Long Christmas blog post!

I've been playing around on Instructables looking for Christmas crafts and recipes, and i found a ton that i thought id share with all of you!

     credit to depotdevoid

                                                                   
For one batch of cookies (I usually make a double batch), you will need the following ingredients:
1 3/4 cup Flour (sifted)

1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Butter (softened)
3/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

For the glaze you will need these ingredients:

1 pound bag of Powdered Sugar (you may need more later, so get 2 bags)
1 teaspoon Vanilla
about 1/3-1/2 cup water

In addition to the actual ingredients, you will also need the following:Food coloring
Rolling pin
Spatula
Mixing bowl
Electric mixer (not required, but it makes things WAY easier)
More flour for the rolling surface
Cookie cutters
Paintbrushes (new ones!)
Toothpicks (good for detail work)
Cookie sheets
Tin foil
Newspaper

credit to faiza700

                                         And here are some butter cookies to paint 

                                       Butter cookies are crisp, crumbly cookies made with only a few ingredients.Butter is what gives these cookies their wonderful flavor.These cookies are delicious plain,but they can also be topped with chocolate ganache.

These butter biscuits are great and fun to make.They'll take about a half hour to make and this recipe will make about 30 small cookies.

• 120 g all purpose flour
• 35 g powdered sugar
• 100 g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 egg (medium)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar (for decoration)

1. In a large bowl,cream together the butter and white sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg.
3. Then stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Combine the flour,salt and baking powder.Now,mix the dry ingredients into the sugar 
5. mixture.
6. Roll 30 small balls out of the dough.
7. place them on a baking tray.
8. Flatten them firmly.
9. use a fork to make pattern.
10. apply egg wash.and sprinkle some granulated white sugar.
11.  preheat the oven at 325 degrees F.
12.  place the tray in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden at the edges When i do these I'm probably going to skip step eight so i can paint them.

 I'm sooooooo making this for desert on Christmas!

credit to goaly 

                                              This is my favorite pie recipe. I am always picking up cheap glass pie plates at garage sales to use when giving these pies away.

For my pies I use the ready to unroll & bake pie crust found in the refrigerated section of the grocery.
You will also need:
5 or 6 Granny Smith apples
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
½ Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Stick of Butter
3 Tablespoons Flour
½ Cup White Sugar
½ Cup Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Water

You need to start with 4 or 5 Granny Smith apples. Use 6 if the apples are small. (All the measurements here are for ONE pie. Double it if you are making two like I did.)
 I use a hand cranked - apple peeler/slicer/corer to get the job done fast. I cut away the parts of the apple that aren’t perfect... And our dog “Sunshine” catches the scraps.

To the sliced apples, add 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon, 1 Teaspoon Vanilla and ½ Teaspoon nutmeg. (I mix these ingredients into the apples by placing a second bowl on top of the first one and shaking the whole mess.)
 

Put the seasoned apples into a pie crust. I use the ready made Pillsbury crust that you just unroll and bake.
 

In a saucepan melt 1 stick of BUTTER. (Please notice that I did NOT use the term ‘margarine’.) Add 3 Tablespoons of flour to the hot melted butter. Stir it in and then add ½ cup of white sugar, ½ cup of brown sugar and ¼ cup of water.

Bring this to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and boil it for an additional 5 minutes. Be certain to continuously stir the caramel mixture the entire time it is cooking!

(Looks like homemade caramels, doesn’t it!)

 Pour ½ of the caramel sauce over the apples in your pie pan. Save the other half!

Make a lattice crust over the top of your pie by slicing an unrolled pie crust into approximately one inch strips. I sprinkled a little flour on the table before unrolling the crust to keep it from sticking.

Alternate placing vertical and horizontal strips of the crust.

Pour the remainder of your caramel sauce over the top of your pie.
 Trim the edges of the crust by running a knife along the outside of the pie plate... Let’s make it look nice!

For special occasions, I sometimes roll out the left over crust, cut it with a cookie cutter (such as a heart for Valentines day) sprinkle a little sugar on the cutout and center it on top of the pie for a little added decoration. (Before baking, of course!)

Now it’s ready to bake! Start at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees for an additional 30 to 45 minutes.

You may want to put a cookie sheet on a lower rack under the pie as the sauce can sometimes boil over, and drip off of the pie. (I like an easy clean up!)

There you have it… “Don’s Caramel Apple Pie“.

Resist the urge… Let it cool for a few minutes!

credit to SamanthaBeauty