Carol's Christmas Cookies: Whipped Shortbread

Christmas has the BEST recipes for sweet treats, or as my chef friends calls it "Sweet Shit". My mother always has put on a spread for Christmas of treats that are AMAZING! I love using her recipes each season, like THIS 'Dream Bar' Recipe.

One of my all time favourites are her Whipped Shortbread Cookies. They are easy to make and the literally melt in your mouth.

What you need:

1lb of butter

1/2 cup of cornstarch

1 cup icing sugar

3 cups flour (all-purpose)

*Candies is you want to decorate them - We garnished our with Canadian Smarties this year.

How To:

*Beat with electric mix master until the mixture is the consistency of whipping cream. 

*Remove mixture from the bowl using a tea spoon and place each cookie on the cookie sheet.

*Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Add decorations before baking!

*Let cool and ENJOY! 

My mom and nephew baked ours this year!

Treat 411: Caramel Pecan Delights

I am always thrilled when a friend takes the time to bake home made treats, wrap them up in a fabulous package and share them. I was delighted to find pretzel perfection inside my goodie bag from my friend Jensine. Let this Danish Diva walk you through the easiest treat of the season!

From Jen's Kitchen: 

Seasons Greetings, fab ladies! Lisa G has asked me to share this obscenely simple recipe for Caramel Pecan Delights. If you are in a pinch and need to whip up something for a party or a sweet and savory treat to share with those you love, then grab these three ingredients: 

*mini pretzels 

*a bag of Rolos

*bag of pecan halves.

 Want to make this recipe even easier? Enlist the help of your beautiful daughter (or handsome son, hubby, etc.). My eldest daughter, Kaia, is quick to assist me in the kitchen when she sees me put on the apron (especially when I am wearing the reversible one that she and my mom sewed for me one Mother’s Day). She is a speedy Rolo peeler.

 If you haven’t made friends with parchment paper, now is the time to do so. I discovered this amazingly functional baking tool just last year and it has changed my life!! Cut a piece of parchment paper to line a large baking sheet ( NordicWare makes a fantastic commercial baking sheet). Place pretzels on parchment paper and stack a Rolo onto each pretzel.

Bake them for 4 minutes in an oven preheated at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and immediately press one pecan half onto each melty Rolo (Mmmmmm…hungry yet?)

 Here is the toughest part of the recipe for me…making room in the refrigerator so that these perfectly salty sweet treats can chill out before making their way into your mouth!

          Oh, and don’t forget to wear a one-of-a-kind Evolution Rewind ring while baking.

Vintage Cherub Ring - Evolution REWIND

  ENJOY!

Thanks Jen! 

Will you make these? or have you made these before? Share your experience in the comments!

Female Evolution: Holiday Edition

We've come a long way baby... I was looking through some Vintage advertisements and it made me think about how much women's roles have changed over the years. Our hopes and dreams are bigger too, but not big enough in my opinion. I still see women who are beautiful, capable, and fabulous still falling into the roles that other people in their lives have for them (namely men but parents, friends, etc.)



We have swapped our Hoovers for iPad's but have we as women really evolved out of the gender specific roles of the past? or have we just piled more onto an already full plate? Maybe it is not the roles that changed just the perception of those roles. I still have to push my "Hoover" around, make dinner, laundry, school drop off, bathing kids, grocery shopping, WORK (building my business), and maintain something that resembles a social life. I help bring home the bacon, cook it in the pan, serve it AND clean up after.

I'm also proud of some women's evolution as mothers into multi-taskin mammas and MOMprenerurs too.



I honestly believe that we can have it all and do it all; it just depends on how much we want it ALL! I also believe that the concept of "balancing" it all is totally deceptive and non existent, created by an over worked woman to give her peers hope of achieving this allusive balance to hold on for one more day and give her the strength to keep going.

I'm thankful for my husband as he picks up some slack with the children, cleaning and other household duties out of pure love as I build my business and multi-task. Maybe we have evolved to share our roles in order to make the full plate palatable?

I wanted to acknowledge how we in today's society have made our full plates functionally FABULOUS!

Take pride ladies on how far we have come, how much we do and how far we can go! This holiday season is one of the busiest as we trim the tree, shop, bake, and entertain on top of our regular daily grind! Take pause this holiday to reflect on everything you have accomplished this year ... and what amazing things await you in 2012

Christmas: Decking The Halls

This Christmas season I have been very busy juggling all of my roles and responsibilities; planning Christmas for 2 households, preparing for a trip to Canada and business too. There is not too much time left over to deck the halls in my usual, "over the top" manner. I wanted to share a few quick recipe's and tips for decking your halls in an efficient but unique manner.

