Posts Tagged "christmas baskets"
I come bearing gifts. Yummy gifts.
This year’s Christmas gifts were another epic undertaking [but that seems to be a common theme in all of my gifts] but the end result was utter deliciousness.
There’s something awesome about conquering a treat that otherwise seems so mysterious and difficult to achieve [there's only a matter of time before I attempt my hand at macarons!]. Everyone thinks you’re a genius and even when you tell them just how insanely easy it was, they scoff and brush it off. I mean, I tried to tell everyone just how simple these were to make [seriously: melt chocolate, chill, scoop, roll, chill, dip] and they refused to hear of it.
Anywho, this year I decided to make chocolate truffles. Oh yes, I turned my kitchen into a chocolate factory that would make Willy Wonka shake his head and scoff. Because it wasn’t that awesome. It was freezing though made for perfect conditions to work with chocolate. Oh, the truffles.
I made four different flavors:
1) White Chocolate Champagne
2) Peanut Butter [dipped in bittersweet chocolate - if I were to do this again, I'd use a semi-sweet chocolate instead]
3) Chocolate Nutella
and my absolute favorite: S’Mores. Oh yes I did.
Oh, wait. It gets better!
Why, yes that IS a marshmallow in the center! How’d it get there? It’s like magic! Or the power of smooshing two halves of the truffle around the marshmallow. This little nugget tastes so awesome that I am super sad that I don’t have any more extras. They were the first to be eaten. Oh. I would so make this over and over and over again. In fact, I think I will in the future.
Aside from the S’Mores truffles, my other favorite part of this year’s gift was the packaging. Of course. This was made simple thanks to one Martha Stewart Crafts. I stumbled upon her food packaging set at Michael’s and thought they were the cutest thing ever. I debated the merits of attempting to replicate them on the cheap but realized that when everything was said and done, there was no way I’d be able to do so any cheaper than buying them. And then fate stepped in and they were put on sale! I was SUPPOSED to use these boxes!
And I am so glad I did. They had everything I needed: boxes, inner scalloped boxes, tissue paper and those cute labels. The only additional thing I bought was the baker’s twine because I thought they needed a little something on top. Definitely a good add. My only complaint was that the corners of the bottom portion of the boxes didn’t line up as nicely as they should have and made it a bit difficult to get the top box on. You should check that out Ms. Stewart.
I am starting to look for ideas for next year. I know that I’m not always saving money by making these treats [especially when you add up the cost of quality ingredients] but I know my friends really look forward to receiving these gifts and genuinely enjoy them, which is really the only point.
Read MoreDon’t call me the bag lady
Alright, after a momentary setback, we’re back and rolling. This year’s much talked about Christmas gift baskets/bags were quite the undertaking, only because I had been fretting about what to make because I had forgotten what I decided to make. Remember, I came up with ideas for the next two Christmases last year because that’s just how my mind works – of course now I have the old second idea for next year’s gifts and a new idea I came up with while I was making this year’s gift. I should write these down so I don’t have to worry about what I’m making next year.
But that’s another post and I really should be writing that down for safekeeping. Hopefully I don’t lose the paper I write it down on. And we’re moving right along. Again.
So the contents of this year’s bags; I went with the bags again…I mean, when you can get 13 bags for 4 bucks with a 40% off coupon [yay Michael’s!] that’s way better than buying individual baskets, even if they are a buck. And I still got to decorate them the way I first imagined when I wanted to do boxes. Yeah, I wanted boxes at first after seeing one at the deli down the street from the office, which was where I got the decoration idea from in the first place. Plus the bags came in handy since I ended up having to leave quite a few for people who weren’t home when I stopped by. They hung quite nicely on doorknobs and mailboxes.
Did you follow all of that? I hope so because I’m not repeating myself.
But back to the beginning, the contents of this year’s bag was a jar of hot cocoa mix and Mexican wedding cookies. Yes, the same Mexican wedding cookies I made for the baking/football party earlier this year. I’m kind of sneaky like that. I had never made them before and wanted to try them out and that was the perfect avenue. Especially since I had originally planned on making macarons but was left scrambling for a new idea because I didn’t like the ones I picked up from Miette on a whim. I was slightly disappointed and never finished them. If I can figure out a recipe that doesn’t taste all that…meringue-y then I’d totally make them again. So we’ll see.
So to avoid that, I tested these cookies. Which worked out perfectly well since people liked them the first time and were still excited to get them the second time [people like my mom who has declared them her new favorite cookie and Tim who tore into the cookies the second he saw them].
