Henderson Christmas Baking Traditions... by Barbara (Ruth)

I'm a pretty nostalgic person on the average day, and at this time of year I kick into overdrive with tradition. I have Christmas lights from the '30s, glass ornaments from the '50s, my stocking from the '60s, record albums from the '70s, and many many other traditions and memories as far back as I can remember.

Like many of your families I'm sure, food is a huge part of our family Christmas traditions. From Mum's savory stuffing to old-fashioned ribbon candy to "Mrs. Santa's butter", we Hendersons enjoy a myriad of festive treats, and try really hard not to worry about our waistlines!

As a baker, I'd like to share the three most special baked treats that make my Christmas every single year. They're not particularly difficult, and I enjoy making them almost as much as I enjoy eating them!

Christmas Plum Loaf
This recipe is over 100 years old, so I'm told. Originally it was made with lard, and yeast cake, and flour that had to be heated, and a few other ingredients that are either extinct or unhealthy or both, so I know it's been modified over the years. I don't have my grandmother's old hand-written recipe, but I have a transcribed version told to me by my Auntie Janet, and it's a good one!

This is a heavy bread made with fat seedless raisins (I assume it used to have plums) and a lot of nutmeg. It is fragrant and delicious and even good stale when toasted. Sitting down with a slice of this and a clementine is nothing short of Christmas morning heaven.

My mother hated to make this. It's a pain and requires lots of stirring and kneading and three risings and patience and exactly the right baking juju to make it work. Some years I have been more successful than others, but I consider it a personal challenge to channel my grandmother and give it a shot. When I was a teenager and discovered my love of baking, I rescued Mum from this job, and Dad and I would make this together.

I plan on taking a slice to him tomorrow in his nursing home to see if the spices and scents reach him like music does.

Fruit Jewels
I have no clue where this recipe comes from - all I have is my own teenaged scribble on an index card, and memories of making this ridiculously easy batch of cookies with my Mum. She would always tell me that I made the cookies too big, but I have never enjoyed bite-sized cookies. Go big or go home!

These are full of chocolate chips and candied fruit, and require a minimum of fuss and cleanup. They look really pretty on a plate, and are as bad as potato chips in that you "can't eat just one". I tried to hide them in the freezer one year so I'd stop eating them. Sadly, they are VERY good frozen.

Light Fruitcake
Now don't roll your eyes, or say "blech". I know many people do not like fruitcake, and I can only guess that it's because they've never had a properly made one. This recipe is from the old Better Homes & Gardens red & white checked recipe book published in 1968 (this was the 3rd printing. It was originally published in 1930 - very interesting history here.)

This recipe is simple and the batter is DELICIOUS. We used this recipe for my sister Elizabeth's wedding cake - I remember my mother substituting fancy nuts like brazil nuts and hazel nuts for the occasion. And every year we made a batch of this cake or the other version, "Dark Fruitcake" (the difference being molasses and the addition of a variety of spices like nutmeg and cinnammon). I like light fruitcake a lot better, and I'm not offended if people don't want any. It lasts forever in the fridge and makes me very happy on a cold winter afternoon with a cup of tea.

Recipes:

Christmas Plum Loaf

1. Mix together 2 T of yeast with 1/2C warm water and 1 tsp sugar.
2. Scald 2C of milk and cool to lukewarm.
3. Combine the yeast mixture with the lukewarm milk, 1C of brown sugar, 1 tsp of salt, and 3C of white flour. Mix well and let rise until light and bubbly (about 1.5 hours).
4. Melt 1/2C butter and 1/2C shortening. Add 1C brown sugar, 1-2 whole nutmegs grated (this year I added about 3 large nutmegs - we loooove nutmeg), 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp lemon flavouring, 2-3C of seedless raisins (I add more like 3C), and 1 egg beaten.
5. Beat down the risen dough from step 3, and add the mixture from step 4. Mix thoroughly and add 4-5C flour (and no, I can't be more exact... you need enough flour to make a soft, but not sticky dough).
6. Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth, adding flour as necessary. (This is tricky. Just enough so it isn't sticky. Any more than that and it will be dry and crumbly.)
7. Place the dough in a ball and cover with a cloth, and let it rise until doubled (about 2.5 hours).
8. Punch down the dough and divide into two. Knead each and shape into loaves. Place in greased pans (I spray with Pam), cover and let rise again (about 1.5 hours).
9. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Check after 30 minutes and if the bread is browning too quickly, cover with tin foil for the last half hour. Tapping the loaves should sound hollow when it's done.
10. Turn out on cooling rack and let cool completely. Wrap well to store.

Fruit Jewels (double batch - makes about 60)

1. Cream 1C brown sugar with 1/2C butter. 
2. Add 1C evaporated milk. Beat well.
3. Add 4 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cloves. Beat well.
4. In a separate bowl, mix 4C candied fruit and 2C raisins with 2C white flour.
5. Add 1.5C chocolate chips and 2T of orange or lemon rind and stir well.
6. Add wet mixture and stir well. (You need serious elbow grease for this as it gets thick and sticky.)
7. Drop about 1.5T of batter per cookie on a greased cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 350 for 12-14 mins.

