I realize that I’m a few days late for writing a post about an easy party snack that takes very little effort, is tremendously delicious, and is great for sharing since it is HIGHLY addictive and calorie-dense. My bad.

But lucky for us, there are more reasons to celebrate and indulge coming right up. Valentines Day! The Olympics! Saturday!

If you don’t have a good roasted nut recipe in your arsenal, this is an excellent candidate. I’ve previously relied quite heavily on these little gems, but I’m glad to now have another that doesn’t scream “HOLIDAYS!” quite so loudly. You can use any mix of nuts you like: I had planned to only use cashews and tossed in pecans on a whim, but I now think I like the pecans even more than the cashews.

This is pretty simple stuff: preheat oven, mix the nuts with some goop, try not to burn them in the oven. In fact that last part might be the most challenging. I dropped the temp of the oven from the original recipe because I (gasp) burned the crap out of my first batch. Pecans are especially susceptible to burning, so keep a sharp eye.

The result is a pile of shiny, glazed pecans and cashews that is a pleasant, slightly savory departure from your average honey-roasted fare. Best of luck keeping them around for very long.

Savory Honey-Glazed Nuts
Adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook

1 c roasted & salted cashews
1 c raw pecan halves
1/4 c honey
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp ground yellow mustard
a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 300°F. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together honey, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Add nuts and mix well until all nuts are coated. Spread nuts out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Add a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper.

Bake for 10 minutes, then stir the nuts, then bake for another 10 minutes. Remove nuts from the oven and immediately sprinkle lightly with salt. Allow the nuts to cool completely. Once you store them, the nuts will stick together slightly, but shouldn’t be sticky on your fingers.

Hi.

I’m finally clearing out the dust bunnies and cobwebs from my little food blog, which has been somewhat abandoned on a shelf for a while while my job has been the focus of my creative energy. The last six months have been exhilarating, exhausting, and exciting, but as a result, I’ve felt culinarily dead inside. I’ve been in triage mode: cooking only the fastest and easiest recipes in my arsenal (that is, when I cooked at all) and focusing on meals that made lots of leftovers so I only needed to cook every few days. Finally though, the muse is slowly re-awakening. I am interested once more in trying out new recipes, and more importantly, taking twice as long to make them so I can take pictures of the process to share with you.

But I’m not jumping back into the deep end, exactly. What I needed was some granola, and when I felt pretty meh about the options available in the cereal aisle, I grabbed a canister of oats ran for it, deciding I’d figure something out when I got home. And thanks to my sister’s excellent Christmas present, I found the answer pretty quickly: a ridiculously easy granola recipe with only three ingredients. I decided to add a fourth, but only because I had some cranberries in the pantry.

I’ve made granola before, and I’ll be honest, there are a few reasons I don’t make it very often. First, I go through phases with yogurt, so it’s not something that strikes my fancy very often. Second, it’s kind of a hassle to round up all the ingredients. So this recipe, with only oats, salt, and maple syrup, sounded too good to be true. BUT IT ISN’T.

After a few quick stirs to cover the oats with syrup, the mixture is just spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and baked for less than 20 minutes. The finished product has every attribute I care about in granola: lightly sweet, extremely crunchy, easy to make, and easy to clean up.

You can leave out the cranberries, or swap them for dried apples, or add nuts or sunflower seeds, or whatever. It’s your granola. But there’s really no need for a ton of ingredients, multiple kinds of sweetener, or chopping of anything. This is yogurt-ready in less than half an hour from start to finish.

I honestly don’t know why anyone would ever make granola any other way.

Cranberry Maple Granola
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Every Day

2 c rolled oats
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until oats are coated in syrup. Spread evenly across a large, parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure to limit clumps to a minimum.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, checking it at 10 minutes and every 2-3 minutes thereafter to make sure it doesn’t burn. The oats should be lightly golden brown across the pan, with slightly darker edges. Cool completely on the baking sheet, then remove and crumble up before storing in an airtight container.

I’m horrified to report that as a child, I didn’t care for banana bread. I don’t know what about it displeased me, but frankly, I was a fairly picky eater for many years and shunned off a number of foods that I now find delicious. Lately, we’ve been on a bit of a banana kick in our house, but we inevitably end up with a couple of bananas that reach their prime too quickly and end up getting blacker and more shriveled on the counter as the days go by. Fortunately, the cooking gods have a perfect solution for this problem. As bananas ripen and their sweetness becomes far too over-powering to eat them on their own, they become the perfect mix in for a loaf of sweet, tangy, breakfast bread.

