Lebkuchen

These lovely cookies were mentioned in the last thread, so I searched for a relatively simple recipe to share with you. You may vary the icing, using chocolate or almond instead. This recipe yields 72 cookies.

Ingredients

Cookies
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup diced candied citron peel
1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts

Icing
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, stir together the honey and molasses. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and stir in the brown sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and lastly the egg.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Add the molasses mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the citron and hazelnuts. Cover dough and chill overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Using a small amount of dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into small rectangles and place them 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until no imprint remains when touched lightly.

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (soft ball stage). Remove from heat and stir in the confectioners' sugar.

Quickly brush the icing over the cookies while they are still hot (Important!) and remove them to wire cooling racks. If icing becomes sugary while brushing cookies, re-heat slightly- adding a little water until crystals dissolve.

Store in an airtight container with a few pieces of apple peel for a few days to mellow.

Alternative glazing ideas

Chocolate glace:
200g (7 oz) powder (icing) sugar, sifted
30 g cocoa, sifted
enough hot water to make thick runny mixture to brush on

Almond glace:
200 g (7 oz) powder (icing) sugar, sifted
1 or 2 drops of almond extract
enough hot water to make a thick runny mixture to brush on

Getting into the Christmas spirit

Tumbleweed sent me this touching Christmas story:

A couple was Christmas shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve and the mall was packed. Walking through the mall the surprised wife looked up and noticed her husband was nowhere around and she was very upset because they had a lot to do. She used her cell phone to call her husband because she was so upset, to ask him where he was. The husband in a calm voice said:

"Honey, remember the jewelry store we went into 5 years ago where you fell in love with that diamond necklace that we could not afford and I told you that I would get it for you one day?"

His wife said crying:

"Yes! I remember that jewelry store."

He said, "Well, I'm in the bar next to it."

*****

Mrsgunka sent me some seasonal cartoons:

And a video of some very fancy Christmas lights:



Thank you, Tumbleweed and Mrsgunka.

Some old news

Today we're taking a trip back to 1933, courtesy on Grasshopper. Among the items he secured at a recent auction were some large books of clippings from old newspapers. Please click on the images for a larger view.

Thank you, Grasshopper.

A rogue amaryllis

Mrsgunka sent me photos of her amaryllis plants. Apparently one of them came up with too many petals and no reproductive organs. It looks to me that Mrsgunka got a rogue double amaryllis mixed up with her normal bulbs...

They're both gorgeous, lucky Mrsgunka!

A singing tree...

This piece of public art is high above Burnley on the Pennine moors in Lancashire, England. It was designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu in 2006 and won a Royal Institute of British Architects award. The Singing Ringing Tree is a 3 metre (9ft) tall construction comprising pipes of galvanised steel which harness the energy of the wind to produce a slightly discordant and penetrating choral sound covering a range of several octaves. Some of the pipes are primarily structural and aesthetic elements, while others have been cut across their width enabling the sound. The harmonic and singing qualities of the tree were produced by tuning the pipes according to their length by adding holes to the underside of each.

Today marks the 5th anniversary of its official opening to the public, so here it is: