Did you know that cookies make the holiday sweeter
Hi everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah! Continuing with the holiday theme this weeks blog
will be more of the things that make our own Christmas time special.
I started with last week’s Blog The greatest thing about this time of year- Christmas with ideas on how to make this time of year shine in the spirit that is Christmas time.
This week I want to share with you a Sugar cookie recipe I invented in grade
school that is great for making those special holiday treats as well as a
cookie I made up for the pups .
Did you know that cookies make the holiday sweeter
Well as I said above yes yes they can and here is my Sugar Cookie
Sandy’s Sugar Cookies
2/3 rd cup Shorting
(Crisco is best, but if you really want a treat use natural lard instead of
shortening)
3/4th cup pure cane Sugar
1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla extract
4 teaspoons of milk
2 cups All purpose unbleached flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
Dash of sea salt
You start with creaming 2/3rd cup of shortening with 3/4th cup of pure cane sugar and 1/12 teaspoons vanilla (I use pure vanilla not imitation) add to the mix 1 egg and beat until fluffy- then stir in milk
Sift together dry ingredients and blend into fluffy creamed mixture divide in half wrap in wax paper.
You then chill at least one hour and then roll out to about ¼ thickness and cut out your holiday shapes
Bake @ 375 degrees 11-15 minutes makes about 2 dozen
I found then my sons were small that to take out this old recipe I first developed when I was 10 years old was a great bonding time making holiday cookies that I brought out Christmas candy and icings to let them design their own, it helped to bring in the holiday and taught them the importance of giving back as we made cookies for others and also that in giving you receive when I always triple this recipe to make sure there was enough for my helpers as well
Another important part of our life has always been Labrador Rescue, as a retired show breeders Labs still continue to be a big part of my world and we have always made both cookies and treats at the holiday for Rescue fund raisers as well as for the pet families we are close to and our own dogs a favorite is a very easy one to do called….
My Peanut Butter Puppy Pleasers
To make you start with
4 cups pancake mix I use Krusteaz
1 ½ cups oat flour (if you have a food processor you can grind you own) but it can be obtained at any health food store, you can also use plain Quaker oats but just 1 cup
1 ½ cups warm water mix with spoon it will be doughy-
flatten with you palms on counter sprinkled with oat (or All purpose unbleached) flour cut out with cookie cutter (dough will resemble making biscuits, in texture and be about 1/8 inch thick)
Bake on foil covered baking sheet @ 375 degrees about 10 minutes they will be white but check that they are hard.
Let cool
Glaze is a little bit of powdered sugar with warm water enough added to make sugar watery then add 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon peanut butter to the mix the glaze should be paintaible but not too thin- so adjust glaze ingredients to water as needed to make a paintable consistency. Paint on glaze then cover in rolled or plain Quaker oats- let dry, I freeze and serve frozen, you can also omit glaze for a dry cookie that sores easy and last a long time no freezing is needed for the dry cookies
Makes about 3 doz
If you do not have a dog, and would like to make these and drop off at your local shelter, you can really brighter an otherwise sad holiday time for the dogs there- call your local shelter or Rescue to find the rules that apply to donating treats to the shelter.
I want to wrap up today’s post on a somber note and remind you what I have done thus far throughout this blog both the preciousness of life and the value of time, And this time of family and remembering those two important facts, to bring up the loss of innocence and senselessness we will never understand. Both in our own area last Monday and then the unimaginable loss of the true innocent in CT following the Mall shooting in Oregon.
We can call for guns to be banned we can ask for stronger laws less freedoms or we can accept we live in a world that you cannot stop crazy people you can only restrict everyone else and myself I want to live in a free world, and that is a dangerous one.
But because I live in the USA I know that, and also because we only have today we are sure of I treasure every day and live it I do not waste it, as I have tried to teach you. But I want to join with the world to express our prayers and deepest sympathy when words can never really touch the loss or sadness but is all we can do to express our feelings is the comfort of words. And remind you to hug your children, but also thank God for your Liberty and never sell it for short lived security as the price is to high
“He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.”
Benjamin Franklin
As my own little flag at half staff moment the blog post will end here no promos no share- mes just my hand on my heart and my head bowed in prayer for such a sad occasion as we are witnessing when this should be a time of peace and good will towards men.
No Blog until Jan 7th Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone
God Bless
Take Care
Sandy Metcalf
