Christmas Stars

[housewolf]

A bit belated, perhaps... but there have been so many prize recipes posted here tonight that I wanted to add one of mine.

Starting in 1977, up until about 10 years ago, my family had an annual Christmas party. It was a major shindig - with 8 in the family, everybody invited all their friends, neighbors, friends of the family, co-workers... we decorated up the entire house and some years we'd have 75 or more people at our holiday open house.

It was our Christmas "Sing" - one lady played all the carols on the piano and we'd sit in the living room and sing and sing... and those who didn't want to sing hung out in the kitchen where the bar was... many of the younger ones partied outside by the pool... or in the dining room where 1 huge table was laden with food... or in the big family room where another table was laden with desserts and appetizers (big family, we had a big house).

We cooked for weeks, making as much from scratch as we could - homemade ham & chicken salad in little homemade pate choux puffs. Tiny meatballs in barbeque sauce. Dried beef and cream cheese pinwheels. Baked brie in puff pastry. Salmon pate. Peppered beef/cream cheese dip in gorgeous boules of french bread. Christmas trees of cheese cubes. Crackers galore. So many more things that I can't think of now. Stars, snowballs, Magic Carpet cookies, Candy Cane cookies, macaroons, vanilla sticks, homemade caramels, spiced nuts, fudge and chocolate-almond-toffee. Champagne punch and a full bar, nearly everything you could think of.

We started it the year I had cancer, was undergoing radiation treatment and couldn't eat anything and felt even worse... and wanted to share the holidays with as many dear friends as possible. The really unusual thing about this party was that it was an _after_-Christmas party - ususally the day after but sometimes a few days later. To me, it was our gift of hospitality and love to all our friends. It was more Christmas to me than Christmas itself.

Anyway, that very first year our dear next-door neighbor brought a plate of cookies and gave us the recipe. They've been a Christmas tradition ever since - even now my sisters tell me that all they want for Christmas is a batch of Christmas Stars. Here's the recipe

Christmas Stars
1 c soft butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
2.5 c sifted all-purpose flour

Cream the butter & sugar, add the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Chill. Roll 1/3 inch thick and cut into 3" stars. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 300 degrees for 25 minutes. Frost with white icing.

Butter Cream Icing (frosts a double batch of Stars)
6 tbls butter
3 tbls hot milk
3/4 tsp vanilla
1.75 - 2 c sifted powdered sugar

Mix butter until very soft, add a small amount of sugar along with all the milk & vanilla. Beat in remaining sugar until a soft, spreading consistency. Will be fairly thin but firms it sets.

----

Basically just a simple shortbread cookie, but really great. The work for Valentine's Day too... or any other occasion.

I live on a strange holiday calendar - to me, Christmas doesn't start until Christmas Eve and runs until after New Years. So while it may be a little "different" to be posting a Christmas Cookie recipe two days after Christmas, in other years I could have just been baking them for a big bash tonight!

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Thank you for sharing! This sounds incredible!!!

I'm not much of a baker, but am tempted to try them, since they sound so good. And your story broke my heart. I also have a recipe that went over well with someone who had cancer, the potato soup that I made for my Dad...:hi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=236&topic_id=5135&mesg_id=5135

[housewolf]

2. Rhiannon12866, it was your post about the soup for your dad...

that prompted me to write the one about the cookies. Thank you for that. It's amazing, the little connections that are made here on this cooking and baking forum!


P.S., I really like your DU-name. I was thinking recently about changing my online-name - I've been using this one since I first got online in 1997 and just was thinking about a change. The name "Rhiannon" came to mind - by any chance, are your numbers your birthday?

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Wow. How lovely that you thought of your post, because of mine.

I only resurrected this long-ago thread (though I still make the soup, which never grows old) because I wanted to pass it on to Rabrrrrr, who was so kind and instructive when I was attempting to make a ham for Christmas, my first, ever. And this was my effort to pay him back, by finding my long-ago thread on this, which hadn't been archived, much to my surprise!:wow:

But thanks for the compliment, and I love your recipe! I'll try it for my friend, who I made the Christmas ham for, as soon as he gets out of the hospital...*sigh*

And everyone thinks that the number beside my name means something special, usually my birthday. In fact, it's my zip code... I was anxious to get started, once I found DU, but someone else had already chosen the name Rhiannon, so I looked and this person never even made one single post! You can change your name, if you want, but I find this confusing, since you get to recognize people. If I did, I'd wait for another amnesty period, where you can change your sn, but not lose your post count. As for me, I really like your name, just my opinion.:D

Rhiannon:hi:

[bettyellen]

that's a lovely story, housewolf...

and now i have to google home made caramels, (wow!) vanilla sticks and magic carpet cookies.
have a great holiday!

[bettyellen]

4. that's a lovely story, housewolf...

and now i have to google home made caramels, (wow!) vanilla sticks and magic carpet cookies.
have a great holiday!

[housewolf]

5. I'd be happy to share the caramels recipe

They are FABULOUS and very easy (well, the cutting and wrapping is a bit tedious but the caramels themselves cook up quite easily).

As for the others... I haven't seen them for a while, they may be in a box somewhere in the garage... :( - I'm sorry!

[bettyellen]

6. i would sooo love the caramels recipe...

gosh thank you!
don't worry about thw others, i had just never heard of them is all.
thank you!

[housewolf]

7. Caramels Recipe

Caramels

Liberally butter a 9"x13" pan

2 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated white sugar
1 c butter
1 c light karo (corn syrup)
1 can Eagle Brand Milk (sweetened condensed milk)

Combine in a large heavy pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantaly, until the mixture reaches the firm ball stage (234 - 236 degrees).

Stir in
1 tsp vanilla
1 - 1/5 c chopped nuts (optional)

Pour into the prepared pan. Refrigerate. Bring back to "close to" room temperature. Turn the block of caramel out of the pan onto a cutting board. Cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper or celephane squares.

(It's sometimes hard to get the block of caramel out of the pan. I often run a knife around the edges and use the knife blade to pry up one edge then turn the pan upside down and wait for gravity to pull them out. I've even taken a blow dryer to the outside of the pan to warm them a little so that they'll come out more easily.)

Enjoy, they're great. They're soft if you stop cooking at 234, they harden the more they cook.

[bettyellen]

8. thank you! i am going to invest in a candy thermometer before

i try these. i've noticed the kraft ones ain't as good as they used to be.
i would sub whiskey or rum for the vanilla, it sorta tilts the flavor to being more butterscotchy which is seriously my thing.
thank you soo much, i am going to try these for sure.
happy new year, housewolf!