Buddy the Elf Christmas

Last night I passed through the seven layers of candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel to downtown Seattle.

The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.

Oh how I love to see the gingerbread houses, "I think you're really beautiful and I feel really warm when I'm around you and my tongue swells up."

Tonight we plan to first make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle.

Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies

Last week I baked cookies for three nights in a row, and on the fourth night, I made the frosting and icing. It's all a blur to me now, but during the flurry of festive baking I found that I was quite content in doing the work. So much so that I sit here this afternoon wondering about what to bake next. Granted I didn't bake anything spectacular, just a few dozen sugar cookies {recipe below}, Gingerbread cookies and  a new favorite -- Lofthouse cookies {see image above}.

Watkins Vanilla Sugar Cookie

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large egg yolks

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons colored sugar for topping

In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour and baking powder; set aside. In another large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. beat in the egg yolks, then the salt and vanilla, until evenly incorporated. Gradually beat or stir in the flour mixture to form a smooth dough.

 

Divide dough and half and place each half between layers of wax paper. Roll to about 1/4 inch thick and place in refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes. (see below for my suggestion)

 

Cut dough with cookie cutters- make sure you use cookie cutters that are of similar size so they bake at the same rate. The recipe calls for 8-11 minutes or until just barely brown around the edges. Allow to settle before transferring to cooling rack.

 

To ensure that the cookies keep their shape, place cookies on baking sheet and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the baking pan directly from the freezer and in to the preheated oven. This will prevent cookies from spreading.

 

At first I thought that the Gingerbread recipe would make a soft cookie, but what I found is that after the cookie completely cools, it firms up making it great for decorating. This cookie will hold up nicely for making a gingerbread house too.

The icing is just your basic Royal Icing.

Royal Icing

3 large egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Liquid or paste food coloring (optional)

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed (use a whisk-shaped beater, if available), beat together the egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon of the lemon juice, and the salt until frothy and opaque. Increase speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, until evenly incorporated and smooth. Increase the speed to high, and beat in the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice until the mixture stands in stiff peaks, 3 to 5 minutes. If the icing is too stiff to pipe or spread easily, beat in water, 1 teaspoon at a time; if too runny, beat in a little more powdered sugar. If the icing stiffens upon standing, thin it with a few more drops water. Keep plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel over the bowl to prevent the icing from drying out as you work.

At first I thought that I didn't bake enough cookies, but I did. I had well over enough. I still have cookies leftover and plenty of cookie decorating sprinkles and icing to boot. Looks like I'll be decorating cookies well into the new year.

Oh Christmas Tree

 

 It's starting to look and feel like Christmas around here.

Yesterday we went to the tree lot near our home to find the perfect tree.

 

We did some running around and Jon stood-up tree after tree for us to give our thumbs up or thumbs down.

The rascals weren't too picky, most trees suited them and their dolls just fine.

 

 

 

We gave up some of our children's college fund in exchange for the perfect tree.

 

Once home, we set the tree in place... and by 'we', I mean Jon.

We took a short break for Vanilla Steamers with Whipped Cream.



 

 

Our lights were just as I had left them when I packed them away last year -- a ball of knots.

 

It seems like every image of Alex is of her in this black turtleneck. Please know that she does have other shirts. I promise you, she really does.

 

Decorating went well, we managed to drop only one delicate snow globe ornament. Eh, no big deal.

Now that the tree is done, it's on to baking...

Pebernodder

Jack Frost made an appearance this morning, crystallizing flora underneath a sparkling sheath of crunchy white ice. Diffused Christmas lights strewn along the roof lines of neighboring houses twinkled quietly behind the murky fog. My hands have reunited with cashmere lined leather gloves as if it were many years ago since they last met. Winter is nearing.

*************

This week Sammy had to bring to school a food representing her culture. We brought, Pebernodder.

