Currier and Ives, and Currier and Ives Manqués

        I spent Christmas Day on Vashon Island, off the coast of Seattle, with my son, Ela, and daughter-in-law, Leah. [Remember, this was years ago.] Late in the afternoon, in perfect, balmy weather, we walked through the woods along their dirt road, then along the paved road down to the edge of the island. Many other people were out walking, too. We called a cheerful "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year!" to each other as though we were all in a Currier and Ives Christmas scene, though Ela, in a cynical recognition that 2003 was not Currier and Ives's era, said, under his breath, "Merry Crisis. Happy New Fear."

        I came home to the Applegate the next day. A few days later Ela and Leah drove from Vashon to spend the night with me, then go to his dad's and stepmother's a few miles over the mountain, where I would meet them for New Year's Eve. Continuing the Currier and Ives theme, I wore a long gray cloak, black gloves, and a bright red scarf. Dan, Ela's dad, greeted me at the door with a warm handshake and a hug and kiss, his usual greeting, and a wisecrack alluding to my clothing: "We'll have the groom take care of your horse and carriage." I didn't mind. I was carrying out a theme. When I left for home, Currier and Ives were putting the final touch on their holiday engraving: snow was falling.

        Snow fell all night and on through New Year's Day, when I was expecting Ela, Leah, Dan, and Tracy at my house for a lunch of pear and Gorgonzola cheese pasta

with a light green salad and, for dessert, angel thumbprint cookies with bright red homemade cherry jam in the thumbprints.  I cooked and baked, filling the house with sharp cheese smells and sugary baking smells. When everything was ready, I sat before the window, watching the snow come down, waiting for my guests. I watched and waited and watched and waited. Still the snow fell.

        Long after my guests should have been here, the phone rang. It was Ela on his cell phone. "We tried to get there," he said. "We started over the mountain, but the snow was too deep, and we had to back all the way down that long, slippery hill." I knew that hill. It scared me just thinking about their backing down it in the snow. "We're just sitting down to a thrown-together lunch at my dad's," Ela went on, "and we're really regretting not being with you." 

        Currier and Ives was spoiled at last—as it always is. Otherwise, we wouldn't see their scenes as idealizations.

        So I sat down at my beautifully set table before the windows to eat my New Year's Day lunch alone. I watched snow falling like a shimmering curtain in front of the forest. I lifted my head to look through the skylights at snowflakes drifting down like fairy doilies. I watched the front yard grow higher, closer and closer to my window, its white blanket thickening. (Ultimately—not while I was watching—it reached a climactic fourteen inches.) As last I shook off my mesmerized state and turned to my meal. I poured myself a glass of sparkling cider, then raised it in a toast to my missing guests: Ela, Leah, Dan, and Tracy. I toasted happy new year to my mother and father in Atlanta and to each of my siblings, their spouses, and their children. I toasted happy new year to my good friends in distant places and then, not wanting to leave anyone out, to my good friends here. Then, before I knew it, I was toasting happy new year to everyone I knew, friends and acquaintances, coworkers, doctors, massage therapist, radio fans, guitar teacher, yoga teacher. When I finished all that, I toasted organizations: Jefferson Public Radio, Rogue Community College, the Oregon Council for the humanities, the Arts Council of Southern Oregon, the Sierra Club. If I had been drinking champagne, I would have been quite drunk.

        This was fun, even if it wasn't the way Currier and Ives pictured it in their idealized versions of Victorian Christmas. No one is ever alone in Currier and Ives, and 2004 is not 1904. But just as I wasn't alone on New Year's Day but had all my friends with me at my table, so maybe "merry crisis and happy new fear" might be wrong, too. I raised my glass one last time on New Year's Day for a heartfelt toast to the Democratic Party. Then I started on the pasta.

Recipes from this post:

    Pasta with pears and gorgonzola cheese

    Angel thumbprint cookies
Next week: "A Box of Stories: (1) The Horrible Cake"

PASTA WITH PEARS AND GORGONZOLA CHEESE

serves 4

The sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

4 firm pears (about 2 pounds)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried

1 cup chicken broth or 1 vegetable bouillon cube reconstituted to make 1 cup liquid

4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

(Instead of the cream, you could use double-thick powdered milk by mixing 1/4 cup nonfat instant milk powder with 1/2 cup water.)

Preparation

Peel, core, and slice pears into 1/3-inch strips. Crumble the Gorgonzola cheese and grate the Parmesan.

To make

Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the pear slices and sauté till beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Remove pears from skillet. Add rosemary to the juices in the pan and stir for about 1 minute to release the fragrance. Add broth, Gorgonzola cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and cream or double-thick milk. Simmer about 6 minutes, stirring, until sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon. Add pears (and any remaining juice) to the sauce and keep warm.

The pasta (linguine)

Cook 3/4 pound linguine al dente.

Assemblage

Ingredients

Gorgonzola cheese sauce

Cooked linguine

1/3 cup pecans

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Chop pecans. Grate the cheese.

To assemble

Add linguine and pears to Gorgonzola cheese sauce still on the stove on medium-low heat. Toss and heat to coat well, about 3 minutes. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with pecans and Parmesan cheese.

ANGEL THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg yolk

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg white, beaten slightly

3/4 cup nuts

Preparation

Sift the flour and salt together. Chop the nuts finely. Preheat oven to 375º.

To make

Cream together the butter, sugar, egg yolk, and extracts. Stir sifted flour and salt into the creamed mixture in several additions and mix. Roll into 1-inch balls. Dip balls in beaten egg white and then into nuts. Place on uncreased cookie sheet. Bake 5 minutes at 375º. Remove from oven and press your thumb (the thumb of an angel) into each cookie, or call on a child to be the angel. Bake 8 minutes longer. Cool.

