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The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!
Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!
Please visit ILoveToBake.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!
The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!
Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!
Please visit ILoveToBake.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!
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Needlework and Quilting Pros |
| ILoveToBakeCookies.com PORTZELKI - New Year’s Cookies |
| Portzelki has been a Christmas/New Year’s tradition in my family as long as I can remember. My grandmothers made them, my mom’s made them, although not very often, or as regularly in recent years. It is still an annual tradition in my husband’s family, though, and they often plan a day to make them together with friends of theirs, or other family. It is an all day event to make Portzelki. A couple of years ago I had a chance to enjoy this with them. The morning was spent mixing the dough, and letting it rise, making several batches, some with raisins, and even some with dried cranberries. The men spent the time outside, getting the fat hot for frying. (If possible, the deep-frying is done outside, as it’s done in a huge pot, not an electric deep-fryer, although I’m sure that would work too, for smaller batches than what the Dyck family makes.) About mid-afternoon we were ready to sit down and for coffee and portzelki. My favorite way of eating them is dipping them in confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar), but other family favorites are dipping them in regular sugar, or syrup. They are also yummy plain. While I know portzelki store well for a few days, and I’m sure they freeze well, they always seem to disappear before that becomes an issue. |
| Ingredients |
| 1 1/2 pkg yeast 1 1/2 cups water 1 tsp salt 3 cups raisins 11/2 cups thick cream 1 tbsp margarine or butter 8-9 cups flour 1/2 cup water 3 cups scalded milk (cool) 4 beaten eggs 2 tsp sugar ½ cup sugar 2 tbsp baking powder |
| Step by Step |
| 1) Mix yeast and 1 ½ cups water together. 2) Let rise for 10 minutes. 3) Scald milk. and cool. 4) Beat eggs. 5) Cream together margarine and sugar. 6) Add eggs. 7) Add remaining ingredients and mix.  Allow to rise until double in bulk.9) Drop by spoonful into hot fat or oil. |
| Olive Hope Design |
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Cross Stitch and Punchneedle designs of hope and inspiration by Canadian designer, Olive Dyck, for a variety of interests, including a unique line of Braille cross stitch designs! Web Site: http://www.olivehopedesign.com/ |
The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!
Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!
Please visit ILoveToBake.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!
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Needlework and Quilting Pros |
| ILoveToBake.com DINKERSNOODLES |
| Several years back I made a batch of Snickerdoodles for our Family & Friends Christmas party. One of the guests, a young Captain in the Air Force, took quite a liking to them and the next time he came to the house he wanted to know if I was making “Dinkersnoodles” for dessert. He was quite embarrassed when he realized his mistake. Much to his continued chagrin, we have since re-named the cookies in honor of that humorous occasion. I am sure he would love to live this one down…maybe next year. |
| Ingredients |
| 1 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 2 3/4 cups flour 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt |
| Step by Step |
| Preheat oven to 400 degrees 1) Combine the shortening, sugar, and eggs. 2) Mix thoroughly 3) To the above mixture add the flour, tartar, baking soda, and salt. 4) Mix and shape in to balls 5) Roll in raw sugar & sprinkle with cinnamon 6) Bake 8-10 minutes 7) Serve and Enjoy! |
| Plumcute Designs |
| My goal at Plumcute Designs is to provide original stitchery, wool applique, and quilt projects for all levels of individuals to enjoy! I take pride in providing excellent customer service, quality, and affordability. In addition to stitchery, wool applique, and quilt patterns I also offer a selection of kits. Check out the catalog to see the newest creations as well as some old favorites. http://www.plumcutedesigns.com/ |
The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!
Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!
Please visit ILoveToBake.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!
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Needlework and Quilting Pros |
| ILoveToBakeCookies.com CHOCOLATE CHIP KISSES |
| Chocolate Chip Kisses are a little taste of sugar overload for the holidays. I found the recipe in the coupon section of the paper about ten years ago and we’ve made them every year at Christmas since then. Sometimes, if we are feeling especially like we might want to tempt diabetes, we even frost them with leftover frosting from our Christmas cut-out cookies. Decadent. |
| Ingredients |
| 1 bag Hershey’s kisses – they have so many kinds now, this year I’m going to make these with the mint ones! 1 cup butter, softened (No substitutes) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 t vanilla 2 cups flour 1 cup mini chocolate chips |
| Step by Step |
| Preheat oven to 375. 1) In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until well blended. 2) Add flour, mix a bit with mixer, then finish with your clean hands. 3) As this recipe does not call for eggs, the dough is very dry and the flour is best worked into the dough with your hands. 4) Stir in small chips with a spoon or your hands. 5) Mold 1T of dough around each kiss, covering completely. 6) Shape into balls, place on cookie sheet. 7) Bake 10-12 minutes. Serve and Enjoy! |
| EvaPaige Quilt Designs |
| EvaPaige Quilt Designs came about because of a random moment of narcissism. Last summer I was a stay at home mom of toddler twins who just happened to love to quilt and play with her own designs. One fateful afternoon in August of 2005 I had a sudden self-appreciating thought as I gazed upon the latest quilt I had recently completed: “It’s better than some of the patterns I have seen in quilt shops.†Three days later I had decided to take my ego trip to the next level and was researching options for self-publishing the pattern, which in late October of 2005 hit the marketplace as “Feelin’ Hot Hot Pinkâ€.
