Christmas cookie decorating tips and tricks
So, I’m kind of . . . serious about Christmas cookie decorating. My little brother and sister will decorate approximately 5-10 cookies in the time it takes me to decorate one – and they actually do a great job decorating cookies. When they were little and just slapped on frosting and some random sprinkles, they’d decorate 20 in the time it took me to decorate 1.
I’m not going to pretend I have some kind of perfect recipe for Christmas cookies, except for whichever recipe it is that my mother uses. Nor am I a purist about making your own frosting for Christmas cookies. By all means, use the stuff that comes in a canister. Instead of giving you the Internet’s 2000th recipe for either cookies or frosting, I wanted to share a few tips and tricks based on my extensive experimentation with cookie decorating over the years.
red salad (jello and fruit salad that’s yummy, not repulsive)
If you’re like me, you’re totally suspicious of jello salads, as a general matter. Most of the time, I heartily concur with the ever-wise Sophia Petrillo, who in an especially memorable Golden Girls episode, once said “I hate Jell-O. If God wanted peaches suspended in mid-air, he would’ve filled them with helium.” But sometimes I embrace Jell-O. Thanksgiving is one of those times.
My grandmother raised 4 children who are all serious Thanksgiving food aficionados, and are pretty particular about having certain things on the table ever year. They wound up this way because she spoiled them with deliciousness. This red salad, one of my favorite traditions, is actually only one of the 10-12 dishes she served every year. In fact, it’s only one of the two jello salads she typically served. The other, “green salad,” is something I barely remember, and my dad hates it (his sisters love it, of course), but the red salad – the red salad, we still make every year.
Proposal Pasta with Stuffed Chicken
How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was a huge improvement over last year’s. Last year I had swine flu (although I didn’t know it until the next day) and was cooking dinner by myself for my dad and assorted lovely friends. I couldn’t really eat much on the actual day because my stomach hurt so badly (once I actually sat down and sat still long enough to notice how sick I felt). Anyway, this year was better. This year, I went to a Thanksgiving dinner prepared by the beloved carnivore’s aunt. I made a few things, but for the most part, someone else did all the cooking (which was unbelievably delicious), and I didn’t have swine flu. Oh, yeah, and I was sporting some new jewelry – an engagement ring.
pumpkin whoopie pies (with cream cheese or regular filling)
King Arthur flour is dangerous. If you order some King Arthur high-gluten bread flour, it will come with a catalogue. It’s the catalogue that’s really the dangerous part. All of a sudden, you’ll be convinced that what you need more than anything is a muffin scoop. Or “cake enhancer,” whatever that is. But in addition to tempting items to purchase, the catalogue also has recipes. Most recently, it featured a recipe for pumpkin whoopie pies.
Amanda was intrigued, since she had actually only had her first (non-pumpkin) whoopie pie a few months prior, when her boyfriend’s grandparents brought some home from the farmers market because the beloved carnivore also has a bit of a sweet tooth. Luckily, Emily was automatically on board with trying out the pumpkin whoopie pie recipe because she’s basically obsessed with pumpkin this year. Thank heavens those early reports of pumpkin shortages this season turned out to be somewhat overstated. Otherwise, Emily would probably have spent a lot of hours this fall wandering around the grocery store, mourning the pumpkin puree and praying for a fairy godmother who’d turn her magic coach back into a pumpkin and then give her a giant food processor to puree the stuff herself.
peacamole (aka green dip that won’t turn funny colors hours later)
This all started with leftovers – as it so often does. Amanda had a nearly full bunch of cilantro left over from making this deliciousness. And she had a bag of frozen peas that’s been in the freezer since she moved into her apartment a year and a half ago. It was taking up valuable freezer space, and that’s just unacceptable.
Luckily for us, we stumbled across this recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini. After making a few tweaks, we had a tasty dish to munch on during our latest cooking extravaganza, and Amanda had more freezer space. Check, and check.
Waste Not Want Not: reusing olive oil bottles
Emily and I are pretty big believers in the whole waste not want not thing. I mean, recycling is great, but why would you take useful stuff to the recycling bin and let them haul it away? You paid for it, you might as well get as much use out of it as possible.
Most of us know the beauty of reusing spaghetti sauce jars – they’re perfect for freezing, since they’re usually wide-mouthed. But olive oil jars usually don’t seem as useful – often because of those little plastic spouts manufacturers put in that help you get only one tablespoon of olive oil out at a time (instead of accidentally dousing your vegetables in a whole jar-ful of the stuff). That spout makes it nearly impossible to pour things into an old olive oil jar. But did you know that with one strong pull, that little sucker will come out? With a little scrubbing, the label will come off too, and you’ll be left with a great jar for storing liquids (like Emily’s delicious stock!). Best of all, that little spout will go right back in the jar, so you can keep one handy in a drawer in case you ever do need a spout for your liquids.
P.S. Yes, I’ll admit I often buy cheap olive oil. Whatever. I’m a student.
scalloped tomatoes
Thursday night, Amanda had a dinner party for something school-related. She promised Emily she’d invite her over for leftovers on Friday night. But there were no scalloped tomatoes left, and Amanda really, really, really wanted to eat more of them. So for a small addendum to our leftovers party menu, we whipped up another batch and changed the recipe a bit.
They were just that good, if we do say so ourselves. Totally worth scrapping our plan of an effortless dinner between friends whose dinners are normally so happily filled with effort. Whatever, we had to go to the grocery store anyway in anticipation of our next big cooking extravaganza on Sunday.
So these tomatoes – they’re divine. They have the rich taste of a casserole without nearly as many of the carbs and without any of the heaviness. And right when we’re about to have a holiday week filled with dishes that remind us of fall, this dish is a perfect reminder that summer exists, even if our only mementos of its last visit are these tasty, tasty tomatoes.
Waste not, want good soups not (vegetable stock)
Living alone, it’s a real hassle making sure that all my fresh vegetables go to good use before they turn into mushy, mealy lumps peppered with dents and brown spots. Despite my awareness of this problem, I can’t help ending up with huge supplies of veggies. The stands and stands of fresh produce glowing in their bright reds and oranges and greens lure me into a trance each and every time I find myself at the store. And since those occurrences are rare, my late grammy’s hoarding tendencies come out something fierce the instant my eyes meet a bundle of pencil thin asparagus. ‘You must have those. Plus 3 each of every type of onion. And don’t forget a bunch of bananas or seven in case Julie or Bob stop by,’ my internal Grammy impels me. Granted, I eat an inordinate amount of vegetables, so some overbuying is called for. But in the hall of the veggie king, I must envision myself packing in a daily cornucopia of greens bookended between a stalk of broccoli for breakfast and a few radishes as a midnight dessert. And we all know I’m never deserting that leftover birthday cake for radishes.
So what to do about those all-too-quickly-wilting asparagus sticks? Enter stock. The budget- and environment-conscious vegetarian’s answer to all of life’s problems. Or at least all of life’s problems relating to my refrigerator. I still haven’t found a way to get stock to solve my current research woes. By throwing everything into a stockpot and forgetting about it for an hour or two, you can eliminate your food waste and create a base infinitely more delicious than the bland, over-salted concoctions found in tetra briks for $4 a pop. Even frozen away in 2-4 cup increments, waiting for you to turn it into a warm soup perfect for New England winters, homemade stock continues to save you money. It’s like an old friend that keeps on giving.
happy birthday, Em! (strawberry cake & penne with pumpkin sauce)
This post will have to be updated at another time (you know, when I don’t have a bunch of studying to do . . . so . . . . in June 2011?), but I wanted to make sure to celebrate Emily’s birthday while it’s still her birthday. I’m missing the East Coast deadline by a few minutes, but it’s still her birthday in her hometown.
Tonight, we celebrated Emily’s birthday with some penne with pumpkin puree and some strawberry cake.
Frankly, the girl’s such an awesome friend that she deserves an 8 course meal with a dessert that somehow requires being set on fire. But her birthday was on a weeknight this year. More on these recipes later. . . . Happy Birthday, Emily!! We all love you!
And it’s unclear why I’m holding the cake at knife-point in this photo. . .
Emily is not my only animal-loving, meat-spurning vegetarian friend. I have plenty of them, and hey, I used to be one. Lately, so many people are vegetarians that at the very least, hosts and hostesses are aware of the need to have a vegetarian dish. But so often, vegetarians get the shaft at dinner parties. I remember it all too well: “Um, that steak looks delicious, but sure, this plain Jane salad is totally satisfying,” or “Gee, thanks for the spaghetti & canned tomato sauce. Don’t worry, I’m not at all tempted by the meaty delicious sauce you’re serving your guests, with all those fresh veggies and garlic in it.” Clearly I caved to the temptations of meat at some point, but I still want to make sure I never serve my vegetarian friends anything boring. If possible, I like to serve them something savory (a rarity among many of the simpler vegetarian dishes).
This is now my go-to recipe for that purpose, and the best part is that people who do eat meat will like it too and can eat smaller servings as a side dish.
emandam 