Christmas | Good Dinner Mrs Mellen

Category: Christmas
- Eggnog Cheese Cake with Cranberry-Cherry Topping
  
  Posted at 9:23 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 5th
  Who doesn’t love cheesecake? That rich, creamy taste savored with each bite, a sweet treat that is the perfect finish for any meal! The variety and texture of cheesecakes are endless. Cheesecake can be very dense and heavy or light and fluffy. You can use graham crackers, chocolate cookies, or pastry for the crust and fill it with your favorite recipe. I guess you can tell I love making all types of cheesecakes. Also, flavorings and toppings are endless to create wonderfully tasty cakes for special occasions.
  
  At Christmas, I like to make an Eggnog cheesecake topped with cranberries and cherry preserves for a festive dessert table.
  I like this recipe because it is light with a baking method that ensures the cheesecake doesn’t crack. I made either a fruit topping, or if you prefer, you can make a whipped cream topping sprinkled with sparkly candied crystals.
  
  CRUST
  
  2 ¼ cups (302g) graham cracker crumbs
  
  ½ cup (112g) salted butter, melted
  
  3 tbsp (39g) sugar
  
  1/2 tsp nutmeg
  
  FILLING
  
  24 ounces (678g) cream cheese, room temperature
  
  1 cup (207g) sugar
  
  3 tbsp (24g) all purpose flour
  
  1 cup (230g) eggnog
  
  3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  
  4 large eggs, room temperature
  
  TOPPING
  
  1 12-ounce jar cherry preserves
  
  1 cup cranberries
  
  1 tablespoon brandy or rum
  
  CRUST
  
  Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan with parchment paper in the bottom and grease the sides.
  Combine the crust ingredients in a small bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan.
  Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
  Cover the outsides of the pan with aluminum foil so that water from the water bath cannot get in. Set prepared pan aside.
  
  CHEESECAKE FILLING
  
  Reduce oven to 300°F (148°C).
  In a large mixer bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar,
  
  and flour until well combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter, which can cause cracks). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  
  Add the eggnog and nutmeg and mix on low speed until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
  Pour the cheesecake filling into crust and spread evenly.
  
  Place springform pan (covered with aluminum foil) inside another larger pan. Fill the larger pan with enough warm water to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil on the springform pan.
  Bake for 1 hour and 30-40 minutes.
  
  Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 30 minutes.
  
  Crack the oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for about 30 minutes.
  Remove cheesecake from oven and chill until firm, 5-6 hours or overnight
  
  TOPPING
  
  Cook and stir cherry preserves and cranberries in a small saucepan over medium heat until preserves are melted and cranberries start to pop. Stir in 1 tablespoon of brandy or rum. Cool for 30 minutes.
  
  Remove the cheesecake from the pan. Spoon topping over prepared cheesecake. Refrigerate the cheesecake until ready to serve. Cheesecake is best for 3-4 days.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Cake, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, Dessert, desserts, Elegant, entertaining, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Holiday Celebrations | Tagged Cheesecake, Cherries, Christmas Dessert, Cranberries
- It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas
  
  Posted at 9:48 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Nov 29th
  I love Christmas! Christmas is a magical time, filled with love and joy, gathering with family and friends, decorating, baking and cooking, and living in New England snow! Each year I promise that I will not go overboard – curtain my decorating frenzy – embrace a minimalistic style – each year, I break my promise! I can’t help myself as I begin opening my stored Christmas decorations- how can I not use all my beautiful treasures lovingly collected over the years.
  And so it begins…… My tradition the day after Thanksgiving is not to rise early for Black Friday (nothing wrong with a day of retail therapy); I start my day watching the sunrise and decorating for Christmas. I begin in my dining room by unpacking my Lenox Holiday china – my children’s gifts to me – washing each piece. I remember the Christmases when they were small; their eyes filled with anticipation as I opened my special gift – then I replace my regular china with my Holiday China. Each year I get so many lovely compliments on my china.
  
  Now I can enjoy my China and I use it all for entertaining and Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner.
  
  The dining room gets a fancy dressing to host family holiday meals
  
  In the living room, we go all out with gold decorations on the tree and throughout the room. I have been called a golden girl! I love all that glitters and is gold.
  
  I can’t seem to add enough to this fireplace mantel!
  
  This little gold tree is my first Christmas decoration that my husband and I bought the first year we married. I was walking to work past a display shop where I saw this tree in the window. I went in and asked the owner if I could buy the tree. And although it was not a retail shop, he sensed my excitement and sold me the tree for twenty dollars.
  
