Today we are delighted to welcome Kelli from I Had A Delicious Time . We’re not really sure when we met Kelli, but we know that when she stops by our table, the conversation she brings, always leaves us knowing she is a kindred spirit. Her heart for hospitality and gathering, will want you to linger a bit longer at her table. She is sharing a very special cookie recipe today for our Holiday Cookie Exchange and we are honored that she is giving us a glimpse into the woman who inspired it. ~Chris Ann & Kristin
Oh, and don’t forget to link up your favorite cookie recipe HERE.
*********
I am thrilled and so grateful to be asked to the table of my gracious friends Kristin and Chris Ann. Even though we’ve only spent a small amount of time together, I feel as they I’ve known them for years.
Love Feast Table…is where it’s at. To me, everything that matters in the world happens at the table. We come together side by side. Spending time together, because love equals time. Traveling those long miles by car or plane to get to the family table, to hang out and share stories old and new. It doesn’t matter what you eat, but that everyone gathered feels welcome and loved.
This is what my mother taught me…with one exception. Whatever it is you serve, be sure it’s on a beautiful plate, with lots of sparkly stuff around. And be sure to give whatever you’re making that little something extra. Only you know what that something is because, it is personal…you are giving a little bit of yourself, not worrying if it is “right”, because there really is no “right”…as long as it is given with love and without expectation.
Mom came from a family of eight girls!! Now that’s a great big table. Each girl with their own gifts and personality, yet all cut from the same cloth. Some are seamstresses, home decorators, teachers, artists, cooks, and bakers. All of these things they learned and practiced on the sturdy dining room table that now resides at my brother and sister-in-law’s home.
Mom’s gift was cooking and entertaining, but baking really wasn’t her thing. We lost her in April of 2011 to cancer, and Christmas is going to be a bit less sparkly this year without her. She added glam and glitz to our Christmas celebration. Mom was obsessed with color coordinating the table in glittering beauty. No elaborate cookie display, just the one and only cookie she baked, her famous Thumbprint Cookies which have been passed down to me and now, I share them with you. You might ask, “Just ordinary thumbprints?” But no. Nothing Loretta did was ever ordinary. If she was going to bake (as I told you she didn’t like to), it had to be worth it, And these cookies are SO worth it. I started making them a few years back and they’ve won me friends and fame. You see, it’s the only cookie I bake too, and it only happens once a year. A couple of my kids have moved away so they get a tin in the mail (Their friends make sure to be near when they arrive) . Our neighbors have become dear friends, they say all because of this cookie! They are walnut studded gems. The walnuts get toasty and golden and the center is filled with a wonderful almond scented butter cream frosting. So easy to make and they freeze beautifully, if they make it that long.
Loretta’s Thumbprint Cookies
1 c half butter, half shortening
1/2 c, brown sugar
2 eggs separated (the yolks go in the cookies, then use the egg white to finish)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Mix the butter and shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla either by hand or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the flour and salt in a separate bowl and add to the butter/sugar mixture gradually until it is all incorporated.
Lightly beat the egg white with a fork.
Chop walnuts and put them on a plate.
Roll dough into balls, roughly the size of a walnut. Dip the dough balls into the egg whites then roll in the chopped walnuts. Place one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press your thumb gently into the center of each cookie. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden and set. Cool completely.
Almond Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 c. softened butter
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3 – 6 Tbsp. milk or cream
Cream butter with mixer until light and fluffy. Add powered sugar 1 cup at a time along with extracts. Add milk or cream 3 Tbsp. at a time until desired consistency.
*********
Thank you to Kelli from I Had A Delicious Time for sharing your Thumbprint Cookie Recipe recipe with us at the table!
Kelli Abrahamian is totally obsessed with food, nutrition, and everything that goes along with cooking and sharing tasty dishes. A self taught cook who reads cookbooks like novels, and loves nothing more than to entertain friends around a dinner party. She believes that most of life’s great moments are spent connecting around “the table” with family and friends. She is the mother to four children (not a picky eater in the bunch) two have already left the nest and are cooking in their own homes, one an aspiring chef. Kelli is a self proclaimed dark leafy greens promoter who tweets under the handle @Crazy4kale and enjoys writing a cooking blog called I Had a Delicious Time.
