Category Archives: Christmas

Wassail

6 cups apple cider or juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon eel
1 can (18 ounces) unsweetened pineapple juice (2 1/4 cups)
Orange Stars (below)
Cinnamon sticks

IN large saucepan, heat cider and one cinnamon stick to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 5 minutes. Uncover; stir in remaining ingredients except Orange Stars and cinnamon sticks and simmer 5 minutes longer. Serve in punch bowl; float Orange Stars in bowl. Use cinnamon sticks as individual stirrers. 16 servings (about 1/2 cup each).

Orange Stars: Cut an orange into 1/4-inch slices. Insert 5 whole cloves at equal intervals in edge of each slice. Cut out a wedge peel and pulp between each 2 cloves.

Floating Cloved Oranges can be used instead or Orange Stars: Heat oven to 325°. Insert whole cloves about 1/2 inch apart in 3 oranges. Place in baking pan with just enough water to cover bottom of pan. Bake uncovered 30 minutes.

These oranges can be baked a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Christmas Roast Pork

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10-to-12-lb bone-in fresh ham
1 cup pitted dried prunes
1 cup dried apricots
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
2 cans (13 3/4 oz size) clear chicken broth
6 spiced crab apples
Parsley sprigs

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Wipe ham with damp paper towels. Trim fat to about 1/4 inch thickness, leaving any skin. Score fat into 1-inch diamonds.

2. With long, sharp knife, make deep slits to the bone, 2 to 3 inches apart, all over surface. Using fingers, push prunes and apricots alternately into slits. Rub surface with salt and pepper. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of meat, being careful to avoid slits. Place roast, fat side up, on rack in shallow, open roasting pan.

3. Roast, uncovered, 2 hours. Drain off fat, and discard. Pour 1 cup water over roast; roast 1/2 hour longer. Pour 1 cup water over roast; repeat every 1/2 hour until meat thermometer registers 180F. (Total roasting time is approximately 6 hours.) If roast is getting too brown, place sheet of foil loosely over top. Remove roast to heated platter; keep warm.

4. Pour drippigns into 2-cup measure; let stand a few minutes. Skim off fat, and discard.

5. In small bowl, stir flour and 1 cup broth until smooth.

6. In medium saucepan, combine remaining broth and drippings. heat to boiling. Slowly add flour mixture, stirring constantly until mixture returns to boiling and thickens; reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.

7 To serve roast: Skewer 2 apples on each of 3 wooden sewers. Insert skewers in bone end of ham. Garnish wish parsley. Pass gravy. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Canberra Christmas Cracker

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This is a new way to present a rich fruit cake. Use a large loaf pan.

Cream 1 1/4 cups butter, 1 1/4 cups moist brown sugar, 1 tablespoon molasses, 1 tablespoon honey, and the grated rind of 1 lemon. Gradually beat in 6 large eggs mixed with 1/3 cup brandy or sherry. Stir in 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted with 1/2 teaspoon each grated nutmeg, mixed spice and ground cinnamon. Add 3/4 lb. seedless white raisins, 1 1/4 lb. currants, 1/2 lb. seedless raisins, 2/3 cup chopped prunes, 2/3 cup chopped dates, 2/3 cup chopped candied peel, 1 1/2 cups chopped blanched almonds and 1/2 cup halved candied cherries. Line the loaf pan with wax paper, put in the mixture, stand on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour in the center of a 275-300°F. oven for 1 hour, then lower the heat to 250-275°F. for afurther 3 hours until the cake no longer ‘hums’ when tested. Cool in the pan.

Make almond paste with 3 cups ground almonds, 1 1/3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, 3/4 cup sugar, few drops almond extract, and 3 egg yolks, Color a quarter a bright color.

Trim the loaf-shaped cake to make a more rounded shape. Brush the cake with egg white or apricot jame and wrap in the plain almond paste; make sure this is very neat. Decorate with colored almond paste, ribbon or gay paper as the picture.

Serves about 30.

