Project Life - Catching Up! (December)

 

And here I am with the December Spread. Since I was very much behind on Project Life throughout the 3 months or so prior, I thought it might be fun to make an effort to do something every day for December.

Since I love Advent anyway and there is actually a lot to record around this time of year it seemed the perfect month to do it! Hence the December Daily.

On this spread I seemed to have a pretty good balance of pictures and journaling - wish that would always work out that well. The only thing that is maybe different, is the journaling behind the doily. It folds open when you pull out the card to reveal all the journaling.

 

As you can see I finally used up the rest of the journaling cards I made way back when. I wrote about them here.

 

 

 

Love it when the kiddos contribute drawings or their stories!

 

 

 

A cutout filler card I cut with the Silhouette.

 

 

 

 

On this next spread I have actually a lot of journaling going on, but it’s mostly hidden behind the photos. All of them pull out and either have a card type layout that folds open or have  a long piece of paper taped to the back to reveal the journaling, which is then folded up accordion style.

 

 

At the bottom left I sewed a vellum pocket on the card with some silver thread. The folded up paper that tucks  inside  the vellum pocket, lists the gifts each of us got for Christmas!

 

 

As you can see, I’m still missing the journaling to summarize Christmas Day events. I have written a fair bit about it already in other places of the album, but I wanted this as a quick summary.

 

 

And I’m also still missing some journaling here, as well as a photograph.

 

 

 

And this is pretty much December, once I caught up on the two missing items and journaling the New Year’s Eve photos.

Why am I showing you unfinished spreads? Because one of my next posts will be about catching up with Project Life. From mildly behind to totally, overwhelmingly behind!

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Butternut Squash Casserole (gluten-free)

I am not usually one to experiment with new dishes on major holidays, mostly because I don’t need the stress of a possible failure. But this year I wasn’t in the mood for the traditional, very good, but somewhat heavy sweet potato casserole.

Initially I just decided to forgo it altogether. But while I was cooking on Christmas day I kept on coming back to the cubed Butternut squash I had in the refrigerator. I was going to make soup with it after Christmas, but for some reason I decided to just go and experiment with it for Christmas dinner casserole instead.

I was going for sweet, but I wanted lighter - more flan like,  rather than a heavy casserole. But with a little bit of a crunch. And it had to be gluten-free. And it had to be with sugar since my mother in law can’t tolerate any sugar substitutes. Do however feel free to substitute with Ideal sugar substitutes.

And let me tell you - the end result was one of the best Holiday side dishes I’ve had in a long time. It was rich and creamy, but somewhat seemed light and delicate at the same time. Almost like an egg custard, but more substantial. With a decadent creaminess and a delicious little crunch from the topping!

In fact, I’m thinking of making another one today, just because it was so good and everyone enjoyed it so much, including the children. It was super delicious the next day, cold right out of the refrigerator! Almost like a pie!

We even had a couple of people that don’t like butternut squash at the table, that loved this dish!

 

 

So here is what I did!

 

Ingredients:

1 Butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (you can also roast it and just use the roasted flesh. In that case skip the boiling!)

3/4 cup white sugar or Ideal Sugar Substitute

1  cup milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp. buttery vanilla baking emulsion or vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 tbsp. vanilla custard powder (the boiling kind, not instant! Or you could substitute corn starch and up the vanilla extract to 3/4 tsp.)
3 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted

TOPPING
3 cups gluten-free checks cereal, crushed (I used the rice checks)
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar or Ideal Brown Sugar Substitute 

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Boil the butternut squash until fork tender in plenty of water. Or roast it in the oven or cook it in the microwave. Whichever way you prefer. As long as the butternut squash is fork tender by the end of it, you’re good!

Brush a 10 inch round casserole dish with some of the melted butter. Set the rest of the butter aside.

Drain (if you boiled it) and let it sit in the colander for a few minutes so the water can really drain out. Return to pot and put them back on the stove to briefly evaporate any remaining water.

Once dry either mash or rice (it’s what I did) the butternut squash. You should have just over 3 cups of mashed/riced butternut squash.

Mix the mash with the white sugar, milk, cream, vanilla, salt, eggs and remaining melted butter. Whisk to combine well. Sprinkle in the custard powder and whisk until all is combined well.

Pour this mix into the buttered casserole dish and bake for 35  minutes.

In the meantime, combine the crushed checks, melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl. Spread over the top of the custard and return to the oven for another 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and crunchy and the custard is set.

Serve hot or cold. Serves 8-10.

