I'm getting my list out and checking it twice. Now that Thanksgiving is over, the lights are up outside the house and the tree is upin the living room, it's time to start getting more in the Christmas spirit.
I might even get around to do a little shopping in a couple of weeks. I don't buy much -- the wife takes care of most of that -- but I do like to get some personalized gifts for members of the family.
But as I'm thinking about that, I get a little bit more in the mood by doing the annual Christmas cookie bake off.
Hmmmm. What cookies do I want to bake this year for Christmas goodies?
While I complain to the wife every year that someone else needs to help eat these cookies, I still enjoy baking at Christmastime. The smell in the kitchen is fantastic.
There are a couple of treats that also brighten the holiday spirit, but I have to go buy them. So we make an annual trip to Aldi because it seems to be the only place were I can find traditional German gingerbread cookies.
The store has chocolate-covered gingerbread cookies shaped like stars and pretzels. I also enjoy the glazed and chocolate-covered gingerbread with a wafer on the bottom. It seems there are little pieces of apricot and nuts in them. The grandson likes those as well.
They go really fast around our house.
Now it's time to turn my attention to the kitchen and getting that baking done over the next couple of weeks. I like taking plates of cookies to the office and to my friends' home.
Two of my favorite cookies to make for the holidays are oatmeal chocolate chip and decorated sugar cookies. Both are a tradition around our house at this time of the year.
The chocolate chip recipe is an old family one that my mom originally cut off the back of a bag of Toll House chocolate chips. I think she did it back in the late 1950s because we've had them around the house forever. They taste good, are easy to bake and they make lots (the important thing).
It is also a recipe that I've used to win the open class at a county fair in Kansas, much to the chagrin of some of the ladies in the county.
The sugar cookie recipe comes from a family friend, and they are great as well. I suppose you could roll them out a little thicker and then frost them, but we like to sprinkle them with colored sugar. After all, they would be a bit messy for Santa. He might get frosting in his beard.
The grandson is carrying on a family tradition that began with his mom, the daughter, helping decorate sugar cookies at an early age. The grandson has been decorating cookies for the past seven years. Sometimes in those early years the cookies were quite sugary (if you catch my drift).
After his triumphant pie making a couple of weeks ago when he made the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving all by himself, the grandson has indicated that he wants to make the sugar cookie dough. So I guess I get to check out my decorating skills. It should be fun.
Checking my list this year, I might make some gingersnaps and some Christmas (fruitcake) cookies. But we'll see. Or I might just cut back on what I make this year. Who knows?
But I did want to share the chocolate chip and sugar cookie recipes with you. Hope you have time to make at least one of them. They're both great with milk or hot chocolate.
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Sugar Cookies
Sift together:
3 1/4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream together:
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
Then add one-half cup thick sour cream (canned evaporated milk with one teaspoon of vinegar)
Mix all ingredients together.
Chill dough.
Roll out until fairly thin. Cut with cookie cutters, coat with egg wash (egg whites) and sprinkle with decorator sugar.
Bake at 425 degrees for eight minutes.
It should make around five dozen if you don't roll the dough too thick.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sift together:
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Cream together:
1 cup of Fleishmann's margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Blend in two eggs
Stir in:
2 cups traditional oatmeal
1 cup chopped English walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips (I usually add more)
Chill dough and then spoon out rounded teaspoons for each cookie. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes, until lightly brown.
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The young grandson recently accompanied his dad on his first deer hunting trip to Kansas. The weather wasn't the best -- a little damp and cold.
They didn't see much on Saturday, so on Sunday, the grandson told his dad he wanted to go squirrel hunting instead of hunting for deer, so off they went.
The son-in-law spotted a squirrel in the tree and showed the grandson where it was. Taking careful aim, he fired, but the bullet only knocked the whiskers off of the squirrel, who scampered away unharmed.
The boys then went to check the wild game camera that was set up to see if any deer had come by their hunting spot. There on the camera were several pictures of some bucks with large antler racks. Also, there were a couple of pictures of some turkeys (which bodes well for me next spring).
The son-in-law noted to his son that the deer would have come by their stand right after they set up if they wouldn't have gone hunting for squirrels. The boys would have had a shot at a big buck.
To which the grandson responded -- "Well, I guess I made the wrong choice."
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Throne is managing editor of The Weekly Vista.
Editorial on 12/17/2014