There are a few things I really like about making banana bread. One, I hate wasting food, so I find it extremely satisfying to re-purpose over-ripe fruit to make something new and magical out of them. Two, this old recipe (given to me from my mother, who got it from HER great-grandmother) is extremely straight forward. The ingredients are quite basic, and the instructions are fast and easy. No complicated folding, alternating, sifting, or resting required.

After baking for about an hour, this no-fuss loaf emerges with craggy, crisp edges and a soft crumb that can dress down for breakfast or dress up for dessert.

I like mine warm with a little bit of butter, but this is also perfectly acceptable at room temperature with nothing added whatsoever.

It’s a good thing I’ve come around to liking banana bread, because glancing at the fruit bowl on the counter, it looks like I may be making another loaf rather soon.

Banana Nut Bread
Adapted from my great-great grandmother Hume

Makes 1 loaf

2/3 c (140g) sugar
1/3 c unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 c (250 g) ripe bananas, squashed
1 3/4 c (240 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda (use 1 tsp if baking below 3000 feet)
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c (60 g) chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. If you are using a non-stick loaf pan, grease the bottom and sides of the pan or insert parchment paper to make a cradle along the bottom and long sides of the pan.

Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip the loaf onto a cooling rack. Flip the loaf over and allow to cool. For soft-edged bread, wrap tightly in aluminum foil while it is still somewhat warm.

It only took a few minutes of consulting my favorite cookbooks and cookblogs to see the overwhelming consensus: lemon curd seemed to be square one for entry into the lemon-y baking world.

And to be honest, I had NO idea what lemon curd was. I couldn’t recall tasting it, though in hindsight I now realize that almost every lemon-y dessert I’d had probably used lemon curd as a base. Lemon curd, it turns out, is the happy marriage of lemons, sugar, butter, and eggs. Somewhere between the consistency of a jam and a pudding, curd can be made with any combination of citrus, though lemon seems to be the most popular.

Like most custards, it starts with eggs. This recipe only requires the yolks, but I urge you to re-purpose the whites elsewhere: fluffy omelettes, meringue, angel food cake, no sense in letting a good batch of egg whites go to waste.

Then the lemons: while lemon juice contributes quite a bit of bulk to the curd, the zest is the essential ingredient that takes this curd to a level of insane lemon happiness. I used a lot, a lot, of zest, and I’m so glad I did. It’s truly a magical addition.

To transform this mixture from a yellow slurry into a smooth and elegant topping, it cooks lightly over a bain marie. This can be easily accomplished with any heat-proof bowl and a small pot with a bit of simmering water.

After 10 or 15 minutes, the thin liquid will begin to thicken. My curd was fated to become a cake filling, so I let it thicken quite a lot, but depending on your needs it can be equally delightful a bit thinner. I waited until mine barely dripped off the spoon, and it continued to thicken in the fridge as it cooled.

This recipe makes about a pint of lemon curd, or about two cups. When you’re ready to cool the curd, make sure you press a sheet of plastic wrap over the top so that it doesn’t form a skin or crust as it cools.

Once the curd has cooled and thickened up in the fridge, it can be deliciously used in so many ways. Lemon curd also freezes rather well, so you don’t have to commit to using it all up in one batch. It’s a great way to preserve the bright, fresh spirit of lemons for future use in lemon-filled pastries, lemon cookies, lemon-y whipped cream, lemon-topped-toast…

Or, as a filling for cake. Just a thought. Recipe coming soon, promise!

Lemon Curd
Adapted from Sweetapolita and Alton Brown

Makes about 1 pint

juice and zest of 4 lemons
2 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
1 c granulated sugar
5 T unsalted butter, cut into small, evenly-sized cubes and chilled

Wash all lemons very well and pat dry. Remove zest using a Microplane or grater over a piece of waxed paper (don’t include the white rind, it’s quite bitter!) and set aside.

Add an inch of water to a small pot. Place a medium-sized stainless steel or glass bowl over the pot and ensure that the water won’t touch the bottom. Remove the bowl and heat the pot over medium while you juice the citrus.

Cut each lemon in half and juice, either by squeezing until all juice is removed or using a citrus reamer. Strain out pulp and seeds.

Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and lemon juice in the bowl you fit over the pot earlier. Once the water in the pot is simmering, reduce heat to medium-low and place the bowl of egg mixture over the pot. Add the cubes of butter and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until butter is melted and curd has thickened. It is thick enough when it clings to the wooden spoon instead of dripping right off (it will still be liquid, though).

Remove from heat and strain through a mesh strainer into another bowl. Stir in the zest and pour curd into a pint jar. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Friends, I have a confession.

A lot of the recipes I post on this blog are ones that I cook quite often. Lots of dinners, side dishes, breakfasts, and even desserts that you’ve seen in the last three years make regular appearances in my kitchen or in the kitchen’s of friends and family when I’m visiting. It’s actually pretty convenient to have my very own personal recipe book at my fingertips in any kitchen, grocery store, or farmers market that has data or free wifi.

But I’ve been holding out on you. I haven’t shared with you one of the treats I cook most often, a recipe that I know so well I haven’t looked at the recipe card in years, a recipe that continues to be Brad’s most-requested dessert.

My mom’s chocolate chip cookies.

My mom has been baking these cookies since long before I was born, and truth be told, they’ve gained rather a lot of fame at the staff meetings, potlucks, and holiday gatherings in her little corner of Southwest Colorado. This is also one of my mom’s memorized recipes, complete with a snappy little mnemonic jingle that I learned growing up and use to this day to remember the order of ingredients.

So why wasn’t this recipe at the top of my list to share when I started this blog I’ve shared numerous other treasured recipes from my childhood: Almond Toffee, Lasagne, Favorite Party Mix, to name a few.

Here’s the truth. Most of my life, my mom used butter-flavored Crisco for her magical chocolate chip cookies. And while I had tried using butter and liked the results, it just felt odd to make such a vast departure from her recipe and then post it as “hers”. Irrational Probably. But it held me back. I was writing a blog about eating less-processed, locally sourced ingredients. Butter-flavored Crisco is none of those things.

But then, a few months ago, my mom informed me that she had switched to butter for her cookies. Liberation! Now I could honor this, my “Mom’s recipe”, without the mysterious yellow shortening. I’m so excited to finally share these with you.

These cookies are composed of fairly basic ingredients that, if you bake, I’ll wager you already have around. There’s two really, really important tips I can’t stress enough. The first: use DARK brown sugar, as opposed to light brown sugar. The additional molasses in dark brown sugar not only provides lovely color to these finished cookies, but also a lovely caramel-y flavor you just don’t get when using light brown. Trust me, Sierra and I experimented to find out.

The second tip is to cream the crap out of your butter and sugar. If you’ve ever seen a recipe cautioning against over-mixing, it’s referring to the addition of flour at the end. The initial mixing of butter and sugar, on the other hand, will incorporate more air into your dough to create a fluffier, softer cookie. If you have a stand mixer, add your butter and sugar and blast them for at least five minutes. If you’re using a standard mixing bowl and a spoon, get ready for a good arm workout!

Once the creaming is done, the remaining ingredients go in fairly quickly. An egg, and then some salt, baking soda, and vanilla will give you a lovely tasting dough. Then some chocolate chips (obviously) and flour, and you’re ready to go.

These cookies don’t need to be shaped, you can just drop a wad of dough on a cookie sheet. On a normal basis, I usually only cook 6-8 at a time because Brad is partial to fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies, and the dough refrigerates well so we can have cookies on demand later in the week. Just store the extra dough in an airtight container.

Once the cookies are beginning to brown around the edges, they’re done! My mom likes these cookies very well done, though I prefer them a bit on the lighter side. Just a minute or two will make the difference.

These cookies are not a baking project you need to delay to the weekend: when I use my mixer, I can have a batch in the oven in ten minutes flat. And I’m gonna be totally honest with you: if you’re into eating raw cookie dough, like I am, this dough is for you. Of course I can’t officially recommend it since the dough has a raw egg, but… it’s BONKERS delicious.

And the finished cookies aren’t half-bad either.

Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted just a smidge from my Mom

Makes 16-20 cookies

Note: After several years of flat cookies, I finally wised up and added more baking soda to my recipe. The lower altitude of my kitchen means that my recipes require more leavening agents when preparing recipes that were developed or perfected in my mom’s or grandmother’s high altitude kitchens. If you live at high altitudes, knock the backing soda back to a 1/2 teaspoon. Because science.

