If you're shipping Christmas cookies this holiday season, it helps to keep a few tips in mind to make sure your baked goods reach their destination safely. Air-popped popcorn makes inexpensive, excellent packing material. Plus, it's environmentally sound. The popcorn will also soften the impact of any bumps your package will encounter along its way.
Taking time to prepare your cookie tins properly will also minimize the risk of having your cookies crack or crumble in their journey. Line the bottom of a cookie tin with a layer of parchment paper topped by a layer of waxed paper. To achieve a perfect circle, use the top of the cookie tin as a pattern or use a Fiskars Rotary Cutter. Line the inside of the cookie tin with a strip of corrugated cardboard cut to fit the dimensions of the inner edge of the tin and the ends taped together at the seam. Carefully place cooled cookies in tin. Cover cookies with a round of parchment paper. If your cookies are particularly fragile or are a wafer-type cookie, place a round of parchment paper in between each layer of cookies.
To embellish the outside of the tin, tape a strip of corrugated cardboard around the outside of the tin. Secure in place with a ribbon. Add any festive touch you prefer—such as an evergreen sprig or a nonbreakable ornament—and attach a label to the tin.
Place a scoop or two of popcorn into the bottom of your shipping box. Set the tin in the box and cover with a layer of popcorn. If you plan to send several tins, set up your packing materials in assembly-line fashion. Make sure the tin and your packing material fit securely in the box. The less opportunities you allow for shifting, the better chances you'll have to ensuring your baked goods won't get damaged during shipping. Seal the package shut with tape. Reinforce corners of the box with tape. Attach a big label to the box. Complete the label with the required information and send off your package.
I've collected my favorite ideas for everything you'll need for a delightful Christmas holiday. Peruse these ideas below for Christmas and holiday entertaining inspiration:
Hot mulled cider is a warm and comforting treat to serve to guests at the holidays. Find out how to make this spicy cider.
Gather around your Christmas tree this year with a steaming mug of hot apple cider infused with some of your favorite flavors. Try such spices as cinnamon, star anise, cloves and lemon peel for a delicious aroma and flavor.
Hot Mulled Cider Serves about 20
Hot Mulled Cider
Ingredients:
4 whole star anise
Zest of 2 lemons
4 whole cardamom pods
1 orange
1 small apple
Cloves
1 gallon apple cider
3 cinnamon sticks, plus more for garnish
Directions:
Place star anise, lemon zest and cardamom pods in a square of cheesecloth and tie to secure.
Stud orange and apple with cloves.
Place apple cider in a large pot. Add cinnamon sticks, cheesecloth bundle and the orange and apple studded with cloves, and place over medium-low heat.
Bring the apple cider to a simmer and allow the cider to steep for 1 hour.
Serve warm in mugs, garnished with a cinnamon stick, if desired.
SOURCES Star anise, cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon sticks Penzeys Spices 12001 West Capitol Drive
Wauwatosa, WI 53222
800-741-7787
Fax: 414-760-7317
A food gift basket is a Christmas gift that's sure to be treasured by its recipient. Of course, you can purchase food gift baskets already assembled, or you can create your own gathering items that your friends and family will love. For the friend who loves hosting cocktail parties, include a book on hors d'oeuvres and garnishing tools. Or, for a delicious way to start Christmas Day, pack a basket with all of the fixings for Christmas morning breakfast.
If you're putting the baskets together, begin with the essential materials: You'll need an appropriately sized basket, packing material, ribbons and gift tags. Pack all the items securely. If the basket doesn't have a lid, wrap it in cellophane or tissue paper, then tie it with a ribbon.
Our food gift basket suggestions can be tailored to suit other tastes and interests. You can adapt this idea to other areas, including gardening with a basket filled with seed packets, garden gloves and a few tools.
Looking for more holiday appetizers to serve to family and guests for Christmas Day dinner? Try these clever and tasty Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks.
Puff Pastry Cheese SticksRecipe Makes 36 Cheese Sticks
Ingredients:
1 17-1/4 oz. package of store-bought frozen puff pastry dough, thawed in the refrigerator
1 egg white, lightly beaten
Paprika
Cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Open one sheet of the puff pastry onto a cutting board. Brush the surface of the pastry lightly with the beaten egg white. Sprinkle the surface lightly with paprika (and, if desired, a pinch of cayenne pepper for added spice). Sprinkle the surface of the pastry with 3/4 cup of cheese, and spread the cheese so that it evenly covers the surface of the dough. Lightly roll a floured rolling pin over the puff pastry to gently press the cheese into the dough.
