Christmas Cookies: Sugar Roll Cookies
The trick I have found with these cookies is to glaze them with a sugar glaze. The cookies are cut, baked and then dipped on one side into a sugar glaze while still warm. This takes some preparation, but it’s worth it.
These cookies are a little fiddly, so you really need to do it on a more relaxed day. If you have a friend you can trust, it doesn’t hurt to have an extra pair of hands helping you. You will need a rolling pin, and some cookie cutters, powdered sugar and evaporated milk, and cookie decorations like silver balls, colored sugar sprinkles, cinnamon candies, etc.
Put down waxed paper under cookie racks to catch all the glaze that will drip off, it saves a big mess. Find three flat soup bowls, big enough to dip cookies in. Fill with powdered sugar. Put in drops of food color; be generous to get a good strong color.
Use evaporated milk, stirring in a drop at a time, until you have a glaze that is not too thick, but like cream. That way, when you dip the cookie in, and then turn it on it’s back to drain, the glaze will come down over the sides, but not too much will fall off. If it gets too thin, you need to add more sugar until it firms back up a little. Have plenty of powdered sugar on hand. It always takes a little experimenting, sometimes even just doing it on a humid day can make it trickier. But nothing you can’t handle.
Remember, this dough needs to be refrigerated, so you can make it ahead of time, and pull it out when you are ready to bake cookies.
Dough:
Cream together:
1 cup butter
1 cup fine sugar
Beat in one egg.
Sift and add to above:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Add:
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all together well, and refrigerate several hours.
Roll out a little at a time, cut the cookies, put on cookie tray, bake at 350 F/180 C, 8 – 10 minutes or until slightly gold.
When they come out of the oven, cool two – three minutes, and quickly glaze while they are still warm but not hot.
Now those are the basics. Here are some hints:
When rolling out, rub flour into the rolling pin, and use as little as possible under the dough – the more flour, the tougher it gets. Try not to roll too much, and use a light touch.
If you are working with children, just relax and let whatever happens happen. If they eat the dough, oh well. They’re kids. If they want to decorate, let them decorate. Let these be the kids cookies.They won’t be beautiful, but the kids will think they are, and that is what matters. They’re kids!
If these are for your cookie-obligations, here are different hints.
Choose only three or four cookie cutters, and go for uniformity – it makes for a prettier plate. Like make a whole bunch of trees, glaze them all green, and put a silver ball on the end of each bough. It isn’t imaginative, but when the cookie trays go together, it just looks nicer. Make stars, one red cinnamon at each point. Or reverse, or whatever you think looks good, just make a whole bunch the same if you are giving these away.
Again, wait until the glaze and decorations are totally cool and dried before putting into containers to store. Store in a cool dry place, in an airtight container, and they will be good up to a month.
These cookies are from Baking 911 Ask Sarah where there is a lot more information about glazing, so if you are looking for a more advanced sugar cookie, go there!
Christmas Cookies: Spritz or Cookie Press
Not such a secret: when you buy your cookie press, there will be recipes inside.
Here is an old faithful recipe from The Joy of Cooking, a very dry cookbook with solid gold information when you are an inexperienced cook. The ingredients and instructions are from the book, but the explanations I am adding for clarity. Ask questions if it doesn’t make sense!
Although learning how to use a cookie press may seem hard, it’s about as hard as painting your toenails – you figure out the tricks as you go along. The cookies LOOK so fantastic, and you look so clever for making them . . . don’t tell how easy it is.
And remember, one reason we do these cookies is because we can make the dough a day or two ahead when we have a couple minutes, and stick it in the refrigerator in an air-tight container, and then just cook up a batch when we have the time.
I personally think they look better when you use strong food coloring, so don’t skrimp on the green or the red. It helps make your cookie platter look more festive.
Try one batch this year, just to get the hang of it. Double or triple next year, when you have more confidence in your cookie-press skills.
Heat oven to 350 F/180 C.
Sift together:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising, not whole wheat)
3/4 cups sugar (the finest sugar you can find, if it is too coarse, grind it finer if you can because big sugar will give you problems getting through the press)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend in, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs:
1 cup butter
(The best thing for “blending in” would be a food processor, or an pastry blender.)
