The Lifegiving Woman

Simple Tips for a Orchestrating a Stress-Free Christmas Dinner

Always Room at Our Table

Cooking up a fun and festive Christmas Day

Christmas Day is the Christmas Kitchen is in its glory!

First, it supplies something wonderful for waking up . . . coffee to sip at the crack of dawn, savory cinnamon rolls for munching while children check their stockings, maybe something more substantial (scrambled eggs, anyone?) for sustenance while your family’s Christmas morning gets underway.

Perhaps you hear squeals of delight as little ones discover what Santa has left.

Perhaps your morning begins with a gentle stirring as teens or housemates gradually awaken to the big day.

Maybe there’s a scurry to get ready for church.

Or your Christmas Kitchen might welcome the excitement of one relative or friend after another arriving—big hugs, warm greetings, gifts changing hands.

No matter what the morning holds, eventually the preparation for Christmas dinner must begin.

It’s the best meal of the year . . . and I believe it’s meant to be shared. With family of course, and I’ve always had a big one. But even if your household is tiny, I urge you to approach Christmas dinner with a spirit of “the more the merrier.”

Open your eyes: the possibilities for sharing the best meal of the year are endless. Look for students who can’t go home, young people on their own, single parents and their kids …anyone in need of a little extended family. Or if you happen to be at loose ends yourself, make a point to join forces with others for a Christmas Kitchen extravaganza—a lavish potluck or a shared kitchen.

Don’t forget to share the preparation—that’s part of the fun too. The joys of the Christmas Kitchen begin long before the loaded platters reach the table, and as the saying goes, many hands make light work. In fact, I urge you to include a game plan for delegating tasks as part of your Christmas-morning strategy.

• Choose a menu that can be made ahead as much as possible! (I will be posting a killer Christmas breakfast wreath soon!)

• Clean out your refrigerator several days ahead, using up leftovers and throwing away old food to make room for Christmas dishes. If refrigerator space is limited, perhaps a neighbor who is leaving town will let you use his or her fridge. Or if it’s cold outside, store food outside or in the garage or unheated storage room (in animal-proof containers...hey I live in Colorado!).

• Run your dishwasher early in the day, hand-wash any remaining dishes, then empty the dishwasher and put all the dishes away. Starting dinner with an empty dishwasher simplifies after-dinner cleanup enormously.

• Slow cookers are your friend. Many dishes (mashed potatoes, carrots, gravy, even ham or turkey slices) can be made well ahead of time and kept warm in the cookers until serving time. Borrow extras from friends if you need to. Many have removable inserts that can come to the table as serving dishes.

• If you weren’t able to set the table the day before, do it as early in the day as possible—and delegate the job if you can.

• As soon as breakfast is over, get everything ready for after-dinner coffee—water, filter, and coffee in the pot, sugar dishes and creamers filled, teabags ready if you’re offering tea as well, cups and saucers and spoons ready. (For an afternoon or early evening dinner, I simplify things by serving only decaf rather than offering a choice.) When the time comes to serve, ask someone else to distribute the cups and saucers while you start the coffee and prepare to serve dessert.

• Prepare a list (even if it’s just a mental list) of tasks you are willing and able to delegate so that when people ask, “What can I do?” you’ll know how to answer. Some ideas: taking guests’ coats and putting them away, setting the table, lighting candles, filling beverage glasses, transferring food to serving dishes, serving dessert.

• Place pitchers of water on or near the tables before the meal starts so glasses will be easy to refill. I like to add sliced lemons or oranges and fresh mint to the pitchers—or for a refreshing change, try a combination of sliced cucumbers and citrus.

• After dinner, you don’t have to clean up everything right away. Put away the leftovers, set the pots to soak, and get the first dishwasher load started, but then linger over dessert, enjoying the glow of yet another beautiful Christmas meal, complements of the Christmas Kitchen.

And more than anything enjoy the moment! Celebrate the joy of God's greatest gift to us!

Merry Christmas dear friends...

From The Christmas Kitchen a Gathering Place for Making Memories by Tammy Maltby and Anne Chrstian Buchanan. All rights reserved.

 

The Gazette and The Christmas Kitchen

The Gazette featured The Christmas Kitchen today...YES on the front cover! Thank you to Teresa Farney Food Editor for this great read.

