Category Archives: Yule/Christmas

At this time of the year there can be just sooo much goodness out there. Gatherings after get togethers followed by open houses. One way to offer options to all those invited is to serve smaller portions, allowing your guests to sample while not filling up on any one thing. This recipe being mostly cheese […]

There are lots of cookies out there, decorated for Christmas that we know come from older traditions. This is a cookie design suggestion just for winter solstice. In the Celtic calendar there are eight festivals that celebrate the turning of the seasons (wheel). They are the equinoxes, solstices and the days half way between, so […]

About fifteen years ago the original recipe, called Almond Roca, came my way and I wish I could remember who it came from as then I would know who to tell the next time I am once again asked to NEVER make it again. I added dried cranberries and chocolate drizzle to the original recipe […]

If you are well and truly in the middle of the rush of the season, then things are probably beginning to drop by the wayside. As time gets squeezed, that four day plan to build an architectural marvel doesn’t bring the same happy thoughts. I am going to suggest that building memories is far more […]

There seem to be as many origins to the Yule Log as there are web pages that mention them. Yule Log beginnings are traced back to almost every country in Northern Europe and I would not begin to suggest that any page is incorrect. The Yule Log is a symbol of prosperity and protection, usually […]

If your schedule is like mine at this time of the year, finding any free time is a blessing. Cookie exchanges are events that I have the best intentions about when scheduled in November but the realities of mid December send me running to things that can be quicker and easier to produce than cookies […]

This is my third attempt at writing this post. Somehow it always seems to turn into a master’s thesis on cookie symbolism and that is likely to put anyone to sleep, especially little ones with the attention span of a busy bee. Cookie decorating is supposed to be a fun time. Lots of icing and […]

Stolen you say? Not quite…Stollen, also called Klabben is a German Christmas Fruit Bread that has been recorded as being around for about 700 years and looks very different today from it’s much more humble “official” beginnings. If there was only one thing I could bake at Yule, this would be it. Stollen recipes are […]

We are going to blink and Yule will be here, quickly followed by Christmas morn’. Since Yule falls on a weekend this year, the possibility of brunch comes to life. This recipe brings colour and flavour to the table. The sourness of the cranberries, the crunch of the toasted walnuts in a sweet orange batter […]