 

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Elisenlebkuchen - low-carb, gluten-free and sugar-free

There are many things and foods that say “Christmas” to me. Especially German/Bavarian ones for me! None more so than Elisenlebkuchen however! They are a Bavarian specialty and every year I feel compelled to make them! They remind me of crisp cold winters, Christkindlmarkets with Gluehwein (German mulled wine) and ... Lebkuchen!

 

 

What makes these so special is that they are mostly comprised of nuts. They have a very delicate spice and they are moist and delicious, even after weeks of storing (if they are done right anyway!)

However, they are also very sugary in their original form.  They usually contain a lot of candied peel, sugar in the batter and then they are traditionally either covered in a thin sugar glaze or a thin coat of dark chocolate. And I mean THIN!

 

 

But, not exactly low-carb friendly, even though easily made gluten-free, which I wrote about in my recipe here last year.

So this year, I revisited the low-carb/sugar-free version! And they turned out beautifully! I made a regular version, a low-carb version and a gluten-free version since we have a lot of different allergies and ways of eating to cater for around our parts. I had to actually mark them, because I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference otherwise!

Today I do however want to focus on the sugar-free/  low-carb variety!

So, without further ado, let’s get to it!

 

Low-Carb Elisenlebkuchen

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup erythritol/xylitol, powdered (measure after powdering)
• 1 cup Ideal sugar substitute (could substitute bulk Splenda, Truvia etc. )
• 3 tbsp. polydextrose
• 4 tbsp. monin sugar-free syrup (vanilla)
• peel of 3 large lemons
• peel of 3 large oranges
• peel of 1 large lime

• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp EACH of the following ground spices:

Cinnamon, Cloves, Coriander, Allspice, Nutmeg, Cardamom, guar gum (xanthan works too)

• 1/2 tsp buttery vanilla bakery emulsion or vanilla extract
• 240g Hazelnuts; whole (8.5 oz.) *almonds/pecans/walnuts work too, but it’s not nearly as good :)*
• 240g Hazelnuts; finely ground (8.5 oz.) - or more of the whole ones and you can grind it fine yourself
• 50g Walnuts; coarsely chopped (1.8 oz.)

 

• rice based baking wafers or rice paper (50mm) if you are eating gluten-free, wheat  based Oblaten if you are not. These are somewhat optional but much better with! A word on the Oblaten . Yes, they aren’t low-carb, strictly speaking. However, they only add less than o.5 carbs to your cookie, that it is worth it in my opinion. Not only do they prevent sticking, they keep the moisture in like nothing else and are an integral and traditional part of Elisenlebkuchen.

For the coating:

Sugar-free chocolate or Lindt 85% (or a combination of both) and 1 tsp coconut oil or palm shortening per bar of chocolate. It varies how much you need, depending on how much you use and how large your cookies are. For the above recipe I usually need 3 bars of Lindt and 1 tbsp. of palm shortening, if I cover them all in chocolate.

Traditionally they also come glazed with sugar glaze, which is a whole separate post by itself. And it will be at a later date, where I am comparing a couple of products to make a “sugar” glaze. For now, if you can afford the carbs, use Ideal Confectioner’s Sugar Substitute. It works just like regular powdered sugar and gives great results.

If not, just stick with the chocolate coating!

 

Preparation:

Place the peel of all the fruit, the xylitol, the polydextrose and the sugar-free syrup in a small sauce pan and under constant stirring heat until just boiling. Take the pan off the heat and set aside to cool.

Now, place the whole hazelnuts in the food processor. Start pulsing them until coarsely chopped, then add the sweetener and peel mix and pulse some more until evenly incorporated. Add the emulsion/extract and pulse to incorporate. Add the eggs and pulse some more until you  have a uniform mass.

In a separate bowl, combine the spices, walnuts and hazelnut flour. Add the mix from your food processor and thoroughly combine with a spatula.

 

 

Cover the bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for 24 hrs. It may seem a little runny at first, but it will thicken up quite a bit in the next 24hrs.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 F.

Lay out the baking wafers on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. Scoop equal amounts of the nut mix onto the wafers and smooth out with your finger. I find that the easiest way to get the round ones uniform is to use an ice cream scoop. Scoop some nut mixture on the Oblaten and smooth the edges down. Using moist fingers can help as the dough will be a bit sticky.