Along with testing the cookies, I also tested hot cocoa mixes. There were quite a few recipes online and I originally thought of making a Mexican hot chocolate mix but eventually gave that up after not getting the right combination of spices [at one point all I could taste was cayenne pepper. Not very tasty]. I picked out a couple that I liked that didn’t involve non-dairy creamer and went to town testing them [thanks Tam, Lindsey and my Mom for your help and advice – I know that was a lot of cocoa to drink in a short period of time].
I had finally settled on one recipe [thank you Alton Brown] but still had some tweaking to do. It didn’t help that I was so sick of drink hot cocoa by the end of it and I was having trouble getting the mix to completely dissolve in the water with the additions I made [it left a lot of deposits around the cup]. I had seriously contemplated just copping out and buying pre-made mix and going from there but part of me felt so disappointed and defeated. I even bought sample packets from Cost Plus! Thankfully, after pricing things out [look at that; I can do math] it turned out to be more economical to just make my own so back I went into the lab/kitchen and worked it out a bit more before I finally [FINALLY] got it. All it took was a quick whirl through the food processor and then through the sifter and wah-la! Completely dissolving cocoa mix without the messy, greasy residue from the additional chocolate I added in [that was part of my tweaking to the original recipe]. And the best part was that it didn’t leave gunky not completely melted chocolate bits on the bottom of the cup! Success!
So the packaging, which is actually my favorite part of the entire gift [what can I say? I LOVE packaging]. I did not make the labels myself. The ones for the hot cocoa jar were borrowed labels from the Paper Source website and sized them down a bit so they’d fit and printed from my own computer. Illegal? Not really [right?] since it was for personal use only and I totally credited them when people asked. But there was no way I was going to spend the money on buying labels that were $5 for a pack of 8 labels [the circle ones were $5 for a pack of 6!]. I mean really? The only one I actually made [thanks to Excel] was the tag for the front of the bag that was inspired by another one from Paper Source.
But I am quite pleased with how everything turned out. And yes, I was called Martha Stewart but that’s okay. It was completely worth it. And now I can relax until next year.
Read MoreUnagi is not a method of self-defense…
It’s finally Friday. What a freakin’ relief. Though I wish I could have just taken today off…the office is gasping for breath at the moment. Well, the department next to me is here and buzzing away but they’re always like this. They’re pretty much busy all year around. Anywho, this morning as I was walking to the BART station, I realized that after today, the next time I come to the BART in the morning will be when I’m flying out to Michigan! Tell me that isn’t exciting. It was more than enough to put a few extra hops to my steps.
I had a blast last night though. After work I met up with Eileen for dinner downtown. Robe and Alan were going to join us too but Robe wasn’t feeling well and Al was still deep at work when I left the office. So after some deliberation, Eye and I headed up the street to Sushi Boat.
This was the first time I’ve ever been there. It’s this cute little sushi restaurant downtown that’s on the corner of Mason and Geary. After some minor confusion in seating, we were and Eye added some sushi with that. I don’t remember what it was called but it had eel and avocado and actually tasted pretty good. It was a great time out with classic conversations. Good times Eye, good times.
Afterwards, we met Alan outside for a drive-by gift exchange and chatted for a brief second since he turned down our offer to grab dessert. I finally got my birthday/Hawaii gift from her…this super cute rash guard to wear when I’m surfing. And Eye gave me these really cute knee socks. I should have taken a picture of them when I tried them on. I like them. I’ve got to make a reason to put them on. Maybe I’ll bring them when I go to Michigan. We all know I’ll need all the extra help staying warm that I can get!
I’m sure the bf will love them. Look at my sexy knee socks…like those stripes on the foot and the flowers on the leg? Aren’t they HOT? I know he’ll just shake his head and go about his business. Best believe I’m wearing them to bed, son!
We’ll definitely have to get together more often though. I hadn’t seen Robe and Alan since Jacki’s wedding back in July and I hadn’t seen Eye since my birthday in August. And it’s December! Too long folks, too long. We are looking forward to hitting up Tahoe next month hopefully though for some snowboarding. I can’t wait. I hope Cin can get the cabin for the weekend. Those trips are the best.
Okay, since I am delivering two more bags today and finishing up this weekend, I can finally reveal what it was I’ve been working on the past week. In an awesome follow up to last year’s baskets of fudge and gingerbread men, this year’s gifts consisted of 4 flavors of chocolate dipped pretzels [oh yes I did!] and two flavors of whoopie pies.
