Last week’s Christmas celebrations had a wide range of emotions for me.  At it’s best, I was savoring time spent with my visiting extended family (particularly two of my cousins whom I’m best friends with and rarely do we all get to be together), watching the excitement of the kids in the family opening gifts, and enjoying a delicious challah bread french toast breakfast Christmas morning.  The worst: worrying over buying and finishing gifts last minute on Christmas Eve (I never seem to be able to learn from last year’s stresses), totally stressing out over my nephew’s stocking which I sewed incorrectly multiple times, and never eating the cider brined turkey I was so looking forward to (and invested so much time and money into).  Yep, that’s right… no turkey.  We listened to Emeril and took the turkey out at 160°, which we learned the hard way that it was still too early (but because I was frantically trying to sew a stocking, I wasn’t paying attention to the turkey and just told my husband to take it out).  My Mom assured me to simply put it back in the oven at my mother-in-law’s house, but after it had been out of the oven for about 1.5 hours, it took forever to heat back up again and never reached 180°.  I also forgot to bring more stock to baste with and the turkey began to dry out.  At 8:30 pm when it was time for dessert, my husband and I gave up.  I figured at least this weekend I could make turkey soup with it, keeping it out on the freezing cold porch, but thanks to Mother Nature it reached 50-55° on Sunday and it was not cold enough anymore to be safe to eat.

Going into 2010, I’m once again reminded that I am not perfect.  Although I am quite the control freak as well as a perfectionist, I am human and we all make mistakes.  Nothing can ever go as smoothly as we’d like, especially during the holidays.  I’m an a true romantic with visions of Christmas being as beautiful as a holiday card: snow slowly falling and I’m sitting by a cozy fire, carefully and quietly stitching up a handmade gift while Bing Crobsy plays in the background as I soak up the warmth of the holiday spirit.  This has never been the case, I don’t know why I continually think it will be.  I need to remember that many of my projects have a certain amount of stress and frustration involved as I try to figure out (usually last minute) how to complete them.  Life isn’t like Little Women where everyone sits by a fire, singing carols and giving simple gifts (with not a bit of today’s overcommercialized, guilt ridden “did I buy a gift for _____, because I can’t be caught without something for everyone”, holiday in sight).  I had an inkling that it might not be the best idea to try a new recipe (a turkey, at that) on Christmas Eve, but figured I would have the whole day to cook away in the kitchen.  I am a stubborn New England Yankee, liking to do things myself and trying to “do it all”, regardless of how much free time I have, and always wanting to make things from scratch (because obviously, homemade is superior to anything else – yes, I’m being sarcastic).  What I’m realizing is that as often as my husband says it to me (and I usually tune him out only to be cursing out loud and begging for his help once I’m up to my knees) is that I spread myself too thin sometimes, and I’m hoping this is something I can remember and learn from as the New Year approaches.

Even though my turkey clearly won the battle, I ripped out more seams and restitched things more than I could count, and cursed the holidays while frantically cleaning and getting ready while already being late, there were successes.  I managed to bake four types of Christmas cookies (which I received many compliments about, which helped to fix my bruised kitchen ego), finally and successfully finished my nephew’s stocking in the knick of time, and made a heartfelt, handmade gift with my nephew for him to give to his parents, who loved it more than any of their other gifts.  My attempts at enjoying the simplicity of the holidays didn’t necessarily work this year, but there is always the next time.  And with the happy holiday memories I do have, along with the ones I’d rather forget, I will move forward into 2010 and remember to enjoy it to the fullest …while not burning myself out.

{for more of my baking photos, check out my Flickr}

Today I will be spending a special “auntie and nephew day” with my oldest nephew and one of the things we plan on doing is making Christmas cookies.  We’ll be making yummy sugar cookies and perhaps we’ll do a Christmas craft together as well.  Even though I’m looking forward to bake with him, the point was to be able to spend some special time with someone I love.  And tonight when our day is over, you can guarantee that I’ll be baking away in the kitchen, with my four different kinds of cookie dough ready to go (sugar, chocolate chip, molasses, and cardamom).  I think it’s the sweet things that make holidays extra special!

I’ll be taking the rest of the week off from blogging to enjoy my favorite time of the year, but I’ll be back here on Monday.

To those who celebrate it, Merry Christmas!  And as always, Happy Holidays.

{cookie images belong to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia}

I’ve never made a turkey before (my Mom has always cooked it on Thanksgiving), and I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a brined turkey.  I’ve talked to several people about how they cook their turkeys and many of them swear by brining, so now my interest has been peaked… what’s this brining business all about?  After watching this clip of Emeril’s Cider-Brined Turkey on Martha, I think this Christmas Eve will be my first attempt brining and baking the large bird.  After successfully making a roast for the first time this past weekend, I think I’m up for the challenge.  I have the entire day off so I’d rather make something special and use a recipe I haven’t made before since it is Christmas Eve.  We’ll see how it goes… I hope I’m not cringing at these words on Thursday, stressing out and wishing I had just made a lasagna instead!

