Russian Tea

Russian Tea is something I can remember from childhood. I don't think it has anything to do with Russian culture other than maybe Russians love tea, too. This recipe was quite popular in the 1970s and '80s here in America. My mother and grandmother would whip us up a batch at home, and we also had it for special occasions at church. With so many specialty coffee and tea places and options around now, I think it has fallen out of favor. I hope you will rediscover the great flavor of Russian Tea. My husband really likes it so I made him a batch recently and thought I would share it with you all too.

A few years back I made gift baskets for our siblings and their families as Christmas presents and included a jar of Russian tea.

For the gift baskets I layered the ingredients in a clear wide mouth pint size jar which made it pretty. Then the recipient just needed to dump it into a bowl, stir it up, and pour it back in the jar before using it.

 For us at home I just mix all the ingredients into a bowl and pour them into a wide mouth pint size glass jar.

• 3/4 cup instant tea
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup instant lemonade mix with sugar
• 3/4 cup instant orange drink mix

FOR AT HOME USE: In a medium size bowl preferably with a spout mix together all ingredients. Stir well. Pour mixture into a wide mouth pint size glass jar.

FOR A CUP OF RUSSIAN TEA: Mix 2 tablespoons of mix into 8 ounces of boiling water and stir well. Enjoy!

FOR A GIFT JAR: In a small bowl mix together the tea with the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Carefully add half of this mixture to the bottom of a clear wide mouth pint size glass jar. You may want to wipe off the inside of the jar if tea blew up on the sides. Measure out the lemonade mix and the orange mix. Add 1/2 of the lemonade mix to the jar on top of the tea mixture. Press down firmly with a spoon. Next add 1/2 of the orange mix on top of the lemonade mix. Press down firmly with a spoon. Repeat layers with the rest of the tea mixture, then the lemonade mix, and finally with the orange mix. Add a small cloth topper to the top of the jar along with an instruction label: "Empty contents of jar into a medium size bowl. Stir together thoroughly. Pour mixture back into jar. FOR A CUP OF RUSSIAN TEA: Mix 2 tablespoons of mix into 8 ounces of boiling water and stir well. Enjoy!" 

Ready by January 22

Fruitcake

I should have made my fruitcake a month ago or at least a couple of weeks ago so it would have had time to mature by Christmas. Some consider this to be an important aspect of a good fruitcake. I baked mine tonight. I considered many different recipes and designed my own. If you want a cake that is more nuts than fruit, that incorporates all candied fruit and no dried fruit or raisins and adds a touch of orange and molasses, then mine might be for you. I hope you will consider your favorite flavors and experiment to design a new favorite for your family.

• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 2 cups fruitcake fruit mix
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup softened butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons molasses
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1 3/4 all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease and flour a large tube pan. Combine walnuts, pecans, and fruit mix. Sprinkle with 3 Tablespoons flour.

Stir gently until nuts and fruit are coated in flour. Set aside. In an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating well with each addition.

Add molasses, vanilla, and orange juice. Mix together. Add flour, baking soda, and salt all at once.  Beat, scrapping sides with spatula until all is combined.  Stir in nuts and fruit.

Spoon carefully into pan taking care to spread batter evenly.

Bake for 2 hours until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean and cake pulls away from sides of pan. Run a knife along the edges to help loosen cake if needed. Allow cake to rest in pan on cooling rack for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from pan onto glass cake plate.

  Cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap followed by foil wrap.    

Dixies

Dixies are part bar cookie, part brownie, and all together delicious. A friend gave me this recipe almost ten years ago. It's an old recipe using lots of butter and sugar.  I only make them when I can take the whole batch somewhere which is usually around Christmas. They melt in your mouth. Hope you enjoy them.

• 1 box dark brown sugar
• 2 sticks butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Combine ingredients, spread into a greased 9”x13” pan. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Cranberry Waldorf Salad

Cranberries look and smell and more importantly, taste like Christmas. Culturally, cranberries are one of our holiday foods. They appear in the fall, and shortly after Christmas we usually don't see them again until next fall. You can always buy a few extra bags as cranberries keep well in the freezer. Then you can use them throughout the year.


I checked out quite a few recipes for Cranberry Waldorf Salad and tweaked one into my very own.  Hope you enjoy.

• 1 1/2 cups chopped cranberries
• 1large red apple, chopped and sprinkled with a few shakes of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup seedless grapes, halved or quartered
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 6-ounce container light vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Stir gently yet thoroughly to combine. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

I prefer to chop the cranberries in my small food chopper.  It creates slivers of red throughout the dish.

Serves 6 to 8

Felt Gift Card Pocket Bags

These little felt bags are just wide enough to slide a gift card inside and just tall enough to keep it hidden.  The pearl button serves as the clasp on the front.  Since it's not designed to be a high-use bag, a simple slit in the green clasper piece of felt works nicely without any reinforcement to clasp the button to close the bag on the front.


