Fall TV and Mallomars!

On Friday after work I stopped at the grocery store in the way home and walked right into a huge display of the my FAVORITE seasonal cookie: the Mallomar!

Fall also means the start of the new TV season...with tonight being the return of Sleepy Hollow.

YAY!

Two of my favorite things.

Do you have a favorite cookie?

#FoodFriday - Almond Crescents

As we get closer and closer to December 25th, my to-do list is growing longer by the day.  One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is baking - and cookies rule in my house!

Here's a favorite in my house:

Almond Crescents 

3/4 Cup butter, room temperature
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup almonds, chopped fine
Powdered sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 300.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in almond and vanilla extracts. Gradually blend in the flour. Fold in the almonds. Dough will be stiff!

Pinch off walnut sized pieces, roll between your fingers and form into a crescent shape. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until lightly colored. Roll in powdered sugar and cool on wire racks.

Enjoy!

What's a favorite cookie in your house this time of year?

Sunday in the Kitchen - Cake Mix Cookies and What's Hot

And the snow keeps coming here in my corner of the world...

It may be cold outside, but that doesn't stop me from skipping around the internet!

Here's a few of the things I found interesting in my web-hopping this week:

Jennifer Shirk posted this link on Twitter this week for Bug Out Bags for Writers.

If your target publisher is Entangled, they unveiled a new streamlined submission process. Read about here on their blog.

I found this blog post by Margo Berendsen on "21 ways to make your plot more."

This week I'm reading: Yours at Midnight by Robin Bielman

Looking for a little graphic writing inspiration? Visit Rebecca T Dickson. This week's graphic? Use what you have!

And that's what's hot for this week...and now it's time to get in the kitchen and make some cookies.

Cake Mix Cookies

Who doesn't love to eat cookies? Who wouldn't love to make them more often? Here's a great and easy solution. Open up your cabinet and grab a box of your favorite cake mix. Put it in a bowl with 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and 2 eggs. Mix it all up and shape into one inch balls. Place 2 inches apart of an ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes at 375 degrees.

Optional: roll your balls (I know how this sounds, but honestly, we're making cookies here!) in some sugar before putting them on the cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

Quote me!
Here's a few interesting things found on the web this week and a cake mix cookie recipe! Click here to tweet!

Wishing you happy and safe travels wherever your road leads today!

* Because I love my readers and am grateful you choose to spend some time with me each week, all comments from Feb. 1 to Feb 28 are automatically entered into my monthly drawing for a 3 mini travel-sized handmade soaps. Details and the scents for the month can be found on the "contest rules" page.

Holiday Traditions - The Gingerbread Cookie

Making gingerbread cookies is a tradition in my house. In fact, it's been a holiday EVENT in our house for the last 17 years.

Hubby makes the dough, we invite our closest family friends and we spend the next few hours decorating cookies with the kids. Yes, I have pictures of our kids growing up at my dining room table...17 years of those smiling faces decorating cookies from the early days of simply a pair of chocolate chip eyes, to the years the boys covered the cookies in red hots to simulate gun shot wounds - we've seen it all!

  
And I even have my share of pictures of me covered with flour handprints (courtesy of my hubby!)

This is one holiday tradition that I adore and well, it just wouldn't feel like the Christmas season without the annual gingerbread night at our house.



Here's the recipe we've been using for 17 years...(warning you really need a good mixer - this recipe is thick!)

Gingerbread Men

1 Cup butter

1 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 Cup dark molasses

2 Tbs vinegar

5 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground Ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

Cream butter, salt & sugar. Add egg, molasses & vinegar. Beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda and spices. When it's well mixed, chill dough for at least 3 hours. Roll out dough to desired thickness on a lightly floured board or pastry mat (we like ours thicker and more doughy!) Cut with the traditional gingerbread man cookie cutter and place on UNgreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Decorate as desired.
Bake cookies at 375 for approximately 6 to 8 minutes (depending on the thickness and your oven)
Let cool for about a minute, then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

Enjoy!

Does your family have that one cookie you have to make every year?

Safe travels and happy scribbling!

A Little Cookie History

It's that time of year when most of us venture into the kitchen to bake.  I have family and friends that make cookies that are so elaborate and perfect, they very well could have come from a local bakery.

Then there are the people like me - the ones that usually stick to the same old, tried and true recipes that I've been baking up for the holiday for years - the ones we pretty much KNOW will be edible.

So, just how long have people been baking cookies?

The earliest references to cookie style flat cakes dates back to 7th century Persia, where sugar is believed to have first been cultivated. Both large and small pastries are well documented in the Persian Empire. When the Muslims invaded Spain, sugar came along for the ride and then found it's way to Northern Europe as a result of the Crusades.

By the late 14th century, small filled wafers could be purchased on the streets of Paris.

As people traveled more and more, biscuits became a popular staple. Hardtack was found onboard every ocean going vessel for both it's ease of storage and because it stayed edible (barely...ick) for years.

During the early 17th century, the English, Scotch and Dutch immigrants brought the first cookies to the United States in the form of the simple butter cookie, or commonly known as the English teacake or Scottish Shortbread. Most early American cookbooks didn't call them cookies, but instead listed them at the end of the cake chapters (since they were really nothing more than small, flat cakes) and were given whimsical names like Cry Babies or Jumbles.

 During the 1800's (when my current WIP, Surrender to the Sheriff, is set) sugar was available in the local general stores, along with molasses and other spices to make even the most basic cookies.

Over the years as our fascination with the "cookie" has escalated, we now have cookbooks devoted to them! From simple to gourmet to even cookies for our pets, I think it's pretty safe to say that our society is enamored with this small baked treat.

Over the next few weeks I'll be baking up my time-tested cookies, but I also like to try out a new recipe or two. Here's one that I confess I haven't made but am thinking seriously about (the tequila in the recipe is kinda scary...)

Mexican Wedding Cake

1 Cup vegetable shortening

6 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon tequila

2 Cups all-purpose flour

1 Cup pecans, chopped

Powdered sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, cream the shortening and the powdered sugar. Add in tequila. Gradually blend in the flour. Fold in the pecans. Pinch off walnut sized pieces and roll into balls. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Roll in powdered sugar and place on wire rack to cool.

Enjoy.

Are you trying a new recipe this year for the holiday?