Ingredients
1 3/4 cup hot water
1 cup salt
4 cup all-purpose flour
1 === egg wash ==
1 egg -- beaten with
3 tbsp water
Directions
Pour the hot water into a bowl with the salt and stir for 1 minute (I
use my KitchenAid mixer). The salt grains will reduce in size, but
they will not completely dissolve. Add the flour and blend until all
the water is absorbed. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and
knead a few minutes until it is smooth and pliable. Cover the dough
and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Keep the dough in a plastic bag if
you do not plan to use it after the 5 minutes of resting time. Roll
the dough out 3/8" thick on a floured surface and cut out shapes with
cookie cutters. Place the cookies on a nonstick baking sheet and
brush lightly with the egg wash. Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven
for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until golden brown. You can also press
the dough into lightly oiled fancy ceramic molds* or lightly floured
wooden molds and bake as instruced by the manufacturer. *Decorative
ceramic cookie molds can be obtained from Brown Bag Cookie Art by
Hill Design, Inc. 7 Eagle Square, Concord, New Hampshire 03301 NOTES
: No, Virginia, you cannot EAT these cookies. The dough is made of
salt and flour and it will last for several years. This recipe makes
one dozen ornaments. The Frugal Gourmet
Recipe By : The Frugal Gourmet 'Celebrates Christmas'
Servings: 4 servings
Cookie Ornaments For The Tree Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cookie
The History of Recipes
We can track the history of written recipes far back into distant history, certainly as far into history as early Egypt, and maybe further still. Having said that, generally, these old recipes were just primitive hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
In fact, the oldest recipe discovered, according to historians are a few ancient tablets in Sumerian describing the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who tried it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Progressing into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a collection of documents describing recipes cooked by the Romans. In his works, he tells us how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvres, entrees and afters, something we still use today. This early Roman chef tells us how the Roman cooks were skilled in the use of a good variety of spices and herbs, including a few you will know for example thyme, rue and parsley. Later on, we find a couple of interesting recipe books which appeared in the 14th Century ; one book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Perhaps surprisingly, these books have no connection with the spicy food that is familiar to us all today, but instead accounts of the types of meals eaten by the wealthy. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods and herbs from the holy lands, including parsley and basil. These new foods and spices caused an outbreak in cookery books, most of which are now in private libraries. For the next few years, the powerful and wealthy competed with each other to lay on the most extravagent meals, and consequentially the best cooks and their recipe collections were much in demand. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 1800s the formal cooking and recipe books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, spent years to collecting, testing, and publishing recipes of the day. By the advent of the twentieth century, cookbooks are in high demand, mostly as a result of better eduction, more leisure time and having more money. The introduction of the TV gave us cooking programs and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting us all to access thousands of recipes such as those found on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Cookie Ornaments For The Tree recipe.
