Day 25: Rugelach

Dum da da DUM! Christmas is here, the 25th day of the cookie bake has come to an end!

It's been a long journey, and almost an increase in pant-size (almost!). This entry marks a temporary end to my baking insanity, however, I'm sure by Valentines day rolls around I will be itchin' to bake chocolate lava muffins.


Nevertheless, rugalech makes a very special holiday treat. What do you get when you roll pice crust lined with apricot jam, crushed walnuts, and sprinkled with sugar?

A delicious bite of heaven.

This recipe was very easy to make. I used my Grandmother's pice crust recipe, instead of what Food Network called for, which was packaged pie crust. Layering apricot game and nuts, then rolling the triangles over, you end up with a delicious little cookie!




Christmas was very fun. I had 2 Christmas' this year, and now after washing dishes (only a total of 1 times today, luckily) this Whitehall Sauvignon Blanc capping off the evening nicely.

I'm very lucky to have wonderful family, friends, and a wonderful home to call my own (filled with two little fuzzy friends, and a great guy).


Today, my dogs made out to be very lucky girls. I'll be posting pics of goodies my sister made for them (All from The California Chi).


But for now, it's time to sit and enjoy some sweets and wine.


A

Day 24: Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip cookies was given to me by one of my coworkers.

It is one of the most amazing chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten. This cookie is about as big as my hand. Its title is suiting; it is perfect in taste, texture, and chewy-ness!


Tomorrow is the big day, the last day in 25 days of cookie baking madness!



I have been a crafty lady; taking advantage of not only recipes in these magazines, but projects. As shown below, I made a styrofoam wreath for my front door, with styrofoam balls (sprayed with artificial snow) and a florist bow. I think it turned out pretty neat!

My mom is the master of decorating. I get a lot of inspiration from her. This year, she used a lot of red in her decorating theme:



I love these vintage paper angels and houses. She used a terrarium here, with snow padding. World Market and Twee Boutique are both carrying these paper houses. But you can also find patterns online to make them yourself!

Every year she decorates artificial branches with lights, flowers and ornaments. It's beautiful above the mantle.
Above the dinnertable is a this light fixture. My sister helped my Mom decorate it, and turn it into a condensed "tree" with balls hanging below it. I loveeeeeeeee what they did.


Even outside is complete with wreaths and berries, everywhere!






Even her potting bench is decked out! I love how she covers every nook and crannies with something festive.


As you may have guessed, some cookies over the last 3 days looked like they were made at the cookie baking party. This was the case, I was out of town for a few days but had to live up to my 25 cookies in 25 days plan!


G and I went to Las Vegas for a few days; I thought it was to pick his brother up from the terminal there, and show him the city for a few days. It still was the case, but G proposed to me 2 hours before his brother landed. We had a fancy dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris hotel and I sat directly in front of the Bellagio light show fountains. He had me look out the window and when I turned around to face him again, I found a ring in my plate. I was speechless, so I kissed him, and held back tears of joy. Needless to say, this was one of the most romantic nights of my life. A 6 course meal and a bottle of champaign, plus several phone calls to our family members ensued. As far as I am concerned, this is the best Christmas gift ever :)

Day 23: Molasses Creams

Taste of Home's Molasses Creams are my dad's favorite, and a yearly tradition for the last 3 years.

I like to drizzle the frosting as opposed to pour it all over the cookie; it helps the icing dry faster, and is less messy in cookie tins.

It seems all the Christmas prepping is caught up with. Just going to my mom's tomorrow to cooks some things in advance. All of the gifts are wrapped, the house is spic and span, and G is happy that his brother is visiting this Christmas, his fourht Christmas on the west coast.


I made both of the boys stockings with felt cutouts (and the help of my sister's sewing machine and steady hand!), with traditional Christmas icons (a tree, snowman) and some things they enjoy (a steak and football).

I've filled them with fun things I know they both will like, (mini sausages, and chocolates, not together of course!)

It's simple projects like this that make the season fun and personal.

2 Days away, and 2 cookies left :)


-A

Day 22: Gingerbread Cookie Dough

This recipe is actually a doubled version of the original 1996 Holy Grail of cookie compilations!


Gingerbread is the epitome of holiday cookies. Baking is not complete until we've made gingerbread men, houses, and even sometimes doggies.



Gingerbread cut outs are an undying tradition in my home. It's really hard to eat what we decorate, because they're so cute to look at.... but they do all get eaten before January 1st.... when resolutions start!


-A

Day 21: Sugar Cookies

Once again I fall back to the holy grail of Christmas cookies: Better Home and Gardens 1996 Christmas cookie edition.


This dough closely resembles the one I follow, however, I use all butter, and the version I have calls for 1/3 cup of each of the fats (so I use 2/3 cups of butter).

However, for these cookies, my friend Laura followed a recipe called "Be a Star Cookies"

I am not sure of her source, so I am re-posting the recipe:

3 1/3 c flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 can sweetened condensed milk (or you can follow Paula Deen's recipe here)
3/4 c margarine or butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla



I like how these cookies didn't spread, but rose.

We had alot of fun decorating all the cookies at the cookie baking party. We followed this Royal Icing recipe @ Cupcakes and Cashmere, and used sprinkles and the caramel sauce I made for the Dutch Stroopwafels.

The best part of cookie baking is decorating the cookies. It doesn't feel like Christmas until you bust out the sprinkles!


-A

Day 20: Classic Shortbread (Hearts!)

I have a new cookie love! I took Food Networks Classic Shortbread recipe and turned it into heart cutouts... and jazzed it up with some chocolate dipping!



G ended up taking these to work. He sent me a text in the afternoon saying that the plate was spotless in no time!


The chocolate gaze was all eyeball measurements. I melted semisweet chocolate chips with a splash of cream and a pad of butter. It's a nice buttery complement to the shortbread, which is flaky, like a goooooooood pie crust.


I think these would also make an outstanding Valentines day treat!



-A

Day 19: Lemon Poppy Seed Slices

Lemon Poppy Seed Slices are a new cookie tradition that started at last years Annual Cookie Bake. We soon discovered that they tasted amazing paired with blackberry jam. I like these cookies because they are multi seasonal, and would be outstanding paired with iced tea in the summertime.


It's very exciting to be out of school, though I still feel like I should be studying for something. One more semester ahead of me, then I am a real adult, in the real world. . . . and I wont have to feel guilty about baking instead of opening up a text book!

Yesterday was an amazingly fun day; 12 hours spent with friends, family, and my guy. It's really amazing to have a lot of people you care about crammed in one room together, having a great time.

This is definitely a tradition that we will be keeping :); baking, laughing, and loving.

-A