Anyone Wants To Join My Christmas Basket Project???
Decorating By vagostino Updated 9 Dec 2010 , 6:06pm by chas21
ok..so i resized my pic..lets see if it will stop being retarded and most my pic this time. lol
Guys....how is everybody doing? for the ones giving out the baskets to teachers : you gotta hustle!!!
I gave mine to the teachers already, just have two left to give out to my neighbors.
MY final list of goodies was: mini pound cake swith maple frosting, choc covered oreos, choc covered marshmallows, gourmet rocky road, decorated sugar cookies, cranberry pistachio biscotti, mexican wedding cookies, and a crunchy/candy cookie that was supposed to be a lace cookie but it didn't turn out so i broke it in pieces and add it.
It really didn't look like much once i put them together....I can believe how much work they took!
I think next time i will put some kind of mix in a jar thing since those are big and easy to put together.
We've been working on the chocolate covered pretzels tonight, and my husband decided he hates the Wilton molds, and almost everything else having to do with these baskets... haha. I'll probably make the cookies tomorrow. My son's Christmas Party is tomorrow night, so I need to hurry up and get the ones for his teachers done!
I'm finished the cookies for my dd's brownie group tomorrow, cookies for school on Friday and i am just finishing the last of the NFSC w/ royal for my baskets.
I want to try a bar cookie and some marzipan, and some cookies for my brothers dog!
That finishes up my original 18!
Next week is gingerbread with my kids!!!
I know you all are working like crazy to get your goodies ready, and I wanted to tell you about a 45-second fudge recipe that I got at a Pampered Chef party--- just in case you need a quickie to help fill your baskets. (You all may already know this but I was amazed) Any flavor of baking chips + 1 can of any flavor ready-to-spread frosting--- microwave for 45 seconds and stir until smooth. Pour into 9x9 dish and let set up before cutting into squares. (line with buttered parchment) Its so smoooooth and you can make many flavor combos. I used chocolate frosting and Andes mint chips this weekend and also coconut-pecan frosting and chocolate chips. Peanut butter/chocolate is great too. So...it's not gourmet, but its great and EASY! Merry Christmas!!
Can you tell me what size bag of baking chips to use? I'm assuming not the tiny bags and not the big jumbo bag....but the middle "normal" size bag? I can't remember the ounces on that one.....
thanks - I just may give this a whirl - seems easy enough!
I looked on my bags of chips and the weight varies depending on what type (peanut butter, chocolate, etc) so between 10 and 12 ounces of baking chips and use a 16 oz container of canned frosting. HTH- it really is good for being so simple.
Thanks so much!
Does anyone know how far in advance the Tiger Butter can be made. If I make it now will it still be ok for next week?
thanks so much!
I hope it is OK to make in advance!
I already made some and it is waiting in the freezer!
Finally finished the 10 gift mugs for my grand-kids teachers and aides, and the santa boots for last minute "oops I forgot you" gifts.
The mugs have a cocoa cone, chocolate covered pretzels and spoons.
The boots have just a cocoa cone and 2 spoons. Wish Oriental Trading had these boots again, because I used my last package of 12.
This weekend I'll be busy making the rest of the goodies on my list.
I'll try to attach a photo as soon as I shrink it.
Salted. It's that salty sweet thing that people love. And I am done with the teacher's bags. Okay, your guys stuff looks GREAT! I just put them in a holliday themed treat bag and in Christmas tins. Maybe next year I'll get a little fancier, but I has 11 teachers and a poor man's budget! 
I also use the salted pretzels. Its a glorious combination.
I'm done with everything except my cookies. I need to do at least one batch of pumpkin cookies tonight so I can get the tins for my son's 2 teachers and his bus driver out tomorrow morning. That will get done as soon as I get some ambition. No idea when it will come back 
Got my first basket packed and delivered today.
I'm going to try to get a picture on here!
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1540128.html
Oh my goodness! Your basket is beautiful! Okay guys, next year I'm gonna try the jazzy packaging. I'm inspired!
Vagastino, don't forget to remind me next year!
The last of my stuff was dropped off yesterday and I am DONE! Sadly, no pics because my camera died a while back and I haven't gotten it fixed. 
I only made half the items on my To Do lists, so I'll be spending Sunday returning unused/unopened supplies. The good news is everyone loved their stuff and didn't seem to care that my treat mugs and tins didn't have much in the way of variety. 
Now I can go see Avatar and Princess and the Frog this weekend instead of living in the kitchen!
I wanted to go see the same movies!!!! And go see our tacky Christmas light Tour!!! We just got hit with a BUNCH of snow!!!
