From My Kitchen: December 2021

 

December means Christmas, so of course, this post is going to include be about a sweet recipe. I seriously scaled down my baking and candy-making this year. I only made 1 batch of Texas Millionaires and that was for my next-door neighbor who supplies pecans for the purpose of being gifted a batch. I made a couple of batches of Eggnog Bread, with gluten this year and an Apple Cake for Christmas Eve Dessert. A couple of days before Christmas, I had a craving for bakery cookies. The problem is, there is no bakery in the Small Town. There used to be one that had amazing cookies (but the King Cake was a huge disappointment) but every time I've driven by it appears to be closed. 

I have a huge problem with cut-out sugar cookies. I can never roll the dough out evenly and I can't tell how thick it's supposed to be. I found a recipe a few years ago that I used to make cookies for the goody bags for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary, but they aren't "bakery cookies". They are really good, but not what I was looking for. 

A search for "bakery sugar cookies recipe" gave me exactly what I wanted. The Best Sugar Cookies really are! I used the trick that I outlined in the post about my in-laws' cookies, but I'll share it again:

2 craft sticks that are 1/4 inch are perfect. Just lay 2 down and put the dough in between, cover with parchment paper, and put the rolling pin on the sticks.

Then roll away and you have dough that is the perfect thickness. And it's even! Well, as long as the rolling pin doesn't slip or you have too much dough for the length of the sticks. I halved the dough and then rolled, so it worked well. 

If you try these cookies, make sure you follow the steps exactly. The main thing is to roll out the dough, then refrigerate. I think I only messed up 1 cookie after cutting it out, and it was because I wasn't sure which of my cookie cutters to use. After that, it was clear sailing. I put rum flavoring in this batch but I couldn't really taste it. 

The finished product:

The icing part of the recipe says to omit the vanilla flavoring for "stark white" frosting, but I put it in and the cookies were still "stark white" in my opinion. 

The cookies were such a hit that I made another batch for New Year's Eve. For this batch, I put in maple flavoring and they were delicious. I could definitely taste the difference between the ones I made the week before. While not many comments were made on the Christmas cookies, MS & YS and YS' GF all raved about how good these were. 

The New Year's Cookies:

Only 1 cookie made it past midnight! 

These cookies were so easy to make, they just took a little bit of time since the dough needs to stay in the fridge for a minimum of 1-2 hours. I kept mine in for 2 hours which was perfect. I used the "easy cookie frosting" because, well, it was definitely easier and I didn't want a "fail" on the cookies! The frosting dried in a couple of hours although the recipe says they take around 24. 

Do you have a go-to cookie recipe? If so, is it easy and quick or time-consuming?

Foto Friday {3}

Another Friday already? At this rate, I'll be back in school way too soon!

I came home to this on Monday. The local utilities board is replacing all of the wire, and when the guy pulled the wire to our house, the trim came with it. He nailed it back up and moved the phone wire from a hook on that section (which is why that happened) to somewhere more secure.

A robin is making her nest in a tree next to the house. I thought it was too late in the year for that, but I guess she knows what she's doing. I felt so bad for her; she found a little piece of paper and worked so hard to get it up in the tree, but then it blew back out.

When we picked out Laika, the markings on her lower back looked like a thong. As she's gotten older, the black space has increased.

                                     I caught this butterfly on the butterfly bush.

Our yard has been the Love Shack for small animals lately. The robins & doves from last week, and now the rabbits.

I tried the carne asada nachos again with the cheese YS suggested. Next time I'll have 2 packages on hand and melt the cheese first, then pour it over the nachos. They were still good, but I had to add Mexican Cheese Blend to it because 1 package wasn't enough.

I made cookies the other day...1 recipe made about 4 dozen! These taste a lot like the cookies you get at the grocery store, but they don't taste like they're coated in flour! They were excellent. 

That takes care of my week. How was yours?

Lovely Weather For a Hodgepodge

Yes, I stole the title from Joyce.  Isn't that what you're suppose to do?    The questions this week are mostly inspired by the holidays:

1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'?

Being happy, joyous, and almost childlike.

