December Foodie Holidays: Week 1

December is National Fruit Cake Month and Egg Nog Month.

Dec. 1: Pie Day
Dec. 2: Fritters Day
Dec. 3: Apple Pie Day
Dec. 4: Cookie Day
Dec. 5: Sacher Torte Day
Dec. 6: Gazpacho Day
Dec. 7: Cotton Candy Day

From one of my husband's aunt's:

Eggnog Bread 

3 C. flour

1/2 C. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 beaten egg

1 3/4 C. canned OR dairy eggnog

1/2 C. cooking oil

1/2 C. chopped pecans

1/2 C. golden raisins

1/2 C. sifted powdered sugar

2-3 tsp. eggnog

Directions: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Combine the eggnog, egg and oil; add to the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. Stir in the nuts and raisins. Turn into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Bake in a 350ºF oven for 60-70 minutes. Cover with foil after 50 minutes is bread browns too quickly. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack. Wrap bread; store overnight. To serve, stir together powdered sugar and enough eggnog to make of drizzling consistency. Drizzle over bread.

Comments: “This is a nice bread to give away.”

National Shortbread Day - January 6th

Shortbread day is January 6th, and it's one of the very simplest cookies you could ever make. Scottish in origin, it's often made for celebrations. Traditionally, it's baked in a large circle that's been pre-cut into wedges (like really narrow pizza slices). Food historians think this is from old Pagan traditions, and evolved from sun cakes.

My personal favorite way to make shortbread still includes some of the sunny symbolism.

Jam-Filled Shortbread
Ingredients:
2/3 C. unsalted butter, softened

1/4 C. powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 C. flour

apricot jam or preserves

Directions: Preheat oven to 300ºF. Cream together the sugar, butter and salt. Sift flour over this mixture and lightly knead until well blended and smooth. (Don't overwork the flour or the cookies will be tough.) If too crumbly, add a few drops of water. Firmly press dough, about a walnut-sized ball) into the bottoms of a mini muffin tin, and make a shallow indent in the middle. Spoon about a tsp. of jam into the depression, and bake as usual: 45-50 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow to cool to just warm before removing from pan.
Variation: Other jams can be used, raspberry and orange marmalade are both delicious.

 

 

Available at Amazon.

 

Chocolate Covered Cherry Day - January 3rd

January 3rd is Chocolate Covered Cherry Day! I do love them... and they're fairly easy to make. Older chocolate candy recipes often contain paraffin to help in hardening chocolate and keep them glossy. You can use food grade paraffin in these old recipes (but be sure the it is food grade), OR you can use properly tempered chocolate. If you'd like to update the old family recipe, you can include instructions for tempering the chocolate in the recipe notes.

You can eat it, but do you want to?

Another delicious way to enjoy chocolate covered cherries is with my mom's recipe for chocolate covered cherry cookies.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C. flour

1/2 C. cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 C. margarine

1 C. sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

10 oz. jar maraschino cherries

1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 C. sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp. maraschino cherry juice

Directions: Sift together the first six ingredients. Cream margarine and sugar; add egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture; beat until well blended. Shape into 1" balls, place on cookie sheet, and press center with thumb. Drain the cherries, reserving juice. Put a cherry in the depression. Heat chocolate chips and milk until chocolate melts; stir in juice. Spoon a tsp. of this over the cherry, covering it. Bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes.

Available at Amazon.

Red Sonjas

Family recipes have to be born sometime, right? Not all of the recipes in your cookbook will be generations old. Time and tastes change, or maybe you just don't have a record of some of those old recipes. Young families can also create an heirloom cookbook, because traditions have to start somewhere!

This recipe isn't so much an heirloom as it is an homage. I love comics, and Gail Simone's Red Sonja is one of my favorites. I fiddled with this recipe specifically for Simone, who 1) loves peanut butter, and 2) eats a gluten-free diet. I'm thrilled with how it turned out, and hope the object of my girl-crush does too. (This is definitely going in the next family cookbook!)

RED SONJAS (flourless peanut butter cookies with a kick!)
2 C. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 C. peanut butter
2 eggs
red decorator sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix together the sugar, baking powder and ginger, then add the peanut butter and eggs. Dough will be stiff! Roll into quarter-sized balls and place on a baking sheet. Using your sword (or a steak knife), dampen the tip and dip in red sugar,

It's a lot easier to dip the knife in a saucer than in a bowl.

then gently press the flat of the blade into each cookie ball, flattening it a little. (You could also use a fork, but that's no fun.)

Don't smash the cookie, just flatten it a little.

Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool for 5 before removing from the baking sheet.

You don't need parchment paper, but it does make clean-up easier!

Bottoms should be lightly browned.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

They have an almost fudgy texture.

Note: You can easily cut this recipe in half, if you're not sure you want to commit to 3 dozen cookies. 

My gift to you, fellow geeks: printables sized for your recipe box! (Link is for a PDF containing a 3.5x5 and 4x6 recipe card.)

Available at Amazon.