The whoopie pies were surprisingly easy to make and deeelicious. Okay, the gingerbread one was okay but the original chocolate one was to die for. I’d definitely make that one again and again and again. I used a different recipe for the filling than the one listed with the chocolate whoopie pie recipe that I used and I quite enjoyed it. I doubled the batch according to my own calculation but I think it’d be better as single batches because I thought it tasted a little doughy…well, until I figure out how to probably multiply measurements. Because sometimes, you just can’t double a recipe. Anywho, onto pictures!
Read MoreCussing after yoga is the opposite of Zen…
I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday. Actually, I’m glad it’s Wednesday because the workweek is half over and I have some cooking plans up my sleeve for the weekend. Yay for fudge and risotto experimentations! Of course not together. Eww, that’d be gross. I’m making myself hungry thinking about all of this. I’ll have to go grocery shopping this weekend so I can do both. Oooh I’m so excited! That and I’m gearing up to try my hand at the gingerbread roll next weekend too. I’m making myself seriously hungry just thinking about that. Are you hungry yet, Eddie?
You know, maybe I’ll add that to this weekend. I planned on making the fudge Friday night to give it overnight to set and maybe making a second flavor on Saturday…I can totally throw in the gingerbread roll while I’m in the kitchen. I don’t have anything planned really, except for that stop at the hospital for my bloodletting [read: blood tests] and maybe a lunch with a friend but that’s still on the table. I won’t know for sure until Friday but I think I’ll go ahead and buy everything in one day anyway, that way I’ll avoid the Thanksgiving grocery store rush. Sounds like a plan to me.
I’m not really sure when this yen for baking and cooking developed buy I’m enjoying the fact that it’s there. While I’ll probably never reach the pantheon that Tami is on [she did graduate from the CIA with a degree in pastry arts after all] I like the level that I’m reaching on my own. Sure it’ll be a while and lots and lots of practice before I’m substituting and adding my own spin to recipes but I like the progression. This is just another avenue for me to get my creativity on and y’all know how much I love to flex that muscle.
Eventually I’ll have enough good recipes tucked up my sleeve that I’ll be able to sustain myself and the bf on things other than the chicken and pasta I was shoveling into my mouth on a daily basis when I lived in the apartment my senior year [which probably heavily contributed to my dramatic weight loss from working out]. Sure there are a lot of things that I don’t know how to make but that’s because folks don’t write down their steps. I’m no Iron Chef; you can’t give me an ingredient and tell me to make something [or several somethings], the infinite possibilities freeze me. My mom used to all tell me to just make something but I never knew what so I never did. You want me to make dinner? Sure, what? You don’t know? You want me to pick? Okay, so how’s grilled cheese sandwiches or cereal sound because I like that. And that’s easy to make. I’m all over that.
Speaking of which, I made THE BEST grilled cheese sandwich to date last week. Oh it was delicious. I threw some dried basil on the buttered sides of the bread [because I heart basil] and then used this shredded “Mexican” themed cheese on it, then a slice of Monterey Jack and then more of the shredded cheese. Let me tell you that thing was so ooey gooey! I cut it in half and the Monterey Jack just oozed everywhere. I had the best time eating that sandwich. It would have been perfect if I had some French fries or even tomato soup. Oh if only.
I know it’s too early to think about Christmas presents and stuff but I’m finalizing this year’s gift baskets. I already decided what I was going to make and now I’m close on figuring out the flavors. Ooooh, flavors? Yup, but that’s all you’re getting out of me. Last year’s gifts were a big hit, a jar of the fudge and two gingerbread men all gussied up into a cute little basket. I had a lot of fun putting those together so I’m excited about this year’s too. I’ll be scouting out the ingredients when I go shopping this weekend so we’ll see what makes the final cut. I just have to make sure everything gets out by the weekend before Christmas since I’m outty come the 26th.
Oh if only I had a Gocco! Then I’d be able to completely lose my mind and print my own Christmas cards to go with the gifts. Oh who am I kidding? I can still totally do that without a Gocco. But it would have been nice. I’m thinking about saving up for one to buy next year. But we’ll see what happens because next year will be a VERY spendy year [with visits with the bf, grad school and the GMAT test and the weddings that are tentatively scheduled]. But that’s for me to think about next year. I want to enjoy the last few weeks of this year first.
Especially that first Christmas holiday in the snow!
[edit]
My scholarship application is now complete. All I have to do is affix a picture and mail it as soon as I get Dr. H’s letter of reccomendation. I’m so glad this one is done. Now I have a month to write up a grant proposal.
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