The backside of the green clasper piece is sewn on using another button which makes the bag a bit nicer than if I'd only sewn a crisscross pattern to tack the felt down on the back.

The green cuff on the front also adds a nice element that upgrades this bag a bit. I used felt scraps I already had at home and two buttons from my button jar.

Many items of clothing come with extra buttons. Some are included on cards or in tiny attached envelopes or even sewn into the side tag.  In my lifetime I can count on a couple of fingers the number of times I've needed to use one of those extra buttons.  So years ago I started putting them in a mason jar.  I've accumulated a bit of a stash which comes in handy for projects like these.




I designed these small pocket bags to hold gift cards.  I wanted something easy to make and something I could customize personally for the recipient.  I chose burgundy and forest green felt for this one as it was designed to be a Christmas present.  You could easily chose felt colors and patterns to reflect many types of people and special occasions.  Different types of buttons can add the right embellishment for the right person.

To make a pocket bag like this one, you need:  3 pieces of felt: a main body piece of felt (burgundy part) 4 1/2 in. x 5 in., a cuff(green part across the front) 2 1/2 in. x 4 1/2 in., and a clasper (green part across the top used to latch the bag closed) 1 in. x 3 1/2 in.; 2 buttons; coordinating thread 

1.  Sew one 4 1/2 in. edge of the cuff to one 4 1/2 in. edge of the main body overlapping the cuff about an inch on top of the body.  The other 1 1/2 in. of cuff should be hanging off the body piece of felt.  Sew the cuff across the edge to the body of the bag using a 1/4 in. seam. This is the wrong side of the bag.
2. fold the 1 1/2 in. part over the body edge to the right side.  
3. Fold the two 4 1/2 in. edges of the right side together.  The 1 1/2 in. cuff should be to the inside.
4. Using a 1/4 in. seam, sew the two sides together down from the cuff.  Sew all the way off the fabric reinforcing each end.
5. Turn the bag right side out.
6. Attach one end of the clasper to the middle of the back of the bag using a button. Cut a small slit in the other end of the clasper that is big enough to button your decorative button on the front.
7. Sew a decorative button onto the middle of the cuff. 

Once you work through one of these, it is so easy to make as many as you need. These pocket bags help you personalize your gift. Hope you enjoy the many variations you can create.

Dreamy Orange Puffs

For Christmas last year I made some cookies, soups, and cakes for family and friends for Christmas.  I layered all of the dry ingredients in pint or quart mason jars, decorated the lids, and tied on decorative labels with the wet ingredients to add and the instructions.  They were a huge success.  Everyone liked them.

One particular cookie recipe, Dreamy Orange Puffs, was a favorite of several people.  I chose to make that one in memory of my mother.  Orange was one of her favorite flavors.  She loved orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream swirled together.  The sugar coated orange jellied slices that you could buy in the clear package on the candy aisle were among her favorites.  I can remember on many a Christmas receiving orange tic tacs in my stocking.  I think my mother had something to do with it.

One of my sister-in-laws asked me recently for this recipe so I thought I would put it out there for everyone.  Enjoy!!

The first “recipe” is for making them once for you.  The second is for making them up in glass jars to have on hand to give away as gifts or for you and your family for later.  It is nice to have a stock of these on hand because they make such nice gifts for: a sick friend, a new neighbor, a birthday surprise, or an everyday “I’m thinking of you” gift.

Thanks for asking for this one, Misty.   

 Dreamy Orange Puffs

·         ½ cup orange flavored instant breakfast drink powder (you can usually find this on the aisle with lemonade)

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

·         ½ teaspoon baking soda

·         ½ teaspoon baking powder

·         1 stick softened butter or margarine

·         1 egg

·         1 teaspoon vanilla

·         1 ½ cups vanilla chips (on the aisle with chocolate chips)

In a large mixing bowl combine the orange drink powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  Mix together well.  Using an electric hand mixer or a large wooden spoon beat in the butter or margarine, one egg, and vanilla.  You may need to use your hands.  The dough will be sticky.  Stir in the vanilla chips.

Shape dough into balls the size of walnuts.  Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 375°F for 12 to 14 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet.  Remove to cooling racks or a plate to finish cooling.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Dreamy Orange Puffs in a Jar

·         ½ cup orange flavored instant breakfast drink powder (you can usually find this on the aisle with lemonade)

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         1 ½ cups vanilla chips (on the aisle with chocolate chips)

·         1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

·         ½ teaspoon baking soda

·         ½ teaspoon baking powder

·         1 stick softened butter or margarine

·         1 egg

·         1 teaspoon vanilla

In a clean quart size glass jar, layer the orange drink powder.  Press firmly into bottom of jar.  Next pour in the sugar.  Very gently shake jar from side to side to level out sugar.  Then carefully add the vanilla chips.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.  Mix well.  Carefully spoon the flour mixture into the jar on top of the vanilla chips.  You will need to press the flour in firmly and repeatedly to get it all to fit into the jar, but it will go.

