Lemon Meringue Pudding

Lemon Meringue Pudding

This old fashion dessert is comfort food of the highest order.  During baking this pudding separates, forming a custard-like sauce on the bottom and a spongecake meringue top layer.  If you have a couple lemons, some butter and eggs and a few extra minutes, you have dessert!  This recipe is from Gourmet's Best Desserts, from the editors of Gourmet, a magazine of our memories.  Last night we could not help adding some warmed blueberries to this dessert.  My husband heated them in a dry pan until they burst.

• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 3 eggs separated 
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 
• 1/3 cup flour 
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt plus a pinch 
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for garnish if desired

Butter the souffle dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl with a mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light.  Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, beating  well after each addition.  Add the lemon juice, flour, lemon rind, and the 1/4 teaspoon salt and combine well.  Add the milk in a stream, and combine the mixture well.  In a bowl with the mixer beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until frothy, add the cream of tartar, and beat until they hold stiff peaks.  Stir one fourth of the whites into the lemon mixture, fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly, and transfer the mixture to the souffle dish. 

Put the dish in a larger pan, add enough boiling water to the pan to reach halfway up the sides of the dish, and bake the dessert in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes, or until the pudding is puffed and the top is golden.  If desired sift the confectioners' sugar over the top.  Serve the dessert warm or chilled.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

Chocolate Mousse Torte

My mentor, Donna Nordin, who I have been taking cooking classes from for the last 20 years, taught me this recipe. It is the signature dessert for her Southwestern restaurant in Tucson called Café Terra Cotta (which was closed a few years ago). It was also the featured dessert in Bon Appetit in 1980. It is so perfect the way it is that I have changed little. It is light yet creamy and oh so chocolatey.


Serves 12 to 16

• 1 ½ packages (9 ounces each) Nabisco “Famous” chocolate wafers
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pound semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
• 4 cups cream
• 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 eggs, separated

Lightly oil the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Grind the cookies to crumbs in a food processor or blender. Mix with the melted butter and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Chill.


Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot but not boiling water. Meanwhile, whip 2 cups of the cream with 1/3 cup powdered sugar. When the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and add the whole eggs and yolks. Mix very well, the fold in the whipped cream.


Beat the egg whites and fold them into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the chilled crust. Chill overnight or at least 6 hours.


Whip the remaining cream and sugar and spread about half the whipped cream on top of the pie and pipe the remaining cream around the edge with a pastry bag and a star tip. Scatter a layer of chocolate curls evenly over the top of the whipped cream if you like.

Sunday Fun! Duck Two Ways with Port Poached Pears

Boy, we know how to have fun! We had a wonderful time cooking together at the beach last night and finally had a historian to take pictures!! Thank you! Literally, this experience of applying for the best home chef has taught me to learn how to blog, navigate a foodie network site, research wine pairings (my husband usually does that but he thought it is high time I learn!!), download pictures, shrink images, upload pictures AND take pictures! I do not think I have taken a picture in years!! So really, even though Food and Wine might not find me worthy of their honor, I feel like I am already a winner! Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this community and learn! It has truly been a wonderful few weeks and a humbling experience to learn how my passion has touched others.

But about last night! I forgot the soup so we had to ditch the pumpkins soup shots (having another gather on Wednesday to bid our friends goodbye so will have them then!) but nobody noticed! Everyone arrived around 4 and we snacked and talked until 5:30 or so. Then I gave everyone a job and we cooked. And we ate and we drank! The food was wonderful and the company the best! And we had all of this fun with the sound of the crashing waves in the distance. Too cold to hang outside but we did manage a midnight walk in the pitch black! Here are some of the recipes for the dishes I cooked last night.

A Special Menu to Celebrate My Montana Friends!

December 13th, 2009

With Cocktails and Conversation

Ricotta, Gruyere and Prosciutto Filo Triangles

First Course

Beet and Spinach Salad with Warm Pancetta Vinaigrette,

Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

Entrée

Duck Two Ways, Confit and Seared Breast with Port Poached Pears

In a Port Wine Sauce

*

Yukon Gold Potatoes fried in Duck Fat

*

Wilted Swiss Chard and Turnip Greens with Turnips

Dessert

Ginger Bread with Poached Persimmons and Whipped Cream

Beet and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette, Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

Talk about a great combination of flavors; sweet beets, salty bacon, creamy goat cheese and crunchy hazelnuts! My idea of heaven on a plate!

