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With Christmas coming up.. there are Craft Fairs and Art Markets
popping up all over our city!
The Telus International Christmas Market began just this past weekend
and takes place again next weekend from November 23-25th.
The 2012 Cochrane Ranche House Christmas Market takes place Saturday, November 4 from 10-6.
November 29 – December 2 is the Festival of Crafts Art and Craft Sale down at the BMO Center on the Stampede Grounds.
Another favorite is the Kensington Market Collective Sale
which is to take place in the old Ant Hill Building
on Saturday, December 1 from 10-6 and Sunday December 2 from 10-5.
They had planned for three events but were told to curtail the festivities to one weekend
because of the competition felt by some local shop owners. I’m not sure about that one..
I think I’d be making a day of it, wandering out from the Collective and into the local stores.
In any event, there are all sorts of smaller craft sales taking place in various venues throughout the city,
so check on-line for one in your community!
♥
My own fingers were itching for a little bit of frugal crafting.
This time I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and found it at Martha’s Craft Department.
It’s a simple craft, repurposing various soup cups, saucers and plates to make
cake and cookie plates and jewelry stands.
I toured my favorite shops in town..
Cozy Cottage Interiors
is my favorite new go-to place for all things vintage!
I picked up a glass candlestick and a few pieces of transferware
that reminded me of dishes my Gran used to have.
They’re affordable because, although they’re vintage, they’re not really
collectible antiques.
From there I went to Inside Avenue Antiques
to find cute little inexpensive porcelain roses, sugar bowls and tiny salt and pepper shakers.
You’d find all sorts of contemporary, seasonal and affordable dishes at Home Sense.
I think a Christmas set or pure white would be gorgeous!
♥
I could have used my glue gun, but to be honest, I thought I’d use poster putty for a temporary fix.. because the combinations and variety possible for the dishes I’d
found were endless.
I’d recommend heading over to Martha’s to read the Commenter’s suggestions
if you’re planning on making a more permanent bond,
…which you’d want if you are making these as Christmas presents.
♥
♥
They’re awfully pretty for a wee cookie dish for a few …
Cherry Walnut Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup confectioner’s (icing) sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 salt
- 2 cups candied red cherries, diced
- 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and confectioner’s sugar until smooth. (This dough becomes quite stiff, I found the electric mixer very helpful.) Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix well.
- Stir in the cherries and the walnuts.
- Divide the dough between three pieces of plastic wrap, parchment, or wax paper. Roll into a log. Leave as a round roll or flatten each edge slightly for the squared look I have here.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours before baking or freeze for later use.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F.
- Remove and slice, placing slices on a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges have just slightly browned. Remove to a rack and cool.
- Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Cherry walnut cookies sound like the perfect accompaniment to a nice cup of tea.
🙂 Mandy xo
They are yummy.. I’ll be slicing up more for work tomorrow:D xx
Those biscuits look and sound wonderful.
I love that you call them biscuits..
Those cookies look lovely and are a perfect fit for the teacup.
I wonder if cookies can be dunked in tea..
Pretty, pretty, pretty plates!
Thanks! I fell in love with them:)
Very pretty and romantic – have seen this on TV – how to turn plates into cake stands on foot. Yours are much prettier than the ones on TV. Love the cookies too – so perfect choice for the post about your romantic plates. I don’t like those cherries – I nearly hate them … *laughing. Terrible product – I think it goes back when I started as a chef and all desserts were decorated with them – sweet and sticky, but still they came out excellent in your cookie.
Did you couscous the other evening – excellent dish – love the dressing. Couldn’t find Lebanese’s couscous – but I found what we call full corn couscous – there will be a post.
Maybe that was Martha Stewart’s show:D That’s where I found the idea.. she’s got a great website for this sort of thing. Yes.. you’d think someone would have figured out a better fruit substitute? Full corn couscous sounds intriguing!
No it’s was a Swedish TV show, in Sweden we don’t have Martha*smile
Had your couscous dish twice now – because I had some dressing left. Stunning – will do a post about it. So easy to make too.