Recipes featured are The Maltby Cake, Baked Brie and The Pinecone Cheese Ball!

Enjoy my friends and Merry Christmas!

The Best Holday Appitizer Ever!

Warmed Baked Brie

Nothing satisfies like a warm, creamy cheese. This recipe is so easy that you can make it in minutes. And the presentation is unreal!

Buy extra brie cheese rounds and puff pastry sheets and keep them in your freezer. You will always have a wonderful hors d'oeuvre to serve at a moment’s notice.

1 14 oz round Brie (the best variety and price can be found at Sam’s club).

1 package puffed pastry sheets (found in the section of the freezer where you find pie crusts).

 

Any vary of jams, chutneys (apricot is my personal favorite but anything cranberry for the holiday's is great, (I also like type of chutney or jam with  jalapenos in it!) dried fruits, and nuts. 

Remove one sheet of the frozen puff pastry. Let it come to room temperature (or  microwave on defrost for 2 minutes. Make sure you watch it carefully).  Cut Brie in half, lengthwise. Place one slice of the Brie (creamy side up) in the center of the unfolded puff pastry sheet. Add filling. Aproximently ½ cup of whatever you choose.  Place other half of Brie (creamy side down) on top of fruit mixture. 

Carefully wrap the puff pastry upward around the Brie. Starting with the corners of the pastry fold up in a circle fashion around the Brie, gathering the ends in the center of the Brie.  Place on foil lined and sprayed cookie sheet seam side down.  Brush with egg.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

TIME TIP: Make these in the morning and wrap with plastic wrap. About 30 minutes before baking remove from refrigerator.

So warm and yummy!

A Christmas Epiphany

God’s appearances are never command performances.

Our ability to perceive Him is always a gift. He initiates those moments when, for no reason we can fathom, the veil that keeps us from seeing the unseen realm is pulled aside. The clouds lift from the mountain. Our perspective shifts, and we see things the way they really are. What seemed distant or theoretical seems suddenly real. Or we suddenly know something to be true that we could never even have imagined.

Has anything like that ever happened to you? You might not have seen a light or experienced a vision. But maybe you’ve had one of those moments when everything seems to come clear and you suddenly understand something in a whole new way. When you find yourself newly and intensely aware of God’s presence. When you are granted the gift of peering past the veil and you just know you’ve encountered the God who sees you. Something clicks in your mind and soul and spirit, and you suddenly think, Yes!

It’s called an epiphany moment. And if it has ever happened to you, you know what a true miracle it can be.

It happened to me about this time last year, while I was sitting in the car with my daughter Mackenzie.

 

Actually, the whole thing started several hours earlier, when I realized with a start that it was December 22 and I hadn’t even begun to prepare for Christmas.

This was not normal for me. I love Christmas, and I usually start my preparations early. But this year Christmas had sort of been pushed aside by a family wedding. And I suddenly realized I had only forty-eight hours to make Christmas happen—shopping, wrapping, cooking, everything. I was feeling like a failure before I even started.

That’s when Mackenzie called. “Mom, I’ve got to go to Target this morning. Do you have time to go with me?”

Yes! I thought. Perfect timing. I could take care of my to-do list and have some much-needed time with my firstborn. My efficient, get-it-done mode kicked in as I grabbed a large coffee, picked up my shopping list, and headed for Target with Mackenzie.

Would you believe I got all the shopping done in less than an hour? (That’s one upside of a limited budget.) I stuffed all my packages in the car, and we started for home, my mind already racing ahead to what I needed to do next.

But then, as we drove, I fell into a conversation with Mackenzie.

She shared with me some ideas she’d been writing about in her blog—thoughts about her experience of being an adult child from a divorced family, about taking responsibility for her life, and about the meaning of Christmas. Her insights were profound, thoughtful, seasoned with both pain and maturity. And by the time we pulled up in my driveway, time had stilled. All my concerns about shopping and cooking and making Christmas happen had faded.

“Mom,” Mackenzie said to me there in the car, “Christ came when we didn’t acknowledge Him, when we weren’t grateful, when we were blind to our need and determined to have our own way. He came when we didn’t think we needed Him. And Mom, I am learning that He still comes, no matter what. He comes to free us from the failure of our lives, from the broken promises that seem to define us. He says, ‘I saw you in your need. And I still see you. I am restoring all you thought was lost, all you have grieved and left behind. For with Me, all things are new.’”