2. What sits atop your tree (s)? Why?

An angel.  I don't remember where we got it, but to me an angel is all about proclaiming the birth of Christ, regardless of that nasty rumor about the little angel knocking on Santa's door and asking him where he wanted her to put his Christmas tree!  (For the story, see Karen's post.)

3. When was the last time you gave yourself a pat on the back?

Gosh, I have no idea.  I know I do it quite often ('cause if I don't do it, who will?), I just can't think of the last time.  

4. Which of your senses is most sensitive this time of year?

Smell.  Nothing takes me back to Christmases past like a smell.  It may be cookies baking, candy being made, peppermint, or pine/cedar.  

5. What do you have too much of in your kitchen?

I can't wait to see what everybody's answer is on this one, because honestly, I'm coming up with nothing.  

6. What do you do for meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Big meal? 

Breakfast tradition? Open the cookie tins and have at it? 

Since my MIL is Danish (or was until she became a naturalized citizen a couple of years ago), we have tried to incorporate some Danish traditions in with my family traditions.  We have a big meal on Christmas Eve, consisting of pork loin, carmelized potatoes, green bean almondine, and rolls (along with other things, but those are the main things), followed by an almond put in someone's pudding.  The Danes use a rice pudding, but, since CH isn't too fond of it, I usually use pistachio pudding.  Whoever has the almond in their pudding gets a prize.  Then, on Christmas Day, I will make a big brunch.  Then I'm through cooking for a while.  We snack during the day on leftovers from the night before, as well as cookies and candy that I made.  (I know this is crazy, but I don't let the boys tear into the goodies until everything is made and put in tins.)  When the boys were little, I used to make a big Christmas Eve dinner, big brunch, and then a big Christmas Dinner, but as I've gotten older, I've realized that there's no reason I shouldn't be able to relax and enjoy Christmas just like everyone else!

The Danish heart that has a place of honor over our dining room table:

7. What is the best thing about winter?

 Being able to put your jammies on early, curl up on the couch with a blanket, and watch old movies.  It's just not the same to watch old movies in the summer!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The weather's been crazy here in East Tn. this week, y'all.  We had snow that actually stuck on Sunday, got out of school on Monday, the county schools (where I work) were out on Tuesday, and we're expecting another "disturbance" tonight.  Here are a couple of shots from around town:

An unexpected surprise from YS when I went out to my car yesterday:

 

Ducks/geese on the ice; not in the water:

The duck pond (which is in between the middle and elementary schools and next to the swimming pool) frozen over:

 Yep, us southerners are intrigued by things our northern counterparts take for granted:

YS pointed this out to me yesterday.  It's an icicle that's formed under the pipe where the steam from our heater goes out.  Here's a close-up of the top part:

Yes, we're easily amused in the south!

Hodgepodge Thursday

It's just after 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, and I'm sitting here posting on a blog.  WHY?  I usually blog at night, revise after I've slept on it, then post first thing in the morning.  I can't help  it; I'm obsessive a perfectionist that way.  It's been a busy week, and it's just Wednesday.  Monday was the easy day...no after school activities.  MS did have a soccer game, but it was an away game, and it was quite a distance away, so I chose not to go.  So, what did he do?  He scored his 2nd goal of the season.  And I missed it...again.  Tuesday night was a Reunion Meeting.  What a blast it was to look through old pictures and realize that I either didn't go on the senior field trip, or I completely don't remember it.  I'm pretty sure  I didn't go, although I have no reason why.  One of my friends said if she hadn't been in the pictures she wouldn't have believed it!
Tuesday morning I took a Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake (Thanks, Paula..as in Deen!)  to school for the teachers in celebration of the end of TCAPS.  It must've been okay...it was all gone by 9:30!

