Tag Archives: Hanukkah

In the kitchen for Christmas gifts

Posted on December 23, 2019 | 2 comments

I’m back from vacation, so I’m in the kitchen today, making some quick gifts. I last posted this recipe in 2017, but it’s still just as quick, easy, and delicious.

DIY Irish Cream, adapted from Smitten Kitchen. This comes together in 5 minutes, and makes three of these cute 8 ounce bottles. (You get 30 oz of liquid, but I barely filled three of these 1/4 liter (8 oz) bottles the first time I made this. No worries; just adjust your expectations accordingly.)

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
1 (14-ounce or 415 ml) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 oz Jameson’s Irish whiskey (original recipe calls for a cup, but 9 oz fills the bottles just a little better, and yum)

In a small bowl, whisk cocoa powder and a spoonful of cream into a paste. Add more cream a splash at a time until the paste is liquid enough that you can whisk in the rest of the cream. Transfer to a pitcher, and whisk in condensed milk, whiskey and vanilla. Bottle for gifts. Keep refrigerated for up to two weeks. Seriously, how long do you think this will last? Give it a good shake before using; the cocoa wants to sink, and the cream wants to rise to the top. Of course!

A little more work, but I’m also making Pear Vanilla Caramel Sauce, from Marisa at Food in Jars. I made some last year, and it was fabulous. I’ll add a bit of bourbon to give it some warmth and depth. I like this recipe because it’s canned, so I can ship some back to my aunt and uncle! They send me a box of beautiful pears every Christmas, and I love finding new things to do with them. Previously, I’ve done cranberry pear jam, and lots of pear tarts with puff pastry.

I got brave and put up our tiny tree and menorah, but I hedged my bets with Calvin. I wasn’t sure if he could be trusted with decorations.

Apparently not. So the truly fragile ornaments will stay in their boxes!

Our Christmas stockings are up and waiting to be filled.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to you!

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Posted in recipe

Tagged christmas, Christmas stockings, Hanukkah, irish cream

Knitting away: Kilter Hat, Christmas, Hanukkah, Addi Giveaway

Posted on December 6, 2016 | 1 comment

December is always such a busy month! Our pop-up show/shop was a great success. I sold all but one of my knit pieces, and am happy to know that they’re going to be well loved out in the world.

One piece was my Kilter Hat, which looks great on my friend Sharyn.

I put it on my Facebook page, and now I’m knitting one as a gift for Mom (DH’s mom) at her request in Malabrigo Rios. I’m not usually a deadline gift knitter, but I really want this to be in her hands before she heads to Antarctica later this month. I got this much done at knit nite last night. Knit like the wind!

The color is Coco, which makes me giggle, because that was Biscuit’s name, between Trix and BellaTrix.

I also finished my Super Cabled Christmas Stocking on Thursday and sold it along with its red sibling on Friday. Quick work!

Knit night last night was fun, and Biscuit participated fully. Note that she has a chair, and I’m sitting on the floor.

I haven’t decorated my house for the holidays yet. I’m wary of putting up my usual mini-tree because I keep catching Biscuit on the piano. I wonder how she’ll behave with menorah candles? This is my usual setup:

And will she pull down the stocking holders from the mantel? One of these moose weights could knock her out.

Guess we’ll find out…

Addi Turbo giveaway: The winner according to Random.org is commenter number 1, Anne Westbrook. Anne, I’m sending you an email to get your snailmail addy…for your Addi! Congratulations.

Onward!

1 Comment

Posted in cat, giveaways, Knit

Tagged Addi, christmas, Hanukkah, kilter hat

More Christmas stockings

Posted on December 21, 2014 | 5 comments

Thanks for sharing your Christmas stocking traditions with me! It sounds like many people use the Christmas stocking to hold off the main event gift opening until after coffee and mimosas civilize us. Very wise.

This is Anne‘s Christmas stocking that she knit for her granddaughter Sophie. Gorgeous! This is Sophie of Sophie’s Rose, the shawl Anne commissioned me to design in her honor. Thanks for sharing your picture, Anne!

