Nutcracker Handmade and handcraft: Christmas Eve is Here!!!!!!Wahoooooo Check out the info below and enjoy!!

Well Folks we've arrived at the days of days, Christmas Eve.

I hope everyone has their shopping done, loved one's called and Santa tracked. We here at Nutcracker Headquarters want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza and Feliz Navidad and hope that all your New Years dreams come true. We want to send out a special Holiday Thanks to the men and women of the armed forces and hope they come home to us safe and soon. Today we wanted to do something a bit different and place a famous and well loved holiday recipe in here for all the kids to make today. Before I post it, however kids, you and your parents check out this website link and try some of the fun games on there just for Christmas. http://abcfamily.go.com/specials/25-days-christmas/games?cid=adsales_25docfy11_games_footer

Now...One to the fun filled recipe you and your parents can make together on this cool winter day. Chances for snow and a White Christmas looks very good. Looks like old Winter Warlock is whipping up a good one. Here is a list of a few recipes, I always loved as a kid and I hope you will too. Here goes:::

These fun Christmas recipes aren't for the kids or the adults or the special relatives visiting. These Christmas recipes are just for Santa and his friends. From magic reindeer food for Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer and the gang, to Christmas cookies that will keep Santa going all night long, these fun Christmas recipes are a terrific way to get into the holiday spirit with the kids.

Reindeer Food

Gotta give Rudolph and his friends something to sustain them during that long Christmas Eve trip, right? Magic reindeer food (also sometimes called magic reindeer dust) is the treat of choice. Kids love making this simple recipe and sprinkling the reindeer food all over the lawn to guide Santa's sleigh to their homes.

Making reindeer food for Santa's furry friends can become a tradition in your family. Start it with your children, starting at a young age, and they will forever remember that the last thing they did before going to bed on Christmas Eve was to leave something special for Santa in addition to his delivery team.

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You'll Need:

Oatmeal
Candy crystals or sprinkles
Cheerios
Carrots
Plastic baggies
Paper
Markers and crayons

1
Ask for the children's ideas regarding what the reindeer might like to eat. Make a "trail mix" concoction of ingredients such as oatmeal, colored-candy crystals or sprinkles or popcorn kernels. Cheerios and crushed candy canes are other options. Add some glitter for an extra sense of magic.
2
Have the children scoop up the mix into a plastic bag. If you're sharing with others, divide the mix up into the appropriate number of bags.
3
Create fun, personalized labels for the reindeer food, encouraging the kids to come up with a creative name for the mix. Use a twist tie or ribbon to seal the bag shut.
4
Write a letter or poem to Santa, letting him know what the food is, and who it is for. Use your own creativity, or search online for pre-made inspiration.
5
Add a tag with a message to those you're giving the reindeer food to as gifts. Try the catchy jingles on the Operation Letter to Santa website.
6
Leave the prepared mix near Santa's treats on Christmas Eve before the children go to bed. Add a few carrots for an additional snack that will power up the reindeer with energy to get home.

Peppermint Hershey Kiss Cookies Recipe
Dark chocolate Hershey kisses and peppermint sugar cookie dough make a showstopping combination in this easy kiss cookie recipe. A packaged sugar cookie mix makes quick work of these holiday cookies, but you can certainly use your own homemade sugar cookie dough instead. These holiday cookies are easy to make and perfect for a holiday cookie exchange party.