If you've ever tried that cake, you know it's "Slap your grandma" good!  When I got to my room, this beautiful sight was waiting on me:

My heat/air is finally fixed!  HOORAY!  It only took 5 months, but it finally got fixed!  I had a meeting during the day, and, y'all, the view outside of the principal's window is amazing.  There's just a big ole hill with trees all over it.  I had to snap this shot as I was leaving school Tuesday afternoon:

You have to look past the wires, but the view from this school just takes my breath away!  The clouds are incredible.
Which brings me to Wednesday.  I get a text from my intern...she can't find her keys.  She thinks maybe she locked them in her car, and she doesn't have a spare.  After a while she texts me again...still can't find them.  I tell her it's no big deal, just take her time.  I'll get started on the kids and she can jump in when she gets to school.   I finally get a text from her after I get to school:  she found them...in her bathrobe.  She wasn't very late, but I think she felt badly about it.
It's the lovely time of the year when we're running around, trying to get IEPs done  before school's out.  Another meeting Wednesday afternoon, but it didn't take very long.  As I'm leaving  the school, I get a text from MS:  I need to make baklava for him for school tomorrow...a school project.  Great.  I've never made baklava in my life.  My nephew's  wife makes a mean baklava, but I don't have her recipe.  So, when I get home, I look it up on the 'net, and print off the recipe.  When I asked MS why he waited until the last minute, he said that he didn't think I had anything else to do!  HA!  Guess what...I had a band booster budget meeting at 6:30.  And, I still needed to go by Home Depot to see if I could find a couple of ceiling fans I liked.  (More on that in a future post.)  The meeting lasted until 9:10...we closed Panera down.  Then, off to Home Depot for the quest for ceiling fans.  As I'm going in, I get a call from MS saying he's changed his mind...Persian Raisin Cookies would be easier and faster.  I tell him that I'll call  him when I go into the grocery store so he can tell me what we I need to get.  Find a couple of fans I like, then off to Kroger.  That's one scary place at 10:00 at night, let me tell you.  There was a high school boy who was harassing   asking the bag boy where he went to high school, then proceeded to tell him that one of the city schools  was better.  Then, the high school boy looks at me and asks which one I like better.  I tell him I went to the other city school (which is a huge rival  of his school.).  As I'm getting in my car, I look at the car parked next to me...bad mistake.  Really weird looking people.  Not that I have anything against people who look different...I  just don't want to cross their paths at 10:15 at night in a dark parking lot when I'm alone.
I finally make it home, make the cookies (in all fairness, MS did help), and now here I am.  Can barely keep my eyes open, but I'm going to finish this post!  5:30 is going to come awfully early.  I don't think the cookies turned out exactly like they're suppose to; I don't think they were suppose to flatten out like they did.  But they're done.  And I don't care what they taste like.

And now it's Thurs. morning, and, yep, I was right:  5:30 did com awfully early this morning.
Oh, and:  Happy Earth Day!  In South Carolina, the town we lived in had a huge Earthday Celebration at the museum (it was a small museum, but it was a pretty good one!).  I don't think they do anything like that here.  Anyway, here's a fact from my "Little White Book":  The first Earth Day was celebrated in San Francisco, which is named after St. Francis, who is the patron saint of ecology.

Rare Weekend

If you're Party Hopping, WELCOME!  Stay a while and see what's going on!  My UBP Post is here.

This past weekend was just what I needed...nice and quiet!  However, it started out with MS' high school soccer game on Friday night.  It was a district game, and they won 7-0.  Our boys sent 2 of the opposing team's goalies to the hospital:  the first one slid face first into one of our boys' cleats and had to get stitches in his chin.  The second one broke his leg:  he came out of the box and collided with MS.  Usually when MS gets hurt, he bounces right back, but he stayed down a little bit.  (He told me after it was a bit of acting; he was trying to get the other guy to get a yellow card...which looked more green on Friday night!)  He was walking pretty gingerly on his ankle until Saturday evening.  Neither of the collisions resulted in a penalty.  I still don't understand those penalties; I think the refs interpret the rules the way they want to!   I told the moms that at OS' first wrestling match he dislocated his opponent's shoulder, and they commented that my boys were like brick walls!  They are all pretty solid, for sure!  Our entertainment at the game was one of MS' teammates:  he had torn his posterior cruciate ligament and had surgery that morning.  He was taking hydrocodone and was talking up a storm!  I heard him say more that night than I've ever heard him say.  He was sitting near us with his leg propped up  with all of the mamas looking after him.