Light Fruitcake

1. In a large bowl, mix 1/5C candied cherries, 1C raisins, 1C candied pineapple, 1/2C chopped mixed candied fruit, 1/2C candied lemon peel, 1/2C candied orange peel, 1C chopped walnuts, and 1C of flour.
2. Mix together so the flour coats all the candied pieces.
3. In a mixing bowl cream 1C butter and 1C white sugar.
4. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating after each.
5. Mix 1/4C corn syrup with 1/2C orange juice. Add to creamed mixture, alternatively with 2C flour.
6. Fold in fruit and nut mixture. (The recipe calls for 1/4C orange juice and 1/4C wine. I just use orange juice.)
7. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans (again, I used Pam. And you'll see I used one loaf pan and four mini pans.)
8. Bake at 275 for 1 hour. A knife inserted in the centre should come out clean.
9. Turn out onto cooling rack and let cool completely. Wrap well to store.

The Little Yellow Box: Favourite Recipe #4 - Carnation 5-minute Fudge... by Barbara (Ruth)

If you've been reading for a while, you may remember that many moons ago when I was much better at posting regularly (sigh), I committed to making a few favourite childhood recipes from my Mum's little yellow recipe box.  I've posted about Wacky Cake, Baking Powder Biscuits, and Sweet and Sour Meatballs. I have really enjoyed my trip down memory lane, and wish the last couple of months hadn't been so hectic so I could have done a few more!


Anyway, tonight was a perfect night to make fudge. I had a bit of a weird day at work, and I needed to de-stress - that usually means baking (and making happy co-workers the next day)! This is a recipe I fondly remember making when I was a kid. Don't believe me? I have proof:

This is probably 1969 or 1970. I'm making this fudge recipe with my
sister Janet. I figure Mum had us do this to make me feel better. (With the
dark under-eye circles, it looks like I had been sick!)

Honestly this is one of the easiest recipes in the world. You can make several variations by adding nuts, coconut, dried fruit, or peppermint/almond/orange extract (or any combination of those options!). Tonight I made a plain recipe and sprinkled smashed candy cane pieces on top to be festive. Just make sure you have Carnation Evaporated Milk, chocolate chips, and some marshmallows on hand, and then be creative!

Step 1: Combine 2/3C evaporated milk, 1 2/3C white sugar, and 2 T butter in a medium saucepan. Heat to a rolling boil, and cook for 5 minutes (hence the name of the recipe) stirring constantly.

This stage is mesmerizing. You have to stir all the time while
the sugar forms, and it smells wonderful, like you're in a
candy factory.

Step 2: Stir in 2C mini marshmallows (I only had giant ones, so I snipped them with scissors in order to get a proper measure), 1 1/2C chocolate chips, and 1 tsp vanilla into the hot liquid until it is well mixed. (You would add nuts or any other items at this point if you wanted to.) It gets tough to stir pretty quickly, so use that elbow grease!

Step 3: Pour into a greased 9" square pan (I just sprayed it with Pam), and spread quickly before it sets. Sprinkle any toppings on, and place in the fridge to set!

Cut into 1" cubes and enjoy.

Field Trip Friday-Episode #4-Feed the Birds...by (Angela) Jean

The surprising and happy side benefit of planting sunflowers in my garden was the daily visits by goldfinches to our backyard.

But sadly, when the sunflowers faded, so did the visits.
The goal of this week's Field Trip Friday was to bring back the birds.

My Dad had an ingenious way of keeping the birds in his garden. It involved a trip to his friend's farm for some faded sunflowers, a wooden stake, and a roll of duct tape. Worked like a charm.

While I loved his idea, I was looking for something that would last the whole winter and that could be installed near our kitchen window for easy viewing during the winter months. The educational goal is to learn about the native varieties of birds....what they eat, how they behave, what they look like....

So this week, Beppe and Nonno came to visit and helped us with our project. We all piled into their SUV, me between the car seats in the back,

and headed to.....

Clearly we were in the right spot, since this was the display just inside the front door.

We purchased some supplies.

Pushed some carts, and admired some forklifts.

And headed home to fire up the power tools.

Nonno spoiled us by doing most of the assembly work ahead of time in his workshop, but Mimi helped drill some holes for drainage.

Nonno dug a deep hole for the post, and I covered the surrounding area with plastic sheeting to attempt to prevent my kitchen herb garden from being invaded by germinating bird seeds in the spring. (I'm not kidding myself though, I know I'll be pulling up seedlings for most of the next growing season.)

 Lastly, we added some seeds, and now we wait for the birds.

So far, no luck. Mimi suggested we make a sign so the birds know where to go. If we have no visitors by tomorrow, we may do just that.

Gingerbread Mania....by (Angela) Jean

Nothing says 'festive' like 11 small children hopped up on candy.

I love Christmas crafts and now that I have children of my own I can throw crafty parties and people will be fooled into thinking I'm doing it 'for the kids' when really, the fun is all mine. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration...I think the kids (and I'm going out on a limb to say the adults too) have a bit of fun.

Preparation is key when doing these kind of events for kids. In general, little people are not known for their patience and they really can't hear "we're almost ready" more than a couple of times before they revolt. I also took it easy on myself and purchased the gingerbread houses. I'm sure they will not be as tasty as homebaked, but to be honest: a) this was more of a craft project than a baking project and b) does anyone really want to eat anything that small kids have had their paws all over? My friend Sarah baked the sugar cookies. They were delicious!


I tried my best to do most of the prep work the night before. I rolled up the rugs, set up the folding tables, assembled the gingerbread houses and arranged the paper craft stations.

There were three activities planned: gingerbread house decorating,

paper crafts,

and Christmas cookie decorating.

Mmmmmm.....doesn't that look delicious?

I was impressed with the level of focus the kids mustered up. At times, the house was almost silent. You would have never guessed that there were 6 boys and 5 girls all under 10 in my teeny house!

 All in all, the party was a success, and I look forward to making it an annual tradition.