~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
What is {pretty, happy, funny, real}?
No don't. Too late.
But I am terminally paralyzed by baking and cooking for Christmas, just because it's so particular. If I didn't make the plum pudding early on, there would be no way. (There is still time, though — it's super easy — better than something that has to be made on the day!)
I wanted to make these Sesame Bars…
I never have great success with that certain kind of bar that you have to press in the pan. Somehow the dough never quite makes it all the way to the edges, and in this case you had to get the sesame seeds on the bottom and on the top of the dough — you know, not mixed in because that would be so simple…
And right up front I knew I was not using the right size pan, which was otherwise occupied with the kind of bar that doesn't trick you that way (in this case, McCall's Chocolate-Chip-Butterscotch Bars, highly recommended — of course, use butter, double the recipe for the love of all that is tasty, and don't bother putting anything on top).
So I used this cookie sheet, clearly too big.
Now, I'm going to tell you about all the mistakes I made, but, dear reader, unlike other authors who toy with your emotions, I won't leave you hanging. These bars are so good. They are like those sesame candies that are in the jar at the cashier's for 3 cents each — you know the ones? Wrapped in cellophane?
But in cookie form.
First, I chose the wrong size pan, like I said. Then, I read the recipe wrong because my eyesight is corrected for up close and far away but not medium. So I put in 1/2 cup of butter, not 1/3, oops, what a disaster — too much butter!!
Then, I ran out of brown sugar because I had used it all up in the other recipes (well, not quite all, but mostly). I thought I had more, but no.
So I substituted sugar and honey for most of the brown sugar, but that's also not the worst thing ever, because to my mind, honey and sesame are naturally wonderful together.
And then there was the whole “spread the dough over the seeds” as if that is even possible. (Even with the right size pan, I'm sorry, it's going to be iffy at best.)
Note, however, that I cleverly did deploy parchment paper. This, dear reader, is because of a clearance sale at my local grocery store which occasioned me to lay in a lifetime supply of parchment paper. Thus, I am not stingy in reaching for it.
Chewy Sesame Bars
1/2 cup sesame seeds, lightly toasted (you can toast them in the pan before you make the bars)
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (you can substitute some honey for the sugar)
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Heat oven to 350. Spread half the toasted sesame seeds on the bottom of the (ungreased) 13 x 9 x 2″ pan (if you use parchment paper, it will make slicing easier afterwards, because you will just lift the whole thing onto a cutting board).
Mix the sugar, butter, and eggs. Sir in the dry ingredients.
Beginning at the center of the pan, spread the dough over the seeds (yeah, right); sprinkle the dough with the remaining seeds. Bake until the dough begins to pull away from the edges, about 25 minutes (check after 18 though, and if you use a jelly roll pan like I did, it won't take more than 12 minutes). Cool slightly, cut into bars, store in an airtight container.
I decided to move the jars and jars of bacon grease I've collected out to the garage fridge. (It will come in handy for frying chicken and doughnuts and well, everything.)
Apparently something had spilled under them and they were nice and stuck on that shelf.
The best way to get off sticky stuff is to just let a cloth soak on it for a few minutes. Then wipe. |
And… A bird pooped on my kitchen window.
Honestly.
Will insisted that he could clean it from inside…
I had nothing better to do than these semi-quasi-faux deep cleans, argh.
But you know, clear it all off and start from scratch — it's the only way!
I meant to take a picture of the kitchen in a more calm state, but surprise, I didn't.
So when I do make Christmas cookies (and often it happens that I don't get to it), this is my list (recipes linked):
Spitzbuben from Gourmet Magazine, December 2000 |
Spitzbuben — delicate little disks of shortbread with apricot jam sandwiched in between, sprinkled with coarse sugar. This recipe was from a reader of the old Gourmet magazine (readers would send their own recipes to be published in the letters section), and the cookies are delightful. Full disclosure, I have always used an egg white, not egg powder, and I have always thoughtlessly put it right in the dough. So much for reading recipes! But my Spitzbuben are always crisp-tender and fabulous!
Rugelach — These seem super over the top and complicated, but if you make the dough and nut mix way before you are ready to bake, they are actually easier than rolling out cookies for cookie cutters. They are efficient — no re-rolling! And they look so festive and pretty. (Also, not strictly Christmas cookies but I am fine with interfaith treats.)
