Holiday Unwrapped

And we're back! I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday. I saved some vacation time and took a few days off from my 'real' job for some holiday celebrating. This included, but was not limited to seeing family and friends, baking cookies, rocking red lipstick for the first time, watching the 25th anniversary of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame concert, viewing The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center and ceasing to sleep for a few days time. And let's not forget about the gift exchange. Shaun and I are so unbelievably lucky to have the absolute best families in the entire universe (no, really...they are) who know us oh-so-well and gave us gifts that just warmed our food-obsessed hearts. From good reads to gift cards to tools, we made out like the proverbial foodster bandits that we are. Here's the rundown:

Serving tray, Target; Good Eats: The Early Years, Barnes & Noble; Rachael Ray nylon bench scrape, Rachaelraystore.com; Bamboo spider, Sur la Table; Rachael Ray nylon 2-pc turner set, Rachaelraystore.com; Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food, Amazon.com; Magazine subscriptions, Foodnetwork.com, Realsimple.com; Entertainment Book 2010, entertainment.com; Sur la Table gift certificate, Sur la Table

Yep, it was a good year for the Humistons. Furthering our culinary knowledge and technique is something we love and receiving gifts to aid us in this food crush of ours is just the icing on the cake. I, for one, cannot wait to dive into New York City Food as well as test out my bench scraper. Apparently it's the only way to pick up chopped food from your cutting board - onions, veggies, you name it - for super simple transfer into your stock pot or skillet. And I know Shaun is just itching to break out the fryer and test out the bamboo mesh spider he's been wanting for ages. What can I say? It doesn't take much to get us going. The holidays were filled with many more gifts (both given and received, including the matching iPod Touch that we unknowingly picked out for each other), multiple family gatherings, and of course, indulging on holiday treats. I'm sad to see it pass us by, but am so looking forward to a fabulous, food-filled 2010.

So there's the food gift roundup - a peek at some of our foodster gifts we were so fortunate to receive and can't wait to enjoy now that our holiday travel has ceased. But my question to all of you fabulous readers is: What did you get for the holiday this year? Any food-related gifts that tickled your fancy? Please tell me that Shaun and I aren't the only food geeks out there and leave us some tales of good eats (and by eats I mean actual eats, products, gift cards, reading materials, kitchen tools and anything else of the sort).

Oh, and in case you're curious, the baking, red-lipstick-wearing, family time went something like this...

The butter cookie cutouts...a Christmas staple for as long as I can remember

Just a small sampling of the Cannon bakefest '09

Kimberly & me

Christine & me vampin' it up

Shaun & me at Christmas Eve dinner

Suburban, yet city-loving doggie Chloe trying her hardest to get some holiday treats from her stocking

My mom, sisters and me after The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center

And there's the roundup. Hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as we enjoyed ours!

PS - If you missed any of our holiday coverage, including foodster gift guides for all the food-lovers in you life, you can find it all right here.

Christmas Favorites: The Food

One of my favorite holiday elements is (what else?) the food. For some reason, I feel that it's a free pass to all of the indulgences that I may not necessarily afford myself all year long. Christmas cookies, egg nog, hors d'oeuvres galore. Perhaps it's just the food-obsessed Italian side of the family, but Christmas Eve is the big night (Shaun's family does Christmas Day, so all works out perfectly) and as in any Italian family it means hours upon hours of eating - from dips to wings to brie to beef tenderloin to cookies and cupcakes. By the time the evening ends, I'm on the verge of a food coma, barely mobile, yet still look forward to my annual breakfast strata on Christmas morning. And let's not forget about the prep that goes into such a feast...here's a peek at Christmases passed...

icing the famous butter cookies

Kimmi taking over

A little wine for the chefs...Jacque & Julia would be so proud

enjoying the goods

So how do you get your party on for Christmas? Is it a two day affair, utilizing both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Is food the main attraction? How do you celebrate with your family? And, most importantly, what's your favorite indulgence of the holidays?

The Icing on the Cake

Everyone's heard of 'doctoring' up a boxed cake mix. I think that what it really comes down to is the frosting. Am I alone in my distaste for canned frosting? I'll admit, I have dabbled in straight-out-of-the-can style frosting, and the one flavor I'm okay with on cake is chocolate. And trust me, it's not like I would refuse it if presented in front of me. But in my opinion, real frosting is the only way to go, even on a boxed cake mix. And honestly? It couldn't be easier. If you recall my Key Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes, you may also recall my rant for the love of good frosting. It's just a necessity. And once you realize how easy it is, I'm confident that you'll feel similarly.

As a treat at my holiday cocktail party, I whipped up some mini chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate frosting. My sister Kimberly provided the adorable snowman mini cupcake wrappers and decorations and they were the perfect vehicle for a holiday treat and mini-sized for a perfect cocktail party food. Using Betty Crocker's SuperMoist Devil's Food chocolate cake mix and a mini muffin tin, I was on my way to the perfect confection. For the frosting, I consulted The Cupcake Deck by Elinor Klivans and her recipe for White Christmas Cupcakes. Though the cake part called for a vanilla cake batter, what can I say? I'm a sucker for chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. So that's what I made.

White Christmas Cupcakes Frosting

3 oz white chocolate, chopped (I use Baker's chocolate)

1/4 C (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature (leave it out of the fridge the night before)

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (leave it out of the fridge the night before)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 C powdered sugar

Melt the chopped white chocolate (for a handy tutorial on this, check out this article). Place in large bowl and with electric mixer (I use my red stand mixer, but a hand mixer will also be just fine) add the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla to chocolate and beat on low until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar, mixing until the frosting is smooth and fluffy. I like to beat the frosting longer than suggested, since I like it super smooth and super fluffy. Once finished, dress your cupcakes with the frosting, give 'em a taste test, and vow to never go back to the canned stuff. See? I told you it was super easy!

So what are your thoughts on the frosting sitch? Love the canned stuff? Hate it? Are you willing to give the homemade frosting a try? I'd love to hear your thoughts!