Christmas Vacation - Jelly of the Month : Advent Calendar Review

I don't know about you, but one of my favourite all time Christmas movies is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  So when I randomly saw this advent calendar pop up on my Facebook feed I knew I had to look into it.  

The post said it was at Canadian Tire.  Canadian Tire is a store that sells lot's of hardware, plumping, automotive things but also kitchen and holiday items.  They also own other franchises such as Mark's, Party City and Sport Chek.

I quickly perused their online store and found that indeed this advent calendar was available and it showed they were in stock at the location near my home.  So off I went...

I found it in what we have coined "impulse alley".  That's the part near the cashiers where all the bits and bobs are found that you just * have * to pick up.  There were some other advent calendars too which looked neat and affordable but the Jelly of the Month club was what I'd come for.  I purchased two.  One for my husband and one to give to my parents.  They were priced at $24.99 CAD.

The calendar was a 12 day box plus a jelly spreader which I thought was a very nice addition.  There was nothing on the box indicating what brand of jelly or jam was inside and I kind of assumed it would be a no name type of variety.  You can imagine our surprise when the first day was opened and we found Bonne Maman jelly in dainty packets!  

There were repeats as the packaging does give away the spoilers.  It contained 3 strawberry, 4 raspberry, 3 apricot and 2 fig.  Each packet was glued in place by a glue dot which made it easy to remove from each window.  One had to open the entire box to remove the spreader.  The spreader itself was generic but totally useful and will find its place in the cutlery drawer.

The entire calendar box itself was a little flimsy but held up through the month of December which we didn't start opening until the 13th so that each day had a sample.  I enjoyed the following located on the back of the box "Who needs a swimming pool when you can have a jelly of the month club set? Count down to the impending holiday season with this hilarious and delicious jelly-filled treat, inspired by the beloved classic movie!  A dozen individual packets of jelly and a handy spreader knife make this a gift that keeps giving for 12 whole days.  Even better than a holiday bonus if you ask us."

Indeed!

I have no idea if this was curated just for this year or if it could ever be found again but I would recommend it if you love Bonne Maman jam and don't want the Bonne Maman calendar.  On the box it says designed and distributed by www.thoughtfully.com aka The Modern Gourmet.

What was my over all impression?

It was a beaut, Clark.

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Bites Recipe

Are you like me and the Christmas treats and snacks are down to the last couple in the cookie jar? Maybe you’ve decided to do away with them because you’ve got to fit in to “real” pants to go to work tomorrow. 

You probably wouldn’t be impressed if I said Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it (it was * just * December the other day after all). This is a recipe I originally found on King Arthur’s Baking LINK but have changed and adapted it for my own liking. 

For Christmas I found peppermint candy cane topped chocolate wafers at Bulk Barn.  They were easily cut in half to fit on the tops of these small one bite cookies.  For a winter treat, a mini marshmallow would work in the middle as would a cinnamon heart for Valentines Day or a Hershey’s kiss, but not the full size, I’d choose the baking ones instead. Or just leave the topping off all together. 

I used Tim Horton’s products and even these could be played around with. After I’d made these they released their Candy Cane Hot Chocolate for the season. Starbucks had a Hot Chocolate mix out as well but I find their products pricier.  So you see, you can almost do as you like. 

The decaf coffee lends an interesting note but isn’t prominent. I used decaf because who wants to have their sleep interrupted because of too much caffeine? Maybe only Santa!

I really enjoyed these cookies with evening tea and now that the dull January days have started you just might enjoy them too. 

 

You Can Change Any Time You Want

There’s a lot of pressure at this time of year to make sweeping and drastic changes to your life because of the ringing in of the new year. 

I’m here to tell you that not only do you not need to do that but also that you can change any time you want to. Just because a New Year is approaching doesn't mean you have to have everything suddenly figured out or accomplish everything on your to-do list for 2023.  

You don’t need to do it January 1st 2024 either. You can do it today. You can do it Jan 15 or July 15 for that matter. 

Here's something else that might blow your mind.  If you do decide to start, you can re-start too.

And you can do that as many times as you want or need.

You can make and re-make the to-do list.  We change and our priorities change and it can all happen in a split second.

In a blog post I wrote last year, called Diet is NOT a Christmas Word, I talked about letting go of diet hang ups and enjoying all the season has to offer, within reason of course.  I'm not going to preach about healthy eating habits or joining gyms instead I think these words sum it up well.  "It's all right letting yourself go as long as you can let yourself back."  Mick Jagger said that.  I have no idea what it's in reference to but I'm fine not knowing because it serves me well just thinking about it.  I even have it as a quote in the sidebar of this blog page.

You have to give yourself permission to let yourself back.

We've all indulged over the holiday.  Sugar cookies, fudge, extra handfuls of M&M's while baking etc etc.....  I made the personal choice to just not worry over the holidays.  Do I want to be the miserable one wishing I could have the Nanaimo bar?  No.  However, just like I made that decision to not worry, I've also given myself the timeline to stop too.  Because in the same way that I don't want to be unhappy by having to decline Christmas goodies, I also don't want the feeling of how snug my pants feel.  The day I'm stopping?  That's the day my Christmas vacation is over and I go back to work.