I am fully convinced I experienced a miracle that morning through the life of my young adult daughter. With her words, with who she is, Mackenzie unwrapped my Christmas gift from the God who sees me. She helped me shift my perspective from anxiety over what needed to happen to peace over what God has done in all our lives.

“Well, we can take the tree down now, because Christmas has already happened,” I told Jerry when I walked into the house that day. Jerry smiled when I explained what had happened in the car. “Christmas is more than what hangs on that tree,” he said. “He hung on the tree. He is the gift.”

Jesus gave and still gives us the miracle of a perspective change. Right in the middle of the messiness of life, He still comes. He still reveals Himself to our longing eyes.

 

Adapted from The God Who Sees You, by Tammy Maltby (with Anne Christian Buchanan), coming in May 2012 from David C. Cook publishers. You can preorder now at Amazon.com

Fit-for-a-King Filet of Beef and Cambozola Cream Sauce

You must make this amazing dish this Holiday Season!

It is delish.

From The Christmas Kitchen by Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan.

There’s no law that says Christmas dinner has to be turkey! This is a truly special-occasion dish, a wonderful alternative for Christmas dinner or a Holiday party. I love to serve this meat with old-fashioned buttermilk mashed potatoes, broccoli with a squeeze of lemon or lemon-butter, and baby carrots flavored with cardamom . . . and don’t forget the chocolate cake!

1 whole filet of beef (4 to 5 pounds)

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1 Tbsp. each kosher or sea salt and coarsely ground pepper (I like to use Pensey's Four Peppercorn Blend adds festive color and flavor to any dish where one would use fresh ground pepper...and I usually double the pepper! They have a whole line of great pepper and pepper mixes).

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil)

4 cups heavy cream

½ pound Cambozola cheese, chopped (this is a wonderful mixture of brie and blue cheese; I buy it at Whole Foods but if you can’t find it, use 3–4 ounces brie or blue cheese)

3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

3 Tbsp. minced parsley

Preheat oven to 500º. Pat the filet dry with paper towels and place on a baking sheet. With your hands, spread the butter all over the filet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub into the meat. Roast for 22 minutes for rare, or 25 for medium-rare. (This cut is so tender that it shouldn’t be cooked beyond a medium-rare stage.) Remove beef from the oven and cover tightly with foil. Let meat rest for 20 minutes, then slice thickly.

To make the sauce, soak the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water for 15 minutes, dry as well as possible with paper towels, then chop. Bring the cream to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil rapidly for 45–50 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add the cheeses, salt, pepper, and parsley. Whisk rapidly until cheeses melt. Fold in tomatoes and serve sauce with beef.

Simple Idea

If you prefer turkey to beef for Christmas and you’re cooking for a crowd, I suggest buying two birds—a big one and a little one. Roast the larger bird well ahead of time (I actually buy it when on sale at Thanksgiving), carve the meat, and freeze in double freezer bags to prevent freezer burn—I like to add a little broth to the bags to keep the slices moist. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat in a covered pan. Then roast the smaller bird for a beautiful presentation at the table.

 

Intimate gatherings for your special friends: Salmon and Lemon-Caper Cream and Curried Chicken-Cashew Tea Sandwiches

What are you giving your close friends this Christmas?

You could spend many hours—and a lot of money—shopping for just the right item for each friend and wrapping it with care.

But if you’re like me, your holidays are usually so crammed that it’s not going to happen. You’re busy. Your friends are busy. Funds are tight, and time is even tighter. And despite your best intentions, despite your love for each other, there simply aren’t enough hours to do justice to each special relationship.

But here’s another possibility: why not invite all your special friends to a lovely, intimate Christmas gathering . . . and make this time together your gift to them? For years that’s been one of my favorite things to do during the holidays.

Usually ours is a daytime gathering—a sumptuous morning brunch, a delectable afternoon tea, a light lunch, even a simple coffee klatch. Many of my friends work outside the home, so I try to schedule our get-together for a Saturday or Sunday. I do everything I can to make it a warm, relaxed, affirming, and delicious time. . . an oasis of loveliness in the midst of all the Christmas chaos.

My friends love it!

