The Cat of Christmas Past (15 page)

Publishes December 1, 2015

http://ow.ly/TymoW

Publishes February 1, 2016

My husband loves a type of cake called a Williamsburg Orange Cake for his birthday. I thought it would be fun to give him something he could enjoy more than once a year and that would be better for him than cake all the time. So one day I developed these scones, which have the flavor of the cake without all the sugar.  They make a lovely addition to a Christmas brunch or any other time you want a fancy scone for breakfast.

Scones:

3 cups flour

3½ tsp. baking powder (use ¼–½ tsp. more at sea level)

¾ tsp. salt

¼ cup maple sugar or raw cane sugar

6 tbs. cold butter

2–3 tbs. orange zest or 1½ tsp. dried orange peel soaked in 1½ tbs. orange juice

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup golden raisins

⅔–¾ cup milk (start with lesser amount)

2 eggs

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. real vanilla

2–3 tbs. orange juice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter until it's about pea size. (I do this in a food processor.) Put dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix in orange zest or moistened peel, pecans, and raisins. Measure milk in 2-cup glass measuring cup and add in the 2 eggs and lightly beat together with a fork. Add to dry mixture and mix just until it forms a dough. Put the dough on a floured surface, pat it into a circle about ½ inch thick, and cut it into about 12 wedges. Bake for 10–12 minutes on lightly sprayed or parchment paper–covered cookie sheet.

Let the scones cool for about 10 minutes and mix the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl, adding more or less orange juice depending on how thick you want your glaze. Spoon the glaze over the scones and let cool. (If you put some parchment paper or waxed paper under the cooling rack you wo
n’
t have a mess of glaze to clean up.)

This is a Hungarian cookie my mother used to make. I can remember helping her fill the squares and sealing them. I remember many years my mother made these and took orders in order to buy us Christmas presents. She also took orders and used the money she earned to buy my wedding dress. These are fond memories of my special time with her.

1 cup butter, salted

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tbs. granulated sugar

⅛ tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

Filling: you can buy fillings in a can or you can use jam.

Cut butter into cream cheese with mixer set on medium speed. In a small bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Slowly add dry ingredients into butter/cream cheese mixture until a mealy texture forms. 

On a lightly floured surface, dump out mixture and knead to form stiff dough. Refrigerate overnight.

Cutting dough into four segments, roll dough out on a surface dusted with a flour/granulated sugar mixture to approximately ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 2½ inch squares.  Place ½ tsp. of filling into center of each square. Pinch opposite corners together.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Place each Kolachy on cookie sheet approximately ½ inch apart.  Bake 10–12 minutes. Remove to cooling rack. When ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar. 

A really old recipe I received from my maternal grandmother, and a Christmas tradition in my home. It’s well worth the time to make because store-bought almond roca pales in comparison to the taste of this candy!

Bring the following ingredients to a boil in a heavy kettle:

½ cup butter

1½ cup sugar

½ cup white Karo syrup

½ cup water

Pecans

Once sugar is dissolved, add a 2½ oz. pkg. slivered almonds. Continue to boil to 280 degrees on a candy thermometer. Pour on to greased cookie sheet. Place 4 Hershey bars (broken into pieces) on top and spread when melted. Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts (I use pecans).  When cooled, break into bite-size pieces. 

Having been a teacher, I’ve taught in several school districts. This recipe came from a cafeteria manager in one of my first districts, years and years ago. I guess I’ve had this recipe for over 29 years. It’s good to make friends with the cafeteria staff! I still make the pecans at Christmas to eat and give away. 

1 lb. pecan halves

¼ cup butter or margarine

½ cup maple-blended syrup

¼ tsp. salt

1 tbs. sugar

Spread pecans evenly in one layer in a 10 x 15–inch jelly roll pan. Toast in preheated slow oven (300 degrees) for 15 minutes. Melt butter; add syrup and salt. Pour syrup mixture over toasted pecans, stirring lightly. Bake an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to evenly coat pecans with syrup mixture.

Spread on absorbent paper. Cool 10 minutes, sprinkle with sugar, tossing to coat evenly. Cool thoroughly. Store in jar with tight-fighting lid. Makes about 2½ cups. 

This is a very rich fudge that started out following the Eagle Brand Foolproof Fudge recipe, and then I made changes that brought it to my level of sweet-tooth satisfaction.  My coworkers were spoiled for many years with this recipe.  And they **loved** that I'd “get the whim” to make two or three batches several times a year.  ~Grin~

18 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1½ tbs. (4½ tsp.) vanilla extract

Melt together chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir constantly so that it doesn't burn. Remove from heat. Add in the extract and mix well.

Line a cookie sheet or a glass casserole pan with waxed paper and tape waxed paper to the sides (or even underneath the cookie sheet). Spread fudge on to lined cookie sheet or casserole dish and chill. I typically place them in the freezer to chill fully. The more the fudge is chilled, the easier it will be to cut. Cut into bite-size pieces.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt (if you use a coarse salt it will need to be ground before measuring)

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar (additional sugar for topping)

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. almond extract (optional; I added it and loved the taste)

Stir flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and mix well.

Whisk eggs in a large bowl until blended. Add sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix well.

Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until blended. Chill, covered, for 30 minutes or longer (I’ve left in the refrigerator overnight).

Have a bowl of sugar and a bowl of water prepared and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Drop the cookie dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Dip a flat-bottomed glass into the water, then into the sugar. Use the sugared glass to flatten the cookie. (I typically can flatten two cookies with each dip.) Sprinkle some extra sugar onto the cookies (colored sugar sprinkles are fun to use).

Bake the cookies until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for about 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks.

This recipe belongs to my Aunt Eleanor. When I was growing up, my aunt would make this recipe at Christmas and she would always bring some over to us. It’s one of my favorite Christmas memories. Now that I have children of my own, it has become one of our Christmas traditions.

2¾–3 cups all-purpose flour

1 envelope yeast

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk

¼ cup shortening

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

2 tbs. margarine, softened

Red and green sugar crystals

Combine 1½ cups of flour, yeast, ¼ tsp. baking soda, and sugar. Heat buttermilk, shortening, and 1 tsp. salt until warm, stirring to melt shortening. Add dry ingredients and egg.

Beat on low speed ½ minute, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, then add enough of the remaining flour to make the dough stiff.

Knead 5 minutes on a floured surface. Cover and let the dough rise 10 minutes. Half the dough and roll into a 6 x 14 rectangle. Spread 1 tbs. margarine on the rectangle and top with red sugar crystals. Fold in half and cut into 1-inch strips. Twist each strip and place on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining half dough and top with green sugar crystals. Let rise 1 hour, then bake 15 minutes on 375 degrees. Drizzle with frosting.

Frosting:

3 tbs. milk

1¼ cups confectioner’s sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

Stir milk into sugar, then add vanilla. Drizzle on top of Twistree Bread.