The Music:

I love an eclectic mix between the past and present. Holiday music in the background is essential to keep me motivated (since I now live where there is no snow). I have my go-to iTunes playlist of my favourite Christmas songs including; Mistle Toe & Holly (Frank Sinatra), Santa Baby (Ertha Kitt), The Christmas Song (Nat King Cole), Silent Night (Lisa Marie Presley) I'll be Home for Christmas (The Carpenters), Happy Christmas (war is over) (John Lennon), Rockin Around The Christmas Tree (Brenda Lee), Holly Jolly Christmas (Burl Ives), Silver Bells (Bing Crosby & Carole Richards), Christmas Eve in Sarajevo (Trans Siberian Orchestra) and several songs performed by a full orchestra!


The Food:

I had an early Christmas celebration with my family here in the USA (before I depart for my Canadian Christmas). I had to pull it together in a flash.

Baking:

Red Velvet Cupcakes & mini-cake: Good ole Betty Crocker supplied the quick and easy mixture for the red velvet cupcakes. I used the cream cheese frosting in the can by Pillsbury. It gives you the capability to create designs on the cupcakes/cakes. I bakes a dozen and wrote the word CHRISTMAS, and used the others to "sample" ;)I used the excess batter to make a mini-cake, which I monogrammed using the frosting and arranged on a try with a Christmas napkin and a tray I had on-hand.
Melting Snow Man Cookies: I have seen these quick and easy cookies on-line and thought it would be a really fun activity to share with the kids. On-line all the recipe's call for sugar cookies, which made no sense to me. I thought; If a snow man was really melting in the heat he would be on sand right? So I made Peanut Butter Cookies instead. Use white frosting to create the "melting" effect on the cookie. Soften the large marshmallows for a few seconds in the microwave then stick on the cookie. Use a decorative gel to create the face, arms, and accessories of your snow men/women.
Snacks: I picked up a bag of Mission festive Tortilla Chips in Green & Red, placed in a Silver metallic salad bowl on the table. Cadbury FINALLY has created a Christmas edition of my FAV chocolate treat "the mini egg" - they now come in red, white and green candy coated balls. I fill Martini glasses with these mini pieces of heaven for my Christmas Table.


Quick Dinner Plan: I quickly pulled together a FAB dinner with Buitoni Cheese Tortellini (boil and serve), Garlic Marinara sauce (I add veggies to the canned sauces if I don't have time to make a sauce from scratch), top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Garlic bread with cheese (I grabbed one from my local grocer, scraped off all that nasty excess butter, add my own garlic and cheese - freshly grated Parmesan cheese) and don't forget your veggies. I served a giant garden salad; mixed greens, tomato, onion, cucumber, green/red peppers and garnish w avocado slice. My daughter skips the salad and opts for cucumber slices instead (Served in a festive Rudolph plate of course).
Always add a little bit of bubbly .. champagne, sparkling water, cider or pop(soda) will do too. No matter what your choice bubbly beverage, always serve in a flute!

Decor:

I use a mix of Christmas decor in my home during the holidays. I use scented pine cones and Christmas balls to fill large glass vases. I use silver chargers (commonly used for plates) as bases for displays of pillar candles. I also made my own tree topper!

DIY Tree Topper:

I re-used the pewter H monogram that I had atop my wedding cake in 2008 as the focal point of my tree topper. Use a monogram for your family or take some sentimental piece from your collection of keep-sakes to use. Try a framed photo of your family or an item that represents them, a memory you all share or a memento from a family vacation!

Each year I add something to the piece. I purchased a small wreath that was made from branches with faux-snow, plastic pine and faux-snow dusted cranberries. You could also go for a fresh topper and collect fallen branches and twist them into a wreath (fasten with thin wire) and dry real cranberries. Using silver ribbon from the dollar store my mom (a few years ago) added a giant bow. I have since found the same ribbon and added the long pieces that are attached to he topper that cascade down my tree (in lieu of traditional garland). This year, also from the dollar store I added red sparkle sprays of festive foliage. No matter how you deck your halls Christmas is all about FAMILY, FRIENDS and spending time. I hope you are able to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy the last moments of 2011 with them.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from my family to yours

My Mamma's "DREAM BARS"

Tis the season to over indulge. I this spirit and mind set I felt compelled to share my Mamma's recipe for her "Dream Bars". They are an amazing mix of sweet and salty and perfect for any holiday gathering or Christmas goodie basket. It is simple to make solo or with the kids.



What you need:

1/2 cup (125ml) BUTTER

1 1/2 cups (375ml) Graham wafer crumbs

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup (250 ml) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cups (300ml) flaked coconut

1 cup (250ml) chopped nuts. You can use mixed nuts or just your fav's like cashews. I use the MIX


What to do:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C)

In a 13X9 inch (3.5L) baking pan melt the butter in oven (or microwave it then pour into the pan)

Pour butter into the pan.

Sprinkle gram wafer crumbs over the butter, mix together and press flat into pan.

Pour Eagle Brand milk evenly over crumbs (it's super thick and takes a few minutes to get it all covered)

Bake 25-30mins or until lightly browned.

Cool well before cutting into squares.

Store loosely covered at room temp. or in the fridge. It also FREEZES well so you can make it now, eat it later!

I just literally baked it. It is stil lcooling so I could not cut it yet to show the squares! AMAZING. One of my favorite holiday treats!!