Holiday baking time! (Find Holiday baking from 2007 here, 2009 is here, 2010 baking here and here. Not sure why there’s no baking for 2008!)

Yummy Peppermint Chocolate bars, from a recipe printed in the Toronto Star years ago, plus Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (find the recipe here):

Had to run out to Yonge Street to do an errand, captured some holiday lights/decorations:

Kris Kringle cookies and Easy S’mores Fudge (find the recipe here):

One more shot of the gift bags:

Apples were on the EatSavvy menu this month, enjoy!

Apple & Brie Stuffed Chicken Breasts:

Leek, Potato and Apple Soup:

Tuna and Apple Stuffed Pitas:

Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples:

A few images from the last two weeks.

Adorable dog in my local park:

Trip downtown to the Eaton Centre and back:

Alice has a new cat toy:

This past Sunday was cool and wet, perfect day for baking. These Molasses Cookies were delicious:

Whoa nelly! These cookies are super sweet and rich! I couldn’t even finish mine, but Noah was happy to finish mine up. My daughter, and a friend, grabbed a couple on the way out the door, will have to hear her consensus before I decide whether we’ll bake them again (I know it’s a thumbs up from my son, he wanted to eat another one!). (Recipe posted after the photos.)

(All of the following were shot with the Canon 1DMkIV and the lensbaby composer lens.)

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Place one scoop of dough on the top of an Oreo and once scoop underneath it. Use your (clean) hands to mold the dough around the Oreo so that there are no holes. Place on cookie sheet and repeat until you have used up all the cookie dough. (We found the dough too soft and sticky to use right after mixing, so refrigerated it for a while before making the first batch.)

Bake for 9 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

BTW, the images do not show how LARGE these cookies are. They really are three cookies in one, two chocolate chip cookies + the Oreo cookie. Enjoy!

Can you guess the theme of this month’s EatSavvy shoot? Guess it’s pretty obvious!

Quinoa Stuffed Field Tomatoes:

Summer Fresh Orzo:

Grilled Cherry Tomato Pizza:

Refreshing cucumber was on the menu this month. Enjoy!

Cucumber & Melon Salsa On Grilled Chicken:

Cucumber Party Sandwiches:

Gazpacho Soup with Chilled Jumbo Shrimp:

Layered Greek Salad:

Ham was on the menu this month! Images and links to recipes below.

Frittata with Ham, Broccoli & Potato:

Monte Cristo Sandwich:

Ham and White Bean Soup:

This month beef was featured at the EatSavvy shoot. Yummy and hardy meals for those cold winter nights.

Short-Cut Beef Lasagna:

Beef Wellington (which I had never had before, delish!):

Beef Pies with Cauli-mash Topping:

Here’s the last of the holiday baking for this year! Noah helped me decorate, and Alice kept watch, then we packaged them up for delivery:

Later I discovered Alice in one of her new favourite snoozing spots, tucked in among napkins and plates in the sideboard in the kitchen! (Thankgoodness she is toilet trained, so I don’t need to worry about dirty paws from a litter box!) Snoozing cats are so adorable, aren’t they?

Just like last year, the holiday baking has begun! We have a bit more baking to do this weekend, but here are the first two cookie batches and links to the recipes. Enjoy!

Decided to simplify this year and made Soft and Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies rather then the Gingerbread we did last year. They are delicious! (Recipe can be found here.)

These Hot Chocolate Cookies are very yummy! I made mine a bit smaller then the original recipe, but they worked out just fine at this size:

Keeping with the baking theme, here are a few images of Rebecca’s birthday cake this year: