Thursday 17 December 2009

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 3 - Cookies

One of the mainstays of my family's Christmas was making - or rather icing - Grandma's Christmas cookies.

Someone, usually my Grandmother (my father has taken over the tradition in recent years), would make up a couple of batches of dough and leave it in the fridge. When the kids (and kids at heart) had been gathered we'd pull out the Christmas cookie cutters and bake sheets of bells, ornaments, Santas, trees, and snowmen. The icing, often upon my insistence and to my grandmother's disgust, would be made with too much food colouring, creating violent shades of magenta (never quite red), bright blue, lemon yellow, electric green, and vibrant purple.

Over the years various family and friends of all ages have tried their hand and created works of art...



(these two cookies iced as a surprise present for me from my young step-siblings)

This year my dad sent me the recipe and suggested I try making them to give to friends here. Since I don't have access to an oven, however, I decided instead to share them virtually. Then, when La Fuji Mama posted about the 12 Days of Sharing Virtual Cookie Jar (hosted by In Jennie's Kitchen to help raise awareness about childhood hunger in America) I knew just how to share my grandmother's recipe in a way that she would have supported fully.


12DaysCookies_badge-1

*************************

Christmas Rolled Cookies

1 cup margarine
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cream of tartar

Cream margarine with sugars, add egg and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Form into logs and wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate the dough for a couple of hours or up to a few days, then roll and cut into shapes.

Bake 8-10 min 350 oven until golden. Cool then ice and decorate.

1 comment:

  1. Yay! Thank you so much for participating! What a wonderful post.

    ReplyDelete