Christmas Trees Crostinis

Content submitted by: Jane Ong

I never had to even boil water until I graduated college.  My parents always discouraged me from even stepping into the kitchen, because they themselves were forced to spend their entire childhood and young adulthood in the home kitchen and working in the kitchen.  For some twisted reasons, my parents just didn't want their children to go even close to the kitchen.  I'd come to learn how to make a sandwich when I started working and living on my own.  This year, I felt I had to prove to my friends that I wasn't totally helpless and spoiled just because I get most of my meals from restaurants. So, I decided to throw an early Christmas cocktail party at my tiny apartment before I went overseas for my Christmas vacation. Based on my years of sandwich making experience, I made Christmas Trees Crostinis for the cocktail party.  It was fast, and easy and I was proud that they were extremely well received and they disappeared from my party tray really really fast.

The Japanese bakeries here in Los Angeles make the best and freshest white bread in the entire Los Angeles (just my opinion).  Naturally, the delicious white bread makes the best tasting Crostini. My friends could just eat the plain toasted white bread by itself non-stop.  It's how good the Japanese white bread was. 

I bought a Christmas tree cookie cutter years ago wanting to make Christmas tree cookies to bring to the Christmas party at work.  I ended up not making any cookies but bought a party tray of disgusting cookies from the grocery store instead.   When I saw the brand new cookie cutter that had never been used all these years, I thought of using it to may be  make some croutons for salads.  Then I felt they were too big for salads and decided to turn them into Crostinis.  The cookie cutter turned out to be really useful in making festive looking Crostini. These Crostinis are extremely easy to make and taste really good with Champagne.   

Makes 24 Crostinis  

Ingredients:

1. 24 pieces of really really good quality white bread 
2. 4 tablespoons olive oil
3. 2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes
4. 1 can (5oz) tuna in oil, drained and flaked (reserve 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil)
5. 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
6. 1 cup can (7oz) sweet corn
7. 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8. Salt & ground pepper 
9. Powdered Parmesan cheese for garnish

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut 24 Christmas trees out of the white bread using a cookie cutter. Place the Christmas tree pieces on the baking sheet.  On both sides, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parsley flakes.  Bake for 10  to 12 minutes or until golden.  Turn over once during baking.  


2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together ingredients 4) to 7).  Use some of the reserved oil from the can tuna to bind the ingredients if necessary. Or you can use some mayo to bind instead.  Season with salt and ground pepper.


3. Spoon the tuna mixture from step 2 above onto the baked Christmas tree pieces, garnish with powdered Parmesan cheese and serve.  

Martha Stewart's Double Chocolate Brownies Recipe Make Great Christmas Gifts

Content submitted by: Jane Ong

In the past few years, I always picked up a Martha Stewart Magazine on the magazine rack whenever I visited a grocery store.  It was however just pure browsing.  I hadn't tried any recipe or any craft from the magazines.  I have been a very busy professional slave and I never had time to do much other than flipping through the glossy Martha Stewart Magazines during check-out.  2 years ago during my sabbatical, I had the leisure to finally make her Double-Chocolate Brownie recipe.  They are so delicious that I have been  making them as Christmas gifts for my landlord and his family ever since. They love them tremendously, which I am very glad.

I can't be buying the glossy Martha Stewart Magazines all these years and not learn one trick or two in terms of gift wrapping. I originally was looking for the Martha Stewart brand gift box but they seem to be kind of pricey.  So I just grabbed whatever that was the cheapest:

$3.76 for the Bags & Ribbon, $1.99 for the 9 gift tags, and 9% sales tax, total $6.27 to pack 32 brownies with 1 gift tag left for use to tie to another gift.  This is  not the first time in my life I made gifts from the kitchen, but  I still don't know how to tie a proper bow.  My bows just didn't come out as proper looking as the one shown on the Wilton photo.  I still don't know how to do it. So one of my resolutions for 2016 will be to find out how to tie a bow properly and learn to do it.  Hopefully there is a tutorial on Martha Stewart's website somewhere?

