It's a Winter Wonderland......

Snow.....Snow......and more snow:)Happy New Year to you all:)

Foodie Friday ~ Simple Sweet Scones

I served these scones at my Christmas Tea and Cookie Exchange December 5th. These would be great for Christmas morning breakfast. Fast and easy to make:)

Recipes:

Simple Sweet Scones

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons or stick cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons Lavender (McCormick)

Wilton white sparkling sugar

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Put flour, baking powder and salt into large bowl. Stir to mix well. Add butter and cut in with pastry blender or fingers until the mixture looks like fine granules. Add sugar and lavender, toss to mix. Add milk and stir with fork until soft dough forms. Form dough into a ball, put onto lightly floured surface and give 10-12 kneads. To make round scones, roll out dough and cut with 2" round cutter. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar. Bake 12 minutes or medium brown on top. Put on wire rack. Cover with cloth, cool completely. Serve with Mock Devenshire Cream and Lemon Curd.

Mock Devenshire Cream

1 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

1 cup sour cream

In a chilled bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Add sugar. Fold in sour cream and blend. Keep refrigerated. Serve with scones.

Foodie Friday is presented by Gollum at
"Designs by Gollum"
visit her site for more fabulous recipes:)

Deck the Halls ~ with Poinsettias

Such a colorful time of the year. Lights sparkling and snow softly falling.

Soon it will be Christmas:) Check out Susan from

"Thoughts from over the Rainbow"

for more holiday fun.

Foodie Friday ~ Cranberry Liqueur

Tis the season for cranberries! This recipe will keep well for about a year. Wash and put cranberries in a large mason jar.

Orange vodka.

Simple syrup with added lemon and orange peel.

Measuring 2 cups vodka.

This is what it looks like when you start.

This is after one week.

Cranberry Liqueur Recipe

1 pound cranberries (fresh, washed, chop or leave whole)

2 cups orange vodka

1-1/2 cups simple syrup (see below)

1/2 orange peel (grated) and juice

1/2 lemon peel (grated) and juice

Combine all ingredients into a large sterilized jar, topping with the hot simple syrup last. Shake or stir well, then seal.

Allow to steep for 3-5 weeks, shake or turn jar over each day. Strain and serve. I am keeping my jars in the refrigerator.

Simple Syrup Recipe

1-1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups water

Bring to a boil until sugar is completely dissolved. Add orange and lemon peel and juice. Top with a cinnamon stick. Allow to cool for about a minute before using.

Foodie Friday is presented by Gollum at

"Designs by Gollum"

visit her site for more fabulous recipes:)

Christmas Tea & Cookie Exchange

You are invited to the Tenth Annual

Christmas Tea

&

Cookie Exchange

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009

Time: 4:00 PM

Place: Judy's

Each guest will bring Seven dozen of your favorite cookie.

Include your recipe with each dozen. You will go home with Six

dozen fabulous cookies.

One dozen from each guest will be for sampling.

Bring a beautifully wrapped Christmas Tree Ornament for exchange.

Turn the fireplace on cause I am expecting my guests.

Everything is looking just fine.


We put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving.


I made Dried Fruit Cookies. This recipe is from
Ina Garten
Dried Fruit Cookies
1/2 pound fried figs
1/4 pound raisins
2 ounces candied cherries, coarsely chopped
2 ounces dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 ounces chopped pecans
Kosher salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cups superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Snip off the hard stems of the figs with scissors or a small knife and coarsely chop the figs. In a medium bowl, combine the figs, raisins, cherries, apricots, honey, sherry, lemon juice, pecans, and a pinch of salt. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight at room temperature.
In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cloves, superfine sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg ad mix until incorporated. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt just until combined. Don't over mix! Add the fruits and nuts, including any liquid in the bowl. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Roll each half into a log, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inch thick, making an 18-inch-long roll. Refrigerate the dough for several hours, or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1/2-inch apart on ungreased sheet pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden.

Here are all the cookies..........yum they all look good:) It is always so much fun to see what everyone has made.

Here is Cara with baby Kelsey. She was such a good baby. We were all waiting for Kelsey to finish her bottle so we could have our ornament exchange.

Look I made.........Individual Rotisserie Chicken Pot Pies. Added a tea pot with extra dough for the tops.

(I bought the Tea Cup cutters from the Pineapple Tea Room)

Lavender scones and Lemon curd.

I had so much fun with the table.

Switched it up a bit.

Well..........how does it look?

Hand dipped pretzels. They were so much fun to make.

Shrimp cocktail and Crab dip......and of course Champagne with a cherry.

I served a fruit salad. Apples, celery, red grapes, pomegranate, nuts mixed with miracle whip and nutmeg.

Individual Rotisserie Chicken Pot Pies, Italian Olives, Cranberry Relish.

Christmas Tea Green (french tea) was served with dinner.

Everyone sampled the cookies we all made.

Christmas Tea White (french tea) was served with dessert.

Everyone went home with a bag of.........

"Magic Reindeer Food"

On Christmas Eve, sprinkle this wonderful

Reindeer Food on your lawn. The moon will

Make it sparkle bright. The smell of oats will

guide Rudolph to your home. And when you

awake on Christmas morning you will find

the gift left from Santa Claus.

~ Merry Christmas ~

Recipe:

1 part oatmeal

1 part birdseed

1 sprinkle red glitter

I buy the small bags (by the cookie bags) from Michael's craft store. Then I type out my tag (put a picture of a reindeer on it) and staple it together. It's so much fun:)

I am a little late for Foodie Friday, but I was so busy with the prep of my Christmas Tea.

Foodie Friday is presented by Gollum at
"Designs by Gollum"
visit her site for more fabulous recipes:)

Check out Susan from
"Thoughts from over the Rainbow"
for more holiday fun.