sage
Merry Christmas from The Vine Vigil!
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sage
Wonderful! Counceller! The mighty God!
Christmas Cooky #5 – Candy Cane Cookies!
These delightful cookies are the crown to my cooky trays. They have a nice texture and are almond flavored.
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 room temp. egg
1 & 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
Red gel food coloring
1/2 cup crushed candy cane (use the “puff” peppermints for easy crushing. I get them at Dollar Tree)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Mix Crisco, butter, sugar, eggs, and flavorings until fluffy. In another bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Blend the flour into the butter mixture. Divide dough in half.
Blend red gel food coloring into one half.
Cover your dough with a damp tea towel to keep it from drying out while you work.
Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the crushed candy cane and sugar.
On a lightly floured board, roll small amounts of each dough into strips. Sprinkle with the candy cane mixture. Roll, gently twist, and shape into a candy cane shape. Please be sure to use half Crisco or the rolling experience will not go smoothly.
Bake around 9 minutes, till just the lightest golden at the edges.
I always use and recommend sea salt for cooking and baking for a brighter flavor.
A silicone mat is very helpful too. These cookies look spectacular on top of the cooky trays, and they are quite delicious.
We topped each cooky tray with The Candy Cane Gospel tract from Moments with the Book!
Merry, joyous, peaceful Christmas to you!
sage
Glory! Glory!
Christmas Cooky #4 – Ultimate Chocolate Crinkles!
These are absolutely the best chocolate crinkles you will ever try!
1/2 cup regular olive oil + 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons melted butter
12 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use Hershey)
2 room temp. eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup powdered sugar
Mix oil, butter, & cocoa powder. Blend in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix well.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into oil mixture.
Place the mixing bowl into a larger bowl filled half way with ice.
Let the dough chill for half an hour like this. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get a smaller bowl, and put the powdered sugar in it. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper. Remember, insulated cooky sheets topped with parchment produce superior cooky bottoms!
Using two spoons, drop dollops of dough into the powdered suger, then roll into balls and place on prepared sheet. I estimate a level tablespoon of dough is ideal. This dough, for me, is too soft for a scooper.
Your sheet should look like this. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Be careful, because chocolate baked goods do not show their browned edges. I always check the cracks on these cookies. If they look at all wet in the crack, they are not done. When done, the exposed cracks will look dry with a slight sheen.
Remove from oven to cooling rack. Cool on the sheet for four minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
sage
Christmas Cookie #3 – Christmas tree cookies!
These cookies are the favorites of children, as well as any adults who love sprinkles on everything! They are rolled and cut with a tree shaped cutter.
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 room temp. egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 & 1/2 cups unsifted, all purpose-flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Frosting…
1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon softened butter
1 tablespoon butter flavor Crisco
2 tablespoons 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Green food coloring and sprinkles
Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla in large mixing bowl until fluffy.
In a medium bowl, whisk together everything except the frosting. Add to creamed mixture in three increments until well combined.
Depending on how warm your kitchen is, you may need to chill this dough if it is too soft to roll.
Roll dough to about 1/4″ thickness.
When I roll these cookies I use a combination of cocoa powder and powdered sugar on a silicone mat. Dust your surface lightly with my mixture or lightly with flour.
Dip your cutter each time you cut, knocking off any extra. This helps make nice edges on your chocolate trees.
I use a very flexible plastic bench scraper I got from King Arthur. It is ideal for getting these cookies on the baking sheet.
Place cookies on parchment lined sheets, and bake in pre-heated oven for 5-9 minutes. It is 8 & 1/2 minutes in my oven due to the size of my trees. Cool 2 minutes on the sheet, then carefully transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.
While cookies are cooling, prepare frosting and sprinkles.
Combine all ingredients except the food coloring. Beat until smooth, and add color till you reach the desired intensity. Gel coloring is preferable to keep frosting consistency. Make sure the color is fully mixed in. Have sprinkles at the ready, as the frosting dries quickly!
Use a butter knife or small icing spatula, and swirl green icing onto one cooky at a time, quickly adding sprinkles on top. This year, I added edible glitter for a sparkly effect!
Place the trees back onto the wire racks until the frosting is dry.
“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2
sage
Christmas Prophecies and Fulfillments “When the fullness of the time h – AmericanMinute.com-William J. Federer
Sunday Scripture
Christmas cookies #2 – Shortbread cookies!
These tender, buttery delights contain zero leavening. They would even pass, Passover muster!