Assemblage

Ingredients

Cooled thumbprint cookies 

Jam or jelly

To finish

Place jelly or jam into the thumb print of each cookie.

The Ten-mile Cake

          When I found a picture of Christmas present cakes in Bon Appétit—individual, four-layered cakes with strawberry ice cream and lemon curd between layers, all wrapped with chocolate ganache and tied with white-icing ribbons—I immediately wanted to make them for my friends at our Winter Solstice party. It would be a two-day affair, but I would use the very best ingredients—Haagen Dazs ice cream, organic Meyer lemons, good chocolate and brandy—and if it worked it would be so beautiful!

         Due to the weather the beginning was not auspicious. A howling gale kept blowing out the pilot light on my back-porch refrigerator, incapacitating my freezer, but my neighbor a quarter of a mile down the road told me I could use her electric freezer, which sits in an outdoor shed. So I made the cake, a good white cake, and the lemon curd. Both turned out beautiful. When I walked down the road to put the lemon curd in Sylvia's freezer, the storm seemed to have abated, but when I returned two hours later, the ice cream was soft and the lemon curd still liquid. A tree falling across power lines had caused a blackout. Electricity returned before the ice cream was ruined, but by the time I was able to spread it and the lemon curd between the cake layers, I was a day behind.

          The layered cake had to freeze overnight. As soon as it was light the next day (the day of the party), I walked down the road (in wind and light rain) to cut the cake into nine squares. Then I came home to make the chocolate ganache. The next step was time sensitive: I would have to bring each cake home, cover it in ganache, and get it back to the freezer before the ice cream melted. I could only do three cakes at a time. To save precious minutes, I drove between my house and Sylvia's, although I still had to walk down my hill to the car. Three times I ran down the hill, got in the car, drove to Sylvia's, opened the gate, drove through, closed the gate (just knowing the dogs would choose that moment to dash out of the house and down the road), parked by the shed, carefully lifted three cakes from the freezer, put them in the car, did the open and close gate thing again, drove home, ran (or half-ran) with the frozen cakes up the hill and into the house, where I quickly (but carefully, still catching my breath) spread chocolate ganache over each one. Then I ran the course in reverse. Only after the third trip, with all the cakes ganached and in the freezer, could I breathe easily. I cleaned the kitchen and got ready for the party.

          With my timing thrown off by the storm, I had to add the icing ribbons when I picked up the cakes on my way to the party. I figured I could refreeze the cakes in my hosts's refrigerator. During the 20-minute drive to the party, I watched in dismay as the ribbons and bows melted into white blobs. Once at the party, I did some emergency repair with the remaining icing, crossed my fingers, and left the cakes in the freezer.

          It was a fun party. First we sat around the hors d'oeuvres table, talking and eating; then we got out some clay and made ceramic frogs; then we had a good dinner; then we gave each other presents. Finally, we were ready for dessert. I placed each ice cream cake (with its ribbon intact) on a plate and added a dollop of strawberry sauce on the side. I passed around the beautiful little presents. They were admired and exclaimed over as forks were raised, suspended, and lowered.

          A classical guitar concert in a centuries-old Spanish mission, my guitar teacher once told me, transports the listener to a different place. It's a spiritual experience, a transcendent sensation. That's what it was like to eat the ice cream cake presents. The ecstatic experience was apparent in the eyes of the eaters. Conversation slowed, as though to make the words fit the music. Someone asked how I made the dessert, and I told the story. Tracy asked what it was called, and before I could answer, Shel said, "It's the ten-mile cake." Someone mentioned Joanne Harris's novel Chocolat. Someone else alluded to Babbette's Feast. We talked about justice in the world, about the preparation of food as gift. One man apologized for not eating his present but said he didn't really eat desserts.

          "That's all right," I said, "but such a dessert shouldn't be wasted." I started to return the cake to the freezer, but the teen-age boy at the party said he would be more than happy to keep it from being wasted.

          To me the man who wasn't eating was a measure for the depth of our shared experience. He was talking a great deal, whereas the rest of us were as slow and deliberate with our words as with our tasting. It was like someone in a cathedral with sun-gloried stained-glass windows talking and talking while everyone else was singing hymns. Finally Louann pointed out that the rest of us were focused on our cakes and couldn't he be quiet? He looked around and saw the ecstasy in our eyes. He decided to try some dessert, after all. When he did, his talking, too, diminished, and we were all singing hymns together. It was that kind of dessert.

Recipes in this post:

        Christmas present cakes

Next week: "Courier and Ives, and Courier and Ives Manqués"

CHRISTMAS PRESENT CAKES

yield: Presents for 9
(Recipe can easily be doubled.)

The cakes

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Small pinch of salt

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

Preparation

Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper and butter it. Flour a kitchen towel and have it ready for turning the baked cake onto. Preheat the over to 350º.

To make

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Bring the milk and butter to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and cover to keep the milk hot. Beat the egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl until pale. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar to the egg whites, beating all the while. Continue beating till the whites are stiff but not dry. Beat the dry ingredients into the yolks alternately with the hot milk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Fold in the egg whites in 3 additions. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Turn onto floured kitchen towel, remove parchment paper, and continue cooling.

The lemon cream filling

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar

1 lemon

Preparation

Grate the lemon to yield 2 tablespoons grated peel. Squeeze the lemon to yield 3 tablespoons juice. 

To make

Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl until the sugar dissolves. Freeze the lemon cream until it is slightly firm but still soft enough to spread, at least 2 hours.

Assemblage

Ingredients

The cake, cooled

Lemon cream filling

2 1/4 cups strawberry ice cream, softened slightly

Preparation

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with plastic, overlapping the sides. Cut the cake horizontally into three layers.

