Cranberry Noels

Okay, now we are breaking out the good stuff. Here's a recipe from my dearest sister-in-law, Sarah... She is the queen of Christmas cookies. She makes Christmas cookies to de-stress, and a couple Christmases ago, when she arrived in Denver at mom's, we started baking almost immediately. I have never seen the magnitude of cooking, as she displayed, tripling recipes, while making several different recipes at once...I was in awe. Anyways, these are one of the best ever, called Cranberry Noels. Not sure where the recipe comes from, Martha Stewart or someone like that...Okay, after doing my research, yes, they are on Martha Stewart, and a couple other places. I guess the noel thing is, most of the time, you make them into a "log" and cut cookies off, like the cookie dough you buy in the grocery store...well, as irony would have it, martha had a picture of hers, cut with Christmas cookie cutters. That's how we do it too. On to the recipe, with Sarah's notes: makes 3 dozen, might need to double....;-) Dough can be stored in the fridge for up to a month.

2 sticks butter (unsalted, room temp)
3/4 c sugar
2 Tbsp milk (i used skim, so anything works)
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c dried cranberries
3/4 c shaved coconut (i used sweetened, but i don't think it matters)
1/2 c chopped pecans

In bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk, vanilla until just combined.
Put mixer on low and add everything else. Flour, salt, cranberries, pecans, coconut.

Split dough into 2 balls. Dust counter with flour. Roll out a ball at a time. Go for thin cookies.
Cut with cookie cutters. Preheat 375 deg F. Use parchment paper. DO NOT BROWN cookies.
You really have to keep an eye on them, as I didn't- and had several batches browned more than I like. Okay, fine, they are still good, but ideal is just barely starting to brown on the edges. Supposedly 14-16 minutes, although 12 minutes was too long for me. I am saying try 8 minutes, and check every minute after that. Bottom line, keep an eye on them. I will post a picture later. These are the best I have made so far this year!

Bourbon balls

These are an all-time family favorite, going back 100's of years. Okay, a few decades anyways. The earliest recipe I found from the family came from Nana, from her Woman's City Club. These things rock, and look so elegant, and yet, require no baking!! The Bourbon balls are in the red and white box. Included in the picture is a beautiful platter from Aunt Kallie, Russian tea cakes, and Thumbprints with blueberry jam.

1 box vanilla wafers (crushed- Cuisinart or blender or rolling pin does the job)
(amounts to like 2 1/4 c crushed)
1 c Confectioners sugar
2-3 tbsp Cocoa powder
1 c Nuts, finely chopped (walnuts or pecans do well)
3 tbsp Karo light syrup (or honey)
6 tbsp bourbon - add more if needed to moisten (or rum or whiskey)
1 c extra powdered sugar

Directions:
Roll or food process wafers until they are fine.
Add and mix sugar, cocoa and chopped nuts.
Add Karo and Bourbon.
Form into 1 inch balls. (It's gonna be sticky!)
Roll in powdered sugar. (DONE! do not bake!)
The sugar gets absorbed over time, so re-roll them
to freshen them up. Dang, these are good, and really nice looking.

Tip:
Store with wax paper on the bottom. These keep in the fridge for
at least a month. They just keep getting better with age.

Snickerdoodles

I am not sure these are Christmas cookies, and not my favorite, but definitely, pretty good cookies. We made these because Kirsty got them as a gift from one of her students. I have to adjust the recipe a bit, I learned along the way.

375 deg F
8 minutes bake time (light brown)

8 Tbsp butter (room temp)
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, salt and mix.
Sift together flour, soda, cream of tartar, then slowly add to butter mixture.
Make into 1 inch balls.

Cinnamon topping
Combine 1/4 C of sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon in a bowl.
Roll 1 inch balls in the cinnamon sugar.

Bake, 375 deg F, about 8 minutes. I tried keeping them round balls
and flattening them before baking. The round ones are a little puffier.

Christmas Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprints

These turned out pretty darn good. I used raspberry jam from Trader Joe's on top. You make the dough, then roll the one inch balls in egg white, then chopped nuts, then put your thumbprint in them, and fill that with the jam.

I doubled the recipe, and even then, it's not that many cookies.

10 TBSP unsalted butter - room temp (ok, i used salted and cut back on the salt)
1/3 C sugar
2 egg yolks (keep the whites)
1/2 tsp salt (or less)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C flour

nuts and jam on top
2 egg whites
1 C chopped fine walnuts (or your favorite)
1/3 C jam - i used raspberry

Oven 350 deg F
parchment paper on cookie sheets

Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla, and salt.
Slowly add flour and continue mixing. Make into 1 inch balls. Roll in egg whites (lightly
beaten). Roll in chopped nuts. Put on cookie sheet, and push your thumb in. Add 1/2 tsp jam
before (or after) cooking. I add before.

Cook 16-18 mins.

It's summer

Alright, so basically the garden is what its going to be. There are vines going everywhere. Still not sure what everything is. I am sure I have a bunch of cucumbers- the Persian kind...but mostly see flowers and no veggies yet, although Sarah has found a few. Sarah did the corn and sunflowers, which look really cool right now. Both are super tall, and the sunflowers are coming out, and the corn looks like there will be corn...the ears have lots of hair coming out...almost looks fake! There's some nice looking peppers scattered around, each plant looks like it's in the wrong place, but hey, I'll take it. Not sure why the basil didn't make it...it's so nice having it... i got the first couple tomatoes. early girls...tasty!! they actually were off a branch ellie broke off, and i left it there and the tomatoes ripened. Anyways, we'll see what's next. I am bit anxious about it. Just gotta wait and see. Good things are coming.

As the garden grows

Okay, a couple updates. I'll get a couple pictures soon.
First- the watermelons turned to pumpkins! Well, that's what I thought when I saw the nice size watermelons, turning a yellow orange on the bottom. At first I am like, okay, what happened? Then I noticed they were all doing it, and finally realized, yeah, they are pumpkins...i wonder if they are carving kind or eating kind.
Second- How does Sarah keep finding the cucumbers? I looked all over. Carefully! She goes out there, in the dark, with a flashlight, with one eye and finds another one. Third time. They are those persion ones, so tasty!!
Third - green beans are coming in. they are so tasty when you get them young. sooo delicious!
Four- wow, so many vines. they take up so much room. they are really taking off. So are the sunflowers. getting lots of flowers coming in. all different kinds and colors. and the corn is so tall. maybe 7-8 feet?
Finally- i ate a couple strawberries. really flavorful, but i think i am going to pull them up. they take too much space. i think i need to make a plan for next year now, while i see how much space is being taken up by everything.

The first harvest! 7/8/09

Yahoo!! The gophers aren't the only ones loving on my garden. I am amazed that I have already been harvesting zucchinis and yellow squash! The gophers (they say in an area the size of our yard, it's only one!) are gobbling up various things. Every year they go for tomato plants, and they got a few this year, another surprise is they got a bunch of the string bean plants too...and what I really wasn't expecting is they tore down a few of the sunflowers as well(if you click on this image, and look in the corner, you can
see sunflower stalks they/he/she pulled into the hole...) Uhg, it's so demoralizing!! Attempts to get rid of them later...

So, the good news is: holy smoke, we have a volunteer watermelon from last year. We have a few already set, about the size of a small football already. We will see how they are. It's hard to tell when they are ready, and now that I think about it, the bugs got the one or two we had last year... It also looks like we have a lot of vine plants. Not sure what they all are yet, some are cucumber for sure. I hope they all aren't! It seems most of the herbs got eaten by bugs or something. I may have to get some more or plant some seeds. It's amazing how everything filled in already. It seems early yet!