German Butter Cookies
Jennifer shares a cherished family recipe for German Butter Cookies.
One of my favorite holiday traditions is making Christmas cookies. My favorite cookie? A delicious butter cookie (although shortbread is a very close second). When I was a child, my family would make butter cookies during the Christmas season. My mom would make the dough; my dad would roll the dough out, and my brother and I would press the cookies. Then mom would watch while they baked.
This year, I wanted to share this recipe because this is the first time that I have made the dough myself. I rolled the dough out, and I pressed cookie with cutters that I used as a child. It brought back so many good memories, but I also made new ones.
When these cookies are still warm, you can put jelly on them and make a cookie sandwich. My mom prefers them this way, but I prefer the single cookies. Use any jelly you love! We were going to use strawberry rhubarb, but I am a horrible daughter and forgot the jelly.
German Butter Cookies
Makes 36-48 cookies (depends on the shapes and sizes)
- 2 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
In another bowl, mix dry ingredients together and whisk until combined.
- Once the butter and sugar are creamed, add eggs and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy.
- Slowly add flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Allow dough to sit in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Roll out dough until about 1/4 inch thick; cut cookies out of dough.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden.
- Cool for 1-2 minutes on a cookie sheet and then transfer to cooling racks.
- These can be eaten plain, with jam sandwiched in between, and/or with powdered sugar.
Does your family make Christmas cookies? Do you have a favorite? If you're still looking for that perfect cookie, head over to this Christmas cookie recap for some ideas!
Jennifer is the chef behind the website, a girl eats world. Head over for more Kentucky Proud recipes!
HerKentucky's Holiday Wish List for the Bourbon Lover
The best holiday presents for bourbon lovers
Most Kentuckians have at least one serious bourbon lover on their holiday gift list. Many of us have plenty of bourbon lovers who'd just adore a present that celebrates Kentucky's signature spirit. Here are the absolute best pieces of bourbon swag I've seen this year; I'm sure the folks on your holiday list would agree!
Grandpa's Cough Syrup Needlepoint Flask, Smathers & Branson. What a hilarious way to transport a little nip!
HerKentucky's Shot of Bourbon Tee. If you'd rather be somebody's shot of bourbon than everybody's cup of tee, we've got the right shirt for you!
A bottle of 23 year-old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve. Why not shoot for the good stuff?
Drink More Bourbon, Y'all Leather Coasters by Clayton & Crume. These are gorgeous, high-quality waxed leather coasters with an important embossed message.
Subscription to the Bourbon Review. The best way to keep up with the latest labels and trends in bourbon.
A bottle of Willett Pot Still Reserve. This high-corn and rye blend is getting great reviews.
I'd Rather Be Drinking Bourbon Mug, Louisville Stoneware. This is on my own letter to Santa this year. Why not serve up your morning coffee with a shot of truth?
An individual bourbon barrel with your favorite team's logo, Bluegrass Barrels. Dispense your favorite blend from a unique tabletop barrel.
Bourbon and Bad Decisions Tee, Bourbon Built. Y'all, I just love this. It gets straight to the point.
23-Year Pappy Long-Sleeved Tee, Pappy & Co. If you can't give a bottle of Pappy, this gorgeous shirt is the next best thing.
We've teamed with some of our very favorite Kentucky-based brands to help you (or your favorite bourbon lover) out a little. We're offering y'all three exciting bourbon swag giveaways. You can enter to win a Bourbon & Bad Decisions tee, a Pappy & Co long-sleeved tee, or a set of 4 Clayton & Crume leather coasters using the Rafflecopter widgets below.
Cheers, y'all!
Christmas Traditions: The Nutcracker
Christmas Traditions: The Nutcracker
During Christmas, my family has many traditions. We enjoy German advent calendars (little candies every day to count down to Christmas), watching The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Grinch, and making cookies. The Hubby and I have our own tradition; every year we go shopping for a Christmas ornament. My favorite tradition: going to see The Nutcracker.
My parents took my brother and me to see it every year since I was about 5 until they divorced a decade later. After that I didn't go to a live ballet--too emotionally draining for me. Then about 5 years ago, The Hubby took me, and I've been obsessed again ever since.
Why do I love it so much? I just adore the music. I listen to the music all year (seriously!), and around Christmas, I love to see the ballet live. Occasionally, we can't make it to a live ballet, so I watch my favorite version: George Balanchine's with Maculay Caulkin (dirt cheap right now at $3.75)
This year, we will be going to see the live ballet: my mother, brother, sister-in-law, and myself. I cannot wait!!! We are going to see the one by The Lexington Ballet at the Lexington Opera House. Not only are we honoring our past family tradition, we are supporting the local ballet.
