Oh my gosh! Christmas is in 10 days!!! It always comes and goes so quickly. I added another decoration to our house this morning.
Something simple and easy which is what I am going for this year.
Simple and easy has not been the case in trying to get supplies for baking Christmas goodies. Cookie sheets…just need one as we shipped one over but it has been almost impossible to find. We were ready to give up yesterday when we stopped at one more store and found one. A cooling rack…not so easy and we have given up on that. I have one so I will make that work. I guess with the abundance of bakeries here no one needs to bake their own goodies.
Finding ingredients has also been a challenge and has altered what I will be baking. My sister’s have emailed me recipes, I’ve gone through my Mom’s and mine, and I have been on Pinterest. Some I can easily read the recipe and say yes or no based on ingredients. Others that seem so basic in my old world are not so here. One of the recipes I want to make is peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. Now I know peanut butter is not big over here but I have seen it in stores. Chocolate chips…well the only ones I have found is a 50 gram bag. For comparison Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate chips in the U.S. come in a 12 oz (340 gram) bag. Big difference when you are making cookies. I found M~n~Ms so I am going to use those instead.
I found an easy recipe for candied pecans. We found some shelled pecans in the market. They seemed surprised that we wanted the amount they had (not much) and then we found it is 12€ ($14). WOW! Not enough to make the quantities I would like. A small bag really. We found some in the shell at the grocery store but for the quantity I want to make that is a lot of nuts to crack. If we can find more somewhere else fine otherwise I will only make what I bought for 12€.
The only place we have seen brown sugar is at A Taste of Home, an England/UK shop. Found Crisco there too. One thing we have looked everywhere for is the Pam non-stick spray. So convenient but does not exist over here. I have scalloped heart pancake molds and trying to rub butter in those is a pain! Spray would be so easy.
I looked for red and green sprinkles to decorate with. No luck. Found pastel colors so those will have to do.
I did have success with ingredients and the baking of one recipe so far. Nutella puff pastry Christmas tree. So yummy! I will definitely be making more of these.
For years I have wanted to do some Christmas baking but I haven’t because I was working crazy hours and it was more of a burden than an enjoyable experience. This year I really want to bake. I finally have the time.
Now…I just need the ingredients. LOL!
The Winery Woman 