Mud hens

As soon as I saw the mud hen bars on Abby's blog, Confabulations in the Kitchen, I went straight to the kitchen  and it was love at first bite! My kids, who do not like nuts, ate mud hens and asked for more! Isn't it nice to find something you were missing out and you didn’t even know about?

Mud Hens

Abby's grandma recipe from her Old Church Cookbook

1/2 cup butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 and a 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped nuts (I used Brazil nuts)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1) Preheat oven to 350ºF (180º C).
2) Sift dry ingredients.
3) Beat together 1 whole egg plus the yolk of the other. (Save the egg white for later in this recipe)
4) Cream butter and sugar together, add egg mixture. Blend in sifted dry ingredients and vanilla.
5) Spread the thick mixture about 1/3 in. thick in greased shallow baking pan such as a jelly roll pan.
6) Mix unbeaten egg white with brown sugar and nuts and spread as evenly as possible over the mixture.
7) Bake in preheated oven about 20 minutes or until done. Cut into squares while still warm.

Fruity Pastel Cookies - Christmas cookies from around the world

Baking cookies at Christmas is an old tradition that so many people treasure. I did some research and found out that the tradition of leaving Christmas cookies and milk for Santa isn’t a very old one. It is believed to have started around the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression. So, if you were nice, you thank Santa for the hard work on Christmas Eve, and if you were naughty you can still try to bribe him with some cookies!

I gave these cookies to our children's preschool teachers as a Christmas gift, placed them in clear boxes and attached a bow to the lid.


This is another contribution for Susan at Food Blogga who is hosting the Eat Christmas cookies event until December 24th. To join the fun and share your recipes, please click the red logo on the right for instructions.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 package (3 ounces) lime gelatin or flavor of your choice
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Red and green colored sugar and/or sprinkles

1) In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and gelatin powder. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2) Using a cookie press fitted with the disk of your choice, press dough 2 inches (5 cm) apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

3) Decorate as desired with colored sugar and/or sprinkles. Bake at 400°F (200 °C) for 6-8 minutes or until set (do not brown). Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Yield: 6 dozen

From our home to yours:
- I used two flavors of gelatin powder and created red and green cookies.
- Remove cookies while they are still hot so they don't stick to the pan.





Adapted from magazine Taste of Home, Dec/Jan 2003

Congo Bars and Christmas Cookies around the world

I am so far behind with the Thanksgiving recipes I promised to post here that I decided to switch to Holiday cooking! Last year my old small group organized a Christmas party and there was a gift exchange. It was a lot of fun, the hostess gave away Congo Bars baked in small bundt pans and wrapped in clear cellophane to each of us. I asked for the recipe and she was kind enough to share her secret with us. These make a great gift.

Susan at Food Blogga is hosting an event called Eat Christmas cookies from now through December 24th, and I wanted to share this recipe that tastes so much like cookies and it is so easy to make. To see all the wonderful Christmas cookies recipes from around the world, you just need to click the red logo!

Ingredients
5 tablespoons melted butter
3 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup chopped Brazilian nuts or walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1) Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Grease 10 x 15 inch pan. (You can use small bundt pans or 12 muffin cups).

2) Combine butter and sugar in bowl. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; blend well. Fold in chips and nuts. Turn in pan, spread evenly.

3) Bake until top is lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack; let cool. Cut into bars and sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top. Congo bars will freeze.

Spiced Shortbread

This recipe was a little gift that Val, an Australian friend who loves cardamom, left the other day when she commented another recipe here. The shortbread turned out delicious and it was gone in a second. Adults and kids loved it. And just to think that I have never met Val, and perhaps never will, but I feel that I have known her for quite a while now.


For the shortbread you will need:

4 oz (125 g) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp vanilla (I used maple flavor)
1 cup plain flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 Tbls sugar

1) In a bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter, then add ¼ cup sugar and the vanilla, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy.

2) Into another bowl sift together the flour, salt, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg, and add the mixture to the butter mixer, stirring until the dough is just combined.

3) Pat the dough evenly into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan, prick all over with a fork, and sprinkle with the 1 tbls. sugar. Bake in a preheated 350ºF/180ºC oven for 30 minutes, or until golden. While shortbread is still warm, cut it in the pan into 16 wedges and let cool completely in the pan.

What I did differently from Val:

I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the dough evenly, refrigerated for about 10 minutes too cool and used a cookie cutter, then I baked until golden and sprinkled confectioner's sugar on top.