Thursday, December 15, 2011

Open House Preparations

in Preparation for our Annual Open House on Saturday, December 17, the lad and I did some baking.

we had a good time, and the transformers joined us in the baking. Sometimes they needed to be reminded that flour and sugar weren't so good for transformer joints, but for the most part they kept us well entertained with their antics. We frequently had cat supervisors who would rapidly disappear when the transformers noticed those aliens!

I wanted to make these, but well.. that didn't work so I ended up making logs instead.
see our logs?
the lad had a lot of fun making them.
We also made papernouten (not sure on the proper dutch spelling).

Here's how to make them.

Beat three eggs until frothy
add 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar (packed) Beat until very light and fluffy about 5-6 minutes. Set aside.

Mix together the following: (if you don't want them as strong tasting, cut the spice ingredient amounts in half)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp grated lemon rind ...or add some lemon juice to the eggs and sugar mix
1/2 cup ground almonds

Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. It is a VERY dry mix.

What I find works best is to ball different amounts together until it kinda sticks together. Then take 1/4 of each ball, dip it in a wee bit of water and play with it until it becomes really pliable. Then form it into a thin rope about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut into bite-sized chunks (about 1/2 inch) and then cook in preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes (until lightly browned)
we made chocolate chip cookies...mommy... I like them!
and last but definitely not least we made gingerbread men!
well okay... let me be accurate here... the only gingerbread men we made are the ones I insisted on..the rest was cats, bunnies and hogs.
in progress,

all cooked

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