December

Now that December is here I can start thinking about Christmas decorations.

My advent candle is ready for tomorrow.

all photos by me

Douradas (French toasts)

photo by my

Tasty and easy to make, this little treat is one of my strongest childhood memories from Christmas.

sliced bread (old and hard is better)

milk

eggs (3 or 4)

1 lemon

cinnamon (3 sticks and in powder)

sugar

Put the milk in a bowl with lemon zest and the cinnamon sticks. Mix the eggs in another bowl. Pass the bread by the milk bowl, then the egg bowl, then to the frying pan (with a bit of olive oil). When its toasted put it in a tray with sugar and cinnamon in powder on the bottom. Add more sugar and cinnamon on the top of the toast while it´s still warm to form a syrup.

Bom apetite!

Areias

all photos by me

Here is the recipe for some traditional portuguese (from Madeira island) Christmas biscuits. They are called areias which means sands, because of their sandy texture in your mouth.
Basic, simple easy and delicious...

300g  flour (without yeast)

250g butter

100g powdered sugar

(a bit more of powdered sugar to sprinkle on top)

Mix all the ingredients and let it rest for 1h. 

Make small balls with the dough (1,5 cm diameter). 

Put the balls on a tray to go to the oven, pre greased and floured or with anti adherent paper. Remember to leave some space between them. 

With your finger make a little "dimple" on every ball. 

Go to the oven at 180º C until they get slightly brown. 

Let them cool down a bit and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

keep them in a closed jar or a box and, like most of our Christmas treats, they will last the entire season... that is if you don´t eat them to fast. In Madeira we have this lovely tradition of making Christmas biscuits and then distribute little boxes of them between the family and friends. Every house has their own variation of the recipe, adapted over generations, and there is a funny and healthy (most of the times) competition to see which one is better. My grandmother used to do them every Christmas. My mother does them now. But this year I may just try it myself even because I want a picture to post here.

Pretty Orange

all photos by me

I saw this on a shop catalogue with Christmas decorations. It´s too early yet for Santas and angels but the smell of oranges and tangerines always reminds me of Christmas. 

An orange with lots of cloves stuck all around it. For an extra good look you can put a ribbon around it, or have several oranges with different patterns of cloves... I kept it simple. 

It gives a nice and not at all strong smell...if you like the smell of oranges and cloves that is. 

I keep it in the kitchen next to my little vases with cooking herbs. I Love this simple ideas that you can do in 5 minutes, it´s a perfect project for a lazy weekend.