Fantasia Confections and a Stroll Down Memory Lane
What seems like several lifetimes ago, a very shy little boy was forced into a job at a local Donut Shop in San Francisco. Well… ‘forced’ may be too harsh of a word, but it certainly wasn’t my idea to get up early on Saturday mornings to scrape parchment paper pan liners and wash sheet pans. My father had decided that his enormously shy son needed to get out of the house and actually interact with people once in a while – and he knew the owner of the donut shop really well.
The Donut Center, on Taraval and 40th Avenue had fairly recently moved up the street from its former incarnation as “Billie’s Donut Shop.” It was a neighborhood coffee shop, serving breakfast, lunch, and great donuts, Danish, coffee cakes… Bear Claws, butterhorns, figure 8’s, cinnamon rolls, coffee rings of every imagination…
John Kennedy was in the White House, the world was optimistic, no one knew where Viet Nam was. “High Hopes” had been JFK’s campaign song, and ‘high hopes’ permeated the air in the early sixties eight short blocks from the ocean in San Francisco…
There was an old German baker there named Hans. Well… I thought Hans was old, but as I look back I don’t think he was more than 35 at the most. He was a bit gruff, which made him seem old to this timid little kid. Hans made all the pastries and coffee cakes, and he made it look so effortless. Over time, as I had finished scraping the parchment paper and caught up on washing my sheet pans, Hans would let me roll out his pastry dough. He was extremely picky about how it was done, and I soon found out it wasn’t nearly as effortless as it appeared! It was exacting work. Proper temperature, proper pressure while rolling, rolling in certain directions to achieve proper proportions. In his heavy German accent, Hans explained to me why it had to be a certain way. He taught me how to feel the dough, what to look for, how to count (and remember!) how many times it had been folded and refrigerated.
Those early years at The Donut Center became the foundation for a life that has been involved in food – in one way or another – for the past 45 years.
This little stroll down Memory Lane comes because of an email I received a few days ago.
Back in 1966, I quit the Donut Center in a huff. I got into a fight with the owner – I have no idea what it was about – and got a job at Blum’s downtown. Blum’s was an institution in San Francisco. It was where blue-haired and bejeweled matrons held court over sumptuous sandwiches and even more decadent desserts, and where mothers and grandmothers brought their daughters, in their maryjane's, gloves, and with ribbons in their hair. It was located on Geary Street across from Union Square. It had a back entrance into Macy's. Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake was one of those desserts – and it was to die for.
Fast forward to April, 1995. I am volunteering at Project Open Hand in San Francisco – an organization feeding AIDS patients throughout the city. I strike up a friendship with a woman named Helen Kane, who, after we share histories a bit, tells me she has the original Coffee Crunch Cake recipe from Blum’s! The following week, she brings me the recipe, neatly written on a 3x5 card.
In the ensuing 11 years, I have made the cake numerous times – always to raves. It’s a bit time consuming, and you can’t make the coffee crunch on a really humid day, but it is one damned good cake! Several years ago, on epicurious.com, I mentioned in a review of Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie, that I had the recipe, and I have shared it freely for years.
The email was from Sandy Weil, the daughter of the man who invented the Coffee Crunch Cake! She said that her father, Ernest Weil, had worked at Blum’s in the mid-40’s and had created the cake, and left in 1948 to open his dream bakery Fantasia Confections in Laurel Village – a small shopping district on California Street in the Laurel Heights neighborhood. The even better news was that her father had finally written a cookbook with all the recipes they had made there for 40 years! Of course I had to buy one, and the autographed copy arrived on Monday!
I’ve been having a blast reading the stories, reading the recipes, and deciding what to make “first.” I finally decided that my trip down Memory Lane had to start with Danish Pastry. It was, after all, the very first thing I ever learned how to roll out, lo, these many years ago.
Making Danish is a two-day process. The dough needs to sit overnight after the rolling/folding/rolling/chilling – repeat – repeat – repeat… But it is sooooo worth the time and effort! They came out fanfreakintastic! Light, flakey, buttery. The perfect amount of sweetness. I brought two over to our next door neighbors - still warm from the oven - and ten minutes later I received a swooning phone call thanking me profusely! They are really really good!
So... the shy little boy came out of his shell, and has lived and worked all over the USofA. But those memories of sweet youth and Danish pastry in San Francisco linger on...
The book is available from http://www.lovetobakecookbook.com
Buy one, today!