I will put it in my calendar to remind oyu all next year! still trying to get my husband to help me post the pictures....i figured it'll be helpful for people looking at this thread in the future.
My baskets looked like they didn't have much stuff either! next year we neeed to figure out items that we can add to plump them!
Have fun and stay warm, happy holidays to all!
Ok, here are my pictures....decorated cookies, bags with the gourmet rocky road, chocolate covered oreos and chocolate covered marshmallows. I don;t have pictures of the other stuff since I was so tired of them that i just wanted to package it and get it out of my house!
hi all long time no speak. I'm finally getting there, I have 4 christmas cakes iced waiting for decorating. 2 trays of rocky road and 2 of gourmet rocky road. I have two sponge cakes settling for decorating tomorrow. I have the following truffles waiting for coating which wil be done tomorrow: white chocolate baileys truffles. dark chocolate truffles cookie dough truffles marzipan for dipping. rum pudding truffles. Almond Cherry fudge, tiger butter, pralines. rice krispie treats waiting for cutting out with christmas cutters. hot cocoa mix made and in packaging. ready in the freezer waiting to bake I have the following cookies. gingerbread, shortbread, almond shortbread, chocolate shortbread, cranberry pecan cookies which will be done tomorrow or tuesday im delivering wed and christmas eve as they are only for family and friends. I think im forgetting things but my brain is fried. Oh and im thinking of making chocolate covered marshmallow snowmen tomorrow as well but will have to see how i am for time. Oh and i have biscotti to make. Really glad I had holidays to use up over christmas as I've been crazy busy they last few days. Thankyou to eberyone here for keeping me motivated and inspired couldnt have done any of this without you. MWAH. xx
They are all so beautiful Vagastino. Oh my goodness! I swaer, next year, I'm really going to rethink my presentation.
Don;t worry about presentation LaBellaFlor! people just care about how things taste and I bet yours tasted wonderful!!!!
HannahLass: can I have the white chocolate baileys truffles recipe? . My baskets are done but I'm having a new year's party and I'm planning on having a dessert table and those will be great!
thanks!
Hey Vagostino,
Its an Ina Garten recipe i saw on tv and just thought yum. I doubled the recipe,i thought there wasnt enough cream but when you add the baileys it looks right then. Enjoy.
Ingredients
nocoupons
* 2 tablespoons heavy cream
* 7 ounces good white chocolate, chopped
* 2 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur (recommended: Baileys)
* 1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
* 6 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped
Directions
Place the cream in a heat-proof bowl, and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Cook until heated through. Using a wire whisk, slowly stir the white chocolate into the warm cream until completely melted. Whisk in the liqueur and vanilla. Cover and chill for 1 hour or until pliable but firm enough to scoop.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
With 2 teaspoons or a 1 1/4-inch ice cream scoop, make dollops of the chocolate mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until firm enough to roll into rough spheres.
Place the chopped hazelnuts on a sheet pan and place them in the oven for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Melt the bittersweet chocolate in a heat-proof bowl, set over a pan of simmering water.
Drizzle the melted bittersweet chocolate over 10 of the truffles. Roll the remaining truffles in the chopped nuts. Chill until ready to serve.
Next Recipe
vagostino your items are amazing. I especially like how you did the oreos and the marshmallows. How long in advance can the marshmallows be made as I'd like to try these next year?
I'm not sure how long in advance the marshmallows can be made. I made them like 10 days in advance, but I didn't try them to see how they tasted. I can tell you that my chocolate got the white spots (i think it's called blooming) even when I mixed cold chocolate into the melted one to try to temper it. This was only noticeable in the ones that were all dark chocolate with the white chocolate drizzle, but of course you couldn't see it in the ones covered in peppermint or graham cracker crumbs.
My baskets looked like they didn't have much stuff either! next year we neeed to figure out items that we can add to plump them!
If y'all have the storage space, I reccomend raiding Michaels and Joann's for clearance items! That's when I buy my treat bags, baskets, tins, and filler items for the next year. I then box them up so I'm ready to go come Novemember, and I get really nice stuff on the cheap.
For fillers I like getting coffe mugs, stuffed critters, candles, ornaments, cookie cutter sets...anything goes!
I plan on stocking up on clearance cookie cutters this season so next year I can use them as molds and fill them with fudge. Makes for a cute presentation, and they can use the cookie cutter after they're done with the candy! I totally forgot about doing that this year!
I've been loving the photos. Everyone's stuff looks so beautiful!
Happy KwanYuleMasKah!
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