Top Ten Christmas Ideas

Archive for the ‘Christmas Treats and Goodies’ Category

A Christmas party is a lovely way to connect with family and friends. It helps to get everyone in the mood for the festive season. In able to pull this off without undue stress at a time of year when there are many demands upon your time early planning helps.

First you want to decide who will be invited to the party. Will it just be your friends or will it be your friends and your children’s friends and their families. Having decided that you are then able to plan the time you would like to have your guests attend and on what day. If you have decided on having children particularly young children an afternoon or very early evening time works best. If you get your invitations out early you will have a better attendance, as people will not have committed their time to other activities.

Sometimes it is wise to stagger the times. Have the families and small children come early and the strictly adult crowds come later. Before you finalize the guest list take stock of how much room you have to accommodate a crowd. You want your guests to be able to mingle and have enough space to be comfortable. Your invitations need some sort of reply in them from the list of people invited. A “regrets only” invitation with your phone number saves you from numerous phone calls. Now a days many people are using the computer to send out their invitations. Evaluate the age group that is being invited, as many seniors are still not comfortable with computers. You can either send them all by regular post or some by e-invitations and some in the mail.

Time to take stock of your home. Does it reflect the Christmas feel and smell? Walk through your home and decide if your Christmas decor allows room for people to freely move about without knocking over your displays. Are there precious ornaments in reach of small children? Can you detect the lovely odors of Christmas? Does your home smell of pine and Christmas baking? After making sure the Christmas decorations won’t be harmed during the party, put some spices like ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon in water and heat these on the stove; they can easily produce the scents. There are potpourris with Christmas scents available or room sprays. If you have an artificial Christmas tree buy some fresh pine boughs to use as decorations.

Will your party have a particular theme? Have you planned some activities to keep the children entertained? Have you decided on what type of food will be served? Will it be finger food only? Are you thinking of having a variety of appetizers? Are you maybe going to cook up a big ham and a roast of beef so your guest can make themselves sandwiches? You can make these decisions based on whom your guests will be and what time they are coming. If you decide on a theme you need to plan well in advance so you have time to select all the items needed to carry it off.

Skating Party: For a family party you might want to book the local indoor rink or in the very cold parts of the country an outdoor facility. After everyone is finished skating they can then come back to your home for hot chocolate, warm snacks, and Christmas cookies.

Pot Luck: Your guests arrive with their favorite Christmas hors d’oeuvres and maybe the recipe for them. This saves you from the major food preparation.

Craft Party: Plan some crafts that children can easily make. They love to draw, paint, and glue. They love to feel the accomplishment of making something. There are making ideas for making Christmas decorations that they can take home with them.

Cocktail Party: This is a more formal way to entertain. You can get out all your recipes for appetizers and starting early make several then freeze them until the day of the party. If you are under a lot of stress and very busy you can buy a huge selection of snacks at the grocery store. Or you can have the party catered. Don’t forget to plan on the beverages. A non-alcohol punch is a must. Children usually love the blend of juices and the designated drivers will be grateful. Christmas eggnog is fun to have. This rich beverage can be a Christmas tradition. Wine and beer seem to have taken the place of other forms of spirits.

The idea to have a Christmas party is to have fun and enjoy your guests. Early planning will help you stay relaxed and not over tired. Christmas parties are a great way to entertain.

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This is a Christmas tradition that I started years ago when my children were young and now I do this every year with my Grandchildren. It is something that we all look forward to doing. We also make Gingerbread Girls.

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Molasses
• 2 Tbsp Vinegar
• 5 cups sifted All-purpose Flour
• 11/2 Tsp Soda
• ½ Tsp Salt
• 2 to 3 Tsp Ginger
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp Cloves

Thoroughly cream shortening with sugar. Stir in egg, molasses, and vinegar; beat well. Sift flour together with dry ingredients. Stir into molasses mixture. Chill at least 3 hours.

On lightly floured surface roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with gingerbread boy or girl cutters. Place 1 inch on greased cookie sheet. Bake in moderate oven 375 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet and cool on rack. Quantity depends on size of your cutters.

To decorate we use icing tubes (you can make your own icing and use a pastry tube – I just find with several children the tubes work better). We use white, red, and green icing. We decorate with Smarties, Jelly Beans, and other cake decorating sparkles. The fun is to just let the children do their own thing and be there to help.