What fun – would love to do something like that! And the plates and cookies both look so very pretty 🙂
I like crafts.. as long as they’re pretty easy:)
What an incredibly awesome Christmas round up my friend 🙂
I don’t know which photo I love the most!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks xx
When I saw the china I thought these would be perfect for you to use as props and then I scrolled down and found the recipe! How beautiful does all of this look. Just gorgeous. I love all of this elegant china xx
Me too.. as much as I love cookies:) xx
Those plates do have your name all over them. Great cookies!
I’m worried that I’m turning into a granny.. I’m too young to turn into a granny, lol!
Pinterest has so many amazing people and ideas. Lovely choice. These little plates look perfect with your tasty cookies!
It really is a cool app/website.. what did we do before? I guess just magazines?
Gorgeous china, perfect to serve your cookies for afternoon tea with a friend.A lovely way to start the holidays. 🙂
Thank you, Judy, that’s a great compliment coming from you:)
This years Christmas cookie at our house 🙂
I hope you like it was much as we do:)
We will definitely try these cookies, Smidge, they are so pretty and sound so good! I’m LOVING your trays! What a wonderful idea….I can think of a lot of ways to use these. The dishes, etc., that you chose are incredible. The colors are so romantic and beautiful. I applaud your craftiness!!
That’s me.. a hopeless romantic:D
Very pretty pastel china.
Thank you xx
Such fragile and pretty pieces, Smidge. They look great. Here I go to the cookie jar. Can you eat cookies in the bath?
Of course.. but I must caution you.. you risk not catching the crumbs that fall and eating those as well:)
All that crafting sounds wonderful! I can tell you’re looking forward to Christmas. Last week I discovered the best craft shop I’d ever visited. It was in the middle of the countryside, not on a main road, tucked away, and it really was a treasure to find. They had a lovely display of Christmas decorations apart from other things.
That is totally the sort of store I’d love to find! Lucky you!! I hope you write about it for us to see!
I haven’t written about it, but I’ll send you the FB Page so you can see some of their photos from previous years. I don’t know that they’ve got any festive ones though.
Yum! My kind of cookies.
daisy
Thank you, Daisy!
I’m not sure what’s prettier – your cherry walnut delights or your enchanting craft – what a success; it has a soft whimsical, romantic feeling to it. A snow white set would be gorgeous!
It would.. I wish someone would make one.. or I just might have to:) xx
What beautiful dishes! I love the idea of repurposing vintage cups, plates into cake stands. What a great gift idea. I’m not crafty, at all. But I think I could this. So cute! Thanks for sharing Smidge.
It is so easy.. and the possibilities sure are endless:)
Another beautiful post, Barb. I doubt you could have found a better match for your cookies than the cup & saucer that you chose for that photo. This post could be used to exemplify presentation. It really is that well done. Beyond that, I really love the combo of cherries with nuts. I bet these cookies are really tasty. 🙂
They are good.. not too sweet, and the cherries were remarkably not too artificial tasting.. thankfully:) And thank you, as always.. your kind words are appreciated!
Barb this sure doesn’t look like frugal crafting. Your cookies and platters are well suited for one another — as they are both beautiful. Now I’m torn between adding these cookies or Nell’s sugar cookies, which have been on my mind for a few weeks now, to my Christmas baking list. Can’t believe baking season is just around the corner . . .
I was also thinking about Nell’s sugar cookies when I was looking at this recipe; I think I’ll have to make both for my Christmas dessert tray! I love the old-fashioned vibe of both recipes.
Oh, dear.. decisions.. Nell’s are a bigger cookie.. that I think kids would love because of their size. These ones are tinier/daintier, more for a small adult treat after a big dinner:)
Doh’t forget, if you go with the smaller, daintier options then you can eat more of them. There’s something so appealing about going back for seconds (and thirds
These cookies look so beautifully old-fashioned! It makes me want to revisit some of the recipes of my girlhood — all those things I used to make with Maraschino cherries before I decided they were passé. It would be fun to take a trip down baking memory lane! And I can add lovely new recipes, such as yours.
Thanks for sharing the crafting ideas. The cake stands you made are so pretty. I like your idea for a temporary bond – not only can you mix and match, but these things are much easier to store disassembled. I moved into a bigger house earlier this year, and already I’m running out of space for all my dishes (maybe because my collection keeps growing?).