Serves 6

The Salad

• 
  
  2 small or 4 large beets
  
  
  
• 
  
  8 cups spinach or combination of spinach and radicchio
  
  
  
• 
  
  ½ cup crumbled goat cheese
  
  
  
• 
  
  ½ cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
  
  
  

The Vinaigrette

• 5 ounces bacon, cut into ¼ inch batons
• 
  
  1/3 cup good quality olive oil
  
  
  
• 
  
  1/3 cup hazelnut oil (if not available use all olive oil)
  
  
  
• 
  
  ¼ cup good quality balsamic vinegar
  
  
  
• 
  
  Freshly ground black pepper
  
  
  
• 
  
  Salt to taste
  
  
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and trim beets then wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil. Roast the beets until a knife slides through, about 40 to 60 minutes depending on the size. Once cool enough to handle, slip off the skins and cut in half inch dice. Place in a bowl and set aside with the spinach/radicchio, goat cheese and hazelnuts.

Cook the bacon in a small sauté pan over medium heat in a bit of the olive oil until the bacon has rendered its fat and is slightly crisp. Add the remaining olive oil, the hazelnut oil, vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk lightly to incorporate and continue to heat the oils lightly. Toss the beets with a bit of the dressing and then the spinach, making sure you place all of the bacon on the spinach. You may not need all the dressing. You can serve on individual plates or on a platter by placing the lettuce first, top with the beets then add the crumbled goat cheese and the hazelnuts.

Pan Seared Duck Breast with Port Poached Pears

This easy entrée must become one of your entertaining stables. It is unusual and absolutely delicious. You can use chicken stock in place of the duck, just make sure it is true stock, not canned chicken broth. You can find stock in the freezer section of your well stocked super markets.

Serves 6

For the duck

• 3 large duck breasts or 6 small
• 8 cups body temperature water
• ½ cup salt
• ¼ cup sugar

For the pears

• 
  
  2 to 3 cups port wine
  
  
  
• 
  
  3 large bosc pears or any other firm pear, peeled cut in half with the core removed
  
  
  

For the salad

• 
  
  3 tablespoons olive or almond oil
  
  
  
• 
  
  6 cups arugula
  
  
  
• 
  
  ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted in a 350 degree oven for 7 minutes
  
  
  
• 
  
  Salt and pepper to taste
  
  
  

For the sauce

• 
  
  1 cup port from the pears
  
  
  
• 2 cups duck or chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter (optional)

For the potatoes

• 
  
  6 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cooked, peeled and cut in ½ inch cubes
  
  
  
• Left over duck fat from the cooking the breasts

Mix the water, salt and sugar and whisk until completely incorporated. Score the fat on the duck breasts in a diamond shape being careful not to cut through the skin. Place the duck breasts in the brine and refrigerate for one hour.

While the ducks are brining, place the prepared pears in a small saucepan and cover with port wine. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat down to a low simmer and poach for about a half hour or until tender. Let cool in the liquid. Once cooled fan the pears by cutting 1/3 inch sliced into the pear keeping the slices intact at the neck of the pear. This can be done a day ahead just bring the pears to room temperature for the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the duck breast from the brine and dry well. Heat a skillet just large enough to hold the breast to a low heat and add duck breasts. No need to add oil, as the duck cooks, it will release the fat which will sear the skin. Cook the duck breast, again over a low heat (to slowly render the fat and cook the meat) for around 20-25 minutes or until the skin is lightly browned. Turn the breast over and cook for an additional 5 minutes and then place on a baking pan (this can all be done ahead of time but bring the duck back to room temperature before continuing). Cook in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove the duck from the oven and let rest in on a plate covered with foil for at least 10 minutes.

While the duck is in the oven (or set aside if you are doing this ahead), place the fat into the pan you plan to cook the potatoes. Reheat the duck pan and add the port wine to deglaze. Boil the wine until reduce to around 2/3 cup. Add stock and continue to reduce until the sauce is syrupy and has flavor. Again, this can be done ahead of time, just reheated when you are ready to finish the serve the dinner. Just before serving, reheat the sauce and add butter to create a shiny more finished sauce.