If you are giving this away as a gift, add the following directions to a card and attach it to the jar so your gift can be enjoyed.

Empty contents of jar into large mixing bowl.  Use large spoon or your hands to thoroughly blend ingredients.

Add 1 stick softened butter or margarine, 1 egg slightly beaten, and 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional).

Thoroughly mix together.  The dough will be sticky.  You may need to finish mixing with your hands.

Shape dough into balls the size of walnuts.  Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake at 375°F for 12 to 14 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet.  Remove to cooling racks or a plate to finish cooling.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Hot Virginia Dip, Anyone?

On New Year's Eve for the past several years I've made an appetizer called Hot Virginia Dip.  Whether I was looking for something to whip up quickly at home for a bash or to take as we headed out to a party, it's always been extremely quick and easy to make and well liked.  This year was no different as we headed out to our annual New Year's Eve dinner and then on to a New Year's Eve party at the home of some friends.  Thank you all by the way for having us over.  We loved the compass prayers for those in the trenches sharing the gospel.  Hope you make a new tradition of it!!

Back to Hot Virginia Dip...It is hot for two reasons.  It's best when served hot right out of the oven, but it also heats up well in the microwave when you need to make it up early.  Secondly, the horseradish and the freshly pressed garlic give it just the right amount of kick.  We also enjoy sharing a little bit of our home state of Virginia for those not fortunate enough to have been born there.  :)

Hot Virginia Dip

·         4.5 ounce jar sliced dried beef

·         2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese (which is the less

          fat version of cream cheese), softened

·         4 tablespoons milk

·         1 cup sour cream

·         2 teaspoons freshly pressed garlic

·         1 Tablespoon horseradish

·         1 cup chopped pecans

·         2 Tablespoons butter

Cut beef into small pieces with a sharp knife or scissors.  

If you are having trouble finding the jar of sliced dried beef in the grocery, try the aisle with canned tuna or chicken.  It's usually close by.

With an electric mixer, blend together the softened cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese, milk, and sour cream.

Stir horseradish and pressed garlic into cream cheese mixture.  When thoroughly combined, mix in beef pieces. 

  

Spoon into greased casserole dish.  Saute 1 cup pecans in 2 Tablespoons butter until nicely browned.  Sprinkle sauted pecans on top of dried beef mixture.  Heat 30 minutes in 325°F oven.  Serve with wheat thins, corn chip dippers, etc.

If you are already planning ahead for a Super Bowl gathering, consider trying out this dip.

 

 

Christmas Chewies

When I asked my husband how long he's been making these Christmas cookies, his response was, "Oooo that's a hard one...years and years and years...before we were married...before we were even dating."  Suffice it to say, a very long time.  Not quite decades and decades.  But definitely more than one decade.  We recently celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary.

Christmas Chewies come in a variety of different colors and flavors.  This Christmas Brian's making fudge ones and lemons ones and strawberry ones.  He can make any flavor, well at least any flavor that is found in a boxed cake mix.  Ooops I might be giving his secret away.  Here's what the dough looks like as it's being formed.

Then you just line them up on the baking sheet.

You can add some decorative sprinkles to the tops prior to baking.

As the cookies bake they flatten out just enough to slather some cream frosting between two of them.  

We're winding down the Christmas cookies baking season.  It's not over yet, but it's getting close.

We're starting to fill tins and plates and containers.

Here's what things are starting to look like at our house about now.

Yumminess at its best!

Buckeyes

Chocolate and peanut butter always make an excellent pairing.  Over the years I have tried out different recipes for this chocolate and peanut butter combination and finally settled on this one.  It makes a nice firm peanut butter bonbon which holds up well when travelling or just transporting them across town.  They make a great finger food as you pop them right in your mouth.  Here's how to get started. 

Buckeyes

Makes about 7 dozen

·         2 (10 oz.) packages peanut butter chips

·         6 ounces cream cheese, softened (I usually use the lighter Neufchatel cheese)

·         14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

·         1 cup peanuts, finely chopped

·         12 ounce package of Wilton® Candy Melts® - dark cocoa

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, melt peanut butter chips over low heat.

With electric mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually add sweetened condensed milk as mixer continues beating.

Stir melted peanut butter chips into cream cheese mixture.  Add chopped peanuts.  Mix well. 

Chill for 2 to 3 hours. 