Me too!! I’m thinking I need to move into a small house that has a separate studio in the yard.. so my home isn’t overflowing with dishes:) xx
Oh yes, I’m with you there. I definitely a test kitchen/studio/writing sanctuary in my backyard. Must get started on the plans …..
What lovely little cookies! And, I just love your collection of rose dishes. Beautiful!
Thanks, Tessa!xx
What a sweet idea! I’m looking forward to local craft fairs, too – but holy cow, Christmas already?! Where did the time go??
Love your tea cup and saucer set. Beautiful! Even better that you actually re-purposed them as cookie and cake stands. What a terrific idea! And those cherrry and walnut cookies are so reminiscent of Christmas! They look really addictive! I doubt they will last till Christmas though! =)
Hahaha.. they’ll be gone on Friday:D
This is one high styling, high tea time biscuit. I feel so girly just reading your post and looking at your beautiful China tea saucers and cups. However, I can just tell from the picture these are the kind of cookies that just melt in your mouth and are super buttery. You should give a call to the Peninsula hotel in HK and see if they want to add this to their 4pm high tea menu. Take care, BAM
High Tea!! I’ve got to do that soon! Thanks for the reminder! I think the Palliser Hotel here has a high tea.. it would be so fun! xx
those cookies look so good! I want to figure out a way to grab one 🙂
Some day I need to figure out how to ship these without having them break:)
Oh you are so terribly busy and what gorgeous little morsels those cookie are.. have a lovely day barbie.. c
These are busy days, aren’t they c? Take care! xx
Clever! – and the cookies look so festive!
Well, a girl’s gotta make up for her lack of a garden;)
I think you’re the classiset blogger on WordPress, dear lady!
Well, thank you!!
Yum to the cookies! One glance at them and they put me in the holiday spirit. And I love tea cups and saucers like the ones in the photo. We have a local store that sells overstocks on dishes and kitchen stuff. I love perusing the aisles checking out the interesting patterns! I always say I’m going to collect teapots and such, but oh what a collection that would become . . .
What a great store.. that’s what I think we need here. Tea pots.. those would be hard to store. Plates lay flat and cups stack.. it might be a little easier for you:) xx
What a fun and pretty set of stands you made. And your cute little serving dish was perfect for those cute little cookies. I love the combination of the dried cherries with the walnuts. Sounds divine!
I thought about changing the nuts.. but I do think the walnuts are the best choice for this cookie.. xx
My husband strongly dislikes candied fruit…the silly. 🙂
Haha, more for you I guess!
Yes, and I can’t wait to make my Christmas Stollen…even though I am afraid of yeast. It’s not Christmas without it! And since he won’t eat it…IT’S ALL MINE!!!
Beautiful photos. I’ll have to pin these cookies because cherry desserts are my husband’s favorite 🙂
I hope you have the chance to try them. I’ve been pinning like crazy, I now realize there aren’t enough meals, snack times or hours in the day to cook/bake everything I’ve pinned, lol!
I’m glad there arn’t many of those store here in St. John’s. I’d be broke over broke buying dishes.
They are beautiful and has a festive charm. So does those cookies. So Christmasy. Love the festive air even on this blogsphere!
Now you’re the second person to mention St. John’s today! Yes.. it can be addicting, especially for food blogging:)
Love your teacup creations! And the cookies look heavenly. Going to share with my crafty friends.
I wish I had thought of these when I was a teacher.. the Kindergarteners could have made these:)
Looks so English, I feel like having some tea just by looking at it
You’re right.. it is all very English:) Now I’m off to make some tea! Night!
Nom, nom, nom, nom. nom. It’s breakfast time here and somehow fruit isn’t as appealing as your cookies !
Oh, but Claire.. now you’ve saved room for Christmas party food, yay!
Those plates look gorgeous, and complements really well with the cookies..I’m buzzing for some crafty time now
Me too.. must be the Christmas spirit.. I’m working on my next craft, lol!
You have Christmas markets in canada? wow I think so I have to take my husband there one day. We have family members there but I am not sure where they all live. I love Christmas markets, they are the most wanted markets in Europe. I mean, how wonderful is it to see all those pretty goodies, sweets etc, drinking some hot spiced wine watching the snow falling and experiencing the happy atmosphere altogether.
