Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Old Family Things

Father Christmas holds court in the dining room.
Piggy Cookies
 Do you have Christmas decorations which have been passed down to you?

I don't, but my Father Christmas statue looks heirloom-like, isn't he elegant?  I bought him at a home discount store, he was happy to be rescued from that place I'm sure.

I do have an old family recipe for festive cookies that I'm going to share and listen, this is a big deal, it took me ten years to get this recipe!
I must warn you they are addictive.


Piggy Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbsp white sugar
4 eggs
mix all well
then add:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
6 Tbsp orange rind ( I use about 3 as I get tired of grating)
the grated rinds of 2 lemons (try to use organic citrus for the peels!)
4 to 5 cups of all-purpose flour

Mix the flour in (I do this by hand) until you get a dough that can be rolled easily, I end up using close to 5 cups of flour after adding extra flour to the rolling surface.
Roll out and cut into shapes, pigs are traditional but I use bells, angels and Christmas trees.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, then 350 for another 10 minutes.  Okay, these are the instructions but they didn't work for me, mine were done in 10 minutes (but I should add I have a fast convection oven.)

Make an easy icing:  mix the juice of your grated lemons with icing sugar until you have the consistency you like, add a drop of food coloring and drizzle over the cooled cookies.

If you'd like to store them for a week or so add an apple to your cookie tin, this will keep the Piggy Cookies fresh.  


Today I'm tucking in, baking more cookies and maybe a big pot of soup.  I'm feeling slightly poorly from a hideous dental visit yesterday afternoon and coziness is in order.
Hence my outfit of the day:
Kathy, Tabs WMM and Sulky Kitten this one's for you.
Those are UGG-like boots right there, my tall shearling boots in brown from La Canadienne.  I'm wearing them with Goldsign jeans, a Brora cashmere dress in navy and a navy wool shawl, also from Brora.
I hope your day is lovely and that you don't have to go to the dentist.
xoDani