While the duck is resting, heat the duck fat over high heat and add potatoes. Salt well and let potatoes cook, undisturbed until a nice crust is formed. Turn potatoes over and continue on the other side until well browned. Again, season well with salt and a bit of pepper. All of this cannot be done ahead of time, or you will lose the crisp of the potato.

Dress the salad with the almond oil and season with salt and pepper (no need for a vinaigrette, the meat juice and sauce will properly season the greens). Toss in the almonds. After the duck has rested, slice the breasts in ¼ inch slices. Place the salad on the plates and top with the duck breast on the side of the salad. Place a pear half onto the duck and dress with the warm sauce. Scatter around the fried potatoes and serve!

Gingerbread with Poached Persimmons

Gingerbread

· 1 ½ cups boiling water

· 1 cup molasses

· 1 teaspoon baking soda

· 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature

· 1 cup firmly packed, light brown sugar

· 1 large egg

· 2 teaspoons ground ginger

· 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

· Pinch of ground cloves

· 2 1/2 cups flour

· 1 tablespoon baking powder

· 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Persimmons

• 
  
  6 persimmons
  
  
  
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Gingerbread

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan.
Bring the water to a boil in a small pot and remove it from the heat. Stir in the molasses and the baking soda. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and mix until incorporated.

Sift together the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, flour and baking powder. Add the salt. On low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the cooled molasses mixture to the butter mixture in 3 additions, stirring well after each addition. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Poached Persimmons

Peel and quarter persimmons. Take the hard center out of the quarters and then cut each quarter in half or thirds, depending on the size of the persimmon

In a saucepan, add the wine, orange juice, sugar, ginger and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Add persimmons, reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove persimmons from liquid and reduce to develop flavor, about 5-7 more minutes. Add poaching liquid back into the cook persimmons and cool. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Sharing Experience

I have always wanted to teach. My parents bought me a free standing black board when I was 8 and it soon became the focal point of my room with make shift chairs for my dolls and stuffed animals. My toys were the smartest in the neighborhood.

I now live the dream of my past by standing up in front of a group of foodies, giving cooking classes. I started this cooking class passion when a friend of mine was trying to raise money for her city’s public school system. I thought why not rent a kitchen, devise a menu and teach all of our friends to cook while we all enjoy wine? We love getting together and each of us gives to some sort of charity, why not combine them? My girlfriend and I donated the food, I put together a menu and recruited my cooking partner in crime (who is still my Vanna White to this day) and back in the early 90’s we started a tradition. I patterned my cooking classes (demonstrative style) after the series I take every year in our local mountain resort. Yes, standing in front of my audience, teaching, I am in my glory! That first class featured the dinner I made the other night, grilled goat cheese stuffed chicken breast but for the cooking class I did it more traditional, with a Chardonnay mustard sauce. For dessert we did Rene Verdon’s flourless chocolate cake with crème anglaise. The ONLY mishap we had that first night was curdling the eggs for the crème anglaise but we transformed that mistake into a learning lesson, channeling Julia Child!

I have now done cooking classes for all my kid’s school (every year as an auction item), for Catholic Charities, for our local refugee house and all the various charities my children are supporting. I LOVE getting the kids involved; having them prep cook with me, being in the kitchen when we are madly plating for 20 paying guest and then hustling them out the kitchen door to serve the waiting guests. The kids LOVE the energy of the night and hopefully I not only teach them a thing or two in the kitchen but instill a lifelong love of cooking. A gift that has brought me complete pleasure throughout my life.

The wildest cooking class I gave was a Mexican themed class for my kid’s elementary school. I had 20 women sign up for the night and greeted them with margaritas while I taught them a few appetizers to start. I usually serve wine but this was the first time I served a true cocktail. After we sampled the appetizers and began on the heart of the meal, I realized that no one was listening to me. Everyone was having a blast, talking to each other, laughing and paying no attention to me. This does happen when I am teaching 20 people but it usually is easy to round everyone in. This was different. I made a bit of an experiment and left the class (I set everyone up in a enclosed patio area with a makeshift kitchen), joined my helpers in my kitchen to see when they would notice. Five minutes later I came back in and started up the class again, NO ONE noticed! I should have placed them at their tables at that time and gave up on teaching the class, they probably would not even realized I never demonstrated the entrée!

