Cookie Madness
I have been pretty busy for the past week making cookies. See in this house we are serious, SERIOUS, about Christmas cookies. So serious that we have, one might say, too many frickin' cookies. And those who say that do not know my husband well enough. There will never be too many cookies.
Here's the going list of cookies I am making for Christmas (plus a pie and some candies):
1. Sugar, recipe from his great-grandma, and the only sugar ones I'll eat.
2. Ginger Cremes, my Momma made these, from Betty Crocker.
3. Gingerbread people, good 'ol Betty again.
4. Sandwich butter cookies, I don't know their official name it's a family recipe, from my great grandmother, in her handwriting.
5. Hungarian Squares, from my great grandmother, family recipe very easy to make.
6. Pecan Date Pinwheels, this is from his Momma.
7. Ribbons, from his Momma, a big family favorite.
8. Russian Tea Cakes, most folks know them as snowballs, though this is a family recipe that is not quite like the snowballs recipes I've seen.
I've been real good about pacing myself in this process. I have managed to make an average of one dough a day so far. That leaves me in a manageable state of mind and allows time for baking them in the next few days. Many of these require plenty of chilling to help maintain proper shape. Thankfully most are going to be easy to do. I'm looking at a full day tomorrow just with my great grandmother's sandwich cookies as the dough is more like pastry and susceptible to heat. I have to work fast and pay attention to them while they bake. They burn so easily that if I'm not careful a whole tray can become a Cajun mess. Funny thing about that recipe. It's the one in my grandmother's handwriting as dictated by my great grandmother. Ingredients are measured by weight and sight. That could prove to be a nightmare to those cooks out there that must measure perfect amounts. Glad I cook by sight otherwise this recipe would make me crazy. The work alone makes me crazy.
I finished rolling the pecan date pinwheels this afternoon. The dough is resting in the freezer overnight. Those cookies are so yummy but I loathe to make them. They are fickle and it's so frustrating because they can come out like a perfect pinwheel or a blobby mess. Either way they taste great but I'm looking for pretty cookies and these disappoint me every year. I'm freezing the rolls overnight. I hope the rolls will by being in the freezer become the perfect consistency for me to slice for baking. I hope to bake them tomorrow evening.
The sugar cookie dough will be ready to cut and decorate and bake Friday. I have one ball of dough reserved for the girls to work and two for me to work. I might even ice them this year. Usually I just sprinkle them with the standard variety of sugars. I'm thinking I'll have more time to "paint" them with the glazes while the girls are at school. Before I get to that fun part I'll make the ginger cookies dough. Since the dough for both is relatively the same I'll make them together. The ginger cremes will be the very last cookie I bake. They are a cake-like cookie and get stale quickly. The dough will rest in the fridge until Saturday. The gingerbread people will be made with the girls as Olivia heard about the gingerbread man story as has been asking about making one herself. These I want to hang on the tree for treats on Christmas morning. I have to remember to do that Christmas Eve.
The Ribbons and Russian Tea Cakes are done and in the freezer. I will thaw them before we eat on Christmas Eve. I just finished baking the Hungarian Squares so they are cooling. I will cut them into squares and hide them in the fridge(decoys) and garage(ones to give away). We have to do that here because otherwise Keith will eat them. And when I say eat them I mean all of them. Yes. He would and could eat like a 100 dozen of cookies before Christmas.
Now that I have most of the cookie doughs ready to bake I need to dig in the basement for containers. I'm going to need places to store all these tasty delights. Oh, if you happen to live nearby, you'll be getting your own plate of these beauties. So long as Keith doesn't get to them first.
Here's the going list of cookies I am making for Christmas (plus a pie and some candies):
1. Sugar, recipe from his great-grandma, and the only sugar ones I'll eat.
2. Ginger Cremes, my Momma made these, from Betty Crocker.
3. Gingerbread people, good 'ol Betty again.
4. Sandwich butter cookies, I don't know their official name it's a family recipe, from my great grandmother, in her handwriting.
5. Hungarian Squares, from my great grandmother, family recipe very easy to make.
6. Pecan Date Pinwheels, this is from his Momma.
7. Ribbons, from his Momma, a big family favorite.
8. Russian Tea Cakes, most folks know them as snowballs, though this is a family recipe that is not quite like the snowballs recipes I've seen.
I've been real good about pacing myself in this process. I have managed to make an average of one dough a day so far. That leaves me in a manageable state of mind and allows time for baking them in the next few days. Many of these require plenty of chilling to help maintain proper shape. Thankfully most are going to be easy to do. I'm looking at a full day tomorrow just with my great grandmother's sandwich cookies as the dough is more like pastry and susceptible to heat. I have to work fast and pay attention to them while they bake. They burn so easily that if I'm not careful a whole tray can become a Cajun mess. Funny thing about that recipe. It's the one in my grandmother's handwriting as dictated by my great grandmother. Ingredients are measured by weight and sight. That could prove to be a nightmare to those cooks out there that must measure perfect amounts. Glad I cook by sight otherwise this recipe would make me crazy. The work alone makes me crazy.
I finished rolling the pecan date pinwheels this afternoon. The dough is resting in the freezer overnight. Those cookies are so yummy but I loathe to make them. They are fickle and it's so frustrating because they can come out like a perfect pinwheel or a blobby mess. Either way they taste great but I'm looking for pretty cookies and these disappoint me every year. I'm freezing the rolls overnight. I hope the rolls will by being in the freezer become the perfect consistency for me to slice for baking. I hope to bake them tomorrow evening.
The sugar cookie dough will be ready to cut and decorate and bake Friday. I have one ball of dough reserved for the girls to work and two for me to work. I might even ice them this year. Usually I just sprinkle them with the standard variety of sugars. I'm thinking I'll have more time to "paint" them with the glazes while the girls are at school. Before I get to that fun part I'll make the ginger cookies dough. Since the dough for both is relatively the same I'll make them together. The ginger cremes will be the very last cookie I bake. They are a cake-like cookie and get stale quickly. The dough will rest in the fridge until Saturday. The gingerbread people will be made with the girls as Olivia heard about the gingerbread man story as has been asking about making one herself. These I want to hang on the tree for treats on Christmas morning. I have to remember to do that Christmas Eve.
The Ribbons and Russian Tea Cakes are done and in the freezer. I will thaw them before we eat on Christmas Eve. I just finished baking the Hungarian Squares so they are cooling. I will cut them into squares and hide them in the fridge(decoys) and garage(ones to give away). We have to do that here because otherwise Keith will eat them. And when I say eat them I mean all of them. Yes. He would and could eat like a 100 dozen of cookies before Christmas.
Now that I have most of the cookie doughs ready to bake I need to dig in the basement for containers. I'm going to need places to store all these tasty delights. Oh, if you happen to live nearby, you'll be getting your own plate of these beauties. So long as Keith doesn't get to them first.
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