A Thank You Gift and a Nosh for Tea

I'm being released tomorrow from Physical Therapy -- two weeks of at home PT and 3 weeks of outpatient PT. I'm a good patient and I've accomplished everything that I need to so . . . . the therapists that I've spent the summer with (or so it seems) I'll be saying goodbye to tomorrow.

But I can't just say goodbye -- no, I have to leave them with a treat and since it is so close to Halloween -- what better "thank you" than a sack of Candy Corn Cookies!

They're not my invention, but rather I found them on Cathy's blog -- Wives with Knives. She's a lot cleverer with them than I was -- but they are fun cookies! To make and to eat!!!! And they are so cute!!!!

They are small cookies -- about a couple of bites per cookie and the recipe does make a lot -- so what did I do with the remainder?
Had tea, of course!!! They're a perfect pre-Halloween tea nosh!!!
A new little Victorian silver bon bon dish with some white pumpkins and my share (or at least with this pot of tea) of the candy corn cookies.

Actually, there are more left, and I'm sacking up some more to drop off at some of my friend's homes for their grandchildren.

I do miss the trick or treat days of my youth when your trick or treat loot included some great homemade cookies as well as apples and popcorn and popcorn balls. Wouldn't any little ghoul or goblin just love a sack of these Halloween night?

Sigh, we give full size Snickers instead.

It's Friday which means that I'm joining Michael at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday. It's always fun to see what everyone has been doing in the kitchen over at Michael's!

CATHY'S CANDY CORN COOKIES

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 T. orange juice

2 t. orange zest

1/8 t. salt

3 cups flour

1/2 t. baking soda

orange gel food coloring

yellow gel food coloring

Sanding sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and orange juice and zest. Mix well. Combine flour, salt and baking soda, mix well, and add to butter mixture. Mix until well combined.

Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Add orange food coloring to the first part and blend well. Add yellow food coloring to the second part and thoroughly blend. Use enough coloring to make vibrant colors because they fade during baking. Leave the third part plain.

Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Press the yellow dough evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Press the orange dough evenly over the yellow dough, and press the uncolored dough on top. Wrap the parchment paper over the dough and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

When ready to bake cookies remove parchment paper and slice dough into 1/4 inch slices. The the pieces into triangles, dip one side in sanding sugar and bake on a parchment lined sheet at 375 for 7 to 9 minutes. The sanding sugar adds sparkle and crunch to the cookie and really dresses it up.

Cathy says:

"A loaf pan size wasn't indicated in the recipe so I used a 9 x 5 inch pan. The cookies are perfect to fit little gift bags and boxes, maybe two small bites and next time I'll use a smaller pan to produce a larger cookie. There won't be as many cuts in a row, but they will be taller because of the smaller pan. Just a thought."

It's always Thursday which means that it's time for Tablescape Thursday -- I have either been gone or so busy this week that I've not even had time for my afternoon tea. This Thursday I rectified that and am sharing my tea for one with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.