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Farm Kitchen:  Favorite Seasonal Cookie  |
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peapodjane
True Blue Farmgirl
127 Posts
127 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 09:10:28 AM
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I am wondering what everyone remembers as a favorite seasonal, holiday cookie they had as children. My mother made "Swedish Horns" ( sometimes called Almond Crescents, etc.) using Brazil Nuts, mmmm! |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 09:24:53 AM
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OOOH, Peapodjane! I loved those, too - haven't had any in YEARS! My personal favorite is the springerle. I can get those at a few local bakeries here only at this time of the year. I think few people like them and they have gotten very expensive. The German side of my family used to make them(I tried it once, and it was a major flop! lol).
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?" - 'Brother Dave' Gardner |
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bybiddie
True Blue Farmgirl
267 Posts
susan
upstate
ny
USA
267 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 09:26:54 AM
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Your post reminded me that I have to set up our holiday "Gingerbread Man Baking Day"! Every December, my mother, father and I make gingerbread men from a recipe handed down by my great grandmother (could be great-great) and we cut them out using a cookie cutter made by my great grandfather. It is a wonderful tradtion and a focal point of my holidays. And my sister enjoy the fruits of our labors!
Lovin' my life
http://BizzyHands.etsy.com |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 09:49:30 AM
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What a beautiful tradition, Susan. And how lucky you are to have that cookie cutter made by your great grandfather.
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?" - 'Brother Dave' Gardner |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 09:58:07 AM
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RUM BALLS! and Spritz Cookies.
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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Mumof3
True Blue Farmgirl
3890 Posts
Karin
Ellenwood
GA
USA
3890 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 10:15:38 AM
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Mince meat filled sugar cookies! My dad would go into Boston to the Jordan Marsh bakery and bring these home for us. I make them now, and try as I might, they are just not the same. But, they are still good. :)
Karin |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 10:28:48 AM
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I love the little snowball cookies that are rolled in balls with ground pecans and powdered sugar..yum. Funny, I never ever make them except at Christmas time. I guess because I love good old oatmeal cookies chock full of nuts and raisins better than any cookies anytime. I am making some today.
good topic.
I havn't made mincemeat filled cookies in years. I canned some mincemeat one year and had alot of fun doing different things with it..cookies included..hmmmmmm maybe this year I will have to do that again.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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LadyCrystal
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Alicia
Rhode Island
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 12:23:43 PM
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I love Spritz cookies.(I can't eat them anymore because of my egg allergy) My mom wasn't much of a baker but she would make these until I was old enough to do all the baking myself. From about 12 until I moved away I did all the baking. She would even let me stay home from school the day before Thanksgiving to bake all the pies. Now I send cookies home for Christmas.
Alicia
http://fromcitytocountrygirl.blogspot.com/
follow your dreams |
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ArmyWifey
True Blue Farmgirl
712 Posts
Holly
Abilene
KS
712 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 12:32:03 PM
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I love holiday spice bars at Thanksgiving and Linzer Stars at Christmas.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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peapodjane
True Blue Farmgirl
127 Posts
127 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 2:58:48 PM
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Hi,
I am glad that this question has gotten such delicious responses. I am reminded by each post of more cookies we used to have. Susan, that is a
wonderful tradition,I can only imagine if I was doing that decorating with one of my sisters that we would be giggling so much...that there might not end up being very many cookies! My mother also, made Stollen at Christmas time, she made enough that we could freeze some, but it was not made at any other time of the year. |
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GaiasRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2552 Posts
Tasha-Rose
St. Paul
Minnesota
2552 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 3:35:42 PM
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My favorites are tied....plain old decorated sugar cookies and gingerbread in any of it's many forms.
Here are our photos from last year's cookies. We have a cookie night too (I go to the market and get like 4 of each decorating thing) and in their making we make up a plate for our neighbors, so that is what the second picture is...
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
blog: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2006 : 4:00:45 PM
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For me it wasn't just one cookie. My grandmother (after she retired to Florida) used to send us a box of holiday cookies and fudge, and a whole bunch of citrus fruit from the trees in her yard. It was my absolute all-time favorite Christmas gift! We got to open it up early and share with our friends, and it made the house smell all Christmasy... (Yes, in my house, citrus meant Christmas - it was usually the only time we got citrus fruits.)
If it's something I baked myself, it's probably gingerbread. I like a really sharp molasses taste to mine and have found a boxed mix that makes the best cookies, even better than mine from scratch. I have no idea what they add to it to make it taste so good - I can't figure out what their secret ingredient is...
My Homesteading Journal http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com
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Hideaway Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1553 Posts
Jo
Virginia
USA
1553 Posts |
Posted - Nov 08 2006 : 05:39:54 AM
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My favorites are thumbprint cookies; any type cookie with any type of filling in the center. Does anyone remember (HAH!) Forgotten cookies - I have lost the recipe somehow. They are mostly sugar and egg whites beaten into a meringue-type consistency.
They are the last batch you bake, at the end of baking day, by turning off the oven and leaving them in the oven overnight. ("forgotten" so to speak.)
