Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

The baking bonanza is officially over for the holiday season.  Everything went by in such a blur that I didn't even take pictures of everything I baked - something I should have done for posterity's sake.  That's okay - most will be revisited very soon, and I'll make up for it on Valentines.  Here are a few of the unique ingredients that made their way into some of my baking this season ... and will probably show up again in a few different variations!

:: (left) Handmade artisan Baileys Irish Cream truffles pressed into the centre of shortbread cookies to bake ::
:: (right) Cap'n Choco Crunch was the cereal of choice for another variation of the Fudge Krispy Truffles ::

:: (left) Making flavoured shortbread cookie by using Jell-O powder in the batter ::
:: (right) Griotte sour cherry chocolate truffles pressed into shortbread cookies to bake ::

:: Fluffernutter (left) and dark chocolate spread (right) were great compliments for shortbread cookie sandwiches ::

This only puts a dent in things, but they're definitely my favourite.  Have you had any interesting concoctions in your baking this year?

Building Our Dream (Gingerbread) Houses

I have a friend, Jenna, who knows how to throw a house party - a gingerbread house party!  It's a tradition every year that she invites her nearest and dearest to bring candy to add to the pile and decorate our very own gingerbread dreamhouses. 

If I were to live in a gingerbread house, this would be it.

Front (left) and back of the gingerbread house.

That's red licorice Nibs as roof shingles, mini M&Ms along the edge of the roof as Christmas lights, pretzels to outline windows and doors, and you'll see marshmallows on top of the chimney for smoke.  All sorts of other delicious goodies - Hershey's Hugs, Mike & Ikes, Swedish Berries, and a bunch of Christmas candies that made the whole thing festive.

 

Jenna, bless her, had invited a couple of neighbourhood kids to partake in the fun.  Since there was a whopping nine of us this year, she bought premade gingerbread house kits instead of making them from scratch.  She had plenty of wine for the grownups and soda for the kids!

The problem with drinking wine and having a menagerie of candy in front of you - you're eating while decorating.  Or throwing it at your friends.  That's me in the elf hat.  Sitting across from me is my best friend and Jenna's sister, Graham.  He keeps throwing Nibs and marshmallows at me. 

And for the finished houses ... have you ever seen a more delicious neighbourhood?

L-R: Lisa, Jenna, Phyllis, Derron, me and Graham.  I think we were trying to recreate da Vinci's 'The Last Supper', if you note Phyllis and Graham's postures.

Jenna says I won 'first prize' in the adult house decorating category, but it was all for the fun of it!  Besides, we all took home the same prize!

Thank you again, Jenna!