They were delicious. And that’s when I realized that most fruitcakes are kind of icky because there’s not much dough with the fruit. I wonder how fruitcake donuts, cupcakes and pancakes taste? Anyone want to experiment and let me know? I’m really leaning toward the donuts.

In the meantime, here’s the recipe from Florence Pekar with the fruitcake alteration:

You’ll need:

1 and 3/4 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup sour milk (add a bit of lemon juice to regular milk to make sour milk.)

2 and 1/4 cups of chopped up fruitcake

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Spray your cookie sheets with non-stick spray.
• Sift your flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, work the butter until it is creamy.
• Add the sugar to the butter and stir until they are blended.
• Add an egg to the mixture and stir well.
• Gradually add the flour mixture and milk to your bowl, stirring as you go.
• Stir in the fruitcake pieces.
• Drop slightly rounded teaspoonfuls of dough two inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake 12-15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Makes 6 to 7 dozen small cookies.

My grandma enjoys doing crafts. I would spend time with her and she’d teach me how to make simple craft items. She said to me that people enjoy handmade gifts. I took her words to heart and now I like to make handmade cards and gifts to give to people.

Linda’s grandma was absolutely right. The people who love you will cherish your handmade gifts. With everyone working to trim budgets, there’s another great benefit. You can give so many more nice gifts to friends and family when you put your time and energy into a gift.

I think my grandma would approve of something a bit newfangled that I used to help me come up with project ideas for Christmas presents this year – Pinterest. I was able to hunt down and organize photos of so many awesome gift tutorials for things like holders for phones while they are charging and adorable little heart shaped hand warmers for the kids to tuck in their pockets while they are waiting for the bus. Right now, I’m drooling over an idea to recycle a Christmas sweater from the prior year into an adorable skirt. That site is just a goldmine for great ideas. You do have to get an invite or get on the site’s waiting list to join and pin things, but joining is free.

As you put together your handmade Christmas gift ideas, I’d like to encourage you to make a few extra little gifts. I’m making extra hand warmers and others in my family make scarves. If you come across someone who is in need, it is nice to be able to pass on a little holiday cheer by giving that person a little gift.

Are you making your family’s holiday gifts this year?

What I have been doing, though, is keeping an eye out for great sales on organic meat. Then, I pick up that bargain roast and ask the butcher to grind it up for me. Instead of getting a bunch of nasty scraps noone in their right mind would eat until they are ground up, I get pure ground beef.

I am looking for a good sale on a grain mill, but, from what I’ve been reading, the key is to get a mill with a lot of steel and very little plastic so that it lasts for centuries. (Or at least longer than a week!) From everything I’ve heard and all the reviews I’ve looked at, there is one clear winner in the grain mill department – the Country Living Grain Mill. It also is pretty pricey. The second favorite seems to be the Lehman’s Best Grain Mill, which is about half the price. I think I’ll get the Lehman’s model for my use.

Ball Wide-Mouth Mason Canning Jar 1 Qt., Case of 12 – Ball is a classic. I have many heirloom jars that Ball made back in the late 1800′s.
– These jars are perfect for canning tomatoes.
Ball Home Canning Kit-This kit includes everything you need to start canning except the veggies
Ball Regular Dome Canning Jar Lid, Box of 12 – You can use jars over and over, but you’ll need to use new lids each time.
Ball Fruit Jell Liquid Pectin – Most jelly recipes call for pectin.
Ball® Complete Book of Home Preservation 400 delicious and creative recipes for today – This book is a great reference for people who want to can a wide variety of fruits and veggies.

Ingredients:
1/2 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut diagonally in 1 inch slices
4 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
Directions:
Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

The following morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar and corn syrup; heat until bubbling. Pour over bread and egg mixture. Bake in preheated oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 package cake style brownie mix
1/ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup cream
1 package of cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 bag M&Ms holiday edition

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add the egg, cream and vanilla extra. Mix well and set aside.

Prepare the brownie mix according to instructions. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper and then scoop 2/3 of the batter into the pan. Place ½ cup of the M&Ms over the brownie batter. Then spoon the cream cheese mixture over the M&Ms and batter. And finally scoop the remaining brownie mixture over that. Using the tip of a knife swirl the mixture for a marbled effect.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes at 350F until baked through but still moist (do not overbake). Cool before cutting into squares.

TIP: Your children will enjoy helping you cut out these pretty cookies.

Ingredients:
3 cups sifted flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter (melted)
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup water
Bright colored hard candies
Cookie cutters

Directions:
Mix the butter, sugar and honey in a large bowl and add water, mix until smooth. Combine the salt, baking soda and sifted flour in a large bowl. Add butter mixture to flour mixture and knead the dough a little with your hands. Wrap up roll in cling film and place in freezer for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling unwrap a selection of round hard candies and set aside.
Once the dough is ready roll it on a lightly floured surface and cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Using the tip of a knife cut out a circle in the center of the cookie to approximately fit the hard candy. If you’re cookie is meant to be an ornament make a hole at the top using a straw.

Bake at 350F for approximately 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly golden, remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Place the hard candy in the center of cookie and bake for another minute or so (just until the candy slightly starts to bubble). Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before displaying or eating.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar (powdered and sifted)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour (sifted)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl and mix in vanilla. Sift flour and salt together and add to the sugar mixture. Gently fold in the chopped pecans. Shape mixture into golf ball sized balls. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes at 350F or until baked through and slightly golden.

While cookies are baking place a little extra powdered sugar in a bowl. Once the cookies are done baking roll through the sugar and set aside to cool.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups flour
2/3 cups brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter
½ cup chopped nuts
1 jar (10 ounce size) maraschino cherries

Directions:

Drain cherries and reserve 4 tablespoons juice. Roughly chop cherries and set aside. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. In a separate bowl cream together butter, sugar, eggs and the 4 tablespoons cherry juice. Mix well until fully combined. Add the butter and sugar mix to the flour mixture and mix well. Then gently fold in chopped cherries and nuts.

Lightly grease a 9-inch loaf pan and scoop batter into pan, spread evenly.

Bake bread in a preheated oven at 350F for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden and baked through. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.