More cookies!

a few sandwiches appeared alongside cookies
at the Congregational Tea

My question of why there are so many cookies in town during Christmas has not been completely answered. But I believe the place you can find the most cookies is at the annual Congregational Church Tea.

Right before the big event, in the kitchen were piles of cookies, tins of cookies, platters of cookies, all homemade by generous members of the congregation. "How many cookies are there?" I asked. "Oh, maybe thousands," came the cheerful reply.

Upstairs in the sanctuary, guests enjoyed a Christmas program of stories, Scripture readings, and song. A preschool group exuberantly sang off-key, Silent Night was strummed on a guitar, and a dulcimer brought life to other carols.

Then the crowd eagerly gathered along a table where an endless supply of cookies and elegant cups filled with tea or coffee from silver pots brought much joy.

And a special thank-you to those who washed up afterward . . .

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Pumpkin soup

enjoy hot soup in a fun mug

I wanted something light to eat for lunch and for some reason pumpkin soup came to mind. Ive never had pumpkin soup and wasnt sure where to find a recipe. But then another thought enlightened me: look in Elizabeth Davids French Provincial Cooking.

Rural French cooking is much like Montana cooking in that it uses whats available. If you can find something fancy to brighten a dish, grab it and rejoice. But often exotic ingredients just cant be found within arms reach here on the ranch. The IGA in town does its best, but they wont sell anything that isnt widely popular and will simply spoil on the shelf.

Cookbooks by Elizabeth David are fun to read, but the recipes tend to be squashed together, and you wont find lavish mouthwatering photos of any, let alone every, dish.

You will find practical recipes that often use plain ingredients. Although I havent done the research to verify this, I suspect that for any ingredient you have on hand, you can find a recipe in one of her books.

Pumpkin Soup

To make a thick, creamy soup, I simmered a pound of home-grown pumpkin pulp (it was frozen, so I just dumped the chunk into the pot), a chopped celery stalk, a cup and a half of 2 percent milk, and a cup of chicken stock. After half an hour, I pureed it with my hand blender and seasoned it.

Elizabeth David went on to add shrimp, but I stirred in a bit of cooked chicken that was on hand.

The photo shows the soup with freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg sprinkled on top. (Sorry for the blurry photo!)

A tasty lunch, with, Id say, 98 percent of the ingredients (I dont know where the celery came from) produced in Montana.

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Time to deliver cookies

Its that time of year when some of us bake and bake, give other people treats, and hope we get lots in return.

I say that with humor, because this time of year we know well all be getting lots of goodies one way or another, even if we have to hang around the bank lobby until they put out store-bought Lorna Doones.

Yesterday I spent the entire day in the kitchen. There are so many people I wanted to thank for being kind to me, or else to cheer up because they had a rough year.

I didnt get photos of the trays because I was so busy wondering how I would deliver them all on icy roads today, but in the photo above you get an idea. That plate is going to a neighbor who lives alone. Some of the people have 3 and 4 kids, so their gifts were more like Christmas bags.

I also hoped to get more photos of the process, but what with one thing and another . . . My kitchen resembled one of those sitcoms where a budding entrepreneur tries to make enough cupcakes to fill an unexpected order for 5,000 -- inevitably the family starts throwing things at each other, although the order does get filled. I can attest that this is a tiring process, even without throwing things around, so not many photos.

I did finish off a 5-pound bag of flour.

I also enjoyed melting chocolate and peanut-butter chips together and adding chopped peanuts to fill some truly delicious Chocolate Peanut-Butter Snowballs.

I was briefly tempted to eat the stuff right out of the pan. But I remembered my friends and controlled myself. Instead I followed the recipe directions and formed them into balls and wrapped them in shortbread dough. The snowballs were then rolled in powdered sugar and baked. (See upper left corner in top photo.)

I also made Fruitcake Bars, which are really, really tasty, but I would call them Fruit and Nut Bars myself. "Fruitcake" definitely gives you the wrong impression here. These are mostly nuts (your choice), dried apricots, and dates. With only 6 tablespoons of flour, you can use a substitute and make them gluten-free.

A few people who were very, very good this year got homemade English muffins and Amish-made dandelion jelly that I bought at the Eureka farmers market. Its light, delicate flavor is quite nice.

I also made two longtime favorites: Apricot, Orange, Cranberry Bread from Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking and Sparkling Citrus Triangles (shown in top photo) from a Land OLakes cookbook I picked up at the supermarket years ago. The latter were already in the freezer waiting to be sliced and baked. This is a handy make-ahead tip, by the way: almost any cookie dough can be rolled into a log, frozen for a month, and then sliced and baked.

I feel kind of tuckered out, as my dad used to say after a long day. Still, it was heart-warming to hear the surprised thank-yous. As I keep pointing out, people do a lot of baking around here, but they are just as pleased to be on the receiving end.

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Pumpkin bread pudding

Thanks to a suggestion by discerning dots4eyes, I made the pumpkin bread pudding on the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Its really easy to make, and there are all sorts of variations possible. For example, I did not add bourbon; I dont have any and dont particularly like it -- certainly not enough to drive miles on an icy road to add it to this recipe.

I used my own pumpkin, which is a bit watery, so it wasnt the bright orange you might get using the commercially canned variety. But it was sooo tasty that I felt like doing handsprings. Unfortunately, I am so bundled up in sweaters and long-sleeved shirts that wasnt possible. Or maybe that was fortunate. I havent done a handspring in many years, and there might have been sad consequences.

One thing I noticed in the comments to the original recipe is that many people are unsure of their cooking skills. One gal lamented that her bread wouldnt cut into squares. Mine didnt either, but in this recipe that doesnt matter.

crumbs being added to custard

One thing that does matter, I think, is to use unsalted butter. I rarely pay attention to this in recipe instructions, and Ive never felt anything was too salty . . . except this time. The custard is quite subtle, so whatever is in the butter does shine through. I recommend using the finest butter you can afford. (I used the IGA brand on sale this week, so dont let that stop you.)

Also in the comments was a suggestion to top it off with whipped cream mixed with brown sugar and sour cream. I just used the whipped cream and sugar. The pudding definitely does not need anything added to it, but you really cant go wrong with whipped cream on anything. I sprinkled on some freshly grated nutmeg for an extra spark.

Many comments included something like: "I could eat the whole pan!" Yes, its that good.

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