It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas is in the air - I love the sights, smells and sounds that remind me of the holidays. Gifts are purchased (not wrapped yet), tree is up and decorated and the turkey is purchased and quietly sleeping in the freezer until it is time for him to make his debut. 

I had a baking bug this morning so I decided to make my grandmothers molasses cookies with lemon butter cream frosting. If you’ve been reading my blog you know these cookies were my favorite as a kid and I guess I was looking for a little trip down memory lane today. 

I recall asking my mom about the recipe when I was in my 20’s and what she could recall was that things were added in 1 cup increments - which wasn’t overly helpful. After asking at a family reunion - my Aunt Kay (my mom’s oldest sister) gave me the recipe. Incidentally my mom was right things do come in 1 cup increments - go figure. 

Ingredients

1 cup crisco  - melted (in the old days I suspect Grandma used lard)

1 cup molasses

1 cup sugar

1 cup hot water with 1 level tsp baking soda

4 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

Cooking Instructions

Add sugar and molasses to the melted shorting. Alternately add water/soda mixture and flour to the shortening/sugar/molasses mixture. Add vanilla. Let dough stand in a cool place until easy to handle - the dough will be sticky. Drop dough by tablespoon on to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silpat (or a Pampered Chef silicone mat) and bake at 350 degrees approximately 10 - 12 minutes. Cool and frost with lemon buttercream frosting.

For the frosting I used a little butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice - frost and add sprinkles - they are delicious :-) and I am feeling the family love as I eat these!

I couldn’t just make MY favorite cookies without making something for my sweetie. Knowing anything with nuts is his favorite I decided to make him a batch of date and nut pinwheels. I didn’t realize how labor intensive they were until I got half way through the process but the end result was worth it. 

Kudos to A Taste of Home for the recipe. Today no substitutions - with the exception of only making a 1/2 batch because Dan and I don’t need 100+ cookies sitting in the house calling our name while we are trying to work :-). To be honest we’ll be putting many of the cookies in the freezer to use over the holidays and beyond!

They are delicious, see for yourself!

If you are baking at home - let me know about favorite cookies/dishes! Thanks for stopping by!

Good friends, good food and fun

Friday night I hosted my annual Pampered Chef Holiday Kick-off. I’ve been a Pampered Chef consultant for about 7 years and even though I’m at the place where I don’t do a lot of shows, I still enjoy an annual get together with friends and family. We cook, we laugh and we shop and in the end I give 1/2 of the rewards away because one only needs 1 set of knives with a lifetime warranty.

In my holiday shows, I try to focus on quick and healthy recipes that my friends can put together in 30 minutes or less. Last night we made a Chickpea Shawarma dip it was health, spicy and delicious. I served it up with veggies and flatbread crackers - it was a hit!  Thanks to Minimalist Baker for the original recipe.

This holiday season will be different. It's the first without my Dad and the tree somehow doesn't seem complete without Camille sleeping underneath it on her favorite velvet tree skirt. We do have a lot to be thankful for and a joyful event on the horizon; Dan's daughter Alona is getting married in June - everyone is very excited.

CHICKPEA SHAWARMA DIP

CHICKPEAS

1 15-ounce (425 g) can chickpeas, well drained - if you are a bean purest you can make your own from scratch  

1 Tbsp (15 ml) olive or avocado oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

GARLIC HERB SAUCE

1/4 cup (60 g) hummus (store-bought or DIY)

1 Tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice

3/4 - 1 tsp dried dill

3 cloves garlic, minced 

Water 

PARSLEY SALAD 

1 cup packed (75 g) finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup (75 g) diced cherry or roma tomatoes

1/4 cup (35 g) diced red onion

1 Tbsp (15 ml) lemon juice

1 Tbsp (15 ml) olive oil

Pinch each sea salt and black pepper

HUMMUS

16 ounces (453 g) hummus (store-bought or DIY)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C) and add well-drained chickpeas to a mixing bowl.

Top with oil, sugar, and spices and toss to combine. Then spread on a bare or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until deep golden brown and fragrant. Set aside.

In the meantime, prepare your sauce by adding all ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisking to combine, only adding enough water to thin so it’s pourable. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add more garlic for more zing, salt for savoriness, lemon juice for freshness, and dill for a more intense herb flavor. I found mine didn’t need anything else.

Prepare parsley-tomato salad by adding parsley, tomato and onion to a small mixing bowl and dressing with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss and set aside.

Assemble 

Spread hummus on a serving platter and top with roasted chickpeas, parsley salad, and garlic dill sauce. Serve with chips, or veggies of choice.

I think of the holiday season as a time for reflection and to plan for the new year. I take stock of the goals I set and how well I met them - this year I had a goal of walking 2017 miles and barring any craziness I am on track to meet that goal. Looking forward I want to do more writing, maybe even take one of my NaNoWriMo's and self publish it - still pondering that one. I'd like to spend more time with friends, volunteer at the Arboretum and take classes to become a Master Gardener. I'd say my plate looks pretty full - which is a good thing. 

Thanks for stopping by!