I always take time to go around the circle and intentionally affirm each woman, telling the whole group what she means to me, what I appreciate about her, why I’m grateful to have her in my life.

You should see my friends’ faces when I do that . . . even when they’ve been to one of my gatherings before. No material gift could be more personal, more appreciated. Every woman I know longs to be told—from the heart—that she is loved.

And then, after a few delicious hours together, it’s time to go. As each friend leaves, I’ll give her another hug and a little gift—perhaps an ornament, a small potted herb, or a Christmas CD. Then we return to our hectic holiday lives.

For the rest of the day, I can’t help smiling.

Try it. You’ll smile too!

If your gathering takes the form of an afternoon tea, finger sandwiches are classic fare—and this filling is to die for!

Salmon and Lemon-Caper Cream Sandwiches

½ cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. drained capers

½ tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp. white pepper

Butter or mayonnaise

32 slices bread (your choice)

Curly endive or lettuce leaves

8 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon (lox) or smoked turkey

In a small mixing bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients. Spread 32 slices of bread with butter or mayonnaise. Top 16 slices with greens and divide salmon or turkey on lettuce. Top with 1 tsp. mayonnaise mixture per sandwich and finish sandwich with remaining bread slices. If desired, garnish with fresh dill. Serve at once. Makes 1/3 cup dressing, or 16 servings.

Curried Chicken-Cashew Sandwiches

Here’s another amazing tea sandwich that’s great for luncheon as well.

½ cup plain yogurt

2 Tbsp. soft-style cream cheese (from a tub)

2 Tbsp. snipped chives or thinly sliced green onion

1 tsp. curry powder

¼ tsp. salt

1½ cups (8 ounces) cooked chicken or turkey, finely chopped

¼ cup cashews (or almonds), finely chopped

Butter or mayonnaise

24 slices bread (your choice)

Curly endive or lettuce

In a bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients, then add chicken and cashews and blend thoroughly. Spread 24 slices of bread with butter or mayonnaise. Top 12 slices with greens and 2 Tbsp. chicken mixture. Top with snipped chives or thinly sliced green onion and cover with remaining bread slices. Makes 1½ cups filling, or 12 servings.

Simple Tip

Use the bread of your choice to make tea sandwiches—regular white or wheat, pumpernickel or rye party slices, tiny croissants, or miniature bagels. If your bread has crusts, cut them off before filling. (You can stack 6 slices of bread at a time to cut off crusts.) Always spread bread slices thinly with butter or mayonnaise to keep the bread from becoming soggy.

Simple Tip

The best tea sandwiches are practically bite-sized. Use a serrated knife to cut large sandwiches into triangles or small squares. Or try cutting out simple shapes with a Christmas cookie cutter! If you do this after the sandwiches are filled, the cutter will seal the edges and help keep the filling from leaking out.

Simply Beautiful Tip

Hold sandwiches together with toothpicks stuck through a sprig of herbs or a slice of green stuffed olive—or sprinkle top of sandwich with chopped basil or dill. Arrange on a pretty platter topped with a paper doily.

Simple Tip

For a very simple, delicious, and beautiful tea sandwich, spread thin slices of your favorite fruit-nut bread with flavored cream-cheese spread from a bagel shop.

From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories:

by Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved. This holiday season contact Tammy at Tammymaltby@gmail.com or facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tammy-Maltby/183239621709608 to order personally signed copies of The Christmas Kitchen for yourself and those you love.

Turkey and Black Bean Creamy Enchiladas (with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and baby spinach)!

This is one of my favorite make-ahead recipes—and a fabulous way to use leftover Thanksgiving turkey or chicken.

You are going to LOVE this!

Recipe from The Christmas Kitchen by Tammy Maltby. All rights reserved.*

Originally this recipe came from Beverly Wendt by way of her daughter, my friend Susan Kennedy, but I’ve changed it to suit my tastes. I like to use disposable foil pans for easy freezing, cleanup, and gift giving.

Simple Variations

...Because my dear friend they are fantastic! You can add a 4-ounce can of chopped jalapeños in addition to green chilies, 1 can of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped, and 1 can of sun-dried tomatoes. Or roll several leaves of baby spinach into each enchilada. Perfect!

A perfect Holiday meal to double and freeze!

