Christmas Perfection

Best Christmas Recipes book

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:02:29 +0000

Best Christmas Recipes book includes the best christmas recipes from all over the world. This is a selection of recipes from the best chefs in Paris, London, New York and Milan. You will be able to prepare for your family an amazing Christmas meal!

Cherry Vanilla Fudge

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:14:30 +0000

Cherry Vanilla Fudge

Source: Family Circle – December 1974 – Old-Fashioned Christmas Goodies

3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup candied cherries, quartered

Combine sugar, salt, cream, milk, corn syrup and butter in a large heavy saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to boiling. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until candy thermometer reaches 238 degrees F (soft-ball stage).

Remove from heat, leaving thermometer in the saucepan. Cool to 100 degrees F.

Add vanilla extract. Beat briskly until fudge thickens and begins to lose its gloss. Stir in cherries.

Pour into buttered 8-inch square pan. Cool. Cut into squares when firm.

Yield: 16 servings

Christmas Biscotti

admin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:21:23 +0000

It’s always fun to prepare nice recipes for Christmas and even better if you can prepare Christmas Biscotti…

Christmas Biscotti

You will need the following ingredients:
3/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
3/4 cup chopped shelled green pistachios
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup Vanilla Sugar (recipe follows)

Layer the ingredients in a 1-quart canning jar. Tap jar gently on the counter to settle each layer before adding the next one. Add additional dried fruits or pistachios to fill small gaps, if necessary.

Makes 1 jar.

Attach the following instructions on a gift tag:

Christmas Biscotti

Beat 1/3 cup butter (no substitutes) in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Beat in 2 eggs. Stir in jar contents just till combined using a wooden spoon. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill until easy to handle, if necessary. Shape each portion of dough into a 9-inch loaf. Place loaves 4 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet, flattening slightly until 2 inches wide. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or till a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool loaves on the cookie sheet for 1 hour.

Cut each loaf diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices using a serrated knife. Place slices, cut sides down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F for 8 minutes. Turn slices over; bake 8 to 10 minutes more or until dry and crisp. Cool on wire rack.

Makes 16.

Vanilla Sugar

Fill a quart jar with 4 cups granulated sugar. Cut a vanilla bean in half lengthwise and insert both halves into sugar. Secure lid and store in a cool dry place for several weeks before using. Will keep indefinitely.

Bon appetit!

White Christmas Fudge

admin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:13:07 +0000

White Christmas Fudge

Makes 36 squares.

2 1/2 cups Domino Confectioners’ Sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
12 ounces white chocolate coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
3/4 cup dried cherries cranberries or apricots or apricots coarsely chopped
3/4 cup toasted almond slices

1/ Line an 8-inch square pan with foil; grease foil.

2/ Mix confectioners’ sugar and milk in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Over medium heat add butter and, bring to boil. Without stirring, boil constantly for 5 minutes.

3/ Over low heat, add chocolate and almond extract but be careful on the amount of chocolate! Stir, then whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in dried cherries and toasted almonds. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Refrigerate 2 hours until firm. Invert pan, peel off foil and cut into 1-inch squares. Garnish as desired.

A few more tips:

Look for dried cherries in the bulk foods or produce section of your supermarket.

To toast almonds, spread in a single layer on baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 5 to 10 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, until they begin to brown.

Bon appetit!

Christmas Smoothie

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:25:31 +0000

Even during Christmas, you can get a healthy smoothie and enjoy your holidays! The whole family will enjoy such a tasty smoothie…

What you need:
- Blender
- 1x medium Chocolate Chip Cookie
- 1 Cup of milk
- 1x Tablespoon of Baileys
- 1x handful of Raspberries (preferably fresh)

1/ Crumble the cookie into the Blender and add the cup of milk. Blend for 10 seconds to get a bitty texture.

2/ Add Raspberries and Baileys. Blend for 15 seconds. The, depending on either you prefer it light or thick, you can add some raspberries or natural yoghurt. It’s up to you!

Enjoy your smoothie and have a great Christmas

Gift Basket Can Be A Perfect Christmas Gift Idea

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:23:19 +0000

It is hard to find a perfect gift in a special occasion like Christmas for your loved ones. There is very little time to spend on choosing and making gift purchases in these days. In fact gift baskets including all fine things are really a single gift that you may choose. Gift baskets are really awesome presents for anyone.

