Taste Bytes – December 2019

Memories

It’s a special time of year.

It’s celebrating old memories. Traipsing through the tree farm in search of the perfect tree. Unpacking a bin full of treasured ornaments. Baking the traditional favorites – tart lemon bars, buttery almond pastries, jam-filled thumbprints.

And it’s creating new memories. Celebrating the first holiday with a new love. Putting up the tree in a new home. Discovering new favorites – a rich hot chocolate cocktail, a caramelized pecan pie brie appetizer.

It’s a season of memories.

Here is this month’s edition of Taste Bytes, a celebration of December’s top tastes.

Holiday Baking

As soon as the month dawns, Christmas baking is on my mind. It’s time to pull out the cookie cutters, stock the pantry, and get to work.

The holiday season can be a flurry of activity, but my kitchen is always a welcome refuge from the bustle – a place to savor the process, the flavors, the memories that come with baking.

There are certain recipes that I return to each year, ones that have been passed down from my grandmother and mom – rich, not only in taste, but also in tradition. 

 Here are a few of my favorites…

Mom’s Lemon Bars

This is my go-to cookie for the holidays – my mom’s lemon bars. A buttery shortbread crust topped off with tart lemon curd and a dusting of powdered sugar – they are simply perfection.

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And here’s the recipe, hand-written by my mom, stained from years of use, and treasured in our family.

Toffee Bars

I’ve been making these toffee bars since I was a teenager, and my sister still requests them for Christmas each year. Growing up, we called these “Almond Roca bars” – and with their brown sugar shortbread base, milk chocolate topping, and slivered almonds – they are truly reminiscent of that decadent candy.

Thumbprints

I love variety and these thumbprints, another classic, lend themselves to endless variations. Whenever I hit the farmer’s market, I try to stock up on local jams, many of which made their way into these treats – apricot, plum, tayberry, chocolate raspberry, strawberry rhubarb, and more.

I’m always a fan of the original Betty Crocker recipe, but last year I tried Fine Cooking’s thumbprint cookies and they were outstanding as well.

Spritz Cookies

A highlight of the holiday season is taking out my cookie press and unpacking the box of sprinkles that I’ve collected (I may have a tendency to go a little overboard on that one) – so many choices and so much fun! You can’t go wrong with this spritz cookie recipe.

A Few New Favorites

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While I have my regular repertoire of Christmas cookies that I return to each year, I also enjoy experimenting with new recipes, a few of which end up in my “keeper file” – such as these eggnog snickerdoodles, pecan pie bars, and brown butter muscovado snickerdoodles.

Check out last year’s December Cookie Countdown post for links to these recipes and several other new favorites.

Danish Puff

I had to save the best for last…and this Danish puff recipe is hands down my top taste of the holiday season. My mom taught me to make these when I was just a little girl, and they’re still a staple of our Christmas morning breakfast.

A buttery pastry base, rich almond filling, vanilla frosting, and sliced almonds – there’s a reason this recipe has a 5-star rating on the Betty Crocker website! (On a side note – the updated Betty Crocker recipe calls for only ½ teaspoon of vanilla, but I still go with the 1 ½ teaspoons the original calls for.)

I hope your family enjoys this treat as much as mine has for years.

Christmas Trees

This was a big one for me – a little unexpected, a little surprising, and absolutely the highlight of the season. You see, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a Christmas tree in my house.

It’s a long story, and a complicated one, but the last tree I had was before my mom passed away. And while my excuses for not getting a tree have been legit – traveling out of town, cats who might destroy it, living overseas, etc. – the truth is that it’s really been a little too painful.

My mom loved Christmas – really loved it – and while I’ve always loved it too, since she’s been gone the holidays have been tinged with a little sadness as well.

But, this year I decided it was time to get a tree again. Time to make peace with the loss, to celebrate the beautiful memories I have, and to create some new ones as well. So, we headed to the tree farm.

Alan Acres Tree Farm

And not just any tree farm.

My boyfriend Chris and I headed north to Stanwood, my hometown, to Alan Acres – the same tree farm where my family used to cut our Christmas trees.

It’s a special place, located in the countryside, surrounded by horse farms, and a welcome respite from the bustling Puget Sound suburbs.  

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We spent a beautiful morning wandering through the thick forest of trees, searching for just the right one. It’s quite a different experience than many of the other more manicured tree farms – a little wilder, a little less “perfect” – but perfect for us.

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It’s a true country experience… roosters strutting amongst the trees, the farmer’s dog angling up to you for a quick pet, and a cozy fire to warm you up.

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Best of all – the horses!  I was distracted from our pursuit for a bit, but then we were back on the trail.

And there it was – my perfect tree.  A little one, but exactly what I was looking for.

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We each cut our own trees (a first for me!).

And then we were loaded up and back on the road…mission accomplished. A special place, a special day, a special tree.