Printed in Canada. ©Copyright The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd. 1972

Peppermint Pie

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1 1/4 cups fine graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Instant cocoa mix
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
1 envelope gelatin, unflavored
4 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon peppermint flavoring
2/3 cup peppermint candy, broken in pieces
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped

Heat oven to 375°. Mix together crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar, instant cocoa mix and butter. Press firmly into a 9-inch pie plated and bake – 6 to 8 minutes, until edges are browned. Cool. In top of a double boiler, beat egg yolks; add sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is custard-like. Cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over 1 tablespoon cold water, then add 23 tablespoons boiling water to dissolve. Add dissolved gelatin and peppermint flavoring to custard. Beat egg whites until very stiff. Fold egg whites, candy and nuts into custard. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into baked pie shell and chill.

Serves 6
Preparation time 1 hr.
Approximate calories per serving… 460

Helpful Hint: Omitting instant cocoa mix, pie crust can also be made of zwieback, vanilla wafers, chocolate wafers, or gingersnap crumbs.

From the Kitchens of Dorothy Taylor

Christmas Snowballs

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Cooking time: 45 mins
Preparation time: 20 mins
Main cooking utensil: ovenproof dish
Oven temperature: 375°F
Oven position: above center

For 6 servings you need:
6 medium baking apples, cored
1/2 cup mincemeat

Butter icing:
Scant 1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

Decoration:
2 cups shredded coconut
holly sprigs
small candles

1. Slit apple skins to prevent their breaking.

2. Stand apples in a little water in dish

3. fill centers with mincemeat

4. Bake until cooked but still slightly firm

5. Remove and cool

6. Cream butter, sugar, lemon rind, and juice.

7. Cover each apple with butter icing and decorate with coconut.

TO SERVE: Decorate each apple with holly sprig and candle just before serving

TO VARY: Fill with jam or bramble jelly instead of mincemeat

Printed in Canada. © Copyright Paul Hamlyn Ltd. 1967

Penuche

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Penuche

2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Whole walnut meats

Combine first 5 ingredients in a deep saucepan. Place over low heat; cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Then cook, without stirring, to 238° on a candy thermometer or until a little of the syrup forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water. Remove from heat; cool mixture at room temperature, without stirring, to 110° or until the bottom of the pan feels lukewarm to the inside of the wrist.

Add vanilla to the mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until it holds its shape. Turn into a greased pan 8 x 8 inches. Mark the top in 1-inch squares and press a walnut in each square. Cut when cool. Makes about 1 pound.

Marshmallow Puffs

Heat light cream about 3/4 inch deep in the top of a double boiler. Add vanilla to taste. Dip marshmallows, a few at a time, into the cream until outsides are coated with cream and softened. Then roll marshmallows in finely ground pecans or shredded coconut. Flatten slightly and chill.

Holiday Glögg and Easy Holiday Smorgasbord

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Glögg is a popular hot punch served throughout Scandinavia on cold winter evenings. During the holiday season it is a refreshing change from the omni-present eggnog. The ingredients for the smorgasboard listed below have been selected from convenience foods (canned and deli foods) easily found at supermarkets.

Select from the following list according to number of guests expected; arrange food on plates or platters and place on buffet table, or, for small parties, arrange dishes on large platter or antipasto tray. SErve a variety of homemade or bakery-fresh dark breads and dinner rolls, along with side dishes of mustard, mayonnaise, and horseradish.

Marinated herring
Herring in sour cream
Deli potato salad mixed with sliced or Harvard beets
Smoke salmon fillets
Canned or fresh (cooked) lobster, crabmeat, or shrimp salad
Picked Eggs
Canned reindeer meatballs (heated)
Canned Scandinavian fish balls (heated)
Sardines
Egg salad
Sliced ham
Sliced turkey
Sliced tongue
Sliced smoked eel
Cheese (Brie, blue, and assorted Scandinavian cheeses available at delis)
Cucumber Salad
Pickles (dill, gherkins, bread-and-butter)
Sliced tomatoes

Aquavit in Ice Sheath & Christmas Goose with Scandinavian Smorgasbord

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Christmas Goose with Scandinavian Smorgasbord

Plan on am ambitious smorgasbord for a gala holiday get-together; to cut costs and effort, make it a potluck party. Use a fruit-stuffed roast goose as the base of the smorgasbord; place it on a separate table along with the Aquavit in Ice Sheath and shot glasses (1 shot glass straight aquavit per guest); place a Scandinavian Punch and the smorgasbord on a separate table; guests wander from table to table, helping themselves to aquavit and goose at one, punch and smorgasbord at the other. (Estimate 20 shot glasses aquavit per fifth bottle.)