Spritz — Must have spritz. To avoid sadness and frustration, and again, maybe I'm the only one who hadn't gotten the memo, keep your dough and cookie sheet cold. As in, swap the sheets out of the fridge!
This year I am trying Currant-Ginger Shortbread, just because I happen to have some crystalized ginger on hand (I put it in the plum pudding, too). We'll see. I added a tiny bit of honey to this recipe as well, and probably twice as much ginger as the recipe called for. I plan to cut them out in circles.
{Make the above doughs now, wrap well, and pop in a ziploc bag. On the bag with a Sharpie, note the kind of dough — trust me on that one — and write the temperature and the directions if you are confident about the basic procedure. Store in the fridge until you can have a calm afternoon — maybe Sunday? — to bake them with the fam. That way you don't have to get the recipe out again.}
Chocolate-espresso snowcaps — I love these. They are essentially brownies in cookie form. I have never yet found instant espresso powder, so I use a tablespoon of strong coffee and omit the milk.
Habou makes palmiers — I will have to see if she can comment with the recipe — they are so good!
There are a few more, but they are not available to link, so I will try to take pictures and post about them another time.
Even if you just make one (and many years I have managed the rugelach or spitzbuben and that is all), they are special, aren't they? You don't have to have a million kinds. I think the kids really love the spritz most of all, for the discs that change the shapes.
What are your favorite Christmas cookies?
Hafsa says
Wow all of those cookies sound amazing and some admittedly intimidating (rugelach!). But this is he year I have arbitrarily decided to bake for neighbors, family and our parish priests so I'm going to have to try some of these recipes.
_Leila says
Really, Hafsa, the rugelach are not hard! And you can even just use jam, cinnamon sugar, or NUTELLA for the filling.
It's honestly easier than rolling and cutting shapes and re-rolling…
Kathy@9peas says
I have to get photos uploaded from this week and then I'm joining in. PHFR is my favorite link up! I love that you share the reality of getting ready for Christmas in addition to your warm, beautiful photos of your home. I think I would love to come sit and visit with you there…eating some of those delicious Christmas cookies!
wstyrsky says
H ! The yarn looks scrumptious. I am on my last Christmas knitting project, a hat from wool and angora. So want to be finished! I discovered a sugar cookie recipe a few years ago that uses sour cream in the dough. It is the best cookie I have ever made! My grandson loves to bake them with me.
Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!
Rain says
Leila, I love how you continue to keep it real. You give us something to aim for without overwhelming us with a perfection that sends us back to the couch. Bless you!
Have a wonderful Christmas season.
Mamabearjd says
I forgot that Rosie and my daughter share a birthday! My daughter will be 11. I will include Rosie in our birthday prayers. We have a child birthday right at Thanksgiving and at Christmas, which takes lots of doing to keep the “special” in the midst of all of the other cooking and planning.
I like to make fudge, which is terribly generic but delicious! Maybe we can work on some cookies once the grandparents start arriving. Your cookie list looks great.
Sue says
Oh, my goodness! I suddenly feel like I must have Rugelach right now! I used to make that all the time. I don't know why I stopped. Thanks for the reminder!
I definitely will try the sesame cookies. My husband will love those – he eats sesame by the handful!
The three things that I have to make at Christmas, lest my entire family be very put out, are pecan tarts, snowball cookies (also referred to as Mexican or Russian wedding cookies, but I have no idea if they really are, so I go with snowball), and pumpkin bread. Anything else is icing on the cake, so to speak. We do roll out cookies some years, but as long as I have the others no one seems to care much one way or the other, so I can just decide based on my available time and energy. Whew!
Diane says
I made rugelach…once. I think the mistake was it was a “Baking with Julia” recipe, and the chefs who recreated the recipe from her show felt duty-bound to make it as complicated as possible. I did the home made prune filling. Nothing about it was particularly hard, but with the filling, the dough and all the chilling of things, it took me three days. The dough was wonderful, the filling ok. I may try them again with nutella.
Spritz are my favorite. We only ever make them at Christmas, and they are perfect for grabbing a couple (or five) to have with a cup of coffee.
_Leila says
Diane, ain't it the truth. Dear Julia was so wrapped up in the process that it's all very educational and totally exhausting.
I remember her recipe for baked beans, that involved browning onions, rendering salt pork… a reader wherever this was published commented, “Oh for heavens' sake, just dump it all in the pot!” And to her credit, Julia assented.