Turkey and Black Bean Creamy Enchiladas

6 cups cooked turkey or chicken, shredded

4 cups chicken or turkey broth

Nonstick cooking spray

1 can condensed cream-of-chicken soup, undiluted

1 8-ounce carton sour cream (low-fat or nonfat works fine)

1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, juice included

4 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

4 cups Mexican shredded-cheese mix

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large Tbsp. garlic, minced

1 6-ounce can sliced black olives or 1 14½-ounce can black beans, rinsed well (optional)

2 Tbsp. cumin

One bunch cilantro, chopped

1 10-inch package flour tortillas (try sun-dried tomato or pesto flavors for a green or red Christmasy look)

To make filling, combine shredded meat, soup, sour cream, green chilies, Monterey Jack cheese, 2 cups of Mexican cheese, onion, garlic, black olives or beans (if desired), cumin, cilantro, and 4 Tbsp. of the broth to form a firm mixture. Spray 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. Fill each tortilla with approximately 2 heaping Tbsp. chicken mixture, roll, and place seam down in pan. Mix remaining filling with chicken broth until filling is runny. Spread over top of tortilla rolls and sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of Mexican cheese mix over the top. Freeze at this point if desired or cook uncovered in the oven 25–30 min at 350º, until bubbly. To cook the frozen enchiladas, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as above or bake the frozen casserole for about 75 minutes, until bubbly.

Top with fresh tomatoes, chopped avocados and cilantro.

Makes 10–12 servings.

*From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories by Tammy Maltby and Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved. This holiday contact Tammy at Tammymaltby@gmail.com or facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tammy-Maltby/183239621709608 to order personally signed copies of The Christmas Kitchen for yourself and those you love.

Simple Variations

Add a 4-ounce can of chopped jalapeños in addition to green chilies. Add 1 can of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped, and 1 can of sun-dried tomatoes. Roll several leaves of baby spinach into each enchilada. For vegetarian enchiladas, omit turkey, use vegetable broth, and use 2 cans of black beans.

The Maltbys’ Famous Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is no ordinary dip I'm telling you.

This dip is an act of love.

My friends Steve and Lynn Brown actually stop talking when they are eating it. They just make lots of deep sighs. Try it this holiday season and you'll know why.

The Maltbys’ Famous Spinach Artichoke Dip

Here’s our family’s special take on a favorite dip—everyone loves it. Serve with sliced bell peppers (red, green, and yellow), carrots, celery, crackers, chips, or homemade pita crisps (recipe below).

3 14-ounce cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (such as Rotel), drained well

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream (low-fat is fine)

1 cup mayonnaise-type salad dressing (such as Miracle Whip—low-fat is fine)

½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped well before measuring

4 cups (2 8-ounce packages) shredded jalapeño jack cheese

1 cup shredded fresh Parmesan cheese

1 10-ounce box frozen spinach, thawed and drained well

Bottled hot sauce to taste (I use about four shakes)

½ cup chopped green onion

2 tsp. minced garlic

½ cup chopped cilantro or parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Nonstick cooking spray

Mix all ingredients well. Spray generously with cooking spray a 2-quart baking dish or a 9x13-inch pan. Add ingredients and bake at 400º for 35 minutes or until hot and bubbly. To make ahead, prepare artichoke heart mixture, place in pan, cover, and chill up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, allow 10 minutes additional cooking time. Place in cold oven, set to 400º, and bake about 45 minutes.

Simple Idea

To make pita crisps, cut 6 pita bread rounds in half horizontally (separate the layers), and cut each half into 6 wedges. Place pita wedges in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet, spray with olive-oil cooking spray, and sprinkle with garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake uncovered in a 350º oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp. You can bake these ahead and store in a plastic bag for up to 24 hours or freeze up to 2 weeks. Reheat in the oven until warm. Makes 72 wedges.

From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories by Tammy Maltby and Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved. This holiday season contact Tammy at Tammymaltby@gmail.com or facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tammy-Maltby/183239621709608 to order personally signed copies of The Christmas Kitchen for yourself and those you love.

This Thanksgiving bring in a new tradition. Make these easy Gingerbread Houses!

A Holiday House-Raising

Gingerbread Houses and

Gingerbread on the Side!

