Grazing with Gary: Recipes for Santa, Feast of the 7 Fishes, Christmas dinner

Oh my, how have we reached the end of the year already? In just a few days, the jolly old man will come and visit and hope to leave some great gifts for everyone in your family. I'm counting on a few of my family members getting lumps of coal for Christmas. Well, I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and thank you for supporting this column in the paper. It has been five years and every day I run into people that tell me they read, cut out and even make some of the recipes. This week, it's Christmas recipes. First, we start with cookies for Santa. Every year, we gather around the kitchen table and decorate cookies for Santa and the elves. To this day, we still decorate cookies for Santa. The second recipe is for all my friends that celebrate the Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve. Start with this recipe for cioppino and make some great sourdough bread. Last, I feel it cannot be Christmas dinner without some killer scalloped potatoes. The rage this year has been sheet pan everything, and here is a recipe for sheet-pan potatoes. Lots of crispy edges to enjoy while singing Christmas carols at the dinner table. Have a Merry Christmas, and Happy Cooking!! Sugar Cookies for Santa Ingredients Sugar cookies 1/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 egg 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Icing 1 cup powdered sugar 5 tsp milk 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1-2 drops food coloring 1. To make the dough, whisk together the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract into an electric mixer. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together, then add the wet ingredients in the mixer. Mix to combine, then form into a ball of dough with your hands, wrap in plastic wrap and set in the fridge overnight. 2. Roll it out and cut the shapes. The dough will be very hard when it first comes out of the fridge, so let it sit on the counter to get warm for 15 to 20 minutes. Spread some flour onto a cutting board and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Using cookie cutters, cut some shapes from the dough. Set the dough around the shapes off to the side, then use a metal spatula to remove from the board. Place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the remainder of the dough and repeat this process until the dough is too small and you can't cut anymore shapes. 3. Bake them in the oven at 375 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes. If the cookies start to get brown on the outside, take them out immediately. They will rise a little bit but will retain the same color as the cookies you put in. If they start to brown, they're getting too crispy. Let the cookies rest on a cooling rack completely. While they are baking, whisk together the icing ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. You can make multiple colors by scooping some of the icing into smaller bowls and adding different food coloring. Start icing when the cookies are completely cool. The icing will harden after at least 20 minutes. Seafood Cioppino Ingredients · 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained · 2 medium onions, chopped · 3 celery ribs, chopped · 1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice · 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste · 1/2 cup white wine or 1/2 cup vegetable broth · 5 garlic cloves, minced · 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar · 1 tablespoon olive oil · 1 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning · 1 bay leaf · 1/2 teaspoon sugar · 1 pound haddock fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces · 1 pound uncooked shrimp (41-50 per pound), peeled and deveined · 1 can (6 ounces) chopped clams, undrained · 1 can (6 ounces) lump crabmeat, drained · 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley Directions 1. In a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients. Cook, covered, on low for 4-5 hours. 2. Stir in seafood. Cook, covered, until fish just begins to flake easily with a fork and shrimp turn pink, 20-30 minutes longer. 3. Remove bay leaf. Stir in parsley. Sheet-pan scalloped potatoes Ingredients 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for greasing pan 2 cups heavy cream 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 1/4 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed (about 8) 1/3 cup grated Parmesan 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere (4 1/2 ounces) Directions Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease an 18- by-13-inch sheet pan with the butter. Bring the cream, garlic, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, then turn off stove. Thinly slice the potatoes on a mandolin or vegetable slicer (about 1/8-inch-thick rounds.) Arrange half the potato slices into a single, overlapping layer on the sheet pan, and sprinkle evenly with salt and half the grated Parmesan. Top with the remaining potato slices and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle the hot cream mixture evenly over the potatoes. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a paring knife, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and sprinkle the potatoes with Gruyere and the remaining Parmesan. Cook uncovered until very brown and crusty on top, rotating the pan halfway through, 15 to 20 minutes more.