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One thing my mother always made at least once during the holidays was peanut butter fudge. It was never chocolate or any other kind . . . always peanut butter, but we didn't mind because we loved it so very much. It was a real treat! She always made it in the same pot, an old aluminum one that she had gotten in her original set of Wearever cookware back in 1955. I think it cost almost as much as a house, but here we are 2011 and she is still using it. Money well spent, I'd say! She never measured anything. She didn't need to . . . it was all done by memory, and she knew exactly how much of each thing she needed to add by sight alone . . . and it always worked like a charm, every time. (Me . . . I made fudge sometimes for my children when they were growing up, and 9 times out of 10 they'd end up having to eat it with a spoon. We'd watch her as it went together . . . as if by magic . . . and then sometimes she would let us beat it when it was ready, with her ...

      When I was growing up it was a Christmas Tradition each year for my mother to make Tourtiere.    My father is French Canadian and the Tourtiere was a tradition in his family.  Tourtiere is a type of a meat pie which is served in French Canada during the Christmas Holidays, normally on Christmas Eve during their Reveillon celebrations, which last pretty much all night.  My father is from the Saugenay Lac St Jean region of Quebec. My mother was English however and staying up all night was not an option in our home.   Neither was meat pie on Christmas Day, and so we always had it on Boxing Day.  Truth be known  it was a very important part of our Christmas holiday celebrations no matter when we ate it and it was something all of us looked forward to each year. I do believe that there are as many recipes for Tourtiere as there are families that eat it.  Some opt to use finely chopped meat . . . pork, or veal . . . and o...

I just love using mincemeat during the Christmas season.   It's one of my favourite ingredients and I am sure I go through several jars.  Each year I try to do something different with it if I can.  There has been a photo circulating on the net and Pinterest over the past couple of months of a nutella bread which is layered and twisted and I got to thinking that the same thing done with mincemeat would be really nice. I decided early on though that I would use puff pastry instead of bread dough however, because I wanted these to be like mince pies.   I also decided that if they were going to work properly I would have to puree the mincemeat a bit so that it wasn't too lumpy. As you can see they turned out really pretty.   Golden on the edges . . . lovely to look at . . . flakey and sweet and spiced just nicely.  I created a thin icing, lightly flavoured with cinnamon (if you want) to drizzle over top once baked and I sprinkled them with some white sp...

One thing I like to make each year for the Holidays is my Christmas Chutney.   It's sooooo good and makes a wonderful change from the regular Cranberry Sauce. It has a tiny bit of a bite, which you can adjust by the amount of chili's you add.  I usually err on the side of caution because we don't really like things that are tooooo hot, but by all means you can adjust it to your own tastes. I always make enough for us to have here at home (it goes so well with all sorts of meats and cheeses) and I make some to give as gifts to our friends.  I think they would be quite disappointed if I didn't have some for them each year! There is nothing really out of the ordinary in it.  It's basically just fresh cranberries, chopped onion, sultanas, citrus peel, vinegar, two sugars, and a mix of tasty spices.  It goes together lickety split, and tastes better with each day that passes. It's great with your Christmas Dinner, and then after Christmas with the leftovers...

One thing that I like to make each Christmas is Peanut Brittle.  It's easy to make and makes a nice hostess gift if you are invited out.  I have never had anyone turn their nose up at a pretty little box of it yet! Making it in the microwave takes all the guess work out of it.  It goes together easily and always turns out.  I have never had it fail.   Just be sure to check it frequently and if you think it is getting too brown, stop.  It should never be more than a golden brown. It's made in less than 10 minutes, and that is 10 easy minutes where you aren't standing laborously over a stove, stirring and watching.  The microwave does all the work.  The only thing you need to be careful of is that you use a glass bowl that is truly microwaveable safe and that you use oven mits taking it out of the microwave.  Glass conducts heat very well and this is candy.  Candy is hot. Also be very sure to take great care in handling the sugar mixt...

  These are my favourite of all the Christmas Cookies.  Dutch Speculaas cookies, or what I grew up calling windmill cookies.   They are a type of spiced shortcrust biscuit, traditionally baked for consumption on or just before St Nicholas' feast in the Netherlands.  In recent years they have become available pretty much all year round. Speculoos are thin, very crunchy, slightly browned and crisp and spicy.  Traditionally they are stamped with pictures . . . which is why I called them windmill cookies growning up as the ones we bought were always shaped like windmills. Most Christmas's I have been able to buy them at Lidl, but we don't have a Lidl in Chester, only Aldi, so the last couple of years I have been missing them.  They are actually quite dangerous to have around the house because I can eat them like potato chips . . . they are so crisp and delicious and moreish. I found a recipe to make my own on Pinterest the other day.  It comes from www.sal...