I forgot about my other set of Christmas stockings. I wrote this pattern for a class I taught at church. It’s a perfect tiny stocking, complete with heel turn. If you want to learn to knit a sock on dpns, this is a good learning tool. And you only have to make one.

But they’re like potato chips, you just want more. The pattern is free, here: Christmas mini-stockings

Speaking of cute and free, I’ve been making more of these.

I gave away last year’s batch, and felt that I needed some more. Free pattern here, Korknisse by Manne. A nice little diversion from some gift knitting…

Are you ready for Christmas, those of you who celebrate? We’re also gearing up for our annual Hanukkah dinner party, which will be on Tuesday. We’ll be lighting ALL the candles. Happy merry GO!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged christmas, christmas knitting, Christmas stockings, Hanukkah

One holiday at a time…

Posted on December 14, 2013 | 5 comments

That’s my motto. No Christmas before Thanksgiving. Heck, no Christmas before Halloween!

A couple weekends ago, it couldn’t be helped. Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincided, so we had to do both at the same time. My sister-in-law made a menurkey. I can’t find the picture of her with it, so here’s DH.

We came home and celebrated the rest of Hanukkah.

(Playing with depth of field and my menorah collection)

Now I’m ready to prepare for Christmas.

We had a little snow here to put me in the right frame of mind.

I found Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans for a reasonable price at Costco, so I’m making some vanilla extracts. Two are made with vodka, and two are made with bourbon. I gues that would make the latter…Bourbon Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract! A week later, the vodka version is nearly as dark as the bourbon version. But don’t let that fool you; it won’t be ready to use for about a month or so. Here’s a recipe; it’s crazy simple. I love these flip top bottles, but I wish they came in a smaller version! These are 8 ounces, which is a lot of vanilla extract.

More merry-making: Here’s a group from Westlake High School singing at the Rotunda in the Texas Capitol in Austin Texas.

Yes, Austin! We had a quick getaway this week. Here’s a better view up into the dome. The star up there measures 8 feet across.

This is a beautiful building. So much detail!

Even the door hinges are beautiful.

Texas State Representatives meet here.

We also toured the LBJ Library and Museum, and saw lots of bands play. Favorite meal: breakfast tacos at Torchy’s Tacos. Cheap hipster slacker breakfast.

We got around via Car2Go. Very cool!

Cheaper than a cab, and pretty convenient. You only pay for the time you drive, 41 cents/minute, and you can park in any legal parking lot in their service area. We have these in Portland, too, and use them occasionally when we need a second car. Do you have Car2Go where you live?

Are you ready for Christmas? Not me, not yet!

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Posted in Other craftiness, recipe, travel

Tagged Austin, Car2Go, Hanukkah, menurkey, vanilla extract

It’s beginning to smell a lot like brisket…

Posted on December 6, 2010 | 11 comments

Sorry, but that always sings in my head when I’m cooking for Hanukkah dinner. We had it on Saturday, and it was a lovely gathering. Mmmm, brisket and latkes.

We celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas at our house, so there’s a little of everything going on. I haven’t had a big Christmas tree in several years. DH and the kids don’t care if we have one, so we don’t! I like my little music tree on top of the piano; I put up my favorite ornaments and I’m done. I guess I’m a minimalist at heart.

The stockings are up in their usual knitterly glory.

I like streamlining my decorating so I have more time for fun with friends and family, and for knitting. But not gift knitting; I abhor deadlines. That doesn’t mean there are no knitted gifts, just no gifts on deadline! The first knitted gift has gone out in the mail…(a Pippi hat, if you must know).

Yesterday I had a discussion group for new parents about keeping and making holiday traditions. I started with a story about CollegeGrad. He was 3 or 4 when we started talking about the Christmas story. One day he came to me, talking about how much he loved Little Baby Jesus. Yesss! He understood the Christmas story! Well, maybe yes, and maybe no. He was actually talking about little baby cheeses, which were one of his favorite things to eat. Indeed. I brought some of this cheese to class as a prop and a snack. Becky (fellow Day Old Pastry) decided she would use the wax wrappers to make a real Baby Cheeses creche.