Holiday Goodies

“Now, I go on a diet.”

It is eight days into the new year when my temporary house dad in Rome has turned to me and said this. I look at his wife and I joke, “That is possible in Italy?”

Both laughing, “Yes it is.”

I think to myself, ‘Diet…in Italy. Maybe.’ Then I think, ‘Maybe if I don’t eat along my tour of the north which I will be leaving for in a day, I can do an Italian diet—on both my calories and my wallet.’

Not possible. I repeat—Not possible, especially when Torino, Italy, home of the best chocolate in the world is on the list—especially when the 12th day of the 2011 means being barricaded by city walls of chocolate, cream, pastries, and gelato, especially when I have a sweet tooth that I don’t think the tooth fairy will ever collect from me…and especially when the city of Torino even has something called a chocolate pass which allows you to tour all the chocolate of the city within two days. Keeping to my wallet diet, I avoided the chocolate pass…but still didn’t avoid the chocolate. This is how I broke every basic New Years Resolution in the first fifteen days of the year.

"The holiday season would be unthinkable - and a bit unbearable - without plenty of goodies, both sweet and intoxicating. Hear are some of our favorite recipes, some classic, some simple, all sure to put you in the Christmas spirit."

Cashew Linzer Cookie Wreaths
Chocolate Souffle Cookies
Italian Pizzelle Cookies
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Mocha Kissy Cookies
Mocha Mint Biscotti
Valerie's Neapolitan Cookies
Pistachio Cranberry Biscotti
Rice Krispie Coconut Snowballs
Sugarplums

Buche de Noel with Chestnut Filling

Best Red Velvet Cupcakes
Double-Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Candy Cane Martini | Champagne Punch | Cranberry-Spiced Martini |
Eskimo Kiss | Happy Elf
Haute Holiday | Holiday Pomtini | Hot Buttered Rum | Matt's Winter Cocktail | Mulled Wine
The Silver Bell | Spiced Mulled Cider | White Christmas Cocktail

Do you love coconut as much as I do? If you do, then these Rice Krispie Coconut Snowballs are going to make you smile. The Rice Krispies become this sugary coconut delivery system. What could be more perfect?

Now, my husband, he completely dislikes coconut. It kills me! I don't know how he lives...(he'll love that I said that too). I guess he could never live in the South with all the amazing Coconut Cream Pie he'd have to turn down. And then there's the most amazing Coconut Cake I've ever made. Swoon! He'll never know what he's missing. More for me.

This is truly a quick and easy recipe, perfect for the cookie platter. The sugary whipped egg whites keep the mixture together, letting you form the mixture into little snowballs.

During a holiday season so full of red and green, the snow white color is a welcome reprieve. It gives balance to the Christmas crazy that can sometimes take over the house. I find these cookies to be an elegant reminder of the serenity of wintertime. 

There’s lots of good news about these spicy nuts:

1. You can bring them to a party as a hostess gift and they will love them and not really compute how little effort went into making them.

2. You can make them way in advance, as much as two weeks. Just don’t do what I have been known to do and forget that you made them two weeks ago and go tearing around on the day of the party making them all over again.

3. Everybody likes them.

4. You can put them on a salad with dried cranberries and feta and everyone will think you are a genius. (Or break them up and put them on top of ginger ice cream—yum.)