A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Christmas decorations have been around longer than Christmas itself. Decorations were hung in ancient descriptions of the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which is thought to have originated in the 5th century BC. Saturnalia, the most popular holiday on the ancient Roman calendar, derived from older farming-related rituals of midwinter and the winter solstice, especially the practice of offering gifts or sacrifices to the gods during the winter sowing season. Before the end of the fourth century, many of the traditions of Saturnalia—including giving gifts, singing, lighting candles, feasting and merrymaking—had become absorbed by the traditions of Christmas as many of us know them today. Christmas decorations as we know them today had their origins in 16th century Germany.

Christmas decorations are going up all over the place. Some are very simple while others are quite elaborate. They are fun and festive no matter how they are displayed though. I love seeing all the decorations all around. Here are some fun and festive decorations I have seen while out and about. Some people are very creative and really get into the spirit of the season.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe and Happy Holiday season. ‘Til Next time.

We have 9 different types of hawks that call Colorado home. Some are seasonal and some are here year-round. Our most popular hawk is the Red-Tailed hawk. We see them flying all around all the time. Today, there was one who was perched in a tree as as I was walking by. He was gracious enough to let me get some good shots of him before flying away. Isn’t he gorgeous? I love the hawks. They are amongst my favorites.

Larry just celebrated another birthday a few days ago. I kept asking him what he wanted and he kept telling me that he didn’t want or need anything. All he wanted was for me to cook a ham with scalloped potatoes on the side. OK. Easy enough. So that is what the birthday boy got for his birthday.

Juneau is trying to help Daddy carve the ham, hoping he will drop some for her to taste.

Daddy didn’t drop any so Juneau walked away pouting.

I made the ham with a spicy honey and curried glaze and topped it with sauteed apples and pears.

Spicy Glazed Ham with Apples and Pears

Preheat the oven to 325* F or 170* C.

1 5-6 lb bone-in ham

3 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup spicy honey or honey with 1 tsp cayenne pepper added

1 tsp red curry paste

3 TBSP butter

1 TBSP ginger

1/4 onion sliced very thin

1 TBSP cinnamon

2-3 TBSP honey-ginger balsamic vinegar, optional

1-2 TBSP cornstarch, optional

4 pears, sliced thin

4 apples, sliced thin

4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, optional

Place the ham on a baking rack meat side down and roast uncovered for about 1 1/2-2 1/4 hours.

While the ham is roasting, make the sauce by combining the water, sugar, honey, curry, butter, cinnamon and balsamic vinegar together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then reduce the heat to a medium high and continue to boil for about 25-30 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. Allow it to cool. I like my glaze a little thicker than this one turned out, so I added about 1-2 TBSP of cornstarch as well before bringing it back to the second boil.

When the sauce is done, carefully pour or brush it over the ham. Return the ham back to the oven and continue to roast for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Once the sauce has been poured over the ham, make the apples, pears and onions. Saute them in a large skillet with the butter, ginger and honey-ginger balsamic vinegar if using. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until they soften. You might need to cook them in batches. Add some fresh thyme right at the end.

When everything is done, serve the apples and pears either on the side or on top of the ham along with your favorite side dishes. I served it with a crisp barrel aged Chenin Blanc. This is a perfect holiday ham, or in this case, birthday ham. This is the same ham I used for my nibbly tray when we went wining with Julia and Bruce. Corn and Crab Dip

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I have been collecting Santa Clauses for years and years. I just love Santa Claus and even more so, I love the magic of the season he brings. We store them safely, or so we thought, in the basement until it is time to bring them out again. But apparently we did NOT secure them as safely as we had thought because Juneau managed to find them and attack them. She didn’t just attack them, but completely maimed and decapitated some of them. So because of Juneau’s wild ways, we decided NOT to put a lot of Christmas decorations out this year, including my beloved Santas. I was not planning on replacing the ones she killed, but then I saw a couple of new ones that just needed a home, so they came home with me. Those are the only Santas I have up this year too. We have them way up high in our art niche above the fireplace, out of Juneau’s reach and range of destruction. Yes, I am a believer. I believe in the magic of the season. I believe in Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and to all. Make the season bright and merry. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

It was time to wine again, which means it was also time to make a nibbly tray to go with the wines. We went to InVINtions with Julia and Bruce. Julia is like me (and Janet), and we love to cook. This means, no matter what the occasion, we will NEVER go hungry. And not only we will never go hungry, but we will make sure no one else does either.

