Holiday Almanac December 22: Jewels for your Centerpiece

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

Oh man, I've been excited about this one since the beginning of the Holiday Almanac project. Household décor projects from the 1950s are always either amazing or terrible, and I was excited to see which one this would be.

But alas, it turned out to be pretty terrible. First I had to find a 'fat white candle,' which was harder than you'd think. When I did find one, it turned out to be a 'church candle,' which I think means I probably shouldn't be using it for tablescaping, but here we are.

Anyway, the instructions said to use melted candle wax to adhere small ornaments to the fat white candle, then set it on a piece of mirror for added sparkle.

But have you ever tried to use melted wax to stick something onto something else? It's not easy. And the bells I found to try to adhere are coated in some kind of plasticky paint that started smoking when I got them too close to the flame, and then the sides of the candle got scorched instead of melting... so here we are.

Never one to give up on a goal, I glued the candle to a mirror tile and piled the bells up around it, and it's just as tacky as it sounds.

Happy Christmas 1959!

the verdict:

1 spoon out of five. This was a miserable failure, but it was still kind of fun to try to do. And I got a church candle out of it, so that's not so bad.

Holiday Almanac December 21: Creamy Cider Caramels

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

Well, here we have another difficult one (I thought). I was dreading Caramel Making Day for most of December, which is why I didn't actually get around to it until yesterday (knowing that I couldn't today). Since I couldn't buy the frosting mix that the Almanac recommended for making the candy, I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, my very favourite food blogger.

I had always been kind of on the fence about fruit with caramel, and then this summer at a friend's wedding, I tried an apricot caramel that changed my life. I've had dreams about it since July, wondering if there was ever a way I could make it myself, or if I would simply be doomed to make yearly trips to Saratoga, California, to stock up on their white-chocolate truffles filled with it.

Luckily, these turned out just as good, and just as easy, and now I want to make them all the time.

Cinnamon and Flaky Sea salt.

Seriously, I don't have a candy thermometer (which is probably the main reason I hate making candy), but even without one, these are a cinch. The apple flavour shines through in a way I didn't think would be possible, and the texture is soft, creamy, and rich without being sticky or cloying. I'm taking them to work when I go back on Wednesday because the recipe makes 64 and I can't be trusted around these any longer than necessary.

I won't kid myself and think that you'll have time to make these caramels before Christmas (or even before New Year's Eve), but if you're going to attempt one Holiday Almanac recipe, this is a good one to try on a cold and rainy January night. It'll fill your house with the smell of apples and butter, and you're friends will be so impressed with you that you might start considering candy-making as your own higher calling and quit your job to open up a candy shop. If you do, promise you'll send me some?

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. (It's a Smitten Kitchen recipe, so of course it's amazing). These were super easy and super delicious, and the almanac recommends making them as part of an 'old-fashioned candy-making party,' which sounds like something I wish I would be invited to.

Holiday Almanac December 20: Cream Cheese Nut Bread

For more information on the Holiday Almanac, go here. Or to see what I've been up to on past Holiday Almanac days, check out this page.

Today's task was supposed to be to make a batch of 'gumdrop nut bread,' which is exactly what it sounds like: a lovely loaf of warm brown breakfast bread, studded through with toasted pecans and... gumdrops?

Eww, right? Even though the directions include a specific step to 'remove black gumdrops,' this still sounded really really gross to me. I was willing to make it anyway, though, but then I went to the supermarket and discovered that they don't have gumdrops in the UK... or at least not at my Tesco, and just like that, this recipe became a Cream-Cheese Pecan Bread, and everyone in my house breathed a sigh of relief.

Anything I can eat for breakfast that involves cream cheese filling and pecans is getting an A+ in my book, and this cake, still warm from the oven, is no different.

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. This cake is delicious, moist, and cosy-- the perfect breakfast for the week leading up to Christmas. However, the orange zest in it makes it incredibly citrus-y, and while that appeals to me on a very base level, some people may not like it as much.

The recipe:

Cream Cheese Nut Bread

the directions:
filling:

Make the filling by combining all filling ingredients in a small bowl, then mixing until smooth.
Set aside.

 

Bread:

Grease and flour a 9-inch loaf pan, and preheat the oven to 160C/325F.
Combine honey and milk in a large mixing bowl.
Add flour, sugar, soda, salt, shortening, and egg.
Mix until smooth.
Fold in nuts gently until uniformly distributed.
Pour half of batter into prepared loaf pan, then pour filling over batter.
Scoop remaining batter on top of filling as gently as possible, and try to spread the batter to the edges of the pan as much as you can.
Bake 40-60 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly sticky.

the ingredients:
the filling:

6 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp orange peel, grated
¾ c sugar

the bread:

2/3 c honey
2/3 c milk
2 ½ c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ c shortening
1 egg
1 c chopped pecans