Best Day...

R

richard-in-cincy

Well-known member
We spent the day in the warm and cozy confines of a friend's home with other friends, making strudel, baking cookies, feasting, decorating cookies, laughing, talking, and just having an amazing time.

We made the mother of all Austrian Strudels. All of us were gather around the dining room table with our hands under the strudel dough coaxing and pulling until we had turned the little ball of dough into a 10' X 4' sheet. It was stuffed to the nth degree with buttered breadcrumbs, apples, cinnamon sugar, and golden raisins. The lifting of the sheet to roll it all up and it was baked into amazing apple strudel nirvana.

Then we all brought 2 cookie doughs with us to make and brought pignolli, agnoletti, Nurnberg Lebkuchen, Rolled Lebkuchen Hearts to decorate with royal icing, and some others.

We feasted on Minestrone, crusty breads, cheese, and an amazing salad with roasted beets and heirloom tomatoes.

And we all went home with heaping platters of all the different cookies and apple strudel.

We had so much fun that we've already called the next baking kitchen party: Breads, Rolls, and Tea Rings in January!

Have more kitchen parties is my New Year's Resolution.;

 
Amen. Our cookie swap coordinator didn't feel like making cookies so she sent us

...home with a bag of caramel corn each.

 
Would love to see the strudel making.... (more)

my former mother in law was (is, but too old for that now) a fantastic cook. She is German and moved to Brazil when my first husband was 6 years old.

anyway, her specialty was apple strudel, pastry made from scratch - she would have the help of her son while he lived with her, and later from a maid who stayed with her until she went to an assisted living place in Sao Paulo

I was lucky to enjoy her strudel twice in my life - unforgettable.

I wish I could have learned the recipe from her, but some things are even more magical in the unknown.. smileys/wink.gif

 
It really sounds like the best day! Strudel making reminds me of my grandmother who came to visit in

the summer and would promptly take over the kitchen table and invite anyone who who join and bake up a batch of strudel. Sounds a bit like yours. My sister and I are always talking about doing it and now I am even more motivated.

 
I should clarify. I still came home with cookies from the other guests...just none from the

person who organizes the swap.

Also, this year she decided we wouldn't take home any of our own cookies. We each bring in 10 packages of our own cookies and a plate to sample. While we eat lunch, her husband fills up a shopping bag with a package of cookie from each person.

In her opinion, WHY would we want our own cookies back? Her rationale was that we would have plenty of our own cookies back at home so she told her husband to skip that as he filled each person's bag.

But I had NONE. ZIP. NADA.

I was so shocked I said out loud: "Well, I want a bag of my own cookies to add to my platters when I get home." So when we were leaving she had to go through the bags and find out where the extra (my bag) had gone to.

Then she didn't make any cookies herself. Why hold a cookie swap if you don't want to make cookies?

 
THis sounds lovely! We are hosting some of my daughter's friends tomorrow for some cookie baking

and decorating. Having eight 10 year olds in my tiny galley-style kitchen should be fun! We are bringing in an extra table in the dining/living room to spread everything out. Then either Thursday or Friday my son will be having his friends over for round two. They will need much less supervision (I hope) - though since they are all from his Drama Club and/or Choir at school, it should be entertaining.

It seems no one around us bakes, or it is rare. One of the moms of the group asked if I was "actually having them make the dough".... smileys/smile.gif

 
what a novel concept, actually mixing up dough to bake cookies! I'm sure...

they will all have a lot of fun and hopefully you'll inspire some budding bakers.

 
Lisa, I admire you for hosting this. I do not bake, I will on occasion bake a cake or cookies, but

never to host a party for bakers. My dd has been invited for the last 3 years to a family to make their own cookies. It has become such apart of her "traditions". I still don't know how she does it. It's hard enough (and fun) having so many kids in the house, let alone giving them directions with mixing, baking, decorating, etc, etc..... You are creating life long memories for your children and their friends. Take pics!!

 
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