Tiz' the Season

No pictures, please!!! Prima donna. I think Miss Bella is getting full of herself. Should have named her Brittany or Lindsey.

Sigh. I got our gifts off to the nieces and nephews on the NY side today. Glad that's out of the way. I'm going to try and get upstairs this afternoon and do a little crafting before Christmas comes and goes. I'm behind in that area, as usual. Ho ho ho. Tiz the Season to be behind.

On Friday, I made some Snickerdoodles. Mmmmm. They were good, if I do say so myself. I am not a baker. But, that is my New Year's resolution (even if it is before New Year's). I thought to myself, "Cookies, make some cookies!" I normally wait until Christmas Eve to make my famous (truly) chocolate chip cookies. Have to leave them for Santa, ya knowz. But hey, I have this brand new kitchen and what better way to break it in than to start trying new things. My mom used to always make snickerdoodles. The schools always served them at lunch. There's nothing better, well you know what I mean, than warm snickerdoodles. And so, that's just what I did. They were still warm by the time the kids got home from school. And the house smelled good and bakeryish.

Snickerdoodles

• 1/4 C vanilla sugar (or regular if you don't have vanilla)
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1 T cinnamon
• 2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 2 t cream of tartar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1/2 C shortening
• 2 large eggs

1. Heat oven to 375 (f)
2. Combine 1/4 C vanilla sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish for coating and set aside. (I actually had to add some more mixture for my jumbotron size balls.)
   
3. Whisk the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl, set aside.
4. Beat the butter, shortening and 1 1/2 C sugar together in large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 5-6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.
5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Give the dough a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is combined.
6. Using cold wet hands, roll 2 T of dough at a time into balls, then roll in the cinnamon/sugar to coat and lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart.
7. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and just beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10-12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.
8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or tranfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Before turning sheet, they are big and puffy. Isn't the cinnamon cracking pretty?

After they have cooled a bit.

Of course, I can never make small cookies and mine always come out jumbotron size with squared corners because of it. With my smaller ovens and cookie sheets, I must learn to make smaller ones. Geesh. But, I remember my mom's would also come out squared as they would always meet each other and she would cut them apart. Fond memories. Now that woman, she could bake!

I sent half over to our neighbors and the rest we ate all weekend. They were so good to just walk by and pinch a corner to nibble. (Perhaps that's why they came out squared!) An entire cookie wasn't bad either, mind you. Needless to say, they are all but gone. And get this, the hub had never had snickerdoodles before! How sad is that? Pretty darn sad, I say! I don't think it's a Southern thing, is it?

On Saturday, I went out to our local dairy farm that I have only recently discovered and picked up loads of milk. We were supposed to have some nasty weather and I like to have milk on hand for hot cocoa. I guess I'm over my overdose in NYC because it actually sounds kinda good right about now--my cocoa anyway. Lord, not MarieBelle's! Oooooooof! The drive is as pretty as pretty can be. A lot of our roads here in Middle Tennessee are carved in between mountains. I love looking at the rock sediment as I pass through. Amazing.

To keep the house smelling especially festive this time of year, I have my potpourri on the stove. The teenager finally asked me today (after it's been simmering for almost a week), "What are you cooking in that?" ha. I had some old apple cider from Thanksgiving, some old orange juice, old oranges, limes, etc. that I used. I also had some expired mulling spices that I threw in the pot. The smell is amazing. I simmer it all day, adding liquids as needed, whatever is ready to be thrown out. (I don't know about yours, but my boys will put an entire bottle of juice back in the fridge even if it only has a tablespoon of juice left in the bottom! grrrr.) I peeled the old oranges and limes and threw the meat down the drain for good smells there also and used the skins in the pot. Throw in a couple of cinnamon sticks for good measure, and it's good to go. I close the lid at night and start it up the next morning. Yummy. It also adds a little humidity to the dry winter heat.

Ok, I think I better get myself upstairs before the sun begins to set. Fa la la la la.