Fool Proof Holiday Dessert – Make Your Own Peppermint Bark

Every year you hear that the holidays are the most wonderful time of the year.  However, most people fail to mention that they are also the busiest time of the year.  Between holiday parties, buying your gifts, wrapping your gifts, and everything else during the holiday season, extra time to cook and bake is hard to come by.  Here is a quick and easy recipe to make your own peppermint bark.  This treat will last you for a long time during the holiday season and can be a quick go-to gift when you are way past last minute.

Ingredients for Your Peppermint Bark

The measurements on this one are really up to you.  You can make as much or as little as you want but keep it spread thin so it break easily.  Here’s what I used:

• 1/2 bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2 bag white chocolate morsels or 1/2 lb almond bark
• 3 large Peppermint Candy Canes or Peppermint Sticks (add more if you use the tiny ones)
• Wax paper
• Cookie Sheet

Steps for Making Your Peppermint Bark

1. Prepare cookie sheet with wax paper.
2. Crush peppermint candy canes in blender or with a hammer until fine
3. Melt your favorite dark chocolate and spread on wax paper (I prefer the microwave to a double boiler but always melt chocolate at 50% power so it doesn’t burn.  30 seconds at a time and stir
4. Allow to set for about 20 minutes or speedup the process with a few minutes in the fridge
5. Melt white chocolate (Don’t forget to melt at 50%!  – white chocolate is even more temperamental)
6. Add ½ of crushed peppermint and spread evenly on top of dark chocolate
7. Quickly sprinkle the rest of the peppermint before white chocolate hardens.  If you’re too slow you can always put the whole cookie sheet in the oven for 30 seconds to 1 minute to warm so it all sticks together again!

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Sugar Cookie Artistry – 8 Rules for Perfect Holiday Baking

Who doesn’t like cutout cookies at Christmas in all of their favorite shapes and sizes – vanilla, almond, lemon, gingerbread, anise – whatever your dough flavor of choice, cutouts add the beauty to your holiday sugar cookie plates.  Here are a few simple tips to make your cookie baking and decorating easy and fun…

Rule #1 – Don’t forget the flour – but not too much!

Some prefer baking clothes, some silicone mats, but wherever you roll the dough, make sure you flour the surface, your rolling pin and the cookie cutters so they don’t stick.  Just be sure you only use enough to prevent sticking or your cookies will taste like flour instead of your flavor of choice

Rule #2 – Work quickly with chilled dough

Warm dough is not your friend.  Keeping the dough nice and cool makes it easier to roll and the cookies keep their shape.  So don’t try to roll out the whole batch at once.  In fact, I actually divide the dough right when I mix it and it’s still soft and wrap individually in plastic wrap.  Pat flat so you don’t have to roll from ball shape and take one package out of the fridge at a time.

Rule #3 – Even Baking

Keep the same shape or similar size cookies together so they bake evenly.  There are so many shapes and sizes at Christmas you don’t want those little stars to burn if you have to allow more time for those chubby snowmen.

Rule #4 – Frosting consistency

My favorite recipe is quite simple – milk, powdered sugar, about a tsp of melted butter, a dash of salt and the flavoring of my choice.  Too runny – add more sugar, too thick – add more milk.  If it’s too thick it won’t lay smooth and the sprinkles won’t stick. If it’s too runny it will drip off the cookies

Rule #5 – Tight on time – Keep it simple but elegant

I make a couple different kinds of cutouts and 3 days of baking is about as much as my schedule will allow, so I can’t make them all look flawless.  So for the anise cookies, we just sprinkle immediately after frosting, for the almond – we get fancier.

Rule #6 – Explore your inner artist

If you do have more time to decorate, explore that inner artist.  Invest in a coupe piping bags and decorating tips and a few touches can make frosted sugar cookies works of art.

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Rule #7 – Have fun

Sometimes a batch gets burnt or you add too much flour too fast into the mixer and your kitchen ends up looking like a snowstorm, but that’s what makes it fun.  Don’t fret – enjoy it.  Make it a family tradition and involve the kids and grandma.  Cookies don’t all need to look perfect.  Enjoy the time with friends and family and make something yummy while you’re at it.  You won’t remember the burnt batch – you’ll remember the fun!

Rule #8 – Eat!

You’re making cookies – eat them!

Tis the Season: New Holiday Traditions to Start This Year

Piles of presents and gingerbread cookies may make your family smile during the holidays, but it’s actually treasured traditions that warm the heart year after year. It’s never a season too late to start brand new holiday traditions and create memories your family can fondly look back on for years.

Childhood Traditions

The most special holiday seasons are the ones during childhood when you believed in Santa and Christmas magic was real. Part of the Christmas spirit as parents is to reflect on your Christmas traditions when you were children and re-create the same magic for your own kids. It’s truly the little moments that matter most during the this special time of year. Warm your home with these Christmas traditions that your little ones will remember forever.

