Feed Your Kids Plymouth Rocks

Last week Byron asked Akea if she would like to go on a Civil War battlefield tour with him.  She responded with a sigh and said, "You know, Daddy, I'm really into Colonial history, not Civil War history, right now."  I know, I know.  Nerds 'r' us.

Apparently, he ended up telling one of his high school history classes about this incident, because one of his students, Marie, found a recipe for Plymouth Rock cookies in a magazine, cut out the page, and brought it in for him to give to Akea.  She'd remembered that Akea likes Colonial history, and wrote a note that she just had to get the recipe for Akea.  So I purposed to make this today with the kids...

Akea is mixing.  I have no idea what Charlie is doing.

It's always a sacrifice to let the kids lick the beaters.

I had some help making these rocks "Plymouth."

Pre-oven Plymouth Rocks.

Plymouth Rocks, baked and glazed.

Plymouth Rock Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract*
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp milk
black and green food coloring**

1.Heat oven to 375.  With a mixer, blend butter, sugar, and extracts for about a minute.  Add the flour, salt, and milk and mix together with a wooden spoon until dough forms.
2. Form dough into 8-10 Plymouth Rock shapes, about 1/2" thick.  Press a small rectangular lid (such as from a spice container) into the dough to create a frame, and with a toothpick to carve the date 1620.
3. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through until the cookies begin to brown.  Remove them and let them cool completely.
4. For a gray glaze, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp milk, a drop of green food coloring, and a drop of black food coloring.  Adjust color and add milk if necessary to make the milk brushable.   Apply with a pastry brush and allow to harden for about an hour.

*I didn't have any almond extract, so I just doubled the vanilla.
**I didn't have black food coloring, so I used a drop of red with the green to make gray.

And that's not all!  We also made:

Brine for the turkey, a la Pioneer Woman.  Click here for the recipe.

Apple pie.  I know, I know.  I claim to be artsy, but there are two (okay, maybe more) things I can't do well: draw symmetrical stars and make fancy, fluted pie crusts.

Happy Thanksgiving!