From the ArcaMax Publishing, Recipes by Zola Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/zola/s-277268-322417
Christmas Vows...
My husband and I made an informal wedding vow that relates to
Christmas. Pretty unique, eh?
The vow didn't actually happen as part of our wedding day. It came
soon afterward; before we got to our first Christmas.
What happened is this.
My husband and I used to travel quite a bit. He was gone up to 225
days a year and I was gone up to 160. That's more than the average
bear travels; that's for sure. Traveling, even 20 years ago could be
quite frustrating and tiring. Most people are excited to get on a
plane and go somewhere. That was not the case with us. It was just
something we had to do to conduct business so we put up with the
hassles.
We put up with those hassles all year long so we decided that at the
holidays we were going to be the amongst the few that don't travel. My
husband put it this way. "On Christmas we will be sitting around our
Christmas tree. You are welcome to visit, but we are not going to
travel when the rookies travel".
So what's a travel rookie? That's someone who is going to visit family
and decides to bring as much on the plane as possible; wrapped gifts
as well as travel bags. They don't realize their load is as big as it
is so they bump everyone as they go down the aisle; giggling in the
anticipation of seeing friends and family. They drink on the plane
like they are in a pub and they laugh so loudly everyone on the plane
can't help but hear their laughter; and even their conversation. Don't
get me wrong. We aren't out to spoil their fun. We just want to avoid
being part of it. Do we sound like Scrooge? Well, so be it.
So here's what Christmas looks like at our house.
Santa brings us games to play. We are child-free, so those games are
usually word games, puzzles to solve and thinking games to challenge
us. We play Christmas music; until we need a break from it. We go to
church in the evening on Christmas Eve, (usually a midnight service;
although this year we are going to try a 6PM service) and then we go
to dinner somewhere nice. It's a challenge finding restaurants that
are open on Christmas Eve; especially late. This year I have found a
wonderful French bistro.
We open gifts late on Christmas Eve; starting with what my husband's
family calls a "table gift". If we are too tired we open the remaining
gifts in the morning. Then we go back to playing games.
If we find out there are "orphans" around we invite them to dinner on
Christmas. "Orphans" in this case are friends who cannot get to
family, for whatever reason, on Christmas. We don't want them to be
alone so we invite them over and we play games and eat. (Playing games
seems to have a repeating theme here).
Some would say this is boring. What's Christmas without tikes around
giggling throughout the day, opening gifts, playing with them, all
while the adults chat, drink and eat?
What we'd call it is a peaceful holiday filled with romance, and, of
course, games.
However you spend your holidays we hope you enjoy them with vigor.
And just in time for you last minute menu planners; or serial menu
changers I have a couple of really cool treats. The first one is a
drink you can serve at Christmas or throughout the year. We named this
drink the Bad Santa but you can name it whatever suits your fancy. And
I recently devised a fabulously divine peanut butter tart so maybe
you'll want to whip one up. It's light, creamy, rich and perfect for
family and friends. Easy too!
The Bad Santa (make this by the pitcher)
1 cup of Cointreau (or if you are on a tighter budget use Triple Sec)
2 cups of brandy (regular brandy; not cognac)
3 cups of
orange juice (non-pulp variety would be best)
1 bottle of
sparkling wine or champagne. (recently I used Proseco and it worked
great. It's cheaper).
Put it all in a pitcher and stir. Then serve in cocktail glasses over
ice. You can garnish with a cherry to be even more festive. This will
make approximately 15 drinks. I always have to have at least 2 bottles
of champagne around because the first pitcher goes fast.
Chocolate Crusted Peanut Butter Tart
For the crust
1-1/2 cups of chocolate cookie crumbs (You can
use Famous chocolate cookies and grind them or Oreo makes them already
ground). You just whiz them in the food processor or put them in a
large baggie and crush them with your rolling pin.
1/2 cup of
white sugar
1/2 cup of melted butter
For the bottom layer
4 oz of bittersweet chocolate diced
3 oz of whipping cream
For the peanut butter layer
8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup of white sugar
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
3 cups of whipped topping (Cool Whip is one brand)
Optional top decoration
4 oz of bittersweet chocolate
3
oz of whipping cream
You'll need a 9" tart pan with removable sides. Combine the cookie
crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Mix with a fork until the
crumbs are all wet with butter. Pour this mixture into the bottom of
the tart pan and flatten it with your fingers. Gather some of the
crumbs up along this sides and press them firmly to you make a 1" (or
so) rim on your tart.
Make room for the tart pan in your freezer and put it in there for 15
minutes to harden it.
While it's in the freezer, make your bottom layer. In a sauce pan,
carefully, and slowly melt the chocolate and cream. Stir constantly.
This will only take a couple of minutes on medium low. Even before the
chocolate is fully melted take it off the heat. The heat of the pan
and the hot cream will continue to melt the chocolate. If people make
a mistake here, it's keeping the pan on the heat too long and your
chocolate will overcook and stick to the bottom of the pan or become
grainy.
Take the tart crust out of the freezer and spread this layer over the
crust bottom. Don't try to get it up the sides. That's not necessary.
Return the pan to the freezer for up to 15 minutes more; or until the
chocolate has hardened.
While this is happening make your peanut butter filling. In a bowl
beat the cream cheese and the sugar until fluffy. Mix in the peanut
butter and the whipped topping. Take the tart out of the freezer and
spread the peanut butter mixture on top. Smooth the top with a spatula
and lightly cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator. You
can do this a day ahead of serving or for at least 3 hours.
On the day you'll serve it, remove plastic wrap and take a very sharp
knife and carefully work it around the rim of the tart. You need to do
this to loosen the sides of the tart away from the metal rim before
you spring the pan open. Because the tart is cold this takes some
pressure and some patience. It's worth this extra step though so you
don't break the crust trying to get it out of the pan.
Display on a pretty platter. Then make your final topping or plan to
serve plain. Melt the chocolate and cream and this time use a small
spoon to take the chocolate mixture out of the pan and drizzle it
around the edges of the tart. I do this in a swirl pattern to decorate
the tart. I leave the middle 2 or 3" plain so the drizzle decoration
looks like a chocolate-swirl wreath around the sides.
You can leave the tart out of the refrigerator for up to a couple of
hours before serving it; depending on how hot it is in your area. I
don't like to serve this sort of dessert right out of the refrigerator
because I think it tastes better if it's just cool and not cold.
Cut with a sharp knife and serve. You'll hear MMMM and YUM from all
who taste it.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola
Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.