• Christmas Lights Tour: Pick a night to bundle up and discover the beautiful Christmas lights of nearby neighborhoods and parks. Play favorite Christmas tunes in the car as your family tours streets lit-up with glowing homes, trees and outdoor decorations. Pack marshmallow-topped hot cocoas to-go and other sweet treats like Frosted Snowman Chocolate Dipped Double Stuff Oreo Pops or Christmas Cake Pops to enjoy as you drive past one enchanting display after another.
• DIY Decorating: No Christmas decoration or tree ornament is as meaningful and original as the ones handcrafted together as a family. Make a homemade garland out of strung popcorn or snowflakes crafted out of felt. HGTV.com offers 20 homemade holiday ornaments and decorations ideas made out of things like oranges or cookie cutters.
• Caroling at Grandma’s: Kids can’t help but sing along to jolly Christmas carols. Warm Grandma’s heart and take the kids caroling at her house — “Over The River and Through the Woods” is a great tune to lead the way. And you can really make Grandma smile. Bring over homemade cookies.
• Table Setting: If you’re hosting Christmas dinner this year, involve the kids with decorating the table setting. Ask them to choose their favorite holiday centerpiece and what accents they’d like to include, such as acorns, holly or ornament favors. The kids will love to be part of the decorating process and feel valued by sharing their input.
• Sending Holiday Spirit: Share the virtue of thoughtful giving and send a beautiful holiday bouquet to a long-distance loved one who may be alone at Christmas. Your kids can also choose a new toy or book to donate to a charity like Toys for Tots.
• Snowman: Be ready for the first big snowfall with snow clothes and a snowman decorating kit. Building a snowman creates cherished memories, especially on a white Christmas. After the snow day, warm up with cups of hot cocoa and flannel PJs.

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New Traditions

Throughout the years, Christmases can inevitably change. The kids go off to college, move away from home and everyone’s living in different cities. Make Christmas the one time of year the whole family is together. Rather than invite everyone to fly home, make the week of Christmas the time of year for an annual family vacation. Plan a trip for the family to cozy up in a cabin at a lodge in snowy Lake Tahoe or escape the cold weather at a beach in the Caribbean.

If a vacation away from home feels too unconventional, host a family reunion weekend or holiday bash to reunite all of the extended family members. Of course, traveling can be expensive, but faraway loved ones can still spend time together on Christmas Eve or Day through virtual platforms like Google Hangouts or Skype Group Video Chat.

Neighborly Traditions

Get into the spirit of the season with a friendly neighborhood Christmas lights display contest. (A contest is also fun motivation to finally string those lights and hang up the wreaths outside before December 25th.) Invite neighbors to participate, provide prizes and designate three judges to determine first-, second- and third-place winners. Then, end the Christmas competition with a neighborhood potluck where everyone can indulge on sweet treats like Jolly Holiday Chocolate Covered Strawberries and cheers with gourmet wine.

Express Gratitude as a Family This Holiday Season

Grateful people aren’t just happier people; they’re the ones who make the world a better place.

Have you ever thought that maybe what makes the holiday season so special is that families and friends and neighbors and strangers all come together and act on those feelings of gratitude?

If you have a desire to serve or simply want to teach your children the significance and purpose of the season, here are a few ways to go a bit further this year:

Count Your Blessings

Set a goal. Do you think you can reach 25? 50? 100? Make it a game by setting guidelines for the lists. For example, limit answers to only five a day and make a rule that they can’t duplicate anything their siblings have already written. Make sure to post each grateful list on the refrigerator door or bathroom mirror. Watch as the creative ideas filter in!

For younger kids, write the alphabet on a worksheet and, next to each letter, have them list or draw one thing they are thankful for. For example, your daughter is grateful for angels and your son for apples; or your son is grateful for Baxter (the family dog) and your daughter’s favorite color is blue—talk about their lists and have them tell you why they are grateful.

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Put Them on Display

Choose items from your lists and put each on a shape cut out of colored paper. Design a wreath made out of multi-colored paper leaves or make shapes of ornaments to tape on a “Thankful Tree.”

Write Thank You Notes Together

Handwritten thank you notes will never go out of style. Teach your child the importance of writing out their appreciation. Each week before the new year, help your kids write a thank you note to someone they love. Once they tackle that list, encourage them to think on a bigger scale and write notes to the mailman, a soldier, their teacher or local firefighters.

Especially if your kids are young, you may need to help them get started with an outline to follow like this:

Dear ___,

Thank you for ___

I think you are ___ because ___

I hope you know ___

Have a ____ day!

Love, ____

Perform Random Acts of Kindness

A great way to show you’re grateful is to share what you have to give! Plan a night to brainstorm ideas for random acts of kindness as a family. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• On a Saturday, spend the morning packing five to 10 brown bag lunches. Walk or drive around town until you give them all away.
• Withdraw $100 in one to five dollar bills and help your children hand them out to strangers or leave them under the windshield wipers of parked cars.
• Make treats and doorbell ditch them at a neighbor’s house. Bonus if you can all hide and watch from the bushes!
• Go out to eat as a family and explain what it means to tip a waitress. When paying the bill, include your children in deciding how much to tip.

Live It All Year Long

The best way to teach your children about gratitude is to live it like a lifestyle instead of as a tradition you celebrate once a year. Make a habit of expressing thanks on a daily basis, especially to them. Leave reminders around the house if you need to! When they return the gesture, acknowledge their effort. After a little bit of time (and practice!), expect the level of appreciation for health and good fortune to grow like you never thought possible.