Whiteley Creek Homestead

LIFE AT THE END OF A DIRT ROAD IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA

organically grown triticale in our field
canoeing in our wetlands
raspberries growing wild on our property
our back porch fieldstone fireplace

Twas the night before Christmas… 

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.

Have you ever wondered what sugar plums are? A sugar plum is made of any combo of dried fruit such as plums (prunes), figs, apricots, dates, or cherries and shaped in a small round or oval shape. (At one time, "plum" denoted any dried fruit.) The finely chopped dried fruit is combined with chopped nuts and aromatic spices, rolled into balls, and often coated in sugar or shredded coconut.  Until today, I hadn't realized that I have made several varieties of sugar plums such as these Pecan Spice Delights

Pecan spice delights

Date Bran Jingle Balls

Date bran jingle balls

Pumpkin Seed Oat Energy Bites

Pumpkin seed oat energy bites

and Nutty Fruity Bars which could easily be formed into balls.

Nutty fruit bar

Although the Date Bran Jingle Balls, Pumpkin Seed Oat Energy Bites, and Nutty Fruity Bars don't exhibit as many of the sugar plum attributes as the Pecan Spice Delights, I think they could still conjure up visions dancing in children's heads as they slumber on Christmas Eve.

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2 responses to “sugar plums”

  1. wordplayhouse® Avatar

    A sweet lesson in sugar plums here—and your photos are so very full of sweetness too. So many different sugar plums to try here. All much, much healthier than their name implies.
    Such a nice collection of recipes you’ve shared in such a prettily photographed way.

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  2. Adrienne Cahoon Avatar

    Thank you, Heather, for YOUR sweetness. It was the nagging, burning question and the newfound knowledge as to what sugar plums are that caused me to go through my recipe collection to rediscover/revisit some older recipes. In the process, the recipes triggered memories of Christmas’s past because that’s what food does… trigger memories.

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