Hens and Chicks

To celebrate the launch of my blog, I decided to bake some cookies. At my house, iced sugar cookies are not just a Christmas treat; we make them all year round. I have drawers in my kitchen that are filled with nothing but cookie cutters, and a cookie recipe I've used for 20 years or so.
  
But this time, in the spirit of all things new, I tried a recipe I found in my Cookie Craft book. The taste was very similar to my recipe, but the cookie dough didn't spread as much when it baked. As a result, the cookies maintained their shape, and you could actually tell what they were!  

I love the professional look of cookies that are decorated with royal icing, but I use a much simpler icing recipe that doesn't take long to whip up, and in my humble opinion, tastes better! Mix together the following ingredients:

3 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp. corn syrup
3/4 tsp. almond extract

Stir together until smooth and glossy.  If too thick, add more corn syrup. Add food coloring as desired.

The one problem I have is that the cookies look great the first day, but after that the color starts to dull.  Do any of you have a simple confectioner's sugar icing recipe that remains shiny for longer? 

Here are the results of my afternoon of baking and decorating:

And here is a whole brood of aproned red hens and their chicks:

 

I had so much fun baking these Little Red Hen cookies and just had to share them with you!





Vintage Cookbooks

There's a chill in the air tonight and it makes me want to turn on the oven and bake something. I have a variety of cookbooks I can turn to for recipes, but sometimes it's fun to go back in time and look through my little vintage paperback cookbooks for recipes that my grandma might have used.

These little booklets were put out by various companies; this one by the American Can Company and it features recipes using canned items.

This one highlights the Hotpoint Automatic Range and must have come with the stove.

I love the cover on this one, put out by General Foods in 1945. It would look so cute framed and hanging on my kitchen wall, but I can't bear to separate the cover from the booklet. 

This one is most special to me. It was published by Crisco in 1949. If you look closely, you can see the words "Mother's Book" in the top right hand corner. This actually was my Grandma's and the handwriting is my then 11-year old mom's, who gave this to me recently, and I treasure it. As I look through it, I can tell which recipes were most used by the aged brown splotches on the pages. Apparently the Crisp Sugar Cookies, Rich Brownies, and Walnut Slices were baked often! 

                       

Have you ever made a recipe from one of these old gems? There's a recipe for Spice Cake and Creamy Caramel Icing in my Grandma's book that sounds perfect for this crisp, cool weather. I think I'll get to work adding some more brown splotches to the little cookbook that's been passed down from mother to daughter twice now. Time to get out that can of Crisco!