Savory Cheese Dollars

I made these for Wowie when she was sick and she seemed to like them, at least she ate them. Somewhat similar to cheese straws, though easier to make. Can be served warm or cold.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
sprinkle of black pepper, freshly ground
pinch of cayenne pepper
4 ounces (or 1 cup) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
8 tablespoons unsalted butter

Can be made in the food processor or electric mixer. In the food processor, first mix the flour, salt and peppers in a small bow. Process the butter and the cheese cut into small chunks until well mixed, add flour mixture and pulse until well blended.

Refrigerate dough for about an hour. Cut dough into 3 pieces and roll into 1 inch rolls. Can be refrigerated for 3 days at this stage, or well-wrapped, frozen for 3 months.

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees. Slice dough into 1/4 inch slices. Place on cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned.

(From "Rose's Christmas Cookies" by Rose Levy Beranbaum)

Merry Christmas at 18th & Market - Another Card from Nana and Poppa

An earlier card from Nana and Poppa Bringhurst. We lived here (Barbara was just a baby) for 2 years before moving to Woodlawn Avenue. It was an absolutely fabulous house with 2 back stair cases, pocket doors in the 2 front parlors so we do plays, and big thick stone walls that made in cool in summer. It was built about 1771. I have a newspaper article about the house I will post sometime later.

Christmas Card of Yore

From Nana and Papa Bringhurst, one of two that I have found. Mom may know how old this is, but probably in the early 1950's, when Jane and I were little.

How Mom Cooks Her Turkey, and sets off the fire alarm

Mom tried a new method (or really an old method) of cooking the turkey this year. See the November Gourmet Magazine, page 180 for the whys and wherefores. They cooked 40 turkeys. Mom only had to do one to know that it was perfect.

Basically, first clean out your oven and put away the smoke alarm. Then, salt and pepper the turkey, put it in a 450 degree oven and cook until the meat thermometer reaches 170 degrees. It took less than 2 hours for a 14 pound turkey. The results were lovely, crisp skin and moist white meat.

There is no basting, no need, if your oven heats evenly, to turn the bird, or even, because we didn't have one the right size, the need for a rack.

The only problem was that the smoke, even from a fairly clean oven, turned on the smoke alarm and we had to wait until John Sweeney came to take it down.

Highly recommended.