Cookie Gift Packaging Using a Chinese Takeout Container

Since this is Christmas Cookie Week we are talking about all things cookie related.  Not only are there yummy recipes, but also interesting ways to package the cookies so you can give them as gifts.


This morning I shared with you a delicious recipe for Double Ginger Chocolate Cookies and now I'm going to show you a fun way to package these cookies using a Chinese takeout container.  

You can buy these containers for a few dollars at lots of different stores like Michaels or Solutions.   I envisioned using a white container and covering it with red and green dots, but when I got to Michaels the white containers were all banged up so I bought a red one instead.  You really have to be flexible in the world of crafting I'm discovering.

In the photo below you can see the empty container surrounded by the little circles of scrapbooking paper that I cut out.  It would have been easier if I had had a circle punch the right size, but mine was too small so I just went with what I had and cut circles using scissors.

I used Google translate to find out how to write "Merry Christmas" in different languages which I wrote on the circles.  I picked languages that had some meaning to me - like "Vrolijk Kerstfeest" which is Dutch and I lived in the Netherlands for a year as an exchange student, and "Joyeux Noel" which is French and we visited France this past summer.

Of course I had to write Merry Christmas in Bangla (Bengali) since going to Bangladesh this past summer was such a huge milestone for me (you can see it written phonetically in the photo below - Shuvo Naba Barsha - and written in Bengali script on another circle on the box). 

"Joy to the World" was the natural thing to write on a circle that I will use on the top of the box (I haven't stuck it down yet, by the way, as it is a bit early to load these boxes to actually give them away).

Mmmm ... loaded with goodness!

Thanks for stopping by.  I would encourage you to hop on over to Angie's blog at Echoes of Laughter to have a look at how she used a Chinese takeout box to package her cookies and come on back tomorrow to see my next recipe.

Linked to Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming,
Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff,
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Show-off,
Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter,
Handmade Holiday at Just a Girl

Christmas Cookie Week: Double Ginger Chocolate Cookies

Well my friends, it is time for Christmas Cookie Week around these parts.  

I got the recipe for these cookies - Double Ginger Chocolate Cookies - from a colleague who brought them in to work to share with everyone (don't you love colleagues like that).  I couldn't believe how gingery they tasted -  they are actually so gingery they take you by surprise.  It's kind of a nice change from the usual cookies.  


I modified the recipe to accommodate my tastes and I added chocolate chips - because everything tastes better with chocolate.  I really think they should be called Double Delicious Double Ginger Chocolate Cookies.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3-4 tablespoons white sugar (I used coloured sugar since I wanted the cookies to look festive)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the orange juice, grated ginger, and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture and add the chocolate chips.
4. Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
5. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the coloured 3-4 tablespoons of sugar.
6. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly.
7. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Thanks for joining me for Day 1 of Christmas Cookie Week.  Later this afternoon I'll be posting suggestions  for how to package the cookies so you can give them as a gift.  Also you should check out Angie's blog at Echoes of Laughter to see what yummy cookies she has made.  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my next cookie recipe.

Linked to Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff,
Tasty Tuesday at Nap Time Creations,
Recipe Link Party at Remodelaholic,
Cookiepalooza Party at Centsational Girl

Announcing Christmas Cookie Week

This year my Christmas holidays don't start until December 24th, so that means if I'm going to have any baking done it has to be finished well before I finish work.  Angie (from Echoes of Laughter) and I decided to team up this year and have a Christmas Cookie Marathon Week.  We thought this would have the double incentive of getting our baking done and sending some yummy tried-and-true recipes your way.  So every day next week you will find a different cookie recipe here and over at Angie's blog.  Why not join in the fun and get your baking done too.

Oh and we're also showing you some fun and festive ways to package the cookies.  See you on Monday for the first recipe!

WISH Wednesday #5

Yes folks - it is finally time to start posting some Christmas WISH (Weekly Inspiration for Seasonally decorated Homes) photos.  With the blue, white, and silver colour scheme this photo is Christmassy with an emphasis on winter.  I'm partial to blue-silver colour combinations so this one caught my attention right away.

I also adore it when natural elements are included like the evergreen boughs and the pine cones.

Better Homes and Gardens

And finally, I like the winter painting that is over the mantel.  All put together I think this mantel looks so calm and serene and pretty!  


What colours do you use for Christmas?  Truth be told, Christmas around our house is pretty much of a dog's breakfast of colours (as in all the traditional ones jumbled together), but that doesn't stop me from admiring more restrained arrangements.

Visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake and an Inniskillin Wine Tour

About an hour-and-a-half from our house is the picturesque little village of Niagara-on-the-Lake.  We had a friend visiting us from France recently so we took him to see some of historic Ontario.   If you are ever in Southern Ontario this is one of the must-see places.  


The town was first established by Europeans in 1781, but most of it was destroyed in the War of 1812 and many of the present buildings date from the rebuilding after the war.  Niagara-on-the-Lake has one of the best collections of regency and classical revival buildings in Canada.


The downtown shopping area has a lovely historic feel.

I love the old drinking fountains that are all along the main street.

Even Santa and his helper were there to greet us.

We had lunch in the lounge at the lovely Prince of Wales Hotel.

The decor was lovely, the company was great, and the food was divine.   This cream of celery soup was out of this world.  

Have you been for a wine tour?  I don't quite know how I got to my age and had never been on one, but that is the case.  Since we were in the heart of the Ontario wine district, we took our friend on a wine tour.  One of our favourite Ontario wines is Inniskillin so that is the winery we selected.  It was very interesting and I learned a lot about wine making, especially ice wine making.

Did you know, that it has to be -8C for 3 days in a row before they can harvest the grapes and technically call it ice wine.  Inniskillin winery is even stricter and will only harvest the grapes when it has been -10C for 3 days in a row.   Even at that temperature, the grapes are only 80% frozen - the 20% that is still juice is squeezed out of the grape and made into ice wine.  The amazing thing is that since these grapes have to be harvested and kept cold so they remain frozen they are harvested by volunteers in the middle of the night every year.  

Since winning the Grand Prix d'Honneur award in 1991 for their ice wine (you can see the prize in the photo below), Inniskillin has consistently won awards for their ice wine.

 Inniskillin's awards

We viewed the wine store, bought some wine, and then joined our wine tour, which you can see gathering under the arbour in the photo below.

Our guide told us a funny story about the fans that you can see in the fields (the tall white pole in the photo below).  These  fans have been installed in wineries all over the Niagara peninsula and start up automatically when the temperatures dip below a certain point to protect the grapes.   Apparently they sound like a helicopter taking off so my when my guide, who lives in the area, heard the noise in the middle of the night for the first time she jumped up and ran to the window thinking Armageddon had started.  What a scare that would have been!

  

  

Is it just me, or do these bottles seem to have an other-worldly glow to them.

They were setting up for a wine tasting when we were on the tour.  I loved the sparkle of the glasses against the dark tablecloth with the hits of bright colours in the fall centrepieces.  Wouldn't this be a lovely place for a wedding.

This table in the conference room was made from the wooden floor boards from the glass factory in Europe that makes the wine bottles that Inniskillin uses.  The lines all over the table are where the molten glass dropped onto the floor and singed the wood as it rolled across.  Isn't it great - just look how thick that wood is.

Thanks for a lovely tour Inniskillin.  We learned that there is an Ice Wine Celebration every year in January in Niagara-on-the-Lake with ice sculptures and wine bars made of ice etc.  I had never heard of it, but think I'll put it on my to do list - sounds like fun.

  
Oh, and I can't forget to show you what our friend brought for me from France.  They were fresh and needed to be eaten in a timely manner.  I did my best!