Roll dough into one-inch balls using the palms of your hands.  Follow package instructions to melt Candy Melts®.  Using a wooden toothpick, poke partway into the middle of the ball.  Dip the ball into the melted chocolate a little more than halfway up the sides of it.  Then gently release it onto wax paper.  You may need to gently push it off the toothpick with your fingers.  Leave buckeyes on wax paper until chocolate coating is firm.   

Peel them off of wax paper and store in a sealed plastic container.

The challenge then is to eat only one.

Hungarian Vanilla Kifli

My husband and I lived in Hungary, a country in eastern Europe, for about two and a half years.  We enjoyed learning about the Hungarian culture.  We found Hungarians to be very hospitable and caring people.

Typical families in Hungary have many Christmas traditions which involve food much like typical families in America, if there is such a thing as typical for either culture.  Traditionally Hungarians serve Fish Soup on Christmas Eve.  Their Christmas tree is usually decorated by the adults in the family on Christmas Eve, and the children are invited to view the glowing beauty in all its splendor.  Among the ornaments on the Hungarian Christmas tree you will also find szaloncukor, a fondant and chocolate truffle type of candy wrapped in bright colored foil.  Children will remove a piece of szaloncukor from the tree, eat the candy, and return the foil wrapper to the tree.  Parents smile and pretend not to notice as they fondly remember eating their own share of the sweet treats and replacing the wrappers during their own childhood.

I want to share with you a recipe for a tradional Hungarian Christmas cookie, Vanilla Kifli.  It is very similar to a cookie I grew up eating called Butterballs or Mexican Wedding Cookies.  The Hungarian word, "kifli," means "crescent" like the shape of the crescent moon. 

After some trial  and error in trying to capture the taste of the Vanilla Kifli I tasted in Hungary, I came up with this recipe.  I hope you will consider adding a new cultural tradition to your Christmas baking. 

Vanilla Kifli

Makes about 3 dozen

·         ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

·         ½ cup granulated sugar

·         2 large egg yolks

·         2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         2 cups flour

·         ¾ cup ground walnuts

·         Powdered sugar

·         2 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate squares

Using an electric stand or hand mixer, beat together butter and granulated sugar.  Add egg yolks and vanilla.  Beat well. 

Add flour one cup at a time, mixing well in between.  Stir in walnuts until thoroughly combined. 

Place mixture in the refrigerator in a covered bowl for at least two hours; can be placed overnight.  Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Roll dough between hands to form short rope.  Pinch in the middle to make the crescent moon shape.  Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake about 10 to 12 minutes.  Bottom of cookies will be lightly browned while tops remain white.  Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes.  Carefully roll crescents into powdered sugar.  Let cool completely.   

Melt chocolate in microwave on low or on the stovetop in a double boiler on low.  Dip small portion of each end of the cookies into chocolate.  Place on wax paper.  Allow to thoroughly cool and set.  Cookies should be kept in sealed container until ready to serve.

   

Origami at Christmas

The Japanese art of paper folding is called Origami, and it is one of my husband's favorite crafts.  Brian's interest in this age old craft began when he checked out his first origami book from his elementary school library.  The fascination with it continues to this day.  We now own quite a few origami books.

Brian is very moody about his origami.  At times he'll spend months searching new patterns and trying out more complicated designs.  Then he might go six months and never make a single fold.  He has spent hours entertaining children and adults alike.

He has a special interest in modular origami especially for making tree ornaments during the Christmas season.  Modular origami uses multiple sheets of the same size paper.  Each sheet is folded the same way to form one unit.  Each unit is attached to another one in the same fashion through a tag and pocket system folded into each unit.  This Christmas Brian is making one design that starts with 30 pieces of paper.  For this particular star design, he's using a satin royal blue wrapping paper.

He folds each square into an individual unit.

After carefully fitting them together, he has an Origami star.  Often they are simply nestled into the Christmas tree branches.  At other times, he creates a support piece in one of the star points and strings a thread through it for hanging purposes only.  Pure origami creators never use glue or tape or thread to hold origami together. The piece or pieces of paper must be folded in such a way to hold itself together.


Here is a small collection of what Brian has been working on this Christmas season so far.

Handmade Felt Gift Bags

A few weeks back I was looking for a different way to gift wrap tiny gifts, gift cards, or maybe some candy.  While I was going through a local craft store, I found some cute little packets of Christmas buttons and got my inspiration to make my own gift bags.

Using some inexpensive sheets of felt for the main part of the bag made the project easier.  I started with a drawing showing the size I wanted the final bag to be.  Then I added seam allowances, measured, and cut out all of the pieces.  The sewing machine made quick work of the project.  Hand stitching the buttons with gold thread added sparkle.  The finished product is a little bag about 5 inches tall, 4 inches wide, and 1 1/4 inches deep. The handle is about 10 inches long with about an inch attached on each side of the bag.  It is a great size to loop around a doorknob.     

I hope my project will give you inspiration for your own.