According to Allrecipes, Pebernodder is a traditional Danish Christmas cookie. I didn't think my rascals would like this cookie because it contains Cardamom. I'm only vaguely familiar Cardamom so I had no idea what to expect, but I can tell you that the dough formed nicely, not heavy but perfectly airy and light. Once baked, the cookies puffed out  into these flavorful 1/2 inch pillowy bites. Pebernodders are delicious -- not too sweet with just a hint of pepper from the Cardamom.

And because we wanted to keep to tradition we stuck to the recipe as it was written, only adding in a dash of vanilla to taste.

We plan to make this cookie again and again, possibly updating it by rolling it in sugar and/or sprinkles to pretty them up. Or, Pebernodders dipped in chocolate and then sprinkled with finely chopped nuts for added flavor and texture. What a versatile and easy to make cookie. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, stirring until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cardamom and cinnamon; stir into the sugar mixture just until blended.
3. Separate the dough into 6 balls, and roll each ball into a rope about as big around as your finger on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces, and place them on an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.               

Hello

I have a great husband. I shouldn't brag, but I feel I must. Last night my husband ran the dishwasher which I know sounds like a simple task and still I often forget to do it, but he doesn't. He then started the oven cleaner -- it worked for him and as you may recall, just before Thanksgiving it didn't work for me -- I thought it was busted.

This morning, do you know what my husband did? He emptied the dishwasher then proceeded to clean the tiny bits of charred crumbs out of the oven using a Shark vacuum cleaner. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that. I would have been inside the oven, sponge in hand, cleaning it all bit by bit.

I shouldn't seem so surprised because he does stuff like this all the time. He truly is a remarkable man, and I just had to share this with the world -- and by world, I mean the five of you reading this. Hi, mom! (insert goofy wave here)

On Sunday morning we took the girls to the ice skating rink in Bellevue. It was a private event so the rink stayed fairly sparse allowing my girls to skate with the kind of freedom not seen during normal public skating hours. I rented skates and had hoped to skate with my girls but my tummy felt awful -- it felt queasy and not good at all.

I watched as my girls skated along the perimeter of the rink clawing their way along with big grins on their faces when suddenly I felt much too sick to stay. We had to cut our morning skate short which made me feel worse.

For the rest of the day I stayed home ill. Lucky for me it was just a 24 hour bug. It was gone by the next morning. Whew.

In other news, I'm working toward getting the house ready for winter break. I'm making sure we have glue sticks, pens, pencils, crayons, paper, books, etc. If my girls complain that they have nothing to do, I'm going to point them to the art station, the puzzles, the Littlest Pet Shop toys, and much more. Bored, I don't think so.

 

We've also started a painting project. Well, actually, it started off like this...

...my girls were screaming and yelling, tattling, snatching things from each other, crying and simply making a big fuss over nothing. Then of course I got in on it too. I started yelling and tattling and snatching all in an effort to diffuse the situation and needless to say, the situation escalated to more screaming and snatching. After a few minutes of this I said, in my eerie subdued voice, "Sammy, you're going to get a piece of paper and a pencil. Together, the three of us are going to come up with a list of House Rules. C'mon, chop chop, get the paper and pencil." I said, waving my hand gesturing the universal sign for, hop to it. 

Together we came up with rules about how to behave as a family. No Yelling is a rule we came up with along with, listen and allow others to be heard. There are many others including this one from Alex, No Pigs Allowed Because They'll Stink Up The Place. I know it sounds silly, but I guarantee you, she's right -- pigs are P.U.

We got out a small canvas for the girls to paint a rainbow of bright colors; upon which we'll write in the rules. I'll show you the finished product just as soon as it's done.

I don't think the House Rules will have much impact on our day to day, but what I am hoping is that the next time we have a big blow-out family feud, I'll be able to point to the rules and say, "No Yelling. See? It says so on our House Rules."

We will see. Winter break will be a good test.

And then lastly, Alex is reading so much lately. Every evening she piles books into her bed and reads. I'm thrilled but also a little worried that the reason why tempers are short after dinner is because Alex isn't getting enough sleep at  night. Hmmm, what to do?