Chickadee Home Nest: donut holes

Showing posts with label donut holes. Show all posts

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Donut-hole Tree Tutorial

Waaayyyy back before the Internet (we may have had some sort of dial-up) and YouTube,I tried my hand at a croquembouche:

Source: http://dailydelicious.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-2010-daring-bakers-challenge-40.html

Yes, siree, I did. Made the dough, the cream filling, followed the recipe from one of my beautiful Christmas cookbooks to.the.letter… I made it to take as a showpiece to our family Christmas Eve dinner, but the cookbook didn’t say to keep it on the cool side, so eventually each puff started to slide d-o-w-n the cone. Even our sons, who were teenagers at the time, were so sad for me (it was touching, really). I ended up removing all the puffs and taking them on a platter. :( Thank heavens they were delicious!

The Donut-Hole Tree I made for our Three Kings celebration this year (HERE) was a much easier alternative to a croquembouche. Certainly not as fancy, but certainly a much easier, fun “adornment” for the table.

(BTW, the idea came from One Charmed Party, where she made it for a Halloween party with regular donuts.)

Tutorial:

I started with a Styrofoam cone about 15” high, but of course you can use any size that’s suitable for your party. I will tell you that this 15” one required 4 or 5 dozen “holes,” so it holds A LOT (in fact, Mr. CHN had to run to the store for more!)

The cone can of course be purchased anywhere, but wouldn’t you know? I walked into our local Goodwill store and there was one, still in its original packaging, for a whopping $.25! Because I was concerned about cleanliness—with or without the packaging cover/from Goodwill or a regular store—and I wanted to be able to re-use it, I wrapped the cone in heavy-duty foil. Though probably not necessary, I held the foil in place with pearl straight pins so they’d be easy to find/remove after the party.

The trickiest part to building a donut-hole tree is holding it in place so it doesn’t tip over as the “holes” are removed.

Now, the last time I tried to use this candle holder (see picture below) with a candle, the long “spike” (what is that called?!) was so long that it broke the candle, so I’d asked Mr. CHN to cut it for me. Luckily, he hadn’t gotten to that, so I retrieved it from his workbench—it was PERFECT for the tree, because its length stabilized the Styrofoam perfectly!

To add dimension to the black candle holder I set it in a frosted-glass, beaded candle holder, but I still needing to secure the “hole” thing :). Solution? I attached it with this awesome product—Scotch Restickable Discs. The black candle holder was “stuck” to the frosted-glass one, which was then “stuck” to the crystal cake plate. These discs are AWESOME! I use them everywhere in the house! Have you tried them yet?

To build the donut-hole tree:

1. Insert the foil-covered Styrofoam cone into the spike in the candle holder.

2. Starting at the bottom, insert a toothpick close to the base of the cone, then insert a donut hole into the toothpick, making sure the toothpick doesn’t come through the hole.

3. Repeat the toothpick/hole process, adjusting the location of each toothpick to keep them close to each other.

4. Continue to build the tree in “rings” around the cone.

Finish the top of the tree with a donut hole at the top or a fancier topper if you have one (I was running late, because I didn’t want to build the tree too early to keep the holes fresh, and I hadn’t thought of a topper until that moment). Fill with edible greens (I used dill and it worked well, because it gives the illusion of evergreens). The tree was surrounded by Rolo Caramels, because they look like little crowns :), and they complemented the gold dots on the candle holder I’d used.

The possible uses for this tree are endless—Valentine’s Day, Easter, really, any holiday, any brunch, any reception! I hope you build your “tree” often! I know I will.

And as for the croquembouche? I might try it again. Experience (and help from the Internet/YouTube) will make it a lot easier. :) Have you made a croquembouche? Did it work the first time, or do you have a story to share?

