Homemade candy.

Does that sound like an oxymoron?

I mean, you probably wouldn’t attempt to make a Milky Way or M&Ms at home. Or Gummi Worms, or Starbursts, or even a simple Charleston Chew.

But chocolate bark?

It doesn’t get any easier.

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Isn’t it funny that when you get a group of people together, you can usually divide them up in so many different groups with just a few words?

Cat lovers over here, dog lovers over there. Easy listening on the right, Heavy Metal on the left.

Vanilla? Chocolate.

Hey, fruitcake lovers, join me on the couch.

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These are just about the prettiest cookies you’ll ever see.

And super-tasty, too.

So, tell me again why you’ve never made biscotti?

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It’s quite possible by now you’ve had enough of Christmas carols. However, the Twelve Days of Christmas begin today, continuing through January 5, when the Twelve Drummers Drumming arrive. The fun, in many parts of the world, is just beginning.

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Christmas Eve.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care…

Visions of sugarplums dance in their heads…

Not a creature is stirring…

…except you, of course. Trying to figure out Christmas morning breakfast. (more…)

Sweeeeeeet!

TOO sweeeeeeet…..

Holiday baking got you down? Has an overdose of sugar made you blanch at the thought of yet another Christmas party rife with cookies, awash in eggnog, and overflowing with candy-coated treats of all descriptions?

Then it’s time for a break.

A cheese break, to be precise.

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Réveillon!

What would the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve feasts in Canada – Réveillon – be without tourtière, the classic meat pie beloved of Quebeçois and French-Canadians everywhere? (more…)

Golden muffins with a crunchy sugar cap…

…reveal a secret inside: delicious (and colorful) apricots, cranberries, pineapple, golden raisins, and dates.

These tiny little panettone lookalikes mimic that Italian Christmas cake’s flavor, too: a touch of citrus, a hint of vanilla, and the nuanced sweetness of dried fruits.

Looking for a change from your usual blueberry, corn, or bran muffins? Panettone Muffins are perfect for the holidays.

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Want to have ginger snowmen, fresh-baked and ready to decorate, in just 10 minutes?

Sure you do! Who wouldn’t, given the hectic schedules we all pursue at this time of the year.

Between work and holiday shopping, chores and holiday shopping, errands and holiday shopping – and holiday shopping – who has time for making cookie dough, rolling it out, cutting, carefully transferring cutouts to cookie sheets, baking, cooling…

You do!

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I know how hard you’ve been working lately. Between getting ready for winter, cooking and baking for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Oh, My Aching Back Tuesday, it’s all been sitting on your shoulders.  Personally, I think you deserve a break…

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