Plays Well Funny Mug

Check out my funny mug. Plays well with self!

December 18th is Bake Cookies Day. Woo hoo, that means that Christmas is almost here. I love all the Christmas cookies. But I still have a few favorites. This is the official day to spend  making your Christmas cookies. My kids, who are older now, still love coming over and spending the day making cookies with me.

I featured one of my favorites in my blog entry Caramel Refrigerator Cookies. These are great cookies and easy to make. Another really good cookie (and easy) are Cranberry Noels. Try these, they will be a big hit.

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cream the butter and sugar using the paddle attachment. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until just combined. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, salt, cranberries, and pecans; continue beating until fully combined.

Shape each piece into an 8-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Check out my lens on Creative Gift Giving for ideas on packaging your cookies to give to your friends and family.

Chia Pet Rescue

Check out my fish (who I named Snaggle Tooth) on my Zazzle site:

Snaggle Tooth T-shirt

Chia Pet Rescue

One of our Christmas traditions is to make holiday treats and give them as gifts. Every one’s favorite are my caramels. I  have people ask me for them all the time. And I always have to tell them they need to wait until Christmas. This is a special treat I save for the holiday season. This recipe has been a family secret, but I thought it is about time to share this tradition and recipe.

Chia Pet’s Christmas Caramels

2 C Sugar
1 C Light Corn Syrup
1/4 t salt
1 pt of Cream
1/2 C Unsalted Butter
1 t vanilla

Mix sugar, syrup, salt and 1/3 of the cream in a large pot. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Boil until quite thick. Remove lid and slowly add the remaining cream while stirring continuously. Add the cream slowly enough that it does not stop boiling. Continue boiling and stirring until candy reaches 234 degrees on a candy thermometer. Candy should be a caramel color.

Add butter and vanilla. Continue stirring until temperature comes back to 234 degrees. Pour candy into a buttered 9 X 9 inch pan. Do no scrape pan. Cool, cut and wrap.

Notes: Caramels should be a nice deep caramel color. The darker the color, the harder your caramels will be. I have also noticed that humidity affects how fast your caramels will cook. If it is very humid, it will take longer.

However you say it. Just say Merry Christmas!

Gift giving tip: I like to wrap the caramels in colorful plastic wrap and put them in festive mugs for Christmas gifts. Find original and fun containers for your candy and food gifts. For example, sometimes I make fabric origami boxes for gift giving!

Chia Pet Rescue