Cooking with Alison

Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

Addictive ‘100 Good Cookies’ Recipe

In Cookies on May 4, 2016 at am

100 good cookies

One Christmas, many years ago, when I was volunteering for Camp Trillium, the coordinator made small cookies for all of the volunteers. I have to admit, being the pickiest cookie eater you may ever meet, I almost didn’t try one. They looked like ugly, over baked, firm mounds. I usually prefer thin, chewy cookies. Luckily, I talked myself out of my cookie snobbishness and tried one. They were absolutely addictive! After eating the entire bag within a few minutes, I emailed the coordinator and begged her to share the recipe with me. She said they were called ‘100 good cookies’. I never forgot them, but I didn’t make them until now.

After putting my first batch in the oven, I worried that maybe my palette had changed and that I wouldn’t like them anymore. You’d think I would have learned not to doubt these cookies again. They made it to John’s top 3 favourite cookies list. Several of his co-workers and my sister used the word “addictive” after trying these cookies. John’s manager even said, “Your wife is evil.” as he left his office for the third time to get more. 🙂

These cookies have a bit of everything in them: oats, coconut, Rice Krispies cereal, and toffee bits. But the flavours are so well balanced, that you almost can’t tell what’s in them. The texture is just as varied: crispy, light, and crumbly with chewy specks. Finally, this recipe actually makes 100 cookies, so it’s perfect for bake sales, large parties, pot lucks, cookie exchanges, and holiday gifts. You also have the option of freezing them.

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How to Make a Christmas Stocking Advent Tree (and Stocking Stuffer Ideas)

In DIY and Crafts on December 24, 2010 at am

Ed and I agreed to place a small budget on our Christmas presents this year, so I decided to be creative with a DIY (do it yourself) craft project.  I thought that an advent calender would be the best way to stretch out the value of a low budget gift.  I also loved the idea of surprising him every day for about a month.

[Photo above:  It’s too bad that Ed’s Christmas tree was so small, because you can’t tell how cute the stockings really are as they’re only about 4 inches tall.  Also, it would have looked much nicer if the stockings had been dispersed throughout the tree like ornaments.]


I’m a beginner with the sewing machine so it took me 3 nights to complete this project.  I sewed 24 mini stockings for him to hang on his Christmas tree (see sewing instructions below) and I filled each one with a small gift.  I chose to make my stockings using different colours and patterns, but you could make them all the same if you prefer.  I found Christmas themed wine charms at the dollar store, wrote the numbers on the back of them (1 to 24) and attached them to the corresponding stockings, so he would know what order to open them in.

The great thing about these miniature stockings is that they can be reused as ornaments, gift card holders, small gift bags, or cutlery/flatware holders when entertaining (see here).  In fact, Crate and Barrel sold knitted stocking flatware holders one season.

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