To make

Place 1 cake layer in the prepared pan. Spread 2 1/4 cups of strawberry ice cream over it. Top with the second cake layer. Spread the lemon cream over it. Top with the third cake layer, cut side down. Wrap the cake with plastic and freeze overnight.

The next morning, transfer the cake onto a baking sheet. Peel off the plastic. Trim cake edges. Cut the cake into nine 2 1/2-inch squares. Return the cake to the freezer. 

Ganache

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups whipping cream

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy

Preparation

Chop the chocolate. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet.

To make

Bring cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a large saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate, and stir until melted. Stir in cognac. Cool until thickened slightly but still pourable. Remove 3 cakes from the freezer and place them on the wire rack set over a baking sheet. Pour 1/3 cup ganache all at once over the top of 1 cake. Working quickly, spread the ganache over the sides. Return these cakes to the freezer, and repeat the process with the remaining 6 cakes. Freeze the cakes until the glaze is firm, about 1 hour or more.

Ribbon icing

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons water

To make

Whisk powdered sugar and water in a medium bowl to blend. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with the small plain tip.

Strawberry sauce

Ingredients

1 16-ounce package frozen sweetened strawberries

1/4 cup orange juice

Preparation 

Thaw the frozen strawberries.

To make

Purée the berries with the orange juice as well as possible. (Easy enough in an electric kitchen.) Transfer to a bowl.

To finish

Ingredients

Chocolate-covered cakes

Ribbon icing

Strawberry sauce

To make

Remove the baking sheet from the freezer. Pipe icing over the top of each cake, making a bow. Return the cakes to the freezer. Freeze until set, about 30 minutes.

To serve

Place 1 cake on each plate. Pour some sauce around it and serve, passing remaining sauce.

More recipes for "Red, White, and Green Christmas Dinner"

Recipes in this post:
     Cranberry port conserve
     All-in-one red-white-and-green vegetable dish
     Cranberry-pecan pie
     Christmas trifle
     White chocolate cheesecake with red glaze
     Red Christmas pear dessert


CRANBERRY PORT CONSERVE
yield: 3 cups

Ingredients
12 ounces fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup ruby port
1 medium navel orange
1/4 cup dried currants
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Preparation
Chop the orange unpeeled. Chop the walnuts, though not too finely.
To make
Over medium heat, boil the cranberries, sugars and port, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the orange, which will turn red as the cranberries cook. Simmer about 15 minutes—until the cranberries burst and the mixture thickens slightly. Cool before stirring in the chopped walnuts.


ALL-IN-ONE RED-WHITE-AND-GREEN VEGETABLE DISH
serves 8-10

The vegetables

Ingredients
1 1/2 ponds Brussels sprouts
1 1/4 pounds turnips
1 1/4 pounds red beets (Do not use yellow beets!)
Preparation
Halve the Brussels sprouts. Peel the turnips and cut each into 8 wedges. Wash the beets and wrap them in foil. Preheat the oven to 375º.
To cook
Bake foil-wrapped beets till tender, about 1 hour 45 minutes. While the beets are cooling, cook the Brussels sprouts and turnips, separately, in boiling water until they are crisp-tender, about 6 minutes for the Brussels sprouts and 7 minutes for the turnips. (If you cook the vegetables consecutively, you can use the same pot of boiling water.) Drain the vegetables and cool them in cold water. Peel and slice the beets.

The sauté
Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup minced shallots
1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts
3 pounds chopped fresh thyme
3 large cloves garlic
Preparation
Mince the shallots and garlic and chop the hazelnuts finely. Chop the thyme.
To make
In a heavy, large skillet, sauté the shallots and hazelnuts in melted butter over medium-high heat. When the nuts begin to brown (about 3 minutes), add the thyme and garlic and sauté everything till the nuts are golden (about 2 minutes more).

Finish
Ingredients
The vegetables
The sauté
Salt and pepper
To make
Add Brussels sprouts and turnips to the suaté in the skillet. Cover, and let them heat through, stirring occasionally. Add hot beets and stir just to mix. Season with salt and pepper.


CRANBERRY PECAN PIE
serves 8

The crust

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)
4-5 tablespoons ice-cold water
To make
Mix the flour and salt. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture has the texture of coarse cornmeal. Make a well in the mixture and add the water all at once. Mix with a fork until the dough clumps together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it.

Cranberry filling
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups cranberries
1/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preparation
Coarsely chop cranberries and, separately, pecans. Juice the orange. Melt the butter.
To make
Mix together all ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

The pie
Ingredients
Pastry for 1 9-inch crust
Cranberry filling
Preparation
Dust a working surface and your rolling pin with flour. Let the chilled pie dough sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling it out. Preheat oven to 400º.
To make
Roll out the pastry and put it in a 9-inch pie pan, preferably metal. Spoon in the filling. Bake the pie at 400 º for 45 minutes. The crust should be brown and the filling beginning to bubble. Remove it from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes. Leave the oven on.

Topping
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make
Mix together all ingredients.



The finish
Spread the sour cream topping on top of the cooled pie. Return the pie to the oven for 3-5 minutes to set the sour cream. Cool the pie completely before serving.


CHRISTMAS TRIFLE
serves 12

Angel food cake

Ingredients
15 egg whites, at room temperature
1 /14 cups sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350º. Place an aluminum foil collar in a 10-inch tube pan, extending it 4 inches above the top of the pan. Do not grease or spray. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl; set aside.
To make
Sift together 1 cup of the sugar, the flour, and the salt. Set aside. Whip the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and vanilla and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Slowly add the remaining sugar, beating, so that the peaks stay glossy. With a rubber spatula fold the flour mixture into the whites until combined. Spoon the batter evenly into the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched. Remove the cake from the oven and place the opening over a wine bottle to hold the pan off the surface. Cool completely. To remove the cake from the pan, run a knife around the edges of the pan and invert again.

