IN THE KITCHEN

A World of Christmas Cookies

STORY: THERESA CAMPBELL

A resident of Legacy of Leesburg for more than six years, Pat Medrick loves baking a variety of Christmas cookies for the holidays, including international favorites.

“Sometimes I do 20 different kinds of cookies,” she says. “I make little packages and give them to my neighbors.”

As a little girl growing up in New Jersey, she remembers spending hours watching her mother make batches of holiday cookies.

“It was always a big deal at our house. She did the cut-out cookies, and when my three kids were growing up, that was a big deal for them, too. I would make the cookies and get frostings and all kinds of things that they could put on it. They would invite their friends over and have a cookiedecorating party.”

Pat also shared her cookie-baking passion with many foster children in her care while living in Michigan.

“The foster kids never had those kind of experiences so they loved baking Christmas cookies and they loved eating them even more,” she says.

Pat traditionally starts her holiday baking right after Thanksgiving, often making rolled refrigerator cookies that can be sliced, baked, and placed in the freezer.

Among her favorite cookies to make and share are international sweet treats, like Russian Tea Cakes, and she enjoys using an electric cookie press to make Spritz cookies from Scandinavia.

“It’s a regular cookie press with a It s trigger and it makes perfect cookies,” trigger an says Pat, noting the electric cookie says Pat, press is ideal for her at this stage in her press is i life. “My hands have arthritis now, and life. “My so it is really hard to do press cookies.” so it is re

Pat says her husband, John, of 51 Pat say years, loves it when she whips up years, lov his favorite cookies—Date Nut Pinhis favori wheels—which take three days to prewheels— pare. She fi rst makes the dough, chills pare. She it, spends another day making the fi ll-it, spends ing, then spreads it on the dough, rolls ing, then it up, chill the dough again, and then it up, chi slice and bake on the third day. slice and

In spirit of the Christmas season, Pat In spi agreed to share less time-consuming agreed international cookie recipes for Lake interna and Sumter Style readers.and Su

RUGELACH RUGELACH

(From Germany) Pastry ingredients:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup butter 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose fl our

Directions:

In food processor with steel blade, process cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add fl our, process until well blended and dough begins to cling together in a ball. Cover and refrigerate pastry for several hours or overnight

Nut Filling ingredients:

½ cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces or currants 1 cup fi nely chopped walnuts ½ cup sugar 2 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine chocolate pieces or currants, nuts, sugar, cinnamon and butter. Set aside. To bake cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. On a fl oured board, roll each portion into an 11- to- 12inch circle. Spread each circle evenly with 1/3 of nut fi lling. Cut each circle into 16 equal wedges. Roll up wedges, beginning from wide end, pressing tip to secure. Place point-side down on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool on racks. Makes about 48 cookies.

SPRITZ COOKIES

(From Scandinavia) Ingredients:

1 ½ cups butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1 egg 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon almond extract 3 ½ cups all-purpose fl our 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thoroughly cream butter and sugar. Add egg, milk, vanilla, and almond extract; beat well. Stir together fl our and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing to make a smooth dough. Do not chill. Place dough in cookie press and onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Remove cookies from sheet; cool on rack. Makes 7-8 dozen cookies.

KOURAMBIEDES

(From Greece)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup powdered sugar 1 egg yolk 1 ½ tablespoons brandy 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 ½ cups cake fl our Powdered sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer at high speed until light-colored, about 10 minutes. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup powdered sugar until well blended. Beat in egg yolk, brandy, and vanilla. Gradually beat in cake fl our. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. To bake cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 1 ½ inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Cookies should remain white on top. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool on racks. While hot, sift powdered sugar generously over tops. Makes about 50 cookies.

RUSSIAN TEA CAKES

(Also called Mexican Wedding Cakes) ngCakes)in

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature ½ cup powdered sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Pinch of salt 2 cups all-purpose fl our ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 cup chopped pecans Powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat together butter, ½ cup powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until light and fl uffy. Gradually beat in fl our and baking soda until well blended. Stir in pecans. Roll dough by teaspoonfuls into balls or crescent shapes and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake n 13 to 15 minutes or until edges begin to lightly brown. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool on racks. While warm, sift powdered sugar generously over tops. Makes 55 to 60 cookies.

THE CONE CAN’T BE SILENCED

Strawberry’s Ice Cream and Treats is a great place to get a sweet treat, but they also have sandwiches and other yummy stuff! If you’re a kid slaving over the books at school, you need to know—if you make all As and Bs for a quarter, just bring your report card in and enter your name to win a FREE BICYCLE! You might even beg your mom to buy their famous Brownie Peanut Butter Pie with Bacon inside. Special winter hours: open late Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and open on Sunday from noon till 5 p.m. As they say, “Life is short. Treat yourself!” 24 E Magnolia Avenue, Eustis. Call 352.483.6298.

