In light of the impending winter holiday and exam week, Ellie and I thought that it would be appropriate to offer to you, our beloved readers, a holiday favorite, along with a tasty snack recipe to keep you going through these stressful times. We both realize that the holiday season can be one of the most hectic times of the year, not only because of exams, but also because of the stress of finding gifts, scheduling those obscenely early shuttle rides, and trekking through countless airports on our journeys back home. One way to stay awake, alert, and healthy during this chaotic period is by eating well and eating food that bring merriment to the soul. Here are two recipes: one for traditional homemade sugar cookies with tips for decorations, and our very own creation, the festive pita pizza.
Sugar Cookies
To begin work on the sugar cookies, gather together flour, baking soda, baking powder, butter, an egg, vanilla extract, and most importantly, sugar. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is preheating, stir together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder) in a bowl and set aside. In another large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. This may require a number of strokes, but keep going until the two have blended together nicely. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Once the wet ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together, stir in the dry ingredients from the separate bowl. Gradually stir your mixture until it has solidified into a soft, malleable form. Make sure your work surface is very clean, for we do not want to encourage the emergence of even more sickness during flu season.
Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls and place them onto an ungreased cookie sheet. To fully immerse yourself in the holiday spirit, gather a few friends and make it a competition to see who can carve out the most recognizable holiday shape. These can range from menorahs to the traditional Christmas tree to the mazao (the fruit basket of Kwanzaa). By this time, the oven should be preheated so go ahead and place the cookie sheet in the oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the dough balls have flattened out into rounded, golden-brown cookies. Once this absolute cookie perfection has been achieved, take the cookies out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. While they cool, assemble any possible decorative materials you can find. These may include: rainbow sprinkles stolen off the donuts at brunch, cream cheese icing taken from the carrot cakes at dinner, or even some almonds from the Usdan salad bar.
Pita Pizzas
On a healthier, less-holiday inspired note, we now turn to pita pizzas to help give your brain a small boost to combat finals, last minute research papers, and group projects. The essential ingredients are flat pita breads, feta cheese (or any others that strike your fancy), tomatoes and basil. Keeping with this red, white, and green theme, olives may also be used as a colorful topper. Begin the process by laying your pitas out on a cookie sheet, sprinkling them with cheese, and adding a few thin slices of tomatoes on top. Put them in the oven at 400 degrees in order to melt the cheese fast and keep the bread from drying out. When the heavenly wafts of cheese and tomatoes can be smelled from down the hall, take the pita pizzas out and allow them to cool for a few minutes. Top with your green ingredients, basil, and olives, and thoroughly indulge in this healthy but delicious snack.
Remember, the holidays are essentially the only time of the year when self-indulgence can be excused. Happy holidays to everyone and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.
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