Holiday baking

It started with Thanksgiving.
It's just not complete without a pumpkin pie.
So I made my favorite recipe for the umpteenth time. It tasted especially good this time.

Once the Christmas season started I had to make gingerbread cookies. I really wanted to up the spiciness factor this year. So I googled "spiciest gingerbread cookies" and came up with this Food Network recipe that included not only black pepper but CAYENNE PEPPER as well. They had a real kick to them in the aftertaste. But I'm not sure I'd rush back to make them again. I want one with really rich Christmas spices...cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mace, etc...so the hunt is on. They turned out well tho.

I love this new cookbook I bought called "One Pot" from the editors of Martha Stewart Living. I made this great curry chicken pot pie with carrots and parsnips, I added mushrooms too. It was simply delicious.

Finally, I really had a hankering to try a fruitcake recipe. Fruitcakes always remind me of my grandmother, she always had one every year for Christmas, usually store bought, but sometimes she made one herself. This one had tons of stuff in it: dried pineapple, dried apricots, raisins, walnuts, and candied cherries, all soaked in rum! I baked it about 10 minutes too long, it was a little dark on the top edges but still very, very good. The recipe made two loaves, I'm taking one gift wrapped home to Texas. It will be a new holiday tradition for sure.

Macerating fruit in rum

"Slice up the fruitcake, we need a little Christmas now!"

Wrapped and ready for Texas