blue artichoke

Delicate or specialty-shaped cookies intimidate me. It seems like a lot of effort goes into hand-crafting perfectly shaped cookies, especially considering that the cookies will last a few days at best, before ending up in a grateful belly. Who has the time or patience?

Well, I thought I might. I liked every aspect of food preparation in cooking school - chopping, grating, blanching, sauteing, cooking, grilling, mashing, baking, frosting, and so on - but I really loved plating, garnishing and presentation. The squeeze bottles full of reductions and coulis that we used to draw designs on the plates or food, the arrangement of dried vegetables into sails or petals and the artful combination of colors and textures on the plate, those were the parts I looked forward to the most. So, I suspected that I would also like making artful cookies. I wanted to try using a cookie press. It didn't seem like it required a whole lot of talent or training, and, once I got the hang of it, I would be able to churn out dozens of beautiful cookies, assembly-line style. Still, I was a bit hesitant to use one. What if I sucked at the cookie press? My dreams would be dashed. I had no excuse for avoiding the press; I have had my grandmother's for years. It's old, considered vintage on eBay, and hails from the days when cookie was spelled cooky.

No excuses. I'm 30. Time to man up and face the cookie press. I had a few stinkers at first, as I learned how much I had to turn the cookie press screw to push out dough, but I quickly got the hang of it and pressed out row after row of beautiful Christmas trees. The recipe is a basic shortbread butter cookie, simple but really delicious. I sprinkled the trees with red, green and white mint sprinkles for some extra flair. The recipe called for a few drops of green food coloring, but I learned in the great Key Lime Pie debacle that I don't handle food coloring well, so I opted to omit this step.

Here's the recipe, for all those who have conquered their fear of the cookie press:

Christmas Trees

1 c. shortening
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
2-1/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1/8 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. almond extract (I used butter flavoring and vanilla extract instead, 1 t. of each)
Green vegetable coloring

Cream shortening, adding sugar gradually.

Add unbeaten egg, sifted dry ingredients, flavoring and a few drops of vegetable coloring. Mix well.

Fill a MIRRO cooky press. Form cookies on ungreased aluminum cooky sheets, using the tree plate. Decorate with tiny candies.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Yield: 6 dozen.

Yum!

I'm a convert. I love the cookie press! I feel like I'm ready for an even greater cookie press challenge, such as layered cookies, lady fingers or éclairs.

30 New Things Recap:

1. Roast a duck
2. Learn to make glass beads
3. Swim in an underground river
4. Sea-Trek
5. Touch a sea turtle
6. Make a chocolate meringue pie
7. Eat collard greens
8. Cirque du Soleil: Ka
9. Make ice cream
10. Eat lunch with a down's syndrome guy
11. Learn to post pictures on my blog
12. Wear shorts, a tank top and a thong on purpose, all day and in public
13. Join a Ladies’ Disc Golf League
14. Begin Muay Thai lessons
15. Visit a Spa and Got a Foot Massage
16. Pedicure
17. Cookie Press