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Post by furbabymummy on Nov 25, 2012 21:19:04 GMT
Can heartily recommend this recipe - deeelicious! I had a feeling they would be tasty as me and the kids were making them - basically adding butter and sugar to loads of chocolate with a bit of egg and flour thrown in! We had them warm from the oven with double cream - it made a lovely pudding and I expect they will still be very tasty once cooled (I'll find ouit later, I'm sure...) - thanks Mweekie! Glad you liked the recipe Treen. It's getting quite famous within my family, friends and also my brother in Canada loves them lol x
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Post by Bean on Nov 26, 2012 9:10:25 GMT
Ah the uniting power of a good chocolate-based recipe - it can't be beaten! Oooh I shall definitely give those a go - all the cake/biscuit tins are currently empty so I need to do something to make them feel useful!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 26, 2012 15:44:36 GMT
I keep saying I will make my own christmas pud but don;t get around to it. The other thing these days is that by the time you have bought the ingrediants you could buy one for much less. Has anyone on here make a christmas pud or cake?
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by Bean on Nov 26, 2012 18:37:19 GMT
I never do as I'm not a fan of all the traditional Christmas foods like Christmas pudding, fruitcake and mince pies - the main ingredient I don't like is mixed peel. My mum used to make Christmas cake and would make me a separate one with no mixed peel and extra cherries which was lovely! But I still prefer chocolate cake so just make one of those now! I have some friends who make their own and apparently they are delicious, so it could be worth it - as you say, it can certainly work out more expensive though.
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 27, 2012 1:18:25 GMT
Every year my mother made fruitcakes for all the neighbors and relatives, about 10. Almost every batch, she'd forget an ingredient, so we'd have to eat those. By the time she made 10 with all the ingredients, we had enough fruit cake to last us until the next Christmas. I have never, and never will, buy a fruitcake! I like to make cookies so I can package a mix of different ones. Just a bit more interesting. Also, hub likes to help, so we make it a weekend project.
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Post by Bean on Nov 27, 2012 14:15:40 GMT
How do you package them up Laurie? If you have any easy to do ideas, please pass them on as the kids have a Christmas tree cutter and want to make cookies for people! (EDIT: I mean biscuits of course - I'm not American, you know!)
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 27, 2012 16:16:09 GMT
Thank you for your nice replies ladies and Treen, I know what what you mean about the peel. It is not one of my favourites either so I try and find a pud which doesnt contain it. My mum used to make her own puds and cake too and I can remember being in the cosy kitchen watching her.
Ha ha I can see why you would never have to make a fruit cake 3piggles love and how nice of your mum to make them for all the neighbours. Something else that appeals to me is cake decorating, but you have to be really patient and it isn't one of my qualities LOL!! I love cookies too, I love making shortbread.
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by Bean on Nov 27, 2012 18:27:58 GMT
Something else that appeals to me is cake decorating, but you have to be really patient and it isn't one of my qualities LOL!! Me neither, and I'm also clumsy - so keep away from me if I'm trying to decorate a cake, I get so annoyed (but then pleased when the kids love them, even though I know most other people could have done a better job!).
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 27, 2012 21:27:31 GMT
I love cake decorating, and have a full set of tips I bought eons ago. We tried fondant, but hub has to roll it out for me. It's possible to by all sorts of stamps to make fondant pictures, letters, flowers, animals, etc. I have a friend in the UK who does fabulous decorations with fondant. Mine came out more like a preschool attempt
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 28, 2012 14:43:47 GMT
I am clumsy too Treen hun, I have only got to walk past something and it falls LOL!!
I made an Easter cake this year and brought some easy roll (?) icing and little coloured nozzles to do the piping. It was very amateur to say the least!!
I know 3piggles love, some of them are amazing. Rose petals and fire engines etc all made out of icing.
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 29, 2012 1:29:59 GMT
I missed the packaging question, Treen. I buy plastic holiday boxes, and just package the cookies in layers with wax paper in between. I tried regular decorated boxes, but taping them ruined them for reuse. The plastic ones come in lots of sizes, usually have a Santa face or something, and are reusable. I'm not into wrapping lots of gifts, so really prefer gift boxes.
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Post by Bean on Nov 29, 2012 9:21:32 GMT
I'm not sure we have plastic ones decorated seasonally - I've only seen cardboard ones or gift bags. They sound good though.