Break one egg into a 1/4 cup measuring cup. If the egg does not fill the cup, add water until it equals 1/4 cup.
Stir egg into crumb mixture, and add 1 teaspoon vanilla. This is also where I add the food coloring.
Beat well, then chill. Put about a cup and a half dough into cookie press and press onto UNGREASED cookie sheet. The dough should be pliable, but if it becomes too soft, re-chill it slightly. Don’t get discouraged at first . . . it takes a little while to get it to come out right, and to stick to the pan . . . keep at it. You’ll get it, just keep trying. Once you know how, you never forget.
Bake at 10 – 15 minutes.
These beautiful cookies in the photo are courtesy of about Southern food.com.
Patricia Wells, France and Fallot Mustard
As I was scrambling through the Salmiyya Sultan, looking desperately for a few good ingredients on Thanksgiving morning, I stopped short in sheer wonder. There, on the shelves, here in Kuwait, were mustards by Edmond Fallot.
Monsieur Fallot makes the best mustards in the entire world. One year, we did a “French” turkey, slivered with a thousand slices of garlic carefully placed in a thousand tiny slits just under the turkey skin. It was magnificent. We served the turkey that year with a variety of Monsieur Fallot’s mustards.
We lived in Germany, and we often travelled to France for a couple weeks at a time, exploring different regions. We used lots of books, but the three we used most often for France were Patricia Wells Food Lover’s Guide to France, Patricia Wells Food Lover’s Guide to Paris, and a book published annually called Europe’s Wonderful Little Hotels and Inns.
We didn’t have a lot of money, but what we lacked in money, we made up in energy, optimism and research. We found wonderful places to stay, fabulous meals and affordable side trips. We lunched out of charcouteries and boulangeries, we dined demi-pension in Michelin “Red R’s” (good local food at reasonable prices.) We found ourselves in the Burgundy area again and again, and Patricia Wells led us to Monsieur Fallot’s mustard factory in Beaune. Click there for a virtual visit to his factory in preparation for your real time, in person visit.
As I stood there, transfixed, in the Sultan Center, I was back in Beaune, travelling in France with some history and “foodie” friends, and we made a special stop at M. Fallot’s factory, whose address was listed in the original Food Lover’s Guide to France I was using then. I am guessing he has asked NOT to have his address given any more, maybe he had too many visitors like us. We couldn’t get enough of his mustards – we stayed and watch him filling jars with many different kinds, and bought at least one of each variety. His mustard is the gold standard of mustards. Worth a trip to Beaune.
Except you don’t have to go to Beaune – you can find M. Fallot in the Sultan Center in Salmiyya, or in William-Sonoma if you are in the U.S. and in other parts of the world where you find fine condiments.
The latest edition I could find of the Food Lover’s Guide to France was 1987, for $1.99 used, through Amazon. The latest edition I could find of Food Lover’s Guide to Paris was 1999, and the cost, used, was $9.99, again through Amazon. (Disclaimer/Disclosure: yes. I do own stock in Amazon. Help me keep Amazon stock high, please. 🙂 ) I imagine some of the information in both books is outdated, restaurants have closed, newer, haute-er places are open, but I would still say they are worth the price.
Both guides list market days for various arrondisement/towns/villages, and for that alone, they are worth the price. Wells describes local specialities, and best of all, Wells is deliciously readable. Even if you don’t have a trip to Paris or France in your near future, Wells’ books are fun to read, and full of wonderful, valuable information.
The most recent edition I can find of Europe’s Wonderful Little Hotels and Inns on Amazon is 2003, but I know there are more recent editions because mine is 2004. It is edited by Adam & Caroline Raphael, and has hotels listed throughout Europe, not just France, although the lion’s share of hotels listed ARE in France. They range from budget to unbelievable luxury – and the twist is, this book is made up solely of recommendations from customers. Someone has to recommend the hotel, another has to second the recommendation, and readers keep the postings up to date. We have found some truly memorable hotels using this guide, hotels full of charm but affordable for the region. Most of the hotels were awesome. Even used, even outdated, one good hotel stay at a charming but reasonably priced hotel will pay the cost of the book.
How Thanksgiving Really Went . . .
