Paper Palate

When the copy of Paula Deen’s latest book, “Christmas with Paula Deen” landed on my mailbox, I was surprised by its size. Upon measuring with my ruler, it measures a mere 7.4-inches x 5.2-inches. Petite indeed, compared to the rest of the cookbooks streaming into the market this time of the year.

“Christmas with Paula Deen” is a collection of the favorite Christmas recipes and stories the Food Network star has accumulated over the years; most of the recipes can be found in her past cookbooks. However, Paula does include a few new recipes in the book. It isn’t a big concern for folks who haven’t owned any of her other cookbooks, but for those who do, I am afraid there may not be much surprise in store for them. 

The concept of this book is best described as a family cookbook. Unlike many cookbooks that focus on recipes and eye-catching food photography, recipes of “Christmas with Paula Deen“ are interspersed with Paula and her sons’ Christmas memories and family photos. Among them is the story of the Christmas that her husband Michael proposed to her.

The only drawback of the book is the lack of food photography. It is certainly an important deciding factor for many consumers, as far as cookbooks are concerned, and I am definitey one of them. In fact, all the family photos in the book are in black and white too. The only photos with color are on the cover and the back of the book. It is really up to one’s imagination when cooking or baking from the recipes in this book.

Since Christmas is the theme of this book, “Christmas with Paula Deen” is fiiled with ideas of homemade food gifts, cookies, Christmas breakfast and brunch dishes, dinners, entertainly ideas and her sweet creations, including pies, cakes, pudding and other sweets. I decided to choose a simple cream cheese cookie to kickstart my Christmas baking.

Cream Cheese Cookies
adapted from “Christmas with Paula Deen“

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
One 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the flour, stirring 1/2 cup at a time. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease one or more cookie sheets. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick; cut with cookie cutters. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack and serve.

Makes about 4 dozen.