Friday Foodie ~ Christmas Breakfast

 

We had a wonderful Christmas at home this year, just the two of us.  Don't feel sorry for us - we love having the day to ourselves!  It's mellow and always begins with an amazing breakfast.  This year, I reached way back to my childhood and decided I wanted to make Chocolate Rolls.  This was Mom's take on cinnamon rolls, but since it was Mom, chocolate had to be involved!  I'm pretty sure she used Bisquick, because it was a quick and easy way to make something special for our family of six.

There is a recipe for cinnamon rolls on the back of the Bisquick box, but I wanted to make yeast based rolls.  I looked at dozens of recipes and decided on Easy Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch from Sally's Baking Addiction.  She has a "do not republish" policy on her blog, so I won't put the recipe here.  But go to her site because the recipe is simple and SO good!

 

I followed the recipe until it was time to make the filling, then I used cocoa powder instead of cinnamon.  That's the only thing I changed!  I did the first four steps on Christmas Eve, then put the rolls in the refrigerator.  When I got up on Christmas morning, I pulled them out and let them rise for about an hour.  At that time, I decided to move them to a larger baking pan and I'm so glad I did.

 

I didn't make the frosting in the original recipe.  I had a little bit of Pillsbury cream cheese frosting and just added some chocolate syrup to it.

I sent pictures to my siblings and nieces and they all wanted some!  My brother said it brought back a lot of childhood memories of one of his favorite sweet treats.  Mom set a high bar, but I think I might have reached it with these!

Our Christmas Date

For many years now, Les and I have gone on a special Christmas date.  This includes a very nice meal and live music.  Last night we went to the Alex Theatre in Glendale and saw the Angeles Chorale with the Burbank Philharmonic.  I'll get back to that, but first our dinner!

 

After booking our concert tickets, I started looking for two things.  Places to park and places to eat!  The Orange Street parking structure was one block from the theater and parking was $1 for four hours with validation.  We ended up parked there for about five hours, but were only charged $1.  That is a steal!  

 

There are restaurants of every cuisine imaginable within walking distance, so it was just a matter of choosing.  We decided on Raffi's Place for Persian food and it was fantastic!  We ordered two different kinds of beef kabobs.  The dinners came with basmati rice, but we chose to upgrade to Persian rices. We ordered half and half - mine were Albaloo Polo (with cherries) and Sabzee Polo (with fresh herbs.) Les got the Albaloo and Zereshk Polo (mixed with barberries.)  As you can see, the portions were HUGE!  But that's okay, we have plenty of leftovers to tide us over until Christmas!

After dinner, we walked back to the car to store our leftovers, then on to the theater.  Actually, it's spelled "theatre" which I guess makes it a little fancier!  While we waited for the doors to open, we explored the lobby and found lots of history on the Alex.  It was built in 1925 during the days of silent films.  They had a resident organist who was known to expertly improvise on films he had never seen.

The concert was "Holiday in Harmony - Handel's Messiah and More!"  The first half was all music from Handel's Messiah.  I have heard about Handel's Messiah but never sat down and listened to the entire composition.  Hearing it live was extremely moving.  The singers and musicians were flawless, but the words touched my soul.  As one who has studied the Bible, I recognized numerous passages.  (This page lists each act and what scriptures it is based upon.)

The entire Messiah is over two hours with three distinct parts.  Part I focuses on the Old Testament prophecies of Christ and the rejoicing of angels as told in the Book of Luke. Part II centers around Christ’s passion, crucifixion, and resurrection, culminating with the Hallelujah Chorus (books of Isaiah, Psalm, Hebrews, Romans, and Revelation). And Part III is a reflective commentary with text coming largely from First Corinthians.  Most Christmas performances use pieces from Part I and conclude with the Hallelujah Chorus, which is what we experienced last night.  "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" was both beautiful and powerful.  

After intermission we were treated to more singing and music.  This included a bell choir, something else I had never seen live.  Because the choir and orchestra were both local, many in the audience had friends or family members performing.  We were out way past our bedtime, but it was worth it.  It was a fantastic night!