Here is a few recipes from the Mexican cooking class and the beautiful flourless chocolate cake from Rene Verdon, the chef of Le Trianon and chef to President Kennedy.

Braised Duck with Ancho-Ginger Mole

This recipe will make a duck lover out of you. Many think duck is hard to cook, but this is just a simple braise that creates a duck confit type texture to the meat. The mole is a true taste sensation and freezes easily so I always make a double batch. Please do not be put off by the long list of ingredients, it is easy to put together once you clean and rehydrate the ancho chilies’. I developed this recipe from Donna Nordin’s Duck Eggroll recipe. She shredded the meat and then made an eggroll to fry and used the sauce for dipping. It is so wonderful on its own, I omit that step!

Enjoy this dish with our favorite Zinfandel or peppery Syrah.

Serves 8

For the Duck Legs

• 8 duck legs
• 1 cup white onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon each ground cloves, cumin and cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups tomato juice

For the Mole

• ¼ cup grated fresh ginger
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 ancho chiles, seeded and stems removed
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ¾ cup orange juice
• salt to taste

In a large Dutch oven or roaster with a lid, combine all the ingredients for the duck legs except the legs. Mix thoroughly and add the legs. Cover and cook in a 325-degree oven for about 2 hours, until the legs are completely tender but not falling off the bone. Could take longer than 2 hours. Check after an hour and a half.

After they are cooked, take out of liquid and place on a baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use. This can be done in advance.

For the ancho-ginger mole, take the first 6 ingredients and place in a saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. Cool and strain.

Soak the chilies’ in hot water for one hour. Drain and save the water. Puree the chilies’ with the remaining ingredients except the orange juice until smooth. Add orange juice and if not sauce consistency, add a bit of the water of the chilies’. Combine the chili mixture with the ginger mixture and cook until reduced to a nice consistency.

Bring the legs to room temperature. Heat in a 400-degree oven until skin is crisp and the meat is warm about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with the wild rice a bit of vegetable of your choice and garnish with the sauce. Pass the sauce separately, everyone will want more!!

Gateau Nancy Flourless Chocolate Soufflé Cake

I would serve this with a glass of port or my true preference, a dry Champagne.

Serves 10-12

• 14 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, cut up
• 7 ounces (1 ¾ sticks) sweet butter
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon almond powder (finely ground almonds
• 10 eggs, separated, room temperature
• 9 ounces (1 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon) sugar
• Confectioners’ sugar for the top
• crème anglaise
• Two 10-inch round cake pans, buttered and floured and lined with circles of parchment paper.

1. Put chocolate, butter, Grand Marnier, vanilla and almond powder in double boiler. Melt over hot water, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat as soon as chocolate is melted.

2. Beat egg yolks with 5 ounces (3/4 cup) sugar until thick and a slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beater is lifted, about 6 minutes. Blend into lukewarm chocolate mixture using a large rubber spatula.

3. Whip egg whites until foamy, then gradually add 4 ounces (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) sugar, whipping until soft peaks are formed. Using large rubber spatula, blend lightly into chocolate-egg mixture, as if it were a soufflé.

4. Divide batter between two prepared pans and bake in preheated 275 degree oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

5. As soon as cakes test done, loosens sides with a sharp knife and unmold on cake racks to prevent sogginess. Cakes will have a crisp “sugar bloom” on the outside, and will sink very slightly. The top surfaces will probably crack, which is normal. Let cool, and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Serve with Coffee Crème Anglaise

Crème Anglaise

Makes five cups

• 8 egg yolks
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 quart milk
• 1 vanilla bean to infuse milk, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Instant espresso

1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together, or beat in an electric mixer until thick and lemon colored.

2. Mix cornstarch with a little cold milk and add to quart of milk. Scald milk with vanilla bean, and pour hot milk into egg yolks, whisking constantly. (Rinse and dry vanilla bean and store buried in sugar. It can be reused a number of times and will flavor the sugar also!)

3. Pour custard sauce into a heavy tin-lined copper pot or a porcelain insert of a double boiler. (Do not make Crème Anglaise in aluminum, which discolors it, or in a flimsy pan, which tends to scorch the mixture.)

