As you know, I am not a baker. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t have the patience for it. I am not good at it. Even so, there are times when I do have to bake. When teaching cooking, for example.

This last recipe from my “Gifts of Food” class at Les Gourmettes is dozy. I decided to add it to the class for one reason and one reason only – the packaging.

Big mistake for a person who doesn’t enjoy baking!

But sometimes, the packaging is everything.

But come on! How cute is this cookie, that looks like a mini double-crust lattice pie, in an adorable little scalloped window box, on top of a doily and all tied up with baker’s twine?!? To me – it’s Irresistible!

I’m sure most of us can admit that we’ve bought something only because of the packaging and not so much for what was inside. These bad decisions not only happen when purchasing something, though. Making this cookie to teach in front of a class of students is a case in point.

In my defense, I do know how to and do enjoy doing lattice work with pie dough. On pies! Turns out that making lattice work with cookie dough is not the same thing! Not by a mile! Pie dough is flexible and easy to work with. Cookie dough is delicate, it tears and falls apart, and needs to be refrigerated over and over again.

• Time and Patience!
• Qualities a baker has.
• Qualities I do not!

So if you’re a baker – this recipe is for you!

If you’re not, but you have a friend who is – a very good friend who will let you call the cookies your own – have them make them for you!

Or just make the dough, roll it out and use decorative cookie cutters on it. The cookies are not only pretty – they are quite delicious too.

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It’s obvious that I’ve been away from blogging too long. I’m not quite back in the grove because I somehow missed my traditional Thanksgiving post. So here’s wishing you and yours love and a fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend.

Back to the business at hand.

I hesitate to share this next “Gifts of Food” recipe. I was thinking I should try to market it to my dear friends Steve Kraus & Tram Mai to sell in their Press Coffee Roasters stores. The packaging is so cute that even though I don’t drink coffee, I’d buy these puppies just for the sweet little sack!

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This is the favorite of the six recipes I taught for my “Gifts of Food” class last week at Les Gourmettes.  It’s just so darn cute and has so many elements I love.

1. Cookies
2. Food in jars
3. Pretend snow (isn’t cold and doesn’t melt!)
4. Adorableness in abundance

I mean, seriously, how happy would you be if someone gave you this?  Not only cute, but yummy too!

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The third of the six recipes I taught at my “Gifts of Food” cooking class at Les Gourmettes was the gift of flavored salts.

You don’t need to be a wonderful cook to make these. But every wonderful cook you know would love to receive them!

The Wild Mushroom Salt is fantastic to use in soups and sauces and makes the perfect seasoning for all meats or for sautéing fresh vegetables.

Use the Smoked Paprika and Ancho Chile Salt in every Mexican, Spanish, and Southwest recipe you can think of! Or be adventurous and rim your margarita glasses with it.

Lime-Ginger Salt is also great to use to rim a cocktail glass and is fabulous to sprinkle on chicken or fish before grilling.

The most versatile of the four salts, use the Herbes de Provence Salt to season everything from meats and poultry to soups, vinaigrettes, and sauces.

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Last week I told you I had nothing new in the way of recipes for  Thanksgiving this year. On second thought, I do have a little something for you.

I made delicious pumpkin granola for my “Gifts of Food” class at Les Gourmettes. If you are looking for a last-minute simple and healthy Thanksgiving dessert, this granola, paired with poached pears, fits the bill. Plus, the granola doubles as a great gift to package and give at Christmas.

Pumpkin Spice Granola

Recipe adapted from The Sprouted Kitchen by Sara Forte

1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup Grade B maple syrup
1/3 cup pumpkin purée

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 ½ tablespoons melted coconut oil
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

1/2 cup toasted pepitas
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together salt, pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, pumpkin purée, and sesame seeds until smooth. Stir in coconut oil.

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This post is part “throwback Thursday” since Christmas 2014 was on a Thursday and part craft project for Christmas 2015.

I meant to share this back in mid-December… but… I forgot. Even so, it’s still an easy and fun craft for next Christmas.

I made a few of them as gifts this year and I’m planning to make many more for next year.

Here is the back story:

I was in serious “purge mode” last Thursday. I had finally owned up to the fact that I wasn’t wearing at least 80% of the clothes in my closet and about 90% of the shoes.

So I went through it, with a very critical eye, and this is what I gathered up to give away.

That mess on my bed consists of:

• 26 skirts
• 22 dresses
• 11 pairs of dress pants
• 7 jackets and sweaters

and

• Over 13 DOZEN (that’s more than 156!!!) tops and blouses

plus…

… 53 pairs of shoes!

It is so freeing!

The dresser is my next target!

I did hold on to two really nice sweaters. One green and one cream for crafting purposes.

Here is what I’m going to make with them.

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It’s been nearly a month since Christmas and ever since then, I’ve been meaning to share with you my two favorite gifts.

The first is the fabulous Arizona cutting/cheese board that Marissa gave me. Isn’t it wonderful?

Oh, how my girl knows me!

She knows I adore my beloved AZ. I love cutting boards. And, of course, we share the love of CHEESE!

… speaking of cheese…

The second favorite thing is this vintage dairy display slab that Marissa and I found and then Dave gave to me to open on Christmas morning.

Dairy and butcher display slabs were commonplace in English shops in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The slabs were used in markets and grocery stores as countertop displays for sausages, butter, lard, and cheese. These white stoneware slabs were seen as the ideal blank canvas for advertising, thus serving a dual purpose.

A few years ago I purchased two reproduction slabs.

This rectangular “Pure Butter” slab sits by my stove …

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I served this salad on Christmas. I think it’s one of the prettiest salads around. It is inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest.

Easy and Pretty. Now that’s a nice combination!

Fruit & Cheese Green Salad Wreath with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

Salad

• 1 small head iceberg lettuce
• 3 cups mixed greens
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves
• 2 small bunches grapes (red and/or purple)
• 1 small red and 1 small green apple (1 cored and cubed and 1 sliced)
• 2 pears (1 cored and cubed and 1 sliced)
• 8 Strawberries (3 left whole for decorating, the rest diced)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Dressing

• Zest of 1 lemon (remove zest and set aside before juicing lemon)
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Salad: Place the iceberg lettuce and mixed greens in a large bowl and toss to combine. Place a bowl in the center of a large round platter and spread the lettuces around the bowl on the platter. This is your wreath base.

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Crust

• 1  1/4 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup plain, vanilla, or honey yogurt

• 2 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick (I used 4 Granny Smith and  1 Honey Crisp)
• 1  1/4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
•  1  1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Vanilla ice cream

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