Flavors of Christmas: Orange

Day three of my Christmas Open House and today's flavor is orange! Now, I suspect there might be some confused looks out there. "Orange? Orange isn't a Christmas flavor." Well, perhaps not at your house, but at my house I always like to have some citrus-y sweets as a refreshing follow-up to some of the heavily seasoned dishes I serve on Christmas and Christmas Eve. I think I've mentioned before that being from Texas, our Christmas Eve tradition is tamales, and if you click on the Christmas Open House 2014 tab you'll find my menu for our traditional Christmas Day brunch, including the Lemon-Orange Rolls I make. We like spicy food and citrus is perfect afterward. I also have to say that oranges at Christmas always make me think of much leaner times in our history when citrus was such a winter luxury that it was special enough to appear in Christmas stockings.

"Orange" is stitched on 30 ct. Irish Cream linen from R&R Reproductions with Weeks Persimmon. The spatula charm is available at 123 Stitch and the heart cookie cutter is available at Shelly's Buttons and More.

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Orange Snowballs

These are a variation of the Mexican Wedding Cookies you can find in my 2014 Christmas Open House. They are ever so slightly orangey.

1 c. butter, softened
1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar, divided
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1/2 tsp. orange extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. finely chopped pecans (or walnuts, or whatever you prefer)

Cream butter and 3/4 c. confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in orange peel and extracts. Combine flour and salt and gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in nuts.

Shape into 1" balls and place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool completely. Roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. Yield: about 3 dozen