Betsy M says
Leila, just wanted to say thanks for the motivation that you have given me this morning. A 6 week old and a messy house have decreased the number of Advent activities happening around here. We only managed one afternoon of cookie making and those cookies are almost gone. I can't wait to try a couple of those recipes you mentioned above as they look adaptable to our allergies. Yay.
Oh, and if someone is looking for a fun cookie decorating method – I highly recommend the Pioneer Woman's egg yolk painting on the sugar cookies (you paint the cookies before you bake them). My kids had a blast with this and, as a bonus, frosting or sprinkles are then not required on the sugar cookies.
Mrs. B. says
The sesame cookie recipe is missing the butter 🙂 How should that 1/3 cup be? Soft or melted? Thank you!
This may be the year I buy a cookie press – it sounds so much fun to make spritz! And a cookie I can “stuff” with Nutella? Must try! My favorite Christmas cookie is hazelnut thins drizzled with Nutella – you slice them instead of rolling them, which is something that I find so stressful (I find cookie-making in general quite stressful….) But the kids love Christmas cookie cutters, so we always have simple sugar cookies, too. I just try to keep the sprinkling to a minimum, and NO frosting. I am happy I found a recipe that's easy and not disgustingly sweet.
As for your fridge mess, I must confess I usually wait for something like that to happen before I can commit myself to a fridge deep cleaning… If I am really efficient, I do it when the fridge just happens to be practically empty – not very often anyway, eh? So these kind of messes don't upset me too much, unless they happen at the wrong moment (this year on Thanksgiving I found out the turkey had been leaking juices all over the fridge… Luckily it was early morning, and not right when I had to prep the bird!!)
_Rosie says
Good catch, Mrs. B! Softened. It's in there now.
_Leila says
Mrs. B. My “deep cleans” are usually confined to this sort of on-the-fly emergency attention, but still! I have other things to do!!!
Mrs. B. says
Well, then I won't feel too bad about myself 🙂 I do hear nagging voices telling me that should be one of “the things I have to do”, but it sounds so low priority to me… 🙂
Thank you Rosie for the butter detail. I was hoping for “melted” – so much easier! Oh well!
Amy Caroline says
This time of yar is all about messes! The bigger the better. The messes help make memories. 🙂
I think my new word for the year is going to be rustic. I like it, it sounds much better than mess, lol. “Welcome to my home, sorry it is so rustic, we didn't know you were coming!” lol
Laura Jeanne says
I laughed out loud when I read your tongue-in-cheek comment about too much butter being a disaster. Is there such a thing as too much butter? I normally add a little bit more than every recipe calls for, just for good measure!
I normally do quite a bit of Christmas baking. including my best old standby, which was my mother's best old standby…I posted the recipe on my (now defunct) blog a few years ago: http://gettingthere.typepad.com/getting-there/201…
Those cookies are so good – they have a very high butter content! – and the almond flavoured icing is just delicious.
I also made this year a recipe called Cindy Lou Bars, which have a crust of Ritz crackers, Skor toffee bits, and sweetened condensed milk. With cream cheese icing on top, and more Skor bits. Sooo good. These are so dangerous for a toffee-loving woman like me.
The thing my kids like best though, is chocolate-dipped pretzels. I do one side white and one side dark (with sprinkles). I'm going to do up a huge batch of these this year and share some with several of our neighbours.
Heidi says
I got my espresso powder from the King Arthur Flour catalog. It's a little expensive, but it lasts forever, it enhances all kinds of chocolate baked goods, and you can always make coffee with it. 🙂 I've seen it at grocery stores, but had to hunt for it and it was ridiculously overpriced.
I also cleaned my kitchen on accident yesterday! The kids were at grandma's, and I just kind of got carried away…
*kate says
I have given up on spritz. I cannot, for the life of me, get them to come out. I tend to prefer simple cookies, they get eaten so fast that I get frustrated spending much effort on them 😉 Chocolate chip and sugar cut outs are enough around here. But those spitzbuben look really tempting…
_Leila says
*kate, the trick is the chilling for the spritz.
But the spitzbuben are so light and delicate — I really recommend them! (By the way, you can just roll them in a log and cut them, rather than rolling them out and cutting with a cookie cutter.)
Dixie says
Have you ever tried that kind (spitzbuben, or another short sandwich cookie) of cookie with red currant jelly as the filling? There's something about it that just tastes like Christmas, maybe because it's a flavor that's so infrequently used. So special.
