Scenes From A Merry Christmas

I hope that you all had a blessed and happy holiday, friends.

I hope that you all got to have something delicious for breakfast...

I hope you enjoyed it, regardless of its caloric content...

I hope you got to enjoy some cookies...

I hope you got some help in the kitchen...

I hope you got some exercise to burn off all that junk food from earlier...

And that you spent some time with loved ones...

As for us...

We celebrated my cousin's 30th birthday...

...before diving face-first into dessert.

My great-aunt was with us once again, for which we're all grateful.

Finally, we all gathered in the living room to exchange gifts.  It was messy and paper-filled, but we made it happen.

I can't explain this one.  It's just...us.

It was exhausting, it was messy, it was full of laughter.

Merry Christmas, friends.

Macy's Christmas Light Show

On Saturday night, we went to see the Christmas Light Show at Macy's in Philadelphia.  It was just as whimsical and lovely as I remembered.

It was fun to see both kids and adults crowding around to watch the lights.

Rob made a point that back when this store was built (when it was Wanamaker's, the first department store in the country), things were just done differently.  It's such a beautiful building - marble floors, balconies on each level overlooking the Grand Court Atrium, even a huge organ which is the largest playable instrument in the world! It's a really special place.

And it was a really special night!

Oatmeal Raisin Health Food

After a lovely weekend in Philadelphia, the time eventually came to go home.  We had a lot of fun and I hope to be able to share some of our experiences with you here.  

However, one can only stand so much holiday fun, especially on the weekend before Christmas when approximately a million things need to be done. 

This afternoon, I'm finally baking my oatmeal raisin cookies.  I'm really warming up to good old oatmeal raisin - they may not be as sexy as , say, chocolate chip.  And they're not as "oooh, ahhh" as peanut butter cup cookies, either.

But they have something going for them that neither of the other two have.  Namely, the fact that oatmeal is totally awesome for you.  So these are, in fact, health food.  

You heard it here, folks.  Bake 'em up, eat 'em up.  Your body will be so busy thanking you for filling it with oatmeal (not to mention raisins and cinnamon, which are also completely good for you) that it won't even notice that it's processing butter and sugar as well.

Trust me.

Incidentally, this dough was frozen into individual cookie portions in advance, then just plopped on to the cookie sheet and baked.  

And they turned out just perfect! Crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle.  Sweet, rich and buttery.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

3/4 cup softened butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 cup of rolled oats (not instant!)

1 cup raisins

Cream together butter and both sugars.  Add eggs and mix to incorporate.

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Add to butter mixture and mix thoroughly.  Add oats and raisins and stir to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Makes 4 dozen.

OR, place dough on sheet as if to bake, but place in freezer instead. Once dough balls are frozen, store in an airtight container.  When ready to bake, place dough on sheet and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Delicious! I'm off to ingest some more health food now...

So, how is YOUR cookie baking going?

Addictive Candied Nuts

Thanks to everyone who offered encouragement and support last week when I opened up regarding my tendency to overdo things during the holidays, especially when it comes to throwing a party.  I didn't go as far as I usually do, but I did manage to fall asleep before the party was over.  Like a lame-o.  One day I'll manage to stay awake, I swear.

Oh, how I wish I had managed to get pictures of the spread I put out.  I truly do.  There were stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail, chicken skewers, barbecue meatballs...it went on and on.

I'm not gonna lie.  It was a lot of food.

Sadly, I wasn't finished putting it all out when guests showed up and started eating.  So I sent Rob into the dining room with the camera to try to get some shots of what was there before it was decimated.

I used sharp cheddar, brie, garlicky boursin, fresh mozzarella and Maytag blue cheeses (the Maytag being separate from the rest due to an allergy among the guests).  Accompaniments were sliced pepperoni, candied nuts, sliced pears, grapes and honey.  On the side, hummus and a delicious roasted tomato bruschetta (which I found at She Wears Many Hats).  Crackers and a basket of fresh-from-the-oven crostini completed the spread.  

And it all fit in with my "less work, greater effect" plan for the night.  So it was a win-win all around!

I fully intend to put this together again on New Years, and promise to take actual pictures next time!

To make amends, let me share with you my absolute favorite recipe for candied nuts.  They're pretty much ridiculous, addictive and incredible.  Put a bowl of these babies out at your holiday gathering and watch them disappear (which is why I always hold some aside for later, but that's just between you and me).  They went well with all the cheeses I used...as well as by the handful, several days later.