What are some of your family Christmas traditions? What's your favorite?
Happy Repeal Day!
Celebrate the 81st Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition with a Kentucky bourbon cocktail!
In the second decade of the Twentieth Century, America experienced a wave of anti-alcohol sentiment. The temperance movement, led at its most radical edges by Garrard County, KY native Carrie Nation, posited the abolition of sales of alcoholic beverages as the key to the nation's health and moral soundness. The ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment and the subsequent passing of the Volstead Act outlawed the sale and manufacturing of alcoholic beverages in the United States, beginning in 1920.
Ultimately, neither the public safety nor the nation's economy profited from the Prohibition experiment. The production and procurement of alcoholic beverages was driven underground, resulting in a surge of organized crime activities. Prohibition grew increasingly less popular and by the onset of the Great Depression, it was evident that the legalization of alcoholic beverages would result in increased tax revenue for the nation.
When the aristocratic lawyer and sitting Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised sweeping change for the nation, including economic stimulus through the reform of bootlegging operations. Roosevelt handily defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover in the 1932 Presidential election. By February 1933, the Twenty-First Amendment, which would repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, was introduced in Congress, and in March of that year, President Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen-Harrison Act, which allowed the sale of low-alcohol spirits. The 21st Amendment was adopted on December 5, 1933 (widely celebrated as Repeal Day).
Here in Kentucky, Prohibition's impact was particularly harsh. As bourbon historian Rick Bell brilliantly relays during the Evan Williams Speakeasy Tour, the Volstead Act brought dark days to Kentucky. Kentucky's famous bourbon industry was hit hard by Prohibition. The shuttered distilleries (which, by 1929, could produce small amounts of whiskey for medicinal purposes) led to scores of unemployed workers, many of whom had no additional job skills. A young whiskey salesman for the Stitzler-Weller distillery, Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle, found himself bereft of income or skills. In But Always Fine Bourbon: Pappy Van Winkle and the Story of Old Fitzgerald, Sally Van Winkle (Pappy's granddaughter), remembers the words of her own father, Julian Jr.:
I doubt there are too many around today who could imagine what it was like when Prohibition came. It meant that one of the nation's biggest industries was shut down tight. I was just a boy but I could remember all those men who had been in business for decades sitting in front of their rolled-top desks with their green eyeshades. They just rolled down their desktops, walked out, and locked the door on January 1, 1920.
Fortunately, eighty-one years later, Kentucky bourbon whiskey is stronger than ever. New labels are being introduced at a rapid pace and bourbon tourism is a major source of revenue for the Bluegrass State.
There are many ways you can celebrate Repeal Day today. If you'll be in Louisville tonight, check out the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience's Repeal Day Celebration (Period dress is encouraged, but not required!) from 5-9 p.m.
Maker's Mark has repealed shipping fees all day, so you'll get a break on ordering some of your holiday goodies, or perhaps a treat for yourself.
Or, you can pour yourself a bourbon cocktail (I'll have an old-fashioned, please!) and celebrate 81 years of freedom to (legally) imbibe!
‘Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!’ (KFC's Christmas in Japan!)
‘Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!’: Japan's tradition of KFC for Christmas Dinner.
I love Christmas. A lot.
Basically, from the moment the Thanksgiving turkey is divided up into meat for hot browns and bones for stock, I'm all about twinkly lights and cheering on Dreamy Prime Minster Hugh Grant as he tells off the creepiest of American Presidents, Billy Bob Thornton. The entire month of December, I'm high on bourbon balls and tinsel. Today, I learned a factoid that takes my Christmas obsession to the next level.
Did y'all know that EATING KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN IS A CHRISTMAS TRADITION IN JAPAN?
Let's say that again: EATING KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN IS A CHRISTMAS TRADITION IN JAPAN. Sorry to shout, but this makes me unbelievably happy.
It seems that, in 1974, Kentucky Fried Chicken's Japanese Operations (the chain is known simply as "Kentucky" in Japan) was struggling, one million yen in debt, when they unveiled a simple advertising strategy: ‘Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!’ ("Kentucky for Christmas!"). Now, forty years later, many Japanese people pre-order a catered KFC meal to celebrate the holiday.
In a country where less that 1% of the population is Christian, and poultry dishes aren't all that common, Kentucky Fried Chicken has established a kitschy American Christmas tradition. I love the Kentucky connection to the Japanese holiday. I mean, my granny always made fried chicken for Christmas Eve; why not celebrate with the Colonel's famous version of the same dish?
Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii, y'all!
