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NEWSLETTER - December 02, 2010 - "Secrets of Holiday Cookies Frosted to Perfection"

 
Spoon & Whisk
Holiday Cookie Secrets Revealed in this Issue! Learn how to make perfect cookie canvasses, and frosting them to dazzling perfection. Your creations will be the stars of the holiday cookie plate!
In This Issue
Welcome to our Newsletter!
Cooking Demonstrations
Perfecting Cut-out Cookies
Dazzling Decorations
Smart Holiday Cookie Tips
Cookie Q & A
Review: "Cookie Craft Christmas"
Festive Cookie Recipes
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Welcome to our Newsletter!
Welcome and Season's Greetings from all of us at Spoon and Whisk!
  We are excited to be mailing our first newsletter to you. Our plan is to publish our newsletter twice a month as a way of saying "Thank You" for your support and loyalty.
Holloy Sprig 
Recipes, stories, kitchen tips, cooking techniques, and news of special events happening here at the store will be covered in each issue. Come in or visit us online, and share our love of cooking, entertaining and of course, eating!
 
Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy Holiday Season!
Upcoming Events
Learn to Make Rosettes
Saturday, Dec. 4th
11:00 to 3:00 pm

 
Rosettes are thin, crisp, deep-fried pastries of Norwegian origin traditionally made during the Holiday season. Come in and learn to use the intricately designed Rosette irons and sample this festive cookie.
 
PizelleThe Art of Making Pizzelles
Saturday, Dec. 11th
11:00 to 3:00 pm

 
We'll share our recipe with you for these traditional Italian waffle cookies and demonstrate how to use the Chef's Choice Pizzelle Iron for crispy, light pizzelles. Eaten as a cookie or layered with a cannoli filling these will quickly become your holiday tradition also.
Perfecting Cut-out Cookies - A How-to for Making a Perfect Cookie Canvas for Decorating
Two Types of Icing are discussed along with Two Types of Application Methods -- Piping and Flooding
Tips that turn your cookies into wonderfully beautiful cookies!
Your Questions Answered: How best to transfer dough to the baking sheet?  What are dragees? Why use a silicone mat? How do I apply luster dust?
"Cookie Craft Christmas" - A Cookbook Review
Cookie Craft Christmas, Dozens of Decorating Ideas for a Sweet Holiday by Valerie Peterson & Janice Fryer. Published by Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA. Copyright 2009.
Cookbook
This charming little book provides large inspiration for the holiday baking season. Its petite size (about 6" x 6.5", hardcover) belies the wealth of information and ideas contained within. The authors share their expertise and passion for well-decorated cookies beginning with several excellent dough recipes that produce a perfect cookie canvas. From there, we are treated to a primer on royal icing and icing techniques. With these basics firmly grasped, dozens of cookie decorations and patterns are presented. Plain circles suddenly turn into a lovely portrait of Mrs. Claus, or glittering ornaments. This book, along with a rolling pin and a few cookie cutters would make a great start to a cookie baking gift kit. We enjoyed baking from this book well enough to invest in their first book, "Cookie Craft," which covers a year's worth of holidays and special occasions.
Three Festive Cookie Recipes
Rolled Sugar Cookies
as Holiday Cookie Tree
View & Print

This dough turns out terrific sugar cookies. The texture is very cooperative during mixing, rolling, and cutting. The dough accepts different flavorings and colors easily. Chill before baking, and the cutouts hold their shape very well. The result is a stack of perfect cookie canvases ready for decorating. Of course, the real test is how the cookie tastes - they taste very good!
Tree of Cookies
Two Icings: Glazing Icing and Royal Icing
View & Print

Working with icing is a bit of an art form. These recipes offer a successful starting place for beginning the craft of cookie decorating. With either icing, mix two consistencies - a stiff one for piping outlines, and a more fluid one for flooding the shapes. The glazing icing remains shiny when dry, while the royal icing dries quickly with a more satin finish.
Three Iced Cookies
Rolled Gingerbread Cookies
as Gingerbread Snowflakes
View & Print

As the authors note, this cookie dough has a mild gingerbread flavor with just the right amount of spice. The dough handles easily through all the handling steps, and well-chilled cutouts hold their shape nicely once baked. Snowflake shapes in gingerbread dough are piped with vanilla-flavored frosting and sprinkled with sanding sugar while still wet.
 Served
Recipes from Cookie Craft Christmas, Dozens of Decorating Ideas for a Sweet Holiday by Valerie Peterson & Janice Fryer through permission of Storey Publishing, North Adams, MA. Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Unleash your inner artist on some edible masterpieces, and share them with someone special this holiday season!

From all of the Staff at Spoon & Whisk