 

                    

 

Of course, this year I am ahead of this little game, as my father in law made me a so called “Lebkuchenglocke” at my request, which makes this process much easier and faster! You just smear some of the dough into the bell part, place the oblate on top, hold it over your baking tray and twist. The wire on the inside goes around and releases the sticky dough and out plops the cookie! So handy, so efficient! Thank you, Jarvis!

 

          

 

 

If you are not using oblaten/baking wafers, just scoop some dough onto the parchment and press it down  a little with moistened fingers, just like you would on the baking wafers!

 

 

 

If you are using rice paper and don’t feel like cutting out lots of little circles, you can just cut rectangles. It works just as well and it’s  much faster!

 

 

Bake for 12 minutes or until the Lebkuchen are lightly golden brown. It is important that they are not quite done in the middle though. You should still see some moisture in the middle!

 

 

Set them aside to cool a little.  It’s easier to get a thinner coating of chocolate when they are still a little warm.

Melt your chocolate with the coconut oil or palm shortening.

Brush the coating on as thinly as you possibly can, but make sure everything is covered. We want an even coat, without large globs, but not so thin that the cookie underneath peaks through.

 

 

 

If you have used baking wafers, just brush on a thin coat of chocolate coating over the top of the Lebkuchen. Let completely dry for a few hours and store in a cookie tin. None of the coatings should be tacky anymore!

If you didn’t use baking wafers, you will need to dip or brush your entire cookie. First a coat at the bottom, let dry, then a coat on the top of the cookie. This will also seal the moisture and flavors inside, which is essential for these!

Lebkuchen need to sit for a while to develop their prime taste and texture. They need a minimum of 6 days in that cookie tin, so take that into account when planning to make these!

They will however keep for several weeks in a cookie tin and personally I think they taste the best after they have matured for about 1-2 weeks!

 

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Christmas – A Lot Of Did And Didn’ts

So, Christmas is over, the relatives are headed up the mountain again and I’m reminissing!

• We did have a pretty nice and relaxed Christmas!
• The kids did think that Christmas was magical and wonderful!
• We did have the odd little melt-down!
• I didn’t get to the hair dresser before Christmas and I look pretty shaggy! Short hair cuts are so much less forgiving!
• We did eat lots of good food.
• I did spend days making all that good food.
• We did laugh a lot.
• We did talk a lot!
• I did manage to do a lot of very important and precious reconnecting with people I care about near and far over the weekend!
• At times the living room did look like something exploded in it! The kid’s rooms still look like that!
• The special gift for my SIL I ordered from Germany at the beginning of November didn’t get here in time.
• My husband did have Monday off!
• DH and I did go for Lunch to our favorite sushi place yesterday while the kiddos were with the Grans! Date lunch! Yay!
• I did succeed a little better in not sweating the small stuff this year!
• I did spend most of Christmas in my most comfortable leggings and I didn’t care a bit! In fact I’m still in leggings now!
• The oven rack did collapse just before I got ready to serve Christmas dinner. But it didn’t ruin the mashed potatoes OR the roasted squash!
• I did get a fright a couple of times when Anna put the grape lip gloss she got from Max on half of her face and it made her look just enough like she was turning blue. If you are familiar with the health problems of her first year, you’ll know this is not as far fetched as it may seem!
• I didn’t get any “the kids pose in front of the Christmas tree in their Christmas best” photos done this year.
• Max didn’t change out of his Christmas pjs for more than 24 hours, and that was just to change into new PJs.
• Anna did change after 24hours - many, many, many times in fact - with her cousin and practically her entire wardrobe was on the floor. 5-year-old fashion shows take some sacrifice!
• I didn’t get all the decorating or baking done I wanted.
• The gluten-free Boule didn’t rise nearly as well as I had hoped for the Christmas Eve dinner, but was utterly delicious anyway and gobbled up by all in no time at all!
• I didn’t take enough pictures or a single video – I was too busy being in the moment with the  kids! I will probably have moments in which I will regret that again!
• I didn’t make the bed once, even with family here.
• I  didn’t take one piece of Christmas decorartion down yet. And I won’t until the kiddos are back in school!
• I didn’t break out in hives when the tile floor got pretty groddy and I never actually mopped it for 36 hrs. Still haven’t done all of it!
• The kids did love their gifts and have been playing beautifully together and apart for days now!
• I didn’t read a single blog in 5 days and shudder to think how much catching up I have to do now :)

Every year, I have all of these visions of what our Christmas  will be like in my head – usually it involves pristine decorations, magazine like food and table settings. Beautifully polished children, delighting in every moment …. I am effortlessly put together, looking good and glowing, being the perfect hostess and many pounds lighter!

