And it’s 2022 already!
We masked up extra carefully everywhere we went in the weeks leading up to the holidays so that we could have at least small family visits over Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We did a LOT of cooking before and after Christmas, and made LOTS of charcuterie and other party food – even though we didn’t have any real parties!
My Christmas bookish gift haul included some foodie books. More cocktails than cooking this year!
Some of our food and drink highlights:
This was our Christmas Eve “dinner” after getting home late from visiting and church.
Maple Butter Twists are our must-have Christmas-morning breakfast. The gluten-free version I make now are from a recipe from the author of Nosh on This. Here they are fresh out of the oven, but I forgot to take a picture after they were cooled and glazed.
Raspberry, Spice & Everything Nice – I made this mildly decadent holiday cocktail suggested by a local big-box liquor store ahead of time and my husband and I liked it, but I messed up the proportions when making them for five people instead of two.
I used the new jigger that I bought myself after reading one of Beth Fish’s recent Weekend Cooking posts. It’s a great addition to my craft cocktail tools, but it has two sets of measurements (teaspoons and ounces) and I accidentally used both sides at the same time, which doesn’t work well.
I had better luck making Winter Sangria for a crowd. I even had the homemade sour mix ready way ahead of time. I used a recipe from Winter Cocktails by Maria del Mar Sacasa.
We managed to fit in our annual tradition of sugar cookie decorating despite having to do a lot of stuff at the last minute and not remembering to restock our decorator icing supplies! Perhaps not our prettiest platter ever, but tasty just the same.
I made the cookies from King Arthur Flour’s Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies recipe. (I added nutmeg and had to leave out the xanthan gum because I couldn’t find it.)
I did some of my baking after Christmas Day as we celebrated with different family groupings four days in a row. And that way I got to try out the new M&M mixing bowl I received at Christmas!
I made Polenta Cake from a recipe in Flourless by Nicole Spiridakis and Gingerbread Cake from a recipe in I Can’t Believe It’s Gluten-Free by America’s Test Kitchen. (I have made and liked both of these recipes before.) I used paper cake pans, though, and made the mistake of trying to take the polenta cake out. Rather than having Cake Wreck #2, I left the gingerbread cake in the pan!
Luckily, the polenta cake was supposed to be served with fruit compote, and my husband had made a delicious pear-cranberry compote that went perfectly, although it didn’t do much to cover up the cracks!
A highlight for me having an extra day off work after Christmas and spending a chilly afternoon walking through Cambridge and Somerville (where our daughter and DIL live) ending at Bow Market for mulled wine and hot cider drinks around a reserved fire pit.
Happy New Year!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader and Baker. Visit her blog for more Weekend Cooking posts from other bloggers!
I can attest that the polenta cake was delicious enough to ignore a crack here and there!
Everything looks wonderful, especially those Maple Butter Twists! Though I would go for all the gluten 🙂
Maple Butter Twists?! oh those look SO good
I agree that everything looks sooooo good. So happy to see you picked up the little measuring cup — yep, one side is ounces and the other tablespoons. Your drink looks yummy.