Holiday Recipe Cards

Have you noticed a lack of holiday cards out there? Similar to my lack of blog posts, yes.

I made up some cards for the holiday for my aunts to sell in at a local Christmas Tree farm back in Wisconsin. I printed them out on colored stock paper and cut them out. Would be nice for a cookie recipe exchange or for holiday recipes.

Feel free to save them and print them off for your own personal use. Rights reserved ;-)

Happy Holidays!

Santa

Mrs Claus

Reindeer

Malomakarona - Greek Chrismas Cookies

Melomakarona - Greek Christmas Cookies

My new favorite little cookies.

Cookie Dough - makes 50 to 60 cookies
2 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup Sugar

2 eggs
1 cup Orange Juice

1 tsp lemon juice

4 cups Plain Flour
2 cups semolima flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

Mix wet ingredients together well. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until well incorporated. Knead with more flour until moldable. Shape into rectangle-like cookies. Place on a non-stick surface and bake at 350 degree for about 20 minutes or until just golden.

Remove and let cool COMPLETLY.

Syrup

2 cups sugar

1.5 cups water

1.5 cups honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

8 cloves

Heat all together on a stove until bubbly, about 10 minutes. Remove cloves. Pour over cooled cookies in a pan. Flip cookes and let liquid soak in, for about 30 minutes.

Remove and coat in topping. Let dry.

Topping
8 cloves, from syrup
1 cup walnuts
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Grind together and toast till dry.

This recipe does make a lot. But you can store them in an air tight container up to two months... if they last that long.

Seasons Greetings

This year I decided to decorate our Christmas tree with some handcut paper snowflakes.

Each one is a little different and unique. They were a challenge starting out, I haven't done them since I was in middle school, but after a few ugly square ones I got the hang of it. Here's a quick sequence to make a pretty circle shaped one...

First fold a square peice of paper over into a triangle, then fold again. Fold into thirds, over each other and cut off the end to a straight section. Either cut shapes into it from here or follow this pattern to get a cute little swedish style snowflake:

Merry Christmas!

But wait you say! It's 2009! It's the New Year, you should be talking about resolutions and diets, not cookies.

Well think back just a week. Back to when you were sitting around with family and enjoying every butter-filled bite. Since we travelled to Wisconsin for Christmas this year I didn't get a chance to post the frosting cookies that I made. Sorry but you'll have to wait for a healthier post tomorrow...

These cookies started off as flaky brown cutouts taking over my kitchen counter. I soon thought to myself that Christmas had gotten out of hand this year and I should never have volunteered to bring treats. Along with the frosted cookies I also had a few batches of Pecan Tassies and some Chocolate Pistachio Bark in the works. After a couple hours, my hands tinted multiple colors, everything was done and I was ready for packing up.

The recipe is taken from i shot the chef's blog. While I might not have the professional pictures she has, I think they turned out just as tasty!

So the next time Christmas, or any other holiday, rolls around try these out for a new easy recipe.

Sugar Cookie Recipe
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 c. granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

1/2 c. sour cream

Royal Icing

3 large egg whites

4 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp orange zest

food coloring paste

In a large bowl whip butter and sugar together until creamy. Add vanilla, egg, and sour cream till mixed. Add salt, baking powder, and flour (a little at a time) until the dough is consistent and well mixed.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Take a little dough at a time and roll out on a well floured surface until about 1/8 thickness.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, rerolling the dough until used up. Place on a non-stick tray and bake about 15 minutes in a 350 preheated oven. Do not over bake. The edges of the shapes will be slightly brown.

Remove to a cooking rake and let cool completely.

To make frosting mix all ingredients together to make a base white color. Separate some of the icing into small bowls and add food coloring until desired color. Letting the mixture sit and set up a bit will allow easier and less liquid icing.

Once the cookies are cooled they can be decorated with the icing and any other decorations. Let sit out for at least 2 hours to allow the icing to set.

Pecan Tassies

Pecan Tassies are a little family favorite that I have been making as long as I can remember. But I'm pretty sure that's only because I got tricked into it.

These cookies are delishous "mini" pecan pies. They are bit sized and always requested. However they kinda take forever to make...

Once the dough is made you have to press it into the tins. You have to have the 'right' thickness; too thin and the cookies will break with the weight of the filling, too thick and the crust will push all of the filling out. So you just have to practice and take your time. Growing up I got a lot of practice around Christmas. It was always a busy time and somehow I got the job of making these each year. Now with all the practice I can turn them out pretty fast.

The memories of all those years comes back with each tin that gets pressed out and each smell of the baking almond crust and pacan filling. I smile every time I make these... even if they do take an entire night.

Pecan Tassies
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cup flour

Filling
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c. dark corn syrup
1 scant tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c. chopped pecans

For the tarts cream the sugar and butter together. Add egg and extract, blend well. Stir in flour slowly. Wrap in plastic and let chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Spray Sandbakkelse pastry tins with non-stick spray. Take a small amount of dough and press into bottom and sides of the time with thumbs. The dough must be thin about 1/16 in.

