During the twelve days until Christmas break, the King Street Chronicle will again present staff favorites from the holiday season.  This seventh edition will not include seven swans-a-swimming, but beloved Christmas songs, memories, recipes, movies, and crafts.

Song: “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” performed by Brenda Lee.

Recipe: Christmas Tree Cookie Stacks

• Total Time:
  • 30 minutes
• Quantity:
  • 18 cookies

• Ingredients for the cookies:
  • Three-fourths cup of unsalted butter
  • One cup of sugar
  • One egg
  • One teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • One teaspoon of almond extract
  • Two and one-fourth cups of all-purpose flour
  • One teaspoon of baking soda
  • One-fourth teaspoon of kosher salt
• Ingredients for the frosting:
  • One cup of butter
  • Four cups of powdered sugar
  • One teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • Three tablespoons of water or milk
  • Green gel icing color
  • Three tablespoons of red and white pearl sprinkles
  • 18 yellow star sprinkles
• Steps:
  • 1) Preheat oven to 350ºF and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • 2) Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Mix in egg and vanilla and almond extracts.  In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
  • 3) Make three sizes of cookie dough balls.  Place medium and large cookies on a cookie sheet and press down slightly on each. Bake for seven to eight minutes.  Place the smallest balls of dough on another cookie sheet and press down slightly.  Bake for five to six minutes. When cookies are done, remove from oven and let cool.
  • 4) Make frosting: Beat butter until smooth.  Add half the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Add vanilla and two tablespoons of water and mix until smooth.  Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Add green gel icing color to frosting.
  • 5) Assemble cookies: Get one size of each cookie.  Fill a piping bag with green frosting.  Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the largest cookie, then add the second medium sized cookie on top.  Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the second cookie, then top with the smallest cookie.  Pipe a swirl on top of the final cookie and decorate with a star and round ornament sprinkles.  Continue building cookie trees, then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Movie: The Year Without a Santa Claus

“It’s up to Mrs. Claus and Santa’s elves to save Christmas when Santa decides to skip delivering presents for a year in this stop-motion classic,” courtesy of countryliving.com.

Craft: Felt Wreath

• Supplies:
  • Green felt
  • Wire
  • Small red ornaments
  • Wide ribbon
  • Hot glue and hot glue gun
• Instructions:
  • 1) Cut strips of two different shades of green felt.
  • 2) Tie strips around a wreath form.  Attach small red ornaments throughout the wreath with hot glue.
  • 3) Loop a length of wide ribbon around the wreath to hang.

Memory: Laura O’Connor ’23

“My favorite Christmas memory is from a few years ago when my family decided to start a new tradition of baking a bunch of Christmas cookies all together.  A few days before Christmas my whole family gets together and picks the best cookies to make and we end up making a ton, so everyone can bring home some of every kind.  My favorite cookies that we make are Pinwheels.”

Featured Image by Leah Allen ’22