Notes From Our Editors: Tell us about your most favorite food gifts for Christmas and we will send you a box of Godiva Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Gift Wrap Wine Using Wrapping Paper Leftover From Prior Years

Content submitted by: Jane Ong

I can't believe I am still having Christmas wrapping paper from more than 2 years ago.  I don't dare to use it to wrap gift boxes this year because I am afraid that my friends will recognize the same wrapping paper when they receive the box of gift from me.  I'm so sick of having this old roll of wrapping paper lying around that I decided to use it to wrap Champagn bottles this year. I hope that the wrapping paper showing up in a bottle shape instead of a cube shape will make it look less familiar to my friend.  Gift wrapping the champagn bottle is easy, I just double folded the wrapping paper and rolled the bottle inside, tape it up (tugged the bottom in with invisible tape) and secured the neck with a silver beaded hair band that I bought for cheap when I had long hair, yet my short hair now has no use for it.  I also added a gift tag left over from 2 Christmases ago.  Now hopefully, my friend might not remember the wrapping paper so much.  Below is a photo of the Champagne before it was wrapped.

It actually looked great and Christmas presentable even without wrapping. I just want to use up my old wrapping paper... However, I'm still not done with the roll and it's still lying around in my home.... It's driving me crazy now that I have to think of more ways to use it up. I hate tossing things away even though I know I can simply trash it. I just can't get myself to trash wrapping papers that are in good condition....

Notes From Our Editors: Tell us about your most favorite food gifts for Christmas and we will send you a box of Godiva Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Williams-Sonoma Classic Hot Chocolate

Review submitted by: Barbara Weiner

This was my impulse purchase when I was visiting the Williams-Sonoma store to kill time while waiting for my friend. The store was full of Christmas traffic, it smelled really good and the display was totally festive.  When I saw this beautiful red tin, I wasn't thinking so much about Chocolate, but I was really thinking of the white open cabinet rack in my kitchen.  I thought the red tin would make my white rack look good for this holiday season and it does.  In terms of the chocolate, it's just shaved chocolate. It's pretty good quality chocolate, but not much better than regular chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate. I probably can make the same hot chocolate by melting semi-sweet chocolate into my milk.  It's very pricey at $19.95 a can. It goes fast because it takes 5 table spoons for every one cup of hot milk. I did get a 20% in-store discount though.  But you can also get 20% off and free shipping for this chocolate if you shop at the Williams-Sonoma website and enter the code  "FRIENDS" at check out.  What I love about this product isn't so much about the taste. Sure the taste is good and I surely enjoy it (but I had better hot chocolate). What I really like about this product is that it's  made in the USA and its Christmas container is a great functional holiday decor for my white kitchen rack.

Notes From Our Editors: Tell us about your most favorite food gifts for Christmas and we will send you a box of Godiva Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Holiday Truffles Star Ornament

Review submitted by: Barbara Weiner

I spotted this really cute box of chocolate truffles when I was shopping for Christmas gifts at Barnes & Nobles.  I would like to give some of my friends edible gifts this year and so I decided to try out these chocolate truffles myself.  They tasted pretty good. But it is the Christmas star box that really appeals to me.  I  hang the box on a gold tone door knob on my bedroom's white door and  it looks really festive and pretty.  I'm actually going to buy more of these for myself as Christmas ornaments on my kitchen cabinet.  After I finish the chocolates, I will use the pretty candy wraps to wrap balls of paper towel and put them back in the box for decorating.  These beautifully packaged chocolate truffles however aren't cheap at $10.00 per box.  For those of you who are really crafty, may be you can make the box yourself and stuff it with your homemade candies. But for me, paying $10.00 for a box of these beautifully wrapped chocolate truffles  is very worth my time.

Notes From Our Editors: Tell us about your most favorite food gifts for Christmas and we will send you a box of the above Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Bucilla Cookies & Candy Non-Perishable Christmas Wreath

Many foodies are now probably busy baking all kinds of cookies and goodies for Christmas gifting.  For those of us who want to gift something more non-perishable, and yet beautiful and useful for the holiday season, this cookies and candy wreath felt applique kit  has everything you need to easily make an adorable and mouth watering Christmas wreath (15 inches in diameter), yet without the calories.  It will be fun to host a wreath making and stuffing party while serving cookies and high tea... if only you want to do something different this holiday other than the same old cookie exchange party.  $26.02 per kit and free shipping.