Banana-yogurt cream
yield: 2/3 cup

Ingredients
3/4 cup plain yogurt (low-fat is fine)
3/4 cup cottage cheese (low-fat is fine)
1 banana
2 tablespoons honey
To make
Blend the yogurt and cottage cheese till smooth. Purée with the banana and the honey in blender or food processor.

The trifle itself

Ingredients
Banana-yogurt cream
1 ripe pomegranate
6-9 kiwis
Strawberries
1 angel food cake
Preparation
Cut the pomegranate in quarters and remove the seeds. Slice the strawberries. Purée the kiwis, saving one or two to slice for the top. Cut the angel food cake into 1-inch cubes. (You probably won't need all the cake.)
To assemble
Layer the trifle, in a glass dish, like this: cake cubes, banana cream, strawberry slices, kiwi purée, pomegranate seeds, cake cubes, kiwi purée, strawberries, banana cream, kiwi slices, and pomegranate seeds on top. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.


WHITE (CHOCOLATE) CHEESECAKE WITH RED GLAZE
serves 12

Crust
Ingredients
5 1/2 ounces shortbread cookies
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Preparation
Butter a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Toast the hazelnuts slowly in a small, heavy skillet over medium-low heat, stirring to keep them from burning. Let them cool, then rub them between the palms of your hands to remove the husks. Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350º.
To make
Finely chop the hazelnuts. Crush the shortbread cookies with a rolling pin till finely ground. Thoroughly mix the nuts and cookie crumbs. (Or, if your kitchen is so equipped, grind shortbread cookies and toasted hazelnuts separately in a processor till finely ground, then mix together.) Melt the butter and pour it over the cookie-and-nut mixture, mixing to the point of moist clumps. Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Bake the crust till it is pale golden, about 8 minutes. Leave the oven on.

Filling
Ingredients
8 ounces Lindt or Baker's white chocolate (or another reliably good white chocolate)
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese

6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Frangelico or Kahlua
4 large eggs
Preparation
Finely chop the chocolate.
To make
Stir the chopped chocolate on the top of a double boiler (be sure the water is only simmering) until it has melted. Set aside. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add sour cream and Frangelico or Kahlua and blend well again. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then beat in the melted chocolate. Pour this batter into the prepared crust. Bake the cheesecake at 350º for about 1 hour 30 minutes, until the top is golden and puffed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack. Don't be alarmed when the center falls, as this is perfectly normal. Chill thoroughly, either in the refrigerator or on the back porch.

Topping

Ingredients
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon Frangelico or Kahlua
3 cups fresh cranberries (1 12-ounce package)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 lemon
Preparation
Grate or zest the lemon to make 1 teaspoon peel.
To make
Dissolve cornstarch in Frangelico or Kahlua. Combine 1 cup of the cranberries with all the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and stir them over medium heat. When the mixture is boiling and the sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes), add the remaining cranberries, lemon peel, and cornstarch mixture. Simmer about 5 minutes, until the cranberries begin to burst and the mixture thickens. Cover and cool thoroughly to let the mixture gel.

To serve
Loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and remove the pan sides. Transfer the cheesecake to a platter and smooth the sides of the cake to make them pretty again. Drain the cranberries through a sieve, reserving the syrup. Spoon the cranberries onto the top of the cheesecake. Cut the cake into wedges to serve, dipping your knife into warm water before cutting each piece to keep cheesecake from piling up on the knife. Serve with a pitcher of reserved syrup on the table.


RED CHRISTMAS PEAR DESSERT
serves 6

Ingredients
1 750-milliliter bottle of ruby port
1/2 cup cranberry juice
6 tablespoons sugar
1 2x7-inch strip orange peel (do not include white pith)
1 whole star anise
3 large, ripe but firm pears (Bosc or Bartlett), about 8 ounces each
1 cup mascarpone or plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Mint sprigs (not optional if what you want is a red, white, and green dessert)

Preparation
Peel, halve, and core the pears. Peel the orange with a vegetable peeler to make the 2x7-inch strip.
To make
Combine the two liquids, sugar, orange peel, and star anise in a medium saucepan. Bring this mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 5 minutes. Add pear halves and simmer, turning occasionally about 20 minute more, uncovered. When the pears are tender but not yet falling apart, transfer them with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Boil the syrup, reducing it to about 1 1/4 cups (about 15 minuets). Pour the syrup over the pears. Cool, cover, and chill until cold.
To serve
Just before time for dessert, stir the powdered sugar into the mascarpone or yogurt. (Mascarpone is stiffer, richer, and whiter.) If you're using yogurt, don't beat; just blend. Spoon a small pool of cold red syrup onto each small serving plate and onto that pool slide a pear half, face down. To set off this red wonder, give it a beret of white mascarpone or yogurt and a jaunty side of green mint.

Red, White, and Green Christmas Dinner

          For Thanksgiving last year I made a cranberry pecan pie with a sour cream topping.

Cranberry pecan pie

With its deep red center and snow-white top, I thought it would make a great Christmas dessert. Then I thought of cooking an entire Christmas dinner of red, green, and white foods. When I enthusiastically suggested this plan to my sister Laura, our host for Christmas dinner, she was less than enthusiastic. In fact, she dumped my idea. But it's too good to throw away, so I'll give it to you.

     

White bean dip, cranberry-
port conservem, avocado dip

    For appetizers, serve strips of red bell pepper with a light green avocado dip on one side table and strips of green bell pepper with a white bean dip on another. You could add the white of cauliflower and the greens of celery and broccoli to the tray of crudités, but leave out the carrots, and, by all means, if you use chips, make sure they are white. Anything orange, yellow, or blue would spoil the theme. For drinks, serve mulled red wine and, for the children and the adults who don't drink alcohol, a cranberry-mint tea.