Need to raise funds for a good cause? RestaurantRaise.com can help. Just search for restaurants in your area, and then select the date and time you would like to have your meal.

Use Facebook and other social media to promote your event. Since folks love to eat, socialize and help out, you have the perfect combination to successfully raise funds for your favorite charity as the restaurant agrees to give back a percentage of the proceeds. Everybody wins!

YOU WON’T FUGGEDABOUTIT!

Brooklyn Water Bagel in Lady Lake is where they cook bagels the oldfashioned way—in water. And it’s not just any water, it’s Brooklinized© water! This process sets the crust before the bagel goes into the oven and gives them that dense, chewy center so beloved by bagel eaters! They’re also known for their superior brewed coffee, sandwiches, cookies, and muffi ns. It’s a great place to take the family, meet friends, or just enjoy a great bagel and lox! Check them out at 514 N U.S. Highway 27/441 just behind Sweet Tomatoes. Open every day—7 a.m. – 3 p.m. 352.674.9000.

It’s Incredible and Edible

You may think Edible Arrangements only make beautiful arrangements to send your friends, but they also have fresh fruit salads, fruit parfaits, Edible Pops©, or any of their other fresh fruit snacks. Though the store opened in January 2007, Rachelle Neck and Becky Pilipow are the new owners. They’re excited to announce smoothies and frozen yogurt will be coming soon. “We’ll be offering lots of promotional items like 2-5 p.m. Happy Hour for smoothies and buy one, get one free,” Rachelle says. “We won’t be using sugar; instead, we’ll use agave or freshly squeezed orange juice.” You can order a custom smoothie with ingredients like kale, fl axseed, protein, and spinach, or order from a selection of smoothies on the menu. The store is in Southern Trace Plaza, 3509 Wedgewood Lane, in The Villages. Check out their website www.ediblearrangements.com/ or give them a call at 352.391.1334.

Cody’s on 4th

Looking for that special café to enjoy breakfast or lunch while Christmas shopping in downtown Mount Dora? Cody’s on 4th, located at 111 East 4th Avenue, hits the spot! You can enjoy a breakfast of delicious homemade casseroles, such as grits and cheese with your choice of meat, or the sweeter French toast casserole. Specialty breakfast sandwiches are available, from Smoked Salmon to Carla’s Hangover Sandwich, in addition to a wide variety of bakery items such as scones, muffi ns, and bagels. If you arrive a bit later, lunch is also superb with stupendous homemade soups, salads, and sandwiches. Save room for Cody’s famous carrot cake and other delectable desserts.

FOOD GIVING

In our holiday season of indulging in some of our favorite foods, let’s not forget how great it feels to remember those in need. Plan to give much-needed canned meats, vegetables, fruits, and other necessities to a food bank or pantry near you. Three are listed below, as well as a website that will help you fi nd a convenient location of giving for you. Call for more information on hours and needed items

See www.foodpantries.org for one near you.

Lake Cares Food Pantry // 2001 West Old Highway 441

Mount Dora //352.383.0100

Leesburg Food Bank // 503 N. 13th Street

Leesburg // 352.326.5463

Angels of Mercy // 1330 Millholland Drive

Clermont // 352.394-4094

Feeling the Comfort of Southern favorites

A tasty Southern-style food buffet for $6.99 is now served daily at Via Entertainment at Via Port Florida mall, 1040 U.S. Highway 441, suite 2004, in Leesburg.

It’s something different every day:

Monday // Meatloaf

Tuesday // Country Fried Steak

Wednesday // Fried Chicken

Thursday // Salisbury Steak

Friday // Fried fi sh

Other items on the buffet include soup, salad, macaroni and cheese or potatoes, a vegetable, dinner rolls, and dessert. The buffet is available 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

NEW HOME FOR LIVING GREEN CAFÉ

Living Green Café has relocated from Leesburg to 353 Plaza Drive, Suite A, Eustis, at the Vitruvian Health Center off U.S. Highway 441, and it’s known for serving fresh wraps, salads and entrees, including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free items—all ideal for those who want to eat a bit healthy leading up to the holidays.

Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad and Blueberry-Pecan Salmon Salad are among six salads, or maybe a Peanut Butter and Jelly Smoothie of almond milk, peanut butter, strawberries, blueberries, banana, and maple syrup suits your fancy. The café is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, or call 352.602.4956.