My earliest Christmas memory involves chocolate and cherries and raisins and peanuts.

It was warm outside, so I think it was October or early November. My sisters, my mom, and I were helping my Grandma to make Christmas candy.

Or, more accurately, my mom was helping, and we were eating.

My recollection of the day is hazy, more suggestion than lucid memory. I don’t exactly recall any of the details, aside from sitting in my Grandpa’s chair, sampling the goods til I had a belly ache.

I find it strange that my mom and Grandma made candy so early in the fall. I’m not sure if I’m remembering poorly or if there was some reason that they needed a head start.

There is one thing I remember very clearly, however. I remember that my mom and my Grandma worked hard to make treats for others. I remember that they loved the work, and I remember that I loved sampling them. I remember being scolded for sampling too many.

While I certainly don’t want all of Grace’s holiday memories to focus on food, I want her portfolio of Christmases past to include a few afternoons spent making goodies for our friends.

Fun. Mixing. Flour and cocoa all over the place.

Love. Generosity. Sharing our blessings.

And I hope Grace forgets that she wasn’t all that helpful.

What’s your best recipe for Christmas goodies? I need some new ones, and I’d love to use yours.

I don’t love the recipes I have, and I’m not sure I want to make Candy Corn Cookies for Christmas.

I’m going to adjust the recipe as follows, but I need another recipe or two. Or five. Help me out!

Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (next time, I’m going to use the Splenda brown sugar mix and see how it goes)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (next time, I’m going to use the Splenda baking mix and see how it goes)
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup pecans

1. In a stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extracts.
   
2. Add eggs one at a time, and beat until well incorporated.
3. Whisk together the cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift.
   
   Try to keep your helper from throwing the sweet smelling flour mixture around the kitchen. That can get messy.
   
4. Add sifted ingredients to the mixing bowl.
   
5. Use a wooden spoon to fold the dry ingredients in until they’re just combined. For the longest time, it will feel like you’re just moving around the sifted ingredients. Suddenly, it will feel like you’re trying to stir cement.
   
6. Stir in the chocolate chips and the pecans. Mix just enough to distribute. Don’t overwork the dough!
   
7. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so.
8. Preheat the oven to 350 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
9. Dip a small scoop into water (to prevent sticking) and drop dough onto a cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Flatten the balls slightly.
10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.
11. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet. I don’t know why, but that helps them to be moist and gooey.

Grace’s Kitchen Friends

Please join in Grace’s Kitchen Friends! To play along, all you have to do is fill out MckLinky below. You can link up any post that talks about kids and food:

• feeding kids
• cooking with kids
• kids’ nutrition
• play with food or play kitchens
• crafts with or about food
• There are a lot of other kids and food things I haven’t listed (like growing food with kids or fun recipes that kids love!), so please don’t feel limited.

I’m easy like that, Dear Reader. The only thing I ask is that you link back here to Grace’s Kitchen Friends in your post. I can’t wait to see what your kids are doing!

Happily submitted to What’s Cooking Wednesday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, Things I Love Thursday, Kids in the Kitchen, Friday Feasts, Foodie Friday, What Did You Bake Today?, Food on Friday, Fight Back Friday, Finer Things Friday, Family Friday, and Beautiful Life

Photo courtesy of Samdogs on Flickr