Page 8 Section II Portland Observer, December 17, 1981
the party before
CRANBERRY SPARKLER
'Twas some time before Christmas
and all through the kitchen,
A ll the children were busy,
cookies a-m ixin'.
The cookies were decorated
and put out to eat,
In hopes that the children
would find them a treat.
The Santa cups brim m ed
to their tops with the punch,
Enough for a party,
invite the whole bunch.
Christmas—'tis the season to bake and
decorate cookies, enjoy punch from special
cups, wrap presents and trim the tree. Tis the
season when children’s joy and anticipation are
part of the Christmas spirit. Tis the season to
give a Christmas party for your children, invite
neighborhood friends, school chums or young
relatives.
For the youngsters’ holiday entertaining, just
fill a punch bowl with cheery Cranberry Sparkler
and serve Santa-sized cookies. The bright red
punch is made with Kool-Aid brand soft drink
mix, cranberry juice cocktail and lemon-lime
carbonated beverage.
The Santa-sized cookies will delight the kids.
Giant sugar cookies can be made by cutting
shapes freehand or by using a cardboard sten
cil. Delicious jumbo chocolate chip cookies
have the surprise ingredient of cereal for extra
nutrition. Mothers will like these cookies, too,
because they can be made ahead of time, wrap
ped and frozen, then decorated when needed.
Make an occasion of the decorating. It can be
done a day ahead or as part of the party fun.
Cookies can be covered with sugar glaze, then
decorated with a butter frosting made colorful
with unsweetened soft drink mix for large areas
of color. Use convenient tube frosting for
outlines and other details. These merry
Christmas cookies can be decorated with a
tree, red-nosed reindeer, a wreath or a brightly
wrapped package.
While children are drinking their punch and
enjoying their cookies, let them be creative by
making their own Christmas decoration. Pro
vide styrofoam balls for each child to make tree
ornaments. Put out pins, scissors, glue and a
selection of sequins, beads, rickrack, stars,
Christmas stickers, yarn, ribbons and scraps of
fabric. Children can make their own tree-
trimmers with relatively little supervision. Let
them decide to keep their creations, give them
away, hang them on a special tree or swap with
each other.
For practical party favors, give away
Christmas canisters that the children decorate
themselves. Start with empty soft drink
canisters. Cover each with construction or
wrapping paper. Then let the children paste on
appliqués made from paper, felt, ribbons, pic
tures clipped from magazines or old greeting
cards or other decorative bits. Each canister
can be labeled with the child’s name, a pet’s
name or just “ cookies” or “ candy.” This special
Christmas canister is just right for a child’s
treasures, whether they are candy or his own
Christmas cards.
There are games to be played at Christmas
parties, too. Using more empty soft drink
canisters, decorated for the occasion, and plain
white styrofoam balls, play Snowball Tenpin
Toss. Start with ten canisters arranged in a
triangle, with sides touching, as for bowling.
Each child stands behind a line and tosses
three balls, trying to get them into the canisters.
If a child gets all three balls into the canisters,
let him throw another ball. Each bail in a
canister counts 1 point. Children take turns
tossing the balls, and the one with the highest
number of points wins. After a predetermined
number of rounds, award prizes such as a
Christmas card address book, a calendar, a red
pen or a pocket-sized game. Everyone should be
a winner!
Don't forget to send them home with some
extra cookies, their Christmas canisters and
lots of smiles.
A nd you'll hear them exclaim
as they leave for the night,
"M e rry Christmas to you,
thank you, good night!"
f
2 envelopes (2-quart size) strawberry,
cherry, raspberry or orange flavor
sugar-sweetened soft drink mix*
2 bottles (16 oz. each) cranberry Juice
cocktail or cranbeny-apple drink
2 cups water
2 quarts lemon-lime carbonated
beverage
*Or use 2 envelopes strawberry, cherry,
raspberry or orange flavor unsweetened
soft drink mix and add 1 cup sugar.
Combine all ingredients in nonmetal punch
bowl or large pitcher, stirring until soft
drink mix is dissolved. Chill and add ice
cubes, if desired. Makes about 4 quarts or
32 servings.
JUMBO CHOCOLATE CHIP
CEREAL COOKIES
G IANT SUGAR COOKIES
2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened butter or other
shortening
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups crunchy nutllke cereal nuggets
4 squares aeml-sweet chocolate,
chopped*
*Or use 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate fla
vored baking chips.
Mix flour with baking soda and salt. Cream
butter; gradually beat In sugars. Add eggs
and vanilla; blend well. Add flour mixture.
Stir in cereal and chocolate. Using 1/4 cup
dough for each cookie, drop 3 inches apart
onto greased baking sheets and press with
fork into 3-lnch rounds. Bake at 375* for 13
to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Coo!
1 minute before removing from baking
sheets. Makes about 16.
Note: Cookies may be wrapped and frozen.
3-1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons double-acting baking
powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter or other shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
2eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
Mix flour with baking powder and salt.
