During the twelve days until Christmas break, the King Street Chronicle will again present staff favorites from the holiday season. This third edition will not include three french hens, but beloved Christmas songs, memories, recipes, movies, and crafts.

Song: “Mele Kalikimaka,” performed by Ms. Kacey Musgraves featuring Ms. Zoey Deschanel.

Recipe: White Chocolate Peppermint Gingerbread Cookies

Total time: 55 minutes

Serves: 30 cookies

Ingredients:

• One cup softened butter
• One and one half cup brown sugar
• One teaspoon vanilla extract
• Two tablespoons molasses
• Two cups all-purpose flour
• Two teaspoons ground ginger
• One teaspoon ground cinnamon
• One-fourth tablespoon of salt
• Two to three tablespoons crushed candy canes
• One and one half cups white chocolate chips

Steps:

• Using a hand mixer, combine sugar and butter in a bowl, mixing for two minutes at medium speed.
• Continue to mix the sugar and butter while adding in molasses and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, and ginger.   Once mixed, add dry ingredients into the sugar and butter mixture until a dough is formed.
• Create a ball with your dough and wrap it in plastic wrap to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place a small amount of flour on a clean surface and roll out dough to be one-fourth inch thick using a rolling pin.  With any cookie cutter, begin cutting out cookies from the dough.
• Put baking sheets with cookie cutouts one inch apart into the refrigerator for ten minutes.
• Bake cookies for eight to ten minutes allowing the edges to set.  For five to ten minutes, let cookies cool on the baking pan before moving them onto a wire cooling rack.
• In a bowl, heat white chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until smooth and melted.
• Dip half of each cookie into the white chocolate and then add the crushed candy cane on top.  Place each decorated cookie on a baking sheet and let cookies cool in the refrigerator for ten minutes.

Movie: Noelle

“Anna Kendrick stars as Kris Kringle’s daughter, Noelle, who must find her brother Nick (Bill Hader) in time to save Christmas,” Courtesy of countryliving.com.

Craft: Hot Cocoa Kit

Supplies:

• Red paint
• Mason jar
• Hot Cocoa mix
• Marshmallows
• Chocolate chips
• Festive fabric
• Sharpie marker

Instructions:

• Paint a red circle onto the center of the mason jar.
• Allow the paint to fully dry and then write “hot cocoa” with a sharpie marker.  Draw holiday designs such as a Christmas tree or Santa hat on the red paint as well.
• Add in hot cocoa mix and layer on marshmallows and chocolate chips.
• Before placing the lid on the jar, use a piece of seasonal fabric for decoration.
• Secure lid tightly on the jar.

Memory: Mr. Kevin Williamson

“For as long as I can remember, my family has been cutting down our own Christmas trees at a farm in upstate New York.  It has become a tradition of ours to cut a tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.  The man who owns the farm remembers our family every year, and we always enjoy catching up with him.  The area is really beautiful, and many of the trees are on top of a large hill.  We always seem to go later in the day, and most years there is lots of soft, late-day light spreading over the hill.” 

“It’s a time that I look forward to every year with my brothers and my parents.  I will usually bring a camera with me, and I took this picture during our trip this year.  It shows my father towards the top of the hill, looking out at the landscape and deciding which tree our family will cut down.”

Featured Image by Claire Moore ’22