1/2 c hard-packed dark brown sugar
1/4 granulated white sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c milk chocolate chips
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine brown sugar, white sugar, and butter in the bowl of a standing mixer or other medium mixing bowl. Cream together very well until mixture has lightened in color and is somewhat fluffy. Add egg and combine thoroughly. Mix in salt, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix in chocolate chips. Add the flour and mix just until combined.

Drop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet, about two inches apart. Bake on a center rack for 10-11 minutes until cookies begin to brown around the edges. Remove cookie sheet from the oven and let the cookies sit for 1-2 minutes, then lift the cookies onto a serving tray with a spatula.

Cookies can be baked all at once, or, dough can be refrigerated and baked within a week.

In the meantime, though, I desperately want to talk about this cookie.

If you’ve ever enjoyed one of those Lofthouse cookies, or the grocery-store knock-offs, this recipe is for you. Not only are these cookies SHOCKINGLY easy to make, but they are soft and fluffy and flavorful and cute and everything you want them to be without the weird sugar-y aftertaste of their inspiration.

We start with a pretty basic array of ingredients. Flour, baking powder, and salt combine to form the dry set, butter and sugar cream together to form the base, and egg, vanilla, and just a bit of almond extract wrap it all up.

A tip for these (and really all) cookies: cream the heck out of the butter and sugar! The more they whip together, the more air will be introduced, which will yield a fluffier cookie. On the other hand, once you add the dry ingredients, you’ll want to mix the dough just until it is thoroughly combined.

Once ready, the dough chills for an hour or so. It doesn’t have to be super-cold since you won’t be rolling it out, but the time in the fridge does help the flavors blend and the cookies to hold their shape.

After the dough has chilled, roll it out into balls between the palms of your hands. I’ve found that I always make them too small and end up needing to add more, so shape all the balls before you press them with the heel of your hand to flatten them slightly.

When you bake these cookies, don’t be tempted to let them brown. These cookies must remain soft, so you’ll want to pop them out of the oven when they are just barely beginning to brown on the bottom edges. In fact they may still glisten a bit on the top, but they’ll finish cooking as they cool.

Once the cookies are cool, it’s icing time! This frosting is just about as basic as the cookies (honestly, how have I never made these cookies before?) and it comes together quickly.

Because it’s March and I’m desperate to see ANYTHING green, I added a couple drops of green icing color. It doesn’t take much, and you can obviously dye your icing whatever color you want.

Once the icing is mixed, you’ll need to work quickly before it begins to set. Now it’s not going to freeze up instantly, but this is not the kind of icing you can abandon for a couple of hours while you do something else.

In fact, I worked one cookie at a time, adding sprinkles as I went, to avoid the surface hardening before I could ice all twelve. I used pearl sprinkles because I was feeling fancy, but you can use sanding sugar or ice cream sprinkles or even chocolate curls.

Soon, you’ll have a rack of the prettiest little cookies you ever did see. They’re quick and easy, so you can whip up a batch on relatively short notice. They’re not overly sweet, soft as can be, and can be dressed up in whatever colors you like. And since they’re best eaten within a day or two of baking, they’d make a killer hostess gift, birthday treat, or dinner party contribution.

Maybe I’ll start making more cookies after all.

Frosted Fluffy Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Beantown Baker

Makes 12 cookies

Notes: The recipe can be easily doubled, tripled, quadrupled… you get the idea. Also, the icing recipe listed below makes just enough for twelve cookies.

For the Cookies
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer (or other large mixing bowl) until slightly lighter in color, about 3-4 minutes in the standing mixer. Add the egg and beat until combined, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Add the vanilla and blend. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until completely combined, scraping down the bowl at least once to collect all the dry ingredients. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Remove dough from the refrigerator and discard plastic wrap. Form twelve balls, each about 1 1/2″ inches in diameter, using the palms of your hands to form them into balls. Space evenly across the baking sheet leaving about two inches between them. If you have any remaining dough after you have formed all twelve balls, add bits of dough to the smaller ones and re-roll.

Press the heel of your hand gently onto each ball so that it forms a thick disc. Bake at 350°F for about 11-12 minutes until bottom edges have barely begun to brown and tops still glisten slightly. Do not overbake, as cookies will dry out quickly if baked too much.

