Friday, December 17, 2010

My Aunt's Christmas plate and Raspberry Walnut Bars

 Christmas , to me, is all about traditions that have been in my family for a long time, or traditions that I started with my children. I got this Christmas plate from my Aunt, that raised my Dad, when their mother died.  I love this plate and I had to show you this plate when it is empty because of the raised poinsettia on the inside of the plate and the leaves around the edge. At first glance, you might think that this plate is Milk Glass, but this plate is very heavy. For many years I never knew what is was.  Then I took it to an antique shop and discovered that the plate is actually molded glass that was produced in the early 1950's, an antique, just like me:)  The three holders at the top are for candles, which are lit, when I serve the cookie and treats.. Have any of you eve seen a plate like this before?  I never seen anything close to this, but this is one of my treasures.

Now let's make some Raspberry Walnut bars. A crisp buttery, shortbread crust, with tart raspberry filling with crunchy walnuts, topped with more buttery topping and a sweet vanilla glaze. These are the perfect Christmas treat for my cookie plate. I will show a picture of the plate, when all my treats are done. I still have to make oatmeal craisin cookies for my non-chocolate son, Cranberry Orange Nut Bread, and Sour Cream Coffee Cake.  Whew, I have to go and bake, bake, bake!
What are your favorite Christmas traditions?




Raspberry Walnut Bars
Crumb Mixture
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup   butter, 2 sticks
1 egg, slightly beaten
Filling
12 oz raspberry preserves or your favorite flavor
1 c. chopped walnuts.
 Glaze
1 ½ c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ c milk
 Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crumb mixture ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 2 cups crumb mixture; set aside.

Press remaining crumb mixture on bottom of greased 15 X 10 X 1. Spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of edge. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over raspberry preserves Crumble reserved crumb mixture over preserves.

Bake 15-20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool completely; cut into bars. Combine glaze ingredients in small bowl and stir until desired consistency. enjoy.

10 comments:

  1. Two of my favorite traditions are when we all get up on Christmas morning, Dad cooks breakfast for everyone; something he seldom does. Also, on Christmas Eve, we all go to my parents' house in the country and have lobster rolls and pizza!
    These raspberry bars look delicious!! And your plate is beautiful, Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Growing up, we used to sit at the top of the stairs, being forced to wait until my mom yelled, "Ho, ho, ho" in as deep a voice as she could (never realizing we knew it was her because of the French accent).

    Now that I have my own family and a Dudette, we're trying to create our own memories. Decorating the tree together will definitely be one of them!

    ReplyDelete
  3. -Lobster rolls and piazza sound so good on Christmas Eve. Thanks for sharing.

    Christiane- My kids couldn't get out of bed until 7AM. I adopted this rule, because one of my sons was up at 3am, playing with the toys that Santa had left. You'll have a fun Christmas with Dudette this year creating your own memories.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Becky
    your bars look delicious!! What a beautiful plate, its nice to keep something like that in the family! As for traditions, sadly I don't think we have any that were passed down, but I do have some decorations, and plenty of good memories!
    Cheers
    Dennis

    ReplyDelete
  5. Don't you just treasure those family heirlooms? This plate that you shared is beautiful, and I'm sure it is even more special because of the sweet memories that go along with. What is also sweet is these delicious bars. They look and sound amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this with me!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chef Dennis- Part of the magic of Christmas is the memories you have and making new ones and food is such a part of those memories.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Monet- Family heirlooms are special for sure. Making memories is a wonderful part of Christmas and so is sharing food with others. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a beautiful plate! I really like the candle holders, what a neat idea.
    And as for the raspberry bars... wow!! Raspberry is my all time favorite fruit, bars would be ideal!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dimah- Thank you for your kind words

    Kim- I really love and cherish the plate, because it's so unique and It belonged to my Aunt.

    ReplyDelete

Print friendly