I had a variety of olives and dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), ham ( I made ham for Larry’s birthday dinner. More to follow later.) and cheese with rosemary bread and a cranberry-orange spread, and a hot corn and crab dip with crostini. Julia brought plenty of nibblies too. She made some delicious lamb pockets and her sourdough bread sticks. All of this made for a delicious lunch spread to enjoy with our wines.

Corn and Crab Dip

For the crostini, I just brushed some baguette slices with a combination of lime and garlic olive oil and baked for about 40 minutes at 375* F or about 250* C, flipping them at the half way mark. I made those the day before and stored them in am air tight container.

1 cup corn

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced fine

8 oz lump crab meat

4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

1 TBSP garlic

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/4 cup Peruvian peppers or sweet peppers diced

1 cup shredded jalapeno jack cheese

1/4 cup green onions, sliced thin

1 tsp black pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or cheese blend for topping

olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425* F or 200* C.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook the bacon then remove and crumble it once it is cooled. In the same pan, with the bacon grease, add a bit of regular olive oil and some lime olive oil (optional), then add both the corn and the jalapenos. if using sweet peppers, cook them with the corn and jalapenos too. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, or until the jalapenos have softened.

Combine everything together except the cheddar cheese and mix well.

Spread everything evenly into the prepared pan and add the cheddar cheese on top.

Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese starts to turn slightly golden and crusty.

Serve with crostini or bread. This can served hot or warm. Either way, it will definitely be a crowd pleaser an everyone will keep coming back for more.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to one and all. Keep them safe. ‘Til next time.

Gingerbread houses are a fun Christmas tradition for many families around the world. The tradition has been around for many 100’s of years.

The term gingerbread originated in Medieval England and meant preserved ginger. Today, the term gingerbread is now broadly used to describe any type of sweet treat that combines ginger with honey, treacle or molasses.

The first known recipe for gingerbread came from the Ancient Greeks around 2400 B.C. Then it migrated to China, and from China it spread all throughout Europe and to the rest of the world. The hard cookies, sometimes gilded with gold leaf and shaped like animals, kings and queens, were a staple at Medieval fairs in England, France, Holland and Germany. Queen Elizabeth I is credited with the idea of decorating the cookies in this fashion, after she had some made to resemble the dignitaries visiting her court. Over time some of these festivals came to be known as Gingerbread Fairs, and the gingerbread cookies served there were known as ‘fairings.’ The shapes of the gingerbread changed with the season, including flowers in the spring and birds in the fall. Elaborately decorated gingerbread became synonymous with all things fancy and elegant in England.

The making of gingerbread houses started in Germany in the 16th century. The elaborate cookie-walled houses, decorated with foil in addition to gold leaf, became associated with Christmas tradition. Their popularity rose when the Brothers Grimm wrote the story of Hansel and Gretel, in which the main characters stumble upon a house made entirely of treats deep in the forest. It is unclear whether or not gingerbread houses were a result of the popular fairy tale, or vice versa.

When the Colonists came to America, they brought the tradition of the gingerbread house to America, where is has blossomed and has become a time-honored family tradition at Christmas. They can be big or small. Some are simple while others are quite elaborate. There are no rules. Just let your imagination run wild and see where it takes you. If stored and cared for properly, they can last a lifetime too.

This is Janet and Bob’s gingerbread house that their kids, Jeanette and Brian, made eons ago, when they were still kids themselves. They now have kids of their own and the tradition continues.

These are some random samples of gingerbread houses from around the world.

Believe it or not, I have never made a gingerbread house. I was going to with my students, but their mom said they had already made theirs. I was looking forward to it too. Oh well, I guess I will have to make mine another time. Maybe next year.

Enjoy the season and spend time with fun family traditions with those you love. Make them merry and bright and a time to spread good cheer.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Our friends Janet and Bob have this fun tradition of baking, decorating and boxing up cookies; 100’s of cookies for all their neighbors, teachers and co-workers. We have been a part of this tradition for about 5 or so years too. We are blessed to be part of the family and part of the tradition.

Brian, Peter and Shelly boxing up the cookies.

For the gingerbread cookies, Janet kicks everything off by baking about 120 gingerbread cookies of all shapes. Then the frosting is made. This is three generations working together to make the frosting.

Emily is giving it her stamp of approval and says it tastes just right.

Once the frosting is made Emily and mom add some color.

