super-simple Christmas treats

it’s happening!

Santa’s coming to town!!

Christmas and winter, i love this time of year.

rain is blowing sideways here in the valley, flooding low points of parking lots and sidewalks just enough to go over one’s shoes if one doesn’t watch where one steps. an empty parking space downtown has become a myth, and the office breakroom is brimming with christmas cookies and homemade treats. (so it doesnt help that most of my coworkers are already on vacation! i find it so difficult to turn down peppermint bark.) tonight, my sister flies in from New York, and my baby brother (who turned 19 this week!) arrives from the city he lives in, about an hour’s drive away.

i’m so excited!

this year, things are a little different. yes, we wrestled another 12-foot tree into our loft; i still attended an amazing cookie swap as well as our friend’s sparkly, dress-up cocktail party; but this year we decided in my immediate family not to exchange gifts. i can’t imagine possibly having more than i already do!… i am so blessed and provided for, and i don’t need anything. (but Nathan and i couldnt help but buy a few small treats for everyone anyway!) 

but mostly because last Friday, during my office Christmas party, Nathan left me a voicemail letting me know he had unexpectedly been laid off. and i couldnt call him back, since his phone belonged to the company. we got him a new phone, yes, but things feel very different than a week ago. but we are so thankful for the Lord’s timing and hand in our lives. my new job is stable and wonderful and covers both of us with medical insurance, and for now i have a House Husband who helps with groceries, errand-running, cleaning and……. well, let’s be honest, i still do the cooking (it’s my favorite)! a definite highlight is that Nathan is no longer working on-call this Christmas, or for any Christmas, or holiday or weekend or birthday ever again. i’m thrilled!! i’ve cooked a nice Valentine’s Day dinner for one for the last time; awoken to work calls in the middle of the night for the last time. 

so much to be thankful for!

i want to celebrate every day, and of course that means i want to eat! here are some of our dinnersforwinners favorites that we rounded up to inspire your holiday kitchen…………

if you want a peek into a delicious Hawley tradition, these peppery, spiced gingerbread cookies are as tasty as they are adorable. they are super-simple to make, fun to decorate, and fill the house with a wonderful gingerbread smell!

still my most popular recipe on this blog to-date, salted butter carmels are a great way to try your hand at candymaking, if you haven’t before. they are so delicious, and so much better than anything you could purchase! wrapped in some parchment or colored cellophane, they are the perfect last-minute gift… just make sure to save some for yourself! i love the creamy caramels and flecks of salt on top.

if you need a last-minute idea for contributing to a party, this mushroom tart is one of my top favorites! it serves well at room-temperature, so, great for traveling. prep is so easy with frozen puff pastry, and i think the tart is pretty presentation. i love the flakey pastry, melty Gruyere cheese and roasted mushrooms together!

i also adore these SPAM latkes — i know, so un-Kosher, but seriously so delicious! crispy potato cakes laced with salty shredded SPAM are amazing alongside a little pickled cabbage. you could swap leftover Christmas ham for the SPAM or even skip the meat and go all veggie. i could eat potato pancakes for every meal!

i hope the season is bringing you contentment and family and champagne punch and mistletoe.

and if you’re up for it, consider a little something to raise support for those affected around Sandy Hook Elementary in a run and ride in January! this is something we can do together, no matter how far apart we may be from each other geographically. participants commit to running or cycling 26 miles in the week, in whatever manner they choose, and registration fees benefit the victim’s families and first-responders. i hope you’ll decide to meet the challenge with me! i’m a slow runner, but steady, and with each step i can pray for healing in the Newtown community.

peace on earth. yes? and goodwill toward men.

peanut butter and jelly potato chip thumbprint cookies

here are some peanut butter cookies!

but they are kicked up a notch! with a roll through some crushed potato chips, then dolloped with some raspberry jam!

they taste a lot like a peanut butter sandwich that you stuck your potato chips into!

i wasn’t allowed potato chips very often as a kid, nor did i go to public school (to have been able to swap for someone’s chips!) so i didn’t stick chips in my PB+J. until last week. the day after i made these cookies. it was a delicious, crunchy salty-sweet sandwich of course. but these cookies were eeeeven better!

make ‘em! and eat ‘em!

from the awesome ladies at spoonforkbacon

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg white
• 2 cups potato chips, crushed
• ½ cup jam of your choice*

preheat oven to 375 degrees. in a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.

in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, then add both sugars. cream together until fluffy and light, about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. add the egg, vanilla and peanut butter and combine.

add flour mixture and combine on low speed until smooth.

chill for at least 24 hours (i know it’s difficult to wait, but don’t skip this step! your cookies will spread a lot [even more than mine did]).

lightly beat egg white in a medium dish. crush potato chips inside a freezer bag with a rolling pin, or using a mortar and pestle, until they look like coarse sand. place in another dish.

roll heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and toss about four at a time in the egg white, then the chips. place on a parchment-lined baking sheet with plenty of room for them to spread; poke a tiny hole in the center of each with your pinky finger.

bake, checking after 12 minutes, until just set. cool completely before filling with jam.

*i found that my fave Trader Joe’s blackberry jam completely overwhelmed the peanut butter flavor. a dollop of Smucker’s Simply Fruit (raspberry, in this case) was much more fresh and light. although if you’re one of those hand homemade-jam makers, i’m sure that would be unbeatable!