"I can't remember a time when we didn't bake gingerbread men," said my sister Joanne at our annual cookie exchange last Friday. The year Joanne was born, my mother ordered a cookie cookbook from the Farm Journal magazine. Today, the pages of Best-Ever Cookies are stained and yellowed and the mustard hardcover is taped and worn (the jacket lost long ago), and Joanne has seven sons and one daughter, and but the Burkholders still make gingerbread men every year. For the last few years, Mom … [Read more...] about Merry Christmas! Plus a Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
cooking
Camping at Muddy Run
A bee attack. A tree branch crashes into the ground near the campfire. Rain. Chiggers. The annual family camping trip. Two weeks ago, instead of camping at the river as we did the last two years, we rented a primitive campsite at Muddy Run Park in southern Lancaster Country. Not a tiny campground campsite. Instead, this campsite is on a remote hillside surrounded by trees and next to wetlands, without any other tents or RVs in sight. There's a spring, a creek, and two bridges. (We could … [Read more...] about Camping at Muddy Run
The World Is My Oyster… Soup?
On Christmas Eve my sister said to me "I have a gift for you, but you might not like it." She then gave me a cold jar of oysters and a bag of oyster crackers. The oysters in the jar were gray and slimy. "Thank you," I said. "I've never made oyster soup, but I can try." On Christmas Day I was invited to a friend's house, so today was the day for making oyster soup. I found a recipe in the Mennonite Community Cookbook. To prep, I watch a YouTube video on how to make oyster soup. … [Read more...] about The World Is My Oyster… Soup?
Baking with Bonnet Novelists
The Facebook post read: Come Bake With Us! Author Chat with Sherry Gore. Ladies Luncheon, Holiday Baking. Door Prizes! Limited Seating. Tickets $45. "It's on a Saturday! Let's go!" I say to Mom. "It'll be a fun thing to do together." Both of us like Sherry's cookbook, Me, Myself, and Pie and her memoir, The Plain Choice. We knew Sherry recently moved to Bird-in-Hand, which is close to us. So we signed up and last Saturday, we drove to the Bird-in-Hand fire hall, where the event was being … [Read more...] about Baking with Bonnet Novelists
Christmas Cherry Bells
Yes, I know October is a little early for Christmas cookies. But these Christmas Cherry Bells freeze super well, and Mom and I thought we'd get a head start on the holiday baking tonight. So I took some pictures of the process, and I'll share the recipe here. Christmas Cherry Bells are delicious cookies, although not cheap, thanks to the chopped pecans. So they truly are a "Christmas time only" food at our house. You don't need any special cookie cutters for this recipe. A round biscuit … [Read more...] about Christmas Cherry Bells