Baklava

Baklava is a two-person job. Without someone to hold each of the 35 sheets of phyllo dough in place while they are buttered, you have a slippin' slidin' mess. The back-up brain comes in handy, too, when you forget if this is sheet seven or nine of the phyllo. I had to make myself a little chart to keep track of the layers (N = nuts):

I've been asked if this is the "real" recipe, because it uses simple syrup rather than honey. I think it is - it's a family recipe from the kitchen of a Greek Orthodox priest.

GREEK BAKLAVA

4 cups walnuts, ground
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1 lb package of phyllo dough (I use Filo brand)
1 lb. butter, melted
Syrup: 3 cups sugar, 1 TBS. lemon juice, 1-1/2 cups water. Combine in saucepan and heat to boiling. Cool to 120 degrees and cover.
 Open phyllo and cut sheets to fit in a 9 x 13 pan. Cover dough lightly with a damp (not wet!) cloth. Combine nuts, sugar and spices and blend well. Brush bottom of pan with melted butter. Lay down one sheet of phyllo, and brush with butter. Continue, brushing each sheet with butter, until you have laid down 10 sheets. Top the 10th sheet with about a third of the nut mixture. Cover with another sheet of phyllo and butter. Add 4 more sheets, then add another layer of nuts. Repeat once more. Top the final layer of nuts with 10 sheets of phyllo, buttering each. Carefully cut baklava into diamond shapes with a very sharp knife, by cutting on the diagonal. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer or until golden brown. Remove from oven and re-cut, then pour cooled syrup over the hot baklava. Let it sit for a few hours to allow the syrup to be absorbed before eating.

Peppermint Meltaways

What's wrong with this picture? In one word: pink. These cookies looked very pretty, with their pink icing and pearlized sprinkles, but that proved to be a problem. I quickly learned how conditioned we are to think that mint = green. People were stunned to find themselves eating a mint cookie when they were expecting strawberry or raspberry or just plain sour cream. Believe me - it's important to go with green icing, or to sprinkle the top with crushed candy canes! This is another recipe I found in a Taste of Home magazine, and they do live up to their name, melting in your mouth. Not everyone likes that sensation, but those who do will love this cookie!

PEPPERMINT MELTAWAYS

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

1-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

Frosting:

2 TBS. butter, softened

1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 TBS. milk

1/4 tsp.peppermint extract

2-3 drops green food coloring (optional)

In a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-in.balls. Place 2-in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. In a small bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, extract and food coloring; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candies. Store in an air-tight container.

Pea-nut, Peanut Butter - and Cookies!

Peanut Butter Blossoms are your basic peanut butter cookie, with a Hershey's Kiss pressed into the warm cookie and baked again, just enough to glue them together. I usually make a double batch of the Blossoms, and use half in the traditional way and half to make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. For PB Cup Cookies, instead of placing the balls of dough on a baking sheet, put them into the cups of a tassie pan. When they are baked and ready for the addition of candy, push a mini peanut butter cup down into the dough instead of a Kiss. Yum - Casey's favorite!

PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS

Sift together:
1 tsp. baking soda
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream together:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)

Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBS. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend with dry ingredients. Shape dough into balls the size of a walnut, then roll in sugar and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, unwrap kisses. Remove cookies from oven and quickly top each with the candy. Return to oven for two to three minutes.

P.S. - If you make Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, use milk chocolate cups. The dark chocolate doesn't seem to melt as well.

Let's Start Cookin'!

Every Christmas, I continue a tradition of my mother's - making delicious cookie trays to share with friends and family. I have worked my way up to preparing about 20 different types of cookies, and I only stop then because I have generally run out of both freezer space and time. My husband, Casey, has been urging me for a while to counter the bad recipes I share at frightening-food.blogspot.com with some of the goodies you will see on my cookie trays. So, here we go!

If you intend to build toward a Christmas tray, plan ahead! Unless you have absolutely nothing else to do with your days, you will need to start in October to get so many types of cookies prepared. And you will need plenty of freezer space. Of course, you can just make a batch of any of these cookies without the excuse of a holiday - you really should test them first, right?

I'll start with a recipe that is easy to make and that holds up well for a long time in the freezer. It's also a good recipe for cooking with kids, who seem to enjoy the job of using their [clean, we hope] hands to squish all the ingedients together. Ohioans call these cookies Buckeyes, but in Pittsburgh, we call them:

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER SURPRISES

2 sticks margarine
1 c. flaked, sweetened coconut (optional)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt margarine and add all other ingredients. Mix with hands. Roll into walnut-size balls and coat with chocolate glaze.

Glaze: 1/2 bar paraffin wax, 1 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can use white chocolate chips, if you prefer, but white chocolate is more difficult to keep smooth and liquid. The paraffin is needed to give the chocolate a gloss and to help it set up firmly.

Melt chocolate and wax together in the top of a double boiler, or microwave by first melting wax and then adding chips. If you microwave, two cautions: 1) it takes a while for the wax to melt, and the container you are melting it in may get very hot, and 2) the chocolate chips melt quickly, but retain their shape, so stir frequently to avoid overcooking. Dip the balls in the melted chocolate glaze, re-warming periodically if the chocolate begins to stiffen. I put my chocolate in a deep, narrow bowl, because it is easier to coat the cookies when they are completely covered just by dropping them into the chocolate. Remove the cookies using a fork, allowing excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl, then place on wax paper to cool and harden. Allow at least 4 hours for the glaze to set up before packaging the cookies for freezing.