Merry Christmas Everyone--
"And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Ph. 4:7 KJV) No matter what your circumstances have been this past year, I truly pray you are blessed with the gift of Peace and a Christ-filled holiday season and new year.
This blog, American Historical Christian Fiction, hi-lights books by Christian authors who are led by the Lord to write about characters and stories set in America's past. They are exciting stories of romance, adventure and suspense, written to inspire and encourage.
So if you're considering holiday gifts for loved ones, or those who may need an uplifting message in words woven through an entertaining story, please consider the new releases in inspirational historical fiction found here--the kind that take you on a journey into our country's history (from early colonial times to WWII) and illuminates the beauty and blessings of our great nation.
Leave the holiday rush behind as you sit back, relax and delve into one of these great stories. As you do, enjoy the treat of a stained glass cookie and hot beverage. Check out the recipe below; melted lifesavers or clear hard candies of various colors make them look like real stained glass--besides being yummie!
(photo courtesy Kraft Kitchens)
STAINED GLASS COOKIES
Makes about 4 dozen cookies or 24 servings, 2 cookies each.
What you need:
(Substitute basic sugar cookie recipe if you prefer).
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
5 rolls (1-1/4 oz. each) ring-shaped hard candies
BEAT butter, sugar, honey, egg and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Place dough on lightly floured surface; roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with 2-1/2- to 3-inch floured cookie cutters. Trace smaller version of each cookie shape on dough, leaving 1/2- to 3/4-inch border of dough. Cut out and remove dough from center of each shape; set aside. Place cutouts on baking sheets covered with foil. Shape remaining dough into ball; re-roll to make additional cutouts.
CRUSH each color of candy separately between 2 layers of wax paper with mallet. Spoon crushed candy inside centers of cutouts.
BAKE 6 to 8 minutes or until candy is melted and cookies are lightly browned. Cool cookies completely before removing from foil.
Kitchen Tips
How to Make Cookies into Ornaments
Before baking cookies, use a drinking straw to poke a hole in the top of each cookie cutout. Bake and cool as directed. Thread a piece of ribbon through the hole to use for hanging.
Storage Know-How
Cookie dough can be wrapped tightly and refrigerated up to 1 week, or placed in freezer container and frozen up to 3 months.
While you're at it, call the youngsters together and make some decorative cinnamon shapes to hang from trees or wreaths. The smell of cinnamon and fresh balsam from trees or wreaths bring in the heavenly scents of Christmas and the outdoors--what a cozy way to spend a wintery afternoon! (By the way, smell is the strongest sense we have to bring back those precious memories and nostalgic recollections. What a lovely gift! Blessings to all...
CINNAMON CUT-OUT ORNAMENTS
These cinnamon creations not only look nice, but they also smell great! Bring the heavenly aroma of baking cookies to your home by making these decorative cinnamon ornaments.
Cinnamon cut-outs take time to dry. You can bake them in a 250°F oven to speed up the process, but be sure not to overbake them or to bake them at too high a temperature, or they'll crack. Cut-outs take one to two days to air dry. You might want to sand any rough edges with a piece of fine-grain sandpaper before painting them. A layer of varnish will protect your creations over the years.
Level: Moderately easy
Time involved: Two to three hours, plus one to two days to dry
Ingredients:
* Mixing bowl
* Spoon
* 1 cup ground cinnamon
* 2/3 cup applesauce
* 1 tablespoon white glue
* Rolling pin
* Cookie cutters
* Cookie sheets
* Paintbrush or skewer
* Fabric paints in squeeze bottles
1.Mix the cinnamon, applesauce, and glue in a bowl until they form stiff dough. If the mixture is too thin, add cinnamon; if too dry, add applesauce.
2.Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch on a surface lightly sprinkled with cinnamon. Cut shapes out of the dough using Christmas cookie cutters. Place the cinnamon shapes on a cookie sheet and make a hole in the top using the sharp end of a paintbrush or a skewer. Allow the cut-outs to dry for 24 to 48 hours, or bake them in a 250°F oven until hard. You could also make these ornaments free-form.
3.Decorate the ornaments with fabric paints in squeeze bottles.
