Recipes | Gingerbread Cookie Dough Truffles

Earlier this month, I was searching for some new Christmas cookie recipes to try this season and I came across these gingerbread cookie dough truffles on Love and Olive Oil. They are super sweet, I can only eat one at a time, but they are ridiculously good. I gave some to Matt as another advent gift and left the rest of the batch at home for my family to snack on. These take a bit of time to make, but definitely worth it! 

While I was making these, my sister and I kept eating the dough because it was just so good. The recipe does not use any eggs, so it's safe to eat the dough raw. 

Gingerbread Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 oz white chocolate candy coating 
• Sprinkles or edible glitter (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat the butter, molasses and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes. 

Stir in the vanilla. 

Then add the flour, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Mix on low until it's all incorporated. 

Cover and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or until the dough is firm. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Form dough into 1 inch balls and place on the baking sheet.

Place the dough balls in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. 

While the dough is in the freezer, melt the chocolate candy coating either in the microwave or in a double boiler on the stove. 

Using a fork, or dipping tool if you have one, dip the truffles one at a time into the chocolate until the truffle is covered. Shake off the excess chocolate and put the truffles back on the baking sheet. 

If you would like, before the chocolate dries, quickly top with sprinkles or edible glitter to look like fresh, sparkling snow. 

Once the truffles are dry, put them in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

DIY | Golf Ball Ornaments

As another advent present, I made some Christmas ornaments out of golf balls. Matt likes to golf, so I thought they'd be the perfect gift. He loved them, but who wouldn't!? They're absolutely adorable!! My favourite is the little penguin - he's just so cute!

These were really easy to make. I painted each golf ball white (you don't have to, but the ones I had, had a lot of logos and writing all over them so I wanted to cover that up).

Once the paint was dry, I took little eye hooks (you can find them at your local hardware store) and screwed one into the top of each golf ball. I just pushed down hard and screwed them in using my hands. It did hurt a little and took a bit of time, so you may want to wrap a towel around your hands so it doesn't hurt so much. 

I then painted on the faces. I chose to do a penguin, snowman, and Santa Clause, but you can be creative - snowflake? Christmas tree? Reindeer? Use your imagination! For the "Oh Christmas Tee" one, I wrote the letters on in pencil to make sure it was centered and I liked the look and then I painted over them. I painted a tee to look like a candy cane and hot glued it to the bottom of the golf ball. The Santa hat is made out of red felt and a cut up cotton ball. 

Once the paint was dry, I covered each golf ball with an even coat of Mod Podge (I used the matte kind - you can find this at Michael's or any craft store). It goes on a kind of milky white colour but dries clear. This seals in the paint so it won't chip or rub off and gives each golf ball a smooth finish. 

Lastly, I tied a ribbon through each eye hook so the golf balls can be hung on the Christmas tree as ornaments. 

Lifestyle | Toronto Christmas Market

This past weekend, Matt and I decided to have a little date night and headed to the Toronto Christmas Market in the Distillery District. One of my favourite things when I lived in Europe was going to the various Christmas Markets throughout England. I was even lucky enough to visit one in Berlin, Germany - where these markets originated! When I found out that Toronto had one I was so excited to go. 

We didn't make it down until the last night and unfortunately it was pretty cold out but we had a great time. The atmosphere was so charming and it really got me in the festive spirit. We ate some sausages, drank some hot apple cider (my favourite!), listened to the carolers and explored all the little huts and boutiques selling food and gifts. 

The market had a nice showcase of local businesses selling their handcrafted products. I love small, independent businesses as they're a great way to support the local economy so having these at the market made it feel really personal and was a great way to introduce people to Ontario craftspeople as well as international artisans. 

Some things you can find at the market include: knitted scarves, hats and mittens; Canadian beeswax candles; glassblown ornaments; wooden ornaments and figurines; star Christmas lights; candy; homemade cards and stationary; maple products; chocolate dipped bacon; mustards, jams, shortbread cookies, fudge - the list is endless!

One stall that really caught my eye was "Winterbourne Alpaca". They sell products made from organic alpaca fleece.This business is "A collaborative effort between Canadian designers and traditional method artisans and craftspeople in Ecudaor." My sister is currently living and studying in Ecuador and learning about how the citizens sustain themselves through their different crafts, so I had a personal interest in this business.

DIY | Christmas Advent Calendar

Since this is mine and Matt's first Christmas together I decided to be a cutesy girlfriend and make him an advent calendar. Growing up, my sisters and I never had the store-bought chocolate advents, instead we got little presents to open every day leading up to Christmas morning. I decided to do the same type of thing for Matt. 

This project was really easy. I found an old piece of plywood laying around that happened to be the perfect size and I painted it white. I then painted 24 clothespins red and glued them onto the plywood. Once the glue dried, I labelled each peg with a number. Since I'm not very artistic, I bought a "Merry Christmas" sign and just glued it on the wood as decoration, but you could always paint your decorations on as well. Lastly, I wrapped my gifts and hung them on the clothespins with ribbon. 

And voila!! 

Need some advent present inspiration? Here are a few ideas for men or women:

• Lego
• Gift cards - Tim Horton's, Starbucks, Subway, Amazon, iTunes, etc. 
• Lip chap (I love Burt's Bees)
• A chocolate bar
• A key chain 
• Coffee or tea
• A travel mug
• A deck of cards
• Dominoes
• A Hacky Sack 
• Candy
• Socks
• A toque
• Rubik's Cube
• Toothbrush
• Batteries
• Chocolate / yogurt covered almonds / fruit
• Christmas tree ornaments
• Homemade DIY projects
• Lottery tickets / scratch cards 
• Handwarmers
• A book or magazine
• Sudoku puzzle book or other brain games (crossword, word search, riddles, etc.)
• Mini first aid kit for the car
• Pocket knife
• Compass
• BBQ sauce
• Mini flashlight
• Scented candles 
• Bath salts / oils
• Hand cream 
• Shower gel
• Nail polish
• USB stick
• Seeds for growing herbs / vegetables / flowers
• Winter gloves 
• Earbud headphones
• Jewelry 
• A notebook 

Just be creative and think of what the recipient could use and tailor your gifts to their interests. Matt's gifts included some practical things that he needed but was unlikely to go out and buy for himself, some joke gifts that only we would understand, some personal and thoughtful things, some homemade cooking / baking and some DIY projects that I thought he would really like. The possibilities are really endless!! 

Have you ever made an advent calendar for anyone? What type of gifts did you include?