We know that memories and food are tied together.  I remember one Christmas Eve we had a large family meal at my In-Laws and then went to the Christmas Eve church service.  We were so full!  We had to stand and sing and I recall looking over to my Father in Law because he too was struggling to sing and breath just like I was!  We decided to not do that again - the service not the food. Ha!

I also recall another Christmas where I had gotten pants as a gift and they didn't fit.  I went to the store in January and the size bigger didn't fit either.  Nor did the size bigger than that.  I felt so awful.  I was also unaware of how retailers are sneaky with their sizing.  Since then and working a stint in women's clothing retail I've realized the letters and numbers on the tag don't really mean a lot from store to store or within the same building!

Another friend, no not Mick Jagger, but Denny said to me many times ago, but I paraphrase... Christmas is 1 day out of 365 and not 365 itself.

Trying is the important part.  Will it be easy to have one snack instead of two?  Stop having the cream in my coffee or tea? Making sure I eat a fruit and a vegetable everyday?  You better believe I'm going to try though and try and try again.

In the autumn of 2020 I made the choice to try and be healthier.  T R Y.  I've made a lot of lifestyle changes since then which I'm very pleased with.  Times change and our bodies change and I am deciding to once again make health a priority.  I know that I have to exercise for my mental health as well as bodily health.  I know I need to keep track of my sugar, fat and fibre intake.  These are the things that have gotten me to 2023.

You can bet that I will restart many times.  It's fine if you do too. Starting or re-starting doesn't mean you've failed.  It means that you care enough to keep going.  Remember, failure is how the diet industry wants to make you feel and it's how they make money.  Words like "on track" or

"cheating" are words that fit into that category too.  Don't let them have power over your feelings.  Give yourself the power instead.

Fuel your body and mind. Nourish your soul. Make memories.  

Here's to all of us in 2024 and the changes we want to make or don't want to make.  We are all pretty amazing the way we are but I know, for my own self, that I can be an even better version and that's what I want to strive to be.

Recipes

My Mom's Punkin' Muffins

What's For Supper Tonight (Tex Mex Slow Cooker Recipe)

Cake Mix Cookies

My Go To Meatloaf Recipe

Grandma Larson's Casserole

Grandma Johnson's Casserole

Valentine's Day Cookies

Christmas Cookies

Swedish Brown Beans (Instant Pot)

Mocha Sugar Cookie Latte Bite Cookies

Oh Fudge!

A Recipe & Midnight Madness

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Bites

A Recipe & Midnight Madness

In what feels like another lifetime, I worked for one year as Assistant Manager of Warehouse One, which is a Canadian clothing retailer.  The shopping mall was a destination back than and big box retailers weren't yet where we all demanded to shop and we definitely weren't choosing online shopping either.  It was the mid 2000's and at Christmas time the mall was a fun and festive place even though I'd not wish working retail at that time of year or any really on anyone.  One big event leading up to Christmas was Midnight Madness.

Midnight Madness happened on a few weekend evenings in the month of December leading up to Christmas.  Each store would stay open well passed the regular 9pm...until 1am instead and many would have special deals for that time period.  It was nowhere near as hectic as Boxing Day was but still a stressful time for anyone having to work in a store.

At the far end of the mall was a Starbucks.  Myself and a coworker were working this late night shift and we were both concerned for staying awake and alert.  For some oddball reason we both thought it would be a good idea to buy chocolate covered coffee beans.

You probably see where I'm going with this.

Starbucks used to have little boxes of these coffee beans right by the cash register along with mints and biscotti.  I don't think they have this anymore and if they do I haven't noticed.  These were obviously nice little add ons if you were purchasing a latte or cranberry bliss bar.

The chocolate covered coffee beans did indeed keep us awake and alert...not only for the Midnight Madness but for the entire night.  We both vowed to never do THAT again and told the legend to all our others coworkers.  It's a story I found myself telling a few students last week which they all found highly amusing.

Even though I will likely never have chocolate covered coffee beans again, I did love those cranberry bliss bars and still do.  Starbucks has changed the recipe so a few years ago I scoured the interweb for a copycat recipe.  What you'll find below has become a staple in my holiday baking every year.  I've tweaked it several times but decided to finally write it out instead of deciphering my cryptic notes in my home made family cookbook binder.

I'm sharing it all with you.  Feel free to click on the recipe photo and save it to your devices.  Let me know if you make it as well!

* If * you do try it make certain to not skip 2 important steps.

1) Make absolutely sure you coat the baking pan with cooking spray and coat with flour.  If you don't you wont ever get it out of the pan.

2) You most definitely will need to coat your hands with cooking spray to pat it down and stretch it into the pan.  The batter is EXTREMELY sticky so if you don't you'll be covered in it.

The original recipe was in an 11X17 baking pan but I don't have one that size and I'm pretty sure it's not a standard size either.  My recipe is 9X13 which is a size we all own.  This makes the bars a little thicker and the Starbucks version.

My oven runs hot so regardless of what I think they get removed at 20 minutes.  I'm going to caution you as well...they may not look cooked but trust that they are.  If they are over baked they become very crumbly.