  Years ago, when my oldest son was two years old, I made this ceramic Christmas Village. Years later, his son, my oldest grandchild, loves the village; he spends hours playing with the town just like his father.
  
  This nativity set was a gift from my mother the first year we were married. She lovingly made the figures in rich colors decorated with jewels – my style!
  
  My husband, Chris, many years ago started collection Department 56 Christmas in the City; his collection grew over the years with a gift from our children.
  In our family room with a high ceiling, we find the tallest tree on the lot and decorate it with ornaments given to us by family and friends. The room and the tree is simmering in deep burgundy and – did I say I love gold- gold!
  
  My kitchen hutch becomes a backdrop for my collection of Santas and Santa dishes.
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Cup-Christmas-Tea-Tom-Hegg/dp/1939881099
  
  So many beautiful remembrances – memories our family cherishes, and we now share with the next generation.
  Once I’m finished, I sit down with my special teacup and read ‘A Christmas Cup of Tea’ to my four grandchildren!
  So begins ‘The most wonderful time of the year’!
  
  Enjoy!
  
  P.S. I’d love to hear about your family traditions!
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  Posted in Christmas, Christmas decorating, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas decorating
- Victoria Magazine November/December Holiday Issue
  
  Posted at 9:36 am by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Oct 8th
  Once again, I am honored and grateful to have an essay featured in Victoria Magazine. And did I mention, in the November/December Holiday issue, I am beside myself! If you read my blog, you understand that I am a Christmas fanatic, decorating every room in the house, baking copious quantities of cookies – rumored to be over one thousand delectable morsels – and hosting Christmas festivities for family and friends. One year our home was on the Christmas House tour to benefit Dedham Civic Pride.
  
  My essay in Victoria, “The Christmas Tea Party,” is the story of the first Christmas tea hosted by my daughter Mandi and I for her friends and their mothers. So began our love affair celebrating memorable moments with tea parties. A tradition that we continue to this day.
  
  Victoria’s tag line “Victoria nourishes the feminine soul and promises a return to loveliness.” doesn’t disappoint. And November/December issue is a magical look at Christmas celebrations, decorating, and food from all over the world.
  
  I hope you enjoy reading my story!
  
  Below is the link to the issue.
  
  November/December 2020
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  Posted in Christmas, Holiday Celebrations, Tea Party | Tagged Christmas tea, Christmas traditions, Tea Party, Victoria magazine
- CHOCOLATE CHIP PEANUT BUTTER BARS
  
  Posted at 12:30 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 23rd
  I love these bars cookies, not only are they a hit with family and friends but they are quick and easy to make. Who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate chips and peanut butter? If you are not a baker these beauties are a good first cookie to try and I know that you will make them over and over again. Don’t wait until Christmas make them for any occasion. I was so happy to have my daughter Mandi to bake these with me!
  
  2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
  
  1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
  
  1 1/2 cup flour
  
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1/2 cup chopped peanuts
  
  2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
  
  1 beaten egg
  
  1 14 ounce can sweeten condensed milk
  
  1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  
  Preheat oven 350F
  
  Combine oats, brown sugar, four, baking powder, soda in a very large mixing bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in chopped peanuts
  
  Combine 1 3/4 cups of crumb mixture with chocolate pieces and set aside. Stir egg into remain mixture: press int a 15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes.
  
  Stir together sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter until well blended. Carefully pour peanut butter mixture evenly over the baked cookie layer. Sprinkle with chocolate crumb mixture
  
  Return pan to oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more until edges are golden. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 48 .
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, Christmas cookies
- Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies with White Chocolate
  
  Posted at 4:17 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 22nd
  Big chewy Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies are a family favorite and I make them all year long. Christmas I sprinkle colored sugar to add a festive touch! They are so easy to make and my grandchildren love to help, especially decorating with the colored sugar!
  
  Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies with White Chocolate
  
  1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
  
  1 cup boiling water
  
  1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  
  2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  
  2 large eggs
  
  3 cups all-purpose flour
  
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  
  1 teaspoon kosher salt
  
  1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  
  1 cup white chocolate chips
  
  3 (4-ounce) white chocolate baking bars, coarsely chopped
  
  3 tablespoon shortening
  
  In a small bowl combine cranberries and boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes, drain.
  
  In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  
  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour to the mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined. Add oats, chocolate, and cranberries; until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  
  Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  
  Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon to form a ball and place 2 inches apart on prepared pan
  
  Bake until lightly brown, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool on pans for 3 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks. Dip in melted chocolate*. Sprinkle with colored sugar. Let stand until chocolate is set.
  