Well, ok, not quite all that but you get the idea. Every year I also think that I will take lots of photos of every precious moment of the children’s absolute delight in everything that is going on!

And it never happens that way. Every year, life and reality get in the way … I don’t get everything done I wanted to, the house is not nearly as clean as I would hope, somebody/something always comes late … or too early, I am usually flushed from cooking all day (or days as it was the case this year,) with clothes that reflect the same etc. The kids whine to open the presents, or throw tantrums when they get way overtired, something  in the kitchen always goes a little wrong and some relative always exasperates another.

And I never have photos beyond the stocking opening! I am usually way too busy making it all happen or actually making the memory rather than making the video – and you know what, that’s ok too! I’d rather my children remember me opening gifts with them or decorating cookies with them, or making great food than my face stuck behind a camera!

Our Christmas was great! Life might have gotten in the way, but it was US and it was real and it was wonderful! There was a whole lot that didn’t happen, but all that DID happen was memorable and I am OK with it all! And very grateful! And happy!

So, how imperfectly perfect was your Christmas weekend?

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Make Your Own Pressed Sugar Decorations

Pressed sugar decorations you can make yourself! It’s really quite easy once you know how and your possibilities are endless!

I went with snowflakes only this time around, but you  can go with any shape your like. Use candy molds you already have on hand or, if you’re cheap like me, save the plastic inserts from the kid’s advent calendar and use those

These are not just for Christmas either, you can use this method to create your own edible sugar decorations for cakes, cookies, cupcakes or as fancy sugar “cubes” as a special touch for sweetening festive drinks all year round!

 

You will need:

2 cups granulated sugar (finer granules like castor sugar tend to work better for finer details)
4 tsp or so of Water
1/2 tsp Meringue powder
Food coloring (optional)

 

First off, I prefer to use a spray bottle to add the water. I mix up the meringue powder and the sugar in a bowl, then I give it a couple of sprays and work it into the sugar, either by hand or with a fork. Then repeat the sprays until there is the right consistency. I just find that I have more control with a spray bottle and need to work the sugar much less than if I used actual teaspoon drops.

 

The sugar mix needs to feel moistened and pack like damp sand. Just a bit more than brown sugar packs into a cup!

 

Keep mixture covered with a damp cloth as you work.

You can color your decorations. If you just want to tint them you can just use liquid food coloring, but remember to reduce the amount of water you’re using. If you want a really deep color I would recommend powdered food coloring, or the pastes as you would need way too much of the liquid to get a dark shade and then your consistency is off. Tinted sugar makes really pretty molded decorations for cakes and cupcakes.

If you are using advent calendar inserts, cut each mold individually as they are easier to handle that way.

To make sugar molds, pack the sugar mixture into mold as firmly as possible. Pressing everything in really hard and packing it as tight as possible is really key here. Otherwise your sugar creations will fall apart really easily once dried!

{Please ignore my food color stained fingertips/nails }

You might want to brush the mold with some corn starch to prevent sticking if you are going to use the same mold over and over.

You don’t even need anything too fancy. consider plain molds too, I will show you how to “fancy them up” with the help of a tooth pick!

 

Remove excess sugar with a spatula or knife, so the top is even with edge of mold.

Unmold sugar at once by placing a piece of cardboard over the mold.

Then turn the mold and cardboard upside down and lift mold off releasing sugar shape.

 

If you are happy with your shape, you can just dry it as it is. If you want to “fancy them up” a little, you can do so by carefully “pushing” the sugar around with a tooth pick. This part works a whole lot better with the finer granulated sugar!

 

 

Let dry 8-10 hours or in 200 degree oven for 15 - 20 min.

I generally just let them dry overnight. They get pretty sturdy that way!

Around here the air is VERY dry though, so use your judgment if your climate is different!

 

Store in a dry and cool place. Place tissue paper or cardboard between layers of sugar shapes.

 

These would also make really sweet (pun intended) Christmas gifts, packed in cute little cellophane bags – either for the tea or coffee lover in your life or the baker and cake decorator!

Or you can make a little hole with a toothpick, string them onto some clear fishing line and use them as ornaments for any holiday occasion!

You could even go further and decorate larger ones with colored royal icing and a fine tip.

Lots of ways to use these!

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Our “we don’t have a fireplace” Mantle

Ahhh, the long awaited “Mantle” has arrived!

We have this piece of wall  that doesn’t really serve much of a purpose, other than keeping the refrigerator in the kitchen.

