(no subject)

[the_rck]

I've finished a draft of my Yuletide fic. I'm not happy with it. It's simply not the story I wanted to write. My brain was about three weeks behind where it needed to be, still stuck in trying to create a unified field theory for the source canon.

I've sent it off to a couple of people in hopes of a fast beta. ::crosses fingers:: Today, I'm going to think about a title and do family stuff (Christmas tree, pre-school, various other holiday preparations). Tomorrow, whether I have betas back or not, I start rewriting. (retsuko, given your time constraints, I'm saving you for a beta after I do the first rewrite. You're very good at helping me with typos and grammatical glitches, and I'll need that then.)

On a completely different topic-- It's time for me to start doing holiday baking, and I'm quite lacking in inspiration. Part of it is that my recently developed nut allergy means abandoning my family's traditional holiday cookies. I'm simply too tired to do a lot of experimenting.

To that end, do any of you have suggestions for tasty holiday cookies that don't take a lot of work, won't be hurt by the assistance of a four year old and contain no nuts?

Comments

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

If you would like another beta at this stage, if you e-mail it to me before I go to lunch in three hours, I can get you *some* sort of commentary by tonight?

Otherwise, if you e-mail me tonight, I don't know if it would be before tomorrow, because I work late and have to stop off and get emergency replacement x-mas decorations on the way home. Shopping. In December. *shudders*

[the_rck]

Sadly, I didn't get this until I got home at 5 p.m. I regret the missed opportunity. If I don't hear from anyone else, I'll send you a copy tonight and just wait another day. Thanks!

Good luck with the shopping.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this week's pretty hairy, especially for the first few days. But definitely keep me in mind for later!

Are you OK with maple syrup? I have a great cookie recipe for maple-based cookies and D. can help you spread chocolate on them when they're done.

[the_rck]

Maple syrup is fine. I have to be cautious about nuts, eggs, peppers, tomatoes and a bunch of spices (not ones usually used in baking).

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Shoot. The recipe I was thinking of calls for one egg yolk. How about this recipe for triple chocolate pretzels? Delia could help you twist them into different shapes:

Pretzels:
2 cups bread flour
1 tsp active dried yeast
2 tsp superfine sugar
large pinch salt
1 tbsp sunflower oil
scant 1/2 cup warm water
3oz each plain dark, white, and milk chocolate, broken into pieces (obviously, you could do this with the chocolate you're OK with)

Glaze:
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt

1) Preheat oven to 400, lightly grease 2 large baking sheets

2) Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the oil and gradually mix in the warm water until you have a smooth dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and elastic.

3) Cut the dough into quarters, then cut each quarter into 10 smaller pieces. Shape each piece into a thin rope about 8 inches long. Loop into pretzel shape.

4) Transfer the pretzels to the greased baking sheets. Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes until well risen.

5) Remove the covering. To make glaze, mix the water and salt in a small bowl until the salt has dissolved then brush this over the pretzels. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

6) Melt the chocolate of your choice and drizzle it over pretzels. When set, transfer to an airtight container and eat within 2 days.

Does that help? :)

[the_rck]

I have to be cautious about eggs, but I can have them in small amounts. One egg in a batch of cookies is usually safe, so please go ahead and give me the recipe. Basically, too much egg can trigger a migraine. I'm not sure exactly where the line is, but I can have some if I'm cautious.

The pretzels recipe sounds good, too.

[dubious-volute.livejournal.com]

Peppermint meringues are nice, if you don't mind dealing with meringue. I have a recipe floating around somewhere...

[the_rck]

Meringue is egg white, yes? If it is, I need to avoid it. If I'm wrong, though, I'd be interested in the recipe.

[jss]

Alas, meringue is whipped egg whites. (The other "weird M-word" is marzipan which is an almond paste.)

Yes, I recognize the irony of using my "food" icon given Scott's allergies.

[the_rck]

'Marzipan' is one I actually know.

::grins:: Well, Scott won't react to a photograph. He might drool a little, though. He does miss beef.

[jss]

I'm sure. Is it all red meats, or something specific to beef? For example, ostrich and buffalo have beeflike qualities/textures (I've had the latter but not the former), so maybe a buffalo burger wouldn't trip his allergies. Just a thought.

[the_rck]

We haven't tried buffalo or ostrich. He's okay with pork/ham, and I think he's had venison and been okay.

[jss]

Buffalo's probably closer to beef than venison is, so that one you might do very very sparingly until you know its effects. But it's a very rich, low-fat, reasonably healthy red meat, FWIW. (I had a buffalo filet my last night in Dallas for the conference last month and it was really really good.)

[dubious-volute.livejournal.com]

Alas, meringue is about 99% egg whites! ;___; Sorry about that.

EDIT: Oh, whoops, jss1113 got there first. XD

[the_rck]

Pity about that. Eggs being a migraine trigger for me is always inconvenient.

And I don't mind hearing the same information twice. If you hadn't responded, I might have entertained dreams that your particular meringues might be different. ::laughs::

[booniverse.livejournal.com]

Bacon fat ginger cookies?

Actually, I'm thinking of modifying that recipe using crisco instead of the bacon fat because they were taaaasty cookies. You can probably also make them as cut out cookies which is a lot of fun (for at least a short while so small batches) for a 4 year old.

I have The Betty Crocker Cookie Book if you want inspiration?

[the_rck]

I'll take the recipe and any other inspiration you can offer. ::grins:: I plan to bake like a crazy woman after I get the shopping and the cards and the Yuletide fic out of the way.