I hope you are enjoying my posts about Christmas. I love all things Christmas. The crafts, songs, stories and cooking. I believe that Christmas is a time to renew our spirits and a reminderthat God became Man so he could understand us better.
Holiday Bread Braid
From EatingWell.com
An electric mixer fitted with a dough hook makes quick work of kneading the dough.
Yields: Makes 16 slices
Total Time: 3 hr 45 min
Prep Time: 45 min
2 cup(s) golden raisins
1/4 cup(s) Marsala or dark rum
1 tablespoon(s) butter
1/2 cup(s) fat-free milk
2 tablespoon(s) canola oil
1 tablespoon(s) active dry yeast
1/2 cup(s) lukewarm water
3 large eggs, divided
1/3 cup(s) sugar
1 tablespoon(s) freshly grated orange zest
1 tablespoon(s) aniseed, crushed
1 tablespoon(s) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon(s) salt
3 cup(s) all-purpose flour, approximately
2/3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar, (for icing)
1 tablespoon(s) fat-free milk, (for icing)
2 tablespoon(s) sliced almonds, lightly toasted
To make dough: Stir raisins and Marsala (or rum) in a medium saucepan over low heat until the fruit is heated through, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan until the butter turns a light brown, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add milk and oil. Cool to lukewarm and pour into the bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl.
Dissolve yeast in the water and add to the milk mixture. Lightly beat 2 of the eggs and add to the bowl along with sugar, orange zest, aniseed, vanilla and salt. Gradually stir in just enough of the flour to make a soft dough.
Knead the dough for about 6 minutes using a mixer fitted with a dough hook, or knead by hand for 10 to 12 minutes on a lightly floured surface. As you work, add just enough additional flour to make a smooth, elastic but still slightly sticky dough. (Do not add too much flour or the dough will not rise properly.) Drain the raisins and work in, a handful at a time, until well distributed in the dough.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large, oiled bowl; turn to coat with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat it with nonstick cooking spray. Gently punch down the dough and transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 14-inch rope. Loosely braid the 3 ropes and firmly pinch the ends together.
Transfer the braid to the prepared baking sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. To glaze the braid, beat the remaining egg and brush 2 or 3 teaspoons of it over the dough; discard leftover glaze. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.
To make icing: Whisk together confectioners' sugar and milk in a small bowl to make a thick but pourable icing. Drizzle over the warm bread and sprinkle immediately with almonds.
Holiday Eggnog Bread
Serving size: 12
2 eggs
1
cup
eggnog
1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 teaspoons rum extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons
baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup red and green candied cherries, chopped
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5-inch
loaf pan.
In a large bowl, beat eggs, add sugar, eggnog, margarine, rum extract, and
vanilla extract. Blend well. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg,
pecans
and red and green candied cherries. Mix just until blended.
Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Enjoy.
Bells Will Be Ringing
Bells will be ringing, the glad, glad news;
Oh, what a Christmas, to have the blues;
My baby's gone;
I have no friends;
To wish me greetings, once again;
Choirs will be singing, Silent Night
Oh, Christmas Carols, by candlelight;
Please come home for Christmas;
Please come home for Christmas;
If not for Christmas, by New Year's Night;
Friends and relations;
Send salutations;
Just as sure as the stars shine above;
This is Christmas, Christmas my dear;
The time of year to be with the one that you love;
Then will you tell me, you'll never more roam;
Christmas and New Year will find you home;
There'll be no more sorrow;
No grief or pain;
'Cause I'll be happy that it's Christmas once again
Microwave Salt Dough Ornaments
Here's a new twist on an old favorite - microwave salt dough Christmas ornaments. Just follow the simple recipe, cut out your favorite cookie cutter shapes, and microwave a plate of ornaments at a time.
If you are looking for some fun, inexpensive crafts for Christmas, making ornaments with salt dough is a good choice. Basically, with salt, flour, water and some decorations you can make beautiful ornaments to give as gifts to family and friends - and you probably have these items around the house. This is an excellent craft for kids. My kids and I make this a tradition each year during holidays. We make them for everyone and now people look forward to getting one each year. You can also make these for any occasion. We have made them for Valentine's Day too.
Supplies:
◊ 4 cups of flour
◊ 1 cup of salt
◊ 1-1/2 cups of hot water
◊ holiday cookie cutters
◊ decorations - glitter, paint, beads, etc.
Directions:
1. Half of this dough recipe is enough to make all the ornaments shown, plus extras. You will also need paint in red, green, white, and gold, plus green glitter paint, and trims such as iridescent stars, pom poms, mini candy cane erasers, and glitter chenille stems.
2. Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut a variety of snowmen, Christmas trees and stars. Use a toothpick to make a hole for hanging, being sure to make the hole a bit larger than you will want as they tend to close when baking.
3. Using a microwave-safe plate (not paper or cardboard), microwave a plate of ornaments for 1 to 4 minutes, increasing the time by 1 minute increments and keeping a close eye on the microwave as the ornaments bake. Microwave power levels differ, so use high power in a less-powerful oven, but lower if your oven heats things very quickly. You don't want to risk a fire! Let ornaments cool completely before decorating.
4. Snowmen: Base coat white. Paint hats black. Use paint or markers for eyes, nose, mouth and buttons. You can also paint on a scarf, unless you are using chenille stems. Take one chenille stem and, leaving enough stem to form an arm on the left, wrap the stem around the neck, and form another arm on the right. Cut off excess stem and bend each end in a 1/4" to form hands. Add mini candy cane erasers if desired.
5. Stars: Base coat white or gold. Add green glitter paint, or outline with gold paint or glitter paint, if desired. Glue an iridescent star in the middle of each ornament. Take a chenille stem and, leaving a little extra at the top to form half a loop, bend the stem around each star point, pushing in with your fingers until the stem will retain the star shape. You will find the stem ends at the top with some extra left over. Bend both of these end lengths together to form a hanging loop.
6. Christmas Trees: Base coat green, then re-paint with green glitter paint. Add gold and white accents in a "garland" effect, then use red to add red "balls" to the tree. Glue sparkly pompoms or two iridescent stars glued together on top of the tree if desired.
Variations: These are just some possibilities for decorating microwaved salt dough ornaments. This is a good group project - just microwave batches of ornaments and provide paints and embellishments for creative activity. Properly dried the ornaments should last years.
If you prefer to cook salt dough ornaments in a conventional oven, use our alternative salt dough recipe and directions for Halloween Cookie Cutter Creatures.
For general information and recipes, see our Salt Dough Tips and Techniques Tutorial.
Things to do at Christmas time, Write you "end of the year" letter. If you keep a Diary or Journal. read through what you wrote for the past year and then write a few paragraphs about what you and your family did all year long. Include both the good and the bad and the funny.
Salt Dough is an easy to master craft for both children and adults. Adults enjoy making dough crafted objects almost more than children, I believe this is because it reminds them of their childhood days. Kneading Salt Dough at Christmas could become an annual ritual, along with making a
gingerbread house.
* * * * *
Billie C.
with ceremonies full of spirits, devils, and the haunting presence of the Norse god, Odin, and his night riders. One particularly durable Solstice festival was "Jol" (also known as "Jule" and pronounced "Yule"), a feast celebrated throughout Northern Europe and particularly in Scandinavia...
