Christmas Cookies...
Disclaimer: I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story. All recipes below are from the Taste of Home magazine.
...With Luna and Sam.
The inside of Sam's house was practically overwhelming. Between the exterior decorations to the charming Folk-Victorian house and the numerous holiday decorations within the abode, Luna was left in awe. Her previous visits, being few and far between, had resulted in a similar effect on the teen. But seeing the house transformed by so many festive colors and shapes was something that kept her eyes looking all around.
"Dude..." she breathed out, taken be a sense of wonder. "Your house has always looked nice. But DANG, this is on a whole other level!"
"That would be my dad's handiwork." Sam explained. "He always goes all out with the decorations every year. The minute Thanksgiving dinner is over he goes right up into the attic and grabs every single decoration we own. From the first of December to the first of January, this is what my house looks like."
"It's pretty sweet." Luna said. "And speaking of sweets, what exactly are we gonna be making?"
Sam smiled, "To be honest, not much. I was hoping we could make all of my favorites, but...my dear old dad went and beat me to the punch earlier this week. I came home from school the other day and there was a literal kitchen full of cookies, cakes, brownies, and other sweets. He and my mom always go all out so we can share with our family and friends. Nobody in the neighborhood gets left out, ever. But there are two cookie recipes that we always save until later on in the month."
"What for?" Luna asked.
"My grandparents. They live in a retirement home on the other side of Lake Michigan, so it's a little bit of a trip. And we always bring them their favorite cookies every year when we go to visit them. Along with a bunch of other treats. Speaking of which..." Sam paused a moment to gesture to a selection of different baked goods sitting on the counter, all of which were on plates wrapped in either red or green plastic wrap. "...would you care for any mocha truffles, buttercrunch candy, peanut butter fudge, homemade pretzels dipped in white chocolate, maple whoopie pies, or peppermint bark?"
Luna resisted the urge to giggle at the rushed way Sam had offered the variety of tasty baked goods. Her eyes looked over the countertop, her sweet tooth aching for a chance to sink into any of them. She returned her attention to Sam, her eyes meeting with the blonde teen's for a moment before once more switching back to the sweets.
"Yeah, I guess I can take some of that off of your hands. Any recommendations?"
"I'd recommend a little bit of all of them." Came a mature, female voice.
Sam's mother, a tall, slender woman with shoulder length blonde hair entered the kitchen. She looked like an older version of Sam, minus the streak in her hair and also without the multiple piercings on her ears. She strode into the kitchen and reached up to the top of the fridge, where a large basket had been set containing a fair amount from the entire variety of homemade confections.
"Here you go, Luna." the woman said, holding the basket out. "My husband and I packed enough in here for your whole family to share. But it is a little heavy though."
Luna accepted the basket, her arms sinking down from the weight of it's many contents. She smiled up at the older woman, hoisting the basket up and getting a better grip on it from underneath.
"Wow, that is a bit hefty! But at least it should last at my place more than a day!" Luna joked. "Thanks. This is really cool of you to give us so much."
"Anything for the special friend of my precious baby girl."
"MOM!" Sam cried out, a blush adorning her cheeks. "Please don't embarrass me!"
Sam's mother gave the girls a playful smirk. "Sorry, but that's my job as your mother, Sammy-kins. And I can't pass the opportunity up when you hardly have any guests over anymore as it is."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Sam muttered, crossing her arms.
"Well don't you worry about me keeping it up." Her mother said. "I need to be going to run my errands. But I should be back soon enough to drive Luna home at the time I promised her parents. So, can I trust the two of you to behave while I'm out?"
Sam's blush grew. "Mom! We're just making cookies! It's nothing to worry about!"
"Good. Then I shouldn't expect any noise complaints from you blasting music, or to find a mess in this kitchen when I get back." she said, leaning over and kissing her daughter's forehead. "I'll see you soon, sugarplum. You two have a nice time baking together."
The entirety of Sam's face was now a hot scarlet, the girl's mother smiling at the reaction. She left the kitchen, leaving the two teens alone. Sam let out an exasperated sigh and turned to face Luna, but was unable to look the other girl in the eyes.
"I am so sorry about my mom. I know I've said that before, but...well, you see how she is, at least when I have friends over."
Luna set down the basket of treats and gave Sam an indifferent shrug. "It's cool, Sam. I have all of my sisters and a little bro back home along with my rents. So I get where you're coming from. But for what it's worth, I like your mom. She's pretty chill."
"Yeah, she is really supportive. Even though she likes to try and embarrass me to death sometimes. Anyway, let's take advantage of her being out for a while and get started."
"Ready whenever you are, Sammy-kins." Luna teased.
"Watch it, Miss Loud. Last time I was at your place your dad offered to show me your baby pictures." Sam warned.
Luna let out a nervous chuckle. "Right. I almost forgot about that. So, uh, what do we do first?"
Sam took a large bowl for herself and passed another over to Luna.
"You start by combining some flour, cornstarch and a little bit of salt in that bowl. And I'll mix up the sugar and butter in this one. Then you add your bowl to mine a little bit at a time when I say so. Got it?"
