Christmas Baking

Our first Thanksgiving get-together was a success! Unfortunately, we were all sick the second weekend and unable to put on the event. We all agreed it is something we wish to repeat.

There will be no formal baking event this Christmas season. Seth is getting married! I'm sure most people reading this already know and are probably invited. The wedding is keeping everyone excited and busy, enough that taking on more would simply be too much.

My dad and I will be doing lots of baking Christmas week. If you would like to join us we're always happy to have company! 

If you want any recipes, feel free to contact us! Always happy to share goodies..

Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year! 

Take care and stay safe!

Come One! Come All!

The Ward family would like to extend an invitation to our good friends this holiday season. We would like you to join us in taking part in one of our favorite past times, cooking. Cooking brings us together every holiday season; and we enjoy it almost more than presents... almost. In talking to some of you we have learned that cooking is not always viewed in such a favorable light, we would like to change that! When friends and family come together collective knowledge and effort make for an enjoyable experience. This is our first time inviting our friends to our house for collective cooking. We hope it is a tradition in the making! 

We will be providing refreshments (each morning. We hope that even if cooking isn't your thing, you will still join us! No cooking experience is required; you can still be helpful and maybe learn a thing or two - we're still learning new things too! 

Our schedule is listed in the post below.

 If you are interested in joining us please let us know when to expect you (RSVP). If you would like to take home a batch of goodies, made from one of our recipes, let us know so we will have enough ingredients on hand and schedule enough time to make it. We will email you the recipe or do the shopping for you, whichever you prefer! If you have favorite holiday recipes you would like to make with us you can bring the ingredients or send us the recipe in advance and we can help you shop!!

Please read the next post for more information! 

We look forward to spending quality time with you this holiday season.

jward1302@sbcglobal.net

shygrrl2005@yahoo.com

Please title all emails concerning this event "Holiday"

Baking Schedule Thus Far

The holiday season is approaching quickly. In order to make all of our ideas into reality, we have made a plan of attack. The following is our proposed schedule for pre-Thanksgiving baking. Our plans are flexible and we can adjust them depending on what recipes are requested. If there is something you would like to make with us, please, please, please let us know so we can plan to make it when you are here. Any of your favorite recipes that you would like our help to make are welcome! Please send the recipe to us ahead of time! I have also included a New Recipes post on the blog for recipes that I found intriguing, but have not tried.

Saturdays, 8am-3pm our kitchen will be open for cooking and baking. We are hoping to wrap up at 3pm; but if we are having fun we don't mind running a little over. If you don't know the prep/bake time, Ask! I am happy to help work out scheduling.
If a recipe is requested by more than one person I will do my best to notify both parties to work out a time (if you want to help with that recipe). If you don't care what you help with, but want to take said item home, we may prepare it prior to your arrival. Just let us know ahead of time!

November 13:
We plan on making our breads, brittles and toffee. The recipes we will be making are in the previous post (below this one), Oldies But Goodies. The only bread we will not be making is the Butter Horns, we have decided to branch out to a new roll this Thanksgiving.

November 20:
We plan on making pies, cakes and bonbons (any chocolate confections). We are still undecided on the bonbons or other candies so suggestions are welcomed. Again, the specifics of what we are making are in the previous post, Oldies But Goodies.

We have not included cookies in our November plans because it is more of a Christmas thing.

Christmas baking plans are still in the works. Christmas baking is my personal favorite, but big plans are in the making for mid-December!(stay posted) If we have a good response for our Thanksgiving cooking get-together(s) we may do Christmas baking the same way. We'll see what happens! If we don't get friends together to cook, we are entertaining the idea of a cookie exchange! Check back to this website, near the beginning of December, to see the updated Christmas schedule!

If you would like to take home items please bring some kind of container to transportation the finished product! We priced some decorative containers at several stores so ask if you would like more information.

Contact Information:
jward1302@sbcglobal.net (please put "Holiday" in the subject line so we don't miss it!)
shygrrl2005@yahoo.com is my personal email address in case you need a fast response (still put "Holiday" in the subject line, please)
If you prefer feel free to call. I have the most free-time so am trying to do most of the coordinating, but questions can be answered by any Ward! :) I have a new cellphone number, please email me to request it. I don't want to publish my number here.

