Christmas Cut Out Cookie Recipe - For Jessica

Making Christmas cut out cookies is easy if the recipe followed makes soft, melt-in-your-mouth morsels. This recipe is for Jessica, who is making rolled out Christmas cookies on Sunday. These are easy to mix, easy to roll out, and easy to eat.

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter (softened in microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter on low speed (or with a spoon) till light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, almond extract and egg. Stir in flour and baking soda. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Try not to eat too much dough.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half to 1/4 inch thick on lightly floured surface (I use my granite counter top). Cut into desired shapes. If cookies will not be frosted, sprinkle with colored sugar. Place cut out shapes on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are light brown. Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet to waxed paper or cooling rack. Makes about 4 dozen cookies, if you don't eat any of the cookie dough or warm cookies. Good luck with that as the dough is delectable.

To make frosting, soften 1 stick of butter, mix in enough powdered sugar to make a really thick paste, then add a tiny bit of milk and mix well. Add a drop of vanilla or almond extract. Make enough frosting to divide into 4 small bowls, and then add food coloring to each mixture. Apply to cookies and allow to dry.

I double the recipe each time I make these cookies, and after eating dough and warm cookies, end up with about six dozen cookies of various shapes. Your feeling of accomplishment will last several hours, and will return each time you serve your tasty cut out Christmas cookies. Happy holidays!

Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus

Christmas Cookies Done

Every year there is a special request for Mom's cut out Christmas cookies. And every year they are patiently mixed, cooled, cut out, frosted and decorated. Whew! The fun is over for another 365 days, the kitchen is now a flour-free zone, and the cookies are hidden -- until Tuesday.

Cut out Christmas cookies evoke youth and the excitement of the season. They remind grown up kids of bygone days, drinking hot chocolate after sledding, making a snowman on a day too cold to attend school and moving one's arms and legs to create a snow Angel. All were normal childhood activities and all were a part of this somewhat fortyplus household. Making cut-out Christmas cookies was part of the deal.

Setting out a tray of cut out cookies always brings smiles. If you can't make yours, visit the local bakery and pick up a few to place on a silver tray. Suddenly a childhood Christmas will come to mind. Smile and enjoy the sweet memory.

Photo attribution: Somewhatfrank

Snow Blankets Chicagoland (Again)

We heard the warning, the schools closed last night in anticipation -- and it came. Nine inches of snow fell in northern Illinois in the past few hours, with 2-4 more inches on the way. As a lover of sun and summer, and not necessarily snow and slush, precipitation measured in inches is never good news.

Take a look at the snow, and the beauty of the summer.

Christmasing in Chicagoland

The big tree is up, the garland is displayed through out the house, and the three Santa's stand in wait. Even the Christmas presents have been wrapped and carefully displayed, waiting to delight the lucky recipients. But this year will be different. We wait not only for Christmas, but for baby Beverly Margaret, due soon at a hospital near you, actually near me.

Mom-to-be and soon-to-be dad wait patiently, knowing their sleep patterns will change once the baby enters the world. Their laundry will increase. Their eating habits will be altered. Their lives will forever be changed. Many of us already wear the "parent" tee-shirt, and these soon-to-be parents will wear it with love and respect.

We can select our automobile and cell phone plan; we can decide whether it's Italian or sushi for dinner; coffee or tea, light meat or dark, and a slew of other choices can be made. Lineage is not one of them. We all arrive where the stork drops us, and with luck and love, we make it to adult hood. This soon-to-enter-the-world little one is fortunate to be able to land in a home filled with loving parents, aunts and uncles and grandparents.

Each phone call could be "the one." Each text message could share a new baby photo. None yet -- but we wait. The trip to the hospital has been charted and practiced. The pink clothes are all washed in Dreft and hang patiently in the closet. The Stokke oval crib is empty, but not for long.

Christmas has always been memorable for this Chicagoland family, but this year could push it over the top if a certain young lady decides it's time to join us and see what the Christmas tree her mom and dad discuss actually looks like. Won't she be excited!

Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus

Potato Leek Soup

A cold Chicago day cries out for a thick supple soup to warm one's inners with style. Potato leek soup to the rescue. Also called "Vichyssoise," white potato soup with leeks and shallots becomes so thick a spoon could stand up in the bowl. Or glass, as seen in the photo.

Pronounced Vee-she-su-waa-ze, one thinks it's from France, but one is wrong. Invented by a French Chef, Louis Diat, Vichyssoise had its origins in New York's Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 1917. Prepared with added cream to make it even thicker, Chef Diat made the soup his mama used to make and serve warm. On this warm day Chef Diat served Le Vichyssoise cold, and it was a big hit. Now, you can make it at home in less than an hour, with the help of finedining.com. It's quick, it's filling, it's inexpensive and it's delicious.

Ingredients - Serves 6
2/3 cups leeks, slided thinly, white part only
1 small onion, sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream (or half and half)
Salt and pepper to taste
Snipped fresh chives or parsley for garnish

In a saucepan over medium heat, saute leeks and onion in butter until tender but not brown. Add the potatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce the heat, simmering for 35-45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. The soup mixture needs to be blended (in a blender or food processor) to become smooth. Scoop soup out of the saucepan and place into a blender or food processor; blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan. Add milk and cream, mixing well. Add salt and pepper to taste. The soup can be served immediately or refrigerated.

If the soup will be warmed for serving at a later time, use caution when reheating. It is much easier to slowly heat the soup in the microwave instead of the stove top to keep it from burning. Garnish with chopped chives or parsley, sit down and start eating. The soup is extremely filling so there is no need to serve large bowls -- small glasses with spoons can be used to give the soup an even more interesting touch.

Photo attribution: petesmith

Simple Low Floral Arrangement

We've all been there, sitting at the beautiful dining table looking around, through or over the flowers that bedeck it. A low arrangement, one guests can look over to see each other's faces, would be best. How tall is too tall? Hostesses use this rule to determine if a floral arrangement is short enough for a dinner table. Sit at the table, place your right elbow on the table top and hold the right arm up, with the full hand extended, reaching toward the ceiling. The floral arrangement should be no higher then the top of the extended hand. Here is a quick way to create a beautiful low table display without breaking the bank.

Purchase two or three clear inexpensive rectangular shaped glass vases, about six or seven inches tall. Also purchase three or four clear square glass vases, approximately four or five inches tall. Be sure to end up with an odd number of vases. Now hit the local supermarket for flowers that have a full bloom to fill the top of the vases. The mums in the photos were used for the Thanksgiving table, but could be used at any time of the year by varying flower colors.

Fill the vases with cold water. Cut the flower stems so when placed in the vase only the bloom emerges. Fill the tall vases first so any short-comings can be adjusted and placed in the shorter vases. Alternate the blossom colors. If you read me regularly you already know I love strong colors that make a statement, so three bright green mums along with two purple mums look fabulous together. Remember to always end with an odd number of flowers in any vase. Wipe away any water from the outside of the vases, then set on the dinner table, at angles to create interest, alternating between a short vase and a taller vase. A few votive candles mixed in and lit for dinner will add the extra "va-voom" that will have your guests commenting on just how clever you are. Accept graciously and then pass the butter.

Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus and somewhatfrank

First Chicagoland Snow

While some may say it is beautiful and others may say it is messy, the first major snowfall of the 2008 season has hit Chicagoland and it is certainly white and peaceful outside. Cars move slowly, buses crawl, and horses stand in awe. Judging from my footprints in the snow this morning retrieving the Chicago Tribune, approximately 5-6 inches of snow fell in this northern Chicagoland area. Soon the snow plow will appear to clear the driveway and start the new snow pile of the season.

O'Hare has cancelled most flights headed east, so Adult Child 1 will work out of her Chicago office today, instead of a client's location. Adult Child 2 is waiting at Dulles to head to San Fran for the week, but the flight is delayed two hours due to weather. Our weather. And Adult Child 3 is in class, in snowy Milwaukee. I'm headed to class as well -- wonder how many students will show up today?

Photo attribution: somewhatfortyplus