Not like I would know or anything...

Candied Nuts

1 lb shelled walnuts or pecans (or a combination thereof, which I used)

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cinnamon, salt, milk and vanilla.  Heat over medium-high for 8 minutes, or until mixture reaches soft-ball stage of 236 degrees F.  

Immediately add nuts and mix thoroughly, making sure to coat as evenly as possible.  Pour nuts out onto prepared cookie sheet and break up into pieces.  Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

So what about you? Do you have any go-to appetizer or snack recipes which you use during the holidays?

Painting the Town Red and Green

How excited am I?

About what, you ask? Well, I'll tell ya.  I'm excited because this weekend, Rob and I are going to spend time together in the best city I know - Philadelphia.

You may remember that we spent a weekend there over the summer, hanging out with friends and just generally enjoying the time together without having to answer to anyone else.  It was pretty awesome, and something we knew we had to do again (if only for the Heavenly Bed and Heavenly Shower at the Westin.  Seriously, have you ever experienced them? Because if not I'd dare to say that you haven't lived.  It's just that amazing.).

I love Philly so much.  I can't describe the feeling very articulately.  It's just where I was born and raised, the skyline I know by heart, the city I'm insanely proud of for all the times it tries (even if it doesn't always succeed).

It's the place that, whenever I visited somewhere else (including NYC), I missed and wanted to return to.  It's home and it always will be.

So on Saturday and Sunday we paint the town red...and green, since we're going to try to see as many Christmas-y things as we can.  First up is two tickets to Holiday Pops, which is always fun (they have a gospel choir that is so good I swear I wanna jump up and sing along)...then we hope to get a chance to visit Christmas Village at City Hall, and my favorite...

I haven't seen the light show at Macy's since it was the light show at Wannamaker's (maybe it was already Lord & Taylor at that time...who can tell?).  It's simple enough - a whole wall of lights in the shape of animals, Christmas characters and snowflakes blinks in time to music and narration by none other than Julie Andrews.  Compared to more hi-tech spectacles this may seem...pedestrian.

But it is so.not.even.  It's magical.  There's something about the music and the lights, and seeing the awestruck faces of the little guys all around, that resonates in the soul.  Plus it's pretty.  And Rob's never seen it.  So I'm really looking forward to seeing it again.

We would love, like looooove, to visit the Italian Market as well.  We went last year and had a blast even though it was, like, 2 degrees outside with constant icy winds.  I hope that this time around we can take more time to enjoy it without suffering hypothermia.  All the spices, fresh meats and seafood, cheese and produce I can get my hands on.  It's a dangerous scenario, actually.  Seriously, y'all would have a fit down there.

How could you not be happy around all this olive oil? How??

Regardless of whether or not I get to frolic in the Christmas Village, or drool over the multitude of beautiful food shops in South Philly, or get a good night's sleep in a Heavenly Bed*, it matters not.  The important thing is spending time with Rob and taking a breather from the madness of the holidays.

That's what it's all about.

*I better get a good night's sleep in that bed.  I was totally lying about it not mattering.

How about you? Any special plans for the holiday season?

Wrappin' It Up

Blah.

Erg.

Yucky.

So to sum it all up, in case you aren't following: I am not a fan of wrapping gifts.

Buying? Yes.  Unwrapping? Sure! But actually wrapping? Not so much.  Because I stink at it.  There.  I said it.

But then I take a look...

...and I see all the work he's done for me.

It's so pretty.

So here I go again, wrapping and decorating so he'll have pretty presents under the tree, just like I do.

How about you? Are you any good at wrapping gifts? Or is there another holiday to-do that makes your skin crawl?

Oh, Christmas Tree

I'm so happy to be sharing this series of Christmas tree memories with my friends over at Company Girl Coffee today! Pay a visit - you won't be disappointed!

There really is something about just sitting at night, looking at the tree.  It takes me back to my younger days, and the annual Christmas tree decorating which took place at my parents' house.

When I was little, we'd put the tree a couple of weeks before Christmas.  This was always the most magical time of the season.

Or so you'd think.

We'd always use the same fake tree.  I can't tell you how long the first tree I remember lasted...decades, I guess.  Back then they made the trees well, as they did with everything else.  So Dad would bring the pieces up from the basement and with each trip, the excitement increased.

