Great little Christmas Cookies - Pastel Creams

Here is the recipe for everyone's favorite Christmas Cookie.  This is a very labor intensive cookie. 

1 cup soft butter
1/3 cup whipping cream (not whipped)
2 cups flour

Mix the butter, cream and flour thoroughly.  Cover and chill. (I make the dough the night before, wrap it in suran wrap and referigerate)   Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out dough 1/3 at a time to 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured board.

Keep remaining dough refrigerated.  Cut into 1-1.5 inch circles.  Transfer the rounds with a spatula to a piece of waxed paper that is heavily covered with granulated sugar (I use a  large flat bottom bowl).  Turn each round over so both sides are coated with sugar.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet.   Prick the rounds with a fork about 3 times.

Bake 5-7 minutes or just until set but not browned.   cool.  Put cookies together in pairs making sandwiches with creamy filling.  Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Find two halves that are similar shape as they sometimes loose their shape a little when you take them off the floured board, and while you are dredging them in the sugar. Put the icing in between and make a sandwich cookie.

Creamy filling-
Cream 1/4 cup soft butter, 3/4 cup confectioners sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth and fluffy.  Tint with a few drop of food color.  (Add a few drops water if necessary for proper spreading consistency.)

Appetizer- blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon

Getting ready for holiday entertaining make blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon.
Buy soft Medula dates, and slice each one lengthwise.   Mix cream cheese with blue cheese about 1/3 blue cheese to 2/3 cream cheese.  Stuff the cream cheese mixture in the dates.  Cut uncooked bacon strips in half, wrap around each date and hold together with  tooth pick.  Then you can broil them, I use a broiling pan and watch them closely to cook the bacon, then pull them out and flip them over to broil the other side.  Or you can bake the at 400 degrees on a baking sheet or a broiling pan for 10-20 minutes, watching them to make sure not to burn the bacon.   I like to use the broiling pan to let the bacon fat run off.  Serve immediately.