Parties, Parties, and More Parties

From Little Bit of Christmas

Wow! What a week it has been. We have been inundated with parties. I had to bake while fighting a major allergy cold. It was not fun. First it started off with my book club's holiday gift exchange and book meet. I took a homemade chocolate mint cheesecake that I created on the Kraft website. Of course, I took no picture, but it was not very photogenic. It sunk in the middle, but tasted really rich and bold. The hubby loved it!

Next came my good friends' Keith and Frank's annual Christmas party. We really went all out and made our friends homemade treats in a tin can this year! Of course, once again, no picture, but they were really adorable. My daughter and I made homemade snowballs, peppermint bark, buckeyes, and chocolate coated sugar cookies to tempt the holiday palates. My daughter exclusively made the bark using her own recipe, but I borrowed my cookie recipes from Cooking with Cristine who has an awesome blog and Giada de Laurentiis of the Food Network. I guess I forgot to photograph the delightful treats, because I was beaming over the grandness of a chocolate eggnog cake I baked for the first time ever (A lot of first in baking for me this year). Now, I only recall trying eggnog when I was scores younger. I remember not liking it then, which made me inclined never to try it again. Since I seem to be around such adoring fans of the concoction, I thought I would give this recipe a try. Now, I am officially an eggnog convert. I tried some of it before I added it into the batter and icing. What a treat! I used Schepp's eggnog. Really rich and frothy. To add this to a cake with chocolate, nonetheless, made a cake that was rich,moist, and just sensual. Very good. It was a holiday party success! I plan on making it again for the girls in the neighborhood, without the French Twists. My hubby and friend, Linda, thought they looked like doggie doo, so now that is all I see.

I warn you if you plan on making this devilish delight, DO NOT concern yourself with the calories. Remember it is a cake and it is made with eggnog. Neither which are Weight Watchers friendly, although I think I have some ideas to lighten it up. You are just gonna have to take a holiday from healthy eating when you try this stuff. Here is the recipe from Woman's World Magazine Dec 15th Issue:

From Little Bit of Christmas

Another recipe I thought you might like is one my friend, Kim, gave me at the Christmas Party. It is a fruit dip made with one package of softened Philly Cream Cheese and one jar of Marshmallow Fluff (I used Kraft's Jet Puffed Marshmallows). Simple, sweet and tasty.

Okay, last (for now) but not least, is the cake I made for my son's birthday last night. I had to Sandra Lee it up, by using a store bought cake (cringe-and yes, there is a story behind this. Let's just say we all have our bad days in the kitchen) and store bought fondant. I made the Piplup which was the main attraction of the cake. It was not as detailed as it could have been, but my son absolutely love it so much, he wanted the piece of cake with the head cut off as his serving. That is my son, Jeffrey, I mean, Justin.

Happy holidays everyone! I am feeling much better and there is more baking and parties to come, which means photos and blogs!