Oldies But Goodies

These are our recipes we have made year after year, and this year will be no different. I posted pictures to give an idea of what we will be making throughout the holiday season.


Cookies:
German Sugar Cookies

Kitchen Sink Cookies

Meringues

Bread:
Butter Horns

Sweet Rolls

Banana Bread

Zucchini Bread

Cranberry Bread

Pies
Pumpkin

Apple

Pecan

Candies
Toffee

Brittle
Peanut

Mixed-nut

Peanut Butter Fudge

New Recipes

I have been searching for new recipes to try this holiday season. The following are what I found, enjoy!
If you find anything that looks good and would like to try, email the name of the recipe and we will do the shopping and fit it into the schedule!
I have tried to include most of what is in the recipes to give an idea of what it might taste like, and in case there are food allergies.

Cookies:
I have a million cookie recipes I would like to try, but we aren't focusing on them so I only included a few.

Nut Wedges

When looking at a slideshow I found this recipes. The description said for baklava lovers, without the hassle. My parents LOVE baklava. So, I thought this one might be good to try.

Includes: honey, nuts, cinnamon and chocolate.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread with Orange Buttercream

My dad LOVES shortbread, this is a bit of a twist that takes it to the next level.

Includes: Vanilla and Orange

Fruitcake Macaroons

I know a lot of people hate fruitcake, but my mom's side of the family loves it. I thought this is a good twist on a classic.

Includes: Dried fruit, nuts, chocolate, coconut, cinnamon, orange juice.

Cinnamon Sugar Roll Cookies

Includes: Nuts, cinnamon

No Bake:

Three Layer Bar Cookies

Includes:graham crackers, chocolate, nuts, vanilla pudding

Variation includes: cereal crust and peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Bars

These came with a strong recommendation from one of my friends, it is one of his family favorites.

Includes: Peanut butter, graham crackers and chocolate

Bars:
I have been trying to stay away from links that will be time consuming to flip through. In this case, I decided to make an exception. Too many of these recipes looked amazing, I couldn't decide which ones to post.
http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas/cookies/holiday-cookies/
(to scroll through there is a green arrow to the right of the picture)

Breads:
Cornmeal-Blueberry Scones

Includes: Buttermilk, blueberries, almonds (optional), lime

Lemony Scones with Dried Fruit

Includes: various dried fruits and a lemon glaze

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Includes: Cinnamon, pecans/walnuts

Pear and White Cheddar Quick Bread

Includes: Pear, white cheddar, buttermilk, honey, egg

Banana Bread

Includes: Bananas, walnuts

Variation: Apple butter

Cranberry Twist Bread

Includes: cranberries, pecans, orange

Sour Cream Bread

Includes: Sour cream, cream cheese, egg

English Muffin Bread

I love all kinds of bread, english muffins are one of my favorite breakfast treats. Turning english muffins into bread is intriguing, and worth a try.

Includes: Milk

Spiced Pear-Cherry Bread

Includes: cherries, pears, walnuts, milk

Candies:
I have included quite a few candy recipes because they will last longer than cookies. Since we will be baking before Thanksgiving I figured having something that will last well into December would be nice.

Pink Coconut, Triple Chocolate and Square Truffles

Includes: 3 kinds of chocolate, coconut

Cherry Truffles

Includes: Chocolate, candied cherries, walnuts (optional)

Chocolate Mint Divinity

Includes: Chocolate, peppermint

Peanut Butter Balls

Includes: Peanut butter, chocolate

Fudge

I found a slideshow of some amazing looking fudges, but the links to the recipes are broken. Everyone loves fudge. When we make it in our home it is the first thing to disappear. There is the classic chocolate, or peanut butter, but I also found a recipe for cookies and cream fudge, and honey macadamia nut. If there is one you would like to try I can find a recipe for it!

Cakes:
Overnight Coffee Cake

Includes: nuts, ricotta cheese, cinnamon, nutmeg

Cranberry-Black Walnut Coffee Cake

Includes: Cranberries, walnuts, apple juice, cinnamon