Remove pan from the oven and allow to cookies to rest for 3-5 minutes. Lift cookies onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Icing
1 1/4 c powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 T unsalted butter, melted
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 T milk (plus a bit more if needed)
a couple drops of gel color (if desired)
sprinkles (if desired)

Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add melted butter, vanilla, milk (start with 2 tablespoons), and gel color and whisk together. If icing is a bit too thick, add just a bit more milk. Icing should be thick enough that the tracks of whisk form when stirred but disappear within 5-6 seconds once the whisk is still.

Spoon a small dollop of icing onto a cookie and spread gently with a knife. If you’re using sprinkles, add them now. Work one cookie at a time: the icing will begin to harden within minutes of being applied, so your sprinkles may not stick if you wait until all cookies have been iced.

Serve immediately, or allow icing to harden for a couple of hours. Once the icing has hardened, store cookies in an airtight container.

These cookies are best the day they are baked, but they’re mighty fine the next day as well. I couldn’t tell you how long they last after that because they’ve always been eaten by the second day!

Oh dear friends.

October is doing that thing again where it goes by too quickly. It’s my favorite month: the peak of autumn on most of this continent, and I may have mentioned once or seven-hundred times that autumn provides me the greatest joy of any season. A plentiful harvest of food to enjoy in the moment and store for the winter, repressed pigments unleashed in the forests in a glorious display of color, a chance to layer every article of orange, green, purple, and brown clothing I own in endless combinations for my daily attire (it is the only season I feel my wardrobe is remotely fashionable).

And of course, autumn recipes. This one in particular is the pinnacle of fall flavor unity: a basic caramel sweetened with maple syrup and punched up with a quart of apple cider boiled down to pure apple goodness. And now is really the best time to make them because it’s the one time of year you can buy fresh-pressed, unpasteurized apple cider.

And while yes, the primary purpose of my annual expedition is a supply of local fruit to get me through the winter, the added perk is access to this incredible cider. Unpasteurized apple cider, contrary to its grocery store counterparts, is thick, opaque, and must be refrigerated. But it’s filled with the most incredible flavor: you can still taste which varieties were used to press the cider. Most apple orchards sell it, but you can also occasionally find it in specialty grocery stores or farmers markets. Get out there and get some!

I also had a bottle of maple syrup that I bought in Wisconsin. It seemed appropriate to add to this autumn candy, right?

The cider and the syrup won’t make a caramel on their own though. Bring in the butter, the cream, the sugar, and the spices!

Once all the ingredients are prepared, the first step is to boil down the apple cider, waaaaaay down. The quart of apple cider you’ll start with takes 30-40 minutes to boil down to about half a cup, which is what we’re aiming for. That 30-40 minutes is a great time to line a square pan with parchment paper and make wrappers for your pretty little candies. Waxed paper works best, and you’ll want squares about four inches across. No need to be fussy, you’ll be wrinkling them up so this is not the time for perfection.

In no time, you’ll have your concentrated apple cider. You may have to remove the pan from the heat to make sure  you have the right amount. Then, it’s time to mix in the butter, cream, sugar, and maple syrup to make your candy.

Now comes the tricky part. After the butter and sugar have dissolved, return the pan to the heat with a candy thermometer. It only takes a few minutes to bring the candy to temperature. Cook it too little and you’ll end up with a caramel sauce, (which would be out-of-control-delicious, mind you) but cook it too much you’ll end up with toffees (also delicious).

Once the caramel reaches 250°, into the mold it goes!

And now the waiting. The caramel will cool for about two hours. I cooled mine on the counter. You can try it in the fridge, but I would let it come back to room temperature before attempting to cut it to help prevent it from cracking.

Once it is cool, it’s time to turn that giant block of caramel into sixty-four tiny blocks. Make sure you wipe your knife with oil between cuts so it doesn’t stick in the caramel.

And soon, after gently wrapping each and every one, you’ll have a mountain of caramels bursting with apple-y, autumn-y flavor. Though candy can be intimidating, I urge you to give these a shot. They’re perfect for fall parties, fall birthday and wedding gifts, or just as a treat on days when you want to savor all the flavor of fall in one little bite. Even though October is escaping quickly, these will help the season last.

Apple Cider Maple Caramels
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

4 c apple cider (use fresh, unpasteurized cider if you can find it)
1/2 c unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized chunks
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
1/3 c heavy cream
2 tsp flaky sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
canola or vegetable oil (for greasing the knife)

Heat apple cider in a 3- or 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. While the cider boils, prepare your remaining ingredients and have them standing by near the stove. Use two strips of parchment paper to line an 8-inch square pan sitting on a trivet, crossing the parchment so that the bottom and all sides are covered. You can also use this time to cut wrappers out of wax paper, about 64 four-inch squares.

