'tis the season

What a year it has been. Were you one of those individuals that spent a lot of time in the kitchen? Do you still have the willingness to cook, perhaps share your love of cooking by preparing a special holiday breakfast? If so, I’ve got some easy to prepare pancake recipes to make Christmas morning a little easier and special. The pancake batter can be made ahead, just keep the wet and dry ingredients separate until you’re ready to eat. My most favorite pancake is a decadent red velvet with cream cheese frosting…yum. If you love warm apples scented with cinnamon, apple, raisin, then cinnamon pancakes are great on Christmas morning. For those that love just a good old, light and fluffy pancake (made with buttermilk), try favorite pancakes. This holiday splurge, and buy real maple syrup. ​

​If you want to give cookies as a gift, I find biscotti the perfect cookie. You make the batter, shape dough into logs, bake, cool and then slice for second baking. You get lots of cookies with minimal work.
 
If you want to make a health snack as a giveaway, try my version of Chocolate Granola or  Honey Pecan Granola. Package in mason jars tied with holiday ribbon. You could even go a step further and buy a piece of holiday fabric, cut a circle about 2” larger than the diameter of the lid; then tie with ribbon.
 
Another good holiday gift is Diane’s Candied Pecans. I found these pecans to have just the right balance of sugar to pecan.
 
Need activity next week when school vacation starts, I found Smitten Kitchen’s Unfussy Sugar Cookies were perfect to make. I also followed the recipe for the icing, which was just as easy. Wegmans in Ocean Township sells cookie cutters or you can make your way over to Shore Cake Supply, also in Ocean they have extensive selection.