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On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me five Chestnut Rings, four Poppyseed cookies, three To me, Christmas usually comes with Christmas markets where you, as a rule, must burn your fingers peeling Thanks to Covid, I won't be going to any of those this year, but still wanted to capture that Christmassy flavour in cookies for one of these 12 days of Christmas cookies.

feels a bit like cheating to include it as I posted it so recently, but as we are including it in our Christmas

Ginger Snaps are always a favourite at this time of year, and baking a variety of Christmas cookies is a joy of the season (as perhaps suggested by my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies last year). As part of it, I posted a Ginger Snap recipe (on the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me The smell of ginger snaps baking is so reminiscent of Christmas time for me, and of baking as a family

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eleven Almond Crescents, ten Christmas Butter Balls, nine Greek Apple Cookies, eight Cinnamon Stars, seven Basler Christmas Cookies, six Pumpkin and As with the Christmas Butter Balls on Day 10, it is not Christmas without my Oma's Almond Crescents ( Covid for them being posted late, but as we are all together, now is the time...Also, the 12th day of Christmas Either way they are a delight and highly worth including in any Christmas cookie list!

At Thanksgiving, my cousin mentioned making my aunt's Cuban stuffing. It is a bread stuffing which also has nuts and chestnuts in it. I was intrigued, especially given how much he said he enjoyed it, so when we decided to roast a turkey last week, I asked my aunt for the recipe (and have her permission to post it here). I had only ever had my mother's cornbread stuffing until a couple of years ago, and only found out in university that instant stuffing exists. Last autumn I started playing around with another stuffing of my own, my Orange Fenugreek Stuffing, so I was excited to try this other new one. Also, there is my minor love affair with chestnuts to take into account. So anyway, I tried it and loved it! Here it is! Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped 1/3 c butter 1/2 head of garlic, chopped 2 celery sticks, chopped 500 g whole chestnuts, peeled (given the season, I used frozen) 1/4 walnuts, chopped (or other nuts) 250 - 500g bacon, chopped 1 loaf of bread, cubed 1/2 c raisins, chopped 1 - 1 1/2 c milk 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp oregano Salt and pepper to taste A splash of white wine 1) In a heavy skillet, melt the butter and sauté the onions over low heat until soft. Add garlic and celery. 2) Place bread cubes in a large mixing bowl and add just enough milk to coat the bread. Set aside. 3) Add bacon, raisins, walnuts to the onions and garlic and stir. Add a splash of wine to deglaze the pan as necessary. Continue to cook over low heat. 4) Allow to cook for a few minutes, then add the chestnuts and stir. Cook for a few more minutes. Add spices and oregano. 5) Add the onions, bacon, chestnut mix to the bread and mix well. Deglaze the pan again with a little wine and add these juices to the bread mix. Stir. 6) Either stuff the turkey with the mix, or in an oven proof dish cook at 180°C for 35-40 minutes until the top is a little browned and the chestnuts are cooked. I really enjoyed this stuffing! My aunt's recipe called for Sazon, but being in Switzerland, that was not available so I replaced and substituted as best I could, but there was probably still a flavour missing. I also switched to bacon from ham as that is what I had on hand. The quantities were a bit of guess work. She says that in Cuba there is a saying. You add a little of this and a little of that until your ancestors say "enough, dear". That is what I tried to do, but matters are a little complicated when you haven't had the thing you are trying to get to before. I would recommend parboiling the chestnuts before adding to the stuffing. I didn't do that here, and they took longer to cook than anything else. It probably wasn't the same as hers, and at some point I'd love to get the chance to make it with her, but in the mean time, this will do. I was also quite pleased and reassured when my husband walked into the kitchen and declared that it smelled like Cuban food, so I must have done something right. It was tasty on its own the first night as a side for the turkey, heated up well for leftovers, and went very well on top of my Turkey Pot Pie. I highly recommend this.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me four poppy seed cookies with red current jam, These were a new addition to our Christmas cookie roster but I think they will be staying.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three peppermint macaroons, two orange date cookies

If you want chocolate cookies, check out the classic Basler Christmas Cookie recipe instead (which I

It is Christmas Cookie season again, and you may have noticed from some of my recent posts that I've

much so in fact, that we are brewing a new batch of mead in order to have some for mulling purposes at Christmas