December Skies

There are lights and decorations everywhere you look this time of year.  But look up, the skies are amazing!  Here are some that  I've seen this month while out running, walking and cycling.  Tuesday, December 3rd:

 

Thursday, December 12th:

Saturday, December 14th.  I was riding my bike when I saw this and had to stop for pictures!

This morning, the moon was still almost full.  It was stunning when we were driving to church last night and still spectacular this morning!

And more color as the sun started rising this morning:

Friday Foodie ~ 2024 Christmas Baking Edition

 

I pulled out my Christmas recipes this week and got busy.  Leksi was suppose to come see us on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I wanted to have some for her to take home with her.  Unfortunately, her plans changed.  She flies home to Tennessee on Sunday, so we won't see her until after the holidays.  I ended up making less than I planned and I still have some cookie dough and bonbon filling in the refrigerator that I will pull out at the end of next week.  I only made two kinds of cookies and three kinds of candy:

My cookies were frosted sugar cookies and Snickerdoodles. These both start with a sugar cookie mix.  Add three tablespoons of flour to the mix for frosted cookies.  Roll cookies in cinnamon-sugar mix for the Snickerdoodles.  I had a little melted chocolate left over after making my bonbons, so I dipped some of the Snickerdoodles in the chocolate.

 

Peppermint Bon Bons - this is an old family recipe that I never share.  

 

Butterscotch Haystacks

• 2/3 cups (12-oz. pkg.)  Butterscotch chips
• 1 can (8.5 oz.) or 2 cans (5 oz. each) chow mein noodles
• 3 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Place morsels in top of double boiler over hot (not boiling) water. Do not cover. When most of the morsels are shiny, stir just until melted. (Prevent water from coming in contact with morsels.)  Remove from heat.
Place chow mein noodles in large bowl.  Pour melted chips and mix well.  Add in marshmallows and stir until coated.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto wax paper.

 

Cracker Toffee

I've made peppermint cracker toffee before, but since I was making peppermint bonbons, I decided I wanted milk chocolate instead.  This was really good!

Ingredients:
40 saltine crackers
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips

Directions:
Line a 15x10x1-inch baking sheet with the saltine crackers. (My pan was a little smaller so my crackers overlapped a little.) Set aside. Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add in sugar and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Once it begins to boil, remove from heat.
Pour over saltine crackers and sprinkle with pecans. Place in a 375°F oven for about 10-12 minutes, until crackers are browned and caramelized.  

Sprinkle with chocolate chips and allow to sit for several minutes (until they melt).  Spread with a spatula evenly over crackers.

Chill for at least 30 minutes.  Break into bite size pieces.

Thanksgiving Success!

I'll get to my food in a bit, but our Thanksgiving was just wonderful!  It really started Tuesday evening at our annual Thanksgiving service.  I love hearing what everyone is thankful for each year.  We followed this up with our annual youth bake auction.  There were so many great treats and our auctioneers did a great job pushing the prices up.  Our youth department raised over $3,300!  Les and I bought Oreo Truffles:

  

and Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

We got home and stayed up waiting for Leksi to arrive.  While we waited, I made two types of muffins.  I spent much of Wednesday prepping as much food as possible.  I sent Kim a tempting picture of my dressing:

Les made his double layer pumpkin pie:

 

 

I was up early on Thursday morning and got my turkey going in the crock-pot.  This is the same kind of turkey I bought a couple of years ago, Jennie-O Oven Ready Turkey Breast.  As I mentioned, there wouldn't be room in my oven so I followed the directions for slow cooker.  Just add one cup of water, put the completely frozen turkey in, and cook on high for 4 hours.  I also added some chicken broth for a little extra flavor.

I also baked my peach cobbler.  It was the only thing that needed to bake at a higher temperature, but it didn't need to be ready at the same time.  It was still warm hours later when we were ready for dessert.