I'd love to make them again, if anyone has the recipe.
Jo
"There are no strangers here, only friends you've yet to meet." |
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blueroses
True Blue Farmgirl
1323 Posts
Debbie
in the Pandhandle of
Idaho
USA
1323 Posts |
Posted - Nov 08 2006 : 10:31:21 AM
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Jane,
I love those cookies too! My mom and us used to make Christmas cookies every year and I try to keep the tradition going. She has this cookie cookbook that I love, but she won't part with it. When I was looking around an antique shop, my DH found a copy of that very same book for me. I was totally amazed that he actually had been listening to me when I talked about the book. What a guy! Anyway - now I can try to make them this year. I also love the snowball cookies, butter & cream cheese (deadly caloric) and anything with chocolate. I know it isn't exactly Christmas but gotta have my chocolate!
"You cannot find peace...by avoiding life."
Virginia Woolfe |
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ali2583
True Blue Farmgirl
404 Posts
Alison
Winnipeg
Manitoba
Canada
404 Posts |
Posted - Nov 08 2006 : 6:47:41 PM
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My all time favorite holiday treat to bake (well, actually you don't bake it at all) is Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares. You melt some peanut butter, butter and butterscotch baking chips together. Then you cool it just enough so it is just still in a liquid form, but cool enough to touch. Into that, you add a bag of mini coloured marshmallows, stir it up and put it in a 9x9 pan. Chill in the fridge until solid and that's it! A true Christmas treat in our house.
A few co-workers were up from the USA this summer and they had never seen them before, so I guess this might be a Canadian delight only. But if anyone wants the recipe, let me know.
Oh, and pure butter shortbread is also a Christmas treat.
"God's gift to you is life. What you choose to do with that life is your gift to God" |
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mama0moon
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
Stephanie
New Hampshire
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Nov 10 2006 : 6:14:19 PM
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Mincemeat cookies and plain old decorated sugar cookies were my favorite as a kid.
Steph |
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susan kate
True Blue Farmgirl
109 Posts
susan
Western Washington
109 Posts |
Posted - Nov 10 2006 : 8:00:45 PM
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| what Aunt Jenny said with the powdered sugar. we used to make those and i still love them. also there was a no-bake cookie made with rolled oats (or maybe quick oats) and baking chocolate. i wish i had the recipe for that. |
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peapodjane
True Blue Farmgirl
127 Posts
127 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2006 : 03:43:24 AM
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Hi Susan,
Is this the recipe?
A Recipe Adapted From
The Sweet Potato Queens' Big A-- Cookbook
and Financial Planner
by Jill Conner Browne
1 stick of butter
1/2- cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/2- cup milk
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3 cups quick oatmeal
1/2- cup peanut butter
1 running-over teaspoon vanilla
Put the first set of ingredients in a pan and cook it just until it bubbles a little bit around the sides. Then take it off the heat and dump in the last set of ingredients. Stir it up and drop globs of it onto waxed paper and let it cool. |
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suzyhomemaker
True Blue Farmgirl
806 Posts
Clare
Tyler Hill
PA
USA
806 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2006 : 04:51:05 AM
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Here is the recipe for the "forgotten" cookie. I do usually make this after baking those pecan tart cookies (I use the egg whites left over from the tart recipe.)
Meringue Kisses
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
Use egg whites at room temperature and beat until soft peaks form. Add the sugar 1-2 tablespoons at a time until it is all used up and stiff peaks form. Fold in any finely chopped nuts and/or mini chocolate chips. Turn off your heated 350 oven. Pipe or drop meringue onto foil lined cookies sheets. Place in oven and leave overnight.
Remove from the oven promptly in the morning and store in Tupperware or metal tins.
These are delicious, airy, etheral. They keep as long as you can keep your hands off of them.  These do NOT mail well, however. They are too fragile.
Country girl in NE PA |
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suzyhomemaker
True Blue Farmgirl
806 Posts
Clare
Tyler Hill
PA
USA
806 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2006 : 05:17:26 AM
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I love to read all the stories of cookies. Cookies and baking seem to be tied to Christmas more than packages wrapped in pretty paper.
My grandmother (mom's mom) was an incredible cook and baker. She was Dutch and German and lived in the Heartland of Ohio. She had delicious home cooking down to an art form.
What I remember most is the box that arrived around mid-December. It was always just a large brown cardboard box. Inside it was filled with little baggies of delcious homemade cookies. My mom would open it the first night it arrived and we would all be allowed ONE cookie. There were 10+ of us children so I can imagine her theory on this. She wanted some left for Christmas!
It was so hard to choose from all the varieties for just one. There were the classic chocloate chip, soft, frosted sour cream sugar cookies( A PA Dutch classic), pecan tarts, snowballs, snickerdoodles, peanut blossoms and her own special cornflake cookies which were more like a candy, ones with a candied cherry pressed in the center to resemble a wreath.
Then, the box would be taped back up and placed on the step in the garage where it was cool until Christmas Eve. After that, it was OK to sneak one out from the garage after Christmas Day dinner.
