Category — Holiday

We are going from gingerbread martinis straight to gingerbread houses. It is a Hopkins family tradition for Marissa and Connor (and sometimes Dave and I) to decorate a gingerbread house for Christmas.

The kids bemoan it each year, but I believe they have fun doing it, through their protests.

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Peggy, Anne, and I had our annual Christmas cocktail time last night. Since it was to be held at my house, I wanted to make a new holiday martini for the occasion. While creating other gingerbread recipes this year, I spotted something I didn’t know existed, gingerbread syrup.  I have about a dozen different flavors of Torani syrups in my second refrigerator. I use those to make Italian Creme Sodas for kids’ cooking classes, but gingerbread is a flavor I have never found. I let my “fingers do the walking” as I called Smart & Final, Cost Plus World Market, BevMo, and Total Wine (all the places I know carry the Torani line of syrups) searching for gingerbread. Sadly, not a single one of them had it in stock.  What’s a determined girl to do? Make her own gingerbread syrup, of course! As a result, today you get two recipes for the price of one. Enjoy!

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Although I didn’t feel like making dinner on Monday, I ran into Trader Joe’s with only, “Make pasta for dinner.” on my brain. I was instantly inspired by the sight of a bag of sliced crimini mushrooms. From there the recipe developed in my head as I put heirloom tomatoes, arugula, two linguini flavors, and Fontina cheese in my cart.

But I have to admit that I find it immensely difficult to make dinner on the nights leading up to big holidays. All my focus and attention are currently pinpointed on Christmas Eve Mass and dinner. Next, on Christmas day breakfast, gift opening, and dinner. All that makes it feel nearly impossible to care about the “now’.  I am well aware that that is not the way to live life, but making the holidays special is just what I, and most of you, do.

So, for you – and for me, I post a little poem and this pasta recipe, both of which I created just for the holiday hustle and bustle. I’m far too frazzled and scatterbrained to finish the last 10 stanzas. Here is a LINK to the original poem, please feel free to add some stanzas of your own. And if no one steps forward, maybe I shall get back to it later!

“Twas the Monday before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was focused, not even the mouse.
The “to-do” lists were sitting on the counter with a nasty glare
In my hopes that someone else would please do them with care.

The husband and children were kicked back in their Keds
While visions of the perfect Christmas danced in their heads.
And mama in her panic, bustling here and there in a flap
Wondering how everything would happen without a single nap!

When out in the kitchen there arose such a bang and a clatter,
Mama continued getting dinner on the table as if nothing else mattered.
Away to the shops and markets, she went in such a dash.
Doing her best to get it all done in time for each camera flash.

The family was ever confident as they watched her go, go, go,
That this Christmas, like all the rest, would be everything and mo’
When what to all wondering eyes should appear,
But another “perfect” Christmas- full of joy, love, and cheer!”  

– Linda Hopkins

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If you like cheesecake and you like eggnog, you will L-O-V-E this dessert. And if you think drinking eggs is the most disgusting thing imaginable, so you can’t stomach even the thought of eggnog, you’ll still love this dessert! The eggs are cooked and this just screams Christmas – so rich and sweet and all nutmeg-y. The miniature cakes make not only a sweet little presentation but the perfect bite-size for a holiday dessert buffet or the just-right pop of sweetness after a big Christmas dinner.  You can purchase the mini-molds HERE.

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We enjoyed Gwen’s lentil stuffed acorn squash so much last week, that I decided to take another spin at it, with quinoa, this time. Especially since I STILL had more squash from that darn Thanksgiving centerpiece to get rid of. Not that I’m really complaining, but those things take up more than their fair share of room in the refrigerator.

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I’ve been holding out on you, and I do not mean with those special Raincoast crackers. I mean about informing you about reaching my goal. Exactly 2 weeks ago, on November 29th, I asked you to help me reach my goal of 1,027 comments, by the end of the year. You have done it, and we reached that goal several days ago. The current number of comments for this blog is 1,044!

Thank you so much for all the kind words, it means so very much to me. Plus those comments help make me feel a little less sickened by how many spam comments come in every single day. Yes, blogs get a ton of spam. I have a spam blocker, and since the end of June, it has blocked 2,832 comments of spam! That is an average of 17 per day. That’s more “real” comments than I get in an entire week! So Annoying (and usually of disgusting nature too!) But enough of that, what I really want to say is Thank You All!

The other things that I used to find annoying were deviled eggs and meatballs. I know, that sounds strange, but when you hear this little tale, you will see why.

I am in the beginning stages of planning an 80th birthday party for my dad. That brings up memories of the 70th birthday party I threw for him. I worked for months; planning the menu, decor, invites, etc. Of course, the food was all “gourmet” and took days to prepare. My gorgeous sister, Sloane, worked long hours but wanted to make something to help. She asked, “Well, could I at least bring some deviled eggs?” I happily replied, “Sure, that would be great!”

She arrived hours early to help set up. The food was all laid out on the buffets; the guests arrived, greeted the birthday boy, chatted, and began to eat. Within minutes, and I do mean just a few minutes, all the deviled eggs were gone, while loads of gourmet food looked untouched! What the heck is it with deviled eggs? Although we didn’t serve meatballs at that particular party, the same thing happens with them! I honestly just don’t get it. But I will tell you one thing for sure, we will have several dozen deviled eggs and hundreds of meatballs at our dad’s birthday party in April, and these are the meatballs I will be serving! [Read more →]

We shall begin with “a dollar short” – Do you ever buy something that you want to keep all to yourself, even though it really needs to be shared? Oh, you say that do it all the time? Yup, me too! Last week, I discovered another one of “those” things! As silly as it sounds, “that” thing is a box of crackers. Not just any box of crackers, but really expensive and amazingly decadent crackers. How expensive? How about $6.99 (at Whole Foods) for a 6-ounce box! That is about $1.17 an ounce or about $18.50 a pound! How many food items are you willing to pay $18 a pound for? Maybe something like jumbo shrimp, prime rib or beef tenderloin. But crackers?

Raincoast Crisps are the most amazing crackers on earth. I have to thank, and then loudly curse, Gwen Ashley Walters for turning me on to them. And when I say me, I mean that I shall be purchasing these ridiculously expensive crackers and hiding them from family and friends while carefully rationing them out for myself.  (This post was written in 2010 – by now, I hope you all know that Trader Joe’s sells knock-offs of these crackers for a fraction of the price!)

Next, let’s address, “a day late” – Two days ago, I posted a recipe in which I used a smokey marinade from Gwen. At the end of that post, I said that the next day I’d put up another recipe of Gwen’s, that I adore. Well, I forgot and put up a lentil recipe yesterday instead. Sorry, here is Gwen’s scrumptious and “easy-breezy” party spread recipe that she made last week for the Les Gourmettes cooking class and served atop the Raincoast Crisps.

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Last night was our neighborhood Holiday Progressive Dinner. A fantastic time was had by all. My name was drawn to go to Tony and Cindy Hancock’s gorgeous home for dinner, and I was one lucky girl. Check out that beautiful holiday table! The food was fabulous too, and the company… it couldn’t have been more lovely.

I made several appetizers for the beginning of the evening, here is one of them. [Read more →]