Holiday Treats!

My family makes this with walnuts instead of pecans.

I have a love/hate relationship with eggnog. I'm not a milk drinker so I find the texture and appearance revolting. But I like the taste.

Alta Dena brand honey-sweetened egg nog

Cashew turtles, caramel/candied apples, Cheesecake, and Jack Daniels!

My mom used to give me a box of cashew turtles every Christmas.

Mincemeat pie. I think of my grandmother whenever I smell it. She was always making them during the holidays.

See's candies.

I mock up Starbucks stuffing sandwiches - with my sausage stuffing, turkey, and pomegranate/cranberry relish.

Using very lightly toasted English muffins, these form dense mini sandwiches that go well with gin and regret.

R7 oh yes, especially their gold box truffles.

Oh, my! I'm gonna big in a bad way. I love everything described so far. Somebody blow dart and shackle me for the holidays.

I bought a damned fruitcake today, which I will stare at for at least a week.

Snowball cookies, made with walnuts instead of pecans.

Thick-sliced panettone, with butter and orange marmalade.

Bisque ice cream. A flavor that was unique to the Crystal Room restaurant at Wanamaker's in Philadelphia. I figured out how they made it.

Blast From The Past: Godiva's Chocolate Walnuts. A chocolate resembling a half walnut shell, filled with walnut fondant and a walnut half. BITD you couldn't buy an entire box of them(there were supposed to be part of an assortment) but the daughter of a co-worker of my husband worked at the CC Godiva shop, so he had an in. It was the sort of candy I'd want Miss Mapp to know I liked when we had a bridge party at her home.

Slabs of leftover bread pudding. For breakfast.

Those Danish butter cookies in the blue tin. They're like crack!

Torrone is my favorite Christmas treat.

I grew up eating the Spanish version but the Italian version is much tastier IMO.

I will "Oh Dear" myself @ r11:

-THEY were supposed to be .....

- It was the sort of candy I'd want LUCIA to know I liked .....

The Key Lime Truffles from See's are outstanding, as are their dark chocolate covered almond clusters.

My mother always had boxes of Petit Fours between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Candied almonds/pecans. I am going to try to make them this year since I couldn't find any last year.

Key Lime Pie, Banana Bread, Marzipan, Stollen, and Trader Joe's Mixed Joe-Joes that they only carry at the holidays.

Homemade Rice Krispie treats shaped like trees. Cornflake and Marshmallow wreaths with red hots. Kind of basic but the only time I’d year I eat them.

Calling all fat whores: which grocery eggnog is the best?

Try a celery stick and some hot water with lemon OP, you fat whore.

Count me in on the Holiday Joe-Joes.

I've gained 10 lbs. just reading this thread. It all sounds delicious.

Indulgence in “holiday” treats are the temptations of Satan and disappoint Jehovah.

R12 I like those, too.

Where is fucking Greg with one of his mincing recipes?

Best grocery egg nog is Alta-Dena Dairy's Honey-Sweetened egg nog. Very thick and rich, with nice spices. So thick you can see how it coats the glass. Second from left:

Fuck you, r12. You just had to mention that big, beautiful, blue tin of those Danish butter cookies, didn't you. Oh well. Best to get to know each other now because we'll soon be sharing needles together at the Diabetes Clinic.

[quote]I have a love/hate relationship with eggnog. I'm not a milk drinker so I find the texture and appearance revolting. But I like the taste.

They make non-dairy egg nogs that are decent.

Hood Golden Egg Nog is far and away the best store bought egg nog.

[quote] Where is fucking Greg with one of his mincing recipes?

Sorry...can't be bothered.

A good cashew brittle is always good. I make multiple batches to take to friends and family every year.

Have a great and happy Thanksgiving, Greg!

Is there such a thing as good fruitcake?

I love a good cashew brittle R32. My dentist loves that I love it.

R32, what's your recipe for cashew brittle? That does sound good.

R11, today I saw an ad for chocolate Twinkies! Since they're at Grocery Outlet, I assume they weren't a hit -- but they sound good to me and I'm going to look for some tomorrow.

Chocolate cream pie.

Peppermint bark, those soft little gingerbread men, thepeppermint taffy with the xmas tree in the middle.

Archway cookies balls with pecans covered in confectioner's sugar. I don't know what they're actually called.

I like my egg nog with alcohol so I buy Pennsylvania Dutch brand from the liquor store. It's not thick and is nicely spiked. Olde New England will do if you can find PD.

I miss Date Nut Bread with cream cheese! We always bought that this time of year. Mom also used to buy a bag of mixed nuts. I'm not a fan of hazelnuts or almonds so I don't buy them for myself.

r34 Yes, yes there is.

[quote]Archway cookies balls with pecans covered in confectioner's sugar. I don't know what they're actually called.

