While my family was visiting, I felt like a powerful woman with all the "free time" (aka someone else was watching the dog and the baby) and I went to the kitchen like one of those women you see in old movies that bake because they're nervous. Brandon said, "holy crap, why do you keep baking more?" I just couldn't stop myself, I was overcome with the ghost of christmas bakers past.
I started my baking journey with the ever favorite sugar cookies & boiled icing; both recipes from my late Gram Adams. When we were little girls, every holiday we would make the trek two doors up the street to my grandma's house to bake sugar cookies and ice them. It was a full day event and all the granddaughters would join in the fun. The table was caked with flour and our bellies full of raw dough be the end of the day, but we sure cookie-cutter'ed and ice'd the heck out of about 10 dozen cookies. After four years of Gram's passing, I am still trying to perfect the icing, just can't get it yet - but I'm getting a little better each time. I made the dough and icing earlier that morning, and then slapped my sisters in some aprons and put their behinds to work!
By the end of all that flour mess-making, laughing, and creating of weird designs; we had ourselves 5 dozen of delicious sugar cookies. here's to you gram; my best attempt at your icing - miss you everyday.
Know that your great grandson is enjoying your icing recipe, Gram! |
waah! messy kitchen!! |
Then I made some chocolate covered pretzel sticks and my baby sis reluctantly helped decorate them. The secret to melting the chocolate; which somehow I forget every single time I make these, is that you put the chocolate in a pan on top of a pan of water. Then the boiling water, melts the chocolate in pan above. If you just melt the chocolate in a pan right on the stove burner, you'll get what I get at the start of making these, not kidding, every single time: burnt chocolate. You'd think a girl would learn? I'm blaming it on how nutty I was at that point from all the raw dough and chocolate intake!?
final products!! |
The Montana Whoppers are also called Monster Cookies. Use a 1/4 C measuring cup to put them on the cookie sheet, bake for longer, but they are the size of your palm. Delicious!
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