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Friday, December 19, 2008

It's Beginning to Smell A Lot Like Christmas

I've been in a baking frenzy these past few days, which is crazy 'cuz it's just Marble Man and me this time around. Still, the cookies are flying out of the oven, the fruitcakes are beckoning, and the gingerbread houses are ready for habitation. Soon to come: Julekake (Norwegian Christmas Bread)... and even MORE cookies! Mmmmmm.

The fruitcakes I make are not the running jokes being passed from house to house, year after year.



My recipe came from an old family friend, a lovely Frenchwoman named Idalette Baker. I remember being a small child, hanging about in her Country French-styled kitchen while she prepared the 7 course meals she'd serve guests for dinner. Although she didn't have children at that point in her life, she treated me as though I had something valuable to contribute at the tender age of seven. She taught me subtle lessons in the kitchen that I observed as pure fun at the time, and still use today.

One night, she served her wonderful fruitcake and, after tasting it, I begged for the recipe (which she had to convert from metric for me). She happily shared it and I treasure it, as now she's gone. It's so darned rich with butter and sugar (and the only rum in it comes from soaking the raisins before it all goes together) that I make it rarely. But when I do, boy do we enjoy it!



Our favorite Christmas cookies also require a heap of butter (God, I feel my butt growing wider as I type this post!). I asked Marble Man to tell me his two top faves, and I picked my two. His: Checkerboard Cookies, and Chocolate Crinkles; and mine: Walnut Crescents and Peanut Butter. So far, I've made one for each of us.

MM got his Chocolate Crinkles



and my (unbelievable - no flour!) Peanut Butter cookies are in the freezer so I can take out one per day.



The Peanut Butter Cookies are truly amazing - and would be great for anyone with wheat and gluten allergies. (Nut allergies? Sorry, can't help you there.) They require just four ingredients: peanut butter, egg, sugar and vanilla - that's it!



After mixing the batter, I rolled them into spheres



and flattened them with some beautiful cookie stamps





If you don't have stamps, you can oil the bottom of a glass and use that instead, or use the bottom of the PB jar - then you get that nice recycling symbol on the cookie tops! :-) . They are light, delicious, and anyone tasting one would never believe the absence of flour.

I think the ones with the thistle design taste the best - it's my favorite stamp.



~

Unfortunately, a few of the Ya'ya's got sick this week (guilty as charged), so we postponed the holiday party with the planned gingerbread hi-jinx. By this afternoon, I was feeling a little better, and tackled the gingerbread house project on my own. I'd already told our neighbors that I'd be making the houses, so they're expecting them. I can't disappoint small children at Christmastime! Luckily, the kits I bought had the house components already made - all I needed to do was make the royal icing and stick on the candies. Oh yeah, and melt the Jolly Ranchers to make windows and ponds.



They came out pretty well for a first-time project. We'll take them over tomorrow morning and present them to the kiddles.

Then, it's back to the sweatshop, uh, I mean, the kitchen.

11 comments:

  1. Hmmm. Notice how the baking sheet reads "Made in France". You imported these pictures, DIDN'T YOU?!? It's a fake, a fraud, a.... oh, there's cookies there... yum. [burp] thanks! :)

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  2. Came over from Tea & Honey Bread... your PB cookies look much better than mine! *considers purchasing stamp*

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  3. OH MY GOODNESS~! Not only are you an amazing jewelry artist, you are a super talented cookie baker! Those peanut butter cookies look amazing! Where would you find rubber stamps like that in Canada??

    You rock! Merry Christmas :)

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  4. WOW! It's looking and smelling like Christmas here for sure! Everything is so gorgeous!

    Be sure to keep coming by my place next week...I'll be blogging until Christmas (the note at the end of my last post was only to say La Buona Cucina Americana would be on a break).

    Happy holidays!!!!!!

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  5. hi kate! i'm so excited...i love it when i see new faces over at my blog!! thanks for your nice comment, now i know where to find you....and just in time, i would say. how did you know i have a sweet tooth? your peanut butter cookies look divine...

    now i'm off to peruse your gorgeous jewelry.... :)

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  6. I love those cookie stamps. My mother had some of those when I was growing up. I wonder if she still has them??? You are clearly a master baker. Look at all of those goodies!

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  7. Kate! I'm feeling much better, thanks! :)

    I need the cookies-all of them...at the *same* time.

    I'm certainly going to try these. Baking is not my forte, but they seem simple enough-I'll keep you posted.

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  8. Hi Kate,
    Glad you're feeling better.
    Your Julekake and all of your cookies look delicious to include your peanut butter cookies! We've been on a bakathon too. Tis the season!
    Merry Christmas to you and all of your family!

    xox
    Constance

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  9. Hey Kate, With all the baking you do, do you have a good easy Sugar Cookie recipe? I love your peanut butter stamps!!

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  10. Cookies. . . .yum. Thanks for sharing. Where do the great cookie stamps come from?

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  11. They are made by Rycraft - here's their website: https://rycraft.cybrhost.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=products

    I got them from a kitchen store in NJ.

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