Then the stand would be place in its spot of honor, and the center pole in the middle.  Screws would be tightened to hold the pole in place, and then Dad would wrap a piece of twine around it and nail it to the wall - I'm assuming that the tree must've fallen at one point, back in the day? A wire hoop went around the pole, to hold the branches out to their desired fullness...and then the rows of branches would go on, one by one.

At this point, the tree never seemed tall enough.  Is it possible, I'd wonder annually, that I remembered it taller than it actually was? Did it grow in my memory? But then the top piece would slide home, and that top branch was just as high up as I knew it to be in my heart.

Then.  Oh, then.  It came time for Mom to "shape" the tree - you know, spreading and arranging those many bristly branches until there weren't any empty spaces and the tree looked good and full.  This...was a little stressful for all of us.  And now, upon remembering this, I know where my "you're only saying it looks good so I'll stop" attitude (which pops up every now and again) comes from.  Because I'm pretty sure I just quoted her directly.

Then time for the lights.  I liked to make myself as invisible as possible as Mom and Dad snipped at each other worked together like a real team over the spacing of the strands as they progressed down the length of the tree.  It was uncomfortable super fun.

Finally.  Finally once my mother was completely and totally emotionally drained from the strain of shaping and then stringing the lights, it was time to hang ornaments.  This was where my brother and I would come in, and after many years, my sister and my other brother.  To this day, there's still the rush between Jason and I to get our "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments on the tree first, and in a position of more prominence.  Pushing and shoving would ensue as we clamored to get our ornament just one branch higher than the other.  One year not long ago I came home to find my ornament on the back of the tree.  So mine replaced Jason's, and his was turned backwards.  Mine then went in the trash.  It's a good time.

But it's all okay in the end, because I was the first born and therefore have more "This baby is awesome" ornaments than he does.  That's just the way it goes.

Nowadays, I don't decorate the tree with the family.  I decorate my own tree with my husband.  And this year we were fortunate enough to decorate two trees - one in the living room, one in the den.  We might not have the annual "who can find their ornament and get it on there first" cage match, but we do carefully unwrap our own precious ornaments...the ones from our honeymoon and from each anniversary...the "Our First Christmas, 2006" ornament which we so treasure...and put them on the tree together.

I hope that one day I'll watch, lovingly, as my own children clump all the ornaments together in the one spot of the tree they can actually reach, the way Jason did when we were small.  They'll go to bed and I'll fix things when they're asleep.  And maybe through the years we'll be adding more "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments long after I thought I ever would, the way my parents did when the younger pair were born.  Maybe they'll clamor to hang their own favorite ornaments and through the decades will turn it into a good-natured rivalry which only happens once a year.  And I'll remember putting up the tree long ago with my family, and how even my parents' strained nerves were a part of the ritual.

And I'll smile beatifically through it all, my composure maintained, my sanity firmly in place.

See, we use pre-lit trees now.  It's a better day.

The Stupid Elf In My Head

I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching lately, and it all revolves around the holidays.


For my entire life, I’ve been that person who waits all year long for Christmas to come around once again. The sheer magic of the holidays does something to me. I can’t explain it, but the thought of it sends delighted shivers up my spine. And I’m thrilled to say that my enthusiasm towards this time of year has rubbed off on my husband, who is quickly surpassing me in Christmas spirit. It does my heart good to see it.


So I’m sort of “that person”. The one who discreetly listens to Christmas music on her iPod in early November. Who thrills at the appearance of the first Christmas commercial on TV. Whose heart skips at beat the sight of the first decorations.


I’m also the naive girl who made it her mission in life, one year, to have homemade eggnog with her family on Christmas Eve (I hadn’t learned about tempering eggs yet…and had to skim out the little bits of scrambled while fighting a sense of disillusionment). The girl who once stayed up until 3 in the morning, baking cookies for coworkers (because I didn’t start making them til I got home from work that night - it was a bad idea). The idiot who bought I can’t even tell you how many skeins of yarn on year in order to make afghans for extended family (I completed a total of ONE of them, by the way – sometimes I can do more in my head than I can in real life).

Over the years, though, this feeling of “I can accomplish every ridiculous idea the neurotic little Christmas elf in my head comes up with” has left me…exhausted. Irritated. Frustrated. And it has drained me, slowly but surely, of my Christmas cheer. I find myself loving the idea of the holidays more than the holidays themselves. I look forward to cookie baking, but the act of it leaves me annoyed and stressed. My spirit of joy is dying by inches with each passing year.