Melissa Diskin says
We' ve had 3 weeks of stomach flu at our house. So we are not so much “decorated for Christmas and celebrating Advent” as we are “hospital decor with bonus Christmas tree, and celebrating the first day of no bath towels lining the furniture and floor.”
But I can dream of next year, and do my best this week. Thanks for the peek at loveliness…
NY Mom says
Leila, this comment is not meant for the blogpost but it's on my mind and before I forget it…(likely)…wanted to pass it on. I have 4 sons, the elder 2 of which are married, each with a daughter (and sons, too, but this about girls' clothing). So that makes 2 granddaughters. Anyway – you may already know about Rothschild wool dress coats – they are exceptionally well-made, wear like iron, and can be found used/vintage on places like Etsy, ebay, ThredUp, and so on. I noticed that now that you have granddaughters, you are keeping an eye out for little girl things, and wanted to point this out as a great option for a special granddaughter-y gift down the road. My DIL's love the coats we've gotten this way – I get them dry-cleaned and their little girls are wearing something that is more substantial – and good-looking – than the trendy fare on the department store racks. As a bonus I knit up a little coordinating beret and scarf and we're ready for winter. Merry Christmas to you and yours! -Rebecca (NY Mom)
_Leila says
Rebecca, I have one of those coats all ready to go — I think that Evangeline will get it (she is older!) and I'll have to keep an eye out for one for Molly! They are lovely. Ours has a hat and a muff, if they aren't lost by now.
Rachel says
This year I'm planning on making chocolate candycane cookies and cardamom snowball cookies, mostly to give as gifts to family and friends. I'm also making gingerbread muffins with lemon glaze and peanut butter fudge to have after Christmas Wigilia.
This is my first time linking to {phfr}, I couldn't figure out how to get the button onto my post, but here's the link! http://homesteadyhousewife.blogspot.ca/2013/12/pr…
_Leila says
Hi Rachel, I linked it for you — thanks for joining!
kimberlee says
I'm standing here laughing out loud along with my own bunch of daughters – we have the same favorite adjective! We use 'rustic' all the time around here in the same contexts, such a useful word. The biscuits came out wonky? Rustic. The kitchen looks rather haphazard? Rustic. Those bits of hydrangea petals fluttering about your sink are also very rustic. We make a couple thousand cookies in a two-day-whole-family marathon, tradition with a capital T. We do love ginger shortbread over here, but we may just have to try your spitzbuben. They would be good with my homemade currant jam and besides it's so fun to say. Wish you lived near and could come for (rustic) tea parties.
_Leila says
kimberlee — yes! Currant jam!
Donna L. says
Auntie Leila thank you for the inspiration! I have tried so hard this year not to rush into ChristMass that I have done nothing in the baking department, yet. But I have high hopes for this weekend and may beg my family to help me with marathoning the goodie making this time around. Our favorites are: soft sugar cookies, fudge, layered cookie bars, cranberry and pumpkin breads, peanut butter kisses and shortbread. I have tried to make toffee, but have overcooked it so often I'm hesitant…to call it rustic would be a kind stretch!
Tori says
I haven't done any Christmas baking yet. I can't believe how quickly December has gone by. Overbooked for sure. Sunday I did help my mom bake butter cookies, a staple of my grandma's that we must make every year. And my mom also made Stollen, German Christ bread. Those are the two big recipes from my side of the family. My husband loves Molasses Gingersnaps, I think we will finally get around to those tomorrow. I'll have to evaluate what else we have time for over the weekend, but I'm determined not to do too much. I always get trapped in this “Do ALL the holiday things” mode, and then it's just not enjoyable anymore. Moderation, moderation.
Charlotte says
My Sunshine always comes running when I say, “Auntie Leila's talking knitting today!” Hope you all have a Merry Rustic Christmas!
CaMama says
I find wrapping tiring and put it off until the last minute (not Christmas Eve, but close). I collect and make gifts all throughout the year and store them in a trunk in my room. Then I have to remember what gift goes to whom. Did I get that book for son#1 or son#2? Is that scarf for daughter #2 or #3? Sometimes I come across things I forgot I had. It's brain exhausting, I tell you.
Our favorite decorating word around here is “distressed.” However, a contractor is redoing one of our old bathrooms and his favorite word to describe the vintage elements of our home is “b**chin'.” He means that favorably. A true child of the 80's.