Takeaways here are often delivered in plastic containers now, and I always save those for passing on baking (so I don't have to worry about getting them back) and I'm sure the kids could get creative with those (whether or not it'll look good is another matter, but people expect less of kids!).
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Post by weesilvie on Nov 29, 2012 13:41:45 GMT
Try craft shops Treen, Hobbycrafts or some such - they might have small plastic boxes. They will also sell transparent cellophane wrap (not the sticky stuff!) which you can wrap small piles of biscuits/cookies in and tie with some nice ribbon.
Also try local craft markets - there's one near me that sells lovely little basket type things made by women in Africa - could use something like that but it would need wrapping still.
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Post by 3piggles on Dec 1, 2012 0:52:21 GMT
Nice thing about those plastic boxes is they aren't too big. They protect better than the gift bags. Sooo, could we find the one I saved from last year? Of course not. So off to Target shopping the other night, only gift boxes they had were pretty big. Going to have to make lots of cookies this year, just to fill the box. Definitely not going to be skimping! I just googled the boxes, and could not find any as tacky or cheap as the ones I use I can't believe how bad they are!!! The one I bought this year is very nice. I'll have to make classy cookies, I guess! Maybe a five and dime would have the boxes I use
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Post by Bean on Dec 9, 2012 20:30:12 GMT
Endorsement from this house - everyone loved them and they disappeared in a day! I added an egg in to the mixture (it had mentioned it being crumbly and wheat-free flour is very unforgiving about that so I thought an egg would help it hold together) but may try it without next time and see what happens. The recipe's going in my favourites folder either way!
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Post by 3piggles on Dec 10, 2012 1:10:59 GMT
I'd say that shortbread is a keeper, if it went over that well in two households!
I am gathering the ingredients to make several different sweets for daughter this year. I will make peppermint bark, which is equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate. Melt, spread and let dark set. knock some peppermint candies senseless and mix them in with the melted white, spread over set dark. Sprinkle with remaining senseless peppermints and let set for about an hour. then break it into pieces. Sounds deceptively simple!
Just made sausage ravioli using store bought sausage sauteed with chopped onions, celery and carrot. So good! We made enough for Christmas, so won't have to make that on Christmas day! We bought a pasta machine, the crank kind, for about $25, and it worked great making the ravioli.
Starting to get in the holiday mood!
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Post by weesilvie on Dec 10, 2012 8:45:10 GMT
Mmm, ravioli sounds very good! Think I could fancy one of those pasta machines - might ask Santa.
So, whats everyone having on the big day? My mum and I have had beef the past couple of years so we're going back to traditional turkey this year. It will only be the two of us so she's ordered one of those boneless breast joints from Waitrose that we can just shove straight in the oven. I'll see what I get in the veg box for stuff to go with it. She's also bought pigs in blankets (cocktail sausages wrapped in streaky bacon) which are the best bit of a turkey dinner!
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Post by 3piggles on Dec 10, 2012 14:36:43 GMT
Ravioli and sauce, hot garlic bread and garden salad. We'll have our usual White Cranberry/strawberry juice with a bit if ginger ale to drink, and cookies for dessert. Going with easy and fun! If it's cold, I will do some mulled cider, too!
We had a hand crank pasta machine, but lost the crank and other parts. Not sure where it went, but we replaced it with an electric machine. The electric mixed the dough just right, and fed it through the selected disk, but it was plastic. When the dough was forced through the disk, it would knock the disk loose. Not good at all, and only came with a plastic wrench to tighten the disk holder. We used a pipe wrench to tighten it, then couldn't get it off again! It was also really noisy.
So back to the hand crank version, which costs a fraction of the fancy one and does a great job!
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Post by Bean on Dec 11, 2012 19:16:18 GMT
I love the sound of the ravioli and homemade pasta, but it'd never work so well gluten-free - I'd probably end up throwing the pasta machine through the window...
I'll be sorting out the Christmas Day menu next week, but think it will probably revolve around a roast ham. Need to track down some of my favourite brand croissants as you simply can't eat anything else for breakfast on Christmas morning!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Dec 12, 2012 15:35:37 GMT
I love croissants with jam which reminds me I haven't had any for a while. We are proably having a turkey crown and ham for christmas and I will be busy baking christmas eve. We love filled vol-au-vents and looking for nice fillings for them.
Hugs
JO xx
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