Famous Gingerbread houses by Iris

Twenty years ago, my friend Iris started making small Gingerbread Houses  as gifts for friends at Christmas and took orders.  They were gorgeous, homemade from scratch and completely edible.  Over the last few years she stopped making them.  Now that I have grandchildren, I miss this specialty and this is way too much work for me.  Well, she surprised me today with a huge house for my glampereenos so I can quit whining about yesteryear. The senior's home she works for had a bad flu epidemic and she was not allowed to enter for a few days.  So with unexpected time on her hands she decided to make this house for me. How many people would do this for you? I mean she coulda gone shopping, laid on the couch and put her feet up instead of spending hours on building a gingerbread house.  In the past she always wrapped her houses in irredescent cellophane and ribbons and I always hated to take the wrap off because they were so beautiful. As long as the cellophane remained ribboned up, the houses were untouchable to little fingers.  I hated to see them unassembled as well, but that's why a gingerbread house is made for, if it's for kids. I can still remember when I used to tell my nieces and nephews they were only allowed to carefully  take off a few candies at a time. 

 Then on Christmas day they were totally demolished as I covered my eyes.

I hope this one makes it to Christmas Day.

Side of house

Back of House

Butter Tarts   by Iris

Glampingbaba size and "for those who love to diet" size.

Love these.  She uses whole pecans and chops them  in her recipe instead of walnuts, because chopped walnuts always have that stale taste. Her tart shells are homemade, flaky and yummy. These are the kinds of gifts you don't buy anywhere. Made with love and friendship.

Hope there's some left in the freezer by Christmas.

Turtles by Iris for the Chocolate and Nut Lovers

My friend Iris made me these cute little rolo turtles.  Remember the old roles of rolos that were such a treat when we were kids? Take a mini pretzel and lay a rolo on it.  Place a whole pecan on top.  Place on a cookie tray with parchment paper on it. Put in preheated oven at 200 degrees.  Watch the turtles until you can barely press the pecan in the rolo.... about 5-10 min. You don't want the rolo too soft or it will melt, but just soft enough to gently press the pecan in a bit. Let cool on parchment paper.  Don't try to remove these when warm or you'll be cussin'. Who knew that a pretzel could play so many roles in Christmas treats?

Glampingbaba'a Nalysnyky

Nalysnyky are a rolled pancake or crepe stuffed with a cottage cheese mixture and baked in bubbling sweet whipping cream. These have to be my favorite food at Christmas. These are favorite in Polish and Ukrainian  households. Nice to have in the freezer or give a casserole as a gift at Christmas.

6 eggs
11/2 tsp. oil
1 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp. salt.
1 container dry cottage cheese(4 cups)
4 tbsp. whipping cream
salt to taste
4 egg yolks

Combine cottage cheese, cream, yolks, and salt to make the filling. Sometimes I use 1 tbsp. dill at this point but I didn't have any so will add it when I bake them.

In another bowl, beat eggs till smooth, add milk and water, and oil and beat slowly.  Add flour and salt and beat until smooth.  Butter frying pan lightly.  I like to keep a brush in melted butter to regrease when the pan gets too dry.  I use a 1/8 measuring  cup for batter and slowly pour batter in and swirl in the frying pan until batter covers it evenly.  I fry until a very light brown on the bottom and just  firm to touch on top. Do not flip them.  Fill each pancake with a spoon full of cottage cheese mixture and roll up like a jelly roll. I use a nonstick,   6 inch frying pan and I cut mine in half.  Arrange crepes  in a buttered  2 quart casserole dish. Pour whipping cream over the crepes to your discretion.  I like to see the liquid in mine so the crepes will soak it up. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes covered and then remove lid and let them brown for about 10-15 minutes more. They will be done when they are light and fluffy. This recipe makes enough for almost three layers of crepes about 3 inches each. They may look liquidy when hot but the crepes will soak up the cream. I freeze mine until I need them and then thaw them out before I add the cream and  bake them with dill. Smaczny!!!