{image shown is not the Emeril recipe, but is another cider brined turkey that looks very successful. the image belongs to mintyfreshflavor}

This Thanksgiving I’m on baking duty: specifically cookie duty.  Not everyone is a huge pie person; wait, let me restate that.  I’m not a big pie person and only recently learned to like pie, but only apple, blueberry, and fruit-of-the-forest… no pecan or pumpkin for me (my sister would call that complete crazy talk).  With past Thanksgivings in mind where pie was the only option, I’m making some finger food desserts that are sure to please everyone, one of which will be oatmeal raisin cookies.  I have a great recipe already, but this one from Smitten Kitchen is making me think perhaps I can try an alternate.  My brother-in-law has been asking for me to bake oatmeal raisin cookies for about two years now, so they’ve got to be good (or else).  I think with my most recent recipe from Smitten Kitchen being a success, this one will definitely do the trick.

Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (via Smitten Kitchen)

{image shown belongs to Smitten Kitchen}

Looking outside the trees are bare, the sky is grey, and the wind is howling.  But inside, I am toasty warm and cozy, thanks to my cup of fantastic hot cocoa.  I’m on a kick lately with making things from scratch, cutting out preservatives and any unnecessary ingredients, and hot cocoa is one of those things that is so simple to make I’m almost embarrassed I used the packet-stuff for so long.  Sugar, cocoa powder, and milk… that’s it!  I have a few cocoa powders that I love: Green & Black’s, Lake Champlain, and Droste (from Holland).  The following recipe is from the Droste box:

• 2 tsps cocoa powder
• 2 heaping tsps sugar
• 1 cup milk

Mix cocoa and sugar in a cup or mug.  Add just enough milk to stir into a paste.  Add hot milk and stir until mixed.  (*I heat the milk in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly so the bottom doesn’t burn).

This is a super quick and easy way to make a fabulous cup of hot cocoa.  I’d say for me I have a cup in about 3-5 minutes, about the same time it takes to boil water for the packet-stuff.  I also use a battery-powered electric whisk to mix everything well and get a perfectly frothy top.  Definitely treat yourself to the good stuff… you won’t be going back.

{for more of my cooking photos, check out my Flickr}

I have been craving chocolate lately…  chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and now chocolate pudding.  How sad is it that my first thought was of the cardboard box of instant stuff to make it?  Then I realized, of COURSE!  There has to be a real recipe for pudding.  And here it is, via Smitten Kitchen.  And it looks OH SO good.  I don’t have the chocolate yet, but I plan on getting some before work tomorrow.  Yep, I want to make homemade pudding that bad.

Silky Chocolate Pudding (via Smitten Kitchen and adapted from John Scharffenberger, via Wednesday Chef)

{image shown belongs to Smitten Kitchen}

I was grinning ear to ear reading SouleMama’s latest post about how to make applesauce.  The happenings that went on in that kitchen are too cute for words, and I love that something as simple as applesauce turns into a family event.  I was telling my sister only yesterday (who went picking recently and came home with 11 full pounds of apples) how simple it is to make applesauce (especially when you cooked more crisps, pies, etc. and you still have more apples).  Peel, slice, cook (add cinnamon if you wish) and ta-da!  Applesauce.  But having a few cute kids around is a great ingredient too!

{images shown belong to SouleMama}

This past weekend I finally got to bake a recipe I’ve been meaning to try for months.  It’s a healthier version of brownies from Body + Soul Magazine.  This recipe has 148 calories per serving (instead of 227), 5 g of fat (instead of 13 g!), 3 g of saturated fat (instead of 7 g), and 28 g of cholesterol (instead of the whooping 56 g).  It also has more fiber, having 2 g instead of 1 g.  It’s made with little butter, only one egg, whole wheat pastry flour, and instead of all the oil that’s usually in brownies, pureed sweet potato.  I do have to say, I love brownies (almost a little too much – I usually end up eating half the pan in one sitting) and to me these didn’t taste like the real thing, but it came close and satisfied that chocolate craving I was having late Friday night.  It was a little less dense and a little fluffier, almost like a chocolate cake than a real brownie, but was still yummy nonetheless.  Definitely give it a try next time you have a late night hankering for a little chocolate!

Fudge Brownies (from the April 2009 edition of Body + Soul Magazine)

{images shown belong to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia}

I love Red Velvet Cake, but I don’t like the heaping amounts of red food coloring they put in it (especially after discovering what’s really in food coloring), so this recipe I came across from Small Stump + Studio Choo’s Blog for a Velvet Cake made with beets sounds like one that I’ve got to try.  The recipe comes from the founder of Produce to the People‘s Lauren Anderson, and was also featured on Design*Sponge.  I wonder if my sister would mind me baking these for her upcoming birthday…

{image shown via Small Stump + Studio Choo}

Today is a real fall day here: brisk, cool, and chilly.  Perfect weather for soup-making.  I’d love a hot bowl of vegetables in a simple broth, and this recipe from Simply Recipes is sure to cure my fix.  As I’ve mentioned here before, every recipe I try from this food blog is fantastic and is usually my go-to-food-blog for any recipe I’m curious to try but haven’t made before.  This particular recipe is actually from Wolfgang Puck, and after reading many of the positive comments to the post I am excited to cook this up and serve it with a lovely, crusty baguette.

Vegetable Soup with Sweet Basil

{image shown belongs to Simply Recipes}