4. Stir with wooden spoon over low to medium heat, or over hot water until custard starts to coat the spoon. In a double boiler it will take about 15 minutes to thicken, and must not be cooked at too high a heat or the eggs will curdle. To test, dip clean wooden spoon in mixture, turn it over and run finger across back of spoon. If the two sides remain separate, it is ready. Or, if you blow on the back of the custard covered spoon, it should “make roses”.

5. Strain into a bowl, stir in vanilla essence if used, and let cool. Stir from time to time to prevent a skin from forming.

6. To make a coffee flavored crème anglaise make a strong mixture of coffee from instant espresso and add to taste.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Your wish is my command, Egle! Thank you for coming onto my profile and making such nice comments about my pictures and posts. Egle, who is the daughter of my Lithuanian cousin, spent two summers with me, helping me with my kids at our vacation home and was my most unbelievable prep cook. I would give her a list of things I needed done for the meal and would arrive from the pond with everything in perfect order for a wonderful dinner. Those summers were great, it was a gift to have you in our home!

I LOVE my chocolate mousse cake because it is easy to make and feeds an army. It is also a perfect dessert to make ahead and even freeze if you need too, hence one of the best entertaining desserts. I always make one for my Christmas Eve/Birthday celebration and it has become everyone's favorites. One of my good friend's husband wants to be at my home when I make it this year so he can learn how to make it for his family!

Chocolate Mousse Cake

My cooking mentor, Donna Nordin, who I have been taking classes from for the last 22 years, taught me this recipe. It is the signature dessert for old Southwestern restaurant in Tucson called Café Terra Cotta. It was also the featured dessert in Bon Appetit in 1980. It is so perfect that I have changed little. It is light, yet creamy and oh so chocolaty.

Serves 12 to 16

• 1 ½ packages (9 ounces each) Nabisco “Famous” chocolate wafers
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• 1 pound semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
• 4 cups cream
• 2/3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 eggs, separated

Lightly oil the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Grind the cookies to crumbs in a food processor or blender. Mix with the melted butter and press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Chill.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot but not boiling water. Meanwhile, whip 2 cups of the cream with 1/3 cup powdered sugar. When the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and add the whole eggs and yolks. Mix very well, the fold in the whipped cream.

Beat the egg whites and fold them into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the chilled crust. Chill overnight or at least 6 hours.

Whip the remaining cream and sugar and spread about half the whipped cream on top of the pie and pipe the remaining cream around the edge with a pastry bag and a star tip. Scatter a layer of chocolate curls evenly over the top of the whipped cream if you like.

More Cookies

Ate way too much cookie dough today and got a BIG belly ache. Not a good idea to eat three cookies worth of raw dough after completely cleaning out your intestines. Hey, I was hungry after fasting for a day and a half! I am SO glad that procedure is over with. Drinking eight ounces of the worst tasting, weirdest mouth feel liquid every fifteen minutes for three hours is not my idea of fun. The good news is I will not have to do that for another ten years.

Cookie doughs are done. I made ten different types of cookies the last being orange poppy seed and good old chocolate chip, which I finished up this afternoon. David reminded me that I did not include a recipe for his favorite cookie, date nugget. So here it is:

Date Nuggets

This is another one of the cookies recipes I found in the 1983 Gourmet. Do you remember they use to give their ingredients in a paragraph instead of a list? Maybe they thought it saved room or looked cool. I am glad that Food and Wine does not do that!

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 2 sticks (one cup) butter, softened
• ¾ cup granulated sugar combined with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• ½ cup pitted dates, chopped fine (it a bit easier if you freeze them a bit first)
• ½ cup pecans, toasted lightly and chopped fine
• About ½ cup confectioners’ sugar

Place the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and whisk until blended. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter, add the granulated sugar mixture, a little at a time, beating then beat the mixture for 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla and add the flour mixture in 2 batches, blending the mixture at low speed until it is just combined. Stir in the dates and the pecans and chill the dough, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll level teaspoons of dough into balls and place in the sugar; roll until covered in sugar. Arrange 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake them in the middle of the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are lightly golden around the edges. Transfer the cookies to racks and let cool completely before storing.

