Stollen

My Mother used to make stollen every year for Christmas.  She readily employed a small army (her children) to undergo the labor intensive kneading process.  We – gullible, young, and naive – would have a blast stretching, plopping, and mushing the dough around.  This year I tried out a new stollen recipe adapted from Visions of…

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Cloth Gift Tags

I made cloth tags to go with the reusable cloth gift bags.  Initially, I used paper ones, but they had a habit of disappearing, tearing, and getting crunched up.  I figured that I could take a little time this year to make some nice ones that might last a little longer. Materials: Makes about 18…

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Cloth Gift Bags

Somehow, I always end up being the person responsible for wrapping everyone else’s Christmas presents.  Numerous years ago, after my latest rant concerning the perils of winkled wrapping paper, tangled ribbons, dull scissors, and uncooperative tape dispensers, a friend of mine mentioned that her mother used to make reusable cloth gift bags to wrap the…

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Amelia’s Refrigerator Cookies

These are my Dad’s favorite cookies.  His Grandmother, Amelia, used to make them for him each year around Christmas time, and now the task has fallen to me.  These Refrigerator Cookies are some of the simplest cookies to make, but they check almost all the boxes of the perfect cookie list; buttery, crispy along the…

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