On 2018-12-02 2:48 p.m., Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> We had so much pie for Thanksgiving that I decided to make candy for
> Christmas and New Year's.
>
> First I made 2 batches of peanaut brittle. Next were 2 batches of
> pecan pralines. After going any further I vacuum packed both candies
> to keep them as fresh as when they were first made. These were both
> from old family recipes. so no specific attributions.
>
> Yesterday I made 2 bathes of Nougat from the Spledid Table website.
> They were wondrful, but I wasan't quite done with 1 batch. Today I
> coated 1 batch of nougat with dark chocolate and it still needs to
> set until sufficiently hard. I covered the other batch with edible
> rice paper. Tonight I will vacuum pack both bathes of nouget.
>
> Tomorrow I will make myown recipe of rum balls using choped
> pastchios, honey, dark cocoa powder and Myer's Plantation Rum. Those
> freeze well, so I may not vacuum pack them.
>
> And, NO, I won't be taking any pictures:-)
>
> A couple of days before Christmas I may break down and bake 1
> mincemeat pie. I still have two quarts left of the 6 quarts of
> homemade mincemeat that I pressure caned just before last Christmas.
>
> As to Christmas dinner, we're breaking with tradition and having
> brisket along with potato latkes and a few other side dishes.
>
Well it does celebrate a Jewish birth:-)

I'll be doing 2 batches of xmas baking, the first for a pre-xmas visit
to son #2 in BC and the second for son #1 here. No mince pies - I
haven't made those in many a year having replaced them with almond
tartlets. Then there will be batches of chocolate cookies of different
types and hues and perhaps Parisian macarons if I feel up to it.
I made a batch of chocolate thumbprint cookies filled with ganache last
week and judging from the response of my fast-growing grandson, those
will be on the menu too.

On 2018-12-02 11:58 p.m., Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Sun 02 Dec 2018 03:04:33p, graham told us...
>
>> On 2018-12-02 2:48 p.m., Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>> We had so much pie for Thanksgiving that I decided to make candy
>>> for Christmas and New Year's.
>>>
>>> First I made 2 batches of peanaut brittle. Next were 2 batches
>>> of pecan pralines. After going any further I vacuum packed both
>>> candies to keep them as fresh as when they were first made.
>>> These were both from old family recipes. so no specific
>>> attributions.
>>>
>>> Yesterday I made 2 bathes of Nougat from the Spledid Table
>>> website. They were wondrful, but I wasan't quite done with 1
>>> batch. Today I coated 1 batch of nougat with dark chocolate and
>>> it still needs to set until sufficiently hard. I covered the
>>> other batch with edible rice paper. Tonight I will vacuum pack
>>> both bathes of nouget.
>>>
>>> Tomorrow I will make myown recipe of rum balls using choped
>>> pastchios, honey, dark cocoa powder and Myer's Plantation Rum.
>>> Those freeze well, so I may not vacuum pack them.
>>>
>>> And, NO, I won't be taking any pictures:-)
>>>
>>> A couple of days before Christmas I may break down and bake 1
>>> mincemeat pie. I still have two quarts left of the 6 quarts of
>>> homemade mincemeat that I pressure caned just before last
>>> Christmas.
>>>
>>> As to Christmas dinner, we're breaking with tradition and having
>>> brisket along with potato latkes and a few other side dishes.
>>>
>> Well it does celebrate a Jewish birth:-)
>>
>> I'll be doing 2 batches of xmas baking, the first for a pre-xmas
>> visit to son #2 in BC and the second for son #1 here. No mince
>> pies - I haven't made those in many a year having replaced them
>> with almond tartlets. Then there will be batches of chocolate
>> cookies of different types and hues and perhaps Parisian macarons
>> if I feel up to it. I made a batch of chocolate thumbprint cookies
>> filled with ganache last week and judging from the response of my
>> fast-growing grandson, those will be on the menu too.
>>
>
> It all sounds delighful! When we lived in Ohio I used to bake a wide
> variety of cookies including several different types of German
> cookies and Slovak and Polish pastry type cookies. I don't do nearly
> as much baking here in AZ as I did there. Old age and an aggravated
> back injury has caught up with me. :-)
>
I don't particularly like xmas spices. I know that they are traditional,
going back centuries but I avoid them in all my xmas baking.

Wayne, if you post your killer fudge cake recipe, I will reciprocate with my killer gingerbread "topping"
recipe which ends up on top after baking on the bottom (like an upside down cake). That lemon sauce
will be perfect on it. My mom used to serve a warm lemon sauce with her gingerbread.

N.