Hence the soul searching. Why is this happening? And can it be stopped?


Then I saw something this morning which made my jaw drop. I wish I could remember where I saw it – on a blog? In a comment? On Twitter? For the life of me I can’t find it, and if I did I’d thank the person who typed it out even if it wasn’t their idea.  And even if my interpretation wasn't what was intended.


It’s literally as if the little elf in my head started screaming and jumping up and down and banging pots and pans to get my attention, because he recognized the answer to the problem immediately.


“Do Less. Be More.”


Whoa. Stop the presses. What’s this? You mean I can actually do LESS and be MORE?


Up til now, when I’ve thrown a holiday party, I’ve felt compelled to go from-scratch all the way. Literally the biggest shortcut I’ve ever taken was using canned crescent rolls for pigs in a blanket (and seriously, who wouldn’t? They’re the most delicious things ever) or a pre-made pie crust. And that’s pretty much it.


In most cases, it’s really a matter of economics – over time I’ve learned, as most of us do, that there’s a convenience charge involved with even the most everyday items. So why pay extra for a bag of shredded cheese when I can spend less for a block and grate it myself? Why buy candied nuts when it’s a snap to make a glaze for plain old nuts on the stove? Why buy slice-and-bake? A tub of hummus? A jar of sauce? I can make all of these things by myself.


Thing is…when you’re hosting a party and there’s a bunch of things to be prepared, it may be a good idea to take not only dollars but time invested into consideration as well, and how much of It you’re spending not enjoying yourself and your guests. Lord knows I can’t remember the last party I threw where I wasn’t too exhausted to enjoy myself. Case in point: Last New Years, when I slept through 2 hours of the party. True story.


So the lesson here, at least my interpretation of it, is that I need to do less fretting, less from-scratch preparation of every single thing, less stressing over the perfection (or lack thereof) of everything in my domain…and more being there. More connecting, more sharing, more actual listening to what a friend is telling me as opposed to keeping an ear out for the oven timer. To be more of a hostess and less of a Martha wannabe. I need to tell myself that people are showing up not just for the food (although let’s not kid, they’re coming for the food) but to be with me and my husband.  And the best thing I can give them is the gift of my attention to them.


Because at the end of the holiday season, no one will give me a medal for Most Cookies Baked. No one will care that the delicious dip I served up came from Trader Joe’s and not my food processor. Or that I made my own eggnog or crocheted everyone’s gifts or stood at my counter/stove/sink until I wished my feet would fall off because after 7 hours they hurt.so.much.

What they will care about, at least I would hope, is that we got to spend time together in a lovely, festive atmosphere…while I was actually awake.

And eating pigs in a blanket.



What about you? Do you set high standards for yourself during the holidays? Do you have any tips, tricks or shortcuts to share?

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Chocolate.chip.cookies.

Really, are there any three words which go together so perfectly? Any three words which stir the soul the way those three simple words can?

Okay.  Maybe "I love you".  But "chocolate chip cookies" absolutely has to be #2 on the list.

It just so happens that I'm married to a lover of the cookies with the chocolate chips, so when I'm baking Christmas cookies, chocolate chip have to be knocked out right away just so he can relax and quit asking me when I'm making them.  Sheesh.

It helps when making dozens upon dozens of cookies that a recipe be easy.  And this, I'm sure you'll agree, is a pretty darn easy recipe.  It's not all fancy pantsy and filled with crazy add-ins.  Just straight up buttery, chocolate chip goodness.

It also happens to result in what are probably the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made.  This, friends, is what we call a "win-win".  And who wins? You do.

And whoever gets to eat them, of course.

Note: I know that everyone and their mother has their own favorite recipe which they call "best ever".  Don't listen to them.  Listen to me.

Just kidding.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips*


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt, then add to the butter mixture and thoroughly combine.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 15-20 minutes in preheated oven.**
 
* This is purely a matter of taste.  I don't like too many chips in my cookies and feel that 2 cups is way too much.  You may feel differently!
**15 minutes is usually enough to get that beautiful golden brown color, but some ovens (like mine) require 20.  So keep an eye on these babies and make sure they don't burn!
 

 
Do YOU have a favorite cookie recipe?

Green Bean Casserole

Last week, I shared with you the story of a food I didn't eat for decades, thinking that I hated it: stuffing.

Here's another one which I missed out on for years and years: green bean casserole.