I Hate Winter

Well the dump of snow yesterday just affirmed for the upteenth time how much I hate winter. I shovelled the driveway with more snow than cusswords and exercised more muscles than I cared to overwork. After working all day my car was buried under 2 feet of snow as the wind pounded against it and made the roads unbearable.  After letting the car run so the windows were defogged and the enviroment sufficiently contaminated with exhaust fumes, I started to drive home. I only got about a block when the snow crystals decided to ice up my front window and the wind shield wipers couldn't remove them.  So I opened up the windshield washer to melt the ice.  Big Mistake!! Now I was really in trouble and could not see anything through the ice windshield. The roads were icy, full of snow, very diffiuclt to drive and idiots all over the road.  So I pulled over on a side street and got out of my car and tried to clear my windshield, only to find out my driver's windsheld wiper was broken.  Oh  my God!  I ca't see with them working and now the one I need is broken.  I cleared it as much as possible and headed down 118 Ave. trying to get to my mechanics for a new set of wipers. At this point my defrost on the rear window has stopped, so I have no visibility out the back, because of blowing snow.I can't switch lanes because I can't see if someone is behind me. Shoulder checking is bad enough with visibility but with eye glasses and a fur coat obstructing my vision it is a nightmare. Finally this deranged, redneck idiot in a big white truck behind lays on his horn because on the icy streets I am not going fast enough for him. So he revs up his motor and passes me. I had too much to do to give him the finger and through my fogged up windows he probably wouldn't have caught the bird. My hands were grasped around the steering wheel as I hunched forward like an old granny peering through  an inch of clear windshield just to stay in the lane.  As it turned out, the big macho truck and me ended up at the intersection at the same time at a red light. I was turning and he was waiting. So I made my turn and laid on my horn and hoped he got my finger as I mentally directed it right at him.  Idiot!  I made it to the service station and got a new set of wipers for 40 bucks. Whew! What a relief that was. Of all days the wipers should break it has to be a windchill of 27 degrees and blowing snow and dark.  I get home and you couldn't even tell I had done the driveway in the morning. It was packed and a foot and a half in places.  So grab the shovel and cuss my way through it. I was so cold, I couldn't warm up all night. Two hot baths couldn't reach my bones and my muscles will be sore for days. I hate winter! I hate winter!

Then I come inside and look out my window.  The windblown snowflakes had settled on the outside of the window like popcorn.  It was beautiful. Why does the beauty of winter have to be marred by insane cold weather, wind, icy streets, continuous shovelling, and idiots in vehicles.  It takes a window like this to decompress. 

SnuggleBugs at Baba's

Snuggling with my little brother

Help!!!! I'm stuck

Our Littlest Christmas Angel

Ho!Ho!Ho! Look at me sitting in my Bumble seat at almost  5  months.....
bring on the Christmas treats. I think I'm ready for a candy cane.

OK ....so I'm not 5 months I'm actually 31/2months.  

For Almond Addicts

Almond-Cinnamon Cookies
3/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp.cream of tarter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup blanched, ground almonds
2 cups flour

Browned Butter Drizzle

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat butter, add sugar, baking soda, cream of tarter,and cinnamon.  Beat in egg and vanilla till combined. Beat in ground almonds.  Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer then use a wooden spoon for the rest.
Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 13 minutes or until cookies are light brown. Cool.
Browned Butter Drizzle: In a small saucepan heat 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat until butter turns the colour of light brown sugar.You will actually see little granules in it. Remove from heat and slowly stir in 11/2 cups icing sugar, vanilla and 2 tbsp. milk...enough to make it drizzle. Fill your spoon half full and hold about 6 inches off cookie to get a thin drizzle stream as it is dripping. 
I am going to freeze these and store them in an airtight container to keep them soft. I hope the cookies will be soft, as I am sure the icing will be.

Geez I Wish I Could Smell

I love the taste of Ginger Cookies stored in an air tight container and they are easy to make but I can't smell them anymore when they bake. One  just has to use imagination from old memories of cloves and cinnamon and molasses. It's strange how the smell from memory comes back for a second when you look at something that smells good.  These always smelled like Christmas.

Rice Krispie Shortbread

This is a little different shortbread to try.  Instead of chocolate chips try Rice Krispies.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour

Measure butter, sugar, vanilla and flour into bowl.  work together until it forms a ball. The dough is quite crumbly at first.  Add rice krispies and work into dough. Make small balls about an inch across.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Press with fork dipped in sugar. I just sprinkled a bit of sugar on the ball and pressed it in with a fork. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. They have a nice crunch to them with the krispies. I thought about pressing in some crushed candy cane into a 2nd batch for a bit of peppermint flavour.

Why does Christmas make colours brighter?

Mirror magic

My little 4 year old grandson  picked these ornaments out for me...he has good taste.

This is my Avant Garde Charlie Brown Christmas Tree....... Love it!

A Big Shortbread Cookie

One of my clients brought me a homemade shortbread today a little different than what I usually get.  She makes her recipe in a pie plate, bakes it and sets it out on the table this way. Everyone just breaks off pieces as they want.  I thought this was a cool idea.