Happy New Year!! Welcome 2012!

Wishing you a happy ending to 2011 and all the best in 2012!!
Hope you'll be celebrating New Year's Eve with family and friends and lots of good food.
Looking for a couple of festive drink recipes?How about a Candy Cane Martini or the ever popular Spiked Egg Nog!
Resolve to start the diet in 2012!

Anna Sultana's Anise Biscotti, Maltese Style

Happy New Year!!

Time to have a Biscotti.



Yes, if you're a faithful reader, I've posted Ma's Biscotti recipe already.



But, there are Biscotti and there are Biscotti.

This is a different Biscotti.

Yes it is.
This recipe used anise.





                        Anise Biscotti



Grease a large cookie sheet

Preheat oven to 400º 



Sift together

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

Anise Speculaas (Christmas Cookies) - Margaret Ullrich

A cookie recipe that uses anise.

Perfect.

One of your elderly relatives loves licorice.

One of your rich elderly relatives.



And he's coming over for New Year's Eve.

Time for somebody to rewrite his will.



This recipe calls for those cookie cutters.

Or that glass or knife.



The timing is for a cookie about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Adjust if your cutters make the cookies bigger or

Anise (star anise and ground) - Margaret Ullrich

Pepper, Cloves, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg.

Old favorites.

The only possible newbie was the Cardamom.

Unless you're Swedish.



Boring.



Well, say hello to your new little friend.

Anise.



Anise hads a licorice-like flavor.  

If you like licorice, you'll love it.

If you don't, you won't.

So it goes.



Anise comes from the parsley family.

Star anise is from an evergreen shrub found in

Christmas Greetings and A Story about Santa Claus by Margaret Ullrich

Silent Night,  

Holy Night...



The big night is finally here!!



I hope you and your family and friends are enjoying a very Merry Christmas, 

full of love, peace, health and happiness.





Last year I posted a short story about my first Christmas in College Point, 

a small town in New York, when I was 5 years old.



If you have young children, they might enjoy it.

If you'd like to see

Depression Cake (Christmas Raisin Fruitcake) - Margaret Ullrich

Nobody's touching the fruitcake.

But, a proper Christmas requires that everybody eats something 

that's got dried fuit in it.

Helps to keep things moving, so to speak.



And the dried fruit thingy should be spicy.

As in cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.



No, we don't want Mexican just yet.

Chili pepper would just make matters worse.

It's almost Christmas.

Everybody has enough agita.

The

Nutmeg Sugar Cookies (Christmas Cookies) - Margaret Ullrich

The kids are climbing the walls.

They need something to do.



Flour companies are saying that baking together is right up there 

with praying together.

It'll create wonderful memories.

Sure, at this point you're ready to try anything.





Still have the cookie cutters - or glass - from last week?

Good.

You'll need them for this recipe, too.

Pack away the sharp knife.

Now.

Nutmeg & Mace - Margaret Ullrich

It's almost Christmas.

So, I'm giving you a two-fer.

Merry Christmas!!



What with all the fancy coffees that are out there, even at good old Micky D, 

a cup of egg nog - or a coffee with whipped cream - looks downright naked 

unless it has some brown flecks on top of it.



This is nutmeg's moment to shine!



Ah, but what do you know about nutmeg?



The seed is known as nutmeg, and the

Oh, Christmas Tree!! - Margaret Ullrich

Continued from part 1

I thought I had dressed warmly.  



That fink, the ditzy receptionist, showed up looking like the Michelin Man.  She was ready to march to Thompson if necessary.  So were the three other women co-workers.  The other wives - who all knew better - had begged off.  I was alone with four career women who were full of the 'I am woman, hear me roar' career fever.  While they

Our First Winnipeg Christmas Tree - Margaret Ullrich

God, it was cold.



I didn't know it could get that cold.

I didn't know I'd ever be stupid enough to be outdoors in that kind of cold.

I didn't know I'd been stupid enough to marry someone stupid enough to work with people stupid enough to be out in that kind of cold.



It was our first December in Winnipeg.



We had grown up in New York City.  There people went to an empty parking lot 

Gingerbread and Seven Minute Frosting / Buttermilk Substitute for Baking - Margaret Ullrich

I've never understood Gingerbread.

It seems a bit sweet to call a bread.

I sure wouldn't make a sandwich with it.





It's an old recipe.

Maybe, in those days, people just needed more calories.

Or had bigger sweet tooths.



So, I'll stick to calling it Gingerbread.

Gingercake just doesn't sound right.





Don't have sour milk?

Just pour a Tablespoon of white vinegar into a measuring cup

Gingerbread Cookies (Christmas Cookies) and Royal Frosting - Margaret Ullrich

I know, I know... 

If someone says "Gingerbread", "men" is what usually comes to mind.

Heck, there's even a fairy tale about a running Gingerbread man who could've 

been in the Olympics.



But, it's a bit of a bother to buy cookie cutters you don't use regularly.

And sometimes you've got lots of cutters, but they're in a nice safe place.

Yeah, like that's the first thing a crook wants to

Ginger (Fresh and Ground) - Margaret Ullrich

Ah!  Ginger!!

