Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas Tins 2010

The first Christmas after we were married, I determined to make Christmas baskets full of goodies every year.  Is it really a loser thing to admit that I look forward to this every year?  Well, I do.

I have made mostly the same things each Christmas, but I wanted to try some new things this year.  In the past I made chocolate raspberry fudge (which I still plan to make), popcorn balls, macaroons, and chocolate Oreo cookie bark.  

I always bought baskets for them up until last year.  I couldn't find any baskets I liked at a decent price so I got goodie boxes instead.  This year, I found some tins.  

Unfortunately, the tins didn't hold as much as I thought they would, so I was relegated to only two items per tin.  (Wow, will I ever get to the food part of this post?)

I made Holiday Biscotti and Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows topped with Peppermint.

I'm not sure why, but I've always been intimidated by biscotti.  I'd never looked at a recipe for it, but I was convinced it must be difficult.  It isn't at all difficult.

The recipe is extremely straightforward.  I did think it needed more pistachios and cranberries.  I also was a bit shocked by the absence of anise, and to be quite honest it needed anise.  Biscotti is not biscotti without anise.  I followed the recipe this time, but next time it's getting anise.  

It does make a beautiful presentation though with the green pistachios and the red cranberries offset by the white chocolate.  Very impressive.

The chocolate-dipped marshmallows were inspired by something similar I saw at Fresh Market.  Very straightforward idea.  Heat chocolate, dip marshmallows in chocolate, sprinkle with crushed peppermint candy and let cool.  Also a very nice presentation, and very tasty.

I don't have any photos yet of the tins or their contents, but I have one left to do and will take and post pictures.

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