Suddenly I was CEO of my own company (thank God for that minor in Business I accidentally completed in college), which had, after much debate and many rejected names, finally been named after my daughters, Eva and Paige, who were almost three at the time and thankfully still fantastic nappers so that I could be a business woman two hours a day. My goal for my patterns was then and is now fairly simple – I want quilting to be about having a good time, not about worrying over matching seams and perfect points. I design by trial and error, just grabbing some fabric and seeing what I can do to make it look like the pictures I see in my mind, and the resulting quilts reflect that design freedom. My patterns feature fun cutting and piecing techniques, appealing designs, quick construction, and often strive to break a quilting rule or two or make up a new one entirely along the way. I want people to see my patterns hanging in a shop and to be barely able to control their urge to want to get home and dive into their stash and start creating. After buying the pattern, of course. In short, they are “Fun and inspired designs for quilters and quilt loversâ€. Fast forward a little more than a year to October of 2006, and I now have three patterns on the market, two more in production and countless many in my head, three distributors, several custom quiltmaking jobs going at any given time, and one more daughter, Greta, “A tiny little division of EvaPaigeâ€, born in August of 2006. I’ve lost my fantastic nappers, any semblance of appearing to ever clean my home, all free time, and sometimes feel I am losing my mind, but it is all worth it. EvaPaige Quilt Designs has enjoyed growing successes in 2006, and I strive for even bigger successes in 2007, followed by official recognition as a quilt pattern diva by 2010. |
The joy of creation can result from doing beautiful needlework, creating a lovely quilt or simply baking and cooking delicious treats for your loved ones!
Professionals from the Quilting and Needlework Industries have joined together to share their holiday memories, a glimpse into their businesses, and MANY irresistible recipes!
Please visit ILoveToBake.com and TheArmchairChef.com for more fabulous holiday creations!
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Needlework and Quilting Pros |
| ILoveToBakeCookies.com CHOCOLATE DIPPED ALMOND BISCOTTI |
| For the past 20 years, my best friends and I have gotten together during the first full weekend in December for our annual Great Cookie Bake! For 3 days solid, we eat, talk, laugh, and of course, BAKE *enormous* amounts of cookies. We bake so many cookies, in fact, that we now have a database containing our recipe ingredients and number of batches baked. We’re quite productive, considering there are only 4 of us baking! (To give you an idea, for the 2005 bake, we made 26 varieties, which required about 13 lbs. butter, 5 dozen eggs, and about 20 lbs. of flour!) About a month before the Bake, we get together and decide which cookies we feel like baking this time around, who will be bringing how much of what ingredients. Then we converge on the host’s house at the appointed time and the Games begin! For many years, we rotated between our three homes…then one of our group bought a new house with 2 wall ovens… talk about heaven for cookie baking! We have a great time getting together; the baking part is really just an excuse to do it! We give most of the finished product away as gifts.
There are several types we simply *must* make every year, as people are disappointed if we don’t! We ALWAYS make a biscotti that gets rave reviews: Chocolate-Dipped Almond Biscotti! |
| Ingredients |
| Biscotti:3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup sugar 4 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons almond extract 3-3/4 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons lemon zest 2 teaspoons orange zest 1 cup almonds, toasted and finely chopped |
| Chocolate Dip:2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tablespoons shortening finely chopped nuts of your choice for garnish |
| Step by Step |
| Preheat oven to 350 F Biscotti: 1) Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 2) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar, 3) Add eggs, vanilla, almond extract, lemon and orange zests and beat until mixture is well-combined (It will be soupy and a bit lumpy) 4) Add half of the flour mixture, and beat until it is just combined. 5) Use a wooden spoon to stir in the rest of the flour mixture and the almonds. 6) Shape the dough into 2: 15″ X 3-1/2″ X 1/2″ logs. Place them on a cookie sheet about 3″ apart. 7) Bake logs for 32 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 hours.9) Using a long serrated knife, slice the logs diagonally into 1/2″ slices. 10) Arrange cut side down on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 7 minutes. 11) Flip the biscotti over and bake for another 5 minutes more. 12) Cool completely on a wire rack. |
| Make chocolate dip: 1) Melt together chocolate chips and shortening in microwave. 2) Dip biscotti in chocolate mixture and sprinkle with finely chopped nuts of your choice. 3) Store in an airtight container away from heat. |
| TW Designworks |
| TW Designworks: Specializing in fantasy-inspired counted cross stitch designs, sold through fine needlework retailers and via PatternsOnLine.com. Also now offering fine art prints and original artwork by Teresa Wentzler, sold consumer-direct via the TW Designworks website. Sign up for the TW Art Newsletter to stay updated about what’s new! Visit Artistic License, my blog, for glimpses into the life of the artist/designer. And visit the Teresa Wentzler Bulletin Board to network with other needlework enthusiasts. Stay tuned for some new developments as TW Designworks continues to grow! http://www.twdesignworks.com/ |