Tapioca Pudding, Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and Chipotle Spice Rub
Last week I was ordering some new spices from my favorite spice company Atlantic Spice Co. I know, I know... everyone's favorite online spice company is now Penzey's, but Atlantic Spice (and their sister company San Francisco Herb Co.) is still my store of choice.
I had seen a few recipes lately calling for cardamom and coriander. The prices in grocery stores for spices are ludicrous and there was just no way I was spending $11.99 for a thimble full of cardamom powder! Also, I wanted to refill my smoked paprika and wanted some chipotle powder. Atlantic Spice does have a minimum $25.00 shipping order, so when I calculated my total - $22.50 - I went back to see if there was something else I couldn't live without. I found a pound of pearl tapioca for $3.70/pound.
Homemade tapioca pudding has always been a favorite dessert - and one that I have seldom made. I had a recipe that had been sitting around forever, so when the packager arrived Tuesday, I was set to go! I'm actually not sure who the recipe is from - it's handwritten on a scrap of paper... but it's old...
A small summer storm came through the area, knocking out our power for 33 hours, so the pudding was put on hold until yesterday. And boy, was it worth the wait!
Rich, creamy, decadent! Better than anything one could buy.....
Tapioca Pudding
- 1 cup tapioca
- 4 c cream
- 2 c milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 c sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Soak tapioca in water about 4 hours. Add cream, milk and salt. Heat and stir until boiling. Simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar gradually. Beat yolks. temper with some of hot tapioca. Mix into rest of mixture. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add vanilla.
Simple directions... One thing to note is this is for pearl tapioca - not "instant." And it does take about an hour to make. (I set the timer for 10 minute intervals to come in and stir...) And when it was done, I put it into a bowl and placed plastic wrap directly on the pudding to keep a skin from forming. The recipe could easily be halved - but that would mean only half as much pudding for the same amount of work!
I was on a bit of a roll... No power for 33 hours made me want to get into the kitchen, I guess (not that I ever seem to want to get OUT of the kitchen, mind you!) So it was time to also make Chipotle BBQ Sauce! (It's not unusual for me to have simultaneous pots bubbling on the stove!)
Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 2 cups catsup - organic, of course! No high fructose corn syrup!!
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 tablespoons chipotle powder
- 2 tablespoons dry mustard
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
Mix all ingrdients in a saucepan and simmer about 15 minutes. It is kick-a-poo GREAT!
And I had to make a Chipotle Spice Rub because... well... I have all the ingredients!!
Chipotle Spice Rub
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 1/2 cup dried oregano
- 1/4 cup chipotle powder
- 1/4 cup smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup powdered garlic
Mix everything in a food processor until powdery. That's it!
Last night, I used the powder on pork chops and then grilled them. They were most excellent! I made white rice to which I added a few tablespoons of hot fresh salsa, and had fresh corn on the cob on the side... And with warm tapioca pudding for dessert, it was gastronomic heaven!
Now... to find those recipes calling for cardamom.....
Tortuga Rum Cake
Okay, so just because I don't drink doesn't mean I never consume alcohol - and the following cake recipe DEFINITELY has some alcohol in it!
Ladies and gentlemen, if you've never had the pleasure, let me introduce you to Tortuga Rum Cake!
Oh my goodness! What a delightful treat! We brought back a bottle of Tortuga Rum from the Cayman Islands, and I, as I mentioned, don't drink. Yet I have this bottle of rum... Hmmmmmm... I decided I had to try and make one of the famous Tortuga Rum Cakes the island is famous for. Am I ever glad I did! The actual recipe is a family secret, but as with almost any secret, a few keywords into Google, and a reasonable facsimile appeared!
I scanned several different sites, but the recipe was the same in all of them - word-for-word - except for the one that started out with a box of yellow cake mix... I don't think so..... But I digress...
As I said the recipes were virtually all the same (I must be drunk... I'm repeating myself!) and all calling for Whaler's Vanille Rum -- Hawaiian-style rum. HA! I mock them! I have the real McCoy! Off to the kitchen I head, recipe in hand!
The cake itself was fairly basic and easy to make. It's the rum syrup poured over the top while the cake is still hot that sets it apart from all others! far apart.....
The cake fell a bit in the oven - I have no idea if it's actually supposed to, or not - but the perfect indentation in the cake made for the perfect reservoir when pouring on the rum syrup. It just seeped right in amd made for a really yummy center!