This is a beloved activity in our house. Every Thanksgiving evening, we gather to make these fun gingerbread houses. Because I typically have a large crowd over for Thanksgiving, we like to divide into family teams (one family per house), but you could do this any way you want. If you’re a small group, why not build a large house together? For each house you’ll need the following:

A ready-baked gingerbread house kit (from a hobby or cooking store, or order online)

A base—I usually use a piece of heavy cardboard covered with foil

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Icing “cement” to attach decorations (recipe below)

An assortment of candy, cookies, and other items for decoration (suggestions below)

Friends and family to make the house!

Icing Cement for Gingerbread Houses

This kind of icing, also called royal icing, dries hard and is perfect for attaching decorations to gingerbread houses. Use this recipe, or purchase a can of dried egg whites and follow the recipe on the label for royal icing. (If you plan to eat the icing, definitely use the powdered egg whites.)  Either way, plan to make extra batches. Keep the icing covered with a moist towel when not in use. And keep extra ingredients on hand to make more—we always run out!

2 large egg whites

1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

2 tsp. water

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

With a mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and water until frothy. Blend in sugar on high speed until stiff, 5 to 10 minutes. Use immediately or cover and use within 8 hours. Makes about 1½ cups.

Decoration Ideas for Gingerbread Houses

This is the fun part. Use your imagination and set out a variety of goodies to decorate the houses. The list below is just a start!

•         Candy: gumdrops; chocolate bars and kisses; peppermint sticks, canes, and rounds; licorice; cinnamon candies, candy wafers; caramel squares and rolls (such as Tootsie Rolls); jelly beans; hard candies; breath mints, Gummi candies

•         Marshmallows: white and colored, marshmallow snowmen and Santas

•         Chewing gum: small squares, colored and striped strips

•         Fruit leather and candied fruits

•         Cookies and crackers: vanilla and chocolate wafers, graham crackers, cookie shapes

•         Cereal: miniature shredded-wheat biscuits, plain and frosted; square checkerboard cereal (such as Chex); round oat cereal (such as Cheerios)

•         Pretzels

•         Ice-cream cones

•         Raisins, cranberries, nuts (especially sliced almonds)

•         Spices: cinnamon sticks, allspice, whole cloves, whole nutmeg

•         Cake decorations: gel icing in tubes, sprinkles, nonpareils, powdered sugar

Gingerbread on the Side

This is the best gingerbread—a variation on a recipe given to me by a dear friend in Dallas named Susan Lovvorn. It practically melts in your mouth, and it makes a wonderful gift. You can make it as muffins, mini loaves, or big loaves. But any way you bake it, it won’t last long.

1½ cups light brown sugar

1–1½ cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

2/3 cup water or apple cider

1 16-ounce can pumpkin or 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

3½ cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1½ tsp salt

½ tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. ground ginger

1½ tsp. allspice

1½ tsp. cinnamon 

1½ tsp. cloves

½ tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 325º. Grease well 2 5x9-inch bread pans, 2 muffin tins, or 6 miniature loaf pans. In a medium bowl, beat sugar, oil, and eggs until smooth. Add cider and beat until well blended. Beat in pumpkin. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and spices. Add pumpkin mixture and stir just until incorporated. Pour batter into pans and bake 70 minutes for loaves, 25 minutes for muffins, or 45 minutes for mini-loaves. (The gingerbread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.) Serve warm with whipped cream, top with cream-cheese frosting (recipe below), or simply sprinkle with a little powdered sugar. Serves 12.

Simple Variation

Add golden raisins, dried cranberries, chopped pecans, chocolate chips, or cinnamon chips.

Simple, Healthier Variation

Replace oil with unsweetened applesauce and sweeten with “bake-able” artificial sweetener (such as Splenda). Still tastes great!

Easy Cream-Cheese Frosting

This recipe will frost 24 muffins, 2 loaves, or a 13x9x2-inch cake. Double the recipe to frost an 8- or 9-inch layer cake.

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter (no substitutes!), softened

2–3 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

6–6¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted

Optional: 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (delicious for gingerbread frosting) or ½ cup unsweetened cocoa (for chocolate cream-cheese frosting)

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, beating well. Continue to beat in powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency. To make chocolate cream-cheese frosting, prepare as above, but beat cocoa powder into cream-cheese mixture and reduce powdered sugar to 5¼–6 cups. Makes about 2 cups of frosting.