It’s time to decorate.

All the cookies come out great, but the only ones that really matter are the ugly sweaters at the end.

The decorating is fun, but it’s also serious business, particularly when it comes time to do the ugly sweaters. We save those for last, and they are all judged. Who made the ugliest sweater this year?

Here are the entries for 2021. Which one do you think is the ugliest of all?

And the winner is …. At first we had a three way tie, so we had to put it to the vote again.

This year, Bob won.

Emily’s came in at a close second.

After the cookies were all done, and we had worked up an appetite, it was time for pizza, pictures and presents.

Thank you Janet, Bob, Brian, Shelly, Peter and Emily for letting us be a part of the fun, the decorating and the family.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe Holiday season. Til next time.

It was another fun Friday cooking session with Noah. This is my last session with him for this year because of the holidays. We will resume again next year. Noah is always so much fun to cook with. He has fun with everything we cook. I asked him yesterday if there is anything we have made that he doesn’t like. He thought about it for a minute, then said “No. He has liked everything”. YAY!!!

This time we made a Christmas Three-bean salad and some Polish sausages to go with the salad. This three bean salad is a new twist to the traditional three bean salad. It was tangy and zippy and full of color and flavor. I like this new salad so much better than than traditional version.

Noah likes to eat healthy foods, and I love to cook healthy foods that taste good. This salad was both. We have certain challenges in Noah’s little studio kitchen, so I trimmed and cooked the green beans at my house and then packaged them up to take with me for our lesson.

8 oz green beans, trimmed and cooked, cut into pieces about 1 inch in size

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups edamame beans or soybeans, peeled and thawed

2 1/2 cups carrots, peeled and cubed

1/2 cup green onions, sliced thin

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup tomato juice or V-8 juice

1/2 cup sugar

3 TBSP either dry red wine or apple juice

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 TBPS minced garlic or about 2 tsp garlic powder

Cut all the vegetables and beans and mix them together in a large bowl.

Combine all the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl then add just as much as needed to the vegetables and bean mixture. Toss everything together and serve.

And since it is Christmas, it was time for a present to my star apprentice. I think he liked it.

As he was flipping through the pages, Noah realized we have already made some of these recipes. That put a big smile on his face. He was real excited to get his first cookbook. Hopefully it will be the first of many.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone. Make them merry and keep them safe. ‘Til next time.

Kids have been going to visit with Santa for ages. It’s the thing to do when you are a little kid.

Visiting Santa today.

Even the pups get to visit with Santa.

And visiting Santa many moons ago with my friend/little “sister” Kathy.

May Santa be in the hearts of everyone, no many how young or old.

Yams and sweet potatoes are interchangeable for me. Yes there are differences, but they are subtle. I found a delicious recipe for stuffed sweet potatoes that initially I was going to make for Thanksgiving, but we had more than enough food as it was, so there was no need. When I did decide to make this recipe, the sweet potatoes that were available were very small and puny, so I opted to use yams instead. They didn’t look as pretty or as colorful as they would have been with sweet potatoes, but they still tasted very good, and the taste is really all that matters.

I served them with my buttermilk onion rings Buttermilk Onion Rings and the tangy BBQ chicken Southern Comfort as part of my Southern holiday feast.

These stuffed yams, or sweet potatoes, can be eaten anytime of day and they will hit the spot. They are loaded with goodness. They were loaded with apple shreds and bacon, topped with more bacon and pomegranate seeds and parsley. Anything with bacon will always be good.

Stuffed Yams

4 medium sweet potatoes or yams

2 TBSP soft butter

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 TBSP brown sugar

2 medium apples, peeled and shredded

5 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled

2 TBSP pomegranate seeds

chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 425* F or 200* C

Scrub the yams or sweet potatoes and poke holes all around with a fork. Bake them for about 45-60 minutes or until they are tender. Allow them to cool for about 10 minutes or so then cut in 1/2 and scoop out the insides, leaving about 1/4 inch around the skins.

Mix the inside of the yams with the apple shreds, 1/2 of the bacon, brown sugar, salt and butter and mash everything up. Carefully reload the skins with the mashed up mixture. Lower the oven temperature to 400* F and place the loaded skins back in the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes.

Sprinkle the tops with the rest of the bacon, pomegranate seeds and the chopped parsley. It is colorful, festive, healthy and very tasty too. What more can you ask for, right?!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone. May they be merry and bright and safe for you all. ‘Til next time.