sounds more like death by chocolate and sweet things and that is just fine with me....

snickers

 

I will have to try this one and hope I live to cook another day...

thanks dark......

Figgy pudding is a European-style pudding resembling something like a white Christmas pudding containing figs. The pudding may be baked, steamed in the oven, boiled or fried.

The history of figgy pudding dates back to 16th century England  Its possible ancestors include savory puddings such as crustades, fygeye or figge (a potage of mashed figs thickened with bread), creme boiled (a kind of stirred custard), and sippets. In any case, its methods and ingredients appear in diverse older recipes. Today, the term figgy pudding is known mainly because of the Christmas carol "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," which mentions the pudding several times.

A traditional English steamed pudding served during the Christmas holiday. This version calls for butter and shortening instead of suet, a solid white fat from the loin and kidney regions of meat animals.

Figgy Pudding with Custard Sauce

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons rum extract (or flavored extract of your choice)
• 1 apple, peeled and cored and finely chopped
• 1 pound dried figs, ground or finely chopped
• Grated peel of 1 lemon and 1 orange
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

Custard Sauce (recipe follows) Sweetened whipped cream (optional) Preheat oven to 325*F (160*C). Generously grease an oven-proof 2-quart bowl or mold; set aside. Cream together butter and shortening. Gradually add sugar, egg yolks, milk, extract, apple, figs, lemon and orange peel. Add next 6 ingredients, mixing well. Fold stiffly beaten egg whites into mixture. Pour into prepared bowl or mold and place into large shallow pan and place on middle rack in oven. Fill the shallow pan half-full with boiling water and slowly steam pudding in oven at 325*F (160*C) for 4 hours, replacing water as needed. Custard Sauce:

• 2 cups milk
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon butter

In saucepan, scald milk and allow to cool. Mix together remaining ingredients, except for butter. Add to cooled milk. Cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter, mixing well. Serve pudding warm with custard sauce or sweetened whipped cream. Store unused portions in refrigerator. Makes 12 servings.

A mince pie (sometimes also minced, minced meat, or mincemeat pie) is a British festive sweet pastry, traditionally consumed during the Christmas and New Year period. Mince pies normally have a pastry top, but versions may also be found without the top in which case they are known as mince tarts. Mince pies are filled with mincemeat �?a preserve typically containing apple, dried fruits such as raisins and sultanas, spices, and either suet or vegetable shortening. Modern mince pies typically do not contain any meat, but because suet is raw beef or mutton fat, mince pies made with suet are not suitable for vegetarians. Individual mince pies are usually 6�?.5 cm in diameter, although larger mince pies, suitable for slicing, may also be baked.

The origins of the mince pie lie in the medieval chewet, which was a fried or baked pastry containing chopped liver and other meats mixed with boiled eggs and ginger. Dried fruit and other sweet ingredients would be added to the chewet's filling for variety.

By the 16th century mince or "shred" pie was considered a Christmas speciality, although in the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell made the eating of mince pies on Christmas Day illegal. (This law was voted fourth "most ridiculous British law" in a 2007 poll.) In the mid-17th century the liver and chopped meat were replaced by suet, and by the 19th century meat was no longer generally used in the "mince" in either Britain or North America. Though traditional suet pies are still made, they are no longer the dominant form.

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• Royal Icing, recipe follows

Equipment:

• Gingerbread women and men cookie cutters
• Green, yellow, red, blue, and black food coloring
• Small offset spatulas
• Gold and silver dragees
• Edible glitter
• Colored sprinkles
• Small paint brush
• Pastry bags with couplers
• Pastry tip sizes 1, 2, 3, 101, and 46
• White and yellow nonpareils
• White, yellow, red, and green sanding sugar
• Multicolored mini-jawbreakers (about 1/4-inch round)
• Piping gel

Directions

Make the Cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the brown sugar, shortening, and corn syrup in a saucepan and heat on medium, stirring constantly until the shortening is melted.

Place all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl; then add the warm sugar mixture, stirring until all of the ingredients are well blended. The dough will appear crumbly but will hold together when rolled out.

Use the dough immediately, while it is still warm. If it starts to crumble, place it in a warm oven for 1 to 2 minutes until it softens a bit.

To make decorated cutout cookies; Roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out gingerbread women and men with cookie cutters. Place the cookies on foil-lined cookie sheets and bake until golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on racks before decorating.

To decorate, tint a recipe of royal icing to your desired colors. Keep the icing covered with a damp towel while you are working to prevent it from drying out. To cover a cookie with icing, thin some of the icing with a little water and spread it on the cookie with a knife or metal spatula. Leave some of the icing thick for piping borders or other designs, using the #2 tip. Add dragees, edible glitter, colored sprinkles, or other decorations to the wet icing. To attach candies to un-iced cookies, brush a thin layer of clear piping gel on the cookie with a small paintbrush and add decorations.

