Holiday Goodies

Each year just before Christmas, we had a holiday gathering for all the children and their families at the campus child care center I worked at for several years. Each family contributed a plate of holiday treats.

One year, as I moved around the Center visiting with parents and siblings of the preschoolers I spent time with each day, I happened upon a conversation between two preschoolers. They each held one of those peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss in the middle.

“Kiss me,” said the little girl as she looked at the confused little boy in front of her. “You can’t take a bite of your kissy cookie until you kiss me. That’s what my mom and dad do,” she said sweetly. I pictured her young parents sitting on the couch in their living room at home with a tin of Kissy Cookies resting on their laps, sharing a quick little peck as they ate cookies together. I held back a little giggle.

For the holidays I'm serving chocolate mini-candy bars at home and giving them as gifts. They're a lot of fun to make. They taste great and look so cool.

For everyone who doesn't have the time, I am making them to sell.  If you don't live in the LA area, I can mail them to you.  You can email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

MAKING THEM AT HOME

To make chocolates requires a few specialized tools, some of which may already be in your kitchen.

A double boiler or two saucepans that can fit together, a Silpat or nonstick sheet, and a silicone spatula are the basics. If you want to make individual chocolates, you will also have to invest in hard plastic or silicone molds sold in restaurant supply and some kitchen supply stores. 

Be prepared to do a lot of tasting in pursuit of a chocolate you like. What you need to find is chocolate sold in bulk, not chocolate bars that are designed to be consumed like candy bars. Once you find a chocolate you like, start thinking about flavors and nuts.

These just scream Christmas, don't they?  I wanted to show you this recipe to give you plenty of time to include this in your holiday entertaining.  I love cranberry desserts at the holidays - they are so pretty, with the cranberries looking like little jewels. These phyllo baskets are simply scrumptious and you can make the components of these ahead of time, making it a breeze to assemble right before you want them.

I've had this recipe for years, way before you could buy prebaked phyllo baskets in the grocery store.  If you absolutely don't have time to make the phyllo baskets yourself, you could use the frozen kind. I've never tried them, so I cannot tell you if they are any good. But if you buy phyllo sheets and make your own little baskets, I guarantee they will be wonderful and crisp and light and so worth the small effort it takes to make them. And you can make the baskets way ahead of time and keep them at room temperature.  The filling and topping are practically afterthoughts, they are so easy.

Another classic Christmas cookie - Shortbread is a traditional Scottish dessert that consists of three basic ingredients: flour, sugar, and butter. According to Wikpedia, this cookie resulted from medieval biscuit bread, which was a twice baked, enriched bread roll dusted with sugar and spices and hardened into a soft and sweetened biscuit called a Rusk.

Eventually, yeast from the original Rusk recipe was replaced by butter, which was becoming more of a staple in the British Isles. Despite the fact that shortbread was prepared during much of the 12th century, the refinement of shortbread was actually accredited to Mary, Queen of Scots, in the 16th century.

The name of one of the most famous and most traditional forms of shortbread, petticoat tails, were named by Queen Mary. This type of shortbread was baked, cut into triangular wedges as they are in this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated.