I bought a couple rolls of Kraft paper last week because I planned on hand stamping it and using it as wrapping paper. I wasn't sure how I wanted to stamp, at the time, but I figured I'd figure it out later. I'd stamped paper with a pencil eraser in the past to create mini polka dots, but that was more time consuming than I wanted, since I'd be needing to wrap multiple gifts. I remembered making potato stamps back in the day, and thought I'd see if that worked, and it did! I haven't done potato stamping since elementary school, but I love it! it worked perfectly for my wrapping paper.
I just used a little potato and cut a triangle into it. I think that simple shapes would probably work best for potato printing, but if you want to go crazy with it, I'm not going to stop you. Little simple Christmas trees would be super easy to cut into a potato as a stamp. I used a stamp ink pad to do my stamping, but acrylic paint would probably also do the job, though it might cause the paper to wrinkle, since paint is wet and may cause the paper to warp when it dries.
Since the paper is simple, I kept the bow simple and just used baker's twine and tied on a sprig of evergreen for color!
Egg Nog is one of those holiday staples, but usually I find it too rich and syrupy for my taste. I'll usually cut it with some milk to keep it from being too thick. When Dan decided to make homemade egg nog the other day and I was intrigued to see how it compared to the store bought versions. Not surprising to find that it's so much better. While it's still a rich beverage, the frothiness of the beaten eggs keeps it from having the syrup-like texture of the stuff I find in stores.
When I was a kid, even though I had stopped believing in Santa Claus, I used to always make a plate of cookies and a glass of egg nog to set by the fireplace for Santa, just to make my younger brothers still believe he existed. After they went to bed, I'd go up and drink some of the egg nog and take a bite out of some cookies to make it look like Santa had been there. I don't know how long it actually worked, but I always enjoyed my sneaky little tradition.
(Recipe via Alton Brown)
Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites
dash of cinnamon or nutmeg for garnish
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.
2. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.