Usually gift baskets are always based on traditional theme like fruit baskets, packing with bath products or any other products can be pack as per the taste of the recipient. Here, gift basket doesn’t means that there should be a basket but any container can be used as a gift basket with many small items.

You can find many gifts at the gift stores which are pre made gift baskets and are the easiest way to gift someone. Even you can create gift baskets giving some personal touch to them that are placed on stores or online websites. Home made gift baskets could be prepared by you where you can collect the entire gift items you want to give and wrap them as per your choice and manner.

You can give a gift basket not only on special occasions but also you can give a gift as a symbol of your feelings to your dearer ones. You can wish your loved ones but sending such gift baskets those who are far off from you. As a husband, you can present the gift baskets to your wife as a special gift on your anniversary or you can gift your special friend on your first date too. Even if you wish to gift your kids, relatives, friends, colleagues you can manage well with customized gift baskets.

If you are looking for a gift to someone who loves music you can easily wrap a collection of music CD’s. Don’t be hesitate to gift like game CD’s, puzzles and much more as per your choice who loves games. Generally Christmas falls in winter season, so you can also give gift basket including skin care and moisturizing products along with warm clothes and accessories which will surely be make a great gift idea. Above all a gift basket should be decorated and designed beautifully.

Christmas lights

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:33:59 +0000

If you change the decoration of your home for christmas, just think about light and it is the right choice which will bring you pleasantry mood in yourself. Especially Christmas trees have turned more charming, sparkling and magical with light strands illuminating them. If you want to celebrate Christmas with full of fun and amusement then Lights are good representation to it. In fact it is necessary to understand how to install your light in perfection so it will bring lots of Christmas fun for you. You have to put a creative touch while decorating the light.

There are lots of pre-designed light displays that are available in your local department store to decorate at your home. Even you can do many more fun and interesting things with these lights also. You can make yourself of your favorite Christmas light from a wood frame. Even you can build a Christmas tree design using lights attached to a heavy wire. You can place a wire mesh frame over your rose bushes around with sufficient lights.

It will be look beautiful if you will decorate lights to the whole house in Christmas time. This decoration will be look like the gingerbread which is the representation of Christmas. You can do all sorts of fun things with lights. You have to put your creative artistry to highlight the beautiful winter scene while you use them to frame your window for your nativity view. You can use few strands of lights in Christmas time for amazing look.

Of course it will be too expensive for your Christmas light decorating, but if you are interested to decorate with light then it will better to wait for couple of hours and you can find inexpensive lights available readily to decorate your home. Mean while you are no need to buy have hundreds of lights to make a real difference in your Christmas time. Any how Christmas will of course invite you to decorate with lights and you will have to do that.

Paper Christmas Ornaments

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:35:42 +0000

Children love to actively participate in nearly every aspect of the holiday season. Why not include them in the decorations as well. Hanging decorations is great but having each child create his very own paper Christmas ornament is even better. With a little creativity and imagination you can have a memorable evening with the kids. The great thing about creating an original paper Christmas ornament is that it involves a lot of thought but very little money. You don’t have to stress over making mistakes when working with this material because it is so inexpensive. Paper is also versatile so you have plenty of options.

One great project involves nothing more than paper and scissors. All you need to make this paper Christmas ornament is a red piece and a green piece of construction paper. Cut each piece into strips but leave the strips connected at one end. Once you have cut both the red and the green papers you just have to weave them together.

The weaving process is beyond simple. You simply alternate red on top and green on top. Before you know it you have an adorable paper Christmas ornament that is simple yet attractive. The great thing about this project is that there is no mess involved at all. It is a great way to keep the little ones occupied without having to deal with a lot of clean up afterwards.

But what would a craft be without some messes? If you are not planning on having any company later in the evening you may want to try making a paper Christmas ornament that does require making a great deal of mess. I find these projects to be particularly fun. Paper Mache is a wonderfully messy craft that has endless possibilities for your little crafters.

I like to use a balloon for a kind-of reverse mold. The balloons can be blown up to different sizes and they come in various shapes as well. Just dip strips of newspaper in a special concoction then lay them flat on the surface of the balloon. After the liquid dries, just pop the balloon. You are left with a great paper Christmas ornament that is ready for decorating. Since you have already made a mess, why not add some glitter? It adds great holiday sparkle.