Boil cider for 25-35 minutes until it has reduced to about 1/2 a cup, stirring occasionally. You may have to remove it from the heat as it gets close to get an accurate idea of how much is left. It will form a thick, dark syrup.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in butter, sugar, maple syrup, and cream. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot and return to the heat. Stirring occasionally, keep a close eye on the caramel. Once it reaches 248°F, quickly mix in the salt and spices. Cook just a bit longer until the mixture reaches 250°F. Immediately remove the pot from the heat, remove the thermometer and place it in the sink, and pour the hot caramel into the parchment-lined square pan, scraping out as much as you can. Allow the caramel to cool until it is room temperature and firm. This will take about two hours.

Once caramel block has cooled, use the parchment sling to lift the block out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Wipe oil on both sides of a knife and cut into one-inch wide strips, re-oiling the knife after each cut. Turn the strips 90 degrees and make perpendicular cuts, essentially cutting the caramels into one inch squares. Wrap each caramel in a four-inch square of waxed paper.

Caramels will store for up to two weeks in an airtight container on the counter.

I’ve always strongly associated oranges with summer. Their summery orange glow, bright flavors, and balmy geographic origins have all contributed to this perception. And yet I also remember that my dad always brought home the best grapefruits, even in thoroughly NOT balmy Colorado, in January and February. Occasionally, we’d receive boxes of citrus as Christmas gifts, and I even recall the local chapter of FFA selling them to neighbors as a fundraiser in the weeks preceding the holidays.

Citrus is cultivated year-round in many of the southern-most states of our continent, but it really shines in the winter. Not surprisingly, when I was driving back to North Carolina from a late-November trip to Florida with the fam, I simply couldn’t resist stopping at a roadside stand for a bag of this fruit so far outside my normal local fare.

I probably could have just eaten or juiced each and every one of these golden orbs, but I’ve been curious for some time about marmalades. I don’t remember growing up with marmalade in the house, though my mom confirms that she loved it when she was a child. Our spreadables tended to be homemade from the berries and stone fruits my grandma and grandpa grew in their garden, so perhaps that accounts for the marmalade vacuum of my youth. I’ve heard from some that marmalade is an acquired taste, that it’s a bitter product not suited for those who prefer sweet jams. I wanted to give it a shot, but wasn’t sure how I would feel about a bitter final product. I ran across this recipe, a blend of oranges and cranberries, and thought that it might be just the transitional product between sweet and bitter I was looking for.

This marmalade is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. The bulk is made up of equal parts cranberry and oranges, along with a lemon tossed in for a little extra brightness. The oranges and lemons contribute not only their juicy flesh but also their colorful, flavorful rinds.

The rinds contribute a touch of bitterness to this otherwise sweet jam, but it’s also the primary vehicle for the brilliant citrus flavor that punches through the cranberry.

This marmalade is a great way to use up any glut of cranberries you may have left over from the holidays, as well as any citrus you may have received as a gift. It’s delicious when used as a spread, but I’m also confident it would make a great stir-in for a poultry marinade or even as a topping for ice cream.

To those of you who live in climates where citrus grows freely and rampantly: I am incredibly jealous. How do you make the most of your fruit?

Cranberry Orange Marmalade
Adapted from Small Batch Preserving

Makes about 5 pints (10 cups)

5 medium oranges, thoroughly washed and dried (I used Red Navels)
1 lemon, thoroughly washed and dried
6 cups water
4 cups fresh or frozen whole cranberries, washed and picked through
8 cups granulated sugar

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the thin, colorful outer rinds from the oranges and the lemons. Chop the rind into a fine confetti and combine with the water in a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover, reduce heat to medium, and boil for about 20 minutes.

While the rind is boiling, peel away the remaining white rind from the citrus and discard. Separate the oranges and lemon into segments and remove seeds from each segment. Discard the seeds. Place all of the citrus segments in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly chopped. Add citrus to the pot. Add cranberries to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, then add the cranberries to the pot as well.  Turn the heat back up to high and bring pot back to a boil. Cover pot and continue boiling for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While this is boiling, prepare a boiling water bath and sterilize the jars and lids you plan to use.

Add the sugar to the pot. Stirring steadily, boil rapidly for about 20 minutes or until marmalade forms a gel. To test for a gel, spoon a bit of marmalade onto a small plate and place in the freezer for a minute or two. If a skin forms over the puddle of marmalade, it is ready.

