Out & About #1139 | Christmas Visuals

Christmas felt more than a little different this year.
For starters, we weren't celebrating - not officially anyway. But the lingering flu symptoms plaguing one member of the household had yet to dissipate completely.

Before the influx of illness though, a turkey had been procured. Celebration or not, sustenance wasn't negotiable. We reckoned we'd make several meals out of a single turkey anyway.

​Simple sides accompanied the glistening centrepiece: boiled yellow potatoes, canned pineapple chunks, and freshly sliced tomatoes. The assortment appeared minimal in comparison to past years, yet I frankly preferred it. Zucchini and Little Gem potatoes roasted with butter often reveal themselves too satiating alongside a meaty entrée. There is also far more food than can be reasonably consumed by two people. By scaling down the lavishness of the meal, we had inadvertently also prevented food waste!

​Brined overnight with plenty of garlic cloves, the oven roasted turkey was likely the best variation to emerge from our kitchen. Tender, juicy, and unbelievably flavourful, I declared it fitting that the side dishes had persisted conservative as to allow the turkey to take centre stage. Most impressively, all parts of the bird were thoroughly cooked through. The breast remained succulent despite its leanness, while dark meat along the thighs were marvelous, boasting irresistible flavour from hours of diligent preparation.

Holiday Rice Krispies

The annual return of Christmas cookies hadn't anticipated to be omitted, but the timing of festive preparations coincided with a turbulent return to reality. Rather than gleeful cut out cookies glistening with colourful sprinkles, I turned towards a simpler take on holiday treats: Rice Krispies.

​When the return of red, green, and white Rice Krispies returned to the shelves, I flocked towards the boxes, in spite of their four-dollar price tags. The seasonal variety was a pivotal element of my childhood and, as with many young Canadians, associated with family-friendly undertakings for school parties.

​Over the years, I've experimented with a wide range of Rice Krispies flavours, only to return to the original every single time. 

My homemade rendition is almost always less cloying than the storebought version, which is exactly as I prefer.

The quantities listed in the original recipe can result in drastic variances, for I've never been able to pinpoint the metric conversion of 1/4 up of butter. For this holiday edition, I took to the following amounts:

• 54 g of unsalted butter - use less next time! 40 g?
• 240 g of mini marshmallows
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal

From my countless iterations, it was deduced that:

• Stovetop produces better results than microwave, as it keeps the melted marshmallows soft and pliable, thus preventing premature hardening.
• A large pot works better than a medium saucepot, as it allows for easier, uniform distribution of Rice Krispies into the marshmallow mixture.
• More butter makes for a crunchier Rice Krispies square; too much butter makes for a greasy square. 1/4 cup is likely slightly less than 54 g, so I will be attempting 40 g in the next trial.
• Mini marshmallows are superior to jumbo jet-puffed marshmallows for this application, as increased surface area reduces cook time.
• More marshmallows make for a softer square, however too many marshmallows may cause loss of structural integrity. Using expired marshmallows can also lead to rigidity.

​Holiday Rice Krispies are enjoyable regardless though, and the vibrancy of the squares basically beckon me to reach for another. Hopefully, this colourway is here to stay!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

The NYT Cooking channel constantly uploads content of interest, though rarely does it summon the urge to create. When triangular-shaped Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies were revealed to the world, I couldn't help but wonder whether they were the minty edition of Starbucks' renowned Cranberry Bliss Bars. Consequently, I was eager to try my hand at the creation.

​The original recipe quantities are as follows:

A) Cookie Base

• 113 g unsalted butter
• 180 g powdered sugar * should use less! far too sweet!
• 1 egg white, at room temperature
• 1 tsp  peppermint extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 130 g all-purpose flour

B) Topping

• 113 g / 4 oz. white chocolate
• 0.5 tsp olive oil extra-virgin olive oil
• 0.5 tsp peppermint extract
• 2 drops blue food coloring
• 1 drop yellow food coloring
• 1 oz dark chocolate * used 2.45 oz instead

​With the exception of the chopped chocolate used for topping, I adhered to the recipe amounts and directions with precision.

Construction-wise, these were impossibly easy. The base came together without so much as an ounce of effort. Heck, I could probably compile the batter half asleep. The trickiest part, as Eric Kim had noted, was attaining the correct shade of minty green.
My yellow food colouring had dried, forming a nasty crust along its rim. Just as I was about to admit defeat though, I learned that the bits could be dissolved in water and used to tint the frosting

​Waiting for the coating to harden was the second trickiest part. After 30 minutes of chilling, I couldn't resist slicing into the bar. The cookies were fairly easy to slice at this point (not hard), though the topping was a tad malleable.

Admittedly, the bars were less minty than expected - or desired, for that matter. Perhaps it was the illusion of hue, but the chocolate frosting was comparatively prominent in terms of mintiness. The bars themselves were obnoxiously sweet, chewy instead of snappy, and unpalatable for those averse to cloying creations. I could not consume more than a few triangles, though happily munched away at the minty topping (and my heaping handful of 55% chocolate couverture).​

Source: NYT Cooking, 2025 | https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027497-mint-chocolate-chip-cookies

​Comparing the recipe thumbnail to my own recreation, I was quite pleased with the outcome.

That said, I will not be recreating these geometric cookies any time soon, as delivery of flavour and complexity fell drastically short of expectations. Any future attempts will see a stark reduction in sugar, potential swapping out of the bar recipe, and more peppermint extract.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

With one leftover egg yolk from the Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies, there was no better way to make use of the lonely ingredient than SK's Ginger Molasses Cookies.​

These turbinado-speckled rounds need no introduction on this space.

Scrumptious as always, the batch disappeared readily, either into the stomachs of fellow ginger-lovers or tightly wrapped and into the freezer for deferred appreciation.

Though not one to regularly engage in gift exchanges, I was the recipient of a contemplative card and duo of reversible Squishmallow (termed "Flip-A-Mallows") and powdered green tea with Korean origins.

​Thanksgiving has long passed, but being on the receiving end of gratitude truly brightened up my otherwise dreary holiday season.