Rugelach, a traditional Jewish crescent-shaped pastry, hails from Eastern Europe (Americans added the cream cheese to the recipe). My limited research found several Yiddish interpretations for rugelach, including “little twists” and “royal” and I won’t claim to know the answer. Here are a few recipes to make your own. First, find chocolate cherry rugelach from Family Fun (pictured above). Find … Read More ...
Red and White Inspiration
How ridiculously cute is this curly-cue candy cane? The blogger at SugarEd Lagniappe did a great decorating job on this cookie (find the cutter at Country Kitchen Sweetart). 
Find more red and white inspiration at SugarEd, like these white chocolate-dipped marshmallows covered in peppermint crunch and peppermint powder (also at Country Kitchen Sweetart). 
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Green Tea and Red Rice Swirly Bread
This bread is not only full of good, healthy stuff, but it just looks so intriguing. The blog, Apple Pie, Patis, and Pate (I’ll ask forgiveness for omitting the accents, as I can’t figure out how to add them on my computer), teaches us how to make this bread with easy-to-follow instructions and, as a bonus, with worldwide-friendly measurements. I … Read More ...
Sideshow Bob Salad
Simpsons fan? Or cooking for a Simpsons fan? Learn to sculpt Sideshow Bob from a Jicama (aka “Mexican turnip”) at Only Knives, a site with articles, a blog and endless information on, you got it, knives. 
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Handmade (Edible) Christmas Gifts
There is an infinite source of material for a Handmade Christmas Day post in the world of edible crafts. Just about any fun food can be packaged as a gift. And so, I searched for sites that included just that… packaging. Martha has a couple features with great edible gift ideas and equally great packaging ideas, including detailed instructions and … Read More ...
Holiday Cookie Contest
Win a $500 gift card to Macys from the Holiday Gingerbread and Cookie Contest at FamilyFun.com. Submit your photos of a gingerbread house or holiday cookie before December 29th. Find detailed rules and info here. And while you’re on their site, you can browse around for more fun ideas and recipes, like this gingerbread train. 
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Evite. Brings ’em in and Keeps ’em there.
Not only has evite revolutionized how we get people to come to our parties (thank you, evite, for all the stamps saved), but their site has a wealth of information beyone the invite. They have a whole section devoted to gift giving, and yet another to entertaining tips and tools. Visit their blog for even more fabulous ideas on etiquette, … Read More ...
Celebrate with… Mangos!
Who would’ve thought a tropical fruit could play such a big role during the holiday season? The National Mango Board. Check out their site for everything you ever wanted to know about the mango. And then some. They have info on the mango, recipes, a section just for kids, crafts and suggestions for entertaining with mangos. This wintery mango … Read More ...
Make Springerle
Traditional springerle are white, anise-flavored cookies stamped with a mold or rolling pin. Springerle first became popular in16th century Germany before spreading to Alsace and Switzerland. Springerle can be traced to the winter Pagan celebration of Germanic tribes, Julfest, in which animals were sacrificed to the gods for a mild winter and early spring. Poor people brought animal-shaped breads and … Read More ...
Pretty Pumpkin Cupcakes
Smitten Kitchen brings us these yummy looking pumpkin cupcakes with maple-cream cheese frosting (adapted from a recipe by David Leite). AND she also provides a couple links to tutorials on making these beautiful frosting roses. It’s not as tough as it looks, she promises. I’ve been so stuck in two-dimensional frosting art, that these are definitely inspiring me to … Read More ...
Colorful Christmas Cookies
This post could last for eons, so I’ll try and keep it manageable by sharing just a few of the most intriguing cookies I’ve come across. I’m sure I’ll post more on cookies in the upcoming month. Much more. (Especially if you’ve seen my bio, you know I can’t escape cookies.) First, check out these neapolitans from Woman’s Day. … Read More ...
Dessert Mix Gifts
What to get for the person who has everything? Edible gifts. Everyone needs to eat, so you can’t go wrong. And ideas from these lovely, crafty bogs sound yummy.
First, WhiMSy love gives a tutorial on making cookie mix jars, based on a recipe from allrecipes.com. As a bonus, she includes fun photography to guide you.
Next, not only … Read More ...
Apple Pie All Geeked Up
Check out this Apple Apple pie from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories made from a square springform pan. They suggest making a lattice to keep the design from deforming while baking, which can be done by hand. But, of course, they used a “45 watt carbon-dioxide laser.” I put that in quotes because I don’t know what that is exactly. Pretty … Read More ...
Walking Through a Pocky Wonderland
I’m so glad to have stumbled upon “Not Quite Nigella,” a lovely, Australia-based foodie blog. Travel with the writer through her pocky forest. She provides details of her journey making this Japanese treat (cookie sticks dipped in chocolate) as well as gorgeous photography, recipes, how-tos and tips along the way. She experimented with organic fairtrade cocolo, cranberries, … Read More ...
How to Make Macarons (No, Not Macaroons)
So inspired by Mad Baker, a Singapore based blog with beautiful images of these colorful macarons, I set out to find some recipes and how-tos to make them. (Her chestnut macarons shown below. Read about her adventures with baking on her blog.) Macarons–not misspelled macaroons, as I admit to first thinking–are traditional French pastries, cookies made from egg … Read More ...