From My Family to Yours...

WE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & ALL THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR!

Holiday Open House 2009

What a fun day it was here at the bakery today. It was great to see all the kids visiting Santa. There were a lot of smiles, and just a few tears too. Not everyone was ready to sit on Santa's lap.

Here is my Grandson, Paxton, 6 weeks old, sleeping in Santa's arms. He is just adorable! But, Grandma is just a little bit biased. :)

My daughter Bryn posed with her friend Jennifer. They are in 6th grade this year. I'm glad they are not too old to sit on Santa's lap.

Here is Brekston, 13 months, with my daughter Bryn. He is shown on the last posting of this blog as an infant in Santa's arms. This year he didn't want to pose or even get too close. Maybe next year, Brekston.

This is cake decorator, Kalee's little boy, Memphis. He is 8 months old and was happy to visit with Santa and flirt with the rest of the cake decorators.

Here is Addie, 2 1/2, eating her cookie. She didn't think sitting on Santa's lap was a very good idea. Staying on the other side of the bakery was as close as she wanted to be this year.

This is Kamilah, the 5-year old daughter of assistant baker, Elida. She wasn't shy at all and was happy to visit with Santa.

Here are sisters Kylie, 6, and Kayla, 4, telling Santa what they want for Christmas. They even brought their own reindeer antlers to wear.

Six month old Adrianne is picture perfect sitting with Santa. She wasn't too sure at first but then turned on the charm to pose for pictures.

Thanks everyone who stopped by the bakery today. I appreciate you so much!

Holiday Open House Saturday, Dec. 5th

Stop by the bakery for our annual Open House on Saturday! Santa will arrive at 10:00 and be here until 1:00. Bring your camera to get that memorable photograph. We will be open our regular Saturday hours from 8:30 - 3;00 and will have cookie treats for you to sample. See you on Saturday!

Basic Cookie Dough Recipe

Here is the basic cookie dough recipe that I demonstrated on Channel 5 this morning.

3/4 cup Butter (no substitutions)
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 Tbsp. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/8 tsp. Salt

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Blend baking powder and salt into flour. Add to creamed mixture until blended. Refrigerate several hours until firm enough to work with.

Bake at 350 for 8 - 10 minutes depending on cookie variety.

Now there are all kinds or variations that you can do from this one dough. It makes about 3 cups of dough. I have variations below using a 1/2 batch (approx. 1 1/2 cups) of dough.

Pinwheels - Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick and about the size of a piece of computer paper. Top it with a thin layer of your favorite preserves, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edge. Roll it up and put in the refrigerator until firm. Cut into 1/4 inch slices and bake.

Chocolate dough - Add 2 Tbsp. of cocoa to the dough and knead to blend. If dough seems a little dry, add a Tbsp. of chocolate syrup to make it more pliable.

Thumbprints - Roll dough into balls and add jam in center before baking. You can also roll them in nuts before making indention for another variation.

Cherry Nut - Add 6 finely chopped maraschino cherries and 2 Tablespoons of chopped nuts to dough. Form in a log and refrigerate until firm. Cut in slices and drizzle with chocolate after baking.

Orange or Lemon - Add 2 tsp. of grated peel to the dough. Dip them in chocolate or glaze them with a powdered sugar icing using orange or lemon juice as the liquid.

These are just a few variations. Use your imagination and make up some of your own!

Happy Baking!

Cheri