Simple Hint

I freeze this frosting if I have extra. It keeps its texture and spreads beautifully when thawed.

From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories by Tammy Maltby and Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved. This holiday season contact Tammy at Tammymaltby@gmail.com or facebook to order personally signed copies of The Christmas Kitchen for yourself and those you love.

A Seasonal Sip—Blushing Mulled Cider

In so many ways, the kitchen is the heart of the home.

It’s where everybody wants to be. And when Christmas rolls around, the kitchen is—or should be—Christmas Central. It’s where everyone gathers for hot chocolate and talk. It’s where soup bubbles on the stove and the aroma of cookies intoxicates. It’s the ideal source of homemade gifts and festive hospitality. Or it should be . . . if we don’t let the busyness of the season or our own inflated expectations overwhelm us.

Tammy Maltby believes that any kitchen can be the place where all the fun and heartwarming business of Christmas begins—decorating, gift giving, hospitality, family sharing, gatherings of friends and loved ones and even strangers, and of course celebrating the true meaning of the season. And you don’t have to be June Cleaver—or even Tammy Maltby—to pull it off. Tammy’s motto has always been “Start simply . . . but simply start.” The ideas and encouragement in this little book are a wonderful place to do just that.            

Each chapter mixes brief meditations of the meaning of family, friends, Christmas, and the kitchen with a gathering of recipes, crafts, tips, and ideas for involving the whole family in a warmhearted, easy-to-do celebration of the season.

A Seasonal Sip—Blushing Mulled Cider

Start your season simply and warmly with a quiet moment and a mug of holiday cider. Wait till the kids are napping, turn off the phone, and take fifteen minutes to dream. The aroma alone will help put you in the holiday spirit.

1½ quarts apple cider

2 cups cranberry juice cocktail or cherry cider

¼ cup or less brown sugar

1 spice packet (recipe below)

1 large orange, sliced

Combine ciders and sugar in a saucepan. Add spice packet. Cook and stir until sugar is dissolved and cider is hot. Fish out the spice packet after about 30 minutes. Makes about 6 mugs of hot drink.

Simple Idea

You can make this delicious beverage in a slow cooker. Just combine the ingredients and simmer on high for 3 hours. Remove spice bag and keep warm.

Simpler Idea

If you don’t want to make up the spice packets, just put 1 tsp. whole allspice, 1 tsp. whole cloves, and a cinnamon stick in a tea ball or coffee filter. You can even use ground spices in a pinch. Tie the filter into a bundle with twine or dental floss and add to cider.

Spice Packets for Cider and More

These little bundles make wonderful gifts—but I also love to keep them ready for a delicious cup of cider at home.

1 Tbsp. whole allspice

1 Tbsp. cloves

2 Tbsp. cinnamon sticks, broken up (place in plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or edge of a plate)

1½ tsp. orange peel

1½ tsp. lemon peel

¾ tsp. black peppercorns

12 6-inch squares of cheesecloth

Kitchen twine, food-safe ribbon, or unwaxed dental floss

Mix spices and peels together in a bowl. For each packet, use 2 cheesecloth squares and position kitty-corner on top of each other so that 8 points are visible.  Place 1/6 of the spice mixture in the middle of the doubled square and tie into a bundle with the twine, ribbon, or floss, leaving one end of the twine longer for dipping. To give as a gift, place several spice bundles in a small tin and tie it with a bow and several strips of cinnamon. Add a sticker with the following directions: “Place bundle in 2 quarts of hot cider or apple juice. Add ¼ cup brown sugar if desired. Heat at least 20 minutes.” Recipe makes 6 bundles, each enough for 2 quarts or more of cider.

Simple Hint

To dry orange peel, finely chop the peel, spread it on parchment paper laid on a cookie sheet, and heat in a warm oven (about 250º) until dry. Shake the cookie sheet occasionally to make sure the peel dries evenly.

Simpler Hint

To make individual-sized packets, combine 2–3 pieces whole allspice, 2–3 whole cloves, a ½-inch piece of stick cinnamon, a pinch of orange or lemon peel, and 1–2 black peppercorns in each cheesecloth bundle. Pour cider in a mug, add a little cranberry juice if you want, and add the spice bundle. Microwave on high 3 minutes, then let spices steep a few more minutes. Sweeten to taste, and enjoy.

