Tag: #blue christmas
Music, Memories and the Gift of Giving

Music, Memories and the Gift of Giving

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Happy Holidays from my kitchen to yours.

Sitting in my kitchen right now finding ways to avoid cleaning the mess I made earlier in the day.  Sheesh.  All I needed to do was make a holiday cheese board for a friend’s open house and put the finishing touches on my goodie box for Food52’s Holiday Gift Swap.  My holiday “swapee” will receive homemade treats including Jule’s Granola, Spicy Pecans, Dorie’s Candied Cocktail Nuts, a beautiful ceramic bowl made by my friend Snook, and a hand-carved wooden spoon made by my Hubby.  As part of the Holiday Swap, Action Against Hunger receives a donation from each participant. Looking forward to receiving my holiday swap gift.

Music Makes the World a More Beautiful Place

Back to writing this post to avoid cleaning.  To motivate myself, I turned on my holiday playlist.  I LOVE Christmas music.  The rule in our house is as soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers are put away, I can play holiday tunes.  To kick off the holiday season, we listen to A Christmas Carol by Dickens performed by Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard-Trekkies).  Right after Tiny Tim says “God bless us, everyone”, the holiday music marathon begins.  My iTunes Holiday list is 15 hours and 22 minutes long.  Yep, love me some Christmas music.

As I was typing, a rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer started to play.  It’s bittersweet, to say the least.  It’s my kids, when they were little, playing the piano and singing with their piano teacher Chris.  Chris was nothing short of amazing.  He was talented, compassionate and so damn nice.  Chris composed music and played multiple instruments. Additionally, he was a voracious reader, a fantastic photographer, and a gifted athlete.  A true Renaissance man.

Life Can Be So Unfair

Sadly, a drunk driver killed Chris and his wife a few years ago.  As I listened to the song I thought about the precious time my kids spent with him.  Make no mistake there is not a concert pianist to be found among my kids but our lives are so much richer for having known him.

So take a listen, it brings a smile to my lips but tears to my eyes.

My Christmas To-Do List

Reach out to friends I haven’t talked to or seen in a while to let them know I am thinking of them.  Set a date to get together, share a meal, go on a hike, meet for coffee, catch up, and enjoy each other’s company.

Thanks so much to all of you for following 3Jamigos.  May your holidays be filled with love, joy, and lots of COOKIES.
Variations on a Thumbprint Day 2: 12 Days of Cookies

Variations on a Thumbprint Day 2: 12 Days of Cookies

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Who doesn’t like thumbprints? Not me, my kids, my hubby, nor Santa (the thumbprints were always gone from Santa’s cookie plate on Christmas morning).  While perusing the internet for holiday cookie recipes I came across the blog, Chew Out Loud.  Their most requested cookie recipe (hands down winner)  is for Buttery Jam Thumbprint Cookies. Really, is it so surprising?  A buttery meltingly tender cookie filled with a “thumbleful” (get it? thumb + thimble) of sweet jam in the center, finished with a dusting of powder sugar.  Heavenly.

So of course I included thumbprints in this year’s 12 Days of Cookies.    My favorite recipe comes from an old copy of Ladie’s Home  Journal (yes, I am that old).  I have made these every year for as long as I have been baking Christmas cookies.  The addition of ground walnuts to the dough gives these cookies a nutty edge and a slightly sandier texture.  I like filling the centers with raspberry jam, its rich ruby red color playing off the surrounding cookie. The sweet and tart flavor of the jam compliments the cookie perfectly.  You can substitute pecans for the walnuts although I prefer walnuts which have a bit of a bite that works really well.   Did I mention they are super easy to make?  Run, don’t walk to your kitchen and make these cookies now.

Over the years I have found little tricks that help when making cookies.  Ice cream scoops are the secret to uniform sized cookies and definitely speed up the process of scooping out the dough.  I make the indentation for the jam with my wine opener (nifty huh) and creates the perfect sized circle in the middle of the cookie, much better than my thumb!

You can use any flavor jam you like.  Put jam in a squeeze bottle and shoot approximately 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation made. As the cookies are cooling, you can add a spot more jam in the center if you wish.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  I use a wire mesh tea strainer for my powdered sugar, works like a charm.

 

And for your listening pleasure the King-Blue Christmas

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Variations on a Thumbprint Day 2: 12 Days of Cookies

Ingredients

Ladies' home journal 12/93

    Prep time: 20 minutes

      Baking time: 10-12 minutes

      • 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
      • 1 cup butter at room temperature
      • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
      • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
      • 1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves
      • Powdered sugar
      • Dash of salt

      Instructions

      • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
      • Chop nuts in food processor until very fine. Beat butter, nuts, salt and granulated sugar in mixer bowl until light. Beat in flour into blended.
      • Shape dough into 1 inch balls.
      • Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets and flatten to 1 1/2 inch circle.
      • Press into centers with a fingertip.
      • Fill each indentation with 1/4 teaspoon preserves.
      • Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden.
      • Cool.
      • Sift confectioner's sugar over cookies.
      • Makes 6 dozens.