A GIFT OF LOVE

     A touching story goes with this “Holiday Fresh Orange, Date and Nut Cake.” The story begins, “This is a recipe which my grandmother invented over 80 years ago. When she was 14 years old, she went to work as a cook at a lumber camp in Wisconsin. She would get up at three o'clock in the morning to start the rolls and bread for the day. She was quite a cook and an even better baker. The first Christmas she was away from her family working at the camp was very hard for her . . . .” Find the recipe and the rest of the story here:

http://www.kcts.org/weekend/kitchen/recipes/recipe_45.htm

ORANGETTES

     Candies for those who love chocolate, and not all that difficult to make:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/candy-girl

YULE LOGS

     Below is the simple version of the Yule Log or cookie cake. (The elaborate version follows.) The donor of the simple version says, "This is a Christmas tradition in my family. We often have to make more than one and somehow ingredients tend to go missing in action. It is so easy, kids love to help (which explains the missing ingredients)."

http://www.recipezaar.com/31333

     The Ultimate Buche de Noel, French Yule Log. For ambitious cooks, here is the ultimate version of the French Yule Log: a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate-mocha filling and chocolate butter icing.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1813,140176-233205,00.html