Some flowers and some cookies

My jr. high and sr. high choirs did a fabulous job at Thursday night's concert.  I was so pleased with the way everything turned out.  The band also played a few numbers.  The title of our concert was, "The Best Loved Songs of Christmas."  I had narrators talk about the background of each song that was sung.  At the end, I had both choirs sing together, "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas."  I had a lot of fun, but boy, was I tired when it was all finished!

At the end of the concert, the students presented the band teacher and I with a gift.  He got a new coffee mug that he desperately needed, and I received a bouquet of roses and a gift card to the Olive Garden (yum!).

I like to bake a little something for the students in my choir after a concert, so on Friday I brought Candy Cane Twists.  What I love about this recipe is that part of the cookie has real peppermint bits in it.  They are soooo good!  Here's the recipe:

Candy Cane Twists

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 3/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup finely crushed candy canes or peppermint candy

1/4 teaspoon red food coloring

Beat powdered sugar, butter, egg, peppermint extract, and vanilla together at medium speed until creamy.  Reduce speed and add flour and salt.  Divide dough in half.  Stir candy into one half of the dough and beat food coloring into the other half.  For each cookie, roll 1 teaspoon of each dough into a 4-inch long rope.  Place ropes beside each other and twist them together. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and curve one end of cookie to make the shape of a candy cane.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

I had some left over crushed peppermint, so I used them to make another batch of snowball cookies. (You can find that recipe on my blog, too.) Instead of putting pecans or other nuts in, I mixed in the peppermint.  They tasted really good!  I really loved the look and taste of these candy cane twists.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.:)