Santa's Sweatshop of Sweets

One week until we leave for Boston (weather permitting), and preparations are well under way. All the presents have been bought, and this weekend I made all my holiday treats, packaged them up, and have begun distributing them. I like to make an array of treats, varying in color, flavor, and overall aesthetic. This year was a little choco-heavy, but people don't seem to mind too much.

This year I also took my first stab at truffles. I used too much 100% cacao so they are for the dark chocolate lovers, not the milk chocolate nambie pambies like me. I'm not sure Martha would approve, but she's also had years of practice. Not bad for a 1st attempt:




Then there are chocolate stars drizzled with chocolate and crushed candy canes (the crushing part was very fun!). The dough on these was interesting because it used powdered sugar instead of regular granulated sugar. They're quite crisp and have a nice minty finish:






And then there was the gingerbread production line. Paul lent an artistic hand, and this:

soon turned into this:

Creativity abounded. These weren't just your regular 'ol Christmas cookies. They had a modern feel with a personal touch. Here are some of the highlights:





(L to R: Pre-op Transgendered Snow Person; Rad Frosty; Evil Robo-Frosty)




(slow Gingerbread Boy, Gingerbread Pervert, Gingerspice Blow-up Doll; Ninjabread Man)


I'll let you all guess who designed which ones.

To round out the goodies I also made fudge (I ended up using Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme - clearly inferior to Fluff, but I made do) and candied citrus peels. These treats are primarily for the families I babysit for, and the final presentation is certainly gift-worthy:







Now the trick is to not eat any more cookies before they reach their intended families!