HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-12-22, Page 29THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1989. PAGE 29.
More recipes for Christmas edibles
For many there
are ghosts at Christmas
BUTTER COOKIES
Yield: About 4 dozen cookies,
depending on size of cutters used
Ingredients
8 ounces unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks, beaten
l‘/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 Vi cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Icing
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 egg white
3 to 4 tablespoons milk
Food coloring
Tools
Rolling pin
Cookie cutter or stencils
Nonstick baking sheet or baking
sheet lined with aluminum foil
For decorating cookies
Toothpicks
Ribbon or wire for hanging
Pastry tube with tips
Containers to mix and hold icing
Small paint brushes
Method
In a large bowl, cream the butter
with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten yolks and vanilla
and beat thoroughly.
Sift the flour and salt together.
Gradually add the dry ingredients
to the butter mixture, blending well
after each addition.
Form the dough into two equal
balls, wrap in wax paper, and
refrigerate overnight or place in the
freezer for 30 minutes.
Line baking sheets with alumi
num foil if not using a nonstick pan.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Working quickly with one pack
age of dough at a time, place the
dough between two pieces of wax
paper and roll it to a thickness of
slightly less than one-quarter inch.
Using cookie cutters, stencils, or an
inverted water glass, cut out
shapes from the dough. Arrange
them on the baking sheets and
refrigerate for 30 minutes. If you
wish, make a hole in the top of each
cookie with a drinking straw to
attach string, wire, or ribbon after
baking. Repeat the rolling and
cutting with the second package of
dough. Meanwhile, gather up any
scraps of dough into a ball, wrap,
and refrigerate. (Always work with
chilled dough.) Roll, cut out, and
arrange on baking sheet.
Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a
time, in the preheated oven for 10
to 12 minutes, or until light brown
around edges. Keep the others
chilled until ready to bake. Gently
remove baked cookies from baking
sheet to cool.
DECORATING SUGGESTIONS
To decorate before baking, brush
cookies with an egg wash or 1 egg
yolk and 1 tablespoon water mixed
together. Paint them with a lightly
beaten egg white and top them
with colored or chocolate sprinkles,
chopped nuts, toasted coconut, or
any favorite topping.
To decorate cookies after baking,
you can paint on a Chocolate Glaze,
or make the traditional confection
ers’ sugar icing. Beat the confec
tioners’ sugar into the egg white;
add milk 1 tablespoon at a time to
make a thick icing. Divide the icing
among several containers and,
using food coloring, tint each one a
different color. Ice the cookies
using artists’ brushes of varying
widths for thick and fine lines, or
pipe the icing through a pastry tube
fitted with assorted tips. Baked
cookies can also be rolled in
cinnamon, powdered sugar, pow
dered cocoa, or tinted sugar. They
can also be decorated with Crystal-
ized Violets. The variations are
endless.
MERINGUE TREE ORNAMENTS
For 25-35 ornaments, depending
on size
5 egg whites
2 cups [200 g.J powdered sugar
Parchment or silicone paper,
food coloring, cocoa, confection
ers’
gold or silver shots [dragees],
chopped almonds or pistachios
Place the egg whites and pow
dered sugar in a clean bowl and
beat lightly.
Choose a saucepan large enough
to hold the bowl and fill it with just
It’s beginning to look a lot like
Christmas. It’s the time for festiv
ity, and gifts and nostalgia.
Christmas is a time of memories.
There is probably no other
occasion or festival of the year
when loneliness takes greater
emotional tool than Christmas.
It could be the older citizens
whose family have died or moved
away. They have lost contact with
relatives and friends and are alone.
It might be the jobless in our
nation who watch others celebrate
Christmas in style. And it hurts.
It could also be the child of
divorce. Some can remember what
Christmas was like when the
family was united. Others sadly
don’t remember what it was like to
have the parents together. The
pain at Christmas is intense.
Christmas can be crisis time for
couples and children of split fami
lies.
During this Christmas season
enough water not to overflow when
the bowl is placed in it; heat the
saucepan of water.
Place the bowl in the water bath
and beat the egg white-sugar
mixture. When the whites are stiff
and warm to the touch (about 115 -
120°F./45-50°C), remove from the
water bath and beat slowly until
cooled. If an electric hand beater is
used, it should be on medium
speed.
The beaten egg white mixture
can be put into a pastry bag and
piped onto the sheet in any
preferred shapes; choose a star tip
or use a plain tip. The meringue
mixture can also be tinted - for
example, pink with red food color
ing or brown with a little cocoa
powder.
The piped shapes can also be
sprinkled with different kinds of
confectioners’ shots (dragees) or
chopped almonds or pistachios.
You can also pipe small flowers or
other shapes (especially successful
with plain tip) and attach them
together with imported nougat
spread or melted chocolate.
Baking - more drying than
baking, actually - is best done
overnight at a temperature of 120 -
140 degrees F. (50 - 60 degrees C.)
or for 2-3 hours at 200 - 210 degrees
F. (90-100 degrees C.). The oven
door must be kept open a crack to
let moisture escape.
think of those who are less fortun
ate than you. It may be the poor.
Or the lonely. Or children and
parents of the split family.
Christmas is caring. That was
the message of Jesus. Let it be ours
as well.
MAY YOUR STOCKINGS
BE FILLED
WITH CHEER
Merry Christmas to all our friends and customers.
Warmest wishes to you and yours.
Can you get AIDS
from sharing
a needle while
doing drugs?
DUNBAR & COOK
ELECTRIC
YES! Get the facts.
Let’s Talk. Call the
Ontario Ministry of
Health AIDS Hotline
1-800-668-AIDS
Don & Cathy Dunbar & Family
Paul & Karen Cook & Family