Posted on 07/19/2016 4:57:16 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
When I was younger and worked part-time, I would always start ‘Creating Christmas’ in July.
I made a lot of my gifts back then, and would start work on them and on planning food and decor, in Summer; and by the end of September almost everything except cooking and decorating the house was finished, and many recipes and notes were saved/jotted-down for cooking, decorating and shopping.
It made for much more leisurely holidays than I’ve enjoyed in recent years, and I’m trying this year to get back to handling things that way again.
A while back I bought a gadget that I’ve never used, but will include in my cookie-making this Christmas. It’s a little cutter that makes ‘pinwheel’ cookies (some people call them ‘windmill’ cookies) easy and very uniform:
You can buy one here:
http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product/pinwheel-cutter/cookie-making-and-cutters>/a>
But you can cut these on your own, without a gadget; here is Lazarus Lynch on ‘TasteMade’, showing how to make ‘Peach Pie Pinwheel Cookies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z16osXmwImM
My favorite gifts to make were always ornaments, and I went through a period where I made many of the beaded-and-jeweled ornaments similar to the ones sold in kits by 'The Cracker Box' in Pennsylvania, and for which you could also buy less expensive kits back in the '60s. But lately, I’ve become interested in more rustic decorations, and will be making some of these, this year:
They’re very easy to make, and require no sewing. There are lots of tutorials on the web, and this one comes from 'Shabby Fabrics':
https://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV_XtQ_tJ_A
-JT
That is neat!
I just dampen my hy hands a bit and sort of slap it on there.
Bought some great cookies at the Culinary Institute at Hyde Park, NY this weekend. Giant oatmeal with cherries and chocolate. Gorgeous place on the mighty Hudson River and fun to see the kids in their chef jackets coming out around 4pm to go work in their many kitchens preparing for dinner.
When I wake up, I’ll post my simple but delicious shortbread cookies.
That looks very good, I’ll try it with my next bunch of asparagus.
SARDI'S ASPARAGUS
Just brown a whole lot of Grade A butter til a nut-like fragrance permeates the kitchen.
Fry several extra-large eggs in the butter---sunny side up.
PLATE Add the eggs and brown butter to a platter of
fresh steamed asparagus---then blanket the dish w/ Parm.
SERVE the dish as Sardi's does.....w/ hunks
of Italian bread to soak up the Parm/butter/egg yolk sauce.
SHABBY RUSTIC ANGELS 
Materials needed: One 4 1/2" X 7 " piece of unbleached muslin which will be the body One 2 1/4 " X 3 " piece of unbleached muslin for the the wings (NOTE: for natural/rustic look, tear the fabric rather than cutting it) Polyester fiberfill for the head (just a tiny 3/4 " ball of it) Raffia for the halo Small piece of red fabric or felt for the heart
DIRECTIONS
Step 1. For the head and body, fold one long edge of the 4 1/2" X 7 " muslin down 1 1/2" and place the fiberfill ball between the layers of muslin at the center of the fold. Using a doubled thread tie tightly under the fiberfill to form the head and pull up the head.
Step 2. Now you have a head and need some arms. The arms are merely knots. Pull up and tie one corner and knot close to the head. Repeat for the other arm.
Step 3: Cut out a small heart and glue it or rough stitch it to the angel.
Step 4: For the halo, wrap a piece of raffia (Spanish moss would work well too) around your finger to form a ring and roll it off of your finger and shape like a halo. Stitch (or glue) the halo to the back of the head. (I hand stitched the halo.)
Step 5: For the wings, take the remaining 2 1/4" X 3 " piece of muslin and make tiny fanfolds from the long edge to long edge. Tie tightly in the center with a doubled piece of thread. Sew or glue the wings in place on the back of your angel.
Step 6: To make your angel an ornament, tie a piece of ribbon or jute (jute keeps the rustic look) to the angel's back.
Oooh that sounds so delicious! Possibly the most picturesque cookie buying experience. ; )
Get the effect on inexpensive clear glass items---see tutorials on-line.
==================================================
The dollar store has odd glassware. And squat jam jars in the
supermarket---w/ pressed glass fruit designs--look like antiques
when mercuried.
