Cookin' With Leo
By
Leocthasme
Christmas Sugar Plums
Well, I sorta' thought all about Christmas fixin's and had to dig long and hard for
this recipe. And, I remembered my dear Irish Grandma (she couldn't boil water) who most of
the time never cooked anything, just wasn't her thing to cook. But, you could depend on her for
some goodies whenever a holiday, like Christmas got near. Was amazing what she could do with very simple things, nothin' elaborate. Just simple things that she could turn into Holiday Delights, an' they didn't need much cookin' either. Was probably why she done 'em. Little
work, and lots of fun. And, grandma Curry never put pen to paper either so I had to dig back into my childhood days when I used to watch her make goodies, and remember what she did to do whatever it was she done. See, I ain't senile yet.
First, you have to know that grandma loved certain fruits that were preserved in Irish whiskey. For instance, such things as cherries, peaches, pears, and such. So we are going to need some special treated Cherries.
Get a Jar of Maraschino Cherries, with the stems. Take out at least 30 and carefully de-stem them. Save the stems we are going to use them again. Cover them with some cheap Irish whiskey and let them soak over night When you are ready to use them, drain them well and drink the whiskey with your morning coffee.
Set the cherries aside to drain on paper towels, and make sure you still have at least 30 left for this recipe.
¼ cup quick rolled oats
½ cup ground pecans
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ cup confectioner's sugar. And a little extra.
2 cups flour, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, don't use imitation vanilla.
1 cup butter.
An' here is how we do it. Let the butter soften at room temp and mix in a large mixing bowl with the ½ cup of confectioner's sugar. Make sure it is well mixed and stir in the vanilla.
Add the salt and slowly add the flour and mix it in well Stir in the pecans and the oats. Get it all mixed well.
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Now shape about 2 teaspoons of dough around each cherry, and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.
Bake them for about 12 to 15 minutes. Be sure they bake until set but not brown.
While they are still warm roll them in some more confectioner's sugar, an' re-insert the stems while warm and then let them cool. Place in a décor bowl with the stems up.
Makes a nice after dinner treat. An' yeah, you can have some more of that cheap Irish Whiskey with each Sugar Plum.
Merry Christmas an' Happy Holidays, whatever!
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