The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally a HUGE shopping day in the U.S. Stores have sales that start at 7 a.m. in the morning, some even reward customers who get there at 6 a.m. People start putting up their Christmas decorations. Almost everyone is in calorie overload – no matter how much you tell yourself you are going to go light, you end up eating more than you intended.
The really good news is that leftover turkey and cranberry sauce make dynamite sandwiches. Pies are great the second day.
I didn’t do the pecan pie. When I went to make it, I didn’t have any Karo syrup, and you can’t make a pecan pie without corn syrup. We made an early trip to the Sultan Center, where they DID have those gorgeous huge Kuwaiti shrimp, (they were yummy) and I bought some corn syrup, but by the time I got home, I needed to focus on other things and didn’t have time to make another pie. I had made a plum pie the day before when I discovered I didn’t have corn syrup, and that would have to do. As it turned out, my friend had made THREE pies, two stunningly beautiful pumpkin pies with little leaves of pastry crust on them, and a cranberry/lemon pie that was a tart surprise, and a welcome change from all the sweet stuff. She also baked three kinds of bread – she is one talented lady. She made it all look so easy. Whew!
Pumpkin Pie with Autumn Leaves
My friend did the turkey, and it was PERFECT. She also did the gravy, and it, too, was perfect. I will have to learn her secret. She also made a smokey black bean soup that was to die for.
Balsamic Sweet Potatoes
Mom’s Roquefort dressing was a big hit, the cranberry jello was great, all the side dishes were great – something for everyone.
But I have to get the recipe for that smokey bean soup from my friend. . . WOW.
Best of all – good conversation with good friends, people you can be comfortable with.
My parents are doing OK, and were baking a turkey when I called and would be sharing Thanksgiving Dinner with my youngest sister and her husband. I give thanks they still have the drive to do their own Thanksgiving.
Enough of the Thanksgiving. . . time to move on. I want to thank all of you who had fun with this meal, who tried making even one dish – you inspired me. And I guess there is a need for easy recipes, because once I had put those recipes online, I was getting huge hits every day – the day before Thanksgiving, I had almost 700 hits. . . it was a huge shock.
I especially want to thank 1001 Kuwaiti Nights for her inspiration, and her questions. I don’t even know what I know, until I know what you don’t know! See her first Thanksgiving dinner at that link. What courage! To try a Feast and to bring it off! I especially love the after photo of her first Pecan Pie! Woooo Hooooooo, 1001!
Side Dishes – More to Give Thanks For!
Take another deep breath. These are not mandatory, these are just options!
Shrimp Cocktail
Buy BIG shrimp. Take the shells off, and with a tiny paring knife, make a tiny line down the back of the shrimp where you see that black stuff, and take the black stuff out. (Don’t think about this, just do it.) Bring water to simmer, put shrimp in and TAKE OFF heat. Let them turn pink – about one minute – and pour water out immediately.
Williamsburg Peanut Soup
(If you have help and want to serve in courses)
Fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, chopped and heat in pot.
Chicken broth – together with the tomatoes, about enough for all who are coming.
Sauteed onions if you like them can go in, too.
Add glops of CHUNKY peanut butter into the hot liquid and stir until you like the consistency. Salt if you think it needs it. Ladle into bowls and then sprinkle a few chopped peanuts over each dish. People will think you labored for hours on this soup, and it is SO delicious. Big bang for the buck on this one!
Shrimp Cocktail Sauce: Take about a cup of Heinz Ketchup, add 1 Tablespoon Horseradish and 1 Tablespoon very fine SWEET, finely chopped pickle or pickle relish. Mix together. Some people add a little chili powder, but you know your own family.
Use bowls or champagne glasses. Put a little salad greens in the bottom, and place shrimp over the rim around the glass or bowl. Put cocktail sauce in the well formed in the center, right on the greens (Hardly anybody ever eats the greens, they are just there to be pretty.)
Cornbread Stuffing
(Mandatory if you are married to a Southerner)
You can find cornmeal in any grocery store, but we like the coarser grind found in the health foods section.
Make a batch of cornbread according to the instructions on the corn meal you have bought. Cool it slightly.
While the cornbread is baking, sautee:
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
in 1/2 cup butter.
(You can use corn oil, but it won’t have the same flavor.)
