What We Did (and are doing) This Weekend:
Christmas Time Again
This one is coming out a little early because later tonight we're heading to Salt Lake City for Christmas with the Reynolds.
Yesterday (and actually all this week) was a little crazy in the kitchen. We definitely need a bigger one, but that's kind of besides the point. Wednesday night was our ward Christmas party, and I was asked to put together a slide show of our ward members to show at the end of the program. I finished things up on Wednesday morning, burned the videos to a DVD for easy playback, and then I had to start making the "queijadas." A queijada is a small tart-like pastry that they make in the town of Sintra, Portugal, and while I served in that area on my mission, I fell in love with them. We found a recipe a few years ago, but making them is an ordeal. But, I wanted to show off for the ward party.
Now back to yesterday. We were invited over to a friends house Friday night, so I knew there wouldn't be much time for everything we needed to do if I waited for Brookie to get home from work. So, at 7:00am, right when she left for work, I rolled the cookie dough we made the night before and baked four dozen sugar cookies.* They tortured me all day, and I only ate one (and that one was messed up anyway).
*Last year I tried just about every sugar cookie recipe I could find in a quest for the best one. I wanted a soft cookie that was not too sweet (because it usually has icing or frosting on the top, and if the cookie is too sweet, it's too much). After tons of 'research' I finally broke down and tried my mom's old recipe. It looked too simple to be great, but when I tasted those cookies it took me back about 20 years, and I imagined myself snitching unfrosted cookies when my mom wasn't looking. So I've come to this conclusion: The best sugar cookie recipe is probably the one you grew up on. Anything else just won't seem quite right.
When Brookie got home from work, it was klejner time! Klejners (like cline-ers) are a traditional Danish Christmas cookie. Our recipe makes about 28 dozen. Mmmmm. The story goes that Great-Grandma Miller made Klejners every year at Christmas time. Her daughter (Grandma Reynolds) wanted to learn the craft, but she would never show her how to make them. So Grandma Reynolds sought out another Danish woman in the neighbor and learned how to make klejners from her. Grandma (and my mom) taught us how to make them, and we do it every year. We mixed up the dough Thursday night, put it in the fridge to chill and cut and fried them Friday afternoon. We made 335 klejners in two hours -- a new record for quickest batch.
So by the time we went to a friends house Friday night, we were so sick of Christmas goodies that we didn't really want to help with the sugar cookies everyone was baking and decorating.
As for the rest of the weekend, we're flying tonight (during the Las Vegas Bowl--sigh), with a possibility of Cafe Rio for a late dinner. Tomorrow is Sunday, and that means church and family. And that's about it.
Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a great holiday season (and we hope your school of choice wins their bowl game...unless you're a Ute, in which case I just have one thing to say: Roll Tide! And Brookie would like to add: Go 'Bama Jama!)
Yesterday (and actually all this week) was a little crazy in the kitchen. We definitely need a bigger one, but that's kind of besides the point. Wednesday night was our ward Christmas party, and I was asked to put together a slide show of our ward members to show at the end of the program. I finished things up on Wednesday morning, burned the videos to a DVD for easy playback, and then I had to start making the "queijadas." A queijada is a small tart-like pastry that they make in the town of Sintra, Portugal, and while I served in that area on my mission, I fell in love with them. We found a recipe a few years ago, but making them is an ordeal. But, I wanted to show off for the ward party.
Now back to yesterday. We were invited over to a friends house Friday night, so I knew there wouldn't be much time for everything we needed to do if I waited for Brookie to get home from work. So, at 7:00am, right when she left for work, I rolled the cookie dough we made the night before and baked four dozen sugar cookies.* They tortured me all day, and I only ate one (and that one was messed up anyway).
*Last year I tried just about every sugar cookie recipe I could find in a quest for the best one. I wanted a soft cookie that was not too sweet (because it usually has icing or frosting on the top, and if the cookie is too sweet, it's too much). After tons of 'research' I finally broke down and tried my mom's old recipe. It looked too simple to be great, but when I tasted those cookies it took me back about 20 years, and I imagined myself snitching unfrosted cookies when my mom wasn't looking. So I've come to this conclusion: The best sugar cookie recipe is probably the one you grew up on. Anything else just won't seem quite right.
When Brookie got home from work, it was klejner time! Klejners (like cline-ers) are a traditional Danish Christmas cookie. Our recipe makes about 28 dozen. Mmmmm. The story goes that Great-Grandma Miller made Klejners every year at Christmas time. Her daughter (Grandma Reynolds) wanted to learn the craft, but she would never show her how to make them. So Grandma Reynolds sought out another Danish woman in the neighbor and learned how to make klejners from her. Grandma (and my mom) taught us how to make them, and we do it every year. We mixed up the dough Thursday night, put it in the fridge to chill and cut and fried them Friday afternoon. We made 335 klejners in two hours -- a new record for quickest batch.
So by the time we went to a friends house Friday night, we were so sick of Christmas goodies that we didn't really want to help with the sugar cookies everyone was baking and decorating.
As for the rest of the weekend, we're flying tonight (during the Las Vegas Bowl--sigh), with a possibility of Cafe Rio for a late dinner. Tomorrow is Sunday, and that means church and family. And that's about it.
Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a great holiday season (and we hope your school of choice wins their bowl game...unless you're a Ute, in which case I just have one thing to say: Roll Tide! And Brookie would like to add: Go 'Bama Jama!)
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