  *Microwave white chocolate and shortening in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl on HIGH 1 minute or until chocolate melts, stirring once. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate, letting excess drip back into the bowl. Place dipped cookies on wax paper; let stand until firm.
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Oatmeal Cranberry cookies, White Chocolate
- Oatmeal Cherry Thumbprints
  
  Posted at 12:45 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 15th
  I do love to bake cookies, yes they do take time to make but so worth all your effort. My fondest memories of Christmas are helping my mother bake. One of my jobs was to use my grandmother’s cast iron single pizzelle mold. My mother would make the dough and then it was my job to hold the mold on the stove and cook on each side just until the cookie was done. The mold only made one cookie at a time. I retired mold but the wonderful remembrances live on and keep me baking copious cookies quantities during the Christmas season. A tradition I am passing along to my grandchildren.
  
  Oatmeal Cherry Rounds are easy to make, simply delicious, and add a festive look to any cookie collection. If you are a cookie virgin I would suggest these Oatmeal cookies as a great first cookie to bake. I used red cherries, you can use red and green cherries or pecan in the center it is also nice.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1 cup brown sugar
  
  1 egg
  
  1/2 tsp vanilla
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 tsp cinnamon
  
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  
  1/2 tsp salt
  
  1 1/2 cup oatmeal (quick cook)
  
  1/4 cup sugar
  
  1 package(4 oz) red cherries
  
  Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Cream butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. If you plan to be a baker invest in a stand mixer to make the task quick and easy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well mixed. Combine dry ingredients and add to cream mixture, stir in oats. Shape dough into small balls and roll in sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Cut cherries in half and press half in center of ball pressing down to flatten cookie. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, Easy recipe, oatmeal cherry rounds
- Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint Cookie
  
  Posted at 3:30 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 9th
  Chocolate, caramel and sea salt, a perfect combination for a Christmas cookie. Each year I make copious quantities of Christmas cookies to give to friends and family. I love sharing my creations celebrating the true meaning of the season. My cookie gift list grows each year with requests from friends of friends who have tasted my cookies. Throughout the year I search for interesting containers that can be used by the recipients after all the cookies are gone.
  
  This cookie has become one of my family’s favorite since they all love chocolate and caramel dusted with sea salt then drizzled with chocolate glaze!
  
  COOKIE DOUGH:
  
  1 cup flour
  
  Generous 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  
  1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
  2/3 cup granulated sugar
  
  1 large egg yolk
  
  1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
  1/2 cup fine granulated sugar
  
  CARAMEL FILLING:
  
  1/2 package caramels, unwrapped
  
  2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
  
  1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus about 1/2 tsp. for sprinkling
  
  2 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar
  
  1 teaspoon shortening
  
  PREPARATION:
  
  1. Make cookies: Preheat oven to 350°. Sift flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add egg yolk, cream, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
  
  2. Scoop dough into rounded 1-tsp. portions and roll into balls, then roll balls in sparkling or powdered sugar to coat. Place 2 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. With the end of a thick-handled wooden spoon, gently press an indentation into the center of each cookie. Bake until cookies is just set, about 10 minutes. (The depressions tend to fill in a bit as they bake, so as soon as they’re out of the oven, give them another press with the spoon if necessary.) Slide parchment with cookies onto cooling racks and let cool.
  
  3. Make the caramel: Place caramels in a small heavy saucepan with the cream. Heat to boiling lower heat stirring until caramels are melted.
  
  4. Assemble cookies: Spoon about 1/4 tsp. caramel into each cookie, then sprinkle with a few grains of sea salt.
  
  5. Microwave chocolate and shortening on high for 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is smooth. Drizzle over cookies.
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Baking, Baking, Chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged caramel, chocolate, Chocolate Caramel Thumbprint cookie, Christmas cookies
- Christmas Memories
  
  Posted at 4:26 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 1st
  CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
  
  When the last burnished Autumn leaves float effortlessly to the frosted ground sounding like cinnamon hot cocoa Christmas memories join anticipation heralding the arrival of my favorite time of the year – Christmas. A glorious season I observe with food, decorating, celebrations, and most important family and friends. Time for our family members to return home, coming together once again, making new holiday memories while remembering our past Christmases including our cherished holiday traditions.
  
