Orange Cheesecake

Orange Cheesecake

This year to a great extent I was more than ready to ring in a new year.  I think maybe I like the sound of 2012 better than 2011.  Possibly it’s because 2011 was not a great year in many regards but I won’t go into that as it’s now past.  I’m looking onward and upward for great things in 2012 and I wish you the same!

To welcome this new year we celebrated with some old friends and our kids.

First Anniversary Celebration

Happy Anniversary!

Happy New Year to you and Happy Anniversary to The Orange Bee!  The folks at word press made it pretty simple for me to summarize my first year of blogging, statistically speaking, that is.  It seems that my post titled “Cheese Please” received more hits than any other.  Here is the link incase you missed it.  https://theorangebee.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/cheese-please/ 

Day Trippin’

Today I heard the first trill of Cedar Wax-Wings.  Winter is a great time to see many species of birds in North Texas.  It is sunny and chilly, but a perfect day for the birds to be out and about.  Robins are making their presence known as well as Goldfinch, Cardinal, Sparrows of all types, Dove, Chick a dee, Woodpeckers, Titmouse and Warblers.           This has nothing to do with what I’m writing to you about today but I couldn’t help but make note.

Backtracking to the week of Christmas.  My man Dan and I decided to take a day trip to Paris.

Christmas Traditions

tradition |trəˈdi sh ən|
noun
the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way : every shade of color is fixed by tradition and governed by religious laws.•
a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on in this way : Japan’s unique cultural traditions.

I believe all families have traditions when it comes to the Christmas holiday.  I also trust we feel lead to carry on traditions during the Christmas holiday.  We have strong traditions at The Orange Bee that have been carried on for years.  My girls would flip if they thought we were thinking of changing our special traditions.  Possibly it is because we don’t have any black sheep, weirdos, drunkards or such in our family.  It saddens me when I hear of a family who eats at a fast food restaurant and watches day time soaps on Christmas Day – I mean, REALLY?  I guess not all of us have wonderful traditions to pass along at Christmas.

I feel sure most of you reading this have warm, fuzzy traditions carried out in your families this time of year.  To my fellow bloggers, I hope to find a few free minutes to catch up with you and what you’re doing these next couple of days.  I’ll be doing a little cooking, a little relaxing, visiting with family and friends, opening a gift or two, imbibing a glass of wine or three, kissing my honey under the misletoe and….well carrying on our family traditions.

One tradition in particular I thought I’d share with you is the baking of a pecan pie.  My adoring hubby wouldn’t have it if I didn’t bake one of my delicious pecan pies at Christmas.  There is a secret ingredient that makes this pie extra special and holiday worthy.  Let’s suffice to say it is the easiest and most lip-smacking pie you’ll find.  I baked mine at eight this morning.  The fragrance of those toasty pecans and that secret ingredient wafted through the kitchen and stirred taste buds, as we finished our last cups of steamy coffee.  You’ll need to read on to discover my secret ingredient.
 It just wouldn’t be Christmas without this pie and a few special memory making events taking place over the next couple of days.  Candlelight service on the eve of Christmas, a one-pot meal together after church, a roaring fire, dominoes clacking, stocking stuffing partnered with a glass of  Courvoissier.  Early morning coffee followed by a mimosa or two on Christmas day, paper and ribbons embellishing the floor, hugs and kisses around, handmade, to order omelets, followed by more gift exchange and finally the pièce de résistance, Christmas dinner.  This year a standing rib roast with all the trimmings.  Yes, yes, I love these traditions, simple as they seem.  They are the glue by which families are held together for generations.

I’ll now bid you farewell and wish all of you a Merry Christmas!  The Pecan Pie??  Oh, yes, the recipe follows.

Enjoy!

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups pecans
3 tbsp. bourbon – (be sure to use true Bourbon from Kentucky)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 9″ deep dish pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 375*
In a medium bowl stir together the sugar and melted butter.  Add the corn syrup, eggs, pecans, vanilla and bourbon and stir until all ingredients are combined.  Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes. Lower temp. to 350* and continue baking for an additional 25 minutes, or until pie is set.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Early Christmas Gift

I find myself once again honored by a fellow blogger with the Liebster Award.  Thank you to Ashkitty at http://globetrottingforfood.wordpress.com/ for the gift.

Liebster is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favourite’ and the idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers.

The Rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogosphere – other bloggers.
5. And, best of all – have fun and spread the karma

Having been recently given this award and listing 5 fellow bloggers, I was a little pressed to list 5 more bloggers who fit the rules, but, alas I’ve listed 5  below whom you might enjoy and they of course deserve the attention!

1. Charles @ Five Euro Food: http://www.fiveeurofood.com/
2. Kristy @ Eat, Play, Love: http://ourfamilyfoodadventures.com/
3. Bridgett @ 4 Smart Cookies: http://www.4smartcookies.com/
4. Cat @ Inspired Beeing: http://inspiredbeeing.com/
5. Becky @ Becky Bakes: http://www.beckybakes.net/

So there you have it!  The gift continues – Merry Christmas.  I hope to be back at least once before the big day but after I forecast a few days away from blogging to regroup and make a plan for year #2 of The Orange Bee.  No big changes just a plan in place for me and my brain.

Stay tuned…..

Chinese Christmas Gift

Chocolate Crinkles, Orange Chocolate Chip Biscotti, Cracked Sugar Cookies, Gingered Shortbread

I recently posted a cookie recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies https://theorangebee.wordpress.com/2011/12/10/one-batch-of-cookies/#more-2356 and talked about how I wanted to bake more cookies for the Christmas season.  I did it!  I had an ulterior motive for baking cookies, not that we don’t like to eat cookies around here, I needed a gift for a Chinese gift exchange, not a gag gift.  I decided instead of the usual suspects,

Company Pot Roast

Is this a holiday recipe?  No.  Are the holidays upon us?  Yes!  At this busy time of year we like to have intimate family dinners or simply invite another couple to share a meal around our table.  This one pot meal is stress free,

One Batch Of Cookies

Ahhhh, tis’ the season – for baking cookies.  Have you ever hosted a “cookie exchange”?  Every year I consider hosting one but I’ve never followed through with it.  And to remain status quo, I’m not hosting one this year either. I attended a couple of cookie exchanges in the past and always loved sampling everyone’s favorite cookie treats.  I take that back,

Leftovers and Rain, Rain, Rain

Rain is a product of nature we have become quite unfamiliar with, unfortunately.  Most of Texas has been declared to be experiencing severe drought conditions.  This is sad news and I admit I’ve forgotten how to use an umbrella.  Last evening we, my man Dan, our daughter LuLu and her guy ventured out, even though the weather forecasters were predicting rain.  It’s been so long since we’ve had a real downpour

Fine Awards

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas....

One of the nice perks of blogging is that every so often awards are handed out from fellow bloggers.  Right before the craziness of Thanksgiving two fellow bloggers bestowed the honor upon me.  Now before I’m completely engulfed in the Christmas frenzy I wanted to pass on the awards and say thanks.  Oh, by the way, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. How about you?