I must admit I was also worried about taking it out of the pan. Bundt pans and I don't always see eye-to-eye. But only the tiniest crumb broke off, and it was a snap to place it back - and the gooey syrup glued it right in place!
The cake is rich, moist, butter-and-rum heaven on a plate!
This one, I shall make again!
Ingredients:
***Basic Cake Mix:***
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter -- cut in bits
3 tablespoons vegetable oil***For The Cake:***
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 (3.5oz) pkg vanilla pudding mix -- Instant Type
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1/2 cup Whaler's Vanille Rum -- Hawaiian-style rum (I used real Tortuga - neener-neener!)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract***Rum Soaking Glaze:***
1/2 cup butter -- not margarine
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Whaler's Vanille Rum -- Hawaiian-style rum (ibid)Directions:
Tortuga Rum isn't available to the public for sale. || Except in the Cayman Island's that is... || It is only made for use in the production of the cakes in the Caribbean Islands. A substitution of Whaler's Vanille Rum is a close runner-up.For the Basic Scratch Mix: Use an electric mixer on low speed to combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the mix is the consistency of fine gravel, and all of the particles are almost equal in size. (Basic Cake Mix may be stored in a container in the refrigerator for 3 months. This makes about 5 cups of mix and may be multiplied for other recipes as needed)
For the Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a large (12 cup size) bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the chopped nuts into the bottom.
Place Basic Cake Mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, rum, oil and vanilla in a large bowl and combine on medium speed with an electric mixer for about 2 or 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl halfway through. Batter should be very smooth. Pour into prepared bundt pan and level out top.
Bake until fully golden and tester comes out clean and cake springs back -- about 55 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack while making soaking glaze.
Rum Soaking Glaze: In a small saucepan combine butter, water and sugar. Bring to a boil carefully as mixture boils over very easily. Reduce to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved and syrup is combine well and a little thicker. Remove from heat and add the rum and mix to combine.
While cake is still cooling, pour hot syrup into and on top of cake. There is a lot of syrup and if cake doesn't soak it up right away just wait a couple minutes and add the rest. It will take time to soak it up.
Cool cake completely in bundt pan before turning out onto serving platter. This cake is delicate, so once it is turned out, it cannot be moved around easily. Can be eaten when fully cool, but better the next day.
Apple Pear Clafouti
It was about 7pm last night when I had that familiar pang for dessert. Rarely does a night go by that we don't have something... Dessert is a major food-group in our house!
Usually, I have my "emergency ice cream" in the freezer, but nothing was on sale yesterday when I did my shopping, and I'll be damned if I'll pay $5.69 for the less-than-a-half-gallon containers! That, and it irritates the hell out of me that the dairy manufacturers quietly made their half-gallon ice cream containers 1 3/4 qt containers - and still raised the price! if it ain't buy one, get one free, I don't buy. But I digress.....
I had my latest issue of Bon Appetit, and saw a recipe for a Cherry-Almond Clafouti. Into the kitchen I went. For those who may not know, a Clafouti is a rustic French dessert somewhere between a pancake and a custard. It's been a while since I made one, and this one seemed to be just what the dessert doctor ordered! Here's the Bon Appetit Recipe - mine will follow!
Cherry-Almond Clafouti
- 1/2 cup whole almonds (about 2 ounces)
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 tbsp plus 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 oz dark sweet cherries, pitted, halved (about 2 cups)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- Powdered sugar
Blend almonds in processor until ground but not pasty. Transfer to small saucepan, add milk and bring to simmer. Remove from heat; let steep 30 minutes. Pour through fine strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids in strainer.
Preheat oven to 375F. Butter 10 inch diameter glass pie plate, sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Scatter cherries evenly over bottom of dish.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs, almond extract, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Add strained almond milk and beat to blend. Sift flour into egg mixture and beat until smooth. Pour mixture over cherries. Bake until set and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
I had some ground hazelnut meal in the freezer, so this I substituted for the almonds - why dirty the processor, right?!? And I didn't have any cherries, but I had an apple and a pear. And I didn't have any whole milk, but I had skim milk and heavy cream. Oh, and I didn't have any all-purpose flour, but I had King Arthur White Whole Wheat and what the heck, not having the 'called-for' ingredients has never stopped me before!