The Cookie Mill

Following our Alan Acres expedition, we popped into downtown Stanwood for another blast from the past. My mom and I used to meet at the Cookie Mill for coffee or lunch, and even after her passing, I would stop by there whenever I visited the area.

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The Cookie Mill closed for several years, but reopened in 2014, and I couldn’t wait to try it again.

We ordered the lunch special – half a turkey sandwich, baked potato soup, and a chocolate peppermint cookie – and it did not disappoint. Every bite was as delicious as I remembered!

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I was especially thrilled to see they still had my favorite on the menu…the Snowbird Nester, an absolutely perfect combination of sourdough bread, smoked turkey, cream cheese, cranberry, red onion, and tomato – with a crunchy side of Ruffles to top it off.

And as much as I love their food, the cookies are what it’s really all about (and I might have bought a couple to go)!

If you’re in the Stanwood-Camano area, I highly recommend a visit to the Cookie Mill.

Holiday Apps and Cocktails

I tried out several new holiday appetizers and cocktails for our “tree trimming day” – which somehow ended up extending into four days. There were a few misses along the way, but these recipes were a hit…

Baked Ham and Cheese Roll Ups

Black Forest ham, crescent roll dough, melted Swiss cheese, topped off with a buttery mustard garlic sauce – every bite of these baked ham and cheese roll ups is a flavor explosion.

Retro Apps

This was a season filled with so much nostalgia, and it seemed only fitting to go a little “retro” with our appetizers, starting with stuffed mushrooms, baked brie topped with caramelized pecans, and cranberry-glazed appetizer meatballs.

We devoured these garlic Parmesan-stuffed mushrooms, and I will be making them again this holiday.

And the top app of the season – this pecan pie brie. Simple to make and delectable!

Mistletoe Margarita

Cranberry and lime have always been one of my favorite combinations, and this mistletoe margarita is a refreshing blend of both – a perfect cocktail to kick off the holiday season.

I also made a batch of sugared cranberries to use in several of these recipes. They’re easy to make…immerse fresh cranberries in homemade simple syrup (combine one cup sugar and one cup water – boil for about 3 minutes, then briefly add the cranberries), let them dry for about an hour, then roll them in sugar. A festive touch for your cocktails.  

White Christmas Margarita

Featuring three different types of coconut (water, milk, and cream), citrus (lime juice and Grand Marnier), and tequila, this white Christmas margarita is a little taste of the tropics on a winter day.

Holiday Mule

If you’re a fan of Moscow mules, check out this holiday mule which features cranberry juice – a fun take on the classic.

Eggnog White Russian

When December arrives, I’m all in when it comes to eggnog – eggnog French toast, eggnog snickerdoodles, eggnog lattes – you name it. And now I have a new one to add to my list – this tasty eggnog white Russian featuring Kahlua, vanilla vodka (so good!), eggnog, and nutmeg.

Rumchata Hot Cocoa

Chris was gifted a bottle of Rumchata, a rum-based cream liqueur with notes of cinnamon, and we were excited to try it out. This Rumchata cocoa recipe takes a bit of work, but it’s totally worth it. Begin with a homemade hot chocolate base, add a splash of the liqueur, and top it off with warm caramel, whipped cream, and cinnamon sugar sprinkles – oh, wow!

Trimming the Tree

Alongside the apps and the cocktails, came the tree trimming.

We started with Chris’s tree – his first in his new home.

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What a blast hunting for ornaments together and then seeing his vision play out – complete with a petite menagerie of animals nestled in the tree.

We moved onto my house next, beginning with the “easy tree” – a slim artificial tree I’d purchased online.

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We filled it with the newer ornaments I’ve accumulated, but never used.

And when the stockings were hung and most of my decorating was done, I moved onto the next tree – the one we’d cut just days before.

The one that I’d been nervously anticipating decorating.

Chris helped me pull several big green storage bins down from the rafters in my garage. Bins full of my mom’s Christmas ornaments and special mementos. Bins that I hadn’t even touched for several years.

I carefully unpacked the contents, each piece releasing a flood of memories.

The little stocking with my mom’s name on it.

The paper mache Santa that I made in kindergarten and books passed down from my grandparents.

The stocking that my mom made for me when I was a little girl.

The red-headed angel that always sat atop our family tree.

It was an emotional journey, complete with its share of laughs and tears.

But when I stepped back to look at the final results, I realized it was my favorite tree ever.

And every time I walk by…it just makes me smile.

Joy

I can’t think of a better word to express what’s in my heart this season.

The joy of letting myself be a kid at heart again.

The joy that comes with revisiting old traditions and embracing new ones.

The joy of our Savior’s birth and the gift of His love.   

Wishing you a holiday filled with peace, joy, and love. Merry Christmas, Kimberly