  Oh, how I love Christmas traditions even as a very young child. The Christmases of my childhood were filled with excitement waking up Christmas morning to find our living room magically transformed into a beautiful Christmas scene while we children were soundly sleeping in our beds. My parents would wait until after we went to bed to decorate the biggest tree my dad could find, then lovingly, they wrapped all our gifts during the early morning hours getting no sleep before we excitedly woke to see if Santa had visited our home. We were never disappointed when we all flew into the living room to see that yes Santa had been hard at work throughout the night. I can still feel my excitement stepping into the living room my breath held tightly as I viewed with wonder fill child eyes the beautiful Christmas tree decorated by my mother. Mother crafted her tree so each light, ornament, and how can I forget that tacky silver tinsel – placed strand by strand – was in perfect harmony. I adored seeing the tree for the first time each year!
  
  I learned from my parents that Christmas was a special time to share with family and friends as a steady stream of guests visited our home. One of my favorite Christmas memories happened on cold snowy Christmas morning when I was nine years old. We had just finished opening our presents when there was a knock at our door. My Dad opened the door to find a group of family friends who braved the snow-covered roads, barely making it up the steep hill leading to our home, for a Christmas morning visit. My parents graciously welcomed their guests even at six o’clock in the morning with food and hot coffee. After our guests were fed, warmed, enjoying my parent’s famous hospitality, I played Christmas songs on the piano with everyone robustly singing along! That Christmas morning so long ago lives forever in my heart.
  
  As I became older I actively participated in our family traditions going with my Dad to purchase our tree, I decorated not only our tree but throughout our home, helping my mother bake copious amounts of cookies for our guests to enjoy during Christmas visits. My mother, an accomplished cook, and baker gave me the important responsibility of making Pizzelles with my grandmother’s cast iron pizzelle mold. First, she made the dough from my grandmother’s special recipe passed down through generations. Next, my important two-fold role was putting just the right amount of dough on the hot pizzelle mold then standing over the stove burner making sure that I turned the mold over at just the right second to insure that each pizzelle were perfectly thin and crisp to Mother’s exact specifications.
  
  All my cherished Christmas memories return to me each December as I await the return home of my grown family to share in our holiday festivities. I to deck the halls just as I learned from my Mother. Christmas starts for me the day after Thanksgiving, not with shopping on Black Friday, but with decorating. When our children were young their Christmas gifts to me were festive Lenox Christmas china for holiday entertaining. Every year my decorating starts with displaying my Christmas china in the dining room china cabinet. Like crisp New England mornings with a dusting of snow seeing Christmas china in the cabinet signals to our family, the Christmas holiday season has begun. Now I decorate throughout our home with abandonment while memories of Christmases past live again flowing back to me as I lovingly unwrap so many special decorations including the beautiful nativity figurines that my mother made for me and my husband for our first Christmas. Once each room is thoroughly dressed in Christmas finery I can turn my full attention to baking Christmas cookies. Yes, I still make Pizzelles with my grandmother’s monogrammed mold, part of her trousseaux, using my family’s special recipe, perfectly thin and crisp as my mother taught me so long ago. My baking takes, according to my family, mythical proportions with the rumor circulating through our family that I actually bake thousands of cookies! Never having counted my cookies I only know that tin after tin magically appears lining the shelves of my pantry where pounds of flour, sugar, chocolate, nuts, and preserves formerly resided. Each year my cookie assortment contains old favorites as well as new recipes that I can’t resist adding to my cookie collection. Trays of cookies greet guests as they visit with the remaindering cookies packed in holiday tins for family and friends near and far.
  
  Preserving my maternal family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner celebration I serve the Italian Feast of seven fishes, Festa dei sette pesci, in honor of my grandmother Theresa. Christmas day finds our home, just like my childhood home, decked in holiday finery, doors open wide, welcoming family and friends for festive merrymaking. Gathering around our large table, enjoying Christmas dinner, we toast with gratitude our good fortunes, especially that we are all together to celebrate another special Christmas. After our guests leave I sit by the fire savoring the day as memories of Christmas’s past play in my mind like a cherished old movie.
  
  Like Scrooge, I can only hope that my epitaph will be “She knew how to keep Christmas well”
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  Posted in Christmas, Christmas decorating, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen, Holiday Celebrations | Tagged Christmas, Christmas decorating, Christmas traditions, holiday, memories
- Paperwhites for Winter Blooms
  
  Posted at 4:38 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Nov 3rd
  I can’t remember when I started forcing bulbs for winter blooms, I just know that I love the look of fresh flowering bulbs throughout my home. Bulbs are easy to find in garden centers, grocery stores, and specialty gift stores. A few years ago I discovered a great site* to order healthy large bulbs that bloom profusely during the Holidays.
  
