PW's Christmas finger jello

So this is the story of how my sister ended up making this epically beautiful Christmas jello.

About a week ago, I pinned a photo of the Pioneer Woman's Christmas finger jello on Pinterest.  My sister is just getting into the whole Pinterest thing, so she saw my pin and decided she wanted to try to make it for our family holiday party.  I cautioned here that it would take a lot of time to make, but she still wanted to give it a go.

Fast-forward to last week, and my sister was snowed in her country home for two days during the recent blizzard.  Her husband was staying at a hotel near his work, so she was by herself for two days and couldn't leave until he came back home to clear the driveway.  He finally made it home on the night before our family gathering, and she insisted that he drive her to the grocery store so she could get the ingredients for this jello.

Then I got a phone call from my sister, asking where she can find the gelatin called for in this recipe.  She had never heard of unflavored gelatin before. Ha!  I told her to look for it in the jello aisle.

It took her all day to make this jello.  The hard part was waiting for each layer to set before adding the next, she said.  But it turned out beautiful!  I can't stop eating it, I love it so much!

She also made these adorable cookies, pretzels and cornflake wreaths.

And just to prove that this is finger jello, I ate it with my fingers!  It was perfect!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, with lots of food, family and laughter. Does your family have a favorite Christmas treat that adds to the holiday joy?

Crochet ornaments

I love making homemade ornaments for our Christmas tree. And it gives me an excuse to try a new crochet project!  I saw these bright, fun ornaments on the Red Heart yarn website and wanted to give the pattern a try.  I had to order the celebration yarn on the Red Heart website, because I couldn't find it at the local craft shops.  These ornaments are bigger than they looked in the pattern photo, but they are still pretty cute.  Here's the patten if you want to make them yourself. 

Iowa recipes: Cream Caramels

Are you all busy with holiday baking?  I still have lots to do this weekend, and my Christmas tree isn't up yet!  But we took advantage of a (light) snow day and made homemade caramels last weekend to give away to family and friends.

I've actually posted this caramel recipe on my blog before, but for some reason, it's gone mostly unnoticed. Maybe because I wasn't specific enough in the title?  But this is a terrific recipe that I found in an old Iowa church cookbook from back home, so I want to share it again.

My husband was thoughtful enough to whip out the camera and take some photos to document our caramel-making process.  I've been a little slack on the blog lately.  (Sorry about that.  I just haven't been spending as much time in front of a computer, which is probably a good thing!)

So the first step is getting the cream, corn syrup and butter to reach the boiling point.  It doesn't look like much yet.

But as the mixture starts to boil, it begins to "caramelize" and turn brown.  My husband used both the cheap-o candy thermometer we got at the neighborhood grocery store, and a digital thermometer just to double check the temperature.  You want the caramel to reach the "soft-ball stage," or 245 degrees.  If the temperature is any higher than that, the caramel will be too hard to cut and eat.  (We've learned this from experience, unfortunately.)

My handsome husband kept stirring the pot to keep the caramel from burning.  You can tell he's working in the kitchen, because the cupboard door is wide open. Ha!

When the caramel is finished, pour into pans and let it cool, then cut up in tiny pieces once it's firm.

Then we just cut up square pieces of wax paper to wrap the caramels up.  I was smiling at this point, but after wrapping caramels for an hour, I was pretty much sick of this chore!

It may look like a complicated recipe, but it really isn't, as long as you keep an eye the temperature.  And people are so impressed when you give them homemade caramels as gifts.  So it's worth the time and the little bit of mess.

Here's our homemade caramel recipe.  Enjoy!

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Cream Caramels

• 2 C. sugar
• 3/4 C. light corn syrup
• 1/2 C. butter
• 2 C. cream
• 1/2 C. finely chopped nuts (optional)

Butter 8 x 8 x 2-inch pan. Spread nuts in pan. Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter and half the cream in large saucepan. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to 245 degrees on candy thermometer (or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water forms a firm ball). Immediately spread mixture evenly over nuts in pan. Cool. Cut into 1-inch squares. Wrap in squares of plastic wrap.

Making lefse: A flour-covered kitchen

I spent an entire day making a batch of Norwegian lefse for our family's Christmas dinner.  Lefse dough is very sticky to work with, so I had to use a ton of flour to keep it workable.  The goal is to roll out the lefse as thin as possible, but not so thin that the dough tears when you lift it from the cloth-covered board.

Before the day was done, there was dough and flour everywhere.  And I mean everywhere!

But all the mess was worth it in the end.  I ended up with a nice batch of lefse to send home with my family at Christmas!

If you're interested in my grandma's lefse recipe, check out my earlier lefse post.

Our first real Christmas tree

I've met quite a few Christmas tree growers through my job, but I've never set up a real Christmas tree in our house.  This year, I decided to convince my husband to help me pick out our first real Christmas tree.  It turned out, he didn't need much convincing.  His family never had a real Christmas tree when he was growing up, so he was all for the idea.  He suggested that we drive to a nearby grocery store and pick out a tree. But I insisted that we visit a local Christmas tree farm.