Remove from heat and ladle into warm, sterilized jars, leaving about ½” head space. Lid the jars and screw on the rings until just past fingertight. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I’ll always love my mom’s classic sugar cookie recipe. It tastes like tradition and family gatherings and anticipation for what Santa might put under the tree. But I must admit: these cookies, based on a recipe I’ve been eyeballing for a while, are definitely worth repeating. And while I only make classic sugar cookies at Christmas, these maple-rockin’ ones qualify for year-round baking.

The stars of this little cookie show are maple syrup, nutmeg, and sea salt. I’m not certain I’ve ever tasted cookies so magical and complex in flavor before. I also added a bit of cinnamon to bring even more seasonal flavor to the mix, but the combination of sweet maple and the occasional punch of salt make each bite a pleasure.

Like most cutout cookies, this dough needs a good long chill in the fridge before rolling. And like pie crust, it’s best to keep it as cold as possible. I work with only a quarter of the dough at a time AND return the unbaked trays of cookies to the fridge for a few minutes before they go in the oven. The cold helps the cookies keep their shape so your reindeer look like reindeer and not bulbous root vegetables.

These cookies are darn good right off the pan. But it’s Christmas, so I wanted to add a little extra panache. While still warm from the oven, each cookie gets a final kiss of maple syrup and a sprinkle of large grain sugar (I found mine in the sprinkles section at the grocery store). The result is a chewy but crisp, flavorful cookie with just the right amount of sparkle.

I’d love to sit here and chat cookies with you, but I have a lot of actual cookies to bake right now. And I bet you do, too.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Salted Maple Cutout Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 5-6 dozen cookies

1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 c pure maple syrup (Grade B)
3 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or 3/8 tsp ground nutmeg, which packs more tightly)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 c additional maple syrup (for decorating)
large grain sugar sprinkles (for decorating)

Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluffy. With mixer on medium, add egg yolk and drizzle in maple syrup.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sea salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix just until combined, making sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl several times to incorporate all dry ingredients. Gather the dough onto a two-foot stretch of plastic wrap and wrap well. Place dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Remove about a quarter of the dough from the fridge and place on a floured surface. It’s important to keep the dough cold as long as possible, so working in small batches is best. Roll dough out to about 1/4″ thick and cut into desired shapes. Lift each cookie onto the lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2″ between cookies.  Once the first sheet is full of cookies, place it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Chilling the uncooked cookies will help them retain their shape while baking. Gather scraps into a ball and return to the fridge. Remove another cold quarter of the dough and repeat with second cookie sheet.

Once first cookie sheet has chilled, bake on a center rack for about 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and carefully lift each cookie onto a cooling rack. Pour 1/4 c maple syrup into a small dish. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush each cookie with maple syrup (think kisses, not puddles). Once all cookies from the first sheet have been brushed, lightly sprinkle each cookie with the large grain sugar.

Continue this process of rolling out dough, cutting cookies, chilling cookies, baking cookies, brushing with maple, and sprinkling with sugar until all dough has been used up.

Cookies can be served warm (obviously) or can be stored in an airtight container for several days.

I’m not entirely sure where November went, but December (and with it, the holiday cooking season) seems to have arrived quite suddenly. Before Thanksgiving, I felt like I was finally on it for my holiday planning: I had lists, I had a rough cooking schedule (don’t judge me), I had some hard-to-find ingredients ordered. But now we’re here, hurtling through the first week of December, and I feel overwhelmed and scrambled and concerned that I won’t get everything done. As usual, I’ve probably scheduled waaaaaay too many recipes to try, I decided months ago that throwing a food-filled holiday party this weekend would be a good idea, and I have a fantastically busy schedule at work.

However, at least one of my gift-giving projects is already under way and is actually right on schedule. And just in case you think it’s a swell idea too, I’m gonna go ahead and ruin the surprise for those of you on my Santa list this year.

Everyone on my list is getting homemade mulling spices! And, because it’s fun and I like sharing, I’m hosting a little giveaway so that three of you readers can have some too!

Last year, my holiday crafty-gift-project was making these little hot chocolate sticks. They were a hit, and they make a mean mug of hot chocolate, but this year I wanted to come up with something a bit more versatile. After seeing tiny containers of mulling spices being sold at a market in Ohio, I knew I had found my next project.

