Making Room For Christmas

There may be less baked items than usual featured on my blog in the upcoming weeks. This is because we are trying to use up all of the baked items we have stored in the freezer to make room for all of the goodies we will be making for Christmas. Right now we have the usual meats, leftovers, breads and fruits in the freezer, which we aren't too worried about. We are more concerned about eating the excess baked goods we have in there. We have some muffins, loaves, cookies, squares and other desserts. So instead of baking new things, we have been trying to eat what we already have to make room and avoid spoilage. We also want to get all of our treats eaten up before the Christmas goodies begin to pile on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, as all of these items freeze very well and you can hardly tell the difference. We also tend to freeze items we like a lot, because we bake a lot of them. The problem is, I also keep adding to the freezer, as the stuff I am baking isn't being eaten as fast because we are also eating from the freezer. Also, I won't get to bake as much between now and the time before Christmas baking starts, and I will have less to write about. Oh well, it will get emptied out, at least for the majority, before we start our Christmas baking, which isn't too far off! At least we do not have a huge tub of ice cream taking up room in the freezer like we did the past two years. Once the summer ends, no one seems very interested in eating ice cream anymore, and what wasn't eaten in the summer takes up a lot of room. Here's to the start of the Christmas baking season!

Father's Day Cake

Here is the little Father's Day cake I made for my dad for today. It certainly isn't very fancy or extravagant, nothing compared to my birthday cake and not even as impressive as my Mother's Day cake. Well, that is the result of being pressed for time. I really didn't have enough spare time this weekend to make a cake from scratch, make some of my buttercream, and spend a few hours decorating it like I do for most celebrations. I apologized to my father for this, and gave him a raincheck for another cake or dessert when I actually have time to make it. (To be fair, I have been asking him since Mother's Day, what kind of Father;s Day cake he wanted, and he never answered me). 
This cake was an extra cake I had in the freezer. The icing was also leftover from another cake I made, and was stored in the freezer (hence the color choice). In a way, this worked out well, because I got to use up that cake and icing in the freezer. Cakes and icing freeze very well, especially if they are not stored for too long. This cake stayed very moist in the freezer and the icing consistency remains the same as usual once thawed. To make this cake, I thawed the icing in the fridge for a few hours. Then I spread it on the cake while it was still frozen (cakes, especially really moist ones, are actually easier to frost when frozen). I swirled the icing with a knife for a nice design. This is also a good design to keep in mind if you are having trouble spreading your icing smoothly. I store my icing in resealable plastic bags in the freezer, and just scoop it out, or put it in a bowl when still frozen, that way none gets wasted. Then for the piping details, I just left the icing in the bag and snipped off one of the corners. If you are having trouble mastering buttercream roses, you can make some pretty nice flowers just using a plastic bag and icing.
Since I took this cake and icing from the freezer, it was extremely quick to ice and decorate. Nonetheless, it was still very moist and tasty, and I know my father enjoyed it. Sometimes I think my family actually prefers just to have a simple, plainly decorated classic cake like we always used to. Sometimes it is nice to ave things plain and simple for a day, instead of fancy and elaborate.
Happy Father's Day!

Lingering Treats From Christmas

As you may have noticed, I have not been doing much baking lately. That's because of all of the Christmas goodies that are still around here. We still have a freezer stocked with Christmas cookies, we've got fruitcake, panettone, boxes of chocolates, and candy canes. It will take us a little while to finish eating all of these goodies and finally give us some free space in our freezer, and then I can make some more treats. I thought it would be appropriate if I put together a mini-guide with suggestions to how long these items will be good. Then you can determine what to eat first and what to save for later.

Baked Goods

• Plain Cookies and Bars - Will keep in the freezer in an airtight container for up to a year, but start to lose quality after 3 months. Store different types of cookies in separate containers.
• Iced or Decorated Cookies and Bars - Don't hold up as well in the freezer, but well-wrapped can keep for several weeks or a couple months.
• Fruitcake - Most fruitcakes well-soaked and well-wrapped will keep at room temperature for several months, even after a few months of aging. They also hold up very well in the freezer for longer storage. Store-bought varieties will keep for six months to a year.
• Panettone or Fruit Bread - Keep in a cool, dry place, well-wrapped, for a month or two. May be frozen for longer storage.  Store-bought varieties will keep for six months to a year.

Candy and Chocolate

• Boxed Chocolates - Check the best before date, most last six months to a year. Once opened, they may not last as long, unless all of the chocolates are individually wrapped. Chocolate is generally good until it begins to take on a white color, called bloom, and even then, sometimes this does not effect the quality of the chocolate.
• Candy Canes and other hard candies - Since these are composed primarily of sugar, they will stay good for a year or so.

Dinner Leftovers

Leftovers from Christmas dinner will keep in the freezer, well-wrapped.

• Turkey, Chicken, Ham - 2 to 3 months.
• Vegetables - 3 to 6 months.
• Bread/Rolls - 6 to 12 months.
• Desserts - Cakes, pies, and cheesecakes freeze well whole or in slices, for a few weeks to a few months.

Christmas Goodies

Well Christmas Day may have come and gone, but that certainly does not mean the entire holiday season is over. We are still entertaining and visiting guests, and of course that means food. There is still quite the stockpile of Christmas cookies, cakes, and goodies stored carefully in the freezer, which are easy and convenient to pop out for guests. This way, there is no need to worry about whipping something up last minute, and your guests can enjoy a wide variety of treats without you having to worry about a ton of leftovers. Here we have a nice display of Christmas goodies, most of which have already been displayed and talked about on my blog.  On the top plate, there are Hershey's Kiss chocolate chip cookies, and my mother's decadent chocolate fruitcake. The bottom level contains crispy chocolate smartie cookies made by my mom and button shortbread cookies my mother and I made together. The front plate contains iced gingerbread cookies I made and shortbread cookies my mom prepared and I helped decorate. This all makes for a very colorful and tasty array of Christmas goodies to enjoy! Happy Holidays!