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We have loved to have Christmas parties. As our children got older we always combined our friends with theirs. This Christmas Eggnog was always a hit. Early in our lives we bought two punch bowls with glasses and they have served us well through the years.

• 12 Egg Yolks
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 32 ounces Milk
• 26 ounces White or Gold Rum (can use Ginger Ale Instead)
• 32 ounces Whipping Cream

Beat the egg yolks until light. Beat in sugar until thick. Stir in milk then rum. Chill at least 3 hours. Whip cream until stiff. Fold into other ingredients. Serves 24
Garnish each cup with Nutmeg.

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Ginger Crackles Cookies

This is another family favorite Christmas cookie. Because she loves them so much my daughter has taken over making them each year. Perfect for ginger lovers.

• ¾ cup Shortening
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• ¼ cup Molasses
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tsp Baking soda
• ¼ Tsp Salt
• 2 Tsp Ginger
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp Cloves
• Granulated sugar

Cream shortening and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine dry ingredients and blend in. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes. *Don’t over bake. Cookies should be slightly soft when removed from oven. Makes about 31/2 dozen.

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Holiday Fruit Drop Cookies

This is a handy recipe if you make Christmas Fruit Cake as you add your left over fruit to it. We have altered it to suit our family’s likes and dislikes. You don’t have to like Fruit Cake to love these cookies but if you do these are a hit.

• ½ cup Butter
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• ½ Tsp Baking Soda
• ½ Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• Pinch of Cloves
• ¼ cup Sour Cream
• 1 cup coarsely chopped Dried Apricots
• 1 cup Mixed Fruitcake fruit
• 1 cup Raisins
• 1 cup golden Raisins
• ¼ cup All Purpose Flour

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine flour, soda, and spices; blend in alternately with sour cream. Combine fruit with ¼ cup flour. Stir in to batter.

Drop from teaspoon on to greased baking sheets. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 41/2 dozen cookies.

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This recipe comes to me from a dear friend Marion. I met her many years ago when I was first married and she gave me this recipe that I believe came from her Mother. Christmas would not be Christmas without Marion’s shortbread. They can be made at least a month ahead of time if you know a good hiding place for it. They can also be frozen until you need them. We always decorate ours with little bits of red or green Maraschino cherries.

• 1 pound Butter
• 1 cup Icing Sugar
• 4 cups Flour
• ½ Tsp Vanilla

Cream the butter, add the sugar, add the vanilla, and then slowly add the flour. Roll into a mound. Refrigerate until hard. Take out and soften a bit. Then with the palm of your hand press down a bit of the dough until it reaches your desired thickness. Cut out the shapes. I find the cutters work better if you dip them in flour. Bake at 325 degrees for 8 -10 minutes. You want just a bit of brown on the bottom of the cookie but none on top.

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This is a favorite cookie in our family that has been made as long as I can remember. It is very similar to shortbread except it is dusted with icing (confectioner) sugar and should have nuts in it. We make it without as some of our family members don’t care for nuts. The top of my very ragged recipe says Always Double It Every Year. Note: I don’t usually put quite as much icing sugar on the top as this picture depicts. A little goes a long way.

• 1 cup Butter
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1/3 cup Icing Sugar
• ½ Tsp Salt
• 2 cups Flour
• 1 cup finely chopped Pecans or Almonds (optional)

Cream butter; add sugar, salt and vanilla. Cream well and stir in flour gradually. Add nuts.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in moderate oven 325 degrees for 10 -15 minutes. While still warm dust with icing sugar.

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As part of our Christmas treats we always make these snacks. The recipe that I have is all tattered and torn. I have had it for ???????? years. Really that many! Everyone loves this mixture and it is much anticipated.

• 2 pounds Mixed Nuts
• 12 ounces Shreddies
• 14 ounces Cheerios
• 61/2 ounces Pretzel Bits
• 51/2 ounces Pretzel Sticks
• 2 cups Salad oil
• 2 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 Tsp Garlic salt
• 1 Tsp Celery salt

All of the above ingredients are approximate. I usually add a bit more by eye. NB. Put the Shreddies in after you add the oil. Mix the Cheerios, and Pretzels in a large roasting pan. Mix the Worcestershire Sauce, Garlic salt, and Celery salt together then pour over the cereal. Lastly add the Shreddies. If you forget and add the Shreddies with the Cheerios you will find that too much of the oil sticks to them. Bake in the oven at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Stir frequently.
Note: Shreddies are made by Post in Canada and the UK. In the US Wheat Squares are similar.

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