Get Your Fill

This is a traditional cookie recipe at our household every Christmas. It came from my maternal grandmother's family, one of dozens of straight-from-England Christmas food traditions that were always front and center as I was growing up. I have vivid pictures in my mind of my grandma and her sisters (my dear great aunts) lined up in various familial kitchens over the years, always hunched over a stove or oven or mixing bowl, apron strings fastened firmly about their plump waists, friendly arguments ensuing over this-or-that. But the copious amounts of English goodies that would result from these diminutive ladies efforts were staggering: mini one-bite tarts filled with fresh lemon cheese, cookies and more cookies, even the vilified English plum pudding with hot rum or vanilla sauce (a favorite of mine to this day - a dish that horrifies me on one hand, but is so delicious I don't care on the other!).

This cookie in particular is my brother's favorite - my mom will triple the batch to ensure there is enough to quell his appetite for a year. Although our tradition calls for filling these cookies with a raisin filling, the not-to-sweet cookie dough lends itself beautifully to being filled with any manner of fruit (jams, compotes, finely-diced pie fillings, etc.). So experiment! And let me know how you make it your own.

Fruit-filled Cookies
Contributed by Judy Angell

• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix all ingredients and chill one hour. Roll half of the dough and cut with a round cookie-cutter; this half of the dough becomes the bottom pieces of the cookies. Place 1 tablespoon of filling on the bottom pieces. Roll out and cut the second half of the dough, and place rounds on top of the filling, seaming together with water. Flute edges with a fork. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Raisin Filling

• 2 cups water
• 2-3 cups raisins
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 heaping tablespoons cornstarch

Boil the water, raisins and sugar in a saucepan for 5 minutes. In a separate dish, combine cornstarch with enough water to thin it out (1/4-1/2 cup); add to the raisin mixture and boil for approximately 3-5 minutes to thicken. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place in a shallow dish to cool completely before using to fill cookies.

Cookies for Breakfast

Here's another Christmas cookie that's required eating at our house over the holidays. Enjoy these dipping cookies for breakfast - dunk in a big cup of joe or a steaming mug of cocoa. Mmm.

Almond Sesame Biscotti
Contributed by Judy Angell

• 1 cube butter
• 1 tablespoon shortening
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup almonds (optional)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• Sesame seeds

Cream butter and shortening, add sugar, and then the slightly beaten eggs. Add all dry ingredients and combine well. Divide dough in half and turn out onto a floured surface. Form into two oblong loaves. Roll the top side in sesame seeds. Score the top lightly with a knife to outline 1-inch slices. Place loaves on a baking sheet and bake in a 375-degree oven until brown, approximately 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and slice along the score marks. Place slices flat on the baking sheet, and return to oven to toast under the broiler, turning once. Remove when both sides are browned; cool on a rack and serve when they have hardened.

It's Greek to Me, #1

Several Greek dishes have been Christmas staples in my family for almost as long as I can remember. But here's the thing: we're not Greek. Not even close. So how did these Mediterranean delights come to be so ingrained in our holiday traditions? I never knew, until this year when I actually thought to ask my mom "Why all the Greek food"? Her answer: "Because I like it." So there you have it. Some traditions don't have to be passed down through the generations, but started simply because you can. My mom's homemade baklava is probably the most anticipated dish of the Christmas season. She doesn't make it any other time of year, and what she does make goes fast (I personally horde my stash, but I never seem to have any past the New Year). Making baklava is not difficult, only time-consuming. But the effort is more than worth it - there's nothing quite as decadent as fresh, homemade baklava... promise.

Baklava
Contributed by Judy Angell

• 4 cups walnuts, finely ground
• 4 cups almonds, finely ground
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 pound phyllo dough
• 1 pound butter, melted

Honey syrup

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 20 ounces fresh honey
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated

In large bowl, mix nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Brush the bottom of a 12x18-inch lipped baking sheet with melted butter. Start layering the phyllo dough, one sheet at a time, brushing each layer with melted butter until you have six layers of dough. On top of the sixth layer of phyllo, sprinkle a thin layer of nut mixture. Cover with another layer of phyllo; brush with melted butter. Continue layering accordingly (single, thin layer of nuts/single layer of phyllo/melted butter) until all nuts have been used. Finish with another six layers of phyllo, buttering each one.

With a serrated knife, cut baklava in 1-inch strips in each direction to form diamond-shaped pieces. Bake at 275 degrees for 1-1/2 hours.

While baklava is baking prepare the honey syrup. Boil syrup ingredients for 12 minutes on medium heat. When you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the hot honey syrup over the top. Cover lightly with aluminum foil and let rest so the syrup gets absorbed. Let set 6 hours before serving.

It's Greek to Me, #2

Here's another of my mom's famous Greek dishes - buttery, flaky cheese triangles known as Tyropita (or Spanikopita, when you add spinach). Again, a holiday tradition in our family, but delicious any ol' time of the year. And really simple to make, once you get the hang of working with the delicate phyllo dough.

