Day 5 of the Twelve Days of Christmas Celebration

 Good morning friends!

What a day yesterday was.  Hubby and I decorated the outside of our home, and in the middle of it, our oldest son, a History teacher at our local school, called to say he was being sent home because he may have been exposed to Covid.  We are unsure yet how long he will have to quarantine, but we do know that his exposure was very minimal.  We will wait to hear further news from the DOH.  Please pray for him, and his family, which also includes one month old baby Grant.

Sorry to bring up serious stuff, but I appreciate your prayers...let's continue with our celebration!

Today's tutorial is for 

Orange/Clover Saltdough Ornaments

 You will need:

2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
ginger – 2 tsp
cinnamon – 2 tsp 
ground clove -2 tsp 
nutmeg -2 tsp 
10 drops Orange essential oil (optional but it adds to the amazing smell)

1. Mix the flour, salt, spices and the orange essential oil if you are using it.

2. Then, slowly add the water until you have a workable piece of dough. You don’t want it to be gooey and sticky, so I always start with a little bit less water and add if I need more. The dough should be close to the consistency of play-dough.
3. Roll out the dough and cut out the desired shape that you want for your ornaments. If you are hanging the ornaments, you will need to use a skewer, straw or something to create the hole for your string.

 4. Place the ornaments on a baking sheet and put in the oven at the lowest temperature possible, usually about 170 degrees.
5. Bake the dough ornaments for 1 hour, then, flip them over and bake another hour.

6. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool. You can leave them plain, paint them, create a garland, tie them on packages or simply use as ornaments.

We continue with the 'Orange' Theme as Today's festive recipe is for

No-bake Orange Creamsicle Truffles 

(recipe from Rocky Hedge Farm)

1 cup white chocolate melting chips

1/4 cup unsalted butter

zest from 1 orange

3 tbsp. heavy cream

1/2 tsp. orange extract

a few drops orange food coloring

1/2 cup confectioners sugar, divided

Instructions

1. Place white chocolate melting chips in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Combine butter and orange zest in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 1 minute. Pour in heavy cream and stir to prevent scalding the cream.
3. Keep stirring for another 2 minutes, then pour the mixture through a fine strainer over the white chocolate melting chips.
4. Let the mixture sit and melt the white chocolate for about a minute, and add in the orange extract and orange food coloring. Whisk until mostly melted. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
5. Divide confectioners sugar between two small bowls.
6. Begin scooping teaspoon-size balls of truffle mixture and rolling them into balls.
7. Roll each truffle in one of the bowls of the confectioners sugar before placing on a cookie sheet. Once all of the truffles have been rolled, re-roll them in the second bowl of confectioners sugar and place the truffles in the freezer for 20 minutes to set.
8. Transfer to the fridge until ready to serve.  
   

 Ohh so tasty!

There will be no post on Sunday, but please come back on Monday for another tutorial and recipe!

Have a lovely weekend and don't forget to share my posts if you are enjoying them!