Cookie Trays Recipes

Recipes for the 2008 Cookie Trays can be found on my main blog, Kat's Kitchen Place.

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Guess it's time to stop

All in all my baking experience has been wonderful. In a weird sort of way it was actually peaceful. Christmas is a tough time of year with my Mom gone as she put her heart and soul into making sure everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Both Saturday and Sunday I baked for about 12 hours straight. Many a time I went to pick up the phone to call my Mom to ask a question. I would not say it was smooth sailing as I learned a lot about baking along the way. Take a look at my first batch of meringues.... but I did it and it feels really good to be able to have made the cookies and I know that it will be bittersweet for family and friends that receive the trays.
My title was "guess it's time to stop" because I realized when I was making Almond Bars last night that they were taking longer to bake. I looked at my thermometer and saw that my oven was off. That was a hint, but I really wanted to try the Cappucino Flats. I made the dough last night and baked the Cappucinos this a.m. The oven went the opposite way this a.m. Set for 350 and it registered 400. The shortbread will have to wait until next year!
I also realized last night that since I had been so busy with baking I did not do any grocery shopping over the weekend. So, I must be off to the grocery store to get us Christmas Dinner. I will post my photos later this week. Merry Christmas!
P.S. The "final" menu was changed along the way. Here it is:

• Maple Logs
• Pecan Butter Balls
  
• Sugar Cookies (Trees, Holly & Red & Green sprinkles)
• Capuccino Flats
  
• Chocolate Chip Meringues
• Almond Bars
  
• Gingerbread
• Fudge Puddles
  

And I am Off....

I have everything organized and I am all set to go. Isn't it sort of funny that I am nervous. The nervous you get before a big presentation or something! To follow is the final menu:

• Maple Yule Logs
• Fudge Puddles
• Almond Bars
• Shortbread
• Sandies
• Sugar Cookies
• Gingerbread
• Chocolate Chip Meringues
• Pecan Butter Balls

I may have to add one more since 9 is an odd number :)

Catch up and I am a little stressed....

I made maple logs, chocolate chip meringues, and peppermint bon bon cookies a few weeks ago. (Meringues and Bon Bons are new recipes, not Mom's). They all tasted good, but they all did not look pretty. If they don't look pretty, then they just don't cut it. I tried to put the meringues through a star shape cake decorating tip. Note to self: make sure the tip is large enough so that the mini chocolate chips fit. Hence, mine were blobs. Easy fix though. Maple logs were very good, but geez were they ugly. I talked to Maura and she thinks Mom pushed them through a pastry bag. Mine had many different thicknesses and lengths. Easy fix I think.... The peppermint bon bons caused some ruckus in the house. I bought the peppermint candies and they were hard as a rock. I went to smoosh them and it did not happen to easily. MRC was going to get a hammer for me. Something does not seem right with this picture. I ended up putting them in my mini food processor. First ones were a little minced, but I got the hang of it.
Let's talk about the stress. I have waited until the weekend before Christmas to start baking because I was afraid everything would get stale. Freezing is not really an option since I have a side by side fridge and it is already packed. So, here I am. I am doing my last run for ingredients today and then Saturday and Sunday I will bake. No pressure here. Wish me luck!

Mission Accomplished

Scandinavian Almond Bars have been created and the word is they were (key word) very good!! My official taste tester approved of them and I brought them in to work also. I, of course, was commenting on what I thought was wrong with them. It is in the genes.

I was procrastinating Sunday a.m. as I was nervous to start baking. You would have thought I was on the Food Network Challenge. Marcel entered the kitchen and started talking to me and I instructed him to leave promptly as "this baking thing requires my attention as I have to measure stuff!" I told him he would be allowed back in to test the end product. A few funny things to note:

• Note to self: When putting the mixer fixture you want to use on the Kitchen Aid mixer there is a handy little button you press and the hardware comes right off from the mixer. No need to try to maneuver the bowl to fit around it. Also, another handy button is the one that lifts the mixer up and down. Lastly, if you put the mixer in "lock" position it will no longer sound like it is going to dance across your counter.
• When you cannot find your rolling pin, a bottle of peppercorns is a suitable replacement.
• Form into a 12" roll really means to roll out so the dough looks like a 12" log.
• The note in my Mom's recipe that says flatten the dough to 2" means wide, not thick. Fat cookies take longer to bake. You should flatten with a roller, not your fingers. I had flattened with my fingers and was thinking, "Mom's cookies were always flat. They never had these ridges."

Test run successful. I think the only thing I will adjust is the amount of almond flavoring. This weekend I am going to try the Fudge Puddles and Maple Logs.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing family and friends a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sometimes we all get caught up in the "what needs to be done" for this day and forget about the true meaning. Take some time today today to reflect on what you are thankful for and don't forget to say a little prayer for me because.....

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the Kate's Cookie Extravaganza and I will be starting with: Scandinavian Almond Bars. Check in tomorrow to see how I am doing.