Broccoli, spinach, leek soup

          If you want a soup course, try a beautiful green soup of broccoli, spinach, and leeks garnished with red pepper and a white dollop of yogurt. Continue the theme by serving a tricolor salad: watercress, pear, and pomegranate. For vegetables, serve  broccoli with a green sauce (broccoli tops puréed with cottage cheese and goat cheese), cranberry conserve enlivened with port, and snow-white mashed potatoes flecked with dark red, sun-dried tomatoes. That way, when guests load their plates with the vegetable course, they'll have green, red, and white side by side on their plates. If you think that's too much food for one meal (or too much cooking), a one-dish vegetable course

Red-white-green vegetables

of Brussels sprouts, turnips, and beets cooked in a shallot, hazelnut, and garlic spread will keep the theme intact, as long as you add the beets separately so as not to spoil the green and white by turning everything red.

          There is a problem with the main course. Laura said, "Diana, what about the turkey?" Actually, she said, "What about the turkey and the sweet potatoes and the stuffing and the gravy?" She said, definitively, closing the discussion, "Dad would never go for it." 

          Meat-eaters are so inflexible. Vegetarians have an easier time creating color-theme meals. If you have to have turkey, say it's an exception to your theme, and go ahead and serve it. Or just serve white meat—or call the dark meat "red." Can you make a green-hued stuffing with lots of parsley and sage? Leave out the sweet potatoes, and use the green broccoli sauce instead of gravy. I think the theme will come through well enough even if you must have turkey.

          If you're vegetarian, though, I suggest a bright-red red pepper stew, as vibrant on the table as Rudolph's nose. With a spoonful of yogurt in the center and a sprig of parsley on the side, wouldn't that be the perfect Christmas dish?

          With desserts your theme can really shine. Besides the cranberry pecan pie, you could make a Christmas trifle—pomegranates and kiwis layered with whipped cream.

Christmas trifle

Or, if you don't think it's too rich, try a cranberry-glazed white chocolate cheesecake, as deeply red and snowy white as the cranberry pecan pie. For something lighter, poach some pears in port and cranberry juice to turn them red and serve them with a white scoop of mascarpone and a green sprig of mint.

          End the meal with coffee if you want. I know it's black, but since you would have already made a spectacular red, green, and white meal, you can drop the theme and relax with a good cup of coffee.

          Isn't it a lovely idea? If your dinner companions are less stuffy about traditional meals than mine, try it on them. Give them a red, white, and green feast guaranteed to gladden the eye as much as it gratifies the palate.

Next week: The Ten-mile Cake

Recipes from this post, posted below:

     Avocado dip

     White bean dip

     Mulled red wine

     Cranberry mint tea

     Green Christmas soup

     Rudolph stew

     Tricolor salad

     All-green broccoli

     White potatoes with a thin red layer

Recipes from this post, posted tomorrow:

     Cranberry port conserve

     All-in-one red-white-and-green vegetable dish

     Cranberry-pecan pie

     Christmas trifle

     White chocolate cheesecake with red glaze

     Red Christmas pear dessert

AVOCADO DIP

Ingredients
2 avocados, ripe but not overripe
1/4 cup yogurt
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon
2 tablespoons nonfat milk powder
cayenne (optional)
Preparation
Mince the garlic. Squeeze the lemon to yield 1/4 cup juice.
To make
Mash the avocados well. Blend in the yogurt, garlic, and lemon juice, then add powdered milk and cayenne (if desired) and blend well.


WHITE BEAN DIP

Ingredients

1 cup white beans, dried
2-3 cloves garlic
1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon horseradish
1/4 teaspoon (or more, to taste) cumin
salt and pepper
Preparation
Soak the beans overnight. Mince or crush the garlic. Juice the lemon.
To make
Drain the beans and cook them in boiling water till they are very tender. Drain and purée the beans, or mash them well, then whip them with the garlic, lemon juice, and horseradish. Add salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cumin to taste.


MULLED RED WINE
yield: vast quantities

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water
2 dozen whole cloves
3 sticks cinnamon
2 crushed nutmegs
12-16 lemons (or limes)
1 orange
2 bottles red wine or Madeira, port, or sherry
Slices of lemon and pineapple
Preparation
Zest the lemons and orange. Juice enough lemons or limes to make 2 cups of juice.
To make
Boil together the first 6 ingredients to make a syrup. Add the lemon or lime juice and heat without boiling. Add the wine. Serve very hot with slices of lemon and pineapple as garnish.


CRANBERRY MINT TEA
yield: 16 cups

Ingredients
8 mint tea bags (or 8 tablespoons dried mint)
8 cups freshly boiled water
1 quart cranberry juice
To make
Make the tea by pouring the boiling water over the tea bags and letting the tea steep till it is very strong. Remove tea bags or strain the tea, if you're using dried mint. Add cranberry juice. To serve the tea hot, heat the cranberry juice before adding it to the tea. (Do not boil!) If you're serving cold tea, add cold juice. Garnish each cup of tea with a sprig of fresh mint.


