During the twelve days until Christmas break, the King Street Chronicle will present staff favorites from the holiday season.  This second edition will not include two turtledoves, but beloved Christmas songs, recipes, movies, crafts, and memories.

Song: “Hallelujah” performed by Ms. Carrie Underwood and Mr. John Legend.

Recipe: Italian Christmas Cookies

Total time: Two hours and 35 minutes

Quantity: Three dozen cookies

Ingredients for cookie:

• Two-thirds cup granulated sugar
• One stick unsalted butter, softened
• Two teaspoons vanilla extract
• Three-fourths cup teaspoon almond extract
• Three large eggs
• Two and one-half cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• Two teaspoons baking powder
• A three-fourths teaspoon salt

Ingredients for glaze:

• Two cups powdered sugar
• Three tablespoons milk
• One-half teaspoon vanilla extract
• Red and green sprinkles, for decorating

Steps:

1) For the cookies: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and almond extract on medium until smooth and fluffy, about two minutes.  Add the eggs and beat until combined.  (The batter will look separated.)

2) With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Beat until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or up to four hours.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Shape the dough into about 36 one-inch balls (lightly dusting hands with flour, as needed) and place on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each at least one inch apart.  Or, if desired, roll each dough ball between your hands (lightly dusting in flour if needed) into a four-inch-long log and coil each piece into a mound.

4) Bake the cookies until set and very lightly browned on the bottom, ten to 12 minutes.  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

5) For the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.  Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze, allowing the excess to drip off, and then sprinkle with the Jimmy sprinkles.  Let the cookies stand until the glaze hardens, about 30 minutes.

Movie: Klaus

 

“Netflix released this beautifully animated feature about a postal worker who befriends a lonely toymaker. (Hmm … wonder what happens next.) The movie was so well-liked, it was actually nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature,” Courtesy of goodhousekeeping.com

 

 

Craft: Color Blocked Wood Christmas Card Holder

Supplies:

• Woodcraft blocks
• Acrylic craft paint
• Painter’s tape
• Paintbrush
• Gold sticker letters
• Brass jewelry wire
• Pliers
• Thumbtack

Instructions:

1) Begin by taping off one corner of the woodblocks using the painter’s tape.  Feel free to tape off other patterns.

2) Once your blocks are taped off, use your paint to paint the corners of each block.  Let the paint dry and then remove the tape.

3) Now use your letter stickers to spell out any words you want on your blocks.  The length of your word will depend on how many holiday cards you need to display.  If you want to stack your words, just use a bit of hot glue to glue the blocks together.  Otherwise, you can spell out your word horizontally to fit in even more cards.

4) Next you will take the brass jewelry wire and pliers and create the photo holders by bending the wire into a paper clip shape with a long tail.

5) Finally, use a thumbtack to punch a little hole in the woodblocks and then insert your brass paper clip into the hole.  Repeat with all your blocks and then you are ready for those holiday cards to start rolling in.

Memory: Lily Carroll ’25

“One of my favorite Christmas memories is baking with my mom.  Last year we made gingerbread cakes and here is a picture of us with the mold/pan for the cakes.”