Nice plate set Barbara. Is there a stamp on the back?
Oh I wish I could have your Cherry Walnut Cookies to chew on right now.
Oh, hot spiced wine.. I’d forgotten about that! Yes.. that’s exactly what feels like Christmas for me.. not the big malls, etc. Stamp… I’ll go look, just a minute, lol! I’m back.. the transferware says RS and Germany:) and the other says “English Rose”. xx
Barbara, I love the cozy antique places. I could spend days going through them. Love the markets!! Thank you for the gentle reminders of how wonderful these places are to shop at and learn about history. I love your style of writing~beautiful.
Your cherry walnut cookies are absolutely holiday and sweetness all together! I love them!
I’ve become a bit of an “addict”.. every now and then I love just wandering and looking.. not necessarily buying. But I see items and love that I remember them in my house growing up:)
Aren’t you just the cleverest with these beautiful cake plates and tea accessories! You’ve given me wonderful inspiration! I have so many of these “odd pieces” sitting around. Many belonged to my grandmother and have no real value beyond sentiment, and this would be so fun to do for my nieces and daughter! Thanks for a relatively quick project! And I love the cookies. I’m big on cookies with fruit in them. And these would be Christmasy, too! By the way, your blogsite just gets more and more beautiful, Barbara!
You’re lucky if you have odd bits.. I was thinking I’d love to have an online website for that sort of thing.. there are so many crafts like mosaics that can be done with bits of china. Glad you liked these:)
Smidge, my husband is crazy about this type of dishes – I warmed up to them quite a bit after marrying him, because back home my family’s style (or lack of… 🙂 was not quite like it. Now they seem charming, cozy, comforting, and sensual to me.
Loved the cookies too…
but I meant to ask you about the nomination for the best blogger in the Canadian contest… Please let me know what happened, my fingers are still crossed and it’s starting to hurt 🙂
Many hugs going your way, your blog is simply amazing! (but you knew how I felt already…. no big news)
I’m glad you’ve warmed up to them. They’re pretty to look at.. I try to leave little things like this around, it cheers a person up on a bloody gray and snowy day, lol! Hey, the voting ends at the end of November.. my fingers are crossed to, but in the end, it’s all for fun:) I sure appreciate you voting, Sally! xx
What a glorious post, Barbara! I love the idea of making cake stands like this.
A pure white Christmas. the very best kind…
I would love to see pure white contemporary done too.. it would be pretty:)
Hi, I have nominated you for the Super Sweet Blogging Award! Check out this link for details. http://helpwithyourlife.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/super-sweet-blogging-award/
Enjoy!
Thanks so much! As you might have noticed on my last post.. I am often very late in getting to respond to awards and such, but it doesn’t diminish the pleasure I feel when I receive one.. I’m always grateful.. thanks again!
Those cookies are so beautiful! Look really tasty. Enjoy your blog!
And I yours:)
I can think of a few women in my life who would appreciate some these items as Christmas gifts!
Well there you go.. one present done;)
How festive! I can’t wait for Christmas and Christmas markets 🙂 x
Holy cow! Comment city! Good for you, Barbara! Love the tea cups and the dainty propriety of the post. Mom used to make a almond cherry shortbread that looks just like this cookie. Now I make them. So yummy! 🙂 V
Love the biccies! Must make some soon as we love cherries and walnuts 🙂
I received a thank you gift similar to what you have made but the top was another teacup. It had been filled with a homemade candle. It is very lovely as are your cookies.
What beautiful dishes! I love going into antique stores! I usually don’t buy much but I love to look. 🙂 Your cookies look and sound quite delicious! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
OMG I lovelovelove that cake stand made from the plate on top of the glass candlestick – and would make storing something so odd shaped so much easier ! Such beeeaauuutiful plates and such a great idea. I wonder if there are any such stores in Singapore… I must go and scour – I may not find anything as pretty but I’m sure I would be able to find some old Chinese plateware to replicate.
I know its May, but I love butter cookies. So I took a peek.
Totally a wonderful Xmas cookie. I loved the plates. I also am quite taken with your philosophy.