Day 5 of 12 Days of Cookies and 12 Days of Christmas

Sweet and Saltine

It's not just about the cookies. Having a quest or a project always pushes me get in to things more fully. A season, a sport, a collection, something new I want to try ... it's always more fun with a challenge associated with it. I guess that is my personality type showing through.

With my 12 Days project it's  not just about the cookies when it comes to the other people in my life. I've been posting the dirty dish count on my posts so far. To be transparent I am not the only one washing said dirty dishes. My husband has pitched in and has been good natured about it (so far). Poor guy, hoping he can last another week with the bowls, spoons and multiplying dirty measuring spoons and cups. The upside for him is I know his staff is looking forward to this years cookie platter. They tell me each time I stop in!

Day 5's cookie is "Christmas Crack". This stuff really lives up to the name, it is so good. It also has saltine crackers in the list of ingredients so it it hard to know if it's the crackers that contribute to the name or the addictive goodness of it.

Having said all that I have mixed feelings on the name. I didn't give the cookie its name. It strikes me that although I am sure the cookie name is meant to be whimsical drugs are no joke. The harm and hurt drugs cause so many gives me pause.
I have also seen this cookie called "Sweet and Saltine" and that's the name I'll go with.

Fifth day of cookies - Sweet and Saltine 
Fifth day of Christmas - 5 Golden Rings  

Dirty Dish Count -  41
Observation - Be careful with your words. You don't know how the person who is listening to you will take what you say. Most who know me well would agree that I never mean to offend. Sometimes it can happen without meaning to. Trust that most people have good intentions. You can be taken as saltine when your intention really is sweet. Not having all the information is one way to put your foot in your mouth. If you think someone is being unkind with their words seek first to understand. You may be surprised to find that there is some missing information on both sides.  Be kind, be understanding, seek first to understand. 
'Tis the season!

Day 3 and 4 of 12 Days of Cookies and 12 Days of Christmas

Day 3 yielded no cookies. I did, however, stock up on unsalted butter, salted butter and eggs.
We had snow here in my area and I had work to get done before the roads were too bad to be running around on.

Third day of cookies - None
Third day of Christmas - 3 French Hens
Dirty Dish Count -  stands at 23
Observation - Bring your wine glass

My day also had me at the holiday party at my Aunt's Assisted Living Home. It was so nice to see the good cheer all around as my Aunt gets acclimated to her new surroundings. One particularly fun guest brought her own crystal wine glass down from her room to the party.
Another resident was served her heavy appetizers and looked at her plate for a while before asking one of the staff if that was her dinner. Minutes later after considering the contents of her plate for a while, she left the room clearly unhappy.

My  whimsical wine cork

I hope when the time comes for me that I need more help that I am the lady with the wine glass. She was optimism personified.

Time to make up some ground on Day 4 with Candy Canes and Macaroons on the agenda.  The Candy Cane cookie I chose calls for egg yolks and the Macaroons give me a cookie to make with the left over egg whites. Genius!

I haven't had an occaision to separate eggs in a while. Luckily there's YouTube.
There are video tutorials of most anything, including how to separate eggs.

I now remember why I never make Candy Cane cookies. Out of 20 attempts I ended up with 3 whole cookies and am wondering how long my hands will stay red from the food coloring. Anyone with red dye allergies stay away.  I got a bit frustrated and mixed the red and white dough together and used cookie cutters to salvage a few more whole cookies from this batch of Christmas cheer.
Fourth day of cookies - 3 Candy Canes, 1 Pile of Candy Cane parts, 
1 dozen assorted shaped cookies

1 dozen Macaroons

Fourth day of Christmas - 4 Calling Birds
Dirty Dish Count -  37 

Day 2 of 12 Days of Cookies and 12 Days of Christmas

Day 2 is chocolate chip cookie day. Nestle Toll House's recipe is my go to and I added in some multi-colored sprinkles I had in the cabinet. Yum.

Easing in is still my plan. It's going to snow this weekend and that will give me some time to just stay in and work on a more complicated cookie. What it will be is still up in the air, stay tuned!

Betty Crocker did make a contribution to my project in the form of my 20 year old mixer. It amazes me that it has lasted all this time. They don't make them like they used to!

Update: We got our tree. The lights and garland are on. Decorating, Chinese food and The Polar Express movie are on the agenda for tonight.
My college kiddo is home for a brief visit and all is well with the world.






Second day of cookies - Toll House Chocolate Chip with sprinkles 

Second day of Christmas - 2 Turtle Doves
Dirty dish count - 23

Observation - No matter how far behind you feel you are just get started

Stay tuned for more from My Middleton Chronicles. 17 days 'til Christmas and counting ...

12 Days of Christmas and 12 Days of Cookies

I loved my cookie baking last year and am starting this years 12 Days of Cookies today.
There are only 18 days until Christmas and the timing is perfect to have a nice seleciton of cookies done just in time for the holiday festivities and some giving.

Having done no planning yet I am going to start with sugar cookies, easy peasy. There are so many sugar cookie recipes out there which recipe to choose is the big question ... I want them to be as simple as possible.

I'd love to get fancy and use cookie cutters but I need to just dig in and get started and am not ready for anything more complicated. Yet. I am going to choose some more elaborate cookies as I go along but for today nice, round sugar cookies will have to do!

Searching recipes online I happened upon Martha Stewart's "Basic Sugar Cookies".  Right away I realized this was not the simple, quick recipe I was looking for.
Total time for Martha's delectables: 2 hours
Prep time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Items Martha's recipe calls for that I do not have:
Parchment paper
Time to chill dough
Time or patience to rotate cookies halfway through baking.
Sorry Martha, your recipe is out.

Moving on I checked out Betty Crocker's "Classic Sugar Cookies". Betty is showing her age by calling for margarine in her recipe. Sadly the Betty Crocker classics are also a miss because they call for almond extract and creme or tarter. Not only do I not have those ingredients I don't think my family or friends would be very excited about these cookies. Sorry Betty, your recipe is out too.

So it's back to one of my favorite websites for basic recipes - allrecipes.com
I have all I need to get started and there's no chilling, cutting or parchment needed.

Do you have favorite cookies you make at the holidays? I'd love to hear about them, post in the comments. Any and all suggestions and recipes welcome!

How is decking the halls going for you?
Around the English household we are easing in to the holiday spirit this year. I've still got dead mums hanging around that need to be replaced by wreaths and greens. A few things are out and I am expecting a delivery with a new tree skirt (I have been wanting one for YEARS) and table runner.
The tree buying excursion (a drive around the corner) is happening tonight and the hope is we'll be further along with our decorating by the weekend.

.

One area that is ready for Christmas is my dining room. It has the 12 Days of Christmas framed and hanging. That was done in time for Thanksgiving and I love it.

First day of Christmas - A Partridge in a Pear Tree
First day of cookies - Easy Peasy Sugar Cookies
Dirty Dish Count - 11
Observation - It's not just about the cookies