Category — Holiday

Christmas at the Hopkins’ house was full of family, food, fun, food, gifts, food, friends, more food, and laughter. The most honored and long-standing tradition in our house is our Christmas breakfast. It always consists of only two items; the artery-clogging, sickeningly sweet, and utterly delicious and delectable brown sugar-baked bacon and cinnamon-pecan rolls. These rolls are only made on Christmas day, as your heart and waistline could not bear them more than once a year. And the bacon, that we have twice a year. Once on Christmas to celebrate Jesus’ birth and then again on Easter to celebrate His resurrection. Of course, the bacon itself has nothing to do with either blessed event, just with our traditional family meals. Again, the bacon is only eaten twice a year because of its horrific health ramifications! Today’s post shall focus on the rolls and tomorrow, the bacon. The dough for the rolls is a classic James Beard recipe for Refrigerator Potato Bread, the original recipe can be found in his book, Beard on Bread, available on Amazon.com.

I make a double batch of the dough and use it three times over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The first third is used for potato rolls for Christmas Eve dinner with my mother, the next third for the cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, and the final third for a fresh batch of rolls for Christmas dinner with my dad. If you would like to do the same, the dough needs to be made on December 23rd and refrigerated overnight to begin the process. The dinner potato rolls are also a traditional part of our Thanksgiving meal each year.

Another thing I just have to share with you is what caused all the laughter at our house this year. I stumbled upon the funniest thing a few weeks ago. Decoy gift boxes at theonion.com. They are the most clever and hilarious things I’ve seen in a long time.  I purchased the four-pack, check out the site when you have a free moment and consider buying a pack for next year or for birthday gifts throughout 2010.

Dave, Marissa, and Connor with their decoy boxes

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Connor made these pretty bars to add to our cookie collection today. He used both the red peppermint and the green creme de menthe flavors of Andes candies and then sprinkled them in stripes on the bars. Pretty and sweet! Thanks, Con.
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Two of my best friends and I had a little holiday happy hour tonight to celebrate the season. Peggy, Anne, and I have been friends since our kids were in elementary school. You know how that goes, when the kids are little, you see each other, if not daily – at least weekly, and then as the kids grow, it becomes less and less frequent. So getting together becomes more and more of a treat. Tonight was definitely a treat! Merry Christmas “besties”, love you both!

I found the blood-orange sparkling drink at Costco, and Peggy said she has seen it at the grocery store as well.  If you can’t find it in your area, just use a mix of fresh blood orange juice and sparkling soda as a substitute.
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My friend and co-worker, Kim Howard, makes the very best toffee every Christmas. I was a lucky recipient of a tin of her toffee this year – but after days of picking away at it, it’s all gone. I was at her beautiful home yesterday and saw 4 new pans of the detectible toffee sitting on her counter, ready to be cut and packaged for her other happy friends and family – darn, why did I eat all of mine already?!  There is an upside though, it reminded me of the recipe for these wonderful toffee scones and I just knew I had to share them with you!  Kim, “The Toffee Queen” would want me to!

Barbara Pool Fenzl and Kim Howard at our amazing spa trip at Rancho LaPuerta in 2008

If you don’t have the good fortune to be in line for a tin of Kim’s toffee, or if you have sadly already eaten your share – Trader Joe’s sells a couple of great options. The type of theirs I like the best is not only chocolate-covered but also covered in nuts. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in your area (I am truly sorry and feel your heartache), Heath bars work perfectly well for these scones.

The only liquid in the scones is cream, whipped to stiff peaks. The way to find out if the whipping cream has stiff peaks and is ready; while beating, once the cream begins to look fluffy, remove the whisk attachment from the mixer, dip it into the whipped cream (or egg whites, when whipping them for a recipe) pull out the whisk and turn it upright. If the peak flops over, you have soft peaks.

Return whisk to machine and continue to beat. If the peak stands straight up, you have stiff peaks and are ready to fold the whipped cream into the dry mixture.

Another fantastic thing about these scones – is they qualify as “easy-breezy”!
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If you have an upcoming cookie exchange or you’re just looking for a little something different for your own cookie tray, these gingerbread blondies will fit the bill.  It’s hard to find an aroma or flavor that stirs up more Christmas memories than gingerbread. These pretty bars come together quickly and yield 2 1/2 dozen per pan. That’s hard to beat!