Enjoy and happy baking!

Kick Off Weekend

We always made sure to decorate our home for Christmas the last weekend in November.  That weekend also just usually happened to be CFL Grey Cup weekend.  It became a tradition that we still hold fast to.

For several years in a row we'd host my husband's parents for the first weekend of December, the weekend following Grey Cup and what we eventually coined "Kick Off Weekend".  

It had nothing to do with football.

What it was, was a festive filled weekend of shopping, sight seeing and other festivities to rev us up for the month of December.  

D & D would arrive Friday evening for visiting and catching up.  Sometimes they'd arrive early as to beat the rush to the city.  I remember one time they did that exact thing and we'd decided to go to the mall downtown.  All was fine until I remembered that school was out that day for an in-service and we came to a fast realization that going to the mall was not going to be for us.  The above ground parking was filled and so was the underground parking.  Folks were driving in and turning around and driving out.  We didn't really need to go to the mall anyway...  

Our meals during the weekend would include a mixture of homemade, Starbucks coffee, Venice House pizza or Montana's for ribs but it was breakfast we enjoyed most.  We'd get up early on the Saturday and hit up the breakfast buffet at the the Flying J.  They had the best breakfast buffet.  There was anything you'd ever want, but my favourite was the strawberry stuffed French toast.  Sadly, this buffet is no longer offered and it's now a Denny's.  I still remember how special those morning meals were.

After we were adequately nourished and caffeinated, we'd go to the Sundog Craft Faire.  This was a juried craft sale on two levels of an entertainment complex.  One level would be all the wares that people made and the second level was all the food stuffs complete with many free samples.  My Father In Law loved a free sample.

Conveniently, next door, was Costco.  That was always another stop on Kick Off Weekend.  Costco always puts out the best things at Christmastime and has unique goodies in their bakery as well as gift items.  It's a huge bonus if they hand out Lindt truffles!

Sometimes we were lucky enough that The Festival of Trees landed during that same weekend and we'd get to take that in as well.  Hubby and I went last year and wandered the streets of historical Boomtown gazing at the trees and the historical memorabilia.  The Christmas trees are so different from how we decorate our own.  They all have themes.  Some would make us ooh and ahh while we'd agree others were not for us.  There were gingerbread houses on display too that had been in a contest and we'd marvel at how intricate they were.  

One thing that we always made sure to do was drive through the Enchanted Forest.  This is an event at the Forestry Farm aka Zoo.  Different sponsors decorate a meandering drive through trees and displays of everything Christmas.  Every couple of years a new attraction is added which keeps it all fresh.  Sometimes, we'd have hot cocoa from Tim Hortons as we drove and sometimes they'd hand out candy canes.  The radio would be tuned in to a special station to narrate the tour.  One memorable time was when my Father In Law decided he wanted to see more (one trip through was all they'd allow) but he swerved/drove around a barricade in determination to see it all again!

Things have changed a lot in the last few years.  The Sundog Faire was cancelled last year and isn't offered anymore.  A local greenhouse did a similar event one year but so far I haven't seen anything advertised.  My Father in Law passed last year and my Mother in Law has moved.  The kick off weekend is a thing of the past but the first weekend of December will always hold wonderful fond memories and no matter what our house will be ready for company on Grey Cup weekend.

1980 - Something

Picture it.

The Christmas mixed tape is playing on the home stereo with the same songs I enjoy to this day; Jim Reeves, Buck Owens and The Chipmunks. Dad is bringing all the decoration boxes from the basement. In the box there’d be some miscellaneous newspapers from Christmases past which always mystified me. We assemble the Christmas tree and Dad strings the full size string of lights carefully on each branch.  The sky is a rose gold in the setting sun, the snow outside is light and sparkly and there’s the faint smell of the heat from the lights touching the plastic branches.  They don’t make candles to recreate that festive smell do they.

It’s nineteen-eighty-something and completely magical.

There were some Christmases that we had two Christmas trees.  We had the artificial one in the basement and a real tree upstairs.  Dad’s brilliant trick to filling in the bare spots on the real tree was to take a branch from the bottom, drill a hole where the bare spot was and attach the branch.  It’s a trick I think he got from my Grandpa.

The decorations were a mixture of shiny baubles, felt ornaments and things we made. One decoration was always a small bell with a blue ribbon that I think had something to do with my brother (his birthday is Christmas Day) but I don’t know what.  There was silver garland and not tinsel because that was too messy.  The tree topper was a multi coloured star.  At the bottom of the tree rested a small plastic manger scene.

Some years Dad would want to hang streamers and foil stars from the ceiling. Mom would protest…”what are you doing that for?”…but often let him get his way.  There’d be a wreath that hung on the back door window that made the curtain puff out kind of funny.

My fuzzy Christmas stocking would rest on the arm of the couch. We didn’t have a fireplace or chimney. I hoped Santa had a key.  

It was probably a Sunday evening in December and when we were done we’d sit in the dark with just the retro glow of the Christmas tree and soft music playing. The next morning, getting ready to go to school, the tree would be lit up in its comforting glow in the coolness of winter. 

