Cookie Exchange

Looking for a fun, easy and affordable get together this holiday season, consider hosting a cookie exchange. Simply invite 6-8 guests and ask them to bring 3 or 4 dozen of their favorite homemade cookies. Provide drinks, snacks and bakery boxes so everyone can take home an assortment of goodies.

You can structure your cookie exchange in a variety of ways:

Heirloom Recipes
Ask your guests make and share a recipe that was handed down to them from a previous generation. This is a great way to learn about your friends’ backgrounds and family traditions. One of my childhood memories includes the walnut thumbprint cookies made by my Polish Grandma Otsie. The shortbread base melted in your mouth and the cookies were topped with pastel colored buttercream icing.

Cookie Decorating
In addition to exchanging cookies, you and your guests could decorate already baked cut-out sugar cookies. Have on hand icing, food coloring and edible decorations. A few years ago, I took a class from Richard Prince, the pastry chef at the Bonbonerie in O’Bryonville. Now, several times a year, I make his recipe for butter cut-out cookies with milk fondant icing and decorative buttercream icing. (See November post.)

Children’s Tea Party
Kids love tea parties and one with a holiday theme could be extra special. Most children also love to bake, so this is a way they could share their creations with their friends. Serving hot cocoa or apple cider would be a nice addition. Peanut butter and jelly finger sandwiches could be fun too.

Dessert Buffet
A cookie exchange could be incorporated into a dessert party. Serve champagne, hot toddies or Irish coffee and provide a selection of festive desserts. A store-bought Bûche de Noël (yule log cake) would be especially nice. I like to serve a variety of sweets that include: chocolate (cheesecake, brownies or flourless cake), spice (Bundt cake or cookies) and fruit (tart or pie). A small selection of cheese and fresh fruit is also lovely for dessert.

Chocolate Gingerbread House Petit Fours

I brought these to a New Home Holiday Open House last weekend. Leave it to Martha Stewart to come up with such a clever idea. I baked the chocolate gingerbread in a 13x9 cake pan. I cut the cake into 1-inch squares. A portion of the squares were cut into triangles for the roof. I made a whipped chocolate ganache as the glue to hold the base to the roof. Cinnamon red licorice made for tasty chimneys and a dusting of powdered sugar finished them off.

These were relatively easy to make and they looked so darn cute.

French Green Lentils

How can it possibly be that I am just now discovering French green lentil beans. I served them for my protein at Thanksgiving with braised root vegetables and a red wine sauce. The dish was out of this world. Tonight I made a room temperature salad with lentils, butternut squash, mushrooms and tarragon.

I like their deep dark green color and the texture just works for me. I can't wait to try out more recipes. Here is the salad:

Lentils with Tarragon, Butternut Squash and Mushrooms
2-3 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" cube
1/2-1 cup cremini mushrooms, chopped
1-2 shallots, quartered
2 Tbsp, plus 1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb French green lentils, picked over
2 cloves garlic
2 dried bay leaves
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Arrange butternut squash, shallots and mushrooms on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 2 Tbsp olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, cool.

2. Combine lentils, garlic and bay leaves in a 6 qt saucepan; add enough cold water to cover by 3". Bring to boil over med.-high heat. Reduce to med.-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender but not mushy, 10-20 minutes. Drain in colander and let cool on a baking sheet.

3. Make vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine vinegar and honey. Slowly whisk in remaining 1/4 cup oil in a steady stream.

4. Transfer lentils to a large serving bowl. Pour vinaigrette over lentils, and add tarragon; toss well to combine. Toss in squash, shallots and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and serve, or cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator up to 4 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Giving the Gift of Food

I give food gifts all year round to friends, neighbors, relatives and teachers. But the holidays are my favorite time of year to share food with others. The gifts I give are usually homemade or local food products. You can find all kinds of recipes and ideas on the Internet at websites like MarthaStewart, Epicurious and Foodtv. Try wrapping your gift in a tea towel or cloth napkin tied with ribbon for a gift that lasts after the food goodies are gone.

Homemade Food Gift Ideas:
 Cinnamon or vanilla sugar in small glass jars
 Hot fudge or butterscotch sauce
 Mini loaf of quick bread such as cranberry, pumpkin or zucchini
 Fruit and nut granola in cellophane bags
 Tin of your favorite holiday cookies and a copy of the recipe
 Chocolate truffles in candy boxes
 Basket of muffins or scones with a jar of honey butter
 Buttermilk pancake mix with blueberry lemon sauce (see recipes)

Buttermilk Pancake Mix
(Makes approximately 4 ½ cups dry mix)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
½ cup dry buttermilk powder
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt

Combine all the ingredients and whisk together to distribute evenly. Refrigerate the mix in a sealed container and use within three months.

Instructions for use:
1. Measure 1 ½ cups mix into a large bowl
2. Whisk together 1 large egg, 1 ½ tbsp melted butter or oil, and 2/3 cup water in another bowl or large measuring cup.
3. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mix and stir until just combined. If the batter seems too thick, add more water by the tablespoonful to reach the desired consistency.

Blueberry Lemon Sauce
(Makes 2 ½ cups)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Cook in a saucepan on medium heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir frequently. Cool completely and store in glass jars in the refrigerator.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Although a bit unorthodox, a vegetarian Thanksgiving can still be a very satisfying meal. All of the traditional flavors can be incorporated into the menu. Here is what I am serving today:

Simple starter-
Kenny's Cranberry Cheese from KY, seeded wheat crackers and green grapes

Dinner-
Fennel Salad with Goat Cheese and Pomogranate dressing (Martha Stewart)
Braised Root Vegetables with Lentils and Red Wine Sauce (Deborah Madison)
Mashed Potatoes
Cranberry Fruit Conserve (Barefoot Contessa)
Macaroni and Cheese
Garlic/Rosemary Sweet Potato Bread

Dessert-
Apple Tart
Pumpkin Caramel Ice Cream
Peanut Butter Pie
Port Wine

Peanut Butter Playdough

I started making peanut butter playdough when my oldest son, now age 11, was a toddler. His younger brother still asks me to make it every now and then when a friend comes over. I make the playdough, put out cutting boards and give the kids kitchen utensils to manipulate the dough with. This includes small rolling pins, mallets, garlic press, cookie cutters and bench scrapers.

I can usually count on this to be at least an hour long activity. At the end, the kids eat the dough, so snack is taken care of too.

Peanut Butter Playdough

1 1/2 cups Creamy peanut butter
1/2-1 cup Powdered milk
1/2 cup Powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together until the peanut butter is dry and can be manipulated. Add more powdered milk or sugar if necessary.

Thanksgiving cutout cookies

I made these one year for my son's Thanksgiving play. Truly a labor of love!