There aren't many Christmas tree farms left in Iowa.  It's a tough business to get into.  First, you need the land.  With today's high corn prices, you're likely to make more money planting corn than planting Christmas trees.  Plus, operating a Christmas tree farm is a lot harder than it looks.  You need to tend to the trees throughout the year, trimming and weeding and spraying for insects when necessary.  You also have to keep the deer from eating all your trees.  And did I mention that it takes seven years before a Christmas tree is large enough to sell?  You better have a lot of patience if you're a Christmas tree grower.

My husband and I traveled to the Kidman tree farm near Polk City to buy our tree.  We chose a White pine, because I love the "Teddy bear" soft needles.

I'm leaving the tag on the tree as an "ornament."

We bought the tree stand at the farm, as well, for only $25.  It's a very sturdy tree stand, and very simple to use.  (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before we put the tree up. But I'll post one sometime.)  The best part of buying straight from the farm? They had the tree all wrapped and placed in the back of our pick-up by the time we left the gift shop.  We were in and out in 15 minutes, which made my impatient hubby very happy.

So far, the tree has been very easy to care for.  It's like an indoor gardening project.  I water the tree twice a day, since it sucks up quite a bit of water.  We've had only a few needles to clean up from the carpet.  I put down a layer of garbage bags to protect the carpet from water, but so far, there hasn't been any water spilled, another benefit of a good tree stand.

I wrapped the tree in the homemade tree skirt my mother-in-law made for us.  It's such a beautiful addition to our holiday decorations.

You may have noticed that I don't have any ornaments on the tree.  Too be honest, I'm not really a fan of ornaments.  I hate packing and unpacking them each year.  I might make time to put a few ornaments up, but I'm happy with just the lights.  My philosophy with Christmas lights:  the more colorful, the better!

So does your family prefer a real tree to an artificial tree?  Do you prefer white lights over colored lights?  Or do you skip the tree all together?  I'm usually not big on decorating the house for the holidays, but I was excited about getting a real tree for the first time.

Shop local: Iowa gift ideas

 

So are you getting back into a routine after the first round of holidays?  This is the time of year when things get crazy where I work, so I don't have as much time to spend on my hobbies.  For a change of pace, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Iowa discoveries over the past year.  These would make great gifts and stocking stuffers for those hard-to-shop-for friends, co-workers and family members.

Farmers Best Gourmet Popcorn, grown in Rockwell City, Iowa:  I was fortunate to meet the family that grows Farmers Best Gourmet Popcorn, and they generously gave me a free sample so I can discover what makes their popcorn a "premium" product.  Farmers Best popcorn is tender, white popcorn that doesn't have the tough hulls that the brand-name popcorns have.  You can find Farmers Best popcorn in 1-pound bags, or in microwaveable bags, at several Hy-Vee and Fareway stores across Iowa.  Or order online at www.farmersbestpopcorn.com.

Spring Valley Honey Farms lip balm, from Perry Iowa:  I love these little honey-flavored lip balms so much!  I carry one in my purse and one in my make-up drawer so I'm never far from them.  They're a must for the dry winters, and I prefer these honey lip balms to the Burt's Bees products.  In the summer, you can buy these at the Iowa Honey Producers booth at the Iowa State Fair.  Or order online at www.springvalleyhoneyfarms.com. (Don't forget to buy some Iowa honey on the site, too.)

Beaverdale Confections gourmet marshmallows, from Des Moines, Iowa:  I discovered these marshmallows at the World Food Festival in Des Moines this fall, and it was love at first bite!  These soft marshmallows come in a variety of yummy flavors (the marshmallows pictured above are coconut and caramel flavored).  I'm planning to buy these for holiday gifts this year, and a few extra for myself!  They would be perfect with hot chocolate. Visit the candy store in Beaverdale, or order online at http://www.beaverdaleconfections.com/.

Do you plan to shop local for the holidays?  Do you have a favorite local product that would be perfect for gift-giving?  I would love to hear about it.

Christmas baking: Pecan tassies

It seems like I have selective memory when it comes to Christmas baking. Every year, I spend hours baking these tiny pecan tassies. And every year, I tell myself I'm never going to make them again. It takes forever to press the cream-cheese crust into the mini muffin tins.

But the tassies look so adorable when they pop out of the oven. And yes, they taste as good as they look.

I'm planning to share these goodies with my dad and husband. They both couldn't stop eating them last year.

I clipped this recipe many years ago from Cooking Light magazine. Feel free to try it for yourself. But be sure to block out a few hours to make them, especially if you double (or triple) the recipe like I do. These babies go fast!

Find the recipe Pecan Tassies in Cream Cheese Pastry at AllRecipes.com.