Luna nodded and set to work, using a whisk to mix the dry ingredients together. When Sam had mixed up her bowl, she had Luna gradually pour in the powdery combination to the creamy one. Sam mixed them up and then took out the dough and began shaping it into a rectangular block. She then set it onto a plate and placed it into the refrigerator.
"Let's give that a little time and then we can cut it into pieces for baking. Now we can start on the other ones." Sam told Luna. "Could you mix together some baking cocoa and confectioner's sugar while I separate some egg whites?"
"No problem, dudette."
Sam carefully cracked two large eggs over her bowl, pouring the whites inside and then discarding the rest. Next she added some almond paste and granulated sugar as well. Then she beat the contents of the bowl thoroughly until they were well blended. Luna brought her bowl over and like they had done with the previous batch of dough, she added hers nice and slowly while Sam kept mixing it all together.
"Huh, I think maybe we should've started with making these ones." Sam noted. "They're going to take longer to bake than the others. It's just a shame they need to be baked at different temperatures, or I would just say let's put them in together."
"It's okay." Luna said. "I'm not in any rush to get this done. Let's just take it easy."
"Hmm, fair enough." Sam said, heading over to the oven and preheating it. "Although, I probably should have done this part before we started. Can you tell that I'm not used to baking without my dad in charge?"
"Hey, I doubt I'd be doing any better. I can make a sweet stack of pancakes, but I don't do much else in the kitchen. I wouldn't mind learning though. My pops can make all kinds of meals that will rock your taste buds out of this world!"
Sam smiled, "Yeah. My dad is a wizard when it comes to cooking. Not just things like cookies and cakes. He can make casseroles and roasts and all kinds of other amazing foods. You'd be surprised how good a homemade macaroni and cheese can taste when it's made by my dad. I would love to learn from him so I can make it all myself."
Luna nodded in understanding. "I can relate. My pops looks so happy when he's busy at work in the kitchen. It makes me want to just join in because I want to be a part of it. Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea! Sam, we should both learn from our dads how to cook! Then we can meet up and teach each other what we're learning!"
"That is an awesome idea, Lunes!" Sam said, her smile growing with excitement. "It can be our thing! We meet up on the weekends and cook together! But let's try to do it over your place most of the time, if not all of the time. Besides there being more mouths to feed at your house, there's also the bonus of me not risking more embarrassing moments because of my mom!"
"Oh, yeah, sure." Luna said playfully. "Let's just have it so I'll be the only one embarrassed by her family."
"Exactly." Sam replied with the same playful tone. "So glad that you agree."
Luna snorted and began to laugh, Sam joining her. The sound of the oven beeping interrupted their mirth, signaling that it had reached the set temperature. Sam put in their cookies and shut the door, setting the over timer for seventeen minutes before turning back to face the other teen.
"Okay, so we can wait a little before we take out the shortbread dough to cut. You wanna rock out for the next ten minutes or so?"
"Dude, really? You expect Luna Loud to rock out for just ten minutes?" Luna asked, raising one eyebrow at the blonde. "I say we find some tunes and keep them going until it's time for me to head home."
"Works for me. But we can't crank it up too high."
"Right, right. Your mom will be pretty peeved if we get a noise complaint. I've been there."
"Well that and we need to hear the oven timer when it goes off. I wouldn't want to have to start over because we let them burn."
Sam took out her phone and opened up her music playlist on the MyTunes app. The sound of rock quickly filled the kitchen. The girls threw up their hands with their index and pinkie fingers extended while they banged their heads to the song, both smiling widely. They kept the music going the entire time they kept baking and for a good while after they had finished. The two danced together while the cookies cooled as if they didn't have a care in the world, right up until Sam's mother had to bring Luna back home. They climbed back into the sedan and began the ride to Franklin Avenue.
"So, you two had fun?" Sam's mother asked.
"Yup." Luna said from the back seat, her basket of goodies in her lap. "Thanks again for having me over."
"Anytime. In fact, why don't you join us for dinner sometime after the holidays? Wouldn't that be nice, Sammy-kins?"
Sam blushed again at her mother's pet name. "Yeah. That would be a good idea. But there is one condition, if that's okay with you, Mom."
"Is that so? And what would that be, honey?"
Sam looked back at Luna, giving her a knowing smile. "Luna and I would like to be the ones to cook dinner."
End of Part 4)
Well, just one more part to go and then I'm probably going to do an epilogue as well. Again, I hope that you've enjoyed reading this little story and that you also enjoy the recipes that follow.
Chocolate Amaretti (Makes 3 dozen)
Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cups almond paste
3/4 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1) In a large bowl, beat the almond paste, sugar and egg whites until combined. In a separate bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and cocoa; gradually add to the almond mixture and mix well.
2) Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 in. apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until tops are cracked. Cool the cookies for 1 minute before removing from pans onto wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Homemade Shortbread Cookies (makes 5 dozen)
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1) In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cornstarch and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Roll the dough into a 15x2x1 inch rectangle and chill.
2) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut dough rectangle into 1/4 in. slices; place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Prick each cookie a couple times with a fork. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.