The Great-Grandkids Bake Christmas Cookies

My two great-grandchildren have never come to my house before to make Christmas cookies, but this year their mother thought they were old enough at 2 and 4 years to have the fun she used to have with all the flour and butter and cookie cutters.  Here’s their mother baking cookies when she was nine years old.

I supervised as great-granddaughter measured flour and sugar, and even broke an egg.

The two-year-old wanted to do anything his sister was doing and got right into the spirit.

Great-granddaughter soon caught on to the art of rolling cookie dough….

….and great-grandson let his mother help him, his only comment being, “Bite, bite” for bits of the cookie dough which we didn’t want him to have.

They each brushed milk and sprinkled colored sugar on a sheet full of wonderful cookies.

We used the same recipe from all those years ago – it’s a good one.

Grandma’s Sugar Crisps

Really Good Buttermilk Bread/Rolls

The Sunday dinner I made for my two daughters and two grandchildren seemed like a Thanksgiving preview – in miniature.  We had a small roasted chicken, a small amount of stuffing that would fit in its cavity, mashed potatoes, corn and something that was full sized and then some – buttermilk rolls.  This recipe made a medium loaf and 15 large soft, delicious rolls.

REALLY GOOD BUTTERMILK BREAD/ROLLS

• 2 Tblsp. dry fast-acting yeast
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 7-8 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 cups buttermilk, heated to 130 degrees F
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, room temperature

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place the yeast, salt, soda, sugar and 2 cups of flour.  Add the heated buttermilk and melted butter.  Beat with the paddle beater at medium speed for 3 minutes.  Add the egg and beat for another 30 seconds.

Remove paddle beater and insert bread hook.  Add 2 cups of flour and beat at medium speed for another 6:30 minutes, gradually adding more flour until the dough is smooth and elastic.  You may need a little more or a little less flour.

Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Oil bread pans or baking sheets.  Punch down dough and form into loaves and/or rolls.   This time I chose to use 1/3 of the dough to make a loaf to fit a 7-1/2″x3-1/2″ pan (inside measurement) and pinched off dough about 2″ diameter to make 15 rolls.

Cover the bread and let rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

When bread has risen, place in oven on middle rack and bake approximately 12 minutes for rolls and 25-45 minutes for loaves, depending on size.

I have a note in my recipe binder:  “Excellent – first made in March, 1988.   From a library book, Miss Mary’s.”

I like to keep at least 3 thick slices of homemade bread in my freezer for the times when my oldest son stops by for breakfast.  He loves toasted homemade bread with his bacon and eggs.

For dessert we had an old favorite which I posted in October of 2007, Old Fashioned Plum Streusel Pie.  It was delicious – the purple plums seemed especially flavorful.

Happy 77th – to me!

Actually, my birthday isn’t until Wednesday, but my two daughters and I like to celebrate birthdays the entire weekend before the big day.  So, on Friday evening my oldest daughter showed up for her usual weekend visit with flowers and two pints of gelato – let the fun begin!

When I went to the kitchen on Saturday morning I found a gift on the table to think about until my daughter got up for breakfast.

It was two towels, hand-embroidered redwork with horses – I’m sure they’re harness horses.

We met my youngest daughter and her two children for lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant and did some shopping in the afternoon.

On Sunday morning, on the kitchen table was the most gorgeous box that was shaped like a book – and I wondered if it might be a book or a box with something wonderful in it.

It was indeed a box with some amazing contents:  An 1883 autograph book that belonged to a woman living in Cozaddale, Ohio – a small town close to where we live.  Each page was filled with sentimental verses in the most elegant handwriting.  Did everyone write that beautifully in the 1880s?  In addition, there was a handwritten list by the woman’s daughter identifying the people who had contributed to the book.  Then, my daughter had taken it further by finding census records for the people and information on Cozaddale, as well as locating a book written in 1960 about the founder.

And the day had just begun.  At lunchtime, my youngest daughter, her husband and children came for dinner, after which there were more gifts including a Garrison Keiller CD, a Minnesota State Fair book, microwave steamer dishes, a big brass alarm clock with an alarm I can actually hear, a new garden flag and a set of solar lights for the front yard,

…a candle, a Jadite hen covered dish, mini loaf pans, a drop cookie maker, embroidered pillow cases and embroidered redwork panels for me to use to make a quilt.

The grandchildren, known here as Jellyfish (10) and Dolphin (6), made their own special gifts.  They each made molded, fragrant soap and they made decorated boxes to hold the soap.  Dolphin also made a horse light catcher and Jellyfish worked with his mother in assembling a book of his photographs of my “favorite things” – family members, of course, and all kinds of neat things that are in my house.

As usual, the youngest daughter brought her renowned Best of Show White Cake with Caramel Frosting.  After cake and gifts, the girls, the grandchildren and I took a drive to – where else? – Cozaddale – a pretty drive on a late September day.

I was sorry to see everything end – and I don’t think it could all have been done in less than a weekend.