Saturday my husband took a motorcycle ride to see one of his buddies, so he was gone from Sat. morning until Sun. late afternoon.  MS had his lifeguard recertification on Sat. afternoon, so it was just YS & me.  We made Pan Burritos together (didn't even think to take a picture, but it is like a Mexican Lasagna...very good!)...okay, well, he did most of the work!  Sunday YS went on a band trip to a nearby indoor waterpark that is also a resort; today they are going to a nearby amusement park then to a dinner show establishment tonight.  We're hoping to send the band to NYC next year.

Saturday since everybody was out of the house or playing games in the man room, I made cookies!  I made a batch of these:

 Then I made some of my husband's favorite cookies:  Cake Cookies.  They are so easy and sooo yummy!  This is all you need for the main ingredients:

You can use any yellow cake mix, or you can use chocolate.  Then, you pick what you want to add.  M&M's are a favorite, but this was my choice:

.The recipe also says you can add raisins if you want a healthier cookie...Yeah, right.

So, here's all you do:  Melt the butter, add the main ingredients (Using 2/3 oatmeal), mix them up.  Then, put in your choice of add-ins and mix that up.  Put on a cookie sheet (I bake my cookies on a Pampered Chef stone)  and bake at 375 for 12 minutes. (No, I didn't clean the stone after making the chocolate chip cookies...you can't get a warm stone wet.  Besides, I was still making cookies!)  The great thing about the stone is that if you leave the cookies in too long, they don't burn.  They'll be really crunchy, but they don't burn! 


Here's what the finished product looks like:

"How did I get the cookies perfectly round?" you ask?  It was my Pampered Chef Cookie Scoop!  

And yes, it is the large scoop!  And no, I am not a consultant!

The Gospel during Mass yesterday was one of my favorites:  John 20:19-31.  This is the "Doubting Thomas" story.  It's been a week since the Resurrection, and the disciples are holed up in a room, in hiding, fearing for their lives.  During the Homily, the priest brought up some points that I had never thought about:  Why was Thomas the one who wasn't there?  Was it because he had doubts so the other disciples told him to leave and come back when he was sure?  Or, was he the least recognizable so he was the one they sent out getting bread and water and other supplies?  Hmmm...good points.  The priest said that when he was in the seminary, one of his instructors told them to read this gospel, and be prepared to discuss the 3 most important words of this passage.  He said that at first he thought it was "Peace be with you"  (until someone pointed out to him that that was 4 words!), then he thought maybe "I send you".  Good thoughts, but not it.  He said when he walked into the classroom, the words "a week later" were on the board.  My initial thought when I heard him say that:  That really relates to how I feel a week after Easter.  It was so hard to go to Mass this morning; I had to make myself go.  The devil wasn't going to win today!  How many of us went to church or Mass eagerly on Easter Sunday, just to have trouble getting motivated to go the next week?  As it turned out, the priest didn't have that in mind when he talked about "a week later", but that was what I got out of it! 
I'm not sure how it is in other religions, but to a Catholic, Easter isn't just one day...it's a whole season!  It begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until Pentecost Sunday, which is a period of 50 days.   Catholic Online indicates that Thomas died a martyr:  "He became a messenger of Mercy to India, a missionary who shed his own blood for the Master whom he encountered on that day."  The 2nd Sunday of Easter is also called "Divine Mercy Sunday".  Catholic Culture explains it this way:
  "Between 1930 and 1938 Christ appeared to Sister Faustina, a Sister of Mercy in Poland who initiated the Divine Mercy devotion. She was canonized on April 30, 2000, the Sunday after Easter, the Feast of Divine Mercy. On Good Friday, 1937, Jesus requested that Blessed Faustina make a special novena before the Feast of Mercy, from Good Friday through the following Saturday. Jesus also asked that a picture be painted according to the vision of Himself as the fountain of mercy. He gave her a chaplet to be recited and said that it was appropriate to pray the chaplet at three o'clock each afternoon (the Hour of Great Mercy)."  A chaplet is similar to a rosary, or the rosary itself may be used to kind of  "keep track" of what prayers have been said.  A novena is a prayer, or a set of prayers that are said for 9 successive days.  It is amazing that after praying the novena, you know that it's heard if not answered.

Here is a picture of a dogwood in the yard (yes, they're finally blooming!):

Hope everyone has a Happy Monday!