Everything would be ready and waiting for Mr Claus’ annual visit.

Oh Fudge!

I’ve tried to get Siri and Google to bake for me. I thought I’d try Alexa this year…

No luck. 

In an effort to get started in my festive goodies I made the recipe shared on this page. It’s a gateway recipe before the main frenzy starts. It doesn’t require baking at all and takes a short time to accomplish. Hurray! Because the one thing we all lack at this time of year is time. 

Add to your shopping list the following:

• 1 tub vanilla creamy frosting (I used Betty Crocker)
• 1 package peanut butter flavoured chips (I used Chipits)
• 1 package mini Reese’s pieces (I used Chipits)

The equipment you’ll need:

• A small saucepan
• A spoon
• A spatula
• 9x9 cake pan
• Tin foil

Warning! ⛔️ If you’re allergic to peanuts then obviously this recipe won’t be for you or anyone you know with nut allergies. 

Method:

• Combine Peanut Butter Chips and the container of frosting in a saucepan over low heat until smooth and combined. 
• Cool slightly then mix in half of the bag of mini Reese’s. 
• Spread into lined baking pan
• Top with remaining Reese’s
• Refrigerate until firm 
• Cut into 32 bars but can also be cut smaller as they are very rich!

These fudge squares are super easy to adapt with different flavours of chips or frosting. 

They keep very well in the fridge or freezer. 

Ilchester Cheese : Advent Calendar Review

I bought my husband an Ilchester Cheese Advent Calendar for the 2022 Christmas season.  He likes cheese.  I like cheese.  I'd heard a lot about this calendar in 2021 but when I'd found it then it was too late.  This time I found it at our local Co-Op grocery store and it was on sale.

The calendar featured 24 days of cheese but there was only a variety of 9 flavours.  That meant there were several repeats.  The calendar was of cereal box cardboard grade and was apparently designed to fit in the door of a refrigerator even though I didn't store it that way.  The individual doors were perforated for easy removal and each package of single serve cheese was nestled in a light plastic tray.

The calendar price ranged from $36.99 to $29.99.  That breaks down to approximately $1.54 a piece of cheese.  However, when you consider that over half of the pieces were double flavours the cost is more.

What we enjoyed.  Well, Hubby really enjoyed getting a piece of cheese every day with his lunch.  We both enjoyed the information on the different flavours and it allowed us to explore different flavours which we'd never heard of or never had the courage to try before.  We discovered one flavour is aged, one is smoked, one is part of an annual festival where it's rolled down a hill.  We really liked the red Leicester flavour of cheese while the majority were very good.  The only one which didn't go over well was the one infused with cranberries and sage.  I liked it but it was a bit strong.  I realize it's a seasonal flavour so that's why it was included.

What we didn't enjoy as much was the repeat flavours.  So this calendar is all one brand manufactured by Ilchester Cheese.  Bravo for them creating a calendar!  However, when you end up having the same flavour a couple days in a row it becomes a bit "meh".  The other thing, which is not their fault at all, is that the brand isn't stocked here.  The only flavour that the grocery store tends to have is the Applewood smoked cheddar and in my opinion, there are other brands that supply that which we'd buy first in larger quantities.  Ilchester is a British cheese company and it seems that Cathedral is a more widely supplied brand.  So when I did want to purchase some of the flavours we'd tested - we couldn't.

It's worthy to note that while the advent calendar is adequately constructed, that by the time Christmas Eve arrived, the box had not stood up to the test of time.  The doors were torn and falling apart.  It went straight into the recycle bin.  If you are one to enjoy packaging then this probably isn't for you.

Do you have a cheese lover in your family or group of friends?  This does make a great gift for the holidays.  We did thoroughly enjoy it and I hope it continues to gain interest and that they include more flavours to make the calendar even more interesting.

Advent Calendar Reviews

This is a comprehensive table of contents or appendix of all the Christmas Advent Calendars and Countdowns in one easy to find place.

The Body Shop

Tea at the White House

Bonne Maman

President's Choice

Ilchester Cheese

T.Kettle Tea

The Body Shop 2023

Bird & Blend

Christmas Vacation Jelly of the Month Club

Walkers Shortbread

Grove Place Market 12 Cups of Joy

President's Choice : Advent Calendar Review

I picked up the President's Choice Advent Calendar on a whim.  I did not need another calendar in the slightest because I had three for the 2022 Christmas season.  It was on sale and was only $12.  There's no way I could leave the store without it.

I tucked it away until after the holidays were all over.

It was January when I decided to take it out and open it up.

The President's Choice Calendar was a light cardboard which unfolded to reveal all the numbered days.  It included a string so that it could be hung in the kitchen for easy access and to decorate for the holidays.  The calendar was 24 days but there were some duplicate flavours.  Each day was a single teabag in it's own package.  Behind the tea package was a quote for the day.  What really impressed me was that each tea package included a list of ingredients, whether it was caffeine free or not and brewing instructions.  This impressed me because tea advent calendars which I've spent far more money on didn't include these things. Bravo!

