8 The Courier SUN • kids & education • NOVEMBER 27, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com ▶kids & education How to make the perfect holiday cookie Many of our fondest childhood memories consist of spending time with friends and family, baking delicious holiday cookies and eyeing the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree. Embrace nostalgia and create the perfect holiday cookie that tastes delicious and is easy to decorate. Instead of displaying a gingerbread house, cut sugar cookies using some snowman, tree and star cookie cutters to set up a festive and tasty holiday scene. When making holiday cookies, remember to: • Cream the butter and vanilla together. Doing this beforehand will encapsulate the vanilla and prevent flavor loss. • Chill the dough in the fridge before shaping it. This will make for a softer, moister cookie that is less likely to spread when baking. • Remove cookies from the oven a few minutes early, as they will continue to cook on the sheet. • Let the cookies cool completely before you begin to ice them. Try this recipe to make three dozen perfect holiday cookies, using Nielsen-Massey vanilla and peppermint extracts to provide a completely unique flavor your entire family will enjoy. Classic Holiday Sugar Cookies Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup superfine sugar (purchase at store or process granulated sugar for about 20 seconds in a food processor) 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream 3 1/4 teaspoons Nielsen- Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract 1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Peppermint Extract 2 eggs 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar (for dusting work surface) 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (for dusting work surface) Directions • Position oven rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350 F. Line two large, heavy light-colored baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. • In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt until blended; set aside. • In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar, cream, vanilla and peppermint extracts; beat with a handheld mixer on medium speed until fluffy, which should take about two minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium-low; add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients one half at a time. • Divide dough into two even pieces, then press each piece into a disk shape. Wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour. Dough should be cool and firm but easy to work with. • In a small bowl, whisk confectioners’ sugar and flour until blended; set aside. Working with one piece of dough at a time, place on a clean, dusted surface. Roll dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes and transfer with a thin offset metal spatula to prepared cookie sheets. For even baking, do not overcrowd cookies. Gather remaining dough, cover with plastic and chill. Continue with second chilled dough. For best results, bake one sheet pan at a time until done, which should take about 10 minutes; remove and place cookies on wire racks to cool. Decorate and store in an airtight container. Peppermint Glaze and Peppermint Piping Icing 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar 1 tablespoon meringue powder 2 tablespoons water 1/2 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Peppermint Extract (may substitute with Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract) Variety gel food colors Directions In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and meringue powder. Add water and peppermint extract, stir until smooth. Glaze cookies in desired colors and set aside to dry before piping. For the piping icing, remake the glaze recipe and add additional confectioners’ sugar, one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Divide icing into small bowls; add desired gel colors. Select pastry tips, prepare pastry bags and creatively pipe icing onto glazed cookies. Courtesy BPT Kick the clutter and keep you home looking great You’ve reached your breaking point. You’ve tripped over the same thing in the living room too many times. Now you’ve picked it up to finally put it away and you realize - you have nowhere to put it. You have too much clutter in your home. So what do you do? How do you decide where to start so you can reduce the clutter in your home and make your walkways safe once more? Getting started is easier than you think. If you want to take control of clutter, get a few boxes - start with one for each room in your home and begin organizing one room at a time. Begin this initiative by removing everything on top of your cabinets, tables and in bookcases, and then place it all in a box, says Keith McCleary, academic director of Interior Design at The Art Institute of York - Pennsylvania. If there are other random accessories in the room, remove those, too. Keep just the basic furnishings. Now sit with the room in its simplest form for a short time. “In room design, make good decisions about what you choose to put in the room and, often more importantly, in what you choose to leave out,” McCleary says. “Simplicity and clean lines make a room feel livable, and that’s what it’s really all about: comfortable living.” Think about the kind of focal point you’re trying to create. How should you orchestrate this space and show off your special pieces in terms of size, scale, color and texture? After a day or two has passed, go back to the box and look for items that define your personality, or will be noticed by guests visiting your home. “Ask yourself: when is enough, enough?” says McCleary. “Each piece of furniture in the room can function to complement. Accessories and works of art should contrast.” When you look at your well-designed room, you should see positive elements, as well as appreciate the possibility for negative space by removing unnecessary pieces that don’t add to the design composition. Interior design students at The Art Institute of York - Pennsylvania are taught to help their clients step back and ask themselves: Is it finished now? You can err when you go shopping and purchase nice pieces for your home, because before long you may have accumulated too many of those nice things. Take a hard look at some of those things you don’t really want or need; it might be time to share that stuff with your local Goodwill. Sometimes, you might think you have to keep memorabilia or outdated gifts from Aunt Ethel in your home all the time. “Not so,” says McCleary. “It’s perfectly acceptable to remove those items when you do your box exercise.” If you get a call from Auntie when she plans her next visit, head to the attic and put those old Beanie Babies she gave you when you were a fanatical collector decades ago on a shelf in your den - temporarily. She’ll be happy for the gesture. When she leaves, feel free to put them back in the box of memories until her next visit. After you complete this exercise in each room in your home, you’ll notice that the clutter has disappeared. Now you can recognize how attractive the remaining items are in that same space. This initiative takes determination and focus, but when you’ve completed the exercise, your focus can be on the lovely space you’ve recreated. To learn more about The Art Institutes schools, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/nz. The Art Institutes is a system of over 50 schools throughout North America. Programs, credential levels, technology, and scheduling options vary by school and are subject to change. Several institutions included in The Art Institutes system are campuses of South University or Argosy University. Administrative office: 210 Sixth Avenue, 33rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 (c)2014 The Art Institutes International LLC. Our email address is csprogramadmin@ edmc.edu. Courtesy BPT
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