A Christmas Salad

We hosted Christmas dinner this year and were looking for a fresh and festive salad to serve as our first course.  Inspired by a salad I had at The Mixx last weekend I found this recipe through a quick Google search.  I made a few adjustments based on what I had on hand and it turned out great.  Everyone loved it!  It is especially perfect for the holiday season with the cranberry dressing.

Pear, Pecan, and Blue Cheese Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette  (adapted from Cooking Light)

Vinaigrette:

• 1/2  cup  canned cranberry sauce (I only had the jellied kind and it worked just fine)
• 1/4  cup  fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 2  tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
• 1  teaspoon  sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt

Salad:

• 2  cups  sliced peeled pear (about 2 pears)
• 1  cup  (1/8-inch-thick) slices red onion, separated into rings
• 1/3  cup  (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
• 2  tablespoons  coarsely chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation:

To prepare the vinaigrette, place the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk.

To prepare the salad, divide the lettuce leaves evenly among 6 salad plates. Divide pear and onion evenly among leaves. Top each serving with about 1 tablespoon cheese and 1 teaspoon pecans. Drizzle each serving with about 2 1/2 tablespoons vinaigrette.

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Sugar Cookies

Last year the sugar cookies I made turned out wonderfully, but when I used the recipe again at Halloween this year the cookies and the frosting didn’t turn out well at all, probably due to human error.  I decided to try new recipes this year since there are so many out there and I’d been bookmarking them left and right in my Google Reader.  I went with Katie’s sugar cookies that have a bit of lemon zest in them, and Bridget’s frosting, which was so sugary sweet!  I was REALLY happy with the cookie recipe, they rolled out so easily and only took 5 minutes to bake, such a time saver!  The lemon zest added a great flavor and everyone commented on it.  The frosting was also good, tasted great on the cookies, but not the best for decorating since it never really dried.  Still, I would use it again.  My niece helped decorate these cookies but all the pictures of that are on my dad’s camera.  We had so much fun and I just finished the last cookie today and now I’m craving more.

Fabulous Sugar Cookies (from Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest
5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.
-Add vanilla, almond, and lemon zest.
-Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt a little at a time.
-Do not over mix, this process should take about one minute.
-Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away.
-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes.
-Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

Easy Vanilla Buttercream (from Cooks Illustrated April 2007) as seen on That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles

The buttercream frosting can be made ahead and refrigerated; if refrigerated, however, it must stand at room temperature to soften before use. If using a hand-held mixer, increase mixing times significantly (at least 50 percent). This recipe can be doubled to make enough for a two-layer cake.

Makes 3 cups

20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2½ cups Confectioners’ sugar (10 ounces)
1/8 tablespoons table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream

In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

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Chocolate Macaroons

Last year I made a batch of chocolate macaroons but didn’t use my mom’s recipe, just one I found online that I thought looked the same.  They weren’t the same and I really didn’t like the melted chocolate.  Cocoa is just way better in this recipe in my opinion!  So this year I used my mom’s recipe and we were all quite pleased.  The recipe yields about 18 cookies with my medium cookie scoop, make sure you make a couple of batches because this will go fast!

Chocolate Macaroons (family recipe)

Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 cups unsweetened coconut (I only had sweetened and that was fine)
3 T cocoa powder, more if you want them to be more chocolatey!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix milk, coconut, and cocoa powder in a double boiler until well blended and warm.  Scoop onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (if you want to be able to remove them after baking!)  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool, then eat with a tall glass of milk!

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Toasted, Sugared, Devoured

I can’t go to any kind of craft/art fair without buying these, but it never occured to me that I could make them myself until my mother in law made them last Christmas.  With our Costco membership I got a great deal on 2 lb bags of really nice large pecans and I decided to whip these up as gifts for some friends and co-workers.  Christmas cookies are great but take so much time, each batch of these sugared pecans took me around 30 minutes to make start to finish, and I’m all about saving time right now!  Just be careful not to burn these like I did with the first batch (had the oven temp too high).  And make sure you bag these up and give them away ASAP or you may eat them all yourself, they are sooooo yummy and they’ll make your house smell delicious!

Sugared Pecans

1 egg white – beat until stiff
1 T water- add water and beat
1lb pecan halves- fold into egg white mixture

combine:
1 cup sugar
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon

Fold in dry ingredients, stir to coat pecans.  Bake on a foil lined cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.  Let cool and break apart, store in an airtight container.

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A Family Fave

Here is the most traditional Christmas cookie from my childhood: the chocolate macaroon.  I experimented a bit with this recipe because I did not want to have to rig up a double boiler to melt the ingredients as the family recipe requires.  I didn’t have the time or the patience.  So I went to the Eagle Brand Milk website and found a recipe very similar to the one we used growing up and took it out for a spin.  Not quite as chocolatey as the family recipe (I think this recipe called for much more coconut) but they taste about the same and I think the family liked them! Next time I will either cut back on the coconut or add more chocolate.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons (from the Eagle Brand Milk website)

Ingredients:

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg white
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, melted (I did this in the microwave but the bowl got really hot, ouch.  I spilled some and then was short on chocoalte, so I threw in some unsweetened cocoa powder which worked out okay.)
14 oz bag flaked coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, line cookie sheets with parchment paper
In large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, egg white, vanilla, and melted chocolate.  Stir in coconut, then dropped by rounded teaspoonfuls on the lined cookie sheets.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks.  Store in air tight container at room temp.

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Tired of Christmas Cookies Yet?

Well we are gearing up to celebrate Christmas with my family this weekend, so I am back in the kitchen baking away! I bought a bucket of 30 Christmas cookie cutters at Bed, Bath, and Beyond awhile back and couldn’t wait to use them. Hopefully my 18 month old niece will get a kick out of these colorful cookies! My sister and I had lots of fun decorating them together, I’m sure I’ll be finding sprinkles in my kitchen for months. I was so happy with this recipe, it was a really easy dough to roll out. I spread some saran wrap on the counter, dusted it with flour, and had no problems with sticky dough! I rarely bake with margarine due to the trans fat, but I figure once a year is allowable, and I think it really makes the cookies soft and tasty! The cookies are mildly sweet and frosting adds just the right amount of sweetness. Plus the frosting dries after awhile so the cookies can be easily stacked without making a huge frosting mess!

Jon’s Super Sugar Cookies (from Joelen’s Cooking Adventures)

Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups AP flour
frosting – recipe follows
1. Cream margarine and sugar well.
2. Add vanilla and eggs; combine well.
3. In separate bowl, sift the baking powder, salt and flour.
4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients slowly until thoroughly combined.
5. Cookie dough must be chilled until firm, or overnight.
6. Remove dough from fridge and roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
8. With cookie cutters or rim of drinking glass, cut out cookies.
9. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on oven. Check often to prevent over cooking or burning. Cool on baking rack when done.
10. Meanwhile, to prepare frosting – its a MUST for these cookies! (go all the way or not at all- lol)

Frosting:
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1 stick of real butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cream or whole milk

11. Cream butter, milk and vanilla together.
12. Slowly add powdered sugar to butter until desired consistency. If you’d like, add liquid food coloring for festive cookies.
13. When cookies are cooled, slather this heavenly frosting. For more texture and color, press the top of the cookies in sprinkles, colored sugar or just eat plain!

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