Before decorating I just had a wall mirror there. We used to have a little bench and hooks there for the kid’s clothing and bags before we had a mud room. I’m much happier having all that mess in the mud room and not in the walkway between the kitchen/dining room and the living room. But this wall is so bare now. And since it is part of our “walk way” from living room to dining room/kitchen, I can’t really have much there or anything that protrudes too much!

We don’t have a fire place, nor do we actually want one, but I sure would like to have the mantle that comes with fire places to decorate seasonally. So for the longest time I was on the hunt for a mantle ledge/shelf that would fit that space, without being so shallow that I can’t decorate it – or stick out so much that it would be visually disturbing! Or well a hazard for the kids. Or cost a fortune! NOT an easy task I tell you!

So eventually I found somebody on Etsy who makes these shelves to measure!

 

Gorgeous right? Unfortunately it took a bit longer to arrive than anticipated, so everything else got decorated before the mantle.

Now before I show you what I did to our mantle, let me introduce you to a very handy little thing! Especially handy when decorating a space with fragile things where people keep on walking by, children are running and toys will be wielded: Museum Gel!! Love that stuff for various reasons! It works on any clean, smooth, finished surface.

It’s a clear gel. You take a little of it, roll it into a ball and stick it to the bottom of your fragile stuff. Then you place the fragile thing where ever you want it on the  shelf and it will bond with the surface. No more accidental knocking over and all that! No little tugs from toddlers causing disaster … no dusting accidents for your nick knacks.

If you want to remove the item, you just give it a little twist and the bond is instantly broken and you can just peel the gel off your item! I use this stuff all over the house and one of those jars goes a really long way!

If you have unfinished wood however, the museum gel won’t work very well. I use removable Glue Dotsfor those occasions.

But I digress!

Here’s the finished mantle! As you can see I continued with the sparkly, silver, glass and frosty theme I also have for the Christmas Tree this year!

 

And here’s what I did:

1.) The mirror and the wreath are from Target. I wanted a real sparkly mirror there anyway and the one I had there before was a little on the rustic side.

I just added some ribbon to the wreath and hung it from the mirror.

 

2.) The tutorial for the little votive candle holders is here.

 

3.) I got the bauble garland from Crate and Barrel and the branches from Michaels. The glass vase is from the dollar store.

I might still “frost” the branches though. I keep on wanting to sparkle them up with the german glass glitter to simulate frost, like I did here:

When filling a vase or other transparent vessel with something, it is always advisable to insert another container inside, so the filling can be sandwiched between two containers.

This enables you to take the flowers/branches out without the whole display collapsing on you every time.

Since mine is filled with a glass garland, ie very fragile, ie no give at all, I opted for something else. I took a piece of acetate paper, cut it to a rectangular shap to fit the vase, and made a tube secured with a bit of tape. Then I wound the bauble garland around that, inserted the lot in the vase and THEN added the branches!

And I was glad I did the 5 times I had to pull one or the other branch out again because it didn’t look just right

4.) The rhinestone sparkly snowflakes on the wall are scrapbook stickers I got from Hobby Lobby on sale. They just peel off the wall and mirror and from what I have found, they probably stick again as long as I don’t get them dusty!

 

6.) I wound the wire bead garland around everything on the shelf. Also much easier when the museum gel is keeping things in place!

 

7.) Since we don’t have a real mantle, I didn’t want the shelf to have to take the weight of the stockings (once filled), so I dug out the stocking stand! The feet are adjustable and right now I have it all pretty flush to the wall, but once the stockings are filled I will turn them in a little more to make it a really sturdy stand! Those stands are a great alternative to hooks!

I just wound an artificial garland and a sparkle garland through the top of the stand to decorate it a little more! Then my kids stuck in a few more branches of this and that to add their own touch

Seems my displays change daily – courtesy of 5-year-old decorating style. Every day I find new additions or alterations made to the various decoration areas in the house.

Yesterday evening I found a frighteningly real looking little toy rat hanging in the Christmas tree!

 

8.) The mirrored and silver ball Christmas tree are from years ago. The silver one is from Target I think but I might be wrong. The mirrored one I made myself with an old mirror and some left over grout.

 

9.) I dropped a few of aquabrites into the display, so at night time I can just push their little buttons and light it all up a bit.

{insert night time photo here once I have one!}

10.) Here’s the tutorial for the snowball.

 

11.) For the “center” piece I used one of our Rosenthal plates, imported my

12.) The little gift ornament is made from left over mirror tiles and some white ribbon.

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