Sautee 1/2 lb Jimmy Dean sausage, mild (here, in Islamic Kuwait, I am using smoked turkey sausage)
When cornbread is slightly cool, crumble it into a large bowl, add the sauteed onion, celery, parsley, butter and sausage, and stir together. Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans. At this point, you can store in the refrigerator until the turkey is baked.
Gather one – two cups turkey broth, mix into cornbread mix with one egg, salt, pepper, a little sage and thyme to taste. Pour into baking dish and bake 30 minutes at 300°. Serve with turkey as side dish.
Skidboot: A Man and His Dog
You will need about eight minutes to watch this U-Tube video of a TV news item on this man and his dog. The man shoes horses in Texas, and discovered my accident that his dog understands the words he says and is eager to obey. He is so humble, and gives all the credit to his dog. If you click on Skidboot you can watch this marvelous story.
Chawan Mushi
Wooo Hoooo! I found this lovely photo on Bob and Angies Daily Japanese Cooking.
Bob and Angie’s Daily Japanese cooking also give instructions and very cool photos on exactly how to make it. I’ve seen it done – if you have the ingredients, it isn’t that hard, using a bagno caldo. But I’ve never had mine turn out pretty, like when normal Japanese people make them. I think it is something you learn at your Mother’s knee.
Google Earth – It Just Keeps Getting Better
This morning I had an e-mail from my nephew at GoogleEarth. There are days I feel like one of the luckiest women in the world – my sisters and I have the most interesting children, now young adults, and they are all working in areas where they feel useful – stressed, working too hard – but greatly satisfied, greatly productive.
How cool is it to love Geography, and to be working for GoogleEarth? I grin every time I think of my nephew, who loves the work he is doing.
His e-mail a couple weeks ago reminded me that the new GoogleEarth was out and to be sure to upgrade. You can be sure I did. Today, he tells me about another blog that always has the most up-to-date goodies from GE – Google Earth Blog.
On November 12, Frank Taylor, the blog author, says:
Google has quietly introduced four new Featured Content Layers today. Go to the Layers on the lower left and look for “Featured Content”. Open the folder and look for the new layers at the top. Each is marked with a red “New!”. Here’s a brief overview of the new layers:
Rumsey Historical Maps – This is a collection of historical maps which you can overlay over their location on Earth. If you are not running Google Earth 4, you will not see this layer. Open the folder and turn on the map that interests you. The first link shows you the locations of the different map and each description gives you a few details. You can then turn on each map and they will be overlayed in GE. The maps are “regionated” which means they will load more detail as you get closer (it also means the images are scanned at a very high resolution). I’m sure some of my mapping friends like Jonathan Crowe will be curious to see these.
Tracks4Africa – this is my favorite of the new layers. There are maps of places to go in Africa built by compiling data from GSP tracks. The layer also has lots useful information and photos. Zoom in closer to see more detail. You can read more, and buy the maps for your GPS, by going to Tracks4Africa’s web site.
Spotlight on Africa – This is a collection of placemarks showing the flag of each country of Africa. The placemark description includes an overview of basic information of each country from the CIA World Factbook. The placemarks were developed by the National Geographic My Wonderful World campaign to help kids become more geographically aware. This is nicely done, but you can see the whole world done in a similar fashion in this collection.
European Space Agency – this layer shows ESA logo placemarks of different locations where a satellite photo can be viewed of that location. A small picture is in the placemark description, and a link to a page where you can see a larger picture. I am disappointed that you can’t just view the larger pictures overlayed in Google Earth though.
I am blown away by all the new Africa content. On a day when the sky has turned yellow in Kuwait, there are waves cresting out in the Gulf and the air smells like impending squalls, it is a perfect day to spend in Africa, via Google Earth!
Frank Taylor has all kinds of useful information on GE, and I am adding him to my blogroll.
High 21/69
What a glorious day! I was out on the balcony and it was COOL! The visibility is relatively good, whatever that stuff is that hangs over the Gulf is has retreated and there are real clouds in the sky. . . what a great day!
I checked Weather Underground, and the high temperature expected for today is only 21C/69F – thats like a huge drop from earlier this week. Does anyone know what causes a major shift in the weather like that here? I see the temps will go back up to the mid-80’s within a few days, but what bliss! This “crisp” air! Wooo Hoooooo!
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