Cut the puff pastry into long 12-inch-wide strips with a pastry cutter. Holding the strip with one hand at either end, gently twist the strip several times to produce a corkscrew-shaped pastry twist. Place the strips 1 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat the above procedure with the remaining sheet of puff pastry dough.
Bake the strips in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese sticks are golden in color. Remove the cheese sticks from the baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack. These cheese sticks are best when served the same day, but they can be made in advance and stored overnight in an airtight container.
Look to melted chocolate for ways to create more unique and fun garnishes for your holiday desserts. With melted chocolate and a resealable plastic bag, you can create a galaxy of chocolate stars (see instructions below) to garnish dessert plates or cluster on top of holiday cakes or pies.
Chocolate Stars Makes Enough to Decorate a 9-inch Cake
Ingredients:
8 ounces semisweet, bittersweet, or white chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon pure vegetable shortening
Directions:
In the top of a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally, with a rubber spatula, until smooth.
Spoon melted chocolate into a small resealable plastic bag and with a needle pierce a small hole in one corner. Gently squeeze from the top end of the bag, using steady pressure to keep the chocolate flowing freely.
Pipe melted chocolate onto a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet, forming a square. Pipe a second square at a 45-degree angle to the first square. Repeat to make as many stars as you want. Let stand until firm. Peel stars from waxed paper.
NOTE: In place of plastic bags, you can use either durable or disposable decorating bags, available at cake decorating and craft stores. Decorating tips are usually sold in sets of six, 12, or more. If you use professional decorating bags frequently, you'll want to purchase one or two writing tips, one or two star tips, and a leaf tip.
Give your guests something to nibble on while they're enjoying cocktails before the big meal. Try this simple appetizer for starters--Herbed Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes.
Herbed Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes MAKES 36 STUFFED TOMATOES
3 dozen cherry tomatoes, about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter
2 tablespoons of homemade or commercially prepared pesto
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely snipped
2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely snipped
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, finely snipped
1 8-oz. package cream cheese
4 oz. fresh goat cheese
Fresh parsley or dill sprigs, for garnishing (optional)
With a sharp paring knife, cut off the top of each cherry tomato (the stem side). Hollow out the inside of the cherry tomatoes, using a small teaspoon or a melon baller. Invert the tomatoes onto a baking tray lined with paper towels and set aside. Place the pesto, garlic, parsley, chives, and tarragon in the bowl of a food processor. Process the mixture for 15 seconds. Add the cream cheese and goat cheese to the bowl. Process the mixture for an additional 30 to 45 seconds or until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the cheese mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe the mixture into each of the cherry tomatoes. Garnish the top of the mixture with a sprig of fresh parsley or dill. Transfer the stuffed tomatoes to a baking tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Around Christmas and New Year's Day, you're sure to find yourself hosting or attending a holiday party or two. What to serve your guests (or bring to the party) can always pose a challenge. Vegetable platters with dip are the most obvious choices for a buffet, but this year, why not go for a little more gusto and incorporate cheese into your appetizers?
Cheese is one of the most versatile ingredients you can use to create impressive and delicious holiday appetizers. Light or heavy, rich or delicate, cheeses come in various shapes and sizes. Goat cheese (made from the milk of goats) can be purchased in logs, round disks, square blocks and even pyramid-like shapes. Fresh cheddar cheese is often sold in blocks that can be sliced or grated, depending on your recipe. Some imported cheeses, such as Brie, come wrapped in paper or covered with a natural fungus that acts as a natural ripening agent for the cheese.
When purchasing your cheese, keep the following in mind: Soft consistency cheeses tend to be mild in flavor, while firm consistency cheeses tend to be more pungent in flavor. Try to avoid purchasing cheeses that have been tightly wrapped in plastic (also known as "shrink-wrap"). And certainly avoid any cheese that has a dark black mold on it. The best place to store cheese is in the coldest part of your refrigerator. Keep the cheese loosely wrapped but not open to the air inside the refrigerator.
If you're going to be preparing a cheese platter, think about choosing cheeses that have contrasting flavors, textures and colors. Sharp cheddar, mild gouda, seeded herb, Roquefort or Swiss cheeses make a visually appealing layout along with crackers or sliced fruit.
