grandmother

December 6: Almond Pizzelles

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If you’re looking for a sign to drop $40 on a pizzelle maker, consider this your sign.

Pizzelles are simple, delicious, and gorgeous, and make a beautiful addition to a Christmas cookie platter. But in the time you spend admiring the lace-like pattern of the pizzelle, someone will swoop in and take them all.

I speak from experience.

Almond Pizzelles

  • 4 eggs
  • 1/3 c. + 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 1/2 c. butter
  • 1 T. almond extract
  • 1 t. vanilla extract
  • 1 t. amaretto (optional)
  • 1/8 t. salt
  • 2 t. baking powder
  • 1 3/4 c. flour
  1. Beat the eggs and sugar for three minutes (at least!) and have it turn a light yellow color
  2. Melt the butter in the microwave. Put a spoonful of the egg-sugar mixture in with the butter and stir. Then pour all of that in the mixing bowl.
  3. Add extracts and amaretto. Mix until blended.
  4. Add salt and baking powder. Mix for 30 seconds.
  5. Add flour 1/2 c. at a time, blending for about 10-15 seconds between half cups. When all the flour is in, mix until just combined.
  6. Plug in your pizzelle maker and once it’s heated, spray with pam or melt a little butter in it.
  7. Scoop 1 T of batter on each bottom pizzelle plates, in the center. If you have a cookie scoop, this will come in handy.
  8. Follow the directions of the pizzelle maker–it should be about 60-90 seconds from closing the maker to your two pizzelles being ready. Remove with a spatula. Cool on wire rack.
  9. Dust with powdered sugar.

We love pizzelles around here. I buy them at the grocery store for the kids, and they disappear quickly! My fiancé is half Italian, and I asked if he thought my pizzelles could come close to his grandmother’s.

“There’s no way,” he said.

I believe him. I’m not Italian. I had no Italian Nonna making these cookies for me. I found them in a cookbook 10 years ago, and became an admirer. These weren’t my teething biscuits like they were for my fiancé. (Or so I assume they were.) And sadly, when his grandmother died years ago, he thinks her recipe went with her.

But he did say mine were pretty good, and as an Italian-adjacent, I’ll take whatever compliment I can get in this department.

December 7: White Velvet Cut-Outs

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A long time ago, in an apartment far, far away, I made my first cut-out cookie as an adult. Disgruntled Husband and I were newly married his oma (German for “Grandmother”) gave me a cookie cutter.

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That brought my count up to one. When Christmas rolled around, I brought out the cookie cookbook from my teens and made cut-out cookies with my one cookie cutter.

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I didn’t make these last year and I found that I missed them. The recipe is super simple, but makes for a very tasty cookie. Instead of narrating the entire process, I think I’ll just use the pictures I took today, along with the recipe at the end.

(Oh, and the icing method and recipe can be found on my pinterest board, or on the sole November 2014 post on this very blog.)

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White Velvet Cut Outs

(from Gooseberry Patch’s Old-Fashioned Christmas Cookies)

1 c. butter, softened                           1 egg yolk

3 oz. cream cheese, softened              1/2 t vanilla

1 c sugar                                          2 1/2 c flour

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Beat in sugar. Add egg yolk and vanilla, then stir in flour. Gather dough in a ball and chill overnight. To prepare, pre heat oven to 350. Rolll dough out to 3/16″ and cut into desired shapes. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are light brown.

Cookies today: 37

Cookies this year: 318

December 5: Almond-Filled Creams

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My friend Christina is a thrift store wizard. She can find the most amazing things that I would walk right past. Last month, she presented me with this:

Brought to you by your local electric co-op...

Brought to you by your local electric co-op…

It is utterly amazing. A quick check on the inside cover reveals the publication:

It even has that "1960" font going on.

It even has that “1960” font going on.

Yes, that’s Christmas 1960. What was the