Cream shortening. Gradually beat In sugar.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly
after each. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture
alternately with milk, mixing well after each
addition. Chill 3 or 4 hours or overnight. Roll
dough 1/8-lnch thick on lightly floured
board. Cut 6-inch cardboard patterns
(angel, tree, star, bell); place on rolled
dough and cut with sharp knife. Transfer
with wide spatula to ungreased baking
sheets. Bake at 350* for 10 to 12 minutes.
Makes 15.
Con/sct/onsrs Sugar Glaze. Gradually add
1-1/2 tablespoons (about) hot milk or water
to 1-1/4 cups confectioners sugar In a bowl;
blend well. Makes 2/3 cup.
Colorful Butter Frosting. Sift 1 teaspoon
unsweetened soft drink mix, any flavor,
with 4-1/2 cups unsifted confectioners
sugar Cream 1/2 cup butter or marga
rine. Add sugar mixture, alternately with
6 tablespoons (about) hot water; blend
until smooth. Makes 2-1/2 cups. (Recipe
may be halved; prepare twice with 2 dif
ferent soft drink mix flavors, If desired.)
COUNT THEM NOW
the many delicious dessert ways of
extending a warm welcome and
season’s greetings to family and
friends. From the simplest informal
get-together to the most elaborate
open house you’ve blueprinted all
year long, pies are candidates for
any celebration. This trio of fluffy-
textured “ dream pies" will pamper
company. They’re beautiful to see
and deceptively simple to make.
Today’s inspiration for these
spectacular light and fluffy pies
comes from our American heritage.
Apples, cranberries and mincemeat
— the mainstays of Early American
cookery — are the very essence of
familiar tastes in these light-as-air
pies. The key ingredient shared in
the recipes for this dessert trio is
Dream Whip whipped topping mix.
It’s the prepared whipped topping
mix that adds a marvelous fluffy tex
ture to a mixture when t ’s whipped
with instant pudding and pie filling.
Do you anticipate the annual
family tree-trimming countdown?
Then, you know very well a creamy
M ERRY’-
dream pie will help celebrate a job
well done. This is the ideal occasion
for a Fluffy Cinnamon Apple Pie to
join the cozy family party. You’ll
revel in the ease of putting this great
family-style pie together.
What about a reunion of a few
longtime friends? Count on the
Fluffy Mincemeat Pie to create
eating excitement for an elegant
dessert and coffee party; or, it may
be the final note to an informal
buffet evening meal. This second
dream of a pie has just a touch of
brandy added to the prepared whip
ped topping mix. Whisk the chilled
pie from the refrigerator just before
serving and garnish with candied
cherries to simulate poinsettia motif.
Are you ready for open house?
Surely the unmistakable sign of
holidays will be a punch bowl along
with an array of sandwiches, cheese
board and other finger foods. Let
guests graduate to a great serve-
yourself dream dessert — a light-
textured Fluffy Cranberry-Orange Pie
with just a hint of grated orange rind.
Newer than today and tomorrow
— this trio of holiday dream pies
adapts traditional time-honored fla
vor combinations to contemporary
entertaining.
It’s time to make merryl
FLUFFY
MINCEMEAT PIE
FLUFFY CINNAMON
APPLE PIE
FLUFFY CRANBERRY-
ORANGE PIE
2 envelopes whipped topping mix
2-3/4 cups cold milk
2 packages (4-serving size) French
vanilla flavor instant pudding
and pie filling
2 tablespoons brandy*
1 cup moist mincemeat
1 baked 9-inch pie shell, cooled
’Or use 1 teaspoon brandy flavoring.
2 envelopes whipped topping mix
2-3/4 cups cold milk
2 packages (4-serving size) vanilla
flavor Instant pudding and
pie filling
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups finely chopped peeled apples
1 baked 9-lnch graham cracker
crumb crust, cooled
1 Jar(14oz.)cranberry-orange relish
1 baked 9-inch pie shell, cooled
2 envelopes whipped topping mix
2-3/4 cups cold milk
2 packages (4-servlng size) vanilla
flavor instant pudding and
pie filling
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
Prepare whipped topping mix with 1
cup of the milk as directed on package,
using large mixer bowl. Add remaining
1-3/4 cups milk, pie fillin g mix and
brandy. Blend, then beat at high speed
for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasion
ally. Spread mincemeat over bottom of
pie shell. Spoon filling over mincemeat.
Chill at least 4 hours. Garnish with
candied cherries, if desired.
Prepare whipped topping mix with 1
cup of the milk as directed on package,
using large mixer bowl. Add remaining
1-3/4 cups milk, pie filling mix and
cinnamon. Blend, then beat at high
speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl
occasionally. Fold in apples and spoon
into pie crust. Chill at least 4 hours.
Garnish with apples slices, if desired.
Spread relish in bottom of pie shell.
Prepare whipped topping mix with 1
cup of the milk as directed on package,
using large mixer bowl. Add remaining
1-3/4 cups milk, pie filling mix and
orange rind. Blend, then beat at high
speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl
occasionally. Spoon over relish in pie
shell. Chill at least 4 hours. Garnish
with orange sections, if desired.