Melt the butter for the filling in a medium bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Fill the tarts 2/3 full and place the tins on a cookie sheet. Bake 25 minutes at 350 until the edges are slightly brown. Let cool in tins for about minutes. Remove from tins onto a cooling rack.

Can serve warm or cold. Store in a air tight container for up to one week. Can freeze and thaw.

Cookies, the Christmas Currency

The holiday season always brings out the baker in me. I tend to bake things that don't really require measuring, but when I came across this recipe I decided to try it for a cookie exchange I had coming up. Normally I would make Pecan Tassies, a family favorite, this year I decided to mix it up a bit. Although I've already been told that I have to make Tassies this week, cause it just aint Christmas without a big batch of mini pecan pies taunting you each day...

I'm a sucker for orange and chocolate flavored deserts, but this quickly became a runner up in the chocolate combination. Since this called for peppermint I decided to add some coloring to go along with the flavor. Altough red and green or even red and white (if you used white chocolate) would be just as cute.

What I liked best about this recipe was that I could make the dough ahead of time. I mixed up, rolled out, and spiraled up the 'log' on Thursday and baked the cookies on Saturday morning. It was a really nice change of pace from the normal all day cooking-fest that I usually have. I think they are better cooled, so make sure to let them rest before serving.

Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheels

3 c. Flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

Vanilla

1 egg yolk

1 tsp peppermint extract

3-6 drop green food coloring

Chocolate

3 oz unsweetned chocolate

1 tsp vanilla extract

Soften butter in a large bowl. Add sugar and whip till frothy. Add milk and egg. Slowly add in the baking powder, salt, and flour until mixed. Divide the batter into two parts. To one add the yolk, peppermint extract and food coloring. Fold by hand to combine. To the second half add melted chocolate and vanilla extract. Wrap each half and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out halves into rectangle shaped sheets. Place the green half onto of the white and roll length-wise creating a long log. Wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hrs or days.

Remove and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 12 minutes. Let cool and store in air tight container for up to 1 week.

A lot like Christmas

Oh yes, it's begining to look a lot like Christmas around our house. The stockings have been hung, the snow is falling, the tree in a box has been opened and the pine scented candle lit. Now ofcourse I would love to have a real tree, but our holiday schedule and the stay at home puppy just does not allow that.

The synthetic tree does have it's advantages. If that akward shapped ornament just won't fit between the branches, well bend the wires a little bit and now it does. Clean up is also a breeze. There aren't any annoying little needles laying around poking your slipperless feet. We still get to put lights up and hang all the decorations.

Christmas decorations we are not short on. Most of which I will admit are stolen from my mother. This year when I pulled out the boxes I was very surprised to realize how many there were. Each box brings a smile and a little excitment when it gets opened.

The Christmas house collection by Dept 56 is always fun for us to set up. The little elf houses have so much detail and cuteness that we just sit and stare at them, listing out our favorite peices. The new bookshelf that we had installed is a perfect place to showcase them.

The little pupy Madison wasn't quite sure what she thought of all the new items or the moving of all the furniture around. Like other dogs she believes that anything under 3 ft belongs to her and should not be meddled with.

She should enjoy the decorations. I've been collecting different Reindeer items now that we have a house to set up. Historically Finnish Lapphunds were bred to hunt and herd reindeer, but somehow they are just less interesting than the real deal.

The antique sleigh bells are slightly more fun since they make a fun noise and so do I when she noses them.

Now the next thing to make the holidays even closer are all the cookie exchanges.... bring on the sugar rush.

It's A Softie Christmas

Peek-a-boo! It's a Christmas Basket full of softies! And it’s getting crowded!

Each year my aunts hustle and bustle, cut and glue, snip and stretch tables full of items to stock a little log house on a Christmas tree cutting farm. The farm is owned by a family which has been a long time friend to ours. Each year we trample through the snowy rows of trees (if we are lucky), searching for the very very best Christmas tree ever. After you’ve tagged your tree you can warm up in the cabin with some hot chocolate… and… there just happens to be cute things for sale!

I was inspired by the softies that Allsorts creates, so I tried to do some little versions myself. I came up with a modified Penguin and Puppy, Squirrels, Owls, and Acorn Elves. You can see the elves above, hiding in a forest of my Grandfather's carved wooden pine trees.

I used a variety of felt fabric, with the exception of the Owls who had cotton material. Each squirrel has a hand-picked sparkly acorn; the Owls are sporting felt holy bunches; and the Elves have small unique items.

The Owls started as a patch-work quilt-like project. Each little blue-ish white square was cut out and then sewed together. I attached a felt backing and added more stitching across the pattern.

I cut the front of the owl pattern out and then sewed the rest of the felt body together on by hand. The eyes and nose are from remnants pieces. The holly bunch just made them more festive!

I tried experimenting with different stitch patterns on the penguins, each more tedious than the last. I finally settled on just plain birds with the same cute little nose that the owls have.

A couple ‘special’ squirrels have embroidered holiday icons (Christmas tree, holy bunch) but this too got quickly intensive and was given up. Since I was trying to punch out a variety of different options I didn’t want to spend too much time on something that may not go over well. We’ll see how they sell!

Merry-pre-Christmas from the basket of animals!