Christmas Treats Old and New

We've been watching some of our old Griffin family movies. GJG's class asked families to share their holiday traditions and he wants to share our Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. So we dug out the movies to see my "history" with this tradition.

It has been a real treat. And I have to admit I really like it when my kids say, "Mom, you were so cute." And "Your brothers were so weird." So true!

Since the movies don't have sound, Matt and I provide the soundtrack. One of my favorites is giving our dog at the time, a Boxer named Chloe, a voice as two-year-old me climbs all over her. And I mean literally I was climbing all over that poor dog. Matt's "This is what a dog has to do to get a bone around here!" really had us laughing.

So next Tuesday, I'll be off to school to share this tradition -- one of my very favorites -- with GJG's and GMG's classes. I want to show the home movies too because I think it'll give the kids a chuckle, as well as show the continuity of this family tradition. (Haven't quite figured out how to do that yet.)

Tuesday, yesterday, I had the pleasure of sharing another "old" tradition with some of my co-workers from the past. Toffee. I can remember my mom making toffee every Christmas to give as gifts to friends and neighbors. And I remember hoping we'd get some of that candy glory she was cooking up. We must have. But I think it was at the Christmas Morning Open House my parents hosted.

Can you imagine an Open House on Christmas morning in this day and age? And people came! This congures up very mixed feelings for me and my siblings. Some very good memories, "It was always nice to have friends join our family." And some not so good, "Yeah, it was a good way to get your toys broke the very first day you had them." But it was definitely a big part of Christmas as we were growing up.

But back to toffee. It's part of my Christmas past that I like to share with others. However, I'm not a stickler for tradition. So I also tried something new to test out on my friends. Mini Peppermint Meringues with Ganache, I was so disappointed with the results.

They turned out nothing like the picture (above -- aren't they cute?). I didn't have the food coloring gel to make red stripes. I couldn't even do the piping listed in the directions because everything oozed out of my ziploc bag. I wasn't sure if they were cooked enough ... or too much! It felt like a total flop.

Until ... my friends tasted them. They liked them, they really liked them. Even though the darn things looked so sad. So just maybe I've found the treat to become a new Christmas tradition. To give away to friends and family, of course!

Here are the recipes for my old and new Christmas treats (note the difference in length and depth of directions):

Toffee*

1/4 lb butter
1/2 cup sugar

chocolate chips

pecans, chopped

Cook butter and sugar until doughy and light brown.** Pour out onto aluminum foil. Sprinkle generously with chocolate chips. Spread when melted. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

*I usually 4x this and make about 4-6 circles of toffee

**This is the hard crack stage

Mini Peppermint Meringue Cups with Ganache*

Yield 32

Vegetable oil cooking spray

3 large egg whites, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

red gel-paste food coloring

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

Garnish: 1 large candy cane, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Trace 16 circles onto each of 2 pieces of parchment using a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, spacing about 2 inches apart. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray, and top each with a sheet of parchment, traced side down.

2. Make the meringue cups: Heat egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water, stirring, until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the thouch, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to mixer. Whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Beat in peppermint extract.

3. Using a small food-safe paintbrush, paint 3 stripes of red food coloring up the inside of a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain round tip. Transfer egg-white mixture to pastry bag; pipe coils to fill each traced circle. Pipe up sides of each to create 3/4-inch- to 1-inch-high cups.

4. Bake until meringue cups are crisp but not browned and lift off parchment easily, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Transfer meringue cups to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

5. Meanwhile, make the ganache: Transfer chocolate to a heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour over chocolate, and let stand for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and cut a small slit in the top. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

6. Stir ganache, and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch open-star tip. Pipe ganache into the center of each meringue cup. Garnish with candy cane.

*O.k. here's what I didn't do: use bittersweet chocolate, red gel food coloring, pastry bag, 1/4-in plain round pastry tip; pipe 3/4-inch- to 1-inch-high cups; pipe ganache with a 1/4-inch open-star tip; garnish with candy cane.

Here's what I DID do: use semisweet chocolate. Then, when I finished the meringues, realized it was a bust and ended up making what my friends called meringue whoopie pies by taking two meringue disks and gluing them together with ganache.