  My favorites to force are Amaryllis and Paperwhites. If you are a novice to forcing bulbs my suggestion would be to start with Paperwhites. I’ve used both the recommended methods for forcing; either in water surrounded by pebbles or planted in soil.
  
  How to Grow Paperwhites in Pebbles and Water
  
  Select a container with tall sides. Glass containers and vases are fun because you can watch the roots grow. Pour pebbles into the bottom of the container to a depth of 1-2 inches. (You can also use decorative glass stones.)
  Add water to the container so it just barely reaches the tops of the pebbles.
  Place the bulbs on top of the pebbles, pointy side-up.
  Set the container in a bright sunny area and watch for growth.
  Monitor water levels so the water is always just barely reaching the tops of the pebbles. You do not want the bulbs to sit in water. The water method is very quick and you can expect blooms in 2-3 weeks.
  
  How to Plant Paperwhites in Soil
  
  Select a shallow container if planting your own. Paperwhites only need 3-4 inches to grow, so a six-inch deep container is plenty!
  Fill the container 1/3 of the way with a well-drained potting mix.
  Plant the bulbs, pointy side up, shoulder to shoulder in the container.
  Cover the bulbs with soil so that the tips just barely peek out of the soil.
  
  Water until the soil is about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. Set the container somewhere sunny and watch the bulbs grow! Keep the soil slightly moist as the plants’ bloom. I start my bulbs in soil 4-6 weeks before I want them to bloom.
  
  Really pack your pots full if growing paperwhites in soil. That will create a full display of blooms and reduce the risk of plant stems flopping
  
  * www.Easytogrowbulbs.com
  
  Enjoy!
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  Posted in Christmas, Christmas decorating | Tagged bulbs, easytogrowbulbs, Holidaydecorating, paperwhites
- Sandies
  
  Posted at 12:23 pm by Good Dinner Mrs Mellen
  
  Dec 18th
  My love of baking started when I helped my Mother bake cookies at Christmas time. Since then I’ve never stopped baking cookies for Christmas. Baking isn’t very hard and I am always amazed when I hear people say I don’t like to bake. What’s not to like, sugar, butter, chocolate, all those wonderful ingredients in one place. Baking is very precise, you need to measure the correct amount of ingredients and follow the recipe especially if you’re a beginner. Once you get some experience with baking you can add your personality. Christmas cookies make wonderful personal gifts to share with family and friends. And so many beautiful boxes, bags, tins can be used as containers for your cookies gifts.
  
  A few tips that will help novice bakers. Read all the recipe through before you start and assemble everything that you need. Do any preparation before you start, if the recipe calls for chopped nuts, chop and set aside, eggs separated, the same thing. This will make the flow of baking so much easier. Only use unsalted butter. I love Cabot, it’s made in Vermont by the cheddar people, I’m not sure if this butter is available outside of New England. The first time you try a recipe always bake for less time than the recipe calls for and then add additional minutes if needed. Unless your oven is calibrated perfectly and even then, ovens do bake differently. Nothing is worse than over baked cookies, cakes, etc. Dry is not good!
  
  At Christmas, I just start baking cookies and stop when I don’t have any more time left. I have so many recipes and cookie cookbooks and I keep buying more, I just can’t help myself. I try out one or two new cookies each year to see if I can find another favorite for my holiday tradition. The two recipes that I have included below are some of the first cookies that I make with my mother. These cookies are very basic and easy to make. Out of tradition, I make them every year and I want to share them with you.
  
  Sandies – These are wonderful cookies to make a few weeks ahead of time because they keep very well.
  
  1 cup butter
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  2 teaspoons vanilla
  
  2 teaspoons water
  
  2 cups flour
  
  1 cup chopped pecans
  
  1 cup confectionery sugar- for rolling cookies after baking
  
  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, and water. Add flour and mix well. Stir in pecans. Shape into small balls. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet in 325 F over for 20 minutes. Remove. Cool slightly. Roll in confectionery sugar
  
  An easy way to do this is to put sugar in a plastic bag and add 3-4 cookies and gently shake around to coat cookies. Or you can put sugar in a bowl and roll around to coat.
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  Posted in Baking, Christmas, Christmas Recipes, cookies, Dessert, desserts, Food, Good Dinner Mrs Mellen | Tagged Christmas cookies, easy, pecans
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