Royal icing is very versatile. It is pure white and dries very hard, so it is perfect for making flowers and bows and delicate piped work. It can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks. You should stir the icing to restore its original consistency after storage, but do not rebeat. Royal icing does not work well in high humidity.

5 tablespoons meringue powder (found in cake decorating stores)

1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons water

OR

2 egg whites*, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoons water

1 pound confectioners' sugar

Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat slowly until they are all blended. Then beat at medium speed until the icing forms stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Add more sugar if the icing is not stiff enough, or a few drops of water if it is too stiff. Use immediately or cover the bowl with a damp cloth to prevent drying when not in use. Allow at least 24 hours for royal icing decorations to dry, at room temperature.

 

Mmmm mmmmmm mmmm mmm mmm mmm mmm!!! All of that sounds so good!! I do especially miss mincemeat pie at the holidays!!

thanks to Margie amd Edna for this one

 

 

 

1 pre-made graham cracker crust
1 4-¾ ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups good eggnog
1/3 cup milk
splash rum extract (You can substitute 1/4 cup of rum for the rum extract, if desired)

Mix pudding, eggnog, milk and extract until thick. (Mixture will be very thick.) Then, pour into the shell and let sit in the fridge at least a day before serving.

Thanks girls..it sounds yummy

all these recipes sounds yummy

Southern Italians around the world celebrate Christmas Eve with a Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci in Italian), also known as La Vigilia (Italian for the vigil).

It is a meal that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. Some Italian families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11 or 13 different seafood dishes. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.

Tradition and symbolism

The tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the medieval Catholic tradition of abstinence--in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products--on Fridays and specific holy days. As no meat or butter could be used, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil.

There are many hypotheses for what the number "7" relates to, one being the number of Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. Another theory is that seven is a number representing perfection: the traditional Biblical number for divinity is three, and for Earth is four, and the combination of these numbers, seven, represents God on Earth, or Jesus Christ.

A typical Christmas Eve meal

The components to the meal are similar for most families as there are always some seven combinations of anchovies, sardines, dried salt cod, smelts, eels, squid, octopus, shrimp, mussels, oysters, and clams. In the mixes are pastas, vegetables, baked or fried kale patties, baked goods, and the pride-filled homemade wine. Also, this tradition still remains very popular to this day.

Popular dishes

• Stuffed calamari in tomato sauce
• Stuffed-baked quahogs
• Stuffed-baked lobsters
• Fried smelts
• Oyster shooters
• Deep fried calamari
• Deep fried breaded oysters
• Deep fried fish/shrimp
• Deep fried scallops
• Linguine with clam or lobster sauce
• Cod fish balls in tomato sauce
• Marinated eel
• Baccalà
• Octopus salad
• Whiting
• Kale patties (baked or fried)

thanks Dark.  more stuff to check out and maybe make.....

Bubbe's Potato Latkes with Homemade Applesauce

Potato Latkes

• 4 large (about 2 1/2 pounds) baking potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour or matzoh meal
• 1 tablespoon(s) fresh minced parsley or dill
• 1 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) coarsely ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup(s) vegetable oil for frying
• Parsley sprigs for garnish

Homemade Applesauce

• 4 large (about 2 pounds) Golden Delicious apples, cut into eighths, but do not peel or remove core and seeds
• 1/2 cup(s) apple cider or apple juice
• 1 teaspoon(s) fresh lemon juice

Directions

• 1. Prepare Homemade Applesauce: Cut apples into eighths, but do not peel or remove core and seeds. In 3-quart saucepan, heat apples, apple cider or juice, and fresh lemon juice to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until apples are very tender. Into large bowl, press apple mixture through coarse sieve or food mill to remove skin and seeds. Makes about 2 cups. Cover and refrigerate.
• 2. Prepare Potato Latkes: Peel and finely shred potatoes and onion into colander. With hand, squeeze to press out as much liquid as possible. Place potato mixture in medium bowl; stir in egg, flour, parsley, lemon juice, baking powder, salt, and pepper.
• 3. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Drop potato mixture by scant 1/4 cups into hot skillet, cooking 5 latkes at a time. With back of spoon, flatten each latke into a 3-inch round. Cook latkes about 4 to 5 minutes until undersides are golden. With pancake turner, turn latkes and cook 4 to 5 minutes longer until second sides are golden brown and crisp. With slotted pancake turner, remove latkes to paper towels to drain and keep warm on cookie sheet lined with paper towels in the oven.
• 4. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, stirring thoroughly before frying each batch and using 3 tablespoons hot vegetable oil per batch. Serve hot with Homemade Applesauce.