Easy #Christmas Cookies and Amazing Books

by Alison DeLuca

I wish I could post the author, but this poem is anonymous.

Have you seen the post on Facebook called The Last Time? We're approaching one of those 'last times' this Christmas. Our daughter seems to be hedging her bets on the whole Santa issue - if she keeps saying she believes, the loot keeps coming. So we'll put out the cookies and read The Night Before Christmas, and it's going to be all the sweeter for being a final year of magic.

Santa's going to bring a sack full of books, of course. Yes, there'll be other stuff in there, the Segway she wants plus all the Japanese candy and fandom articles she's into now. Hello, Pikachu onesie! Yay, Totoro socks! 

I remember those days of holiday magic, the presents under the tree, the Messiah playing in the background. My mom's Irish fruitcake and plum pudding always made their appearance, each loaded with whiskey. When we were old enough to eat them, my sister and I got loopy off the cake. Later we discovered our grandmother's recipe included this line: "While still warm, pour a large tumbler of whiskey over the cake so it can sink in."

Let's just say my mom followed that recipe to the letter.

I still recall the excitement of opening The Man Who Was Magic by Paul Gallico. He's known for his heartbreaking stories about animals (I sobbed for hours over Thomasina and Jennie) but TMWWM is relatively unknown. And it is amazing, a story centered in Magea, a city that's all about magic - the conjurer sort. Adam, a man who can do real magic, interacts with Jane ( daughter of the main magician in Magea) and Ninian, a clumsy would-be performer who keeps dropping his props.

Also, there's Mopsy - a talking dog. 

Sorry - you'd have to buy used versions of this book if you're interested, since it seems to be out of print. But if you read the reviews, they all say how it's a childhood favorite and a wonderful story.

image courtesy of Goodreads

Flash forward to 2015, and my kid is asking for Dorothy Must Die. It's a dark version of Oz (another staple from my own childhood.) She's a purist and wants the print version, but if you want to read it on the Kindle, it's only 1.99. Apocalyptic version of a childhood favorite for under two bucks? Yes, please.

Now I've got that squared away, back to the Santa issue. This year we're going to leave out a plate of cookies 'One Last Time.' While I don't want to brag, I do make some of the best cookies ever. Does the family appreciate them? No, they do not. I've learned to pull back and make these easy favorites instead:

1. Nestles Toll House with M&M's: In the past I've busted my butt to roll out perfect creations of flour, butter, and icing. Guess what happened? Our guests ignore them and devour these babies. Now I make a double batch, bake a few cookie-sheets' worth, and stow the rest of the dough in the freezer in small tupperware containers. Before guests arrive, I defrost a container for about an hour, scoop out the cookies, and top with a few m&m's. Makes your home smell like chocolate chips - better than any candle.

2. Dunked Oreos, marshmallows, and pretzels - I've crushed almonds to make my own marzipan, rolled wafer-thin lace cookies around spoon handle to create delicate curls, made my own ice cream. Each year people ignore them all of those for the Oreos I dunked in melted chocolate at the last minute. The recipe couldn't be easier: melt a bag of chocolate chips in the microwave with a tablespoon of Crisco. Stir at 1 minute intervals, depending on your microwave settings. Dunk the Oreos (or pretzels) with a fork and place on wax paper-covered trays to set. While still wet, you can top with sprinkles, candies, nuts...

Photo courtesy of www.berries.com/

I'm telling you, those who ignore my labor-intensive rolled sugar cookies go wild for these babies.

3. Brownie and cake pops - Make a pan of brownies or box cake, scoop out some spheres with a small cookie scoop (available here) and spear it with a lolly stick (available here.) Dunk in the chocolate mix from above or use some Wilton's vari-colored chocolate melts. Add some sprinkles or decorating sugar. You'll need to throw some flour on your face for this one so you can pretend you slaved all day over a hot stove.


Stand back and modestly lower your eyes amid the Oohs and Ahhs.

Now you can go and read your new books with all that extra time you've saved.


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Cures for the Winter Doldrums

by Alison DeLuca

George Henry Durrie [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This week has been incredibly dreary along the Eastern seaboard. We’ve had zero sunshine and weather not quite cold enough to deliver pretty snow, just day after day of gloomy rain and dark, threatening skies.

It’s enough to drive me back inside, shivering, after chores or shopping trips. The fireplace is looking pretty good right about now, as well as my Kindle and a cup of tea.

I’m the daughter of an Irishwoman, and as a result I drink tea strong enough ‘to trot a rat across it’ (her words.) I have to heat the teapot, bring the water back to the boil, plop in several Barry’s tea bags, and cover the whole with a tea cosy my mother knitted for me years ago. It’s a ritual.

