28 days until Christmas.
1 day until Thanksgiving.
Happy birthday to my great, great friend Hannah Vogt!
We started our Thanksgiving food prep/house cleaning so we can decorate for Christmas (Our family tradition is to decorate the day after Thanksgiving, but this year, we are decorating the Sunday after Thanksgiving, if all goes according to plan!) today! We made stuffing, orange pecan cookies, and sugar cookies to decorate with our cousins when they get here. The sugar cookies are so delicious, but they were SO soft when we were cutting them out with the cookie cutters, that I ended up doing it by myself and it was a little bit of a frustrating experience. I think I might have mixed up the recipe a little bit. But that's ok. :)
Pioneer Woman Christmas Cookies (I love, love, love the Pioneer Woman!)
(One recipe didn't yield that many cookies, so I would double it if you're baking for a crowd!)
Cookies:
Preparation Instructions
Cream shortening, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla thoroughly. Add in egg and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the milk and mix.
Sift dry ingredients together, then blend into cream mixture. Divide dough in half (thirds if you double your recipe), slightly flatten between two sheets of waxed paper, then refrigerate for one hour (or freeze for 20 minutes).
While dough is chilling, combine egg yolk, water and food coloring to make the egg yolk glaze.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface and cut into shapes with a cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to lightly greased cookie sheet and paint cookies (with a soft brush) with egg yolk glaze.
After brushing with egg yolk glaze, bake at 375 degrees for approximately 6 minutes. Do not allow the cookies to brown.
While cookies are baking, mix powdered sugar, milk and egg whites (which are optional) to make the decorative icing. Remove cookies from oven to a wire rack to cool. Then, using a pastry bag or Ziploc bag, pipe with white icing to decorate.
Note: when making the white decorative icing, make sure that it is thick and somewhat retains its shape.
My favorite radio station, KLOVE, now has it's Christmas channel open on Klove.com! If you've never heard of it, check it out! It's great and as you will hear if you give it a listen, it's "positive and encouraging"! Here's a few of my favorite ones...
This Is Christmas - Kutless
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYVWFZ07-UGive This Christmas Away - Matthew West Ft. Amy Grant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cmLOcvWkO8
Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5kWoSIBliE
Where Are You Christmas - The Piano Guys (You can find their whole Christmas album at Target or Wal Mart! We got it today. IT IS SO GOOD!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRqjFcP_aw0
Speaking of Christmas music, this Sunday is the first week of Advent! (That wasn't really entirely related, except in my own head. *Christmas music - Advent - Christmas music at church) we have lots of stuff to do! But BEFORE any of that we need to enjoy Thanksgiving, of course! We did our Thanksgiving shopping, (in two trips) and both times we missed ALL of the pre Thanksgiving store crazies!!!!!! It was a WONDERFUL experience. And it snowed again! Hannah and I were driving and listening to "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow", and IT SNOWED! That's never happened to me before! I was shocked! I was excited! It's a moment I'll never forget!
When we got home from that wonderful drive, I was cleaning my room. I came across a string of Christmas lights, (which I really, really enjoy. In our last house I had hundreds, literally hundreds, hanging in my room.) that were really tangled up. Before I untangled them I wanted to make sure that they worked, so I plugged them in. I was captured by the beauty of the lights. There is nothing quite like the pure, white, bright, steady glow of Christmas lights... To me they bring joy, hope, and peace, just like the true reason for the season does. The two are very related in my mind. :) They were so beautiful, so I just left them plugged in there, in a ball on my floor, and it was wonderful.
(This picture does not do them justice, but you've seen Christmas lights before, so you know what I'm talking about. Right? Or is it just me? :) )
So, I was just finishing getting over the sugar cookie frustration from earlier when my mom comes out and says, "Oh, those were really good cookies you made!"
Then I said, (I made them for when our cousins come so we can decorate them, mind you) "YOU ATE THEM???!?!?"
And she said, "Oh, just the broken ones you left out!!!!"
Then I said, "Oh. I wasn't mad."
You may have noticed that I added to the sidebar! You can now sign up to receive an email whenever I post a new blog entry! Awesome, right? And it's so easy, too!
I hope that you enjoy your Thanksgiving! I mean REALLY enjoy it. And by that I mean look around you and realize what you have; look around you and realize how blessed you are; look around you and be thankful! And by thankful I mean the attitude. Get the 'tude of Thankfulness! Live it and love it!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Rachel Merry
