Last Minute Christmas Cookies Ideas

It's that time of year!  The jolly old elf himself will be making his grand entrance tonight.  There's still plenty of time to do a bit of last minute baking though, just in case.  Here's a few ideas of our favourite last minute easy to make Christmas cookies.

Homemade Mini Chocolate Chips

Summer has past, the kids are back in school and Hallowe'en is just around the corner.  That can only mean that folks will soon be gearing up for holiday baking.  I'm sure many are looking for healthier homemade snacks for kid's lunches too.  A little chocolate added to homemade granola bars, snack bars or cookies is always a tasty treat.  Chocolate chips is the usual standby for this purpose but for some uses the biggest problem is chocolate chips are too big.  The second problem is finding organic, high cacao dark chocolate chips.  I came up with this simple solution. 

After considerable looking, I found a Goodliving silicone potholder and trivet with a honeycomb grid.  I melted half of a 90% cacao dark chocolate bar over hot water then poured over the trivet.  I put the chocolate filled trivet into the refrigerator to allow the chocolate to harden.  Once cooled, I popped the mini chocolate chips from the trivet.  They are just the perfect size for adding that extra touch of chocolate in my homemade protein bars!

You can use any plain chocolate bar of choice including the white milk chocolate.  Add a couple of drops of peppermint oil for mint flavoured chocolate chips.  Store in the refrigerator then use as desired.  You can even sprinkle a few over ice cream, plain vanilla yogurt or oatmeal.  The high cacao content adds a lot of flavour so you don't need to use a lot.  These homemade mini chocolate chips are a win win!

Home Canned Green Beans

The primary purpose for my foodie road trip along the shores of Lake Erie was finding cherries for my husband's coveted cherry jam.  That didn't stop me from taking advantage of some of the other great finds.  I was elated to find green beans, one of my favourite vegetables to can.  They are also one of our favourite home canned vegeables to enjoy during the winter months.  I even take several jars of home canned green beans to our vacation home. 

I haven't grown green beans since moving to our new house almost four years ago.  We are away in May which really has put a damper in putting vegetables in the garden.  Green beans go in the ground well before we get home.  While I am growing a fair amount, I have been restricted to patio plants and herbs.  It doesn't help that the backyard has been under construction either.  At any rate, for now I buy my green beans.

I bought an 11 qt basket of tender green beans.  The beans appear to be Blue Lake, one of the best beans for canning.  Blue Lake green beans are long, tender and uniform with a lovely flavour.    Kentucky Wonder beans are also a good green bean for canning.  At the end of the day, I had a yield of sixteen 500 ml jars of beautiful green beans ready for the pantry.   There were enough green beans left over to enjoy green bean foil packets with our grilled steak for dinner and a few for snacking. 

Green beans are pressure canned at 10 lb pressure for 20 minutes at altitudes up to 1,000 feet above sea level.  Green bean foil packets are lightly seasoned with butter and sea salt then sealed and cooked on the grill until al dente, about 10 minutes.

Foodie Road Trip on the Shores of Lake Erie

We are incredibly blessed to live in beautiful southern Ontario, home to an amazingly diverse culinary opportunity.  There is an abundance of locally grown and produced foods in our region.  In fact, eating locally within 100 miles of our home is exceedingly easy.  The vast majority of our food is actually grown and produced much closer to home!

Cherries are in season so I decided to take a foodie road trip to the shores of Lake Erie.  Highway 3 (Talbot Trail) runs along the Lake Erie shore between Niagara Falls and Windsor.   It meanders through small little towns, home to various annual food festivals, homestyle restaurants, and quaint shopping.  There are countless orchards and vineyards, a few mushroom farms, fisheries and so much more.  The rich fertile sandy loam produces some of the best fruits, berries, onions and carrots that you can find.   It is common to see food trucks along the route especially during the summer months.   Highway 3 really is a gorgeous route with stunning eyecandy and lots to explore.

I left the house early in the morning to make a shorter version of my normal foodie run route.  This time I made a couple of stops before heading to the lake to enjoy a bit of the beautiful scenery while enjoying a cup of coffee.  The sky was so blue!  The air was already turning warm so I headed onto a couple of orchards to the east.  My stash of goodies grew with each stop!  On the way home, I stopped at the mushroom farm.  I have been buying my mushrooms from them for about 30 years!  At one time they were less expensive than store bought but now are about the same price.  The big difference is they are fresh picked.  I only bought two 5 lb boxes this time.  My final stop was at the Dutch Market for coffee and fresh baked goodies.  I came home with a lot of fresh produce - apples, plums, blueberries, green beans, strawberries and mushrooms.  I even bought a bottle of sparkling apple cider.  All-in-all it was a very successful foodie road trip!