Like the last fading rose, January is slipping away from us. Not that I am sorry to say goodbye. I hope she gathers up a serious portion of her frosty breath and blows it in another direction.
While I find the sight of its sparkling beauty magically enchanting,
I do not enjoy the frigid touch of it on my skin.
Actually, there are things about Winter I do enjoy, such as:
afternoons wrapped in my favorite cardigan,
with a steaming pot of tea and an audiobook to accompany my knitting,
long evenings of family at home together and nestled in for the night,
the cozy glow of candlelight flickering on the walls all around me,
the beauty of snow...snow... I really do love snow,
pots of homemade soup bubbling on the stove
and the smell of cookies baking in the oven,
filling the whole house with that
"I just died and went to Heaven" aroma.
One of my favorite things in the world has always been for family and friends to enter the front door and immediately say, "What is that wonderful smell?!!"
To me this is what makes a house smell like a home. That's one of the things I love most about baking. Another thing I love so much about it is that the end result is always quite lovely; a real feast for the eyes. I like pretty food. Plus it makes our loved ones so happy. I also like the time it gives me to get lost inside myself and think over and sort out all the things swirling around in my mind and in my life. So I guess you could say it warms my kitchen and my heart. Although I bake year round and always love it,
I really enjoy it throughout the cold Winter months best of all.
If you would like to warm your home with the divine scent of butter and chocolate, vanilla and coconut, love and homemade goodness, then I have just the recipe for you ...
Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter {room temperature}
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 3/4 Cup Baker's Angel Flake Coconut
1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
Cream butter for 3-4 minutes on high in a large bowl.
Add sugars and beat till fluffy and well blended.
Add egg, vanilla, coconut and chocolate chips.
Beat on low until blended.
Add flour mixture, beating on low till just blended.
With dampened hands, shape into 1 inch balls and space 2 inches apart on sheets.
Bake approximately 15 minutes or until slightly golden.
Yield: approximately 3 dozen.
Cool on wire racks.
Enjoy!
Trust me...
One won't be enough and ...
There should always be tea with cookies.
"Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth."
Alexander Pushkin
"Winter is the time for comfort,
for good food and warmth,
for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:
it is the time for home."
Edith Sitwell