Happy
Holidays
Diana
Thanks for your support in 2021. May your holidays be filled with good food and fun times. Here’s a few of our holiday favourites to get the party started.
Geoff's Eggnog
Make your own sweet and delicious eggnog – the perfect drink for a cosy Christmas Eve!
Ingredients:
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups milk
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ground cinnamon
Method:
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy.
- Combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. Stir often until the mixture reaches a slight simmer.
- Add a large spoonful of hot milk to the egg mixture and whisk vigorously. Repeat one spoonful at a time to temper the eggs.
- Once most of the hot milk has been added, add the mixture back to the saucepan on the stove.
- Whisk continuously for a few minutes until the mixture slightly thickens.
- Remove the mixture from heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the eggnog into a container and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled. For thinner eggnog, mix with 1or 2 tablespoons of milk in a blender.
- Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon and fresh whipped cream.
Spiked (Alcoholic) Eggnog:
To counterbalance the sweetness of the eggnog you can add an optional dash of alcohol. Popular choices include brandy, rum, bourbon or whiskey.
Ryan's Snowflake Activity For Kids
Get kids in the holiday spirit with this fun and easy craft activity. Create an ornament that’s as unique as a real snowflake.
Materials:
- Square or A4 craft paper
- Scissors
Optional Materials:
- Pencil
- Protractor
- String or ribbon
- Decorative materials like pompoms, crayons, pencils, glitter or confetti and glue.
Method:
- Form a square piece of paper by folding one corner of the paper to meet the opposite edge, creating a triangle and rectangle. Then fold the rectangle towards the centre to create and guide crease to cut along.
- Fold the square paper diagonally, creating a triangle. Then fold it in half again, creating a smaller triangle.
- Fold the triangle into thirds. You can do this by eye or for more accuracy, use a pencil and protractor to mark 30 degree segments. Fold the segments from the outside edge in, overlapping them.
- With the point of the triangle facing down, cut off the top two points in a straight horizontal line, creating a wedge shape.
- With the wedge still folded, cut random shapes out of the edges.
- Carefully unfold the paper to reveal your snowflake design.
- Decorate the snowflake with your choice of materials or leave it plain.
- Tie a string or ribbon to the snowflake for a unique Christmas tree ornament, or connect several to form a snowflake garland.
Jacques' Vegan Shortbread
Enjoy a classic Christmas treat with this super easy shortbread recipe – that’s gluten free, dairy free and vegan friendly.
Ingredients:
- Almond Flour – use ultra-fine flour, and avoid Almond Meal, for a smoother texture.
- Maple Syrup – use Agave Syrup if preferred.
- Coconut Oil – use refined coconut oil to avoid the coconut flavour.
Method:
- Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they form a sticky cookie dough.
- Form 12 cookie balls and place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
- Press the cookies down slightly so they are approximately 1cm thick. The thinner the dough, the crispier the cookie.
- Bake in a preheated 160 degrees Celsius oven for 12-15 minutes or until the sides are slightly brown and the cookies are slightly soft in the middle.
- Cool completely at room temperature for 5 minutes on the baking paper, then on a cooling rack. The cookies will reach their best texture after 3 hours – if you can wait!
Optional add-ons for your cookie dough mix:
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (look for gluten free / dairy free or vegan options)
Or try this shortbread cookie recipe using only 3 pantry staples!
Ingredients:
- 3 sticks butter (340g) – salted or unsalted depending on your preference.
- 1 cup icing sugar (130g)
- 3 cups plain flour (375g)
Method:
- Beat the butter until smooth.
- Slowly add the icing sugar and continue mixing until well combined.
- Add the flour and mix on low speed until crumbly.
- Gently kneed the dough into a ball and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
- Roll the dough out to ½ to 1cm thick. Use cookie cutters to make shapes.
- Place the cookies onto a baking tray covered with baking paper.
- Bake in a preheated 160 degrees Celsius oven for 12-15 minutes or until very lightly golden.
- Allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, before cooling completely on a wire rack.
Jess's Spotify Playlist
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?
Neil's Netflix List
‘Tis the season for heartwarming holiday movies, here’s 10 of Netflix’s most popular Christmas movies for you to try.
- Elf – Buddy the Elf doesn’t fit in with the other North Pole elves, so he travels to New York to find his real father and spread some Christmas cheer.
- The Grinch – The Grinch decides to rob Whoville of Christmas – but a dash of kindness from little Cindy Lou Who and her family may be enough to melt his heart.
- Klaus – A selfish postman and a reclusive toymaker form an unlikely friendship, delivering joy to a cold, dark town that desperately needs it.
- The Polar Express – In this warm-hearted tale, a young boy’s faith in the holiday spirit is revived after he makes his way by train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.
- The Christmas Chronicles – After accidentally crashing Santa’s sleigh, a brother and sister pull an all-nighter to save Christmas with a savvy, straight-talking St. Nick.
- Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey – Decades after his trusted apprentice betrayed him, a once-joyful toymaker finds new hope when his kind and curious granddaughter comes into his life.
- Dreamworks Holiday Classics – Join your DreamWorks friends for these four holiday specials, featuring Shrek and Donkey, Hiccup and Toothless, and the wacky animals from Madagascar.
- Arthur Christmas – At Santa Claus’s super-secret toy-making facility, Mr. Claus entrusts his son, Arthur, to carry out an ultra-important Christmas mission.
- Last Christmas – Despite working as an elf, Kate doesn’t believe in the magic of Christmas. Everything changes when she meets Tom, who brings faith back into her life.
- A Christmas Prince – Christmas comes early for an aspiring young journalist when she’s sent abroad to get the scoop on a dashing prince who’s poised to be king.
Countdown to the New Year!
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