 

I started putting everything else in around 10:45.  Everything was going along great for about the next hour or so when my oven started smoking.  Unfortunately my macaroni and cheese boiled over and made a mess!  It was on the bottom rack, which was good because it didn't boil over in to anything else, but I suspect that is exactly why it boiled over!  We opened some windows and let everything finish baking.  Here is the spread:

Everything was SO good!  Yes, it was a lot of work, but I loved doing it.  This is the first time I've gotten to do this and hopefully won't be the last.  Leksi had told me she doesn't like dressing and I told her she didn't need to eat everything.  But she tried it and said, "This is the best dressing I've ever had."  Kim said it was one of the nicest Thanksgivings she's ever had.  My heart was as full as my belly!

Leksi turned 20 on Saturday.  Last time she was here, she told me that her skillet is kind of a mess and Wednesday morning she mentioned it again.  It was a simple gift, but we were happy to get it for her!

Rodney served in the Air Force, so it was fun to watch him and Leksi bond over their shared experiences.  It really was a Thanksgiving success - on both the food and family scene!

P.S.  As far as my oven goes - it's clean now.  My oven has two cleaning settings - Steam Cleaning and Self Cleaning.  For Steam Cleaning, I just poured a cup of water in the bottom of the oven and turned it on.  The steam helps everything soften up.  It wasn't enough, so I then used Self Cleaning.  I went for the full 5 hours and it worked like a charm!  The oven heats to a very high temperature and I ended up with ashes at the bottom of the oven.  Once it unlocked, I pulled the racks out and let it cool.  Then all I needed was a wet rag and everything wiped up!  No chemicals and Brillo pads required.

Thanksgiving Math

 

We are hosting a small gathering at our house on Thanksgiving.  This is a first for me!  Leksi will be here along with my sister, Kim, and her husband, Rodney.  Everyone else had other plans with other family members.  I'm so excited that I get to do this, but a little nervous about everything turning out.

Along with turkey and ham, I'm making dressing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, and rolls.  My turkey will go in the crock-pot, but everything else needs to go in the oven at 350 degrees. (There will also be cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and peach cobbler.)   I did a little research and most articles said to add about 15% more cooking time when more items are in the oven.  Of course not everything needs to bake the same amount of time. 

 

For now I have a chart of when everything needs to go in - the ham will go in about 30 minutes before everything else.  Next will be the dressing.  Then about every 5-10 minutes I'll add another dish!  Wish me luck!

P.S.  If you're wondering how much the calories of your meal will be, here is an old post from my WW days.  The points are the original plan, figuring about 50 calories per point.  Do You Really Want to Know?

Marine Corps Ball ~ A Weekend Getaway

 

The first weekend of November, Les and I headed down to Carlsbad in northern San Diego county.  Les' dad, sister and brother-in-law flew in from Tennessee to attend the Marine Corps Ball with Leksi.  They arrived on Friday, just two days after Pops turned 92 and two days before Lisa turned 57.  It was a great weekend filled with family, food, fun and sunshine.  We met up at P.F. Chang's on Friday night for dinner:

 

Afterwards, we went to the Wearing's AirBnB for dessert.  Leksi got a birthday cake that said, "Happy B-Day Old Folks."

 

Les, of course, took his bike with him, so on Saturday morning he went for a bike ride, while I went for a run.  There's nothing better than a run along the coast!

We spent much of Saturday afternoon and evening all together again and were having such a great time that I didn't take a single picture!  Sunday morning, Les and I ran together:

The main event was Sunday evening.  Les and I were back at the Wearing's AirBnB as the official photographers!

I know this was a treat for Leksi being able to spend time with her parents.

A girl and her Gramps!

This is Pops' navy uniform from the Korean War.

The proud parents, looking quite sharp.

Les joined his dad and sister for a few shots:

Oooo Rah!  Our marine:

We had one final meal together on Monday morning before we all headed home.  Once again, I just enjoyed the time and didn't take a single picture.