Just because I’ve named these Christmas custards, don’t think that they wouldn’t be good anytime of the year… in fact – it has been requested that I make them again for New Years Eve, and I just may!

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I hope your Christmas was merry and bright! It was at the Hopkins’ house and I have a very good reason for not posting a recipe yesterday… it is pictured above. Santa brought me an iPad for Christmas and I’m having a blast with it! Thankfully it wasn’t opened until AFTER I had gotten Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning breakfast on the table, otherwise people may have gone hungry! Somehow, I did manage to make Christmas dinner, but the day after Christmas… it was all iPad, all day long! And I’m feeling the itch to get back to it right now. Before that happens, here is the potato dish I made for Christmas Eve to accompany pomegranate molasses lamb chops -yummers!

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A Blessed and Very Merry Christmas!

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I hope you’re ready with the milk and cookies. And please don’t forget the oats with sparkles and the carrots for Rudolph and the gang!

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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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About a week ago, when I was making an appetizer for a cooking class, I told you about the convenience of purchasing fully cooked beef short ribs. Back when I was testing that recipe for the class, I’d purchased several packages of beef.  Two of them were still sitting in my freezer, and I need that space for Christmas, so this recipe was born from that. And, did we love it! Everyone joined the clean plate club and I won’t tell you how many of the four of us had seconds, it’s embarrassing.

Now you’ll never find me calling any lasagna recipe “easy-breezy”.  There is way too much layering and trying to keep all the amounts of each of the components straight – for me to consider that.  For example: “Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle 1/4 of the Parmesan cheese over. Arrange 1/3 of the lasagna noodles on top. Drizzle 1/2 of the cheese mixture over noodles; sprinkle 1/4 cup  Parmesan cheese over. Repeat. Cover with remaining noodles. Spread cheese mixture over noodles. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over…” Oh my goodness!  I am too dyslexic to follow along and ever call that easy!  But it’s the nature of the beast, if you want to make lasagna, it’s just the way it is!

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