Candy Cane Cookies

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
Almond Essence-a few drops
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups  flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Mix well the butter, sugar, egg, almond and vanilla. Add flour,stir.. Divide dough in half.
3. Blend red food coloring into one half. Roll 1 teaspoon of the red dough and 1 teaspoon of the white dough on lightly floured board into 4 inch strips. Place strips side by side and press lightly together and twist like a rope. Curve top of rope down to look like the handle of a candy cane.
4. Bake 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove while still warm. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup crushed peppermint stick candy and 1/2 cup sugar (optional).

Lace Cookies

2/3 cup melted butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal (I used more oatmeal)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (or white if you don't have brown)
2 Tablespoons flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter. Add other ingredients, mixing well. Drop by half teaspoons on  paper lined baking sheet. Place apx. 2 inches apart, they spread a lot! Bake about 5 minutes at 180-200 degrees C, or 350 degrees F. Cool and remove from pan.

Coconut Macaroons

NOTE: I doubled this recipe.

2 eggs whites
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Beat egg white until they stand in stiff peaks. Add sugar gradually, while still beating. Beat in flour, and vanilla. Stir in coconut gently. Drop mounds on paper coated pan. Bake about 15 minutes, until golden. Let cool on pan. Bake at apx. 220 degrees C, or 350 degrees F.

All American Apple Pie

Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup butter or margarine
1 egg
1 teaspoon vinegar
4-6 tablespoons cold water

Crumble flour and butter until the butter is even distributed. Mix egg, water and vinegar together, stir quickly into flour mixture. If too dry add a little more water. Divide into 2-4 parts (depending on size of pan). Roll bottom crust, put into pan.

Filling:
6-8 apples, peeled and sliced.
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 -4 tablespoons flour

Mix together and fill pies, top with crust. Finish edges and pierce top crust with a knife to let steam escape. Makes two 9 inch pies. Bake until golden brown and filling is bubbly.

Cold Soup

A summer favorite in Latvia is cold soup. It is fast and easy, with just a little planning ahead. No one here likes to eat anything heavy when it is really hot out. So this soup usually goes like hot cakes ;) There are other variations, without beets, but this is the version I usually make.

2-3 boiled potatoes (peel when cool) shredded or chopped
2 hard boiled eggs chopped
2-3 cucumbers, shredded or chopped.
1 -2 quarts kefirs (this is like buttermilk, but thicker)
1 pint marinated  (pickled) beets (shredded) You can chop them if you can't find them shredded.
1 bunch of dill, finely chopped.

When your boiled items are cool, shred them and mix with the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve. If you can't use it all the first day then it is just as good the second. I use only one quart of the buttermilk, I like a thicker soup. 

Strawberry Parfait

We recently had a ton of strawberries, and I was tired of doing the same things with them. I decided to look up some recipes in my Fannie Farmer cookbook. This is the first one I tried, and we REALLY enjoyed it. It is tasty right out of the freezer, sort of like icecream. But it is far better if you let it soften up a little, simple divine.


1 quart strawberries, pureed.
1 3/4 cups sugar ( I used a bit less)
3 egg whites
1/2 cup water
2 cups sweet cream

Combine strawberries and 3/4 cup sugar, refrigerate. Beat egg whites till stiff. Put remaining sugar and water in pot. Bring to boil without stirring. Cover and steam the sugar crystals down the sides and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and boil without stirring until syrup is apx. 115 degrees C. Slowly pour syrup over beaten eggs whites while beating. Beat this mixture until it is room temperature. Whip the cream to soft peaks and gently fold it in. Fold in the cold strawberry mixture. Freeze until ready to serve.