Silver And Gold

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  I have one gift left to buy and then the baking and candy making.  But, if you are going to use nonpareils or dragees on your holiday baking, think about my tooth crown first.  These little goodies are like little rocks.

I called my dentist's son yesterday, to glue my crown back on, and he had had an emergency appendectomy the night before.  So, put in perspective, I'll take the crown mishap. 

By the way, the silver dragees now cost nearly $17.00 a bottle, say non-edible on the directions, but look oh so pretty atop the confections.  With only a few days left to get ready for Christmas, my friends are taking me out today to celebrate my birthday.  Love my friends.  We've been together for over thirty years now.  True gifts - the best kind.

Dragees

I've posted about dragees before, so type in dragees in the upper corner to find out more about them.  Once, I could only find the silver ones of my childhood, but now I think they make all sizes and colors.  I love them during cookie baking and decorating, but they really aren't so toothsome to bite into.  Anyway, you'll find my recipe for sugar cookies by digging into my past blogs.  Again, upper corner.  Hey, I'm still recovering so I'm borrowing from the old stash. 

DRAGEES

Do confectionery decorations remind you of when you were young? They do me and though they are basically tasteless, it wouldn't be Christmas without them. I'll not bore you with the encyclopedic history of the dragee - just a few facts I gleaned. Though dragee is from the french, the Greek term is tragemata, meaning sweet treats and they date back centuries. Who knew? The classic form are Jordan almonds. Throwing out these sweet treats at special occasions and weddings meant to ensure happiness, good luck, prosperity and fertility. Multi-colored paper confetti is now usually the replacement.

Silver dragees have long been used for pastry decorations. Gold, copper, rainbow and pearlescent colors are now available. The USDA says the silver dragee is inedible. Early in the 20th century, they contained mercury though they don't now. They were even banned for sale for a time.

What to do with them? Well, decorate iced sugar cookies for the holidays. Type in sugar cookie in the upper left hand corner for my recipe. I used to sell these at a tea room and have had many compliments. They are really good and great for the holidays as you gather together or gift your friends. And, you can make and ice them ahead of time. They freeze wonderfully.