I knew that this article is for the Christmas edition, so I wanted to write about some kind of Christmassy food. The problem was that as I went down the list, I couldn’t think of anything I hadn’t already written about: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy (probably more than once), mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yup, I got those also. I even have done pies and strudels for dessert. (Visit TheTahoeWeekly.com for Smitty’s recipes on other holiday dishes.)
So, what could I do? Well, I’ll tell you. I decided to go right to the source, the big cheese, the man in charge, the one person that knows everything there is to know about Christmas. You got it, Santa himself. Now, this might seem like a fairly simple way to get a good idea, but let me just tell you, it was harder than you think.
First of all, when was the last time you saw someone more than 6 feet tall standing in line to talk to Santa? You would think that might give me an advantage, but no. It started out with some name calling by kids and I quickly knew how poor Rudolph felt when he wasn’t allowed to join in any of the reindeer games.
This went on for a while, but then it turned violent. I don’t think my shins will be back to normal color until March. Between the reds, purples, black and blues, I finally had to get out of the line. It was obvious that my straight-forward approach wasn’t going to get me to Santa, so I wrote a note and folded half a $20 bill in it asking Santa to meet me, and I could give him the other half to the bill. Of course, it cost me an extra $5 to get the kid to deliver it.
We sat outside and when I asked him what he would like for Christmas, he said, and I quote: “Well, Smitty, I would like someone to leave me some cookies that won’t break my teeth. And, the milk should be in ice so it stays cold. I don’t think kids know that milk is best served cold.”
Now for the recipe: Fill a glass to 1” from the top with milk. Place the glass of milk in a bowl and then pour the ice in around the glass. Enjoy. Just kidding. What I did was add a little baking powder to the sugar cookie recipe to make it a little more like a cake batter so the cookie will be slightly chewy instead of crispy. This is not my invention as many cookie recipes use this method.
I also made a couple other changes to the recipe to give the cookie a slight lemony flavor. Knowing the addition of the lemon would add more liquid to the recipe, I cut back on the buttermilk, and added a little more flour. Now, I can say it. Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas.
Sugar Cookies
From the kitchen of: Chef David “Smitty” Smith
2¾ C flour +3 T
1 t baking soda
½ t baking powder
1 C soft butter
1 ½ C white sugar
1 egg
1½ t pure vanilla extract
2-4 T buttermilk
1 lemon with the peel finely grated into a small bowl
Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together in a bowl.
In a mixer, first cut the grated lemon in half and rub the inside of the bowl with half of the lemon so the bowl is lightly coated, but there isn’t a puddle at the bottom. Add the butter and using the paddle, whip the butter on high for a few minutes. Add the sugar and let beat on high for 3 to 5 minutes until the butter starts to looks pretty fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla, lemon zest and 1½ t lemon juice and beat until everything is well mixed, scraping the sides once or twice. Add the flour mixture in two batches and beat until the dough starts pulling away from the bowl. Add just enough buttermilk to get the dough lightly moist. (I ended up using 2 T buttermilk but it can vary a little.)
Scoop about a tablespoon of dough, lightly roll it into a ball and place it on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Leave plenty of room between cookies. Use the heal of your palm to slightly flatten cookies, brush each with a little buttermilk, sprinkle with colored or white sugar, and bake at 400 for about 8 to 10 minutes or until just barely turning golden around the edges.
Sprinkle a little more sugar while hot and cool on a wire rack.
