26 acts of kindness

Walking down to the pond this afternoon was chilly and gray - ice forming, but not thick enough for skating.  After reading about the 26 acts of kindness on Facebook,( which honors the memory of those 26 beautiful children and teachers at Newtown) I spent hours thinking about what I could do in this rural area, and came up with making a basket of presents for the residents at the local low-income nursing home.  And then, just as I was finished, I realized that, in today's world, strangers with presents were not always welcomed with open arms.  

How did we get here, to a place where no one is trusted?  I simply cannot answer that, but if the basket of presents is refused, I know a nurse at the home, who may take them in for me, and give them to those lonely, forgotten people.  If not?  I will place them on the counter at the village store with a sign to take them with the joy of Christmas giving.

Let us never give up loving, and sharing, caring and remembering.

On the 9th day of Christmas: biscotti with orange peel & chocolate

Tonight I have been slaving away in the kitchen, making one of my very treasured Christmas cookies, Biscotti Paradiso, a milk chocolate, orange peel and almond biscotti that is out of this world.  It takes hours.  But snatching a nibble of the completed biscotti is heaven - a little bitter from the orange peel, sweetness from milk chocolate chips, and toasted almonds.  

I make this every year for a special friend who is Italian, who once swooned over these, and thus I am , like every baker, indebted to those who adore our goodies.  I will make these forever, if only to please those who recognize a beautiful cookie.   

And that lovely cardinal ornament?  There's something about seeing a cardinal that lifts your spirit and makes you smile.  

Merry almost-Christmas to you all!

On the 8th day of Christmas: snowball cookies!

We have snow!  And ice, just for fun (not).  Just a few inches, but enough to make the roads slippery and to feel a little more like Christmas as I made snowball cookies.  I got this recipe years ago from a Swedish friend - she called them Russian Tea cookies, but when I googled them, I found they are also known as Swedish Tea cookies, as well as snowballs.  Delicious and buttery, and fun to make.  When I first made them, I made them a little too big - now I try to make them somewhere between a small marble and the bigger ones.

Swedish Tea cookies:

I always toast the walnuts (or you can use pecans as well) in a toaster oven for a few minutes to bring out the flavor of the walnuts.  If you do that first thing, they will be cooled in ten minutes and ready to be chopped in the food processor without clumping.

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1 t. vanilla
2 1/4 cups King Arthur flour
1/4 t. kosher salt
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/4 t. nutmeg
More powdered sugar for rolling and dusting the cookies.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Line two baking sheets with clean foil and set aside.

Cream the butter well, then add the confectioner's sugar, the vanilla, salt, and nutmeg.  Add the flour and mix well, then add the cooled, chopped walnuts.  Mix until somewhat lumpy .  Remove beater and squeeze the dough into a ball.

Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll into marble size pieces, place on baking sheet as you work, about 2 inches apart - they don't spread much. 

Place the first filled baking sheet on the upper third shelf of the oven, and bake for 14 minutes.  Remove to a cooling rack and place the second batch in the oven, again, for 14 minutes.  Remove cookies from baking sheet and roll in a cup or so of confectioner's sugar, using a spoon to turn them.  Set on platters as they are sugared.

Just before serving, sprinkle the cookies with a little snowfall of confectioner's sugar ( about 1/2 cup) placed in a very fine strainer and shaken over the platter.  You can also do this to tidy up a platter if too many little fingers have been poking them.

on the 5th day of Christmas: ultimate chocolate brownies and the Dolly Llama

Today's doings in the kitchen?  Mixing up the most delectable chocolate batter for Maida Heatter's brownies, and listening to Dylan Thomas read his glorious Christmas poem, A Child's Christmas in Wales ( which you can hear him read in his plummy voice here).  

When my children were younger, they would suffer through this poem every Christmas season, but they have now escaped parental obligation ( though I'm waiting for the day when one of them says to me, "Remember that cool poem about snowball fights and firemen on Christmas Day? ".  I expect it will be a long wait). Dolly Llama smiles her mysterious smile on the tree, humoring my fantasy.