Mulling spices, if you’ve not heard them called that before, refer collectively to the spices generally used to turn apple cider and red wine into mulled cider and mulled wine. I’ve seen dozens of recipes, and used a few myself, but mulling spices typically include cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, orange peel, and lemon peel in a variety of combinations.

The first step Buying those dang spices. And lots.

I already buy most of my herbs and spices in the bulk spice section of the co-op grocery store, which is MUCH less expensive than buying them one bottle at a time, and I knew I could pick up a cup or two of many of the spices I’d need that way. But the dried orange peel, lemon peel, and candied ginger were not available. But it turns out you can order whole bags of these in bulk, and they’re fairly reasonably priced. Hooray for Amazon!

With spices in hand, I now needed a way to make tiny bags of them. You can use cheesecloth and tie it up, but I wanted to use something with a more finished look. T-sacs, which are essentially empty tea bags, seemed to fit the bill just right.

With spices and satchels in hand, all that’s left is mixing and constructing. The cinnamon sticks and nutmegs require just a bit of breaking, which can easily be achieved with an old, heavy pot and a freezer bag, and the ginger needs to be chopped, but that’s all you need to get all your spices in a bowl and turn them into mulling spice.

Once the mix is ready, each tea bag gets two heaping tablespoons of the mix. Then each bag is pinched closed, tied off, and trimmed of excess paper.

And look! Each little bag is perfect for mulling one bottle of wine or one 1/2 gallon of apple cider. I tested a bag for myself in apple cider, and the result was perfect. The tea bags are thin enough to allow the flavor of the spices to flow through the liquid, but sturdy enough to stay in the pot for 30 or 40 minutes while the cider simmers.

Now the bags are ready to give away as is, but I’m giving mine as sets of four in these cute little quarter-pound candy boxes I found online. Along with some pretty ribbon, I added a label for each box with instructions for making both mulled cider and mulled wine.

So here they are! Little packages of mulling spices to perk up your holiday party beverages. My friends and family will have to wait for Christmas to receive theirs, but not you! I’m doing a little giveaway and mailing a box of these little spice satchels to three readers. Want it to be you Here’s how to enter:

GIVEAWAY CLOSED: How to Win A Box Of Mulling Spice Mixes

1. Leave one comment on this post to answer this question: What is your favorite holiday party treat or drink?
2. BONUS! To enter twice, head on over to 30 Pounds of Apples on Facebook and like the page. Then, come back to this post and leave me a comment saying you liked the Facebook page, and you’ll be entered twice. Fancy!
3. Enter before 11:59pm EST on Sunday, December 9. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 10.
4. Open to US residents only (sorry to my international readers, shipping is so dang expensive!)

Homemade Mulling Spice Mix
Adapted from About.com

Makes 32 spice bags

Supplies
32 empty tea bags (I use #3 T-sacs)
cooking twine
quarter-pound candy boxes (optional)
instruction labels (optional) Here’s the template I made!
ribbon (optional)

Ingredients
6 oz whole cinnamon sticks
10 whole nutmegs
2/3 c dried orange peel
2/3 c dried lemon peel
3/4 c whole cloves
1/2 c allspice berries
1/3 c finely chopped crystallized ginger

Place cinnamon sticks and nutmegs in a zippered freezer bag and close, pressing out all the air from the bag. Place the bag on a cutting board and pound with a heavy pot or frying pan until sticks and nutmegs are broken into pieces. Chop ginger into small pieces.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside. Cut kitchen twine into 32 six-inch pieces. Place two slightly heaping tablespoons full of spice mix into each tea bag and tap gently on a hard surface to settle the spices in the bottom of the bag. Fill all bags until spice mixture is completely used up.

Pinch each bag closed about one inch above the top of the spices so they have enough room to expand and move around while in the liquid. Tie a double knot around the pinched point with the kitchen twine, and add a bow if you like.

If you are giving these as gifts, make sure to include the instructions below for your recipients.

To Make Mulled Apple Cider
Combine 1/2 gallon apple cider and 1 spice bag in a crock pot or a large pot on the stove. Heat for 30-40 minutes or until hot. Remove spice bag and discard. Serve hot.

To Make Mulled Wine
Combine 1/3 c sugar and 1/2 c water in a large pot on medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add 750 ml of red wine and 1 spice bag. Reduce heat to low and heat until wine is hot. Remove spice bag and discard. Serve hot.