"Once Begun Is Half Done"

I can't tell you how many times I have to tell myself; "Once begun is half done". I have trouble beginning things. I look at the size of the job and start to think of how much time and work it is going to take. Whether I want to cook, sew, clean, paint, shop, craft, etc., I feel overwhelmed. My daughter has always jumped into doing big projects, had a marvelous time, and turned out very impressive products. She is an inspiration to me to get in and "do it". I still struggle, but always remind myself; "Once begun is half done". It helps! I'm having a marvelous time and I'm creating things that make me happy and give me the satisfying sense of accomplishment.

Christmas Linzer Cookies

These cookies are so pretty and look so special, and are surprisingly simple to make. I used the "Joy of Cooking" Roll Cookies recipe and boiled down my own home made jam for the filling. The Joy of Cooking states that this dough is "remarkable for its handling quality...can be shaped into crusts for filled cookies or tarts, as well as cut into intricate patterns." I found this to be very true. The least amount of handling is better. I gathered up the scraps after cutting out the first batch of cookies and pushed them together to cut out more, but the results were not as good as the less handled first cookies. They were not as flaky and light, and just a bit tougher.

Rolled Cookies
Cream:
1/2 cup white sugar
with:
1/2 cup butter
Beat in:
1 teaspoon vanilla (Linzer cookies use almond or orange or your favorite flavoring)
2 eggs
21/2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chill the dough 3 to 4 hours before rolling.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (I cooked them at 350 so I could watch them easier without over cooking.)
To roll and cut, use a pastry cloth and rolling pin cover. These practically do away with sticking and require the use of very little flour. Roll cookies to 1/4 inch thick. (I rolled mine just slightly thinner.) Cut out half the dough with a Linzer cookie cutter or a 2 inch scalloped cookie cutter. The other half of the dough can be cut with a Linzer cookie cutter with the smaller Christmas shaped cutter insert or use your scalloped cookie cutter and then a smaller cutter to cut out the shape for the jam to show through. Bake for 7 to 12 minutes. Pull out just before they begin to brown. Cool on a cooling rack. The flat part of each half is the inside of the cookie. Spoon a small amount of "boiled down" jam onto the bottom half of cookie and place the cookie with the shape cut out on top of jam. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. (Another option- try sprinkling a granulated sugar and ground almond mixture on top.)


Boiled Down Jam

1 1/2 cups Jam (store bought or home made)

Put jam into a pan and bring to a soft boil over medium heat. Continue to boil until jam is 2/3 the amount you started with. Jam will now be firmer a little hard to spread, but just right for your Linzer cookies. (Another option- try filling with a cream center)

Take a picture of your cookies and start a blog of your own. It is a lot of fun, and you can enjoy your beautiful Linzer cookies long after they have been eaten.

CREAM PUFFS

These cream puffs are petite, light and delicious. They were so simple and quite fun to make. Next time I make them I will make Swan Cream Puffs. I will just pipe the puff pastry dough onto the baking sheet in the shape of a swan's neck and head, bake them and stick them into the cream centers inside swan body shaped puffs. I'll post the pictures when I make them. But for now here is the recipe for these delicate and creamy puffs.

Cream Puff Pastry

1 Cup water
6 Tbsp Butter
Bring the water to boil in a medium sized pan. Melt the butter in the water. Remove from heat.
4 eggs
Add eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition.
1 Cup flour
Mix flour into above mixture until dough forms a ball.

Spoon pastry dough into a cake decorating bag with a large circle tip. Pipe the pastry dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Work in a spiral motion making a swirl of dough half the size that you want your puffs to end up. Get the back of a spoon or the tip of a finger wet and tap down the peak of pastry dough. When pastry dough is swirled on the cookie sheet, and the tip tapped down it should look like a small ball. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Puffs should be light brown.

When they are done, poke them with a knife in the place you will eventually cut the top of to fill them. Turn the oven off, and put the cream puffs back in for 10 minutes with the door ajar. This allows the moisture to escape so the cream puffs won't get soggy later. After ten minutes cut the tops off of the cream puffs.

Cream Filling

Whipping cream
Powdered sugar to taste
Vanilla

Whip the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla to taste. Whip until incorporated. Fill each cream puff with a spoonful of cream filling. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Variations:

Freeze cream puffs above for a delicious cool dessert.

Fill cream puffs with ice cream and drizzle chocolate sauce on top for Profiteroles.

Fill cream puffs with any flavor of pudding. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with chocolate sauce for a simple mock eclair.