Winter Wonderland

It was one of those amazing winter weekends, the kind that can only be found right around Christmas…really the only time of year when a foot of snow falling to the ground seems like a nice idea.  The ground outside is covered in a sparkly white sheen, wet and compacted, the perfect type of snow for making a snowman or getting into a snowball fight with the school bully. 

This was the big cookie production weekend for me.  It was time to get out all of the cutters, the colored sanding sugars and make enough cookies to feed a small army.   I love to give them as presents along with a handmade ornament.  It’s a gift almost anyone will love, and is even that much better because it comes from your heart and hands.

My big dilemma was which cookies to make this year? I narrowed my choices down from five cookies to three, and ended up choosing some long-standing favorites.  After making a trip to the grocery store to procure the necessary nine sticks of butter I would need to cover all of the recipes, I began by making the dough for the Sugar Cookies (this links to a recipe similar to the one I used, but mine has more butter)... it's a much loved recipe I make just about every year.  The dough is very simple, with few ingredients…mainly butter and sugar.  The proper recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, which I find to be invaluable.  As with most doughs, the key is not to over mix.  After cutting and forming the dough into two disks, you can refrigerate them until you are ready to bake.  In my case I like to make it a day ahead so the gluten in the flour has adequate time to relax, but make sure you take the dough out of the refrigerator a good 30-45 minutes before you want to roll it out or it will crack under the weight of the rolling pin.

The second dough I made was for the Gingerbread Cookies (again, a similar recipe, but mine has a tablespoon of grated ginger creamed into the butter and sugar).  This recipe also comes from the Baking Handbook, but I had never tried it before.  I have made gingerbread cookies before, but this recipe was different because it calls for freshly grated ginger along with the traditional dry ginger, cloves, allspice and molasses.  I must say that the fresh ginger really brought this cookie to life and gave it a bright and fresh taste.  This dough you should also make at least a day in advance.

I’m sure the FDA doesn’t recommend this (or whomever figures out the eating pyramid chart we all grew up with), but I decided to have both of the aforementioned doughs for my Saturday brunch.  I mean, there WERE eggs involved and ginger IS a root, so I figured there was no harm.  Raw cookie dough is something I just can’t resist.  The sugar cookie dough in particular is probably my favorite dough in the world to eat by the spoonful…and I did…please stop judging me.

The third cookie is a Rosemary Butter Cookie that came from a Martha magazine long ago, but now exists online forever and ever.  This is possibly one of the most different and interesting treats in my repertoire.  Not only is it a sweet buttery cookie, but also has a clean Christmas-y taste derived from the freshly chopped rosemary.  There is also sea salt in this cookie and it gives an amazingly sweet/salty balance that I love.  This cookie is pretty simple too, but does have a few steps.  First, you roll the dough into a couple of 12 inch logs (1 and a half inch diameter), wrap them in parchment paper and freeze for about an hour.  Next, take the logs out, unwrap them and brush them with egg white.  Third, you roll the logs in sanding sugar and then cut into quarter inch slices.  They bake up yummy and golden, and the house smells of fragrant herbs mingled with sugar…it’s better than any candle I have found.

I did all of this on Saturday before going to Randall Sharp’s annual Christmas party.  It is THE party to go to of the calendar year.   The guests spread out over several floors of her lovely home, with a bar set-up downstairs near the most beautiful, and tall Christmas tree I ever have the pleasure of seeing indoors.  It must be 12-15 feet tall at least, and is tastefully decorated with glass and copper ornaments.  On the second floor is an abundantly appointed dining table full of vegetarian and meat-a-tarian dishes alike.  All sorts of chesses, breads, hot and cold entrees and did I mention cheeses, cheeses and more lovely cheeses?  The third floor has a beautiful white tree with colorful lights.  (Pictured:  our friends David and Vivian)  The room is a library, ensconcing the guests in books; music and much appreciated low lighting.  I love to sit on the couch in that room and hang out with friends.  I think the guest list pushed one hundred this year, and it seemed as if everyone had turned out for the special occasion.

While all of the warming festivities were going on, the great Blizzard of ’09 began…or at least according to the news we should call it that.  I must say, it did dump A LOT of snow in a very brief amount of time.  We got nearly a foot at our house, and I know they reached almost 2 feet out in Long Island.  Brian and I painstakingly drove home from the party in the windy whiteout.  It was very slow going, but with some Christmas music playing in the background and a few white-knuckle moments we made it home in one piece to find our house and neighborhood bedded down for the evening in layers of white.

Sunday morning I woke up early and began the major portion of my cookie production.  I pulled the sugar and gingerbread doughs from the refrigerator to thaw a bit 
and went out to shovel some snow and take a few photographs before all the pristine purity of the landscape was ruined.  By the time I was done, the doughs were ready and I was warmed up and raring to go.  I rolled out the disks  to about a quarter of an inch thick, floured my cookie cutters and began my task.  The trick is to cut one tray’s worth, usually a dozen or so, decorate them with sanding sugar or dragees and then get them into the freezer for a good 15 minutes of so.  Re-chilling the cookies will help hold their shape and keep you from ending up with blobby, misshapen masses.  While one tray is in the oven, you can be cutting and decorating the next batch.  By the time I was done there was sanding sugar strung throughout the house, flour all over my clothes and royal icing in places Royal Icing just shouldn’t be…on my elbow people, let’s keep this “G” rated.

All in all I was really happy with the outcome.  I fixed up a mixed plateful to take where I am currently working as well as wrapped up several packages for some friends/neighbors and former co-workers.  The best thing about making cookies is the part where you give them away.  I don’t care who you are, unless you are Ebenezer Scrooge himself (pre spirit visits, mind you), a cookie will put a smile on your face, and especially cookies that are all covered in sparkly sugar. 

I hope the cookies all find a happy home inside of my friend’s bellies.  It’s my intent to create a sweet taste of the holidays to transport them to childhood once more, or at least the version of childhood that has been hanging out in my head all these years.  When I was growing up I remember my family liked to get together and make all sorts of delicious treats:  white chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter bon-bons, toffee crunch, butter cookies (with sprinkles!!!) and a most delicious fudge my mother used to make. 

Cookies are my way back to this festive memory and a nod to my favorite holiday.  It’s just who I am.