December 5th
Cut-out Cookies

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3 c. flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
 
In a bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar and baking soda. Set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream butter with the sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Beat well.  Add the flour mixture until well combined. Cover the bowl and chill overnight.

Use a floured surface and roll small batches of dough to desired thickness for cutting out cookies in desired shapes.
Bake for 8-10 min. at 350° or until lightly browned on the edges.  Transfer to wire rack until cooled.

Powdered Sugar Frosting
1 lb box powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
milk, added to desired consistency
Whip all ingredients to frosting consistency, frost and sprinkle cookies.
Let sit overnight to set and store in airtight containers layered with wax paper or
parchment paper.

*Cook’s Note: This recipe for cut out cookies has been in our family for over 60 years.  I remember doing these with my mother, with my children, and I even won “Best Cookies from Home” when my son was in Kuwait in 2005/2006. 

Submitted by Wendy Roberts, Watertown, WI

December 4th
Chocolate Mint Cookies

3/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2T. water         
2 c. semi-sweet choc. chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 t. baking soda        
1/2 t. salt         
3 (4.5 oz. each) pkgs. chocolate covered mints like Andes)

In a saucepan over med. heat, cook sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted. Set aside to cool for 10 min. Pour chocolate mixture into large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda & salt. Stir into chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate dough 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls. Place 2″ apart on prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 8-10 min. Remove from oven. Press one mint wafer into top of each cookie. Let sit for 1 min..  When mint is soft, swirl with back of a spoon to make a pattern with the green filling of the mint. 

Submitted by R.J. Peterson (no hometown given)

December 3rd
Old Fashion Sugar Cookies

1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. butter
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. confectioners’ sugar
2 eggs
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cream of tartar
4 c. flour
 
Cream oil, butter, and both sugars. Mix in eggs. Blend in salt, soda, vanilla, cream of tartar, and flour. Roll into balls and press them down lightly on greased cookie sheets with a glass tumbler dipped in sugar (colorful sugar is great for holidays). They are also good without the additional sugar topping. Bake about 10-12 minutes at 350°.

Submitted by Dottie Lensinboltz, Richmond, VA

Pizzelle

6 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 sticks margarine, melted
2 T. vanilla or anise
3 1/2 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
Beat eggs adding sugar gradually. Beat until smooth. Add cooled melted margarine and vanilla or anise. Sift flour and baking powder and add to egg mixture. Dough will be sticky enough to be dropped onto pizzelle iron by spoon.
   Serve plain or dusted with powdered sugar. While hot, shape into a cone or roll into a cylinder and fill with your favorite cream filling. Store in an airtight container.
Cook’s notes: The dough is placed in the center of the motif of a pizzelle iron which resembles a waffle iron. Some models (single cookie) are held over a hot stovetop burner, but electric models are more popular as 2-3 cookies may be pressed at one time on Teflon or easy-to-clean surfaces. The iron presses a pattern into both sides of the thin golden-brown cookie which has a crisp texture once it is cooled.

Submitted by: from Sharon Greve, Durango, CO

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp soda

Cream shortening and sugar, add egg, vanilla and nuts. Blend. Stir in sifted, dry ingredients. Drop from teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Substitute for nuts: 1/2 cup coconut, candied cherries, chocolate pieces or raisins.

From Mae’s Cookie Recipe Box compiled by Mae Taylor, Sharpsville, PA

• 1 - 6 oz jar Kraft Pimento cheese
• 1 - 6 0z jar Kraft Roka Blue cheese
• 1 - 6 oz jar Kraft Old English cheese
• 1 - 8 oz tub of soft Philadelphia cream cheese
• sprinkle garlic power to your taste
• for cheese ball, roll in pecan pieces

Mix all ingredients with a mixer or by hand. If you want a hard cheese ball use regular cream cheese instead of soft.

- submitted by Diane Osborn of Ft. Wayne, IN. Her favorite shop is Nancy J’s Fabrics in Wabash.

Celebrate Spring at Hudson’s General Store
Meet Folk Artists!
Hudson’s General Store
Clarksville, DE - Phone: (302) 539-8709

The Indiana Wine Fair is April 30
Our largest annual event, the Indiana Wine Fair, is right around the corner. Advance ticket pre-sales end April 15. The window of opportunity will soon be closing, so save five bucks off the $20 admission price by ordering your tickets HERE.

Do you live near Bloomington? Ditch the car and take the “Bacchus Bus”!
This year, we’ll be offering a shuttle bus from the Orange Lot near IU’s Assembly Hall. Free parking all day courtesy of our friends at Indiana University. You may reserve a spot on the “Bloomington Bacchus Bus” HERE.

“Bacchus hath drowned more men than Neptune”
–Eratosthenes

Make it a Weekend.
Join us on Friday evening, April 29, for “Wine and all that Jazz”, a musical gala to benefit Brown County Citizens’ Scholarships. Wine tasting 6:30-800 p.m., show from 8:00-10:00 p.m. Admission is $15 at the gate; you may also buy your tickets in advance at the Story Inn.

Jacquelynne Steves of The Noble Wife
Fabric & Pattern Designer
Will be making a presentation at Needles & Pins,
Saturday, Feb 26th @ 2pm - new date
Please call to reserve a spot
$2 reservation fee, but will be refunded at that days purchase
Prizes & unannounced discounts will be revealed at presentation
Needles & Pins Quilt & Fabric Shop
1438 Kings Highway, Swedesboro, NJ 08085
www.needles-pins-nj.com