Add fun and whimsy to your holiday table setting with cookie place cards. They not only serve a functional purpose; they're also an edible treat your guests will enjoy.
Often an important part of a table setting for a large dinner party, place cards can often add sophistication to your table. If you're hosting a holiday dinner, try this idea: Bake a batch of cookies, then using a pastry bag filled with royal icing, pipe the name of each guest onto the surface of the cookie. You can select a favorite shape cookie cutter or one that is tailored to your dinner's theme. These fun cookie cards not only direct guests where to sit at the table, but they become an inexpensive favor that can be taken home at the end of the evening. For recipes that make the best bases for decorated place cards, try gingerbread cookies, chocolate butter cookies, or sugar cookies.
There’s a particular warmth and coziness from a gift that comes from your own home kitchen. At holiday time, homemade presents are a wonderful idea, like homemade fruit butters.
Pear butter is quite simple to make. Take pears that are very ripe—not rotten—but if they have a bruise or two, this is the perfect use for fruit that is slightly over the hill. Quarter the pears, core them, and peel them. A lot of people make fruit butters with the skin on, but this tends to add a little grittiness to the final fruit butter, and you don’t want that grittiness.
Use about 12 ripe pears, 1 cup of granulated sugar, ¼ cup of water and 1 vanilla bean. Combine ingredients in a heavy-bottom pot because this is going to cook for about two to three hours and you don’t want any scorching.
Add the juice of 1 lemon to the pears to prevent the fruit from darkening. You can also, if you like, use a little bit of the rind, just the yellow, in with the fruit for a little added flavor. Stir it up and put it on a low flame. Cook for two to three hours until the fruit is extremely soft and can be put through a food mill.
After cooking for two to three hours, the pears will have taken on an extremely golden color. Putting the pear mixture through a food mill gives you the really perfect texture for the fruit butter.
To fill a jar, use a wide-mouth funnel. You want to come to about one half-inch of the top of the jar. Just give the jar a tap to get out the air bubbles. Hold the center of the lid of a screw-top jar, screw on the ring and tighten it. There you have a jar of pear butter.
To cover the pear butter for a gift, you can use a round of parchment paper with a little bit of a pinked edge; it makes a decorative top for a jar. Dampen the piece of paper in warm water. It becomes much more pliable. Place it on top of the jar with a rubber band. As the parchment dries, it will stretch nice and tightly and give a very professional look to the finished jar.
A jar of pear butter will last for two to four weeks in the refrigerator. Once the parchment is dry and taut, tie a ribbon with a handmade gift tag. Write very clearly on the tag “refrigerate immediately,” and it’s ready to give as a gift. Adding fruit butters to your Christmas repertoire will make it a truly handmade Christmas this year.
Create holiday cheer at any gathering with this recipe for a seasonal favorite, eggnog.
As light and frothy as can be, this version of eggnog is topped with ground nutmeg and contains three types of liquors. When separating the eggs to make the eggnog base, it is imperative that no egg yolks touch the egg whites. Even the smallest particle of egg yolk will inhibit the whites from achieving a fluffy consistency. Make sure your mixing bowl is washed well with warm soapy water and dried very well. For best results, use a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl; plastic bowls will not work well. If a piece of eggshell makes its way into the bowl, remove it with a clean metal spoon and wash your hands with soap and water before continuing with the recipe. When beating the egg whites, stop the mixer when the whites form stiff peaks, about 3 to 4 minutes. Do not overbeat, as the protein linings of the air bubbles formed when mixing will dry out. The base of the eggnog can be made one day in advance. Simply beat in the stiff egg whites and whipped cream before you serve it.
EGGNOG Serves 16
12 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups superfine sugar
1 quart whole milk
2 quarts heavy cream
2 cups bourbon
1 cup brandy
1 1/2 cups light rum
Freshly grated nutmeg
In an oversized mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks until thick and pale yellow in color. Gradually add the sugar to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Whisk in the milk and 1 quart cream. Add bourbon, brandy, and rum, stirring constantly.
Just before serving, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the eggnog base. Whip the remaining 1 quart heavy cream until stiff peaks form, and gently fold into the eggnog base with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the top with freshly grated nutmeg.
Caution Raw Eggs: Raw eggs should not be used in food prepared for pregnant women, babies, young children, the eldery, and anyone whose immune system is compromised in any way.