NOTE Many spray paint produts have been tried and failed---silver,
chrome, nickle. Krylon Looking Glass paint works. Hard to find---
but Hobby Lobby has it. Spray droplets of water inside the glass before
spray-painting----to get that antique mottled look after it dries.
Shop Hobby Lobby on-line.
The tough asparagus ends are too expensive to waste. I steam them and gnaw on them with some leftover hollandaise sauce and spit out the hard fibers. Yeah, it isn’t a pleasant sight so by myself with no one around.
Make cantaloupe ice cream!
Let me know how it goes!! The bacon, grease, onions, butter + all the other made it fantastic for me. As I finished it off (made 2 bunches that lasted 5 days) I was thinking how I couldn’t wait to make it again. It had been on sale 2 bunches for $5.
Here’s my shortbread recipe that can be used for Christmas.
1 cup butter (preferably Irish Kerrygold)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Vanilla
2 1/12 cups of flour
Preheat oven to 350.
Beat softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add a teaspoon or more of vanilla extract.
Add in the flour and beat until combined.
Turn out onto a board and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
Roll out on a cold board to about 1/4 inch and use pretty cookie cutters. Make clean cuts. Then with the tines of a fork, press in three indentations down the cookie. (If the dough starts softening, stick the board into the fridge until the dough firms up.)
Transfer cookies to a parchment lined sheet pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Take them out and decorate if you wish.
Stick in oven for 15 minutes.
If done right, they will come out of the oven perfectly formed, barely browned and as white as a virgin’s breast.
I make these with vanilla bean sometimes, other times with lemon, lime or orange zest. My favorite is lavender and lemon.
A simple cookie but people seem to like them and often carry off the entire box for themselves, the slobs.
I am copying this down, thank you. I love shortbread. I like the idea of lemon zest too. If I did lemon zest should I substitute lemon extract for the vanilla?
Each year I say I am going to make a proper booze soaked Christmas cake, but never get to it.
I have been making these cookies instead and freezing them, to give as gifts. That is is there are any left in the freezer after my husband has been in there.
This is an Ottolenghi recipe from his cookbook “Jerusalem”
This is also a nice New Zealand site, with many interesting recipes.
https://sites.google.com/site/couscousconsciousnessrecipes/spice-cookies
Wow, you are an asparagus lover!
(I remember reading that in the old days, there were signs in public buildings politely requesting that the patrons not relieve themselves in the spittoons, during asparagus season :-)
-JT
Avoided it like the plague most of my life. Even remember an old Steve Landesburg joke about it.
But the last four years ... - it started with some grilled asparagus with butter.
Wish I could send you a pic of my skillet asparagus with the bacon on top!
We never bought garlic, because my father-in-law always grew his own, and gifted us with a bunch of it every year. We miss it, now that he’s gone, and it’s one of the things we want to grow when we retire to a home with a garden.
-JT
Another exotic veggie is Artichoke (I’m afraid that earlier in the thread, when posting about an asparagus steamer, I incorrectly wrote ‘Artichoke Steamer’.)
But artichoke is another veggie that took me a long time to appreciate, and then I wound up mad about it. If you like asparagus, you will probably appreciate artichokes. I’ve heard tell that the best way to cook them is in a pressure cooker - and always have melted butter to dip the leaves into.
-JT
No, I’d just squeeze a little lemon juice as a substitute. The zest will do most of the work.
Thanks ; )
CANTALOUPE MARTINI
ING 2 shots cantaloupe juice*, 1 shot vodka ½ shot Domaine de Canton
ginger liqueur, ¼ shot mint simple syrup.*
METHOD In a cocktail shaker filled with some ice, muddle a few mint
leaves. Add cantaloupe juice, vodka, ginger liqueur and mint simple syrup.
Shake well and strain into martini glass.
SERVE adding cantaloupe balls threaded on a skewer w/ mint leaves.
*To make cantaloupe juice, blender/puree cantaloupe chunks, strain; reserve liquid.
*To make mint simple syrup, BTB combined equal parts water and sugar;
add handful fresh mint, stir. Steep offheat. Strain. Hold in refrigerator.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.