Christmas Time Is Here

This weekend was the true beginning of the holiday season for me. The boxes with the Christmas decorations came out of storage, Scooter and I bought our Christmas tree, and the apartment was decorated with Christmas cheer. This picture is the finished product of our tree. I'm glad we had enough room (thanks to Scooter) for a bigger tree. It meant that more of our special ornaments--like my baby and Swedish ornaments and Scooter's ornaments that he got from his mom--all got to go up on the tree this year. The local radio station that plays Christmas music was playing off the TV, courtesy of our cable provider, we drank cider, and I got my tree looking very much in the spirit of the season. It was a fun way to spend my Sunday, and now the apartment looks very cheery.

Of course I still have my paper to finish, and I'm starting to feel the pressure from it with the deadline a mere six days away. I'm hoping to get enough time to work on it during the week that I'll be able to finish it up on Saturday, read back over it to edit any mistakes, and submit it with a sigh of relief. We'll see what my time at work and in the evenings looks like.

Of course with Christmas comes a lot of Christmas cooking. We have the raviolis which are already done. Next week, my mom, sister, cousin, and I will attempt to try and make the English toffee and hand-dipped chocolates that Gramma also used to make every year. Originally, tomorrow night was the planned date to try our hand at candy-making, but the weather outlook is not so good with a chance of rain. Gramma never made candy when it rained because the chocolate wouldn't set right; there's too much moisture in the air. So hopefully next week we get to try it out and I'll have much to tell about what we try (maybe I'll have pictures too!).

Another thing I'll be making this year (and something that I made last year) is lemon curd. Last year, I included jars of it in tea-themed gift baskets that also included special teas and fresh scones, a nod to the high teas my best friend and I put together every year for the ladies in my family for Mother's Day. These baskets were given out to my extended family, and I've gotten requests to do lemon curd again this year. The recipe I use is from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Lemon curd is actually a lot easier to make than I thought before trying this recipe.

What you'll need:
1 c. sugar
2 Tbs. cornstarch
3 tsp. lemon peel, finely shredded
6 Tbs. lemon juice
6 Tbs. water
6 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 c. butter or margarine, cut up

What you'll need to do:
1. In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and cornstarch. Mix together, then add the lemon peel, lemon juice, and water. Cook it over medium heat until the mixture has become thickened and bubbly.
2. Remove half of the mixture from the saucepan and add it to the egg yolks. Stir until it is mixed together. Slowly return the egg mixture to the saucepan to keep the egg from solidifying.
3. Cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until the curd comes to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for another two minutes.
4. Remove saucepan from heat. Add the butter and stir until it has completely melted. Cover the saucepan with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about an hour.

If your curd has a few pieces of solidified egg in it from when you added the egg yolks into the saucepan, you can strain them out before putting up the lemon curd. It's not necessary, but I know some people (like me) are perfectionists. This recipe will give you about two cups.

With so many of us struggling to make ends meet, there is nothing wrong with giving others homemade things as Christmas gifts. Feel free to use this recipe for your own gift baskets. Enjoy!