In honor of the Summer Olympic Games, I created an Olympic-themed drink for my son. There’s not much to it — just 7UP with sliced cherries to represent the Olympic rings. I used maraschino cherries for the red ring, and Roland lemon, lime, and wild berry cherries for the yellow, green, and blue rings. To make the black ring, earlier this week I put some of the blue cherries and their juice in a small jar and added black food coloring, which worked great (and gives me some ideas for Halloween). My son told me the drink was “cool.” 🙂
I also made Olympic Pie Crust Cookies, heavily decorated with colored sanding sugars, and was going to use them to decorate a dessert — maybe a sheetcake or trifle. But my husband said they were lame, and the kids couldn’t wait to eat them, and I guess that’s just the way the Olympic pie crust cookie crumbles. But just in case anyone’s interested, here they are, in all their sparkly, lame, Olympic glory. 🙂
Lame AND sparkly
And because I know you were wondering, according to Wikipedia, the Olympic rings were introduced in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. The five rings stand for the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from around the world at the Olympic Games.
First post. So nervous! Is there anything in my teeth? Deep breath — here goes.
This vintage platter, with its cheery blue cherries, was made in Manchester, England by the EIT English Ironstone Tableware Co., in the EIT20-Blue pattern. The manufacturer must have just given up when it came to naming this pattern. I mean, really — EIT20-Blue? What’s wrong with, oh say, the Blue Cherries pattern? EIT operated from 1982 until 2000, and the EIT20-Blue pattern was discontinued in 1999.
This platter reminded me of the Wild Berry blue maraschino cherries by Roland that I’ve been curious about for some time now. (Roland also makes maraschino cherries in lime, passion fruit, lemon, and chocolate flavors.)
I’ve seen them at the grocery store in the baking section, the mixed drink section, and the ice cream topping section. It’s as if they have an identity crisis. Maybe they should be located next to the self-help books. They’re a little creepy, like some kind of cryogenic experiment. The blue cherry platter inspired me to finally use them in a recipe.
With the 4th of July just around the corner, these Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies made with red and blue maraschino cherries would be a welcome treat at a patriotic celebration.
Red maraschino cherries, cut in half (approximately 20)
Blue maraschino cherries, cut in half (approximately 20)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese, using an electric mixer. Add sugar, egg yolk, and extracts, and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and salt, mixing until thoroughly combined.
Fill a cookie press with dough, and press cookies out on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press a half of a maraschino cherry into the center of each cookie.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until cookies are lightly golden brown on the peaks and on the bottoms. Allow to cool on sheets for 1-2 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
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Patriotic jewels ready to go in the oven
Ta da — Christmas in July
UPDATE: Since I first posted this recipe, I’ve made this recipe dozens of times. Our current favorite variation uses 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead of the 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla and lemon extracts (which are still really good). I now have a Wilton cookie press, which is easy to use, and I’ve learned that the dough should be room temperature if you want it to work and SHOULD NOT BE COLD. I like to use the flower disk and put an M&M in the middle.