We bake more breads around here than cookies. Potica (Ukranian nut roll) is the favorite, followed by Stollen. My husband always wants the cookies his mother made, which we call “The Best Christmas Cookies Ever” since everyone has long forgotten the name. They are sort of like Russian tea cakes, but without the nuts – just a lot (and I mean a lot) of butter, flour, a bit of sugar, water, vanilla baked into balls and rolled in powdered sugar. He looks forward to these and wants a steady supply all twelve days of Christmas. I also like Martha Stewart's chocolate cookies with chocolate chunks and dried cherries (dried cherries are so expensive we only spring for them at Christmas).
_Leila says
CaMama, I really love your contractor. I think I would die laughing if someone described the features of my house that way!
Laura says
Andes mint cookies–Make a batch of double chocolate chip cookies and when you pull them out of the oven, put one Andes mint on top. Let sit a few minutes then spread the mint slightly. Also, my grandma's Santa's jelly fingers. yuuuum.
Donni says
I'm going to try the sesame bars for sure !!
And, LOVE your yellow dresser!!
Love Donni
Kinga says
So far I am slow on cookies this season; for Christmas though I always bake cheesecake and poppy seed cake, Polish style! As for mess, it is good to see that your are a human too:):):)
Julie says
Espresso powder http://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/products/espress…
priestswife says
yummy cookies! about wrapping- for next year, you might think of buying Christmasy fabric after the holiday is 'over' (meaning after Dec 26th) and making pillow case/Christmas bags for next year. I have many in different shapes and store them in my Christmas bins- it is always a relief to see them- I seal them with ribbon- I always end up using some paper every year, but not that much
bit says
Our favorites are Moravian Christmas (or Ginger) Cookies and Kolachky. Both recipes came through church cookbooks, so make a lot of cookies. The Moravian one makes more than 12 dozen with the full recipe, so lately I've been using this relatively close and much smaller version http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moravian-ginger-cook…
The Kolachky are probably similar tasting to the rugelach, since the original version also has date filling, folded up inside diamond shapes. The simpler (and our preferred) version uses jam, whichever flavors you have or prefer. Sam's club has had a bulk pack with apricot and raspberry filling the last two years, which is what I've been doing instead of the laborious cookie filling/folding/pinning w/toothpick halves. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kolachky/Detail.aspx… looks close, although I don't think the recipe I have uses cream cheese.
Sarah King says
The faith formation director from our parish sent me this prayer a few days ago and I thought your readers might find it comforting, as I did. It came from the Creighton Ministries website (http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html)” target=”_blank”> http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html)” target=”_blank”>(http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html)
If you’ve had such a busy past couple weeks that your Advent hasn’t quite gone as you’d hoped, pray the following:
Dear Jesus,
It's halfway through Advent and I'm not sure what happened. I really wanted to make this a reflective and calm season, preparing for your birth and pondering how you came into this world in such a stunningly humble way. But it's so busy and I'm distracted and sometimes even short-tempered with those I love the most. Where are you in THAT?
I am discouraged and wish I could start over. But as I sit here in the rare moment of silence, I contemplate your birth. In a bed of straw, with the smell of manure everywhere. It's a mess in that stable … and come to think of it, my life is a little messy, too. I suddenly see that it is not just into the mess of the stable but into my mess that you enter the world. You came into a humble place and that humility is often where I live my life – feeling guilty or distracted and wishing I were a better person. But if I stop thinking of myself and focus on you, I realize that there you are, waiting to love me, even though I have so many unfulfilled good intentions about prayer, so many desires of how to change this fleeting Advent season.
I can begin Advent today and make this season deeper by making room in my heart for you. I can take just a moment before I get out of bed in the morning and feel the empty place in my life I so often fill with my busy-ness. It is there I need you the most. Come, Lord Jesus. Come into that dark and lonely spot in my heart. You know what my needs are more than I do. Let me feel your love. If I only carry that thought with me each day, it will prepare me for Christmas.
Thank you, Jesus. It's not too late. You are waiting to enter my life today, where ever I let you in. Help me to open my heart in these remaining days.
Jenny says
Is this the Betty Crocker Cookie Book you were looking for?
http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cooky-Facsim…
Believe it or not, I, who does not cook or bake, actually own this cookbook.