Ingredients:

1 17.5 oz. package sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1-3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. peppermint extract
4-5 drops red food coloring
18-20 dark chocolate Hershey kisses

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Dump cookie mix into a large mixing bowl. Add softened butter, egg and one tablespoon of flour.
Using an electric mixer or your hands, mix until it forms a soft dough.
Divide dough in half. Add peppermint extract to one half. Knead it into the dough until well-incorporated. Add a tablespoon of flour if dough is too sticky.
Add red food coloring to the other half. Start with 4 drops of food coloring, and add more until you get a nice, deep pink color. Add a tablespoon or two of additional flour if the dough is too sticky.
Pinch off a teaspoon of pink dough and a teaspoon of white dough. Stick together and form a ball. Important: Don't knead them together, or the dough will all turn pink. You want a nice candy cane stripe.
Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom.
Remove from oven and immediately press a Hershey kiss in the middle of each cookie

Holiday rice krispy christmas trees

This Christmas rice crispy treats recipe looks impressive, but it is super simple to make. Just form the rice crispy treats into triangles, then insert a candy cane to represent the Christmas tree trunk, and decorate! Kids really enjoy making these holiday rice crispy treats, because they're easy to make. And, unlike cookies, these Christmas rice crispy treats don't have to be rolled, baked or cooled very long before the kids can eat them!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter
10 oz. marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
red and green gel icing, M&Ms, colored sugar and candy canes for decorating

Preparation:

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment paper.
Melt the butter and the marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the marshmallows melt completely. Immediately stir in the crispy rice cereal. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, so that the rice crispy treats are about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.
Spray a sharp knife generously with cooking spray. Use it to cut the rice crispy treats into large triangles.
Break or cut the candy canes into 3-inch pieces. Insert a candy cane into the bottom of each rice crispy treat triangle to form the trunk for the Christmas trees.
Let the rice crispy treats Christmas trees cool completely before decorating with icing, candies and/or colored sugar.

Gingerbred Holiday Milk Steamer;For that cold burrrrry night

These gingerbread milk steamers are the perfect kids drink recipe for the winter holidays. Combining the flavors of gingerbread cookies and warm milk, these steamers can be prepared in minutes.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups milk (skim, 2% or whole)
1 tsp. molasses
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe container. Heat on high 1 to 2 minutes until milk is scalded, but not boiling.
Stir. Beat with an immersion blender, frother, or just in a regular blender for 1 to 2 minutes. Garnish with cinnamon sticks. Serve immediately.

One of my favorite and similar to Gingerbread, but a German original and one the Nutcrackers love!!!
Nürnberger Lebkuchen" are just one of many types of German gingerbread. They have been baked in the city of Nürnberg since 1395 by the local monks. The spices had to be imported for all Lebkuchen, so cities with strong trading partners had an advantage over small, agricultural villages when creating new types of Lebkuchen. Nürnberg also had good honey production and this gave them an edge up in commercial production of their Lebkuchen, which began in the 14th century. In 1643, the city even created the "League of Lebkuchen Bakers".
"Oblaten Lebkuchen" are baked on a thin wafer to keep the soft cookie from sticking to the cookie sheet. "Nürnberger Elisen Lebkuchen", considered the finest kind of Oblaten Lebkuchen, must have a minimum 25% nuts and less than 10% flour by weight. Sometimes, the recipe includes marzipan. These are soft, moist drop cookies.
Other types of Lebkuchen are made with a stiff dough which starts with a honey or sugar syrup and are rolled and baked. White Lebkuchen are decorated with almonds and candied orange or lemon peel. Lebkuchen is often referred to as "Pfefferkuchen".
Step#1
The dough is made by creaming the butter, sugar and eggs, then alternating the sifted, dry ingredients with milk. After the last addition of milk, the dough looks like soft brownie batter.
After this, you fold in the nuts and candied lemon peel, and the dough becomes lumpy, but still soft.

Step#2 Spices!!