Do you mean the Cashew Nougat cookies (which have cashews and not pecans, obviously)? I went through a whole box of then in two days.

[quote] Have a great and happy Thanksgiving, Greg!

Thank you! Same to you!

[quote] Is there such a thing as good fruitcake?

Yes, there certainly is. I believe I shared a good recipe for fruitcake at some point.

I like to roast my own chex mix, eliminating the components that I don't care for (pretzels, peanuts) and increasing the ones that I love (wheat chex, pumpernickel rounds). I also use less cereal but the same amount of seasoning liquid so that everything gets nice and saturated. Always made in the oven, never the microwave.

Mrs Maus' Fruit Cake recipe from Martha Stewart.

Hi, Greg!

Mrs Maus' Fruit Cake recipe from Martha Stewart.

Hi, Greg!

Here's one I like:

Thumbprint cookies, rolled in crushed walnuts or pecans. I also like sugar cookies, even though they are pretty basic.

Hot.

Sorry, wrong thread

[quote] Thumbprint cookies, rolled in crushed walnuts or pecans. I also like sugar cookies, even though they are pretty basic.

I sometimes roll my thumbprint cookies in chopped hazelnuts.

Almond Roca - my mom has bought me a can of it for Christmas every year since about 1972. I love it!

[quote] "Thick-sliced panettone, with butter and orange marmalade."

I don't eat much in the way of baked goods, R11 but I LOVE panettone (never varieties w/chocolate). I made French Toast with it once, and it was awesome. But typically, I like to toast it and eat it warm with a pat of butter and a cup of hot tea.

My addition to the list is cinnamon hard tack. I don't bother with any other flavor. This is my favorite, and it's a favorite with the many people I gift it to. This recipe isn't terribly far off from my own, but I make hotter.

R11 and R53, panettone makes a good bread pudding with any recipe I've tried. And I agree about the French toast, R53.

Panettone, budín inglés, turrón (blando), Terry's plain chocolate oranges, snowball cookies, blackcurrant scores with jam and cream... Not to mention all the usual excesses of pie, breads, cakes, etc.

I've never made them before, but there's a recipe for marshmallows in the new Cook's Country. Looks like they'd be fun to try -- they have flavored versions -- peppermint, eggnog, etc.

cock

"Hood Golden Egg Nog is far and away the best store bought egg nog."

Not when a part of its ingredients is HFCS, it's not.

Apple crisp with ice cream.

r59 One of my favorite desserts, especially warm and with really good vanilla ice cream. But I've never thought of it as a "holiday treat."

Graeter's peppermint ice cream (my all-time favorite ice cream)

Collin Street Bakery fruitcake

Pignoli cookies

Our Grandma used to make apple kringle for everyone at Christmas. Several cousins and I make it now. We rent a church basement and spend all day making/baking them. We make apple (Granny Smith). Then the kringle gets distributed to relatives all over the country courtesy of the USPS. This year we're getting together on December 18 after not having them last year. It is a fun day, talking and laughing together, and we all look forward to it. We marvel at how Grandma was able to make 100 plus of them in her one bedroom apartment.

I also love angel food candy made with dark chocolate, frosted pecans, iced sugar cookies,and pecan turtles.

What is everyone baking this week? I’m baking to send to family and trying not to jump into holiday eating until 12/20. I made white peppermint bark (my pug’s favorite), snickerdoodles, snowballs, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, magic bars with pretzels in the crust, coconut balls. I still need to do plain shortbread, brown sugar shortbread and earl grey shortbread and cutout sugar cookies, skipping the jam thumbprints this year.

[quote]Calling all fat whores: which grocery eggnog is the best?

Not sure where you live, but eggnog seems to be a thing again, so check out Whole Foods for a small dairy in your area that makes eggnog. In the DC area, we have South Mountain Creamery that makes a wonderful eggnog. It's great to pour in your coffee - or drink with a shot of rum at the end of the day (or middle of the day, if you prefer)

Made my second batch of pizzelles and third tomato soup cake today.

Gingerbread cookie rollouts are mellowing in their container.

Thanks to Hercules Candies™ I tried Potato Chip Bark and it turned out well. Also made Cashew/Raisin Clusters(sort of like the old Chunky™ squares from BITD, just free-form, not molded)

Late with my gun cookies, will make the dough tonight and bake them tomorrow.

My food processor is busted, that'll make the Snowballs a bit more difficult this year.

Plum pudding with lots of brandied hard sauce (both are difficult to find since Smucker took over distribution of Crosse & Blackwell, which was the easiest brand to find for both).

Trader Joe's chocolate covered cookies with peppermint.

A good stollen (not the super market kind)

Italian cookies and classic Christmas assortments, except for heh ones with candied fruit--hated them as a kid and still do.

