Christmas sugar cookies and frosting

Christmas in July is my favorite holiday. It reminds me of camp, when we have a carnival and fireworks and a movie at night. We used to put our shoes out the night before and wake up to candy and a dusting of "snow." When raccoons started showing up in junior camp, the candy was replaced with little bottles of sunscreen and bubbles. Christmas in July is the slightly tacky younger cousin of actual Christmas. My family's time-honored Christmas recipes--egg nog, bon bons, candied grapefruit peels, 10 dozen ginger cookies--didn't make an appearance yesterday. Y'all will have to wait until December for these secrets! But it's a great time to wear bright red and bright green (I even pulled out a favorite tartan ribbon), drink hot chocolate and indulge a little. Andrew brought in flowers from our garden to decorate the dinner table. Look how beautiful they are!

Dessert was sugar cookies--and of course, you could make any shapes you want. I always made arrows and angels for Pi Phi cookie shines. My apartment in college didn't have a smooth countertop, so I used a big cutting board--easy cleanup! I usually take a chunk of dough at a time and dip it in flour all over so that the cutouts come up more easily. You can also use a paring knife and a thin spatula if the dough gets stubborn. Andrew and I bought these Christmas-themed cookie cutters three years ago, when I convinced him to let my pledge sisters use his house to bake cookies during finals. I threw in a few angels, too. I used his favorite sugar cookie recipe and let it sit in the fridge overnight. It doesn't have to wait that long, and it doesn't really have to go in the fridge at all, but it does roll out better if it's cold. These quantities make a LOT of cookies, so you can always cut the recipe in half or freeze part of the dough for later.

Rolled sugar cookies
Cream 1 1/2 cups softened butter and 3 cups white sugar until smooth. Beat in 4 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Stir in 5 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. Cover and chill at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough onto a floured surface 1/2 inch thick (who would actually measure this? Just know that the thicker it is, the more you risk spreading) and cut into shapes. Bake 5-8 minutes. I know I roll my cookies thin, but I only baked them for 5 minutes. I like to keep them on the cookie sheet for an extra minute--they solidify a little more--before I transfer them to the cooling rack.

You could leave your cookies plain, or toss sprinkles on before you bake them, or cool and frost them. I did a bit of all three. My frosting recipe came from Joyce Winchester, whose daughter Cat is one of my best friends from high school. She read Psalm 121 at our wedding and it was beautiful. Our families are close--we've gone on vacations together, and I consider Cat and Lauren to be my sisters. My cousin and bridesmaid Julia (who is also Lauren's new roommate!) sent out recipe cards in the invitation to my shower. It was a lovely idea and a great way to kick-start my recipe collection. Joyce got this recipe from the mother of one of her friends and says it's her absolute favorite.

 I've tried several buttercream frostings over the past few years, which all have varying proportions of milk, butter and confectioner's sugar. This one is definitely unique, but it made a smoother and better-tasting frosting than any of the others.

Yummy buttercream frosting, from Joyce Winchester
Combine 5 tablespoons flour and 1 cup milk in a saucepan. Whisk together well then place over medium heat. Continue to whisk until the mixture is very thick. Cool completely. Cream together 1 cup butter and 3/4 cup sugar. Add 1 tsp vanilla and the milk paste. Whip it with an electric beater until it resembles whipped cream. Yum!