No, I'm not thinking about Gilligan's Island.



Ginger is another old favorite spice.

Especially at this time of year.



Who hasn't chomped off the head of a gingerbread man?

Or built and decorated a gingerbread house?

Speaking of building...

Egyptians were eating ginger when the pyramid of Cheops was new.



Gingerbread was popular in Greece 5,000 years ago.

By the twelfth

Swedish Cardamom Wreath for Saint Lucia Day (Christmas Bread) - Margaret Ullrich

What's a holiday without a fancy bread?



Forget about the saffron buns for Saint Lucia Day.

This is a lovely loaf of holiday bread.

And it's Swedish.



If you're baking ahead, the dough can be frozen.

Allow the braids to thaw and rise before baking.

The baked braids can be frozen, uniced.

Warm them in the microwave and ice.

Who's to know? 





Serve a wreath on December 13.

At a

Cardamom Cinnamon Cookies (slice and bake Christmas Cookies) - Margaret Ullrich

This is a handy slice and bake cookie recipe.

Great for this time of year.



Make the dough when you're watching television.

Slice and bake for a warm treat when company's coming.

They'll never know.



Well, they might notice there aren't any dirty bowls around.





For a little variety...

Make slightly fatter logs, then flatten the dough to form a long rectangle 

which, when cut, would

Cardamom / Sugar & Spice Christmas Blend - Margaret Ullrich

When it comes to spices, Swedes are big spenders.

First, there's the saffron for the buns for Saint Lucia Day.

I've already said enough about Saint Lucia and saffron.

Making real Swedish saffron buns is still on my Bucket List.



Saffron is often not found among the usual spices.

I've heard of women asking, weeks in advance, if it could be ordered for their 

holiday recipes.

Tradition is

Holiday Traditions and The First Maltese Lucia Queen (part 2 by Margaret Ullrich)

Continued from part 1


Maybe the lack of sleep was affecting my mind.  



My next goal was an authentic Swedish Saint Lucia Day for our first December 13.  



According to one big fat book, a good Swedish wife got up at four a.m. to start tossing her cookies.  God forbid any sunlight should shine on the dough or disaster would befall the household.  Every hefty housefrau hoped a crescent moon

Holiday Traditions and St. Nicholas (part 1 by Margaret Ullrich)

As far as I'm concerned, there are two questions no one should ever ask a woman.  

The first is "How old are you?"  

The second is "Have you done your holiday baking yet?"  



Why is it that, when the thermometer falls, we're supposed to bake?  

Does the Queen whip up a fruitcake before writing her speech?
I don't think so.  



I really admire women who can bake things that look good enough

Cinnamon Apple Pie in Love - a Horse's Story from The Gentle Barn

Another tale from The Gentle Barn.  When I saw the horse's name, I couldn't resist.



You are Never Too Old to Love Again 



Cinnamon Apple Pie's life partner, Momma Dear passed away last year. It was a huge loss to us all! Cinnamon and Momma were inseparable from the first time they met till the day Momma Dear passed away.



When Momma Dear died we were worried about Cinnamon and sure enough

Christmas on the Cheap by Margaret Ullrich

There are less than four weeks left until Christmas.  

     

I know, it's more blessed to give than to receive.  But, unless you have ways of shopping that you don't want the police to know about, giving means money. 

     

It's a little late to start a Christmas account and utility companies really lose that 

Ho Ho Ho spirit if you skip paying their bills.  

If the charge cards are maxed

German Sugar Cookies (Christmas Cookies) - Margaret Ullrich

Don't be put off by the name.

These sugar cookies travel well.

And anyone would enjoy them.





There's a bit of a story to the recipe.

During WW II these cookies were mailed overseas and they survived the 6 week trip.

They became 'German Cookies' if they were captured en route.



           German Sugar Cookies



Grease a 12 x 18" pan

Preheat oven to 350º

Bake 20 minutes



In a large

Cinnamon (sticks and ground) / Homemade Apple Pie Spice Blend - Margaret Ullrich

Cinnamon is probably the most popular spice in the world.



It's mentioned in the Bible:

All thy garments smell of myrhh, aloes and cassia (cinnamon) - Psalm 45



It's even mentioned in ancient history:

In Rome in 65 A. D. the funeral rites for Emperor Nero's wife used up the 

entire year's supply of cinnamon.



No, I don't know why her funeral needed so much cinnamon.

And I don't know

Brandied Fruit (Traditional and Quick recipes) - Margaret Ullrich

This should be started 4 weeks in advance.

Perfect for New Year's Eve.



Keep it at room temperature in plain sight.

This has to be stirred every day.

Throughout the whole month.



Well, you have to do some work to get free booze.





                        Brandied Fruit



Place ingredients in a 1 quart container with a loose fitting lid.

DO NOT use a metal container.



1  8 3/4 oz.

Storing & Preparing Spices - Margaret Ullrich

You want to take care of spices when you bring them home.

They're not as expensive as they once were.

But still, you want to get your money's worth.



When it come to storing dried spices, there are a few very simple rules:



Be sure containers are airtight.

Moisture can cause ground spices to cake.

Store them in a cool, dry place.

Keep the spice shelf away from direct light, especially