National Cookie Day
Today
is National Cookie Day! This is a day when British people begin their Christmas
baking to give as gifts and serve at the holiday celebrations, but more
importantly, this is a day when they bake their cookies for Santa!
In
addition to National Cookie Day, a day is perfect for celebrating with the
cookie of your choice, there are several National Days dedicated to specific
cookies, such as the Fig Newton, Brownie, Gingersnap, and Oatmeal Cookie. In
fact there is a day dedicated to one type of cookie or another eleven months of
the year, giving us plenty of days to celebrate with cookies all year long. The
annual National Cookie Day fun kicks off with Shortbread Day on January 6 and
wraps up with National Pfeffernuesse Day, December 23.
This holiday is for honoring and enjoying the sweet flavor of cookies and sharing them with friends and family. Let this holiday remind you of fond memories of days gone by. Let today be the day you learn to bake new cookie recipes and learn to decorate a cookie in a new way. Let today be the day you buy a new cookie cutter and enjoy using it by baking homemade cookies. Let today be the day you sit down with a tall cold glass of milk or hot coffee, a large plate of fresh cookies, and have no guilt at eating them all up.
ReplyDeleteNational Cookie Day is a minor holiday, celebrating cookies in all their sugary glory. It occurs on December 4th of every year, but is not widely observed.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje," which means little cake? Dutch bakers used to test oven temperatures on small amounts of batter so that they would not waste the entire cake mix if the temperature wasn't right. It was not long before they discovered that these tiny pieces of cooked batter were actually quite tasty!
Cookies come in all different flavors, shapes, and sizes. To celebrate National Cookie Day, bake a few batches of your favorite variety and invite your friends over for a cookie swap!
There’s something seriously satisfying about dunking a homemade cookie into a tall glass of cold milk. Knowing that the plate before you is piled high with mini labors of love is up there on the "things to make you happy" list.
ReplyDeleteCookies are not particularly hard to make, but perfecting the technique can take some practice. Here are some useful tips:
- Take the time to make sure your ingredients are room temperature. Butter and eggs can sit on the kitchen counter overnight without catastrophe.
- To ensure even sizing, use a small ice cream scoop to portion out your cookies. This will help them all bake evenly.
- Speaking of cooking evenly, most ovens have one spot or side that cooks faster than the other. If this is the case for you, rotate your cookies half way through baking.
- Don’t forget to use a non-stick spray or wax paper to prevent your morsels from sticking. There’s nothing worse than cookies stuck to the pan.
- Be patient! Let the cookies cool after baking. Use a spatula to move them from the baking sheet to a wire rack.
- For chewy cookies, pull them out a minute or two shy of the recommended baking time. The patience rule still applies though.
- While it may be delicious, don’t eat too much of the raw cookie dough. It’ll leave you with a stomach ache and is potentially hazardous to your health.
Also this day is a birthday of Gemma Jones (born 4 December 1942). She is an English character actress on both stage and screen.
ReplyDeleteShe was first recognised outside the UK in 1974, after playing the Empress Frederick in the BBC television drama series 'Fall of Eagles'. But the youth could remeber her as Bridget's mother Pam Jones in 'Bridget Jones's Diary' (2001) and Poppy Pomfrey in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' (2002), reprising her role in 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' (2009) and 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' (2011).
Samuel Butler (1835 –1902), born on this day, was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism. Butler also made prose translations of the Iliad and Odyssey which remain in use to this day.
ReplyDeleteThomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881) was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era. He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.
ReplyDeleteComing from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was expected to become a preacher by his parents, but while at the University of Edinburgh he lost his Christian faith. Calvinist values, however, remained with him throughout his life. His combination of a religious temperament with loss of faith in traditional Christianity, made Carlyle's work appealing to many Victorians who were grappling with scientific and political changes that threatened the traditional social order. He brought a trenchant style to his social and political criticism and a complex literary style to works such as The French Revolution: A History (1837). Dickens used Carlyle's work as a primary source for the events of the French Revolution in his novel A Tale of Two Cities.
Today, the 4th of December, the Brithish first Sunday newspaper was published - The Observer. It'sa British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a social liberal or social democratic line on most issues. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a fan of folk music, you need to know a few facts about Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973). She is an English folk singer and songwriter from Penistone, South Yorkshire. Also known as The Barnsley Nightingale, she has headlined various British national folk festivals, and is regarded as one of the most famous English folk singers of contemporary times. In 2001 The Guardian described her as "a superstar of the British acoustic scene." It's necessary to emphasize that she is one of the few folk singers to have been nominated for the Mercury Prize.
ReplyDeleteChocolate Reindeer Cookies Recipe
ReplyDeletePrep: 55 min. Bake: 15 min./batch
Yield: 64 Servings
55 15 70
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cubed
2 tablespoons water
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Miniature pretzels
Red shoestring licorice, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can chocolate frosting (16 ounces)
M&M's miniature baking bits, cherry sour balls and nonpareil-coated chocolate candies
Directions
In a large saucepan over low heat, cook the brown sugar, butter and water until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. Stir in eggs and extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; fold into chocolate mixture.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets; cover and freeze until firm. Transfer frozen cookie dough balls to a large resealable plastic freezer bag. May be frozen for up to 3 months.
To use frozen cookie dough: Place dough balls 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 13-15 minutes or until surface cracks. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Meanwhile, cut two rounded sides from each pretzel. Make a 3/4-in. cut in each licorice piece.
Working with a few cookies at a time, frost cookie and position pretzels for antlers, M&M's for eyes and a sour ball for the nose. Shape licorice for the mouth; place on cookie. Add nonpareil candies for a collar. Yield: about 5 dozen.