As I stated, the calendar was 24 days and I spent $12 on it (which is actually rounded up).  That breaks down to 50 cents per cup.  That's an excellent value!

My favourite flavours included Ginger Peach, Feeling Soothed, Dreamland, Lemon Ginger, Spiced Apple, Chocolatey Chai and Feeling Calm.  Honestly, I found something to like and enjoy in each flavour.  I even purchased a box of Ginger Peach and Feeling Calm.  I can see myself purchasing some of these other flavours as well.  A box of President's Choice tea is very affordable and you won't feel guilty for having them in your tea cupboard.

Would I buy this President's Choice Tea Advent Calendar again?  You bet!  Next time, I'd even enjoy it during the holidays instead of after the New Year.

Bonne Maman : Advent Calendar Review

We be Jammin'.  That's the lettering I had on my music classroom wall a few years ago but it's also a fitting phrase for this blog post about Bonne Maman jam or preserve and this review of the Advent Calendar I purchased this Christmas season.

This first came onto my radar in 2021 when I viewed Tea With Jann on YouTube.  She had videos of all her calendar openings and Bonne Maman was one of them.  It looked so nice and different and I knew I had to try it out as well.  I do love jam.

I purchased this Advent Calendar from Papa Jack Popcorn which is a Canadian candy company and distributer from Ontario.  The calendar itself was $48.99 and the cheapest shipping was an additional $24.26 so the total was $73.15.  The communication with Papa Jack was terrific and it arrived well protected which I was a tad bit worried about since its all glass jars.  Now, had I known that I would start seeing this calendar at different retailers I could have saved the shipping cost.  I didn't find them locally until December though so if you are impatient like me then ordering from Papa Jack Popcorn comes well recommended.

This Bonne Maman Advent Calendar was 24 days and included 23 preserves and 1 honey.  That breaks down to $2.04 a jar.  The jars are approximately 6 tablespoons of jam which was plenty for Hubby and myself to spread enough on our English muffins which is how we preferred to sample each flavour.  This was our breakfast for all of December.

The great part of this calendar was that I was exposed to many different flavours which I would have never picked out in the grocery store.  I tend to buy strawberry or orange marmalade but I got to enjoy a wide range of flavours and even found some new fruits! My favourite flavours included fig and cherry and even though I'm not a big fan of honey I thought their honey was terrific spread over peanut butter.  So if you desire to try some flavours which you wouldn't ordinarily then next holiday season you should give this countdown a try.

What I didn't like about this calendar is actually a very small detail.  The jars are incredibly hard to pry out of their windows.  I appreciate that the jars have to be secure for shipping but I would have to struggle to get the jars out of their holding spots.  The cardboard calendar itself was sturdy and was easy to recycle.  I've kept the jars but so far am at a loss as to what to do with them.  They would be handy for storing small amounts of crafting items like tacks or buttons and likely even for small amounts of loose leaf tea.  I'd like to know what other people have done with their mini jars or if they got thrown away.

The only store near me which I know has a wide variety of Bonne Maman jam is Walmart.  There are a few flavours which I am sure I am going to check out.  If you love their strawberry then it's always available at Costco for a very reasonable price and it's the one I always gravitate to first.

If you are curious about specific flavours then click on the Advent Photo tab on this blog.  You will find every photo I took of each calendar and item while more detail is found on my Instagram account.

Did you purchase this Advent Calendar?  Are you likely to repurchase, purchase or look for this one come the holidays?  Let me know!  While it was highly enjoyable, I feel like I've now experienced it so there's not a big reason to buy it again but as previously stated, I will continue to buy their brand.

Tea at the White House : Advent Calendar Review

Anyone else sad that we no longer have Advent Calendars to open and share?  There's such excitement over it all and the big build up to Christmas and then - Boom - it's over.  Done.

I do have some other items to share including this review of an Advent Calendar I was really looking forward to opening from Tea at the White House. 

Tea at the White House is a Canadian Tea House and Online Retailer.  They are located in Waterdown, Ontario and boast "A Tea Shop for the Tea Lover, A Tea Room for the Tea Drinker".  They have unique flavours of tea and other items including scones with the fixings and items from the Royal Family.  I have been making a big effort to support Canadian made items and companies so was really looking forward to trying a large variety of their tea flavours through the Advent Calendar.

The Calendar was available for order in October and I snapped one up for $40 CAD.  It arrived promptly in November.  It was 24 days of tea.  Each day was one single pyramid style tea bag.  It breaks down to $1.67 a day/cup.  The box itself was very well made and really nice in a light blue magnetic box.  Each day had a perforated window to peel back to reveal the tea bag individually wrapped in a clear plastic bag.  The box was easily displayed in my kitchen and was a lovely size.

There was an adequate variety of flavours of tea however it seemed to me that many of the first flavours included mint.  The majority of the tea was caffeinated.  While I do enjoy tea in the afternoon, I also use it as a wind down at the end of the day so it was disappointing that there were so few decaf teas in this box.  I don't think I'm really alone in this because we are so busy during the holidays and all need some relaxing moments with a cup in the evening.  I had to adjust my ritual to accommodate drinking this tea at another time of day.

