World's Best Thumbprint Cookies

There has never been a better, more delicious thumbprint cookie, ever! In the blog entry about the Little Red Hen, Tumbledown described the process of harvesting winter wheat with the scythe, threshing and winnowing the grain in preparation for grinding and baking. Today, Tumbledown tasted the fruit of his efforts. The result is so wonderful he must share it with all of you. First, of course, we must grind the winter wheat.

Tumbledown's hand mill is one of the cheapest made, a Porkert from Lehman's (a version is also available from Johnny's, and even more Grain Mills at Amazon.com). There are much better mills to be had, for a price, but the point is to grow and grind your own. If you can afford it, there is nothing like working with good tools to make for satisfaction. If not, don't sweat it; this mill works just fine.

After grinding two cups of flour from the remaining wheat (which Tumbledown stores in plastic containers in a refrigerator), preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of real butter

1/2 cup of shortening

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of sugar

2 eggs (separated)

2 cups of freshly ground flour

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 cups of finely chopped walnuts (or pecans, in a pinch)

1 pint of fresh Raspberry jam preserves from the fall harvest.

1 cup of powdered sugar.

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl cream the shortening and butter with the sugar and 2 egg yolks. Add vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Combine salt and flour and add to previous mixture, continuing to stir and knead ingredients until it reaches the consistency of a firm dough. Form individual cookies by pinching off small amounts of dough and rolling them into balls (each about the size of a golf ball). Dip the balls of dough into a small bowl containing the two egg whites and then roll a layer of chopped nuts onto the surface of each ball. Place the balls on a parchment covered cookie sheet (or, if you like to scrub, onto an ungreased cookie sheet) allowing a space about the size of a cookie between each cookie. Bake for five minutes at 375 degrees. Remove cookie sheet from oven and create a hole in the center of each cookie (using your thumb, if you do not mind burns, or an object of similar size). Fill the hole with raspberry jam. Return the cookie sheet to the oven and continue baking for 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the oven. Let them cool. Place them on holiday plates and drizzle powdered sugar on top. Beautiful, festive, and delicious!

Tumbledown Farm

Chocolate Christmas Caramels

Tumbledown just had to have some chocolate caramel with his egg nog this evening, so away he went to try a hundred-year-old chocolate caramel recipe from the 1919 Farm Journal book How to Do Things. OK, so Tumbledown's candy-making skills were a little rusty, but how can you go wrong with a bar of Ghirardelli chocolate (grated),

a pint (2 cups) of sugar, a pint (2 cups) of honey and molasses, a tablespoon of vanilla extract, and a half cup of heavy cream?

Well, for starters, you will need a 4 quart sauce pan. (Tumbledown had only a 3 quart pan.) A candy thermometer is a must if you do not want to check the mixture constantly by dropping it in water until you reach the "soft ball" stage, and you'll need the big baking pans (buttered) to spread the stuff a quarter inch thick.

(Tumbledown's caramel is at least 1/2 inch, which means it cools far too slowly.)

Still, that rich, dark, chocolate taste sets off a glass of egg nog...just right!

mmmmm.

Tumbledown Farm