3 of 8

Prev Next

Lebkuchen Spices and Spice Mixtures for Gingerbread

Nuernberger Lebkuchen - Gingerbread Spices

J.McGavin

Traditional Lebkuchen Spices:

cinnamon
anise seed
coriander
ginger
cardamom
cloves
allspice
mace

The mixture can also have small amounts of:

star anise
ground, black pepper
nutmeg

Everyone has their favorite mixture of spice for Lebkuchen. You can even buy an expensive mixture from a German grocery or deli labeled "Lebkuchen Neunerlei" (Nine-Spice).

germandeli.com (Texas)
germangrocery.com (New York)

You can also "cheat" with apple pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves) or pumpkin pie spice mix (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, mace and cloves), or mix them one to one with "Chinese 5-Spice Powder" (cinnamon, star anise, anise seed, ginger and cloves), which are found at your local grocery store.
Penzeys Spices sells all of these mixes too, plus a new "Baking Spice" mix with cinnamon, anise, allspice, mace and cardamom, which is a good mix to use on its own or with ground ginger. They also have something called "Cake Spice" with cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves. A listing of their retail outlets is found here, or purchase online and let them ship to you.
The point is, there is nothing magic about "Lebkuchen" spice. The ingredients are well known and can be found all over the place. There is no single way to make it. So go ahead and make your ginger cookies or honey hearts or "Pfeffernüsse with what you can find and don't worry too much. It will taste great!

My Lebkuchen spice mixture for this recipe:

2 T. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground anise seed

1/2 tsp. ground star anise

If you have whole spices (which have a longer shelf life), place the spices in a cleaned out coffee grinder (one that looks like a food processor inside, not a burr grinder) and grind until fine. Sift the ground spices through a fine sieve to remove large pieces and add to other ground spices. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per recipe.

Step#3

Drop the Cookies onto the "Oblaten" or Parchment Paper and Smooth into Circles

Nuernberger Lebkuchen - Homemade German Gingerbread

Forming the Nuernberger Lebkuchen rounds - Homemade German Gingerbread

J.McGavin

After folding in the nuts and candied lemon peel, the batter looks rough. Place about three tablespoons of batter on each 70 or 90 mm wafer (3 to 4 inch "Oblate") or draw 3 inch circles on parchment paper (you can use a biscuit cutter or water glass as a template) and drop the dough into the middle of the circles.
Once the tray is full, use the back of the spoon to fill out circle, slightly mounding the dough towards the center.
If you are using "Oblaten" drop the dough onto the wafer and smooth to the edges, mounding slightly in the middle.

Step #4

Baking the "Nuernberger Lebkuchen"

After the Nuernberger Lebkuchen come out of the oven - Homemade German Gingerbread

J.McGavin

Bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes. Turn down oven to 350°F if cookies are browning too much.
You will see that the cookies puff up nicely and become smoother and rounder after they are baked.
Let cool for a few minutes, then remove to a cookie or cake rack to cool.

Step#5

Make the Glaze for the Lebkuchen Cookies

Boiling the glaze for Nuernberger Lebkuchen - Homemade German Gingerbread

J.McGavin

While the cookies are cooling, start the glaze.

1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 - 2 T. rum or liqueur
1/2 c. powdered sugar

Place 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 c. water in a small saucepan on the stove. Bring to a boil and boil for a few minutes. Add vanilla and liqueur or rum. Sift powdered sugar over hot sugar syrup and stir.
Use this glaze hot. If it becomes too cool, reheat. Be very careful when you are holding the cookies to not burn yourself by dripping hot glaze on your hands. You might want gloves or mitts that you can wash afterwards.

Step#6

Glaze your Lebkuchen Cookies

Glazing Nuernberger Lebkuchen with a pastry brush - Homemade German Gingerbread

J.McGavin

Using a pastry brush, brush warm glaze over warm cookies. Let dry completely.
You do not have to glaze the back of the cookies if they are baked on "Oblaten" but I recommend glazing the backs of parchment baked cookies to keep them moist longer. In that case, you will need a double batch of glaze.
Use this glaze hot to warm. If it becomes too cool, reheat. Be very careful when you are holding the cookies to not burn yourself by dripping hot glaze on your hands. You might want gloves or mitts that you can wash afterwards.

Dry glazed cookies for a day or so (to dry the glaze so it stays a bit crunchy) then store in an airtight container or freeze.
Step#7 The best part Eat and enjoy with the family!!!!

Step#7