CookieD-oh

Hello!  I hope you and yours had a lovely Christmas!  We sure did!  And now that the flour and powdered sugar have settled, and the mess is (almost) cleaned up, here is a little recap of our days leading up to Christmas. First I decorated some more sugar cookies.  I copied the "Joy" idea from Sweet Sugar Belle , but hers were much better.  I forgot to decorate the letters.  And I was in a hurry.  I may have mentioned I went for simple this year?  It was because I needed to decorate a LOT of cookies, fast. So anyway, those were terrible.  I changed up the snowmen after the first run.  However, I made the change after I had already piped on the little hats.  I decided to do stick arms instead of snow arms.  But after I piped the modified body outlines for the snowmen with stick arms, I realized the hats were now waaaaay too big.  *sigh*  I'd be dangerous if I planned ahead. I almost forgot the gingerbread men.  I used Glorious Treats' gingerbread recipe  . 

Here's another cookie recipe that has been passed down from my grandmother.  These are old-fashioned sugar cookies, and they are no good for icing.  But they are delicious.  And not nearly as frustrating as the stuffed cookies! First things first...measure out some shortening.  I don't like to measure shortening because it's messy.  I had one of those fancy measuring cups that you slide to adjust, and you can push the messy stuff out into the bowl, but my hubby melted it in the dishwasher one day and I have not found a replacement.  So I use the plastic wrap method now. Much less muss and fuss.  Line the cup with plastic wrap, then pop it into the mixing bowl.  Now cream your shortening and sugar until fluffy . Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well-incorporated. Sift together the dry ingredients and add, alternately, with milk. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and roll it into a nice log. Divide the log into thirds. Next, divi

These particular cookies are very near and dear to my heart.  And I hate them with every fibre of my being.  How is that possible?  I love to eat them.  I hate to make them.  But if I don't make them, no one else will.  And my brother would never speak to me again.  And since I've only got the one brother, I bite the bullet and make the stinking cookies. My grandmother used to make these cookies every year, back when she still made cookies.  Then my mom made them every year, until she passed the torch to me.  I have done a little research, and I have never found another stuffed cookie recipe quite like this one.  I don't know where it came from, so if anyone happens to read this blog, and you know the origin of this cookie, please let me know.  It may be English, since Grandma's family is from England, but that's just a guess. The first thing you will need to do is make the filling.  It can be made on the same day or a day or two before you plan to make the c

I had trouble deciding what kind of decorated cookies I wanted to do this year.  I wanted something simple.  But not too simple.  Last year was ornaments, and the year before that was snowflakes, but I wasn't happy with the cookies either year. So I decided to do random Christmas shapes.  Trees, snowmen, snowflakes, mittens, stockings, candy canes.  To tie them all together, they would all be outlined in black.  But I needed a focal point.  Then it hit me.  Why not a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree? What do you think?  It was the first one, so I'll do more and they'll be better.  The girl thought it was so cute that I put a tomato on the little Christmas tree.  :-\ Anyway, here are some of the others in the collection: There you have it.  Like I said, nothing fancy.  I'll be doing more later this week, so I'll post photos if the computer allows. Enjoy!

Really, that's its name. Remarkable Fudge. It's in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. My husband tells me it's the best stuff ever. I don't like fudge *gasp*, so I don't really know.     You don't need a candy thermometer for this one.  You may need burn ointment.  That's up to you. Let's boil some sugar, shall we? That's butter, sugar, salt, and some evaporated milk. Bring to a boil and let it boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. That's why I only make candy once a year.  Too much standing and stirring.  The toffee nearly did me in. Once that's good and thick, add some cholocate chips, a chopped up chocolate bar, marshmallow fluff and vanilla. The recipe says the candy bar is optional.  But it's really not.  The fudge is not remarkable without the candy bar.  (I used a hershey bar...yum...) Stir it all up... And pour it into a foil lined, buttered 9x13 baking dish.  Let it set up and cut

I'm most  of the way through my Christmas baking list.  On my list this year are: Chocolate Chip Cookies Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Gingersnaps Gingerbread Cookies Sugar Cookies (iced) Sugar Cookies (not iced) Stuffed Cookies Peanut Butter Cookies Oatmeal Carmelitas Fudge Butter Toffee Buckeyes Peppermint Patties Pumpkin Bread Gingerbread The more run-of-the-mill items I won't bother posting about.  If anyone is curious about a recipe, just drop me a line and I'll share.  No secrets here. In order to keep everything as fresh as possible, for the drop cookies I make the dough, portion it out, freeze it on a cookie sheet, and when it's hard, put it in a resealable freezer bag.  Then, when I need some cookies, I bake off  a few, and they're fresh from the oven with a minimal amount of fuss.  I do have a KitchenAid Professional 600, which makes my life easier because it holds about three batches of dough at once, depending on the recipe.  And since I u