_Leila says
I have it (you can see it in the picture up there:) I meant the recipe isn't online. But now it is 🙂
Jenny says
Oh I see. I thought you meant you couldn't find the cookbook online not the individual recipe.
Habou says
Here is my comment on Palmiers. It is a super easy recipe from The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book. (Since I don't cook very much it is a really good basic cook book.) I love their Palmiers recipe which I make as stated in the book. I'm thinking that the basic dough would make awesome other things: roll up jams (fig) in it or use it as a tart dough.
Erin says
We grew up baking and still bake Betty Crocker's Deluxe Sugar Cookies with buttercream frosting (the frosting recipe listed on the back of the powdered sugar box):
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/sugar-cookies…
This is so much the favorite in our family that we do not bother baking any other kind of cookie. I would recommend using 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract, rather than the 1/2 teaspoon listed, because the flavor is SO strong.
I definitely want to try making the Spitzbuben cookies. Those look delectable!
Merry Christmas!
Bonnie says
Leila, I would love hearing from you about what sort of kitchen gear should be worth investing in. I've been married for 8 years, have 3 kids, both husband and I went through graduate school and now have jobs so we can actually afford to buy some things, and I'm just starting to think–what sort of gear do I want in my kitchen? Two years ago I got my first cast iron pot (Le Creuset) and a cast iron skillet (dirt cheap, no brand); last year I got a slow cooker for X'mas. This year I'm getting my first ever food processor. But I have no idea whether the ones I got were the “right” ones–as in, the ones that would actually be useful, that would last, etc. So, what would you recommend for outfitting a kitchen? I do not have a kitchenaid. We live in England and they cost as much as in the US, but in pounds sterling, and I figured if I have lived without a kitchenaid for my entire life I do not need one *now*. Some kind of review about essential kitchen gear–especially the more substantial pieces–would be greatly appreciated!
Lisa G. says
How is it that I forgot you can make up cookie dough and FREEZE it? Cookies are such a time consuming enterprise when done all at once. Oh, that freezing – thanks for reminding me! A great – and I mean great – favorite with everyone I know is Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread cookies (by Martha, of course). They are terrific.
Your yarn is very appealing, and the simplicity of the mittens is too.
Susan says
King Arthur Flour (look online) has Espresso powder.
Tamara says
I was just here visiting the new site and noticed the picture of the woven potholder sitting on the egg carton… My 4 year old was given a weaving kit as a Christmas present from a family friend and she just finished her first potholder this morning. She was so proud to give it to me as a gift. Its darling – like yours, but made by very own sweet little girl! These little things can truly be so happy!
Jill R. says
Ah Christmas cookies. Interestingly while growing the my mother only really made two kinds of Christmas “cookies;” peanut butter kiss cookies and sugar cookies, rolled and cut out into shapes. However, we also had Russian tea cakes, Nut Goodie Bars, Napoleon Creams/Nanaimo Bars, Coconut Bon Bons, Date Balls, peanut brittle, caramels, fudge, and sometimes divinity when my aunt would send a batch.
I make Peanut butter and peanut butter kiss cookies (the one without the kisses are for my mother in law who doesn’t eat chocolate since her topical chemo treatment), ginger snaps, and sugar along with some of the above mentioned other desserts. This year for some of the larger producing recipes I am trying to convince my mother to so a dessert swap, so I don’t have a years worth of coconut bon bons in the freezer. And I think I am going to make shortbread cookies for the first time this year. The last two years that I have gotten Christmas baking done (too many little kids too close together), my husband usually has to chase me (by asking what he can do to help) into the kitchen after the kids go to bed, and then does the dishes for me when I am done.
Allison says
This is one of our favorites! The menfolk especially seem to like it because of the bit of warmth you get at the back of your throat from the pinch of cayenne. Deliciously chocolatey and unique!
http://www.underthehighchair.com/2008/04/mayan-chocolate-sparklers-new-personal.html
Julie says
“Interfaith treats.” I may have snorted my morning coffee! My mom had that Betty Crocker cookie book – what a great memory to start the day. I’ve yet to gird up my loins for baking with kids but we did make a list yesterday (which grew and grew until I finally stopped my hollow-legged-12-year-old from commenting). Macaroons, riccisrelli, and sugar cookies are musts. I’ve been trying locate Brach’s chocolate stars for little peanut butter cookies (easier to eat than a Hershey kiss and prettier besides), but alas, only available for outrageous price online. I may try a Thin Mint copycat recipe, too.