Raw candy

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Sour cherry shortbread hearts

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Gabriela's cinnamon buns

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Truffles II

Found some ganache in the freezer and decided to make some more truffles. I got the original recipe here but no need to be daunted... It's really about rolling some ganache between your hands, dropping it in a bowl full of bittersweet chocolate (70%) and dousing it in cocoa or coconut. Easy peasy.

Stars and lights, stuffing and ice

Making sesame stars with the boys

I've never liked stuffing...all that soggy bread and dried fruit, i don't get it. So when it came to Christmas, the first chez nous in three years, we decided to skip the big turkey and each picked a dish instead, and i chose stuffing. (Me and it have to do right after all.) The recipe i found had dried ciabatta, sauteed leeks and fennel, artichoke hearts, spicy sausage, chilies, and orange zest.

We had it with spaghetti and drumsticks, and for the first time, it wasn't all that bad.

We finished our Christmas meal with lemon ice, an old food & drink recipe that involved lemon juice, sugar, eggs, whipped cream, and double/triple churning. My favourite way to make ice cream - no need for an ice cream maker...it turns out just as fabulously by hand.

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Truffles

They began in the evening...

(with some cream and a whole lotta bittersweet chocolate)

...and continued the next day.

In the end, we were surrounded by 60 of them. Ganache enrobed in chocolate and rolled in toasted coconut, heartnuts (a local version of walnuts), or cocoa. When I told Eily there was one made of chocolate and whipped cream, dipped in chocolate, and then rolled in chocolate, his eyes grew wide.

For 10 years, I've made a Christmas/Solstice/festive (sometimes New Year's) gift for 9 of my long-time friends. A different one each time: soap, woolen wrist warmers, fridge magnets, etc....sort of a fun way to try out a new craft. This year was truffles. But when I made up a sample pack, and got out the scale and measuring tape (trusty tools for my new favourite way to ship), I was disheartened. $10 to Toronto! It even seemed to get more expensive when I made the package smaller!

So instead I sat back, popped a truffle in my mouth, and wrote an apologetic email to them all to say that this tradition is over. Traditions are great, but you have to allow yourself to break them too. Besides, my friends in town are happy to reap the rewards. Including Joyce, our letter carrier.

(As a side note, I have since learned that Canadian Postal workers get benefits, are unionized, and have good jobs. I can't complain too much.)

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