The milk is simmering, the pie plate buttered and sugared, I open the egg carton and - only 2 eggs! I could run next door and borrow one - we borrow back-and-forth with our neighbors all the time - or I could make a quick run down to Wawa. I chose Wawa. (I'm listening to a great book on CD in the truck "The Kite Runner" and I'm always willing to take a short drive to hear a bit more...) Anyway.....
Back home with eggs in hand, I make my substitutions. Oh, and since I had used hazelnuts, I didn't want to add the almond extract, so I used vanilla...
Mixed it all, into the oven, and about 40 minutes later, it came out of the oven! We did let it cool a bit, and then dived into a heavenly light custardy filling briming with sweet pears and tart apples.
While cherries may be the traditional fruit, absolutely anything will work! I think my next one will be fresh peaches - and I have that peach extract from Fante's.....
Hmmmmmmm.........
A Cake for Nursie
I started with a cake mix! Okay, you can pick yourself off the floor, now. Believe it or not, I actually keep a couple of boxed cake mixes in the cupboard, for those days when I want a quick treat. I am particular, though, and won't buy just any partially-hydrogenated variety! (I usually buy the A&P/SuperFresh Yellow Cake mix because it's one of the only ones out tere without partially hydrogenated fats...)
Now... just because it's a cake mix doesn't mean I'm not going to futz with it. After all, I have my reputation to uphold, right?!?
I found a great, quick recipe, and just happened to have all the ingredients on hand:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 (16 ounce) can pumpkin
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- (I added a tsp of vanilla)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine all ingredients in bowl of electric mixer. With electric mixer, blend all ingredients until moistened on low speed, then 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour into greased and floured Bundt or tube cake pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from pan as this is a very moist cake.
It gets better.....
I bought this weird cake pan many moons ago to make an artichoke cake for a friend. (I'll look for a picture...) Anyway... It sucks. Every cake I have ever made in it has stuck, no matter what I used to grease, flour, whatever. And today's cake was no different...
It gets even better.....
I put the cake in about 2pm and was kinda planning what I was going to do for dinner when, at 2:25pm Victor comes into the kitchen saying "We're supposed to be at the bank in 5 minutes!" Ooops!!
I looked in the oven, knowing the cake had at least 20 more minutes, and probably more, so... I lowered the heat to 275 and ran out the door.
We get home at 3:40pm and lo and behold, the cake looks perfect! Out of the oven it comes, and onto the rack to cool. Life is good.
It may have stuck, but damn, did it taste good!
And the cake pan?!? I threw it out.
And for dessert.....
So what could be better than a quick Strawberry Cream Cake?!? BH&G yellow cake with a Strawberry Icing Fruit from CK Products and a strawberry whipped cream filling/icing with the same icing fruit.
I bought a few flavors of the icing fruit a while back from someplace online - I don't really recall who (I'm a junkie - I just buy the stuff!!) and, while it's tasty, I have to admit I didn't check for ingredients before I bought. It appears that, after reading the label, no strawberries died in its creation - or at least not very many. It's not your typical "all natural" product by any means... But - it does have a shelf life just short of plutonium, so if I'm in a pinch, it's available!
***edited to add: I threw it out.
Chocolate Hazelnut Marble Cake
So... whilst I was back here in the office bloggng away about dinner, Victor was in the kitchen baking a cake for dessert! Just a simple recipe from Better Homes and Gardens - but with a Victor twist. He took half the batter and added Ghirardelli Chocolate Hazelnut Cocoa Mix to it! Oh YUMMY!!
And then added a simple cocoa and powdered sugar topping. No heavy buttercream icing tonight. We have to watch our figures!!
Yes... life is good!
Peach Bread Pudding
Okay... It's no secret that we're dessert junkies. Almost every night we have something - from light to decadent - depending on our moods, pantry offerings, and what we had for dinner.
Tonight, the pantry seemed a bit sparse (shopping day is Wednesday) but sparse does not have to mean bad. in fact, sparse + imagination was the key to tonights success!!
I spied the three getting-staler-by-the-minute kaiser rolls on the island, so my first thought was "bread pudding." Preheated the oven to 350 right away!
Out came three eggs, 3 cups of milk, a half-cup of sugar and a splash of vanilla. I broke up the kaiser rolls and soaked everything. Back into the fridge, because I had some cream cheese in there. Broke up about 4 oz of cream cheese and dropped little balls into the batter. Back to the fridge...