1 goose, 8-10 pounds
1/4 cup aquavit
Fruit stuffing:
1 pound fresh cranberries
1 pound dried prunes, chopped
2 pounds apples, cored and chopped
2 cups chopped celery
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup aquavit

Preheat oven to 325 F. Clean goose; splash 1/4 aquavit inside carcass. Mix together fruits and flavorings; stuff goose with fruit mixture and truss up.

Prick goose skin with tines of fork to permit fat to drain off during cooking; place goose breast side down in shallow roasting pan; rub skin well with salt.

Cook goose 1 hour; using oven mits covered with plastic bags, grasp goose with both hands and turn over. Cooke goose, breast side up, 2 1/2 hours; turn heat up to 450 F and cook goose additional 1/2 hour. Remove from oven; cover lightly with foil; let goose stand at room temperature 20 minutes before carving.

Three Cheese Ball

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Make this cheese ball the day before for holiday entertaining and serve it with assorted crackers and/or crisp breads.

For 1 1-lb cheese ball you will need:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1.3 cup crumbed Roquefort or blue cheese
1 container (5 oz.) processed hickory-smoked flavor or sharp American cheese spread
2 Tbsp. whipping cream
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. each minced onion and stuffed olives
2 Tbsp. finely minced parsley
Shredded lettuce
Dried summer savory or caraway seeds, optional Stuffed olive slices.

Preparation:

1. Combine cheeses and cream in mixing bowl or food processor work bowl and process until smooth.

2. Add Worcestershire sauce, onion, olives and parsley, mixing well. Cover and chill overnight.

3. Shortly before serving, shape mixture into a ball. Serve on a bed of shredded lettuce. Sprinkle with savory or caraway seeds, if desired. Garnish with olive slices.

Tips: If cheese ball must be stored for any length of time, substitute onion powder for the minced onion.

Happiness Tree Cake; Christmas Pudding Cake

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Cooking time:
Cake 50 mins. pudding cake 1 1/2 hours
Preparation time: 40 mins. each recipe
Main cooking utensils: cake 1 1/2 pint oven proof bowl, pudding cake 3-pint oven-proof bowl
Oven temperature: 325-350°F.

Happiness tree cake:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour sifted with 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder

butter icing (see stage 2) marshmallow frosting (see stage 2)
36 marshmallows

Christmas pudding cake:
double above ingredients
butter icing (see stage 2)
50 marshmallows

1. Cream margarine and sugar until soft and light. Gradually beat in eggs, fold in sifted flour and baking powder. Bake in center of oven for time and temperature given.

2. Happiness tree cake. Slice off rounded end of cake so it will stand upright. Cover with butter icing made by mixing 1/4 cup butter, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar. Fill the top of the cake with marshmallow frosting made by melting 2-oz. marshmallows in 1 tablespoon milk. Allow to cool, fold in 1 stiffly whisked egg white and 1 tablespoon sugar.

3. To decorate, press marshmallows all around the sides of the cake. Put a small tree branch in the top and hang with Christmas ornaments.

4. Christmas pudding cake. Coat with butter icing made as stage 2 above, cover with halved marshmallows and decorate with a spring of mistletoe.

TO VARY: These cakes may be flavored with lemon rind.

TO STORE: For a short time only.

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Category Archives: Christmas

Wassail

Christmas Roast Pork

Canberra Christmas Cracker

Peppermint Pie

Christmas Snowballs

Penuche

Holiday Glögg and Easy Holiday Smorgasbord

Aquavit in Ice Sheath & Christmas Goose with Scandinavian Smorgasbord

Three Cheese Ball

Happiness Tree Cake; Christmas Pudding Cake

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