1 cup softened butter
3/4 cups sifted, powdered sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup oats, quick or old-fashioned, not instant
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup 2% milk
Sprinkles, jimmies, or colored sugar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla till well combined and fluffy.
In seperate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and oats. Add the flour mixture to the butter and combine well.
With fingers, take about a half tablespoon of dough, and shape into a semblance of an ornament. You do not want round balls, so don’t roll the dough. Just shape it. Because of the oats, they will not be perfectly smooth. But that is part of real shortbread!
Here you see my shaped cookies on an insulated cookied sheet lined with parchment paper. This method gives the most beautiful cooky bottoms you will ever see!
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until just the lightest golden brown at the edges. Be careful! These can overbake very easily! Remove from oven, cool on sheet for 4 minutes, then to wire rack to cool completely.
While cookies are cooling, assemble the fixings. I like to use a “Little Dipper,” that came with a big Crock Pot from Costco. I just put my chocolate in there, plug it is, and soon the chocolate is melted and stays warm the whole time!
sage
Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the milk.
Dip the tops of the cookies into the warm chocolate, then into your choice of toppings. Return to wire rack and leave undisturbed till chocolate dries, about 1 hour.
These are completely delicious, melt in your mouth, buttery goodness, Christmas cookies!
Happy homemaking!
Happy birthday @catmahm!
THE MOODY CHURCH 54th ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Christmas Cookie #1 – Fruit Drops!
These are old fashioned cookies that store well, much as a fruitcake does. They are not difficult to make, but do get a comfortable seat for all the chopping!
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
1/2 cup softened butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 room temp. eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
3 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 & 1/2 cup broken, not chopped, pecans
1 cup chopped red candied cherries
1 cup chopped green candied cherries
2 cups, chopped, pitted, dates
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix the Crisco, butter, suger, and eggs well. Stir in the buttermilk.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture.
Next, add pecans, dates, and cherries. This is better accomplished with a large, sturdy spoon or spatula.
Next important step! CHILL! Do not skip chilling for this very soft cooky dough. My favorite method of chilling is the ice bowl method.
Fill a very large bowl half way with ice, and nestle the dough bowl inside it. Even the softest cooky doughs will stay chilled and workable with this method.
Use a cooky scoop, and drop onto parchment paper lined cooky sheets. My preferred sheets are insulated, covered with parchment. This makes for a perfect cooky bottom.
A dozen cookies per sheet, and bake about 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden brown as shown in the picture. Cool on the sheet for 4 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Happy homemaking!
sage
Instrumental Christmas Carols | Relaxing Classical Music
The Sexuality of Contemporary Worship Music
It is not about culture. It is a spiritual battle against the forces of darkness. The conduct of these singers and musicians is very important. Why accept these adulterers and perverts because they are talented musicians? Would you accept such behaviour from your Pastor or Bible teacher? Why do the artists get a pass? Think about that.
https://www.wayoflife.org/reports/the_sexuality_of_contmporary_worship_music.html
His glory!!!!
TBC’s Mission: Damage Control | thebereancall.org
The danger of psychology in the church.
https://www.thebereancall.org/content/tbc-s-mission-damage-control
Chick-fil-A Doubles Down, Keeps DEI on the Menu
Has Chick-fil-A lost its way? Compromise, especially from a famous Christian company, will destroy it.
https://washingtonstand.com/article/chickfila-doubles-down-on-wokeism-keeps-dei-on-the-menu-
Why a pre-Tribulation Rapture!
Friday Church News, Dec. 5, 2025 – Way of Life Literaure
Christmas Tree, Lights, Poinsettia, White House, Carols “I Heard the B – AmericanMinute.com-William J. Federer
Deep Things of God…
Glory!!!!
Foreign-aligned group is radically reshaping America’s immigration system * WorldNetDaily * by Amanda Bartolotta
Super sneaky takeover of American jobs and culture.
Social Media a Forum for Heresy and Nuttiness
Behold!
6 Homemade Bird Suet Recipes – Birds and Blooms
chick.com/news/r/2025-1209.html?e=15b277353d1d48ea98a9340362cda46d
The Amazing History of Christmas | PragerU
Monday Musings
Do you fully grasp the doctrine of “son-ship?”
The “we are all God’s children” bunch fail to understand this important fact. Only true sons, born again under the Blood of Christ, qualify for the son title. When the Holy Spirit speaks through Solomon here, He addressing us.
The mystery of our relationship with the Godhead will never be understood by those who are without. The LORD uses family relationships to help us understand the deep things of God. The Truth really can set us free.
The Vine Vigil 