Our friend Lori had sent us some homemade Peach Jelly over Christmas and we've been savoring it on our morning toast. It's a great, thick, full-of-flavor jelly that cannot even be compared to that weak, blah stuff one finds at the grocery. This is Peach Jelly the way Mother Nature intended it to be! Rich peach flavor, without that sickeningly sweet taste of the commercial stuff. It's like spreading fresh peaches on your bread. Did I mention how much I like it?!?
So... I thought... Peach cream cheese bread pudding! Of course!! I dolloped several spoonfulls into the batter, and poured it all into a buttered dish. 30 minutes later, I pulled it out of the oven, waited all of about 10 minutes for it to almost cool, and it was gastronomic heaven!
The kaiser rolls soaked up the liquid perfectly. The dollops of cream cheese melted, but kept their shape, more or less. And Lori's Peach Jelly?!? It became little pools of peach heaven in a creamy bread custard.
Damn, it was good!
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
The in-laws were over for dinner last night and I decided i wanted something for dessert I hadn't made in a while. I headed downstairs to peruse some of the older cookbooks and out fell a handwritten recipe I must have copied from somewhere years ago. No idea really where it came from. But it's definitely my scrawl... But oh - am I ever glad i found it! It may just be the best desset I've had in years!
It is the most rich, chocoaltey tasting, yet light chocolate roll I have ever had. No flour! Gluten free! Someone had to have given me the recipe and I just never made it, because I'd remember this! Delicious. Fantastic. It's like eating chocolate air... It was sooooo good!!!
So - here it is... Easy enough to make. A bit time consuming, but it's worth it!!!
- 8 oz chocolate. I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet
- 6 eggs, separated
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cream of tartar
Melt chocolate with 1/4 cup water. Beat yolks with 1/3 cup sugar about 5 minutes - until really creamy. Fold in chocolate. Whip whites with salt, cr of tartar and vanilla until stiff. Fold whites into chocolate. Spread in pan (I lined with parchment and sprayed with food release.) Bake at 350 about 12-13 minutes.
It raised up and then fell when I took it out of the oven, and it cracked like hell when I rolled it. It's supposed to. I filled it with whipped cream that I added powdered sugar and cocoa powder and vanilla. And I sifted cocoa/powdered sugar on top to make it look pretty!
Oh... and since I've done lots of baking in my life... after it cooled, I sifted some cocoa powder/powdered sugar on the cake, placed a sheet of parchment on top, and then flipped it over onto another sheet pan. Then I spread the filling on and used the parchment to help roll it up. The cocoa helped to keep the cake from sticking - and added even more chocolate flavor1
Motown Chanukah and Puff Pastry
Chanukah?!? Motown?!? Puff Pastry?!? Dissimilar objects?!? Not at all! We're invited to our friend Jessica's annual Motown Chanukah Party! Sound a bit strange?!? Well, it's not, really... From Jessica... "In 1989, Danny was impressed with the Religions of the World study in his Montessori School. Especially the part about Chanukah, so he asked his mom if they knew any Jewish people. Dan knew me because his mother’s sister was one of my best friends. And I said “Sure, I’ll do Chanukah”. But it was a busy year, so instead of proper menorah candles, we had vanilla votives, and instead of gold gelt, we had m&m’s. And you know where this is going – I couldn’t find any Chanukah music, so we played Motown. The next year a few more people came, and it all sort of grew. Dan’s in college now. His aunt moved to Chicago. But the party continues! As in all things, it's a matter of making do with what you have!
And that's where Puff Pastry comes in...
Naturally, we want to bring something, so I asked "Hors d'oeuvres or Dessert?" Jessica said dessert. Actually, she said "Mostly, I want you to bring Victor, yourself, and two hearty appetites! But if you would bring something dessert that would be great.
So what desserty thing to bring?!? Time to experiment! I've been on a puff pastry kick for a while now, so I thought I'd try something with it...
I took one package of Dufour Puff Pastry and rolled it out to about 15" x 12" or so. Spread it with melted milk chocolate, sprinkled chopped walnuts all over, and lightly rolled into a log.
Then I cut it into 15 slices and placed each slice into paper panettone cups I bought from Beryl's after reading a Bon Appetit article a couple of years ago... (I love 'em!!)
Baked at 375 for about 30 minutes and YUM!!!
Motown Chanukah, here we come!
Making Cookie Dough!