These are just two simple crafts for the holiday season. You can find many more ideas for the perfect paper Christmas ornament project for your family in craft stores or online. It may be the beginning of a new holiday tradition.

Christmas Wedding Tips

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:28:03 +0000

Are you going to have your wedding this Christmas? You have stopped at the right place! We are going to discuss some great ideas and tips here to make your wedding memorable and successful.

Do keep in mind that at Christmas many people want to leave their homes for an end-of-the-year vacation. Consider all your guests and see if they are available during those holidays. If they have other plans, you may want them to cancel their plans. Second thing to consider is an appropriate location. Make reservations in advance. Since Christmas has a lot of parties going on in practically every popular location, you may want to consider a few options before you finalize one of them.

Christmas is a magical season. There are so many ideas for wedding decoration and other things that you will be surprised. To have a wedding on a complete Christmas theme sounds romantic and thrilling. The decorations will mainly be in white, silver, gold, cream, burgundy and forest green. Choose the bride’s dress the way you want. There’s not any special winter bridal dress. Buy flowers but don’t spend too much, as flowers are very expensive this time of the year. Instead, plan to have candles and baskets of ornaments on tables. Place limited flowers as well. Make sure you select all kinds of colorful and beautiful ornaments.

The wedding cake can be a chocolate cake, either tiered or simple, with a holly cascading down the side. Just make a list of all these things and plan a wedding people will remember for years to come!

How to choose the right Christmas tree

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:37:36 +0000

Christmas celebrations are different for different families. This is due to difference in their traditions and several other things. Christmas tree is certainly the center of attraction during Christmas time. It’s the center of all the activity and decorations. It’s decorated from top to bottom and it’s also the place where gifts are put. That’s the reason that children love this tree so much! So it becomes very important to select the right Christmas tree.

There are certain tips will help you in selecting the right tree. These are: knowing the amount of space you have, choosing the tree according to your household and environment.

You should choose the Christmas tree according to the space you have in your house. A 10 feet tall tree won’t look good in a house which has 6 feet ceilings. However it’s not very easy to decide whether a particular tree will fit into your house or not just by looking at it in the market. So people end up buying trees that won’t fit in their house. You can trim the tree in order to make it perfect for your house however it will be better to measure it before you buy it. A small tree with long branches will also look good. It’s better to go for a small and artificial tree rather than going for a huge tree which will occupy all the available space a home. Live miniature trees will also look fine.

6 inches potted Christmas trees are available in the market. You can just bring them home and put them in the right place. You can decorate it in various ways. 3 feet trees are also available. Artificial trees are better for keeping in living rooms. They are particularly good if you have pets and small kids at home. Children will play with the mud and your room will become all messy so it’s better to stick with artificial tree in such a situation. Your pet may jump and bring a live, tall tree down so you need to be careful. So do not buy a huge Christmas tree. Buy one which suits your household.

Environment also plays a vital role in selecting the right Christmas tree. Forest service gives permits to cut trees which are on national forest land in areas where there are a number of trees. The permits are not too costly and the tree cutting is actually good for their growth. So you can find a tree that fits into your house just right. You should not cut an old tree and take its portion home. Go for a tree which has soft and short needles. Decorating such a tree will be easier and it will also remain green for a longer period of time. You should decorate a tree in your yard rather than cutting one in case you live in an area which has fewer trees. It’s best to go for a potted Christmas tree in such a situation. You can plant the same tree in the spring time.

No Christmas can be complete without the Christmas tree. A number of Christmas trees are available. You are sure to find a tree that is fit for your household irrespective of the amount of space available in your house or the type of environment you live in. There are many options available and you can try and see as to which one suits you the best. You are sure to find the right Christmas tree. All you need to do for this is to try and experiment with different trees until you find the right one.

Christmas Perfection

Best Christmas Recipes book

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Cherry Vanilla Fudge

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Christmas Biscotti

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White Christmas Fudge

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Christmas Smoothie

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Gift Basket Can Be A Perfect Christmas Gift Idea

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Christmas lights

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Paper Christmas Ornaments

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How to choose the right Christmas tree

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