From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories by Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan. All rights reserved. Contact Tammy directly at Tammymaltby@gmail.com or Tammy Maltby author page on facebook  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tammy-Maltby/183239621709608 for personally signed copies. They make wonderful Holiday gifts!

Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix

It doesn't get any better than this! Homemade hot chocolate with marshmallows. It's old fashioned, it's comforting and it's good for the soul.

From The Christmas Kitchen a gathering place for making memories by Tammy Maltby with Anne Christian Buchanan.****

Christmas isn’t (or shouldn’t be) just about presents. Yet Christmas is (or should be) a festive celebration of giving—and the Christmas Kitchen is one of your best resources. It can be both an inspiration and a workshop for creating gifts that delight the heart and the soul . . . not to mention the taste buds. And giving from your kitchen is its own reward. What can be more satisfying than to whip up something beautiful and delicious, wrap it beautifully and imaginatively, and place it in someone else’s eager hands?  

If your heart is telling you to dedicate a day or days to making gifts from the kitchen, I think you should listen. Much joy can be found putting a little more time and talent into your gifting than you can easily afford. It’s Christmas, after all! So put on some holiday music, maybe invite someone to help you, and go for it! You can even make extras of whatever you’re giving and keep them on hand for spur-of-the-moment gifting opportunities.

Through it all, remember that the best gifts, after all, are simply messengers. They’re concrete ways of saying, “I see you,” “I’m thinking about you,” “I care about you,” “I want to share this wonderful season with you.” And there are many ways to send that message. A shared cup of coffee and a cookie can be a gift. A phone call or a note can be a treasured gift. A meal for your family is a gift of love. There’s a gift in the stories that are told by the sink and stove, the memories that are made around the table.

All gifts from the Christmas Kitchen.

All fitting tributes to the One who is the greatest gift of all.

Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix

This fancy version of a traditional hot cocoa mix is a perfect and yummy gift for teachers and neighbors—but keep some at home, too, for your family and for impromptu hospitality. (I love to add a little to my coffee.)

4 cups instant nonfat dry milk

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 cups powdered French vanilla nondairy coffee creamer

2 cups powdered chocolate milk mix (the store brand works just fine)

1 5-ounce package cook-and-serve (not instant) chocolate pudding mix

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups miniature marshmallows and/or miniature chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients and stir well—or for a better blend, mix dry ingredients in a blender or food processor before adding the marshmallows. Store mix in airtight container. Makes 8 cups mix, or 32 servings.

To serve, place ¼ cup mix in mug or cup. Add ¾ cup boiling water or hot milk and stir well.

To give as a gift, put mix in a pretty, covered glass container. Use ribbon to tie on two decorative mugs. You could also attach miniature bottles of liquid flavoring (cherry, amaretto, Irish crème, etc.) from a coffee shop, peppermint or cinnamon sticks for stirring, a lovely ornament . . . use your imagination. Be sure to attach the recipe or you will be getting calls for it!

Simple Variations

•         Minted Hot Cocoa Mix: Omit marshmallows and add 1 cup mint chocolate morsels.

•         Mexican Hot Cocoa Mix: Omit marshmallows and add 2 tsp. cinnamon. If you’re brave, stir in a little cayenne pepper too.

•         Rich Mocha Mix: Use mocha-flavored creamer and add 1 cup instant-coffee granules to mix.

•         Guiltless Indulgence: Combine 3 cups nonfat dry milk, 1 cup artificial sweetener (such as Splenda), ½ cup unsweetened cocoa, and 1 small (.8 ounce) package fat-free, sugar-free vanilla pudding mix.

Simple Idea

Always include recipes with any gift from your Christmas Kitchen. That way the recipients won’t be calling up at inconvenient times to ask for it, they’ll be forewarned of any ingredients they may be allergic to, and the recipe itself will be a bonus gift.

Simple Idea

I always bring food (especially chocolate!) instead of flowers as a hostess gift. Wrapping it beautifully will give the message that you don’t expect her to serve it immediately to the guests.

****If you are interested in purchasing The Christmas Kitchen for yourself or those you love please contact me on facebook or at my email Tammymaltby@gmail.com. I take all major credit cards. I am happy to personally sign them. They make great holiday and hostess gifts.