Oh, green bean casserole.  That utterly American dish which people across our country enjoy at least once a year, at the same time they're gorging on turkey and cranberries.

And for years I said "No, thank you" when it came my way at the Thanksgiving table, and passed it on down the line while waiting for my turn with the mashed potatoes.

Silly me! Because the first time I actually said "What the hell" and tried it, I was hooked forever.

Coincidentally, that "What the hell" attitude was what led me to meet my husband.  But that's another story.  The lesson here is, a healthy dose of adventurousness can lead to a life long love affair.

Oh, and a marriage.  WHOA! See what I did there?

Okay, enough poor attempts at humor.  Back to the utter destruction of a once-healthy vegetable.

This time around, rather than following the tried-and-true canned veggie and Campbell's recipe, I thought I'd try to take things up to the next level.  So I adapted Alton Brown's green bean casserole recipe and was pleased with it - but it didn't go over too well with my traditional family, who are so used to having that tried-and-true version.  In the future I might use canned beans BUT with the homemade sauce.  Here's how it went down:

As with all good things, we start with butter.  2 tablespoons, to be exact.  Melt it down in your pan...

And in do 6 oz of well-chopped mushrooms - I didn't want any huge pieces even though I happen to adore mushrooms.  I wanted the beans to be the star, with the mushrooms taking a supporting role.  The mushrooms were cooked down until they were well browned and had released their juices, and then...

2 tablespoons of flour were added and mixed in until the juices were completely absorbed and the flour had a chance to cook a bit, maybe 3 or 4 minutes.

1 cup of chicken broth was added and stirred, stirred, stirred in order to let the flour break down and thicken the sauce, instead of clumping up and giving me lumps.  Lumps are no good.  Down with lumps.

Moving on.

Once the sauce had thickened, after a few minutes of heating up with the flour (drag your spoon along the bottom of the pan - if you leave a streak behind, which doesn't immediately fill back in with sauce, it's time), add 1 cup of half-and-half.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and allow this to simmer until thickened...

...and try to not just eat it right then and there.  Because let me tell you, this is the most heavenly soup, right here.  I would just pour this into a bowl and call it lunch - and I might have to, one day soon.

This was not for lunch, though (sadly).  This was a sauce for...green beans!

Around a pound, in fact.  Alton calls for fresh beans and I'm sure that would be wonderful...but it's not always easy to find good fresh beans at this time of the year, especially when they've been picked over by scores of harried Thanksgiving grocery shoppers (believe me, I witnessed it and felt a little sick).  So I went with frozen.

And with beans go, of course, the fried onions.  I used a cup of the canned kind.

Into a buttered casserole dish this goes, and then it's topped with even MORE onions - another cup...or so.  Don't worry, no one will judge you if you add more.  Or even if you, say, eat one or two or a dozen right out of the can.

You're the cook.  It's your kitchen.

Into a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes and that.is.it.

Can we please observe a moment of silence for this perfect mix of mushroom, bean, onion and rich cream sauce? 

Okay.  Moment over - time to eat!

Green Bean Casserole

1 pound frozen green beans, thawed and dried

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 ounces mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and chopped

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup half-and-half

2 cups French's fried onions, divided

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Melt butter in large pan and add mushroom pieces.  Cook mushrooms over medium-high heat until juices have been released and mushrooms are browning, around 4-5 minutes.  Sprinkle flour into pan and stir well, making sure all flour is incorporated into juices.  Turn heat down to medium and cook for a few minutes in order for the raw flour taste to cook out.

Add chicken broth and stir vigorously, in order for flour to fully incorporate with liquid.  Cook for several minutes until broth is thickened and add half-and-half.  Again allow liquid to simmer until thickened, around 5 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and add beans and 1 cup of onions, stirring gently to combine.  Pour bean misxture into buttered 8x8 baking dish and top with remaining cup of onions.

Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven, until bubbly.

My Fantasy Christmas Wish List

Disclaimer: This list has nothing whatsoever to do with the gifts which are already wrapped and under the tree, addressed to yours truly.  It doesn't even have anything to do with reality.  This is merely a wish list.  In no way do I expect to receive these items, and in no way does their presence in the back of my mind detract from the presents I will be receiving - presents which I know I will love very much.

I'm not the sort of girl who requires fancy things.  Not at all.  In fact, it's probably for the best that I have few fancy things, seeing as how I'm not exactly the most - what's the description? - coordinated and well-organized person in the world.

