Saugus Santa Ban

Kind of surprised to see my hometown made it to the O'Reilly Factor.  I never thought I'd find myself on the same side of an issue as Bill O'Reilly!  

Saugus Santa Ban

Cocoa Spice Crackles

I have been a cookie baking maniac the last couple of weekends, getting ready for Christmas.  The last few years I've made up gift baskets for the daycare teachers and now we've added a kindergarten teacher, kindergarten aide and a bus driver to the list.  Madeleine really likes her bus driver ... which is a good thing since the kindergarten kids are required to sit in the front seats and she is first on and last off.  Oh to be a part time worker, but I digress.

These are probably my favorite cookies.  Not too sweet and they are a combination of chocolate and warm spices.  I always make sure to bake a double batch of these so I can have a small stash in the freezer. 

Cocoa Spice Crackles
Land O Lakes
 
1 cup  sugar
3/4 cup  butter -- softened
1/4 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
2 whole  eggs
1 3/4 cups  all-purpose flour
1/3 cup  unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons  crystallized ginger -- finely chopped  (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon  ground cloves
1 cup  mini-chocolate chips
Coarse grain sugar or sugar

Combine 1 cup sugar, butter and brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and coarse grain sugar. Beat until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate until firm (4 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls with lightly floured hands. Roll in coarse grain sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Makes 4 dozen.

All-Purpose Gravy

It is no secret that I like to cook.  Even when I was little I loved to help my grandmothers cook.  My Italian grandmother wasn't fond of baking but she loved to cook meals.  Lasagna, Eggplant Parmesan, Manicotti, etc., I watched her make it all.  My Polish grandmother was more of a baker and I remember around the holidays the heat would always be cranked up and the rooms closed off as she had tubs of dough for bread rising everywhere.

Although I don't cook nearly as much as they did, I do cook supper several nights a week and most everything is from scratch.  There are some days, however, where I just take shortcuts.  Friday night I had marinated some chicken breasts in Italian dressing and threw them in the oven.  On my way home I stopped and grabbed a box of Uncle Ben's Broccoli and Cheese Rice to go with it.  Served up supper and they started eating and then stopped and looked at the rice and looked at me.  Comments ranged from it being bland (really, with a ton of sodium in it?) to it tasting funny.  Great, I think I spoiled them.

So when I pulled the beef sirloin roast out of the freezer I figured I'd better not push my luck and decided to make gravy from scratch.  This really is an easy and versatile recipe.  I use a can of each if I am making this for beef or pork but if it is for a roast chicken, I use 2 cans of chicken broth.

All Purpose Gravy
Cook's Illustrated

1 small carrot , peeled and chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces
1 small rib celery , chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion , chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
5 whole black peppercorns
   
In food processor, pulse carrot until broken into rough 1/4-inch pieces, about five 1-second pulses. Add celery and onion; pulse until all vegetables are broken into 1/8-inch pieces, about five 1-second pulses.  If you chop them too small you won't be able to strain them all out and then people will complain there are things floating in their gravy.  :)

Heat butter in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat; when foaming subsides, add vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and well browned, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add broths; bring to boil, skimming off any foam that forms on surface. Reduce heat to medium-low and add bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns; simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to 3 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.

Strain gravy through fine-mesh strainer into clean saucepan, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Festive Cherry Drops

I've been without my Kitchen Aid stand mixer all week.  I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to put the paddle (which is not coated) into the dishwasher.  I took it out of the cabinet and went to put it in the mixer and noticed that my hand had turned black.  Hmm.  I called Kitchen Aid in a panic (yep, they answered at 8 PM on a Friday night) and told me that it started to oxidize.  A little Bar Keeper's Friend and I should be back in business.  Only problem is I either keep forgetting to pick it up in the store or when I do remember, they don't carry it.

So, I've been baking double batches of cookies using a hand mixer.  At one point, Christopher wanted to *help* me and the mixer ended up on the floor and cracked.  I was able to get it back together but I swear if I hold it a certain way it shocks me.  Maybe I need to make a list and put Bar Keeper's Friend at the top of it.

I love the combination of fruit and chocolate so that may be one of the reasons why this cookie is at the top of my list.   I found it in one of those Land O Lakes supplements years ago and have been making it ever since.  I make sure to leave a tablespoon or so of the cherry juice and it tints the cookies a light pink.  They freeze well as long as the drizzle has a chance to dry before putting them in there. 

Festive Cherry Drops
Land O Lakes

Cookie
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter -- softened
1 whole egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces maraschino cherries -- well drained, chopped
                       
Drizzle
2/3 cup real semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking powder. Beat, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add cherries; stir into dough.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire cooling rack. Cool completely.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100% power), stirring occasionally, until melted (30 to 45 seconds). Drizzle cooled cookies with melted chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is set.

Yield:  3 1/2 dozen

Double Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inhale.  Exhale.  Inhale again.  Exhale.  Madeleine and I are sitting upstairs watching Frosty the Snowman and all I can smell is peanut butter and chocolate. 

I started my Christmas cookie baking tonight and decided to start with an easy drop cookie so I can feel like I accomplished something.  I have 6 dozen fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies taunting me from downstairs.  Maybe I shouldn't have started with my favorite flavor combination.

I found this recipe a few years ago on the Hershey website when I was looking for something to do with peanut butter chips.  These really are a snap to put together and they are a great cookie to freeze.  The only flaw is that fact that one batch only makes 3 dozen.  Three dozen is great when you're just making cookies for the family.  Three dozen is not so great when you are on a cookie baking spree for Christmas.

Each bag of chips has just about 2 cups in it, so I made a double batch and use a full bag of each.  I decided to try out the convection bake feature on my oven and it was great not having to rotate cookie sheets halfway through.  Each sheet took just 12 minutes to cook.  I even searched the cabinet and broke out the parchment paper so the bottoms wouldn't burn - watch out Betty Crocker!

                     
Double Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hershey's Kitchen
    
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4  cup sugar
1/3  cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1  cup peanut butter chips

Heat oven to 350°F.

Beat butter, sugar and peanut butter in medium bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, blending well. Stir in milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown.  Makes 3 dozen cookies.