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Even if you don't celebrate Yule in a traditional way or even if you still feel that it's Christmas for any reason, you can't go wrong with food. The cornerstone of any home is the kitchen, when getting together with family watch how many people conjugate in the kitchen.
Here are three yummy-sounding recipes for Yule:
Sugar Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 cup Unsalted Butter (NOT MARGARINE), softened
1 cup Vegetable Oil (NOT OLIVE OIL)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
4 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
Additional White Sugar, for flattening; coloured sugar, decors, and/or icing, as desired
Cream the sugar, powdered sugar, butter, and oil until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Add salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar and mix well. Add flour in increments, blending thoroughly after each addition. The dough will be light and somewhat sticky.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Flatten each ball slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in white sugar.
If you want to use coloured sugar or decors, sprinkle these on before baking.
Bake at 350F until barely light brown on the edges, about 10 minutes. Don't overbake! Remove from cookie sheet immediately and cool on wire racks. If you want to frost and decorate the cookies further, wait until they're completely cool.
Rumple Minze Pie
A variation on the well-known Grasshopper pie, this pie uses Rumple Minze, a smooth peppermint schnapps. It's a perfect, light, and festive ending to a heavy holiday meal. The recipe makes 6-8 servings
Crust Ingredients:
Thin chocolate wafer cookies, crushed into fine crumbs (to yield 1 1/4 cups of crumbs)
5 tbsp butter, melted
(or, buy a ready-made chocolate cookie crust)
Filling Ingredients:
2/3 cup whole milk
30 large, fresh marshmallows
1 cup heavy cream
1 ounce creme de cacao (chocolate liqueur)
1 ounce Ruple Minze (peppermint schnapps)
Red food colouring (optional)
Crushed peppermints, fresh mint leaves, chocolate curls, and/or additional whipped cream (optional garnishes)
Preheat oven to 350F.
To make the crust: Combine crumbs and butter. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely.
To make the Filling: Heat the milk in a saucepan over low heat. When the milk is steamy, add the marshmallows and stir until dissolved and smooth. Cool to room temperature.
When the marshmallow mixture is cool, whip the cream. Gently fold the creme de cacao, Rumple Minze, and whipped cream into the marshmallow mixture. If desired, add 1-2 drops of food colouring to bake a soft-looking pale pink pie.
Pile the mixture into the cooled pie shell. Cover and freeze for 10-12 hours, or overnight.
To serve: Remove from freezer for about 10 minutes (for easier slicing). Garnish with desired, slice, and serve while still frozen.
This next one is a little spicy, this is an adult drink.
The Yuletini
Four to six weeks before you wish to celebrate, make Cranberry Cordial:
In a 1-quart Mason jar, combine:
1 cup sugar
2 cups of finely chopped fresh cranberries. Fill the jar with a good quality vodka (you'll need about 1 cup). Cap this and allow it to sit on the kitchen counter for 3-4 weeks, shake it once or twice daily. After 3-4 weeks, strain it into a clean jar and store it in the refrigerator. It makes a brilliant red, sweet-tart cordial that is wonderful as an aperitif. It's also a terrific gift, given in a decorative beribboned jar.
Or make yourself a Yuletini:
1/2 tbsp whole berry cranberry sauce (homemade is best)
Juice from half of a large Satsuma or Clementine mandarin (plus some of the peel)
3 tbsp cranberry cordial
Ice
These recipes and more can be found in Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials: YULE
You can find this book @