Friday, December 21, 2007

Christmas musings and Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Word Count for the past 2 weeks = 0
Anyone out there being productive this month? Nevermind - don't answer. It'll only make me jealous ;)

I read Christine d'Abo's newest EC release last night - Chasing Phoenix - and holy commolie it was hot. And a really cool concept. The hero, Michael, attends a performance art play, blindfolded! - and suspects that the 'performer' is a coworker. I dare you to go read it and NOT stare at everyone in your place of employ the next day. It's amazing what kind of kinky little secrets people harbor ;) You can buy it HERE.

Now that #1 son's birthday party is out of the way, AND the Toronto Romance Writers newsletter is finished, I'm happy to say I'm finally getting into this thing called Christmas. Most of the shopping is done, aside from stocking stuffers, -- and I can't wait until the kidlets see what 'Santa' has in store for them.

For Light (aka 8 yr old son), that crazy Santa got a Wii. Sadly, it's hubby and I that are most eager for that treat. Pathetic, aren't we? I just HOPE that SOMEBODY is buying my Guitar Hero (HINT HINT).

For Sweetness (aka 3 yr old son), Santa found a Smart Cycle. Have you seen these? It's a little bike that hooks up to the television and the kidlet must cycle in order to play the games. Exercise mixed with learning -- the perfect gift for those of us practically house-bound by winter.

And it was no easy feat finding that sucker! Mr. Wylie and I (helping Santa, of course) have been combing toy stores everywere, practically daily, because they keep selling out. Mr. Wylie drove to an out-of-the way Walmart late last night and found one. Ironically, they said they were sold out, but he found one that had been mis-shelved. Double YIPPEE.

After seeing Sweetness's Christmas concert yesterday morning (too cute for words!) I spent the rest of the day baking -- a double batch of shortbreads, butter tarts and fudge, the latter for Light's school Christmas party. Today I'm going to tackle a treat that I learned from Mr. Wylie's granny - a Portugese treat called (but not spelled correctly) bishcottes. They're not overly sweet -- more like a biscuit than a cookie -- until I dribble uber-sweet icing over them!

Then I'll do my personal faves - Chocolate Coconut Macaroons. They are SO delish and easy to make that I've decided to share the recipe:

CHOCOLATE COCONUT MACAROONS

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar (white, granulated)

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
6 tbls cocoa
1 tsp vanilla

Bring milk, shortening and sugar to a boil, stiring frequently. I wait just until the bubbles form around the edges because if you overboil, the cookies won't set properly.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in the remaining ingredients. Mix well, then drop the mixture by the spoonful onto wax paper and leave to set. Use a tablespoon for monster cookies or teaspoons for bite size macaroons.
These freeze really well too.

What's YOUR favorite holiday baking treat? Either to eat, or make...

7 comments:

Tempest Knight said...

I posted my fave recipes on MMC blog. Go and check them out, chica!

BTW, happy Yule/Winter Solstice!!!

Anonymous said...

Boy,I'm in the same non-writing boat and now I have to work through Jan 6th, so I guess I'll have to do daily affirmations like 'I will start writing again in 12 days. I will...'etc.

Sounds like Santa's helper is a good elf.

Wylie Kinson said...

Tempest - I love trying new recipes. Yours look yummy - especially the ones with rice.

Marley- thanks for stopping by! And your daily affirmations sound like an excellent idea. I may have to create my own little motivational countdown.

Leah Braemel said...

Hey! You have my famous chocolate macaroon recipe - I've never met anyone else who had it. You're right about the boiling, my MIL used to leave it on high boil and then they'd end up as hard little rocks. (By the way, she used to call them Haystacks.) Since they take no more than ten minutes to make and don't require an oven, I'll be making several batches of them tomorrow. Along with a whole bunch of other treats. (By the way, mine never make it to the freezer - the boys scarf them down faster than I can make 'em.)

Anonymous said...

Those macaroons sound scrumptious, Wylie! My favorite sweet holiday treat is my mother-in-law's peanut butter fudge... mmmmmm! :-D Another favorite treat is cheese ball. Love it, love it -- all kinds.

I'm doing revisions to one of my rough drafts, but I haven't been busting butt -- I'll get back to busting butt after the holidays. :)

Hee hee on the Wii! And the Smart Cycle sounds really cool -- I hadn't heard of that!

Red Garnier said...

Wylie dear MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Have a wonderful one with Sweetness and Light and the DH! Lots of love and hugs and virtual chocolate from me. And best wishes for 08, it's going to be quite a year! HUGS!

Anonymous said...

Merry Xmas an glad you found what the kiddo wanted. :-)