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Sunday Showcase at http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

Sunday Creative Home and Garden Hop at http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com/

Sundays at The Tablescaper: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Masterpiece Monday at http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

Tuesdays at Our Home at http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/

Tuesday’s Treasures http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Inspire Me Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

Cuisine Kathleen at http://www.cuisinekathleen.com/

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DIY by Design Party at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/

Home and Garden Thursday at http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/

Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Open House Party Thursday at http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

Transformation Thursdays at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

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Thrifty Things Friday at http://thethriftygroove.blogspot.com/

Vintage Inspiration Friday at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Fresh-Cut Fridays at http://rosevignettes.blogspot.com

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Monday, January 6, 2014

Three Kings Celebration

Well, our tree is still up, as are most of the Christmas decorations, because at our house, the Twelve Days of Christmas are very special, and yes, still part of Christmas. It’s a time when we slow down from the mad dash of the pre-Christmas activities that allows time for reflection. Though the anticipated high winds (and temps well below zero) forced us to bring some of the porch decorations inside, the indoor decorations remain at least through January 6th. When they’ll get put away is anybody’s guess :), because we haven’t even talked about it!

And, if you’re familiar with Chickadee Home Nest, you might recall that the Three Kings visit our home and leave {a few} more gifts for the little chickadees. That’s the way it was done in Cuba, and we want to carry the tradition on.

The last several years Mr. CHN and I have had a gathering at our home to celebrate the Three Kings’ arrival at the manger (you can see the 2012 post HERE).

Did you know the Three Kings are not named in the Bible? I need to look up where their names, Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar originated—does anyone out there know and can save me the research?

AND…

Did you know that there is no mention in the Bible of there being three? The three gifts are listed, but it could’ve been one, or twelve, or any number who came to honor Him and bow down at His side.

Last year’s decorations for our Three Kings celebration were about jewel tones and large kings at the table. This year, the tone was set by the Mexican nativity scene my MIL and FIL gave us years ago~

Since I love the story of Jesus’s birth and the Three Kings following the star to reach Him, I love nativity scenes and have several, so I rotate them. This one was set out for Christmas 2012 (you can see it HERE), but it only came out for the Three Kings celebration this year.

Last week Baby Love (the oldest chickadee) set Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar (from the unbreakable but lovely Fontanini set they play with) away from the nativity scene, since they hadn’t arrived yet.

At our Three Kings celebration each of the three oldest children was allowed to place one of the Three Kings back in the nativity scene.

We looked at pictures and talked about Baby Jesus’s birth and where He slept, how the Three Kings followed the bright star to find Him, their names, and the gifts they brought, then the food was served.

This was the setting before the food was presented.

The Reason for the Season.

In the background you can see Mary and Joseph’s detailed, hand-painted gowns. Such wonderful craftsmanship!

And here they are!

Melchior,

Gaspar,

and

Balthazar.

Aren’t their faces so sweet?

And now… Come on, everyone! The treats are served!

The menu was simple, and geared more to the children, but because I can only go along with so much junk food for the baby chickadees, we also had yogurt for them (hiding sweet little one’s face) and vegetables. Our almost-4 chickadee asked to sit in the high chair after the littlest was done and asked me if I would get him some vegetables! Yes!! :)

The idea for the Donut-Hole Tree came from One Charming Party, where she made it with regular donuts. (I’ll have the tutorial for my version next week perhaps?). It was a big hit visually as well as for the palate. The Donut-Hole Tree is surrounded by Rolos candies, because they look like small crowns.

We also served a variety of turrones (tiered server and to the right of the server), or nougat bars, that are made in Spain but were immensely popular in pre-Castro Cuba. They are the “little dessert” of choice in every Cuban family’s holiday gatherings. My mother’s friends in Florida still send them to her every year. As a hostess gift one guest brought individual guava pastries—we call them pastelitos de guayaba--(front) that were delish, and are always a welcome addition. (Unfortunately, I was a bit late taking pictures of the food, thus the empty plate to the left.)

The wood Crate and Barrel “vessel” was perfectly suited for this gold-yet-rustic table. After all, there was nothing fancy about Baby Jesus’s manger.

Drinks were served at the bar setup…punch with crown ice mold, and Cuban hot chocolate (recipe will follow soon)! Remember Starbucks’ now-discontinued Chantico hot chocolate? I STILL miss it, but this is a worthy replacement, and I might add, worth every.single.calorie. To add a few more ~~calories~~ enhancements to it: Whipped cream made with my iSi whipper (you can read all about this favorite gadget HERE) and mini chocolate morsels served in the sugar scuttle.