Homemade Holidays

Phew, what a dizzying few days-weeks-months it's been.  As usual, I've driven myself into the ground with my own demands and expectations, and I'm exhausted from it (but happy).  I'm just getting over the flu, but managed to co-host 3 dinner parties this month, made and packaged a small mountain of gifting goodies, and now all the freshly sewn stockings are hung, the first-Christmas-tree-I've-ever-owned-in-my-life is decorated and lit, and all the presents are wrapped and ready for tomorrow.  I can't help but feel like I've accomplished something pretty great, and I'll bet anything that I'm not alone.  Cheers to us, friends and comrades, for pulling off a good year.

The unfortunate part is that during all the chaos and commotion, I didn't stop to take any photos.  Only just one from today's cookie making session, of the funny looking Siamese triplet cookie that resembles my family.  First 2015 resolution: take more photos.  More better photos.

For future reference, here's a list of holiday gifting edibles I made, with cook's notes:

• A jar of chestnut spread (confiture de marron), for my gluten-free, food loving friend.
  After a couple of hours of work boiling and shelling the nuts, I froze them for a couple of weeks until I was ready to make the spread, to ensure the longest fridge life possible.  I used a ratio of about 60% unshelled chestnuts and 40% white sugar, cooked with water and vanilla extract for about 20 mins.  About 2-3 lbs of shelled chestnuts made just over 2 x 250mL jars of spread.  The spread itself was delicious, but it's a lot of work for a little bit of spread.
  
• Eight packages of strawberry pate de fruits, for my co-workers.
  Never again will I use pectin.  I used a whole bag of thawed frozen strawberries (600g), reduced the sugar (400g), and used pectin crystals (about 3/4 package).  After the whole process was done and waiting a few hours for it to set, it turned out to be still liquidy, so I'm now using it as refrigerator jam. Next day: same thing, but increased sugar (500g) and pectin (1-1/4 package).  The pate set, but it was quite soft still, and tasted less like candy and more like, well, jam.  I cut and rolled the pieces in sugar, packaged them up into gifts, and gave each one out with an explanation and apology.
  
• Five packages of mixed cookies (ginger cookies and milk chocolate chip sables), for my neighbors and friends.
  After my candy making fiasco (see pate de fruits), I decided to stick with what I know best: baking.  The ginger cookies were soft and chewy, but a bit flat-shaped; I opted to substitute shortening for butter, light molasses for dark (blackstrap), and 2/3 the brown sugar for white. Rolling the top in coarse sugar is recommended, instead of regular granulated sugar.  Turns out those milk chocolate chip sables (substitution of cocoa nibs for chopped milk chocolate) are the perfect small treat with coffee; I just can't figure out how to make them shape well and not flatten out at the base.  Sharper knife, perhaps?
  
• Four small Christmas cakes, for serving at dinners and as host gifts.
  After years of wanting to make a proper Christmas cake (at least 1 month of aging with regular 'feedings' of booze), I finally carved out some time to do it this year early on.  I loved the process of mixing in all those dried fruits, baking the loaves for hours, and checking on them every few days.  A little like nurturing a living being of sorts.  All the while I seemed to have forgot the part about most people not being all that fond of Christmas cake (despite this one being homemade and yummy), and so I had a tough time finding the right people to accept this sort of gift.
  
• One batch of oatmeal trail-mix cookies, as a Christmas Eve family activity and to leave out for Santa.
  At 11 am this Christmas Eve morning, my partner suggests we make cookies with my daughter when she gets home from daycare after lunch, to put out for Santa.  I'm torn about the whole Santa story, but I'm sold immediately on making cookies.  We have ingredients on-hand for my favourite oatmeal cookie recipe.  She helps us mix the batter and shape the cookie balls as best as a two-year old knows how.  A Christmas tradition is born.