Southern Comfort probably makes the best supermarket egg nog (it's non-alcoholic). It's produced by Hood but has a different flavor from Hood's..

I can’t spend $175 on a prime rib roast this year, so I bought a rack of pork. What sides do you think go with it? I’m deciding btwn a rosemary/garlic recipe or a mustard herb crust for the roast. We’re mashed potatoe’d out.

I like this copycat recipe for the Starbuck’s cranberry bliss bar with actual candied ginger (though use a different recipe for the icing; this one’s way too acidic and weird); also, I loved an old recipe from Martha Stewart from one of her books for bown sugar pecan shortbread… until I ended up having a kid who was deathly allergic to tree nuts 🙄…

(I also make tiramisu - with actual marsala. It’s amazing! Also gevulde speculaas [marzipan-stuffed gingerbread]…)

Also, last year my son made stollen. Candied fruit/fruitcake/xmas pud LITERALLY (not figuratively) makes me gag, but this stollen was different: it had some dried fruit, but it was authentic and amazing! 😍

Seriously - I’m not even really into food or eating, but LOVE holiday cooking and baking!

I think I’m going to try a Yule log cake this year, if anyone has a recommended recipe please share!

r68 Go with the rosemary/garlic, it never disappoints. Raspberry vinegar would be a good addition.

What about a risotto or pilaf if you're potatoed out? Or a root vegetable gratin?

Brussels sprouts? Asparagus? Sautéed spinach?

R69 can you post your marzipan gingerbread recipe?

[quote]Holiday Treats!

I prefer holiday TRICKS, myself. Maybe Santa will bring me one this year.

Another vote for Trader Joe’s peppermint Jo Jo cookies

Reuben dip

Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts with a ketchup and brown sugar sauce

The chewy peppermint candies with a Christmas tree in the center

Starbucks cranberry bliss bars

Spicy molasses cookies

Bloody Mary salad with Christmas morning brunch

"Southern Comfort probably makes the best supermarket egg nog (it's non-alcoholic)."

Yeah, if you love high fructose corn syrup.

I used to buy the SC brand all the time until the HFCS made it to the ingredients list.

Oberweis doesn't have HFCS but it's also $6 a quart.

These Butterscotch Cream Cheese Bars are good. I make them every year.

Anyone have a good plum pudding recipe? Greg…Greg…?

I usually make lots of confections for my friends around the holidays. I make a huge amount of what we always called "nuts & bolts", better known as party mix. Everyone loves it. And I must admit it is pretty great. Right out of the oven it's a special treat.

Sweet Potato Pie

Oh, another thing I make that everyone craves are my cheese straws.

All I need is Santa coming down my chimney

R71 maybe the rosemary & garlic pork with a wild mushroom polenta?

R78 would you share your nuts & bolts recipe?

R72 - The recipe I have is weird; like, I’ve never poured in butter or cut it to a precise shape (I just press it in. Nevertheless, this here’s the recipe!

When i bake things with brown sugar, I always use dark brown sugar or demerara. Also, here is another recipe for the spice:

* 1/2 tsp white pepper

* 1 tsp ginger

* 1/2 tsp ground star anise

* 1 tbsp nutmeg (freshly ground)

* 3 tbsp cinnamon

* 1 1/2 tsp cardamom

* 1/2 tsp ground cloves

* 1/2 tsp mace

R70 - My son made an amazing bûche de noël last year, with meringue mushrooms and everything. I think he just winged it rather than use a recipe for the whole thing.

It was a genoise cake with swiss buttercream filling/icing, though - so if you’ve got recipes for those, you can make pretty much anything! :)

R81…

Oh Ella, he would have to have been absolutely OBESE for that to happen...

[quote] [R78] would you share your nuts & bolts recipe?

Here ya go.

-------------------

INGREDIENTS

6 Tbs Butter

2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

3 cups Corn Chex cereal

3 cups Rice Chex cereal

3 cups Wheat Chex cereal

1 cup mixed nuts

1 cup pretzel sticks (or bite size twists)

1 cup garlic flavor bite sized bagel chips

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 250°.

Melt butter in large roasting pan in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in all remaining ingredients until evenly coated.

Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread onto paper towels to cool.

Store in air tight containers.

[quote]Oh, another thing I make that everyone craves are my cheese straws.

R80, We've struggled with telling you this. Please read this passage below and insert the phrase "cheese straws", where you see the word, "cupcake".

Rose: No offense, Dorothy, but your cupcakes are dry and tasteless. Nobody ever likes your cupcakes.

Dorothy: My cupcakes are moist and delicious. Men LOVE my cupcakes.

Rose: Get a clue, Dorothy. Men would rather pay for cupcakes.