Cookie Making

Have you ever tried to make cookie dough while you are fasting?? Don’t do it, it is way too tempting, the butter and sugar combo, the nuts, and the chocolate. I actually think I like cookie dough better than the cooked cookie! After I popped about five filberts into my mouth early this morning, I woke up out of my cooking making stupor and realized, I am REALLY not eating today!! So now I sit, drinking a warm cup of roasted turkey broth waiting for the timer to go off indicating the need to take my first eight ounce glass of “turbo lax” as my husband calls it. I absolutely will NOT be sharing that experience with all of you!

For me, Christmas is about traditions and we have a few in the Taylor household. It is the way we decorate our house, light our tree, have thirty-five people plus for Christmas Eve/Birthday (yes, Geoff was born on my dad’s 65 birthday on Christmas Eve!), display our gifts, find our filled stocking Christmas morning and about making cookies, lots of cookies, like in the thousands. I think I started making cookies in 1978 and it is a tradition my family now WILL NOT let me stop.

The year we were in Barcelona I was absolutely not going to make cookies. Why??? I had no mixer, no cookie sheets, no food processors, no cooling racks, no space AND the sugar there is coarse, like decorating sugar. When my children realized I was not making cookies, I never announced it, they could just tell the activity was NOT happening in the kitchen, they begged. “Christmas will not be Christmas without Christmas cookies”, they said!! Being the good mother that I am, I rounded up an old hand mixer and a few cookie sheets and had my business partner break into my house back in the states to find and scan six or so of my recipes and yes, I made cookies in Barcelona. As we gave them as gifts to our neighbors and friends, I told them that this was an important tradition in the American household. You see, I was an ambassador for the American housewife in Barcelona!

I make anywhere from eight to twelve types of cookies per year. I have my standards that everyone demands but I always try a few new ones for fun. This year I am trying a different peanut butter cookie and a filbertine which I made today along with the almond crisps and ginger. I make my doughs in advance, usually making the recipe four times, and place them in my freezer until all the doughs are done. I then bake half of each dough, give them away and repeat the process for Christmas time. Friends have been known to ask me if I am mad at them, wondering why I have not given them their yearly Christmas cookie bag! My children are my elves during baking time and we pump out dozen upon dozen of cookies in a day. I then place the cookies in bags and freeze them until I am ready to give them out. I feel the richest when I have a freezer full of cookie bags!

I would love to share some of my cookie recipes with you, some of our all time favorites. If any of my friends have their favorite that you would like me to post, just let me know. Enjoy!!

Almond Crisps

This is my absolute favorite of the bunch. It is a thin, crispy bit of heaven. The key to that cookie is to press that dough thin-thin-thin on the cookie sheet. You then need to cook it slow and long in the oven until perfectly brown. THEN you must cut and take them off the cookie sheet as soon as they come out of the oven. It not, they will become hard and break. If that happens just pop it back into the oven for a few minutes to soften them back up. Now you know the secret!!

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sliced almonds

Cream butter and sugar in a standing mixer until well blended. Add yolk and extract; continue mixing until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour in two batches. Shape dough into a rectangular log at least 2 inches high and chill at least 15 minutes. Slice off a ¼ inch slab of dough off the log and with the heel of your hand press it onto your cookie sheet. Continue until the entire sheet is filled with a thin layer of dough. Mix egg white and brush on top. Sprinkle with nuts and press lightly into the dough. Bake at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes or until evenly brown, turning the cookie sheet half way through. As soon as the cookies come off out of the oven, cut them into 2 inch squares and remove onto a cooling rack.

Coconut Snaps

This is my second favorite and my absolute favorite in its raw state! I got this recipe along with three other top listers in the 1983 version of Gourmet! I am not a big fan of sweetened coconut but in this cookie is works. Try it, I KNOW you will like it!

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped
• 2 cups packaged shredded coconut (the sweetened kind)

Place the flour, soda and salt into a small bowl and whisk until well combined. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter, add the light brown sugar and beat the mixture for 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar, beat the mixture for 1 minute and beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, blending the mixture at low speed until it is just combined after each addition, stir in the walnuts and chill the dough for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Have ready in a wide bowl the coconut. Roll level teaspoons of dough into balls and roll the balls in the coconut, pressing the coconut into the ball. Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake them in the middle of a preheated oven for 18 to20 minutes, or until they are puffed and the coconut is lightly golden. Transfer the cookies to racks, let them cool, and store them in airtight containers. Makes about 110 cookies.