Wordless Wednesday: Our 10th Annual Cookie Exchange

Recovering from twelve delicious varieties…

Tags: baking, Christmas, cookie exchange, cookies, cooking, holiday

Lemon-Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Since we don’t typically eat or cook ricotta cheese in our home, and we had some ricotta cheese left in the refrigerator after our dinner party last weekend, I looked up a friend’s recipe for ricotta cheese cookies.

I just don’t like wasting food, you know? Here’s my twist on it… taken from the lemon-ricotta cheese blinis we made for our dinner party, I added lemon to the cookie recipe. And, it was lemon-y delicious!

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• zest of three lemons
• 6 tsp. fresh lemon juice (juice taken from the lemons – save the extra juice)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, extra lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, sugar and cheese. Add zest and 6 teaspoons of lemon juice to butter and sugar mixture, blend well. In separate bowl, mix salt, baking soda and flour. Incorporate the flour mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Dough will be very sticky. Using a small teaspoon scoop (or just two teaspoons), drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until bottoms turn golden brown. After removing from oven, cool for 1 minute, then transfer to cooling racks.

Make glaze by slowly adding juice to the powdered sugar. Thin consistency will probably only need a couple of tablespoons of juice. Spread over cooled cookies.

Yields about 84

Tags: baking, cookies, lemon, recipe, ricotta cheese

Cookie Exchange

Another year of over indulging. Another year of amazing cookies, and a little, just a little, unspoken competition. More cameraderie, I’d like to think. Another year of seeing our friend’s children grow a few more inches. Another year of welcoming new friends into our lives. Another year of opening our home to loved ones, another year of laughing and catching up on all that has happened.

We paid tribute to John Hughes, writer, director of movies that define moments of high school in the 80s: Ferris Buehler’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He holds a special place with some of us because we graduated from the same high school he attended, Glenbrook North High School.

So, our friends brought their best cookies. We tried to name them accordingly, too, (i.e. Cookies-when-you’re-”Home Alone”, or “Ferris’s thumbprint cookies”, Sloane’s Sugar Cookies, Blaine’s Butterscotch shortbread, Abe Froman cookie) Still, it was a Christmas cookie swap, so if the creative mood didn’t strike them, it was okay.

After sharing two dozen to sample, we swapped six dozen (plus some leftovers) more. Seventeen households/families… it was quite a party! We recognized the best theme-related, best tasting, best decorated, best-in-show, and best haiku.

See some pictures here taken by my brother-in-law and my pictures below. If you roll your cursor over the pictures, you should be able to see their names. Want recipes? Let me know. Enjoy!

Tags: Christmas, cookies, Friends and Family, holiday, living, party

Cookie Exchange: sneak peek

Prepping our cookies for the party.

“Ode to Molly Ringwald” Pink Cookies – oh, how I love gold dragees.

Eastman’s “Abe Froman Pancetta Shortbread with Maple Glaze”

Tags: cookies, cooking, party

Bachelorette Party Cookies

I was inspired by a friend and thought these would be a great addition to my sister-in-law’s bachelorette party. The first pair are probably my favorites. Black patent leather via gel icing, and the pink one is my attempt at funky lace.

These yellow ones are really fun. Just get creative with royal icing, or ready-made icing and gel icing from the grocery store. I tried to use a few sprinkles here and there, too.

Needless to say, they were well received, and they tasted pretty good too!

Tags: bachelorette party, baking, cookies, cooking, party, party favor, sugar