Shepherd's pie on the menu for tomorrow, with lots of butter and fresh rosemary.  I've been hearing the *snow* word in the weather reports!  Are you ready?

on the third day of Christmas: the Christmas cats and a healthy salad

I think I have not found all the cats on the tree and still in the two ornament boxes, but these are among my favorites:   Puss in Boots was from a tag on my son's present from his Auntie Noa when he was a wee little one, and the carved wooden pussycat has a mouse attached to a wire - can you see it?  The chewed up folk art pussycat was snatched away from Lulu, our shepherd-lab puppy, who thought everything, including the Christmas tree, was food.

All these cookie tastings were making me feel wan, so I made another batch of that 
crunchy baby bok choy salad with mandarin oranges.  Slice up mostly the whites of the bok choy, mix with some canned mandarin oranges, and a sliver of red onion, and dress with 1 T. fresh orange juice, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, and fresh pepper. Salt and oil are not needed.

Joyeux Noel!

on the second day of Christmas... sweets!

These little houses are teeny tiny, and made of a featherweight material , easily bent, but treasured.  My father's mother died when I was a month old, so we never met, but I was told she made Christmas villages under the tree, and I assume these were some of them.  And what else did we get excited about at Christmas?  CANDY!

Ribbon candy is made right in Massachusetts, my home state.  It's the prettiest candy you can imagine as a child, and shattering the "ribbon" is half the fun.  Marzipan has always been a favorite treat, though not half as intricate today as the marzipan you could get in New York City when I was a child.  I remember being taken to a fantastical German candymaker's store with the most delicate and lifelike fruits you could imagine.  And the foil covered chocolate coins were always in our stockings, along with the orange .

Carrying on the tradition with my own children always reminded me of my own childhood, and my parents and siblings , but also brought a little bit of magical fairy dust into Christmas Day.  What are your traditions at Christmas?

on the first day of Christmas....Stuart Little and spice cookies

For me, Christmas begins when the tree goes up.  And so, today is the first day of Christmas!  There is always a joy, lots of memories, and the peace of sitting next to the tree, remembering bits and bobs of all those years.  Did I tell you about Stuart Little?  He's always the first to go on the tree, and I panic if I can't find him.  He's the memory of my father, reading Stuart Little to me.  I always hope my love for E.B. White and Stuart are firmly embedded in my two children, and my grandchildren.  His adventurous spirit has led him to riding this canoe down the chilly river - who knows where he'll end up?

Today I made these delicious Spice cookies, beloved year round, but especially at this time of year: boxes for sending, cello bags for giving to neighbors, and setting aside plenty enough for me to nibble on.  The smallest spring-loaded scoop I have is 1 1/4", if you go even smaller, they can be spice buttons.

Spice cookies:

This makes about 3 dozen cookies:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Fit two or three baking sheets with clean foil or parchment.

2 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

1 t. baking soda

pinch kosher salt

2 t. cinnamon

2 t. cloves

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 t. ginger

1 cup sugar plus a little more for sprinkling

1/2 cup light olive oil or canola oil

1/3 cup molasses

3 T. water

1 large egg

Mix flour, spices, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

In mixer bowl, mix sugar, olive oil or canola, molasses and mix.  Add the egg and water and mix again.

Add the flour and spice mix in 3 or 4 batches to the oil mixture , mix until it comes together.  Using a scoop, or your hands, plop balls of dough onto the baking sheet, about 2-3 inches apart. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Slide the first baking sheet on the upper third rack in the oven, bake for 11 minutes, remove to a cooling rack, and slide the next rack in until all the cookies are baked.

Package in cello bags or boxes lined with wax paper, but make sure they have completely cooled first.  These are sturdy cookies, so perfect for mailing.

Merry greetings of the season!