GREEN CHRISTMAS SOUP (for electric kitchens only)
serves 8

Ingredients
2 heads broccoli
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion
2 leeks
1 carrot (This one carrot does not detract from the green color of the soup.)
6 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
8 cups fat-free, free-range chicken broth
2 plum tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 bunch spinach
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-2 lemons
Preparation
Prepare the broccoli by chopping the florets and peeling and thinly slicing the stems. Dice the onion and slice the leeks thinly. Peel and dice the carrot. Mince or crush the garlic. Juice the lemons to yield 1/2 cup. Thoroughly wash the spinach, discard tough leaves, and remove stems.
To make
Cook onion, leeks, carrot, and garlic in butter over low heat till they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the stock, broccoli, tomatoes, and parsley. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer over low heat about 25 minutes. Add spinach and spices. Cook one minute more; then remove the pan from the heat. Cool the soup slightly, then purée it. Reheat it gently and add lemon juice just before serving.


RUDOLPH STEW
serves 6-8

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried lentils (preferably red)
1/2 cup dried navy pea beans
2 large onions
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
6 medium red bell peppers
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3-3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
Preparation
Soak lentils and beans overnight. Drain them well. Chop the onions. Seed and chop the bell peppers.
To make
Sauté the onions till translucent, then add the bell peppers and sauté the mixture another 6-7 minutes, adding spices during the last minute or two. Add 3 cups stock, the wine, and the drained legumes. Bring to a boil; then lower the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. The lentils should have swollen and the beans grown tender. Mix in the tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes. Thin with water or more stock if necessary. For the reddest and most pleasing presentation, blend the soup. Serve with dollops of yogurt and sprigs of parsley for a real Christmas atmosphere.


TRICOLOR SALAD
serves 4

Ingredients
2 large ripe pomegranates
4 cups loosely packed watercress
12 kiwis
Preparation
Cut the pomegranates in half. Remove the seeds and set them aside with any accumulated juice. Peel and thinly slice the kiwis.
To serve
Place a cushion of dark green watercress on each plate. Add a circle of lighter green kiwi slices. Sprinkle bright red pomegranate seeds and juice over everything. The juice serves as a dressing. Serve the salad immediately.


ALL-GREEN BROCCOLI
serves 12

Ingredients

8 cups trimmed broccoli, including stems
8 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cottage cheese (low-fat is fine)
4 tablespoons goat cheese
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup milk (skim milk is fine)
Preparation
Peel broccoli stems. Trim and chop the broccoli, including the peeled stems. Grate the nutmeg and zest the lemon peel.
To cook
Cook the chopped broccoli until tender in boiling water, 3-4 minutes. Drain it and purée in a food processor or mash it well with a potato masher. Blend the cottage cheese and goat cheese in a food processor or with a rotary beater. Add the broccoli purée, lemon zest, nutmeg, and pepper, and blend smooth. Warm the entire purée in a saucepan over low heat and slowly whisk in the milk, keeping the heat low and the mixture warm.
To serve
Prepare the broccoli florets by steaming them over boiling water till they are bright green and tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Place hot florets in a serving dish and cover with green sauce.


WHITE POTATOES WITH A THIN RED LAYER
serves 8

Ingredients
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil; about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup (packed) grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds russet potatoes (Don't use Yukon golds. They're too yellow.)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup half and half
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation
Chop the dried tomatoes  Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Grate the Parmesan cheese. Butter an 8x8-inch glass baking dish. Preheat the oven to 400º.
To make
Pour enough hot water over the dried tomatoes to cover. Let them soften for about 5 minutes. Drain the tomatoes and return them to the bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and the olive oil.
Boil the potatoes till tender, about 20 minutes, then drain them and return them to the pot for a minute to evaporate excess moisture. Remove the pan from the heat and mash the potatoes with the milk, half and half, butter, and spices. (Do not blend. This dish is best with a rough texture. In my opinion.) Spread half of the potatoes in the prepared dish, cover them with sun-dried tomatoes, and top with the remaining potatoes. Sprinkle the potatoes with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and dot with butter. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the potatoes are hot.

More Recipes for "Christmas Cookie Party"

Recipes on this post
       Cornmeal diamonds
       Marshmallow fudge brownies
       Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
       Christmas rugelach
       Hazelnut meringues



CORNMEAL DIAMONDS
yield: 42
(From Bon Appetit, May, 1997)

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel



Preparation
Grease and flour 2 baking sheets. Grate lemon peel. Flour a working surface and rolling pin. Preheat oven to 325º.
To make

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar in another bowl. Beat the eggs yolks one at a time into the butter and sugar. Add dry ingredients in three additions. Mix in water and lemon peel and beat until smooth. Knead dough on floured surface till smooth, about 8 turns. Roll out to make a rectangle 6x8 inches. Cut rectangle diagonally to make 1-inch diamonds. Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake till light brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer cookies to rack to cool.
Storage
These cookies will last up to three days in an airtight container.





MARSHMALLOW FUDGE BROWNIES
yield: 3 1/2 dozen
(From a cookbook my mother gave me, called Peachtree Bouquet. My commentary in the margin of this recipe says, "V. good, but, oh my!")

Chocolate batter
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 1-ounce square unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour



Preparation
Grease and flour a 13x9x2-inch pan. Chop pecans. Melt chocolate in a double boiler over simmering (not boiling) water. Beat eggs. Preheat oven to 350º.
To make
Cream butter and sugar. Add melted chocolate, beaten eggs, chopped pecans, and flour. Mix well and spoon into prepared pan. Set aside.

White batter
Ingredients
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup pecans
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Chop pecans. Beat egg. Set out butter and cream cheese to soften.
To make
Blend cream cheese with butter and sugar. Do it thoroughly. Add the beaten egg, then the 1/4 cup chopped pecans, the flour, and the vanilla extract. Mix well.

Assemblage
Ingredients
Chocolate batter in pan
White batter in bowl
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
To make
Spoon white batter over chocolate layer in the pan. Cover with chocolate chips. Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes. Cool slightly. Cover with marshmallows.

Frosting
Ingredients
2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar
To make
Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Transfer to bowl and stir in vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar, stirring till smooth. Frost brownies while still warm (not hot); then cool completely and cut into squares. Store in the coolest place in the house.



