Grate Day in the Morning!
I spent most of yesterday taking things and making them smaller. I shredded papers for almost 3 hours, working three paper shredders simultaneously and producing four large garbage bags of confetti. Awesome. Then I got out my super fantastic cuisinart and ground a bag of walnuts into coarse meal. On a roll, I next grated half a bag of frozen cranberries. I tried to grind some dried orange peel, but the cuisinart just whirled them around. I used the coffee grinder instead. Sometimes small tools are needed for small jobs.
With the ground walnuts, cranberries and orange peel, I made Cranberry-Walnut Swirls:
Cranberry-Walnut SwirlsSouthern Living, NOVEMBER 2000
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cranberries
1/2 cup ground walnuts
1 tablespoon grated orange rindBeat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended. Gradually add flour, baking powder, and salt, beating until blended. Cover and chill 1 hour.
Combine cranberries, walnuts, and orange rind.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a 10-inch square. Sprinkle with cranberry mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border on 2 opposite sides.
Roll up dough, jellyroll fashion, beginning at a bordered side. Cover and freeze 8 hours.
Cut roll into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices on lightly greased baking sheets.
Bake on top oven rack at 375° for 14 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Freeze up to 1 month, if desired.
Yield: Makes 3 dozen
I rolled out the dough on Silpat, with just a little bit of flour. The mat helps roll up the dough, sort of like a sushi mat. I made a rectangle instead of a square (to fit the Silpat) and rolled it starting with a short side. I should have rolled beginning with a long side to yield more cookies. Oh well. I refrigerated the dough overnight instead of freezing. The resulting cookies are pretty and tasty. They'd be good to make as Christmas cookies.