For the See's Candies truffles fans. The raspberry cream (covered in dark chocolate) is basically a really nice truffle chocolate. It's been around for a long time. Delicious, IMO. I also like the Scotchmallow any time of the year. Rocky road as well.

At my old office, a few of the secretaries made Chex mix every year. Big difference in quality / flavor. The best one was salty / savory with a few Cheetos (not too many), IIRC. The worst one was a sweet version - added sugar, ugh.

Why how very dare you R88. My cheese straws are renowned. 😀👍

r82 The polenta sounds great, the soupier type as opposed to the one that is sliceable. Maybe a small amount of blue cheese stirred into the mushrooms just before serving? A reduction of the roast pan juices would be great as a topping for the polenta.

My favorite is the hot sausage and cheddar cheese balls that must have been on the Bisquick box at one time, because so many people seem to have the recipe.

Florentines.

The ones on the internet look like garbage. I make the sugar cookie base, make a caramel that I mix sliced almonds into and then cut into diamonds before drizzling with chocolate.

Caramel goes on the sugar cookie base first and sets up before i cut them and drizzle the chocolate

Chef John's florentines are good and easy.

I used milk chocolate and macadamia nuts rather than his dark chocolate and almonds.

R78 / R87 - another easy recipe like nuts&bolts/méli-mélo is spiced pecans, almonds, or other nuts: whip some egg whites, add spice (sweet or savoury), fold in the nuts, and bake. it’s super easy, but really good. the recipe i linked is for the sweet kind, but you can make them any flavour you want.

There's a recipe for alfajores in the new Cook's Illustrated. I have a neighbor who's from Argentina -- I'm gonna make some and get her opinion.

Another cheap/easy recipe: oreo “truffles”. So trashy, yet so good. I’ve never made them, but I’ve had them.

Thanks R98, my mother used to make spiced pecans at Christmas (the sweet ones). There is a huge pecan tree in the back yard of my parent's home and she was always left with gallons of pecans every year that had to be dealt with, so we were never without some sort of pecan based desert.

[quote] There is a huge pecan tree in the back yard of my parent's home and she was always left with gallons of pecans every year that had to be dealt with . . .

R101, quelle tragique!

I bought a quart of Anderson Dairy egg nog at a Family Dollar store in Pahrump, Nevada for $1.50 and I wasn't expecting much, but it was creamy and yummy. Not quite at the level of flavor and creaminess of Alta-Dena Dairy egg nog, but still pretty damn good for the price. Those small local dairies can't be beat.

Also, because of this thread, picked up a can of the Danish butter cookies in a thrift shop, but it turned out to be filled with sewing notions.

Those Pffernusser cookies, you know, little mounds of gingerbread covered with sugar. Last year, they were all over the place and now I can't find them anywhere.

They are unbelievable delicious in the morning with coffee.

My aunt brought me some plain shortbread yesterday, and so the holiday gluttony begins... It is amazing.

We made a carrot cake today, which also has apricots and walnuts in it. And we baked it in the Instant Pot. We made a cream cheese frosting for it.

I will fight you over a good carrot cake. And yours sounds fantastic R106.

This is the florentine recipe I use.

R104 aldi had them with the Christmas items.

Florentines with candied fruit, r108? Hell, no.

R105 - Homemade? If not, I hope she opted for Walker's Pure Butter shortbread cookies, the best there is.

Homemade.

R105 R112

One is drooling with envy.

Come celebrate Kwanzaa with this delightful holiday treat.

Sandra Lee's show was a Godsend for kids who's mother's served them boiled hot dogs and baked store brand fries three to four times a week.

How did she have a show on FN?!!

Comic relief, R115. And a rich husband (the KB Homes guy).

Trader Joe's Jingle Jangle is my holiday go-to because it's many different things -- all of them chocolate-covered.

R114 sometimes when I need a good belly laugh, I watch Sandra Lee videos…bitch is insane!

I maintain the best Sandra Lee video isn’t the infamous Kwanzaa cake, but rather the insane one in which she makes an ice cream sundae shaped like a baked potato.

This one?

Yes R120! It’s so disgusting…

And I lose it every time when she says she dyed the pistachios with green food coloring. WHY?

Fruitcake and eggnog.

Peppermint ice cream with pretzel sticks.

Joe-Joes with candy cane cream filing.

Bud’s Egg Nog: a Northern California treat. It has the consistency of cake batter. Liquid diabetes in a carton.

Love that Sandra D video.

I'm getting a big D Yule log in my baked potato on Christmas Eve.

R110 : I skip the candied fruit peel.

Sandra Lee’s Noel Cake…complete waste of time and money. Contradicting her schtick about saving time and money.

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Fat whore bump!

Green and Red Mint M&Ms.

This is actually really good fruitcake: