Family Holiday Cookies

It's coming up on the holiday season, at least here in Canada.  No matter which holidays you celebrate, chances are you have a cookie tradition.  Gingersnaps, Scotch Shortbread, Candy Cane cookies.  As one of those people who plan things WAY ahead of time, I was already thinking about what to do for Yule this year.  This will be our second Yule with Brianna, and our first one where she will sort of know what is going on.  Well, she will at least be able to pick up on the excitement.

This thought bounced around for a while, and I realized we don't have any holiday cookie recipe we can call our own.  One that is ours, not our family's.  Not that there is anything wrong with the cookies I grew up with.  I just really wanted a cookie I could say was OUR tradition.

So I made a very tiny batch of shortbread cookies.  A quarter of the recipe.  Just to experiment with, mind you.  Then I added some Vanilla.  And then some spices.

These cookies smell amazing, it is a deliciously spicy and smooth scent all at the same time.  The taste is just slightly sharp, with a hint of the creamy softness of Vanilla.  I'm so in love with these cookies.  Just because they are so fabulous, I feel I cannot be selfish.  I have to share the recipe.  After all, that is what the holiday spirit is all about right?  Right. 

Spicy Yule Shortbread

3 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Icing Sugar (powdered sugar)
1 Brick (2 cups) Butter, Softened
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp Nutmeg
1/4 - 1/2 Tsp Ginger (or as you like)

Cream your butter and sugar together.  Add vanilla, nutmeg and ginger.  Stir.  Add the flour one cup at a time until you have a dough that is stiff enough to be rolled out.  Gather into a ball.  On  a lightly floured surface, roll to about a 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out as desired.  Place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.   

I personally find that Ginger can be really overpowering, and I didn't want the nutmeg to be shoved out of the way.  I only put 1/4 tsp of Ginger in mine.   I cannot wait to make these again for Yule!  They are far too rich for Brianna to have a lot, but I will let her have a bit!  I used my new Pentacle Cookie Stamp that I bought from Dragon Moon Gifts.  I'm fairly sure they don't carry it anymore, but it is a great store to check out none the less.  You can also find them at the Willow Grove store.  It is smaller than I thought it would be, but I think the end product turned out really well with the smaller size. 


I'm fairly sure that these will become a Yule staple in our home.  What are your favorite holiday cookies?  Which ones have special memories attached?


Happy baking!


S.

Remembrance Day

First thing on this Remembrance Day, I have to thank all of the wonderful Canadian servicemen and women serving our country.  You are doing something for us that we can never repay.

Second, I have to post a picture of my brother.  He is 15 and in RCAC, or Royal Canadian Army Cadets.  He participated in our town's Remembrance Day ceremony today.  He stood at attention for more than an hour!  It was his first time wearing his new Master Corporal rank dress uniform, he just got promoted a couple months ago.  He is planning on applying to the Royal Military College after he is done high school. 

Remembrance day is supposed to be a day for remembering our fallen, from every conflict we've been involved in.  It makes me sad that more Canadians know about Afghanistan that Vimy Ridge.

Yes, I know that the Afghanistan conflict is in the news almost every day.  This goes further than that.  If I hadn't taken a world history elective in school, I don't think that either of the World Wars would have been mentioned.  I never learned about them in school other than that.  The only reason I did learn so much is because I took a personal interest. 

I want my daughter to be able to learn about these things.  I want the next generation to have a knowledge of it.  How are we supposed to prevent things like this from happening again if we don't learn about them in the first place?  I really think more of an emphasis needs to be put on teaching children about our world history, as bloody as it may be.  They are the leaders of tomorrow, and if we don't teach them about the past, then the past will become the future. 

Well, I guess I knew it was coming.

What should we call it?  Weight loss?  Dieting? (gasp!)

Nope.  Let's call it being healthy.  As you already know if you have been reading my blog for the last week or so, Brianna and I have been walking on a regular basis.  Now that it is too cold for a walk, I've started doing aerobics while Brianna has her nap.

Today, I started Weight Watchers.  Not the "real" Weight Watchers, who has the money for that?!  Of course, it's a great program.  If I did have the money I would really sign up for it.  Instead, I got lists of what foods are worth which amount of points, bookmarked a points calculator and figured out how many points I was allowed to have.  I did this same thing (WW without the WW) when I wanted to lose some weight for Prom.  That was a very long time ago, and if I could go back and talk to myself I would smack me upside the head for wanting to lose any weight.  But I do remember that it worked, and I lost about 10 lbs.


I'm very much hoping that it works for me this time as well.  I have still got baby weight to lose, I'll admit it.  I wouldn't mind losing about 60 lbs.  I would LOVE to lose 80.  And trust me, I'm not trying to be skinny.  My target weight is between 130 and 145.  But I'll settle for something higher, as long as I'm eating healthier.  It would be really nice to have healthier habits in place before the holidays, and Yule dinner at our house and Christmas dinner at my parent's house and the New Year's murder mystery party with lots of appetizers and wine at my best friend's house.  We can hope, right? 


Right.  Keep telling me that.


S.