Holiday Sweets

I make many different kinds of cookies and sweets around the holiday season and will often try something new but each year there are a few special ones.  These are the cookies and baking that I make every year without fail, they are the must have favorites that everybody loves.  

These recipes are all tried and tested traditional items which mostly come from several recipe books which are older than I am and which never fail to please.  Gingerbread, ginger snaps, sugar cookies and shortbread make the short list and I thought I’d share mine, and my whole families, favorite one.

Ginger Snaps

Bake at 375˚ for 8-10 minutes

 ¾ cup shortening

1 cup Sugar

¼ Cup molasses

1 egg

2 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

small bowl of white sugar

Pre-heat oven to 375˚

In a small saucepan melt shortening at low temp then transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Slowly add sugar, molasses and egg stirring constantly.

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add slowly to shortening mixture.

Blend well before forming into teaspoon sized balls.

Roll balls in the small bowl of sugar and then place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Flatten with a fork.

Bake for 8-10minutes.

Allow to cool and enjoy. 

One More Christmas

We have one last Christmas event tonight joining friends for a traditional Ukrainian Christmas dinner.  The second of the year in fact as we shared Christmas Eve with my husband’s brother and his in-laws who made a fantastic traditional dinner.

This is a new experience for both my husband and me.  My husband is of Ukrainian descent but didn’t grow up with these traditions; I’m not Ukrainian at all although my heritage does lend itself to a few similarities including dishes such as borscht and cabbage rolls.

I have made attempts to make some of the traditional Ukrainian dishes with my husband and he can make some very good pyrizhky which is a bun filled with meat or sauerkraut but neither of us can make pyrohy (perogies). 

Well at least not the type you would be inclined to enjoy or that doesn’t result in a kitchen absolutely covered in flour.  It seems making good pyrohy takes a bit of practice, or that there must be some little trick to them that I just don’t get. I’m not a bad cook but bread and dough is certainly not my strong suit and Ukrainian dishes do seem to have a lot of bread and dough involved.

It’s interesting to note how these little things seem to be more important as we get older.  It seems not just to us but many of our friends that knowing more about our heritage, where we came from and what the traditions are become more important as we age.

I know a lot of my family history thanks to my mother who has completed rather exhaustive genealogical records of both sides of my family but my husband who has always connected to the Ukrainian side of his heritage knows much less than he would like to about it.

I’m sure we will both enjoy the evening even if neither of us is quite sure what it is we’re all eating.