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PEGGY'S
LITTLE
CORNER
Christmas Bakes
The season marches forward with Christmas bakes, and I try a few experiments on some old favorites
December 25, 2019

Everyone is in the Christmas spirit this year, and what a quick season it is! With Thanksgiving so close to Christmas, all the usual cheer seems to have been compressed. My mother came to spend the day with us on baking day, which threw a different dynamic on the day. I had planned to spread the baking over two days, letting the dough chill for a day, but my mother didn’t want to content herself with Christmas cookie dough. So, I began baking in assembly line fashion, while my daughter and mother played Christmas songs on the TV — a slight imbalance of Christmas duties.
I have found over the years that chilling the dough makes it easier to work with, and the results turn out much better. However, soon I found myself blasting through all my old favorites: gingerbreads, Russian teacakes, raisin-filled cookies, coconut macaroons, and sugar cookies shaped like our sheep. Only the raisin and pecan jumbo cookies were omitted this year. There were simply too many bakes to eat in such a short time. Without the chilling process, I really had to call upon every skill I possess as a baker. Some extra flour, working the dough as little as possible, using spatulas, and working quickly, were sufficient for most of the batches, though the gingerbread gave me some fits, and the raisin-filled cookies weren’t as neat as they usually are. Still, the sights and smells must have gotten to my son, because soon after the first batch of sugar cookie sheep were laid on the farm table, he was heard sawing away a jig on his violin. If he gets very excited, he’ll cycle through every instrument in the house!
I also tried a couple of new shapes this year, opting to flatten the Russian tea cakes, rather than make tiny spheres. Having a sweet tooth, I have never liked that the little balls of confection have only a light dusting of powdered sugar on the outside. Flattening them, I believed, meant more sugar to enjoy. Unfortunately, the flattened tea cakes were met with some opposition by my daughter, who doesn’t have a sweet tooth. She returned the favor by using one batch of my gingerbreads to press into the springerle mold. The results were lovely, very striking, so much that I may repeat a batch next year in the same shapes, but she didn’t heed my warning and take them out when I advised her. The results, far from just looking like tile could have been used as tile. Even milk was insufficient to soften them!
I’ll have another smaller bake day closer to Christmas, when I make the pecan tarts. Because the mixture calls for egg yolks, I don’t want to risk spoilage by baking them too early. With that done, however, all the baking will have been completed, the shopping finished, and all packages placed under the tree. Unfortunately, Harry can’t leave the packages alone and they all have bows missing. Oh well, puppy dogs love Christmas packages too. Merry Christmas!

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October 19, 2020

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October 12, 2020

Cool days give a taste of fall weather. I spend some time in the greenhouse and muse over the animals enjoying the day

Spring bulbs arrive for next year and Harry discovers a toad

I begin the porch project with some early painting and decorate for the season

Non-native problems continue but I tarry on with the season all the same.

Anniversaries can never just run smoothly, can they?

I start looking towards the holidays with an old fashioned recipe, and I look backwards as I transplant some wildflowers

The old yew bushes are removed to make way for a porch face-lift, and I attend to some inside repairs

Some late season planting, ordering bulbs for the coming year, and tackling a new antique project

August 17, 2020

Where has time gone? Visiting a familiar old house that has gone to ruin.

July 12, 2020

The stars and moon align to make a magical Fourth of July

July 3, 2020

The weather has switched to summer heat and it is searing. Time for the garden to explode with weeds and produce.

June 27, 2020

It's my birthday again. Strawberries are in season, and I spend some time hauling rocks . . . again.

June 20, 2020

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January 25, 2020

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January 19, 2020

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January 13, 2020

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January 6, 2020

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December 25, 2019

The season marches forward with Christmas bakes, and I try a few experiments on some old favorites

December 7, 2019

With Christmas on its way, I take a look at the 400+ seedlings in the basement, and Harry helps . . . or so he thinks.

November 30, 2019

I substitute an old favorite in our rarely altered traditional meal, and my family and I head to the tree farm again

November 24, 2019

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November 17, 2019

After so much heat, and still so much green hanging on the trees, an early snow surprises us all

November 9, 2019

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October 31, 2019

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October 20, 2019

The frost finally shows up and autumn activities accelerate to match the change in weather

October 13, 2019

I scurry around gathering seed tops and cuttings for spring 2020

October 6, 2019

When we should be thinking of hot drinks, the weather keeps summer barreling into fall, which makes late season gardening miserable

September 30, 2019

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