The Joys of Christmas - Part 1 of 2

(This article appeared in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald of Hilo December 23, 2003)

Besides the obvious reason for celebrating the season, I think one of the things I like the most about the Christmas Holidays is that you can let your creativity and imagination just go. It is a time of giving of yourself, and what can be better to give than something you have lovingly created.

There is a wealth of holiday magazines out every year and I wish I could collect them all! The funny thing about them is that most of the time I might not make the items shown in them, or decorate exactly as the pictures show, but those articles and photos can be a springboard for ideas to make my very own projects.

Speaking of Christmas projects...it brings to mind one I got `wrapped up in' when I was room mother the year my daughter Marion was in the 5th grade. Her birthday is December 13th, so I decided that year to make these standing cookie Christmas trees for everyone in her class,
both as a birthday treat in her name and a Christmas gift, thus killing two birds and all that... Well, I shouda killed the birds instead.

To make a nice tall cookie Christmas tree you start by baking 5 cookies (I used a plain sugar cookie recipe) per each size star in a set of 6 or 7 graduated star cookie cutters.... This is 5 cookies per size times how many trees you want to make, and there were 28 kids in her class! Just do the math.

After baking the cookies, you place a dab of royal icing on a gold foil doily just larger than the largest sized cookies, place one of the largest cookies on the icing...then dab of icing on top of first cookie, and place the second cookie, slightly askew from the first and so on (points of the top cookie always between the spaces of points on lower cookie) until all cookies are stacked. The last cookie on top is one of the smallest, placed standing up by sticking two points in the icing.

Water the icing down a bit and dribble down throughout the standing tree, then decorate with nonpareils, red hots and or edible silver balls or pearls used for cake decorations. You can also take a toothpick or thin brush and dip in green food coloring and just make a few passes at the icing in a downward swipe with it. I liked this effect better than coloring the icing all green.

By the time 29 trees were finished (since I made one for the teacher) I was ready for the straight jacket and padded cell! Needless to say, I never attempted this project again, until now, and Marion was 43 just a week or so ago!

I was reminiscing recently with Internet friends about the
above `Cookie Christmas Trees' and lamented that my own set of cookie cutters had been lost a few years ago. A foodie friend in California sent me her set of copper graduated star cutters. It was a delightful surprise…

Wishing all of you a very Joyous Mele Kalikimaka!

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COOKIE CHRISTMAS TREES

For the Sugar Cookie:
This recipe will make a very sturdy sugar cookie or you can make your favorite shortbread cookie recipe instead.
Yields 4 to 6 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 cups, approximately, all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon or a bit less, salt
2 Tablespoons whipping cream

Cream the butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl until well blended, about 2 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and then the dry ingredients. Finally, add the cream. Blend well to make a firm, soft dough. Divide it into two or three portions for convenience in using. Wrap each in plastic or waxed paper and chill at least for 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350o F. Line some baking sheets with parchment paper. For baking on bottom-most rack, double up baking sheets (one inside the other).

Roll the dough on a lightly floured board, or you can roll on sugar to a thinness of 1/8 inch, if desired. Cut into star shapes as described above. Place on the cookie sheets making sure the ends don't touch. Bake until nicely browned, about 15 to 18 minutes.

For the Royal Icing
This is the "glue" that holds the cookies together as you stack them.

4 egg whites
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

Use only grade A, clean, uncracked eggs. Beat egg whites in clean, large bowl with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Gradually add sugar and the vanilla extract. Continue beating at high speed until thickened.

Note: When dry, royal icing is very hard and resistant to damage that can occur during shipping or handling cookies