As for gift packaging, all were wrapped quite simply: cookies in brown coffee bags with a gold ribbon, mini red ball tree ornament, and green gift tag.  Pate de fruits stacked in small clear cello bags with a green wrappped cardboard base, tied with a gold ribbon.  Chestnut spread in a glass jar, fabric covering the lid, tied with twine, and a label and gift tag attached.  Again, no photos, you just have to trust me.  I'll be better next time, promise.

Happy holidays to all, and to all a good night!

Preserving Time

I just got back from a week in cottage country!  More on that later.  I meant to post the below before I left town, but I ran short on time.  How relevant....

Time feels short these days.  I never have enough time... time to finish my work, time to relax, time to spend with friends and family, time to make dinner, time to enjoy the summer.  The more I reflect about my time and how I'm spending it, the more it convinces me that I need to somehow be better about saving time here and there.  Figuring out those little shortcuts to achieve the same result, or do two or three things at once.  But in the end, doing those things always leaves me feeling more burnt out and exhausted, no matter how accomplished and eventful the day went.  I'm thinking more and more that there's something to that 'be in the moment' philosophy.  No need to rush onto the next thing.  Just focus on the thing you're doing right now and enjoy it.

On a whim, we went blueberry picking on a Monday morning.  It would have been nice to go early in the morning, and bring a nice picnic lunch.  We could have enjoyed the playground and the farm animals, and gone for a hay ride with the other families.  Instead, we were in-and-outta there in 45 minutes, with 6 pounds of berries in our baskets and even more in our bellies.  It was a quickie, but we loved every minute of it.

Blueberry Fig Fridge Preserves

Makes 1-1/2 cups.

Refrigerator jam is a great way to make a basket of fresh fruit last a little longer, without going through the fuss of full-on canning.  This recipe is the simplest refrigerator preserve of all, made only from summer blueberries and figs.  Add honey and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste, if you like.

2 pints of fresh blueberries, stems removed and washed

1 pint of fresh figs, stems removed and cut into slices

Place fruit into a medium saucepan, and set on medium heat.  Stir every so often, until the fruit starts bubbling and breaking down.  Turn the heat down to a simmer.  Continue to stir every few minutes, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until desired thickness is reached.  Pour preserves into a glass jar, seal with a lid, and leave at room temperature until it cools.  Store in fridge for up to a month.

Getting Busy

I've been thinking a lot lately about being busy.  How it seems like everyone around me, myself included, never have enough time to do what we all want to do.  And yet, with all this new technology that supposedly makes us more efficient, shouldn't we be less busy?  Where did all this busyness come from?  What are we all busy doing?  And when did the word 'busy' become so negative?

As for me, this past month or two have in fact been unusually busy.  I preserved 30 jars of peaches, tomatoes, eggs, carrots, beans and garlic scapes.  I hosted a bachelorette party for a pal and 11 of her friends.  I moved my office location from the north part of the city into a west-end suburb.  I attended 2 weddings, one of which I was in the wedding party.  I baked cookies, cupcakes, muffins, bread and scones, attended spinning classes, practiced yoga, met up with friends for dinner and brunch, sewed two baby receiving blankets, knitted hats and mitts, and dyed a shirt with old coffee grounds.  In the end, I suppose I feel satisfied after looking at all the things I've accomplished.  But wouldn't I have felt more relaxed and well-rested if I had never done any of it?  Was it really worth it for all those really late nights, sore feet, tired eyes and undue stress?

Yes.  Yes, it was worth it.  I can truthfully say that I enjoyed slow-roasting those 20 lbs of tomatoes into the wee hours of the morning two nights in a row almost as much as I would watching a good movie.  I would choose hand-sewing party bunting over playing a video game any day.  Catching up with good friends over weekend brunch is like a own mini vacation.  And now that it's all done, I'm going to be busy doing nothing but relaxing, unwinding, reflecting, and revelling in quiet peace.

Sometimes we complain too much about being busy.  But busyness is often a choice that we've made for ourselves. Perhaps we've chosen it because it makes us feel important and useful. Or perhaps we like that it attracts sympathy from others.  But in the end, I think we would all be better off if we could simply enjoy some of the things that we choose to busy ourselves with.