Well... I've gotten about six different doughs in the fridge right now... I started off with a Hazelnut Thumbprint yesterday. It was a bit of an experiment... I used the Walnut Butter Cookie Recipe, but changed the nut to hazelnut and used a Madeira Creme flavoring I bought at Fante's in South Philly a while back. If you've never been to Fante's, think FUN kitchen store with everything you've ever wanted in your life - at affordable prices! It's a South Philly institution and we head down there whenever we can. I love it!
So... back to cookies... I filled them with raspberry jam... YUMMERS!! The great thing about all of our nut-and-butter cookies is that they'll work with any nuts, any flavorings... There's really just two basic recipes, but we can make a dozen different cookies with them!
THEN... because I had made a Cream of Broccoli Soup for dinner, but hadn't made dessert (man does not live by dinner alone - dessert is a MUST!!) I made a batch of the Lemon Coconut Cookies... These I did a bit different, too... (The early cookies are always about experimentation, to see if it's even possible to improve on perfection...) Tee-hee. I made them as thumbprints and filled them with Lemon Curd and then a few ribbons of toasted coconut. Way good!! We'll make them both ways this year! (I seem to be on a thumbprint kick this year.....)
I also made the Rolled Cut-Out Cookies, but made them as Chocolate Peppermint. Not sure how I'll finish these off. Maybe make a Chocolate Creme filling and sandwich them, or just do a chocolate dip... Hmm... maybe both!! And the Pecan Balls... and the Vanilla Almond, and my Mom's Christmas Spice Cookies...
Victor has the apricots soaking in apricot brandy for Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookies... I'm bummed, because out local grocery no longer carries lard. Damn!!! It's healthier than Crisco, fercrissakes!
It's a bit after 8pm, we're waiting to see if the storm of the century actually arrives at midnight as forecasted, and if it does, whether I make it to work tomorrow. If I do, then we have cookies to bake on Saturday - along with a few dozen more batches of dough. If I get to stay home, we'll bake tomorrow!
In any event, we have plenty to eat in the house, and the oil man filled up the tank today. We're set.
Getting Ready For Baking Cookies
It's time. Christmas Cookies wait for no man - or woman - and the time is upon us to start the yearly tradition. We used to start the baking the weekend after Thanksgiving. Back in those days, we were both off the whole 4-day holiday weekend. Friday was Decorate-The-House-For-Christmas-Day, and Saturday and Sunday were Start-the-Cookie-Baking-Days.
Nowadays I'm working that weekend, so "tradition" has had to change a bit. Even the cookies we make every year have changed a bit. Oh... we still do all the family favorites, Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookies, for example, but we've been playing with and tweaking recipes for a log time, now. Aunt Dolores' Rum Balls were originally rolled in cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Now we dip them in chocolate and make the most wonderful rum ball truffle! And then there's the year I made Uncle Rudy's Pizzelle's, but made an Amaretto/Almond version, as well. Victor's mother wouldn't even look at them, let alone eat one! They've begrudgingly become a favorite. And many cookies have become a variation on a theme. We make at least three different butter/nut cookies whose original recipes were slightly different but the only real difference was their shape. So - we kinda almost make the same cookie three times, but with different nuts and some are shaped one way, some are dipped in chocolate, some are rolled in cocoa or powdered sugar... They're all excitingly different!
And I was so happy to get home on Monday to see my spices had arrived! Cocoa powder, cinnamon sticks, vanilla, 2 sea salts, the best unsweetened coconut available... Atlantic Spice Company (and their sister company San Francisco Herb Company) have some of the best herbs and spices - at definitely the best prices - around. I've been shopping at the SF Store on 14th Street for years, and was thrilled to find their internet site when we moved east!
The baking itself isn't complicated - it's just a matter of being organized. I have excel spreadsheets of recipes and ingredients that make doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling recipes a snap. AND I have it set up to help with the shopping for those 25 pounds of butter and 50 pounds of flour, rum, brandy, vanilla, and sugars we'll use. Double ovens, a ream of parchment paper, and a dozen cookie sheets help, too. But while I speak of production baking here, don't be scared off! Every one of these recipes is easy enough for the most novice of bakers. their beauty is their simplicity - and their versatility. Making a single batch or ten, it's all the same.
Here are some of our traditional cookies we make every year.
We also like to incorporate at least one new recipe into the mix. Not sure exactly which one it will be this year...