pie-and-jam primitive discusses how Christmas baking's coming along

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/115718181

Oh my.

The primitives are still chitter-chattering about the issue de jour, which they'll forget by tomorrow anyway, and so I wandered over to the cooking and baking forum to see what's happening.

grasswire (36,050 posts)    Thu Dec 13, 2012, 01:14 AM

How's the holiday baking coming along?

I have a lighter load this year. Last year I was baking for the pregnant-and-on-bed-rest mom in the family -- dozens and dozens of cookies to be ferried 200 miles away to her home. Even though she's chasing baby twins this year, her need for so many cookies is less.
 
So I just made the chilled dough for three varieties tonight. For pecan tassies, apricot roll-ups, and gingerbread cats.
 
Some more favorites to follow in the next few days. I am always driven by memories of my Aunt Dorothy's Christmas pantry -- stacks of tins of delicious cookies.
 
What's going on in your kitchen this years?

Lugnut (8,321 posts)    Thu Dec 13, 2012, 02:22 AM

1. I'm making ricotta cookies today.

They're a must-have cookie for my family. On Friday I'm planning to make thumbprints and some kind of sugar cookies. I've never made snickerdoodles but the recipe I have sounds interesting. My daughter asked me if I could try a batch of Mexican wedding cookies. I've never made them but the recipe I found sounds like they're decadent with all the butter that goes into them.
 
I love pecan tassies but I'm not a big fan of gingerbread. My mother used to make a shortbread cookie every year but it was never a favorite of mine.

grasswire (36,050 posts)    Thu Dec 13, 2012, 02:01 PM

5. tell me about the ricotta cookies?

I love thumbprints -- my mom used to make them.

My aunt Dorothy's specialty was a cookie similar to Mexican wedding cookies (which are also called Russian teacakes). Her recipe was called "kiflings" and I assume it has a Scandinavian background originally. Ground almonds, powdered sugar, butter, etc. Sometimes I use ground hazelnuts. She blanched her almonds, but I don't bother to do that step.

Lugnut (8,321 posts)    Fri Dec 14, 2012, 01:17 AM

7. I've been making ricotta cookies for decades.

My m-i-l introduced them to me back in the 60s and I've been making them since then. You can frost them with a simple butter cream frosting but I use canned vanilla stuff just to save time.
 
Recipe:

2 cups Sugar
1/2 lb Butter

Cream these together in the mixer bowl. Then add:

2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Lg Eggs
15 oz Ricotta

Beat well for about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl mix:

4 C Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda

Slowly add this mix to the batter and mix well. I use a small scoop to drop the batter on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Do NOT bake any longer than 10 minutes. They might look like they're not baked enough but don't let that fool you. Cool for 10 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a cooling rack. The recipe makes a lot of cookies.
 
My husband can never wait for the frosting before he tastes them. I like them better with the frosting.

gkhouston (20,383 posts)    Thu Dec 13, 2012, 05:23 PM

6. Mexican wedding cookies are dead easy.

Snickerdoodles take a bit longer but are huge hits with my daughter's friends. I rarely bake anything else for school parties because when they know something's coming along, my daughter's friends will always say, get your mom to make Snickerdoodles. I find them easier to handle if I use a scoop to make the cookies and chill the cookie balls for several hours. I also like to roll them completely in cinnamon sugar, so there's sugar all around instead of just on the top. Also, I just made some sugar cookies my making the Snickerdoodles "dough" with 1-1/2 tsp almond extract in it, and rolled the balls in plain sugar.

kentauros (20,066 posts)    Thu Dec 13, 2012, 08:51 AM

2. I finished half of my biscotti task on Tuesday night.

Packaged them all up last night, and will ship three boxes tonight (I hope.) Five flavors for those receiving them: Mocha-Almond, Orange-Almond, Lemon-Anise, Coconut-Lime, and Spiced.
 
Then I start all over again this weekend!

Fortinbras Armstrong (400 posts)   Thu Dec 13, 2012, 09:40 AM

3. A few things

I made two plum puddings to two different recipes, to see which one I prefer. I made a fruitcake and I'm going to make a pannetone this weekend.

grasswire (36,050 posts)   Thu Dec 13, 2012, 01:57 PM

4. keep us posted on the pannetone

Have you made that before? I have read that in the old country (and in NY-NJ) nobody makes their own; they always buy from a bakery.

I dunno.

If franksolich gets snowed in, I guess I'll get around to making springerle, following a recipe jtyangel here gave me three or four years ago.

