December 09, 2005

And So It Begins


The holiday baking has begun.

I confess, I started off easy with a version of my Buttermilk Coffee Cake. Instead of doing the usual ribbon-layer in the centre, I stirred some allspice and nutmeg into the batter, along with a handful of dried cranberries (there's few enough cranberries in this that the cranberry-impaired can removed them easily). A little extra nutmeg and some cinnamon across the top, and ba-da-bing, one baking item "down." Mind you, this barely counts as Christmas baking, since it's actually relatively healthy. However, it will be a festive addition to work-lunches over the next couple of weeks, and it never hurts to balance out the damage done by shortbread and butter tarts with goodies of a lighter nature.

I'm still dithering a bit on what other items to make, but time is marching along, so I need to get down to business this weekend. I desperately need to go shopping for a few critical ingredients, but I also need to crack open the holiday recipes and remind myself of the amounts to buy. One year, I ended up with so many leftover ground almonds that I was putting them in everything in sight for a few weeks.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dawna, you sure have named it aptly, and....so, does my mouth begins to water :)craving for a bite! Looks yummy!

well, Dawna, I 've tagged your blog to "You Are What You Eat Meme " can check on my post! hope you would enjoy doing the "Meme "

sailu said...

Dawna,I was planning on baking a cake and wondering which one to bake..you gave me an idea..:) thanks!

Dawna said...

Hi Lera, I'll see what I can "rustle up" for the meme this week.

Sailu, let me know how your cake turns out!

Anonymous said...

I guess it's better to have too many almonds than not enough (which is the plight I often find myself in, since I never bother with mise en place). I'm quite distressed that I'm not as enthusiastic about baking this year as I usually am...not cookies, anyway, but muffins and quick breads like your coffee cake are sounding good!

Dawna said...

Coffee cake is the epitome of low-stress baking, for me. It always turns out great, and you can alter it to fit your specialty ingredients. Plus, it is actually healthy, so one can enjoy a piece of it AND a shortbread cookie!