PEANT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (about 6 ounces)
Preparation
Preheat over to 350º.

To make
Mix together everything but chocolate chips; then stir in chocolate chips. Moisten hands. Taking 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, form into balls. Space 2-3 inches apart on uncreased cookie sheets. Bake about 12 minutes, till puffed on top and golden on the bottom. The centers should still be soft to the touch. Cool on sheets five minutes. Transfer cookies to rack to continue cooling.

CHRISTMAS RUGELACH
yield: 64

Dough
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 8-ounce package Neufchatel cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

To make
Beat butter, cream cheese, and sugar till light and fluffy. (Whew.) Mix together flour and salt, and add to butter and sugar mixture in several stages. When thoroughly incorporated, gather dough into a ball and knead gently until smooth. Divide into 8 sections. Turn each into a ball, and flatten each ball into a disk. Wrap separately in plastic and chill 1 hour.

Filling
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 - 4 ounces dried cranberries
About 2 3/4 ounces walnuts
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
Preparation
Chop cranberries and walnuts finely to make 2/3 cup each. Melt butter.
To make
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Blend well. Set aside.

Assemblage
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
1 large egg
Additional sugar
Preparation
Beat the egg. Flour a working surface and a rolling pin. Preheat oven to 350º
To make
Working with one disk of dough at a time, leaving the others in the chill spot (refrigerator or back porch), roll out dough to 8-inch round. Spread 3 tablespoons filling over the round, leaving 1/2 inch at all edges. Cut round into 8 wedges, and, starting at the outside of the circle and rolling tightly, roll each wedge to its pointed end. Place point side down on uncreased cookie tray and curl the ends to make each cookie into a crescent. Brush cookies with beaten egg and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Transfer cookies to rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough disks.


HAZELNUT MERINGUES
yield: 6 dozen

Ingredients
1/2 cup hazelnuts
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preparation
Grease a large baking sheet. Toast hazelnuts in small skillet over medium low heat. When nuts are cool, rub them between your hands to rub off the papery husks, which are somewhat bitter. Finely grind hazelnuts, either in processor or with hand-pounded rotary food chopper. Sift cornstarch and 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl and set aside. Preheat oven to 300º.
To make
Beat egg whites till foamy. (A rotary beater works fine.) Add cream of tartar and continue beating to the point of soft peaks. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar a little at a time, beating hard after each addition, until egg-white peaks are stiff and glossy but not dry. Continuing to beat, add vanilla. Sift half of the cornstarch-sugar mixture over the egg whites and carefully fold in, using a rubber spatula. Repeat with remaining cornstarch. Gently fold in the nuts so as not to lose any air you have worked so hard to build up in the egg whites. Spoon part of the meringue into a pasty bag fitted with a star tip. Squeeze meringue into one-inch rounds on the baking sheet, spacing then 1/2 inch apart. Bake at 300º until meringues are light golden brown and set, about 30-35 minutes. Carefully transfer to racks and cool completely. Good luck.

One-time-only Christmas Cookie Party

          "There are cookies everywhere!" said Verne and Maria when they came in—said Joan when she came in—said Tom when he came in—said each guest who came in.

          And, yes, there were plates of cookies and bowls of cookies and platters and baskets and racks of cookies—on the card table in the living room, on the sewing machine cabinet, on the table between the two rooms, on the trunk by the couch, on the little square crock table. There were tens of dozens

Rugelach

of cookies)—date bars and rum balls, cathedral window cookies and chocolate cream-filled Christmas cutout cookies. There were bight yellow cornmeal diamonds and dark brown marshmallow fudge brownies, perfectly round peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and crescents of rugelach with cranberry filling. There were gingerbread men to satisfy any requirements of cultural diversity—men in pants and women in skirts and androgynous children, light ones and black ones (one batch baked too long), one with only one eye, one one-legged one, grouchy ones with turned-down mouths, exuberant ones with arms and legs flying, and every one of them decorated with chocolate trim. There were, however, no hazelnut meringues—or, more accurately, there were hazelnut meringues in the garbage can.
   For days I had pored over recipes, choosing so that every kind of cookie was different from the others—cutout cookies, bar cookies, filled cookies,

Chocolate chip peanut butter

cookies with dried fruit or chocolate chips, cookies with alcohol, cookies with cream. Then I spent two days baking from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. "I can't believe you made all these cookies!" my guests exclaimed, without even thinking that it was all done without electrical kitchen appliances. "Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy," said one recipe after another, so I beat and beat and beat till I thought there would be a breakdown in the beating mechanism.
          And the organization it took! I had to consider the doughs that had to be refrigerated and to make cookies in descending order according to baking temperature requirements. While making one batch, I had to think about the next: was the butter softening behind the stove; were the eggs out? I had to make sure I wouldn't run out of propane in the middle of a baking. It was two long days of tightly controlled chaos.

Truffle cookies (2019)

          The party itself was a drop-in-anytime affair. The house stayed crowded. I served hot cider with the cookies. We ate cookies. When guests were ready to leave, I handed them empty cookie tins. "It's your Christmas present," I aid. "Fell them up."

          It was all a fabulous success. After everyone left, I fell exhausted onto the couch, smiling triumphantly and thinking I should have a Christmas cookie party every year. But that was two years ago. Ever since then, when Christmas comes around, I wonder where I ever found the energy—and the madness—to do such a thing.

