I’m greeting you after one busy weekend! Saturday was Christmas parades in the morning and the night! It was so much fun! Our OACAC office had a float in the Kimberling City parade and the Crane parade that night. We had lots of fun preparing the float, the theme of the float was ‘Rocking through the Ages’, and our song was ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree’. It featured young dancers in the back of a pickup jiving and then a mature couple on the float swing dancing. We threw candy, greeted friends and the community with, ‘Merry Christmas’ and felt the spirit from head to toe!! Yes, I got tired, but it was wonderful, every single minute of it. Totally pulled us all together towards a common goal. And the great part was everyone was talking about next year!
Cookie time, cookie time. The younger generation will not have an admiration for this cookie recipe, but I promise if you make a batch for those 50 and over they will be in heaven. My grandmother, Lucy Rightmire Richardson, made this most every holiday season. For years I thought these jewels would be super difficult to make but they’re really not. It’s simply making a filling on top of the stove first, allowing it to cool down, and making the dough. Divide the dough in half and you’ll be making 2 rolls & then rolling them out like a cinnamon roll. The best part is you put them in the refrigerator or deep freeze. In the freezer make sure they are wrapped well to prevent freezer burn. Once again, you can pull the log from the freezer, let it set just a little while and slice and bake!
A few years ago I was asked to do a book signing at the local library and I took about 100 of these pinwheels. I’ve never seen such a reaction! People just kept coming by to eat my cookies. They didn’t purchase a cookbook, but they sure ate the cookies.
The weekend also included a trip to the woods to gather cedar for Christmas arrangements.
The arrangements aren’t done yet, but at least the cedar is ready. It smelled so good while I was clipping it. Rumor, my corgi, assisted me as our friends’ property was ideal for her to do some good running.
This week I’m going back to my hometown, Lewistown, to spend a couple of days with my parents. This means a stop in Buffalo at the wonderful donut shop, so dad can have some delicious apple fritters. Monica, if you want a few please let me know. We don’t have donuts in our home most usually, but when we get to drive through Buffalo, we ARE going to stop. Then on the way home I’ll have an opportunity to shop at Millers, just north of Buffalo, and gather a few things for the holiday baking.
The warm weather here in the Ozarks has sure been strange these past few days. It’s back to T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops again. A bit confusing for all of us.
Let’s get to those cookies and have an excellent week of holiday cheer. Hm…..I may have to get A & E Eggnog on this roadtrip!
Simply Yours, The Covered Dish. www.thecovereddish.com
Date Pinwheel Cookies
1 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
Date Filling
1 pound dates, finely chopped
½ cup white sugar
¾ cup water
1 cup finely chopped nutmeats, Walnuts or Pecans
Cook the filling ingredients except the nuts over low heat until the mixture becomes pasty, adding chopped nuts at the end; cool.
Cream together the butter with the white sugar and the brown sugar. Add the beaten eggs to the mixture, blending until smooth. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flour, soda, cinnamon & salt. Add to the creamed mixture, blending well.
Divide the dough in half and roll each portion about ¼ inch thick, as if you’re rolling cinnamon rolls. If dough is too soft, place in the refrigerator 1-2 hours. Another consideration is to roll the dough between parchment paper or waxed paper for easier handling. Split the date filling in half for each log. Spread the date fill over the dough within one-half inch of the outer edge.
Roll up the dough and slice ¼ in thick. (I like to refrigerate mine before slicing.) Bake on parchment-lined baking sheet at 350 degrees for approximately ten minutes.