Tyropita
Contributed by Judy Angell

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 4 eggs
• 16 ounces cottage cheese, large curd
• 1 pound feta cheese
• 1 pound phyllo dough
• For Spanikopita, add 1 cup of frozen chopped spinach that has been thawed and well-drained.

Beat eggs and add to the crumbled feta and cottage cheese. Cut the phyllo dough into long strips (3-5 inches in width, depending on the size of the phyllo sheets and/or your preferences; we usually just halve the phyllo sheets lengthwise). Place a tablespoon of the filing onto the end of a buttered phyllo strip; fold end-over-end as you would fold a flag to form a triangle-shaped package. Seal with butter. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes.

Hey Sucker!

The candy-making in my family during the holidays is quite astounding. For generations, the women on my mom's side of the family have been making hard candies, toffee, truffles... the list goes on and on. But these lollipops are so colorful and fun, I just had to include them on this blog. The molds for these suckers were a cherished item of my grandmother's (she even engraved her name into the sides so there was no question as to who they belonged to) - along with her special candy-making pot that has spouts for easy pouring. My mom inherited the gear, and thus the tradition. Of course, you don't need these industrial-grade molds, nor the Christmas spirit to make these suckers - they're a great, fun, easy treat any time of year that's always a big hit with the kids. And - according to my Uncle Randy, a big hit with the ladies, too! (He used to borrow grandma's molds and have sucker-making date nights. Inexpensive, interactive, domestic... according to him, a winner every time!)

Grandma's Suckers
Contributed by Judy Angell

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon artificial flavoring (cinnamon, butterscotch, cherry, grape, etc.)
• Artificial coloring, to desired amount*
• 1/8 teaspoon citric acid dissolved in 1 teaspoon water (optional)**

Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook on medium-high until mixture registers 300 degrees on a candy thermometer (hard crack stage). Remove from heat and let cool to 275 degrees. Add flavoring and coloring. Pour into greased molds, insert lollipop sticks. Set molds on a greased surface in case of overflows. Allow candy to cool and set completely prior to removing from molds.

*To make opaque colors, add 1/2 teaspoon liquid white food coloring.

**Citric acid is added to enhance fruit flavors and give a more tart flavor. Add at the same time as the flavoring.

Dutch Baby

Dutch Babies for breakfast! As odd as it sounds, a Dutch Baby is not a plump, sweet child from The Netherlands, but rather, a dish akin to a German Pancake (or a big pop-over, or a Yorkshire pudding... they're all similar in taste and texture). I'm not sure why I associate a Dutch Baby with the Christmas holidays - we certainly ate them throughout the year when I was growing up - but it's comfort food at its finest, and a holiday treat for me when I'm home in Utah for Christmas. At the root of it, this dish is simply a vehicle for butter consumption. Melted butter pools in the center of the dish as you pull it all puffy from the oven, and the browned butter bits make the top and edges crunchy and savory. The thought of it makes me salivate. Some people like to top their Dutch Babies with powdered sugar and lemon juice; me - I'm a purist. Just the butter, please! So, to hell with the New Year's resolutions - make this dish! You won't regret it.

Dutch Baby
Contributed by Judy Angell

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour (can substitute rice flour for a gluten-free version)
  

Put butter into a deep 6-inch baking dish and place in a 425-degree oven. Leave in the oven until the butter melts and turns a dark brown (not quite burned, but almost). As the butter browns, put eggs into a blender and blend on high speed. Add milk. Continue to blend and slowly add flour. When butter is nice and browned, remove from oven and let stand for 2-3 minutes to come down in temperature. Pour batter into the butter, but do not mix. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes. The Baby will puff up while cooking, but deflate as it cools.

My Guilty Pleasure #1: Bi-Rite Creamery Ice Cream

Ice cream? I can take it or leave it. I'm not a big fan of most sweet things, and certainly don't go out of my way to get my hands on a sweet treat. In fact, you could load up a table full of desserts and plant it firmly in my path, and I'd find a way to get around, over, or under it if there was a pie ce of cheese or loaf of bread waiting on the other side. So for me to have an ongoing craving for ice cream is highly out of the ordinary. But the scoops at San Francisco's Bi-Rite Creamery must be loaded with crack, because I just can't get enough. And it's not even necessarily all of their ice cream that gets me - just one flavor in particular: the salted caramel (part the clouds, cue heavenly music, direct sunbeam directly on this heavenly concoction!).

I was in San Francisco a couple days ago, so made the pilgrimage and got myself a little cup of indulgence, pictured here (the salted caramel ice cream topped with Bi-Rite's homemade almond-butter toffee crumbles). It was an awesome capper to a perfect day - I sat and relished my cup-o-goodness in Dolores Park, watching people and dogs go by, and enjoying the 65-degree December day (strange, after having just come from the perma-frost of Utah where I spent Christmas only a few days earlier).

So take it from me, you should absolutely check out Bi-Rite's organic, homemade crack... er, ice cream. With flavors like Lavendar Honey, Creme Fraiche, Coffee Toffee, Brown Butter Almond, and standbys like chocolate and vanilla, there's a drug of choice for everyone.