Along with that enormous cup of tea, I’m going to need some treats. Since my half of the family is Irish and my husband’s side is Italian, I’ve become pretty proficient in both types of cookies. Without a doubt the best baker on the Italian side was wonderful Aunt Jancie, who always had at least five tins of cookies ready to bring out whenever we used to visit. My favorite was her biscotti, and I’ve included the recipe below.

My mother-in-law, rest her soul, willed me her pizzelle maker, an old-fashioned machine with cast iron and a heavy cord. I really think decades of cookie-making soaked butter into its metal pores, because that thing makes the best pizzelles ever. I’ve included Mom-Mom’s recipe as well.

On the Irish side, winter meant time for Christmas cake and pudding. Those are both exhausting projects involving grating suet, chopping candied peel, and cutting little hats out of paper for the pudding bowl to tie on with string (I wish I were kidding about this.) Oh, and also a lot of Irish whiskey. None of this is fun except the alcohol, so instead I’ll include Granny Clancy’s shortbread recipe.

Now we’re all set with food and tea, so we need some long comfort books to read. I just finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, which I’ll recommend for the amazing world-building and vibrant characters.

The writing style itself is extremely prose-y. There’s no poetry or quaint phrasing for Ken. Reading this book made me realize just how much I value original writing, the surprise of words and the myriad of ways writers use them. Still, I persevered, since I loved the story of beautiful Aliena and her struggle as a woman to make a way for herself in the medieval world of wool-farming.

All of this is set against the cathedral being built at Kingsbridge, a process lovingly detailed by Follett. It all leads to a fictional account of Thomas Becket, which I found fascinating - if you like learning as you read, I highly suggest this book. (There is a sexual attack on the main character in the fifth chapter with aftermath detailed in Chapter 6, so if this is a trigger for you avoid the novel or at least that section.)

Stylistics abound in The Drowning Girl by Caitlín  Kiernan. It’s hardly a comfortable book to read, but I was sucked right in by the unreliable narrator, Imp, and her tangled version of a ghost / mermaid / werewolf story. This is no paranormal romp – the things happening to Imp could be real or simply the shadows of her own broken psyche.

Finally, if you don’t mind a bit of self-marketing, my book Hunted Heart appears December 12th. It’s an adult take on Snow White, and I flipped the gender roles: the hunter is now a woman, Tali, who is hired to kill Kas, the prince. This is a charity project priced at 99 cents, with all royalties going to Savethechildren.org. (There is some background sexual abuse in this book, with an attempt detailed in chapter 21 and some background abuse throughout the novel. As with Follett’s book, if this is a trigger for you, please reconsider buying the novel.)

And now for the recipes:

Aunt Jancey’s Biscotti:
Oven 350º

Beat together:
6 eggs
1 ½ cups Wesson oil
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp anise extract (or almond if you prefer)

Sift and add to egg mixture:

3 cups flour
1 ½ Tbls baking powder

Beat entire mixture for 2 – 3 minutes on medium speed.

Pour mixture into sprayed jellyroll pan or baking pam 14 x 18 x ½ inches deep.  Bake 20 – 25 minutes, remove from oven. Raise heat to 375º. Cool a few minutes. Loosen around edges with knife and cut into bars about 1 x 3 inches. Return to pan on their sides. Toast slices in oven until light brown; repeat on other side.

Makes about 75 – 80 cookies; can be frozen.

"Pizzelle in a loose stack, April 2010" by Steve Snodgrass - originally posted
 to Flickr as Pizzelles. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Mom-Mom’s Pizzelles:
Plug in the pizzelle maker.

3 eggs
1 ¾ cups flour
½ teaspoon anise seed or extract (I use both because I’m an anise freak. As with the biscotti, you can substitute any flavor you prefer.)
½ cup melted and slightly cooled butter
2 tsps baking powder
¾ cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (I just put more anise in its place. I’m weird.)

Beat eggs and sugar. Add cooled melted butter and extracts. Sift flour and baking powder; add to egg mixture. Batter will be stiff enough to be dropped by a spoon.

Drop by teaspoon onto pizzelle maker – if you’re lucky, you can find an old-fashioned one at a tag sale or secondhand shop.

Granny Clancy’s Shortbread:
325º oven

½ pound butter
¾ pound flour
¼ pound castor sugar
3 ounces ground almonds

Soften butter. Mix with ½ of flour and  other ingredients. When mixed well add remainder ¼ pound flour. Knead together with hands (Granny Clancy underlined this in her spidery script, so it must be important) for about five minutes.

Press into two buttered and floured baking pans and bake 25 minutes – ½ hour. When you take out the pans you can cut decorative lines into the shortbread. You can cut wedges, for example, with fork marks around the outside.

I’ll leave you with Granny’s final word on the subject: “Some chopped almonds in the mixture are an improvement.”


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