In other words, I break things and I lose things.  The fact that my iPhone has survived, intact and unscathed, for over a year is a feat unbeknownst to mankind prior to now.  For real.  I think I went through 3 iPods in 2 years (service plans are a good thing).

So no fancy things required, and quantity of gifts is not an issue either.  Seriously.

Throughout my life, I have found that it's more fun to want things.  To drool.  To, dare I say, covet.  Because once I have everything I want...well, I have everything I want.  Big deal.  Now what to do with it? And there's the rub. 

It's much more fun to want things than to actually feel obligated to use all of the wonderful things I have.  Think about it.  How many items have you purchased or received, convinced at the time of their incredible importance in your life...only to see them waste away, covered in dust and the occasional cobweb? I have.  More times than I care to admit.

With that in mind, here it is.  My Fantasy Christmas Wish List.

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Pasta Press Attachment

Oh, the things we would do together, you and I.  The adventures we would have.  The pasta we would make.  The joy we would bring.  Rigatoni flying every which way. 

You have no idea of the imaginary damage I would do with this simple attachment.

And while we're at it...

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

Let me immediately state that my stand mixer has served me well for 2 1/2 years (it's still a baby!).  Every recipe I've ever posted which requires beating, whipping or kneading of any kind has been tackled by my trusty stand mixer.  We have a beautiful relationship.

But.  I drool copious amounts of drool when I see this artisan mixer.  It's on my wish list for 2 reasons:

1) It's bigger than mine, and has a handle on the bowl.
2) It's red.

No one ever said that wish lists had to make sense.

Just about everything on the Wilton website

See, in my head I'm quite the little baker/decorator.  I'm, like, the Martha Stewart of my block.  I spend my spare time finding new and innovative ways to decorate cakes and cookies, and then I set them up for display in my front window in order for my less gifted slacker neighbors to hate me and my ridiculous productivity.  Therefore, it's clear that I need a whole arsenal of baking and decoration tools at my disposal.  Wilton cake pans, Wilton piping tips, and not to mention the Wilton books on how to actually decorate things. 

Not that I need to learn how or anything.  Because I totally don't.  I just need the inspiration for new awe-inspiring projects.  In my head.




A double oven

Again: It just makes sense.  Wouldn't holiday entertaining be much simpler if I could cook with two ovens at once? It's simple mathematics, people.  2 ovens get twice the cooking done in half the time.  I think that, right there, is reason enough for me to knock some space into my kitchen wall and plop one in.




This is just a small sampling of the items on my miles-long list of things I would not exactly hate waking up and seeing every day.  Hmm...notice a theme here? Well, there are less tangible (and less kitchen-oriented) wishes on my list as well.  Like wishes for employment opportunities to open up for more people, for fewer hungry families in the world, and for all of us to start caring about each other a little more because, after all, we're all the same.


How about YOU? What's on your ultimate wish list?

And here's a bonus question: Have you ever received/purchased a really wished-for item...which you hardly ever used? Tell me about it!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Back at Easter time, I shared with you the recipe I use for Sweet Potato Casserole.

This casserole...well, it's a tricky dish.  See, you may decide to experiment with the food your family eats at holiday gatherings, and say to yourself "Hey, I like sweet potatoes and so do many members of my family circle - perhaps I should prepare a lovely casserole in order to bring joy to those I care for".

Oh, you naive person you.  You remind me of me in younger and simpler times.

All I have to say is, be prepared to learn this recipe by heart.  See, if you make it once, you will end up being asked - nay, required - to make it for every gathering thereafter.  That's just how powerful it is.  There will be no stopping the force of the sweet potato casserole.  Your father will call several days in advance and ask, all innocent-like, if you're making "those sweet potatoes that he likes".  Your entire family will descend upon it like ravenous vultures, never minding the plethora of other dishes at their disposal.

It won't be pretty.  But at least it'll be completely delicious.  So there you go.

One thing I know: I'll be making sweet potato casserole for Christmas.  Will you?

Sweet Potato Casserole

Casserole:

4 cups sweet potato, cubed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Prick sweet potatoes (4-5 potatoes depending upon size) and roast in 400 degree oven for 75-90 minutes, until knife can go cleanly through the flesh.  Allow to potatoes to cool thoroughly, then split in half and scoop out flesh.  Thoroughly mash the potatoes in a large bowl.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth.  Butter an 8x8 baking dish, and spread potato mixture evenly.

In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown (I usually like to go for 45).

Enjoy!