When I married I got several of her recipes and baked them for the family. Once she died, I became the one to mail off boxes to my sisters, brothers and my parents who live all over the US. They tell me it is their favorite part of Christmas. I wonder if they store them in the garage until Christmas Eve? I know I store mine in the freezer to prevent the little "mice" from eating them all up.
I serve mine the first time when we set up our Christmas tree. We go and cut one from the neighbor's small Christmas tree farm. We come home all cheery and set it up while playing Christmas carols on the stereo. I usually do the lights and then start the hot cocoa and place out varieties of cookies on a plate. The kids all decorate with the ornaments. It is such a great time, the time that memories are made of.
My favorite Christmas cookies are the Peanut Butter ones with the Hershey Kiss called Peanut Blossoms. I also enjoy those soft Sour Cream Frosted Sugar Cookies that my grandmother always made. My new favorite is Biscotti. I have a Cardamon Almond Recipe that is so easy to work with and makes ones that never last long. The neighbors prefer these with honey and tea for Christmas gifts. My one neighbor loves my gingerbread ones and says they remind her of her mom and her growing up years in Germany. I make certain ones for my folks and family-Chocolate Chippers, Pecan Tarts, Snowballs, Snickerdoodles, Peanut Blossoms, Cornflake Cookies and now Biscotti. For Christmas Eve I make Roly Poly Santa cookies to leave out for Santa. I always try one or two new recipes each season to pass along.
Ah...so many wonderful Christmas memories tied up with baking.
Happy Holidays to all of you.
Country girl in NE PA |
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mama0moon
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
Stephanie
New Hampshire
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2006 : 07:13:52 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by suzyhomemaker
What I remember most is the box that arrived around mid-December. It was always just a large brown cardboard box. Inside it was filled with little baggies of delcious homemade cookies. My mom would open it the first night it arrived and we would all be allowed ONE cookie. There were 10+ of us children so I can imagine her theory on this. She wanted some left for Christmas!
What a wonderful memory and tradition! I'm now dreaming of doing the same for my future grandchildren as well as the rest of my family as the years go by. I'm already the one who does all the cookie baking in the family. |
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cindi
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
cindi
sedalia
mo
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2006 : 10:51:07 AM
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Spritz are #1. Soft suger cookies close second. My greataunt Clara was the closes thing to a grandma and i miss her cookies.
I don't like "milnot fudge" or divinity bad memories there. |
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susan kate
True Blue Farmgirl
109 Posts
susan
Western Washington
109 Posts |
Posted - Nov 11 2006 : 6:32:09 PM
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thank you for the recipe! anything with a stick of butter, sugar and chocolate is a winner in my book, but i think the ones i rememeber were made with baker's chocolate instead of cocoa. i'll have to hunt around and report back if i find them.
i also remember that we always made them in the winter and put them out in the garage to cool.
quote:
Originally posted by peapodjane
Hi Susan,
Is this the recipe?
A Recipe Adapted From
The Sweet Potato Queens' Big A-- Cookbook
and Financial Planner
by Jill Conner Browne
1 stick of butter
1/2- cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/2- cup milk
----------------
3 cups quick oatmeal
1/2- cup peanut butter
1 running-over teaspoon vanilla
Put the first set of ingredients in a pan and cook it just until it bubbles a little bit around the sides. Then take it off the heat and dump in the last set of ingredients. Stir it up and drop globs of it onto waxed paper and let it cool.
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2006 : 03:45:03 AM
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For me it was and still is my grandmother's sugar cookies cut out as christmas trees and santas w/ green and red sprinkles.
And, my mother's bourbon balls! I'll take a tin of these over anything else materialistic ANY day! |
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Sweet Harvest Homestead
True Blue Farmgirl
279 Posts
Lindy
Stanfield
NC
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2006 : 04:09:12 AM
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Oh Joy!
I have found others who like Mincemeat too!
I have made homemade mincemeat for years and the only person I was able to share the pies with was my father in law. I love Mincemeat cookies too.
Our favorite Christmas cookie was a fruit and nut cookie that contains pistachios.
The picture of all of the sugar cookies posted on this board brought back great memories too.
Thanks.
Lindy
http://sweetharvesthomestead.tyepad.com |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2006 : 04:25:41 AM
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Growing up we made Spritz, Springerli, Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Mincemeat tarts, and shortbread.
The favorites at my house now are chocolate chip w/ nuts, Almond Shortbread Stars, Spritz, Sugar Cookie Cutouts, Pfferneusse, Chocolate Crinkles,Sugar plums,Date Nut Balls, linzer tarts, and I still make Springerli even though my guys don't care for them. They are a tradition I have ressurected! The German side of my family still likes them! And as for mincemeat...that is a given! Pies, tarts, cookies they are my husband's favorite! Most people don't even know what it is!
We have a friend who makes all these different italian cookies and gives trays every year, lucky us! And our Ukranian friends make what most of you know as lekvar or ruegelach with peach, raspberry and
cranberry....Yum!!! Can you tell we LOVE cookies?!!!
with a happy heart |
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Farm Kitchen: Favorite Seasonal Cookie |
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Favorite Seasonal Cookie