White chocolate can be such a pain to work with. The reason? It’s not real chocolate. White chocolate is a confection of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. It first appeared in the 1930s in Switzerland and was invented by Nestle to use excess cocoa butter.  Nestle introduced it to the United States in 1948.  It burns even easier than real chocolate.  To melt white chocolate, place it in a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high for 1 minute. Stir, return to microwave, and cook on high 1 more minute. Remove and stir until completely melted. I prefer Ghirardelli brand white chocolate chips, I find them the best tasting and easiest to melt.
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Kitchen Christmas Tree angel topper

There will be no recipe today, because if I don’t finish getting this house decorated today, well, it’s not going to happen! How it is even possible that Christmas Eve is only 10 days away, I do not know! So instead, a few pictures of the decorations I have been able to get up so far.
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Another December birthday for another important person in my life. Today is Cyndi Greening’s birthday. Cyndi is a filmmaker, teacher, writer, webmaster, and my dear friend!  I first met her when we worked on a fundraiser for Phoenix Children’s Hospital called the Beach Ball, some Without Cydni, there would be no Les Petites Gourmettes blog! I’d had my website for about 10 years and was itching to turn it into a blog. Thanks to Cydni, that became a reality and 125 posts, and nearly 4 months later, here we are. Cyndi, thank you, and Happy Birthday! xoxo

Love this picture of Cyndi as a kid – she’s in the kitchen! So cute!

Way back on September 16, Cyndi made a comment about a mango and chicken recipe she had gotten from me years ago. I’m not quite sure if this is the recipe she was talking about, but it’s a great appetizer and can be either passed or be used as part of a buffet at a Christmas or New Year’s Party. It is also perfect alongside a salad for a light lunch or dinner. So in honor of Cydni, I shall share it here today.

For the chicken meat, I purchase a rotisserie chicken and use the breast meat for this and the dark meat for something else, maybe chicken salad sandwiches or stir-fry.
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‘Tis the season… family, friends, and celebration are in the air. When I’m hosting a party, I like to have a welcome cocktail and a small nibble to greet guests as they come through the door.  For a Christmas party, it’s particularly festive to serve the colors of the season; red and green.  And there is a bounty of red and green fruits, vegetables, and herbs to choose from; tomatoes, peppers, beans, apples, pears, berries, grapes, artichokes, broccoli, endive, cucumbers, avocado, limes, asparagus, celery, honeydew, currants, watermelon, cherries, pomegranate, beets, radishes, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and so on…

This recipe calls for two items that you may or may not be familiar with; piquillo peppers and smoked paprika. Piquillo peppers are small tangy peppers native to the village of Lodosa in northern Spain. They are fire-roasted then hand-peeled and packed in their own juices. The piquillo’s firmness makes them perfect for stuffing. They are also enjoyed “straight” with a drizzle of olive oil. The name piquillo is derived from the Spanish word for “little beak”.  Happily, they are available at Trader Joe’s.

Smoked Spanish paprika is also known as Pimenton de la Vera, Dulce. It is a popular ingredient in many Mediterranean recipes and its flavor is essential for authentic Spanish cooking. The peppers are dried, slowly over a smoldering oak fire for several weeks. The result is a sweet, cool, smokey flavor. Using smoked paprika provides a great way to add a smokey flavor without the heat. You can find smoked Spanish paprika at high-end grocery stores such as Whole Foods, specialty stores, or at Penzey’s Spices online.

Instead of using a baguette as the base for this easy appetizer, I sometimes use red and/or green apple wedges. Then, there is no need to even turn on the oven!  Instead of toasting, as you would with the bread, rub with a little orange or lemon juice to prevent apple slices from browning, and then proceed with the spreading of the cheese and dolloping of the toppings. With the help of a food processor, this is another “easy-breezy” recipe.
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The secret to managing the holidays? Just remember the two “P’s” – Preparation and Planning!

For a party or a big holiday meal, always make a game plan. You need to know more than just what dishes you want to serve. Time management and prepping, as much as possible ahead of time, are the keys. Once you have a menu in mind, the first thing to figure out is what time you would like to serve the meal or what time the party is to start. Take that time and work backward. If you need an example of what I’m talking about, look at my Thanksgiving timeline by clicking here.

Next, always look at your recipes and figure out what can be done in advance. I can’t think of even one occasion where I have cooked all the dishes for a large meal or the food for a party on the day of the event. Of course, some an item needs to be made or finished at the very last minute, just be sure to create the menu so that there are only one or two (at the most!) such items, not three or four, or you will be a frazzled wreck before the first guest rings the bell.

Don’t pull a Martha and believe that every single thing must be homemade. If you love the bread or pastries from the bakery around the corner or think that the butternut squash soup from the deli is the best you’ve ever had, purchase those items and serve them with pride, as they do in France! Speaking of soup, smooth and creamy soups make great hot or room temperature hors d’oeuvres. Purchase inexpensive shoot glasses at a store such as Cost Plus World Market and garnish with a few minced chives – so easy, impressive, and fabulous!

Finally, and most importantly, Have Fun! People want to celebrate, spend time together, and relax. The best way for your party or meal to be a success is to be sure you do the same. Enjoy!

Easy Gift Guide
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