It's a great recipe, but damn, no matter how much I try, I can't make them as teeth-breaking hard as my mother used to.

[jtyangel]

Yes I remember that frank. I've had far less baking time this year between work and now being sick. My kids are off at the end of the week for their break so I anticipate we will start baking and wrapping then and just make a few batches everyday.

Once again I see myself parting ways with the primitives. I find very few things they make in my repertoire except thumbprints and they were not my favorite. Unlike them however I love shortbread. It seems to be a standard of the brit/scottish cookie list. I'm going to try and make more bar cookies this year too. I love dates so I'm going to incorporate them in a good recipe.

My mother already has Christmas pudding she picked up while in her homeland last summer.

I shall be nearby to cc if assistance is again needed. Good luck!

[franksolich]

I shall be nearby to cc if assistance is again needed. Good luck!

Ooops.

It's cold and raining and wet outside, and you just inspired me, why not right now?

Since I'm more or less relaxing until I have to start writing the awards for the top primitives a week from today (I've done cursory research, but no heavy-duty writing yet), I might as well.

However, since the mix has to be refrigerated quite a while, we'll both have to wait to see how this comes out.

This time around, instead of using the natural-gas oven, I'm going to use the very large electrical roaster-toaster-whatever on the counter-top.  Electricity doesn't explode.

[GOBUCKS]

This time around, instead of using the natural-gas oven, I'm going to use the very large electrical roaster-toaster-whatever on the counter-top.  Electricity doesn't explode.

It's too bad you can't get an assessment of electricity from Ted Bundy.

[franksolich]

It's too bad you can't get an assessment of electricity from Ted Bundy.

Oh now, it's a boring rainy cold afternoon out here in the Sandhills.

I need to do something, anything, as I don't want to think about the top primitives right now.

And also, because of the weather, I don't want to put the cats outside.  When I use the natural-gas stove, even just to boil water, I force the cats to go outdoors.  That way, just in case, at least the cats will survive.

[jtyangel]

Ooops.

It's cold and raining and wet outside, and you just inspired me, why not right now?

Since I'm more or less relaxing until I have to start writing the awards for the top primitives a week from today (I've done cursory research, but no heavy-duty writing yet), I might as well.

However, since the mix has to be refrigerated quite a while, we'll both have to wait to see how this comes out.

This time around, instead of using the natural-gas oven, I'm going to use the very large electrical roaster-toaster-whatever on the counter-top.  Electricity doesn't explode.

I'm stuck with the explosive type. However, my baking will happen later in the week. I look forward to the outcome of your adventure today!

I do not have my two youngest today so I'm taking on the chore of finishing up the Christmas shopping and some regular weekly errands with a minor flu as my companion. Yet another reason I will be holding off on baking since I don't think germs are on anyone's Christmas list.  We will start Thursday; the first day of Christmas break for my children.

[Skul]

This seems so appropriate to drag over. 
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021988298

Sat Dec 15, 2012, 07:13 AM
 xchrom (85,309 posts)

Think Twice Before Quitting Your Job to Sell Homemade Jam
http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/12/think-twice-before-quitting-your-job-to-sell-homemade-jam/266295/

 

"Small business" has always been embraced by politicians, the phrase a lazy stand-in for "good, hard-working, salt-of-the-earth Americans."

But now, in many progressive communities (Austin, Brooklyn, Portland, my hometown of Chapel Hill, NC ), small—very small—businesses have gained a new, distinctly groovy luster. In these parts, people speak of an "artisan economy" of "hyper-local" businesses selling "handmade" goods. In this new artisan economy, running a teeny-tiny business is not just fulfilling, it's morally good. Not only are you pursuing your creative goals and rejecting the rat race, you're also striking a blow against corporate behemoths and all they represent—greed, environmental destruction, the homogenization of culture.

As the idea of an artisan economy gains mainstream purchase, it's being especially promoted as a way for women to find work-life balance. The parenting site Babble published "Top 50 Etsy Parents," in which the crafty moms (for they are mostly moms) gush about how Etsy has allowed them to achieve work-life balance, put family first, spend time on what really matters. There are legions of recently published books with titles such as Handmade to Sell and Etsy Success, whose cover features a picture of a young woman literally balancing a baby on her hip.

But here's the thing these books and articles don't mention: Microenterprise works for a very lucky few. It fails for a vast majority. And, although it may be dressed up in new hipster duds, microenterprise as a solution for work-life balance is nothing new. It's as old as selling eggs on the farmhouse porch. And it doesn't work.

Yo, Grassafire.