Next week: "Red, White, and Green Christmas Dinner"
Recipes from this post, posted below
       Coogle family date bars
       Gingerbread men and women
       Rum balls
       Cathedral window cookies
       Truffle cream cookies
Recipes from this post, posted tomorrow
       Cornmeal diamonds
       Marshmallow fudge brownies
       Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
       Christmas rugelach
       Hazelnut meringues


COOGLE FAMILY DATE BARS
yield: 25 or 32, depending on pan size

Ingredients
1 stick butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 cup dates
powdered sugar

Preparation
Chop walnuts (or pecans). Cut up dates. Grease and flour either an 8-inch square pan or a 9x13x2-inch pan. Preheat oven to 350º.
To make
Beat together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add flour and salt, then fold in vanilla. When all is well mixed, stir in nuts and dates. Place in prepared pan and bake at 350º for 30 minutes. (The smaller pan may take longer.) Do not overbake, or the cookies will be hard instead of soft and chewy. Cut while still warm. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.




GINGERBREAD MEN AND WOMEN
yield: 2 dozen

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
4 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 teaspoons dark corn syrup
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Preparation
Grate orange peel. Lightly flour a working surface and a rolling pin. Preheat oven to 375º.
To make
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg; beat till your arm drops off. Mix in orange peel and corn syrup. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients before stirring them into the butter and sugar mixture. Set dough on back porch or in refrigerator until well chilled. Roll into 1/4-inch-thick rectangle and cut out with gingerbread-man and -woman cookie cutters. Place on uncreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Bake at 375º 8-10 minutes. Don't overbake. Let sit on cookie sheet for one minute before removing to cool on a wire rack.
To finish
Suggested ingredients
1 square semisweet chocolate or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Sugar
Raisins
M&Ms
Powdered sugar, for icing
Milk, for icing
Cutup bits of dried fruit such as pineapple, papaya, apricots, etc.
Colored sprinkles.
Preparation
If you're using chocolate trim, melt the semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips in a double boiler. If you're using white icing, mix enough milk into enough powdered sugar to make a consistency like that of melted chocolate. Cut up dried fruit into small bites.
To decorate
Dribble chocolate or white icing onto the gingerbread people with a knife. Use other ingredients to make eyes, mouths, and noses. Indicate skirts and pants. Be imaginative and have fun. Let the children do it, too.

RUM BALLS

yield: 6 dozen

(This recipe comes from an odd little book my mother gave me called The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookbook, by Susanne Huntley, and inscribed, "To Diana, who loves cookbooks!") I make these rum balls for gifts every year.
Ingredients
1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs
1 cup pecans, chopped fine
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Dutch cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons white Karo syrup
1/4 cup or more rum or bourbon

Preparation
Crush vanilla wafers with a rolling pin util reduced to fine crumbs. Chop pecans finely.

To make
Mix all ingredients together. Dust hands with powdered sugar. Taking about one teaspoon of dough at a time, form dough into small balls. Roll balls in more powder sugar. Keep your hands and fingers well powdered with powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking to them. Store rum balls in an airtight container several weeks. (Of course, they can be eater sooner, but they are best if they ripen for a few weeks.)
Variations
Try using gingersnaps or crushed chocolate wafers instead of vanilla wafers. Omit the cocoa if you use chocolate wafers. Try almonds or hazelnuts instead of pecans, or roll the balls in cocoa instead of in powdered sugar. My favorite is still the original recipe.


CATHEDRAL WINDOW COOKIES
yield: 30

Ingredients

1 cup (2 ticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 ounces red and/or green hard candies (for Christmas; any color,  otherwise)
Additional sugar
Preparation
Set the butter out to soften. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Grate lemon peel. Treating colors separately, finely grind candy in food processor or crush with rolling pin Set aside in separate bowls and cover.
To make
Beat butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in egg yolk, lemon peel, and vanilla extract. Add flour and salt all at once and mix thoroughly until dough begins to clump together. (I like to use my hands.) Divide into three parts. Make each part into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap and chill at least two hours.
After chilling

Preheat oven to 375º.
Flour a working surface and rolling pin.
Roll out one disk at a time (keep the others refrigerated) on floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with either a 2 1/2- or a 2 3/4-inch round cookie utter. Cut out center of each cookie with a 1-inch cookie cutter. Transfer cookie to parchment-covered cookie sheets. Fill cutout parts of each cookie with crushed candy. Sprinkle cookies with additional sugar. Make more cookies with scraps of dough, rerolled and recut. Bake cookies 8-10 minutes, till they are firm and light golden with translucent centers of melted hard candy. Cool completely on baking sheets.
Storage
The cookies will last up to a week if stored in an airtight container and kept away from eager fingers. Or, if you have a freezer, you can freeze them for up to a month.


TRUFFLE CREAM COOKIES

The dough
Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter
3/4 cup maple sugar
1/2 cup fruit juice concentrate
12 egg
2 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt


To make
Beat butter till creamy. Add sugar, and cream well. Add fruit juice concentrate and egg, and beat till the mixture turns light in color. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add to butter mixture in three stages. Dough will be soft. Lift onto plastic wrap and shape into a disk. Chill well, either in refrigerator or on back porch.

The truffle cream
Ingredients
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups (12 ounces) malt-sweetened semisweet chocolate chips
To make
Cook cream until bubbles appear at the edges. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and let stand till chips are softened (about 5 minutes). Whisk smooth. Cool.

Assemblage

In my new house (2019)

Preparation
Butter cookie sheet. Lightly flour a working surface and rolling pin. Preheat oven to 375º.
Baking
Remove half the dough from the chilling place and let stand for a few minutes to soften. Generously flour a rolling pin and rolling surface. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch. Cut with cookie cutter—stars, trees, circle—whatever shape appeals. Place on baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart and bake at 375º for 8-10 minutes. Cool on racks.
Finishing
Spread truffle cream between 2 cookies. Press together lightly. Chill well and keep chilled until cookies are served.