Christmas is coming!

Winter on the West Coast of British Columbia is really unlike winter anywhere else in Canada.

In some ways it is wonderful. No mittens, no touques, no boots, no snowpants. Getting ready to leave the house is just as quick as it is in summer! There is no worrying about finding matching gloves for four kids as they head out the door...mittens and gloves are so much like socks in my house...I try not to think about how many have been lost to the black hole in the dryer.

We can leave home without coats on most days. The weather is really great.

Except...

I am having a VERY difficult time believing that it is almost Christmas! I miss snow. It doesn't help that my decorating this year has consisted of mountains of packing boxes cluttering every spare inch of my house. We are preparing for our move just a few days before Christmas.

Luckily for me, with the lack of snow the kids are also not feeling very Christmasy yet either. I did get them to make and decorate a few cookies which they really enjoyed and if nothing else gets done at least we have done something!

I am hoping that we can VERY quickly unpack when we arrive in the Okanagan in time to get a tree set up for Christmas Eve...with decorations and baking...oh and shopping, I have yet to finish my Christmas shopping as I did not want to have excess to move...I think due to time constraints it will be a bit of a scaled back Christmas at our house this year. We are just going to really enjoy a week off together as a family after not seeing much of each other since summer. And for me that is going to be the best Christmas present of all.

cookies and kitchens

One of my favourite activities is baking with my kids. Each of them has started experimenting
in the kitchen not long after they could walk. All of them love it.

The problem I have encountered over the years is my kitchens have never been able to accommodate a large group of bakers. I have never had an island in my kitchen and I have never had ample counter space. For example my current kitchen is five feet by ten feet - in total. So when the cupboards, counters, fridge and stove are added in there is VERY little space for anyone other than myself in the kitchen.

 Usually what happens is My oldest and my middle son argue over who had the last turn and they recount all the baking that has been done over the past few weeks to see whose turn it is (both my daughter and middle son site chef as a desirable future career). If my youngest is in the mood, he just boldly tells everyone else to get out. He is the youngest of four and not afraid of anybody. He is definately the alpha male when it comes to his siblings.

My oldest son also loves to cook, but not enough to get involved in the "whose turn is it" battle. So, every once in a while (and yes I do realize I need to make a chart or something), I step in and announce that it is my oldest son's turn. This week was his turn and I enjoyed watching him so much.

We made Martha Stewart's Hazelnut thumbprints...

But, instead of filling them with jam as Ms. Stewart suggests ( I rarely follow recipes exactly; I always like to adapt them a little) we decided to fill them with...

dulce de leche...YUM! I love dulce de leche. I bought a jar of the Bonne Maman brand when I was in Quebec this summer and I had been waiting for an opportunity to open it up and use it. It was well worth the wait. The caramel and toasted hazelnuts were so good together.

My son and I had such a good time together; we really need to do it more often...

Which makes me think of my small house experiment. While in many ways it is a good thing...I have been dreaming of a big country kitchen for about a decade now. I really do want a big island that my entire family can fit around to bake cookies, make chocolates and decorate gingerbread houses. Especially at this time of year. I don't need a big house...

just a big kitchen.

baking again...

This morning I spent more time on homework than I intended, leaving my two youngest to play on their own (and yes, I have a bit of motherly guilt about that...). So, this afternoon in an effort to make up for it I thought I would do some baking with the boys. I had a few egg yolks in the fridge from a previous baking session, so I thought I would make an upside down cake. I got the recipe a few years ago from a Martha Stewart magazine, it only uses egg yolks instead of whole eggs - perfect for using up excess yolks.

It has a yummy spice cake base and I believe Martha used halved plums and raspberries...which I have made before (I've also tried blueberries, apricots and cranberries...all good. But not at the same time, of course!)

 This time I thought I would try it with apples.

Apples and caramel on a spice cake...yum!

I have been having a lot of fun playing with my camera and trying to figure out how to use it. My 2 1/2 year old has really enjoyed his mom being distracted with a new hobby and if you look close you can see him trying to sneak apples off the cake in between takes. He thoroughly enjoyed himself (and the yummy apples) and easily forgave me for the earlier neglect.

We also decided to make some cookies while we were at it.

When I was growing up, one of my mom's favourite cookies to make were an oatmeal, coconut, cocoa no-bake cookie. (I think because they were so easy...and because they really did taste good! and no possibility of burning the cookies which she often did, although we always blamed it on a friend of my dad's because everytime she burned cookies he was there.) Anyway, they have always been one of my favourites because they really are SO easy. The kids can help with the dry ingredients.

A few years ago I lost my recipe so I did it from memory and they turned out even better! A lot more moist and fudgy (It turns out I had halved the oatmeal and sugar and doubled the coconut and vanilla). 

The kids all love them and they only take about 10 minutes to make (and then about an hour in the fridge to chill). I thought I would post the recipe...just in case I lose it again!

My variation on mom's cocoa, coconut, oatmeal no bake cookies

(although I think they need a new name...hmm...any thoughts?)

1 1/2 cups oats (not instant)

2 cups unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup cocoa

Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized, heat proof bowl.

In a saucepan melt 1/2 cup butter and then add 1 cup sugar.  Bring to a medium boil and boil for two to three minutes. Then add 1/2 cup milk, simmer for another minute. Take off heat and add 1 tsp vanilla. Quickly add to dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon. Spoon mixture ( a small ice cream scoop with a release feature works really well) onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Place in fridge for about an hour (or a little less if the kids are anxious!)

Makes 18-24 depending on size of cookies.

Enjoy!