My favourite flavour hands down was German Christmas Cake.  This flavour was so good and totally a Christmas flavour for those of us who enjoy fruitcake and mincemeat pies.  For me the worst flavour was the Ontario Ice Wine which I'm convinced was a poor batch because it was totally floral.  I don't think I was able to finish the cup.

Okay, I'm going to spill the tea here, beyond the name of the tea on the label there was absolutely nothing included to tell you what the ingredients were or how to brew or enjoy the tea.  After opening the tea, I would head to the website and look up the flavour to see if it was caffeinated or not but that's all the website tells me as well.  Instructions like, use water at this temperature and brew for these many minutes would be HUGELY appreciated.  It's possible that Ice Wine tea was so terrible for me because I let it steep too long, but how would I know otherwise?  Another super helpful detail is to tell us consumers whether it's appropriate to add sweetener or a creamer or make it into a latte or it's terrific iced.  These things definitely add to the overall enjoyment and likelihood that I'd not only come back to buy that flavour again but recommend it to others as well.  I'm also going to mention that it sure would be nice to receive some other little perk on the final day.  Back when I first started with the David's Tea calendar, there were mini ornaments included on the last day and I think there were coupons in some as well.

I'm going to admit this.  I really felt like I was missing out on two other Advent Calendars.  I've really enjoyed the Bird & Blend calendar previously but because of shipping costs I decided to not get that one this year.  I felt like there was a whole portion of the tea community enjoying that one and interacting with their social media.  Of course the David's Tea calendar is super popular but another one which I've put on my wish list for next Christmas season is the T.Kettle Tea Advent Calendar.  It was a similar design to David's Tea and the flavours looked intriguing.  I think the folks at Tea at the White House have missed out on interacting with their fans.

I'm definitely not saying to not try this company out for yourself because there are very worthy products.  For the price, it's a nice little calendar but just be wary that there are others out there which I feel are much better.  I really wanted to like this one but I feel rather underwhelmed and likely will not purchase another calendar from them.

Merry Christmas

Before we all get super busy with our Christmas celebrations, I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has followed and read along with my posts over the last month or more. I’ve received some very nice comments and appreciate the conversations. 

I had wanted to share a few more things, but our schedules get so jam packed this time of year so those memories and stories will have to wait for another time. I will do some follow up posts about my advent calendars, which I loved and which I thought were the best for my money so stay tuned for those.

I plan on keeping up this blog now that I’ve attracted you all here but if you’ve found yourself here from ABC Football and wonder where that talk is, don’t fret, I fully intend on getting back to that site as the CFL season ramps up for 2023. 

I hope you have a fantastic Christmas shared with those you love and you get a moment to rejoice and marvel in the glow of the lights, bask in the sounds and immerse yourself in the delicious smells of the season. 

Mocha Sugar Cookie Latte Bites (Recipe Included)

This is not my recipe although the adaptation is 100% mine.  I can't tell you where the actual recipe originated but I did have it printed out and tucked into my Tried & True Recipe Binder.  The trouble is, the original name "Cappuccino Love Bites" doesn't exactly scream Christmas baking, now does it.

No.

Nor does it sound festive for Hubby or anyone else for that matter to take to their work potluck or cookie swap.  It also doesn't help one cook use up not one bag of Hershey's kisses, but two which she bought on sale at Costco.

Cookies cooling

The original recipe uses shortening but I use butter or margarine with the same results.  I can't remember the last time I bought actual shortening.  It also says to use coffee liqueur or milk but I think Kahlua would be great.  What I thought was a small bottle in our refrigerator door turned out to be Irish Cream and I don't think that would work with my flavour combination.  It uses instant coffee but be aware if you are sensitive to caffeine that may be an issue.  I didn't want a whole container of instant coffee so I bought a tin of Maxwell House Café Suisse Mocha.  I'd also think it would be interesting to play around with tea flavours in this recipe but I'll save that for another season.  You don't have to fret over what flavour of Hershey's Kisses to pick up.  I used the Sugar Cookie flavour and I think the Candy Cane flavour would be excellent as well.  Just stay away from the ones that have the soft centers.

I won't regale you with how I baked these while the snow was gently falling and the Christmas tree was twinkling away.  Instead, it was a regular Saturday evening two weeks before Christmas and my back was sore from a rather hectic shopping trip to Costco.

Double Dog Dare (A Cookie Review)

On Saturday night I poised a question over my social media pages.  I simply said, which do you prefer - Dare Viva Puffs Candy Cane Holiday Edition or Dare Whippet Mint Holiday Edition cookies?  Is there a difference?

I just stood in my walk in pantry examining the ingredient lists on both boxes of cookies.  The ingredients are nearly identical although some are not in the same order which would usually mean its a lesser ingredient since they are listed from biggest to smallest.  The Viva Puffs say "Chocolatey Coating" and the Whippets say "Sweet Chocolate".  Both cookies are peanut free although it's only the Viva Puffs that have it boldly printed on the box while the Whippets only have it on the side so it's not very noticeable.  The same can be said for being Canadian. Both are probably manufactured in the same plant and say they may contain wheat, soya and milk.  

Yes, Sandra, but what do they taste like?

This is my opinion remember and you have to decide for yourself.  I personally enjoyed the Viva Puffs more.  The coating is more of a milk chocolate flavour and the cookie base is more tender.  The candy cane flavour is minty but reminds me more of the more expensive candy canes which have a lighter more candy flavour rather than in your face cool mint.  The Whippet Mint cookies have a firm base and the sweet chocolate coating is a darker and harder chocolate.  The mint flavour is really minty.  The Whippet cookies also have bolder coloured marshmallows.  They are nice as well and unless comparing them side by side you'd likely not realize a difference although the difference of coloured chocolate is apparent.

That is until you are in the grocery store gazing and drooling over the cookie aisle.  A 300g box of Viva Puffs are $4.19 and the Whippets are $4.79 for a 285g box.  The Whippets cost more!  Each box contains 15 cookies but the Viva Puffs are a slightly larger cookie.  

A serving of each is 2 cookies so each box contains 7.5 servings. Who gets that 1/2 cookie?  Viva  Puffs (40g) are 170 calories and Whippets (39g) 160 calories, but remember Whippets are a smaller cookie.  So you are paying more for a smaller cookie.

If you are concerned about your pocketbook then the Viva Puffs are the better product to buy.  A box of Viva Puffs are 60 cents cheaper and a slightly larger cookie.

Which do you like best?  Which would you purchase?

I'm going to throw one more kink into the review.  If you want a more decadent treat, then look for a product by Tunnock's called Tea Cakes or Snowballs.  They are delicious and have real fresh marshmallow and no flavouring mint or otherwise.  The Snowballs do have coconut.  They are imported from Europe so harder to find and will be more costly however, one wrapped serving (6 in a box) comes in at 100 calories but a great way to enjoy a seasonal special favourite.  I found mine at a local store called Churchills British Café.

No matter what you decide, have fun with your own taste test and enjoy all with your favourite seasonal tea or coffee as you watch the Christmas lights twinkle this holiday season.

Christmas Beans to Eat (Swedish Brown Beans Recipe)

At Christmastime 1999, I got the Hanson Snowed In CD.  It's still one of my very favourites to listen to for getting into the holiday spirit.  There's one song titled "Christmas Means to Me (My Love) but my husband has changed the words to be Christmas Beans to Eat.  We had just moved into our new house and had Brother In Law and family as our first house guests.  I remember how hectic it was to get the house finished for their arrival.  When we moved in the kitchen wasn't even finished!  The best memory though, is our Nieces singing and making up dance routines to that Hanson CD.

Sunday Roast Supper

I am not Scandinavian.  Well, unless you count my Grandfathers sister (I think it was) married a 

Norwegian man...but that doesn't have an actual impact on me.  What does have an impact is that apparently when you marry someone who is Norwegian and Swedish you yourself adopt lot's of their traditions.

One of us!  One of us!

My favourite Christmas item on the big festive meal is Swedish Brown Beans.  The odd thing is that those who grew up in the family prefer other items, but for those of us who married in we love and look forward to the brown beans.

My Mother In Law grows Swedish beans in her garden.  She has a fantastic garden and even when she says things haven't turned out you can guarantee they're more prolific there than anywhere else.  A good number of years ago she gave me a cool whip container of beans.  I'm going to say it was at least 5 years ago.  I put them in the back of the pantry with the intention of one day cooking them.

One day finally came last Saturday morning where I awoke with the idea to cook them in the instant pot.  I got out the "Cooking Favorites of Covenant Women" cookbook from my treasure trove of cookbooks and quickly searched for the recipe.  It had been submitted by Mrs. Doris Anderson.  See all good recipes worth making come from this cookbook and I have one which was passed down to us.  The inscription in perfect handwriting says "To Aunt Emma From Evelyn" with my name and Hubby's added below.

The photos and instructions below are my account of cooking these Swedish Brown Beans in my Instant Pot in about an hour.  The original recipe states 4 hours.  You should be able to 'right click and save' if you're so inclined to try it out and please let me know if you do!

 

Hectic Holidays

There's a Christmas mash-up medley that I love to teach called Hectic Holidays.  It's got snippets of every well-known Christmas carol and a few surprises too.  The idea of the song is to mimic what it's like to dash from store to store while Christmas shopping and hearing the songs being played in each store.  It's a great arrangement but not the easiest to pull off.

I was a piano teacher for about 10+ years when we moved and instead of continuing with that career at the time, I chose to work in retail.  If there's anything more fun than shopping for yourself, then its helping other people shop!  I worked for a women's clothing retailer which specialized in sizing from 4-24 and is no long in business.  Before I worked there, I shopped there, and one of the perks was the employee discount and of course you were made to wear the clothing while working.

The holidays were especially crazy and fun to work.  There were lots of specialty items that would be marketed just for season.  The polar fleece sweaters with adorable festive prints were favourites for many.  Wives would come in and set things on hold for their husbands to come do their Christmas shopping later on.  Some poor forlorn husbands would rush in on Christmas Eve expecting to still find the sweater their sweetums saw back in November and we'd have to tell them no, sorry, that's sold out.

The store would hire special staff just for the holiday rush and for the chaos that ensued on Boxing Day.  The change rooms always looked like a bomb went off.  Shauna was our fitting room guru.  I'd never seen someone create such magic in the helping and clearing of the change rooms.  I'm not sure I've even seen it since!  I have some really great memories of that time and sometimes I can still feel what it was like to be in the store at closing time, cleaning and folding in the quiet, and what it sounded like to close the door at the end of the day.

When I'd moved on to management with a different Canadian retailer, the mall held Midnight Madness.  The stores would stay open until midnight, and we'd all have to take turns working a shift once.  I remember one particular time we were lacking energy and maybe for some reason it wasn't that busy at that particular time, so I went down to the Starbucks on break and returned with chocolate covered coffee beans.  Myself and my coworker ate them, and the result was energy alright but also insomnia for the rest of the weekend!

I worked in retail for about 5 years when the fun left and the hours and staff drama started to get to me.  I remember walking into the music school and the director at the time asked, "what's taken you so long?" Teaching was really my calling and I'd gotten several signs that I was indeed meant to return to it.  While that's still true these many years later, I still try to be kind when I'm shopping and even the other day a cashier complimented me for being so patient with her.  I've been on that side of the counter and there's no point getting upset.  It doesn't prove nor solve anything.  If we can't be kind during the holidays then really, when can we be?

I've noticed a real return to non-covid shopping this year.  In my excursions parking lots are once again full and stores are bustling, and the Christmas tunes are flowing.  It's so great to see that maybe Christmas doesn't all come from an Amazon box after all.  If you are out and about doing your holiday shopping, soak in the atmosphere, be kind and thank your frazzled retail workers.

Cookies! (Recipe Included)

 

From "Christmas Cookies" by George Strait

I saw a meme last week that says every recipe blog starts off with how the blogger was out for a wintery walk and it reminded them of tobogganing as a child and yadda yadda yadda and the poster just wanted to hurry up and get to the recipe and who cares about the other stuff.  While I do feel the pain of having to navigate all that nonsense to get to the real information, I think we all want to share our warm fuzzy memories of the season with our readers, family and friends.

There's a Roughrider fan in every crowd!

Some of my fondest Christmas memories are of my Mom and me baking cookies. I remember having to kneel on a kitchen chair at the cupboard and watching with wild anticipation as Mom would roll out the dough and then we'd choose just the exactly right cookie cutters.  I was really blessed to have a childhood which contains sweet memories like these.  I was equally fortunate to have a niece and nephew who I was close to, so when I was older and married, I'd invite them to my house to make cookies.  One year in particular, my niece was sick and couldn't come for cookie decorating so my nephew and I did it but put some aside in a special care package to take to her.  She proclaimed that the Christmas cookies held special healing powers because upon eating them she immediately was feeling better.

Jingling Rider Fan Medicine Woman.

Flash forward to when I became a more enthusiastic Saskatchewan Roughrider fan.  I purchased a set of Wilton Football Themed cookie cutters.  The set includes shapes for pennants, footballs, jerseys and helmets.  I only used the jerseys and helmets pictured below, although the recipe, which is coming up soon, makes enough cookies for the whole neighbourhood and then some so you can use your whole array of cookie cutters.  I do have a very extensive collection from all the obvious Christmas shapes to Snoopy and that cute truck with a tree in the back.  Of course, you may already have your own favourite sugar cookie recipe, or you might not have the time to make it and in that case the cookie dough in the cooler section will do just fine.

Makes 5 dozen cookies

Without dragging it out farther... here is the recipe for Mom's Sugar Cookies.  There aren't any special instructions except throw it all in a mixer to combine.  Form it into a roll, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.  If you don't refrigerate the dough, it will be pretty much disastrous and frustrating as the dough won't be able to be worked with.  Roll out the dough and cut into shapes, football themed or otherwise and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 8 minutes.  I use silicon mats on my baking sheets, so the cookies don't get overly brown and so cleanup is a snap.  One substitution you can make is the butter/shortening.  You can use margarine instead and the recipe still turns out wonderfully.

Once the cookies are completely cooled you can frost them with your favourite method.  Back as a kid we'd just use your regular butter cream homemade frosting with a myriad of sprinkles.  These days because my Hubby calls sprinkles "gravel" I bypass that method.  One year I purchased Cakemate Cookie Icing in various colours and although it didn't turn out to be my favourite product the cookies turned out pretty and tasty.

Go Riders!

Another year, I coated the cookies in white frosting and then used food markers to decorate.  These turned out to be my favourite cookies although the process was very time consuming because the markers had to dry completely, or they'd smudge.  That was also the year, where Hubby didn't know of how I'd toiled over the cookies and a good portion of them had "disappeared" before I'd found out.  

The table display for New Years Eve 2019

Maybe you want to make a batch of these for your favourite Riders fan or just make some sweet memories with some close family members.  I hope this blog was enjoyable to read and if it was, please share it with others on your Christmas list.  Nothing says love like a homemade gift-wrapped stack of sugar cookies shared with your family and friends.

Oh Snap! Looks pretty happy for a guy who just lost a leg!