decided to make individual cakes (reducing the baking time accordingly) and package them in cello bags with a cute tag.  Again, this way I could contribute to the swap with a smaller, take away portion.  With so many cookies, I felt the cakes were a great addition at the end of the night for the guests to bring home and eat the next morning, perhaps with their coffee, or share with other family members.  Another great thing about this gingerbread cake recipe is that it just gets better after a day or two!  Making these individual cakes also reminded me of the small loaves of zucchini and banana bread my mom, husband and I made as part of our wedding favors.  We made the breads to go along with jars of currant jam my mom made from the berries my dad grew in his garden.  Small home baked gifts of breads, cakes and cookies are always loved by just about anyone and what better way to spread the love and give thanks to someone during the holidays?  Maybe you have someone on your list you too can bake for.....the dog walker, babysitter, postman, kid's teachers, house keeper, doorman? Kids love to bake too!  Really, who doesn't love homemade AND home baked?  What is your favorite holiday cookie recipe?

individual gingerbreads baked, cooling and waiting for packaging

this years petit fours!

my cookie swap box to come home!  

note the festive gingerbread owl peering out made by my bff (and the host) Sweet Dani B!

Whooos ready for the holidays now?

have you started your holiday shopping?

I am participating in a few holiday sales this year and would love for you to come!  If you live in the tri-state area check out the following...

On Saturday, November 26th from 10 am - 4 pm 

I will be in at the Brewster Elks Lodge in Brewster, NY....

I also heard Santa will be too!

From December 3rd - 18th the Putnam Arts Council will be holding their

 Annual Holiday Craft, Art, Gift & Gourmet Sale.  

This is the 3rd year I am participating and I am super excited!

Why not think about buying handmade this year and supporting local artisans.

If you can't make it to one of these sales...you can always check out my website at

www.angeldogdesigns.etsy.com

In the spirit of giving...my gift to my loyal blog readers is a 10% discount!

 Just use the code BLOG2011 when you check out.

Offer expires Dec 10, 2011.

enjoy ♥

holiday happiness

the tree at rockeller center, 2010

With Christmas only 2 days away, I thought it only appropriate to make a holiday happiness list. Things can definitely get crazy and hectic around the holidays, but there are still an abundance of things I am thankful for and they all just make me so happy...


1. Going to see the tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC.  I go almost every year...it never gets old :)
2. Freelancing for the past 2 weeks with my old (and some new) friends and colleagues at The Martha Stewart Show.  What a great bunch of super talented people.  
3. The yummy smells of baking.  Finally got a chance to bake today and made my friend Molly's trusted gingerbread cake.  She uses this recipe from Gramercy Tavern...it is delicious!
4. Fresh cut Christmas trees... nothing beats the smell of a fresh cut tree...especially when you cut it yourself!
5. Christmas music...really, I can't get enough of it!
6. Gift opening with my nieces and nephews...I love watching the kid's faces and seeing them tear into packages.
8. Being warm by a roaring fire.
9. Knowing I will be celebrating the holidays with my family and friends.
10. Giving our new dog Mel a warm and loving home.  My husband and I adopted Mel about 3 weeks ago from the Yonkers Animal Shelter.  He is an amazing guy, adjusting so well and really is just a wonderful dog.  We are so happy to have him in our family.

Mel ♥

What makes you happy this holiday season?

upcycled holiday cards

upcycled holiday card - Warren Kimble Cards

I am finally getting around to decorate the tree we got 2 weeks ago.  As I started unpacking my decorations, I found several ziplocs full of holiday cards from the years past.  They were just too pretty to throw away...so I save them each year thinking I will do something with them...yet there they sit, away in a bin, year after year.  I did a little research to see what I could come up with...after all, I do have an empty tree to fill!

photo courtesy of martha stewart website

Martha Stewart (of course) has a whole gallery filled with Christmas card craft ideas.  Check it out, so many great ones from ornaments, to tags, to garlands.

photo courtesy of Bobbi Lewin

Bobbi @ Bobbi's Art created a really sweet green holiday garland out of holiday cards.  Her whole blog is very fun, take a moment to look it over.

After being inspired by all the great ideas I found online...I decided to try out one of my own as well.  I took out some of my bottle cap supplies from when I was making vintage bottle cap pendants not too long ago and decided to make a few bottle cap ornaments for my tree.  These ornaments are very simple to create. 

 Using a 1" circle punch, I punched rounds from the holiday cards.  I used a small dot of craft glue, Sobo works great, to adhere the circle to the inside of the bottle cap.  

Then for the hanger, I cut a piece of ribbon and used a small dot of hot glue on the back of the bottle cap.  I bet a few dabs of glue and a sprinkling of clear glitter would be the perfect finishing touch to add that extra sparkle to these sweet little ornaments!

If you don't have the time or you just don't think you are the crafty type of person...don't be so quick to throw away your cards after the holidays.  St. Jude's Ranch for Children is a wonderful organization that will accept your old cards and the children they work with turn the previous years cards into new cards!  They also accept all occasion greeting cards, so be sure to go to their website and read all about how to mail them your old cards not only from the holidays, but all year round!

Now...I still haven't finished decorating my tree or made my holiday cards this year and Christmas is less than a week away!  How are you doing with all your holiday preparations?!