Like Stephanie, my family always gathered from near and far for the holidays. We would gather at my Grandparent's house
on Lake Cadillac.
(Yes, that is me swimming last November. It was the last time I was in the lake at my Grandfather's house. This was taken the afternoon after his funeral. He would have loved that I went swimming. The family sold the property this year and I'm so glad I did that because I will never get that chance again.)
For several days we would celebrate our family and friends with gatherings that always included punch for both adults and children and lots and lots of cookies. The cookies were always stored on the sun porch. Being Northern Michigan, the porch was just an extension of the ice box.
I remember the peanut butter cookies my Aunt Olga would bring over the most. They were soft and peanut buttery with a crunchy sugar coating. I regret I never got that recipe because every Christmas I crave those cookies.
For me, a personal tradition is making batches and batches of cookies. This year, my cookie baking was a bit smaller than normal but I made sure one cookie I make every year was on that plate, the Kiss Cookie. The Kiss Cookie is a peanut buttery with sugar crunch cookie with a chocolate kiss nestled in the center.
Along with the Kiss Cookie, I made two types of refrigerator cookies, amaretto vanilla and Aztec chocolate, and my mini chocolate chip tea cookies and two types of fudge, chocolate rum and chocolate walnut. Besides the Kiss Cookies, the Aztec chocolate cookie was a huge hit with their mix of sea salt and cayenne pepper to add a little kick to the Mexican chocolate.
But the Kiss Cookie is my tradition and I'm bringing a big tray of them to the party.
Speaking of Traditions...
Don't forget Menu for Hope V is going on right now.
We're offering two prizes here at The Sour Dough: a small box of LA Burdick Chocolate Mice and a Day of Bread Making with yours truly, Breadchick.
To bid on these items or any of the other wonderful prizes being offered by my fellow food bloggers, go over to First Giving. Each $10 raffle ticket gets you once chance at the prize of your choice. So, go over there and help us support the school lunch program in Lesotho administrated by the UN World Food Programme.
Kiss Cookie
1 3/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C peanut butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla
Granulated sugar for rolling cookie
36 unwrapped chocolate kiss candies
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Cream together peanut butter and brown sugar. Add in egg and vanilla. Slowly mix in dry ingredient mixture into a firm dough.
Form 1 Tbsp of dough into a ball and roll into granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 6 - 8 minutes until cookie is firm. Remove pan from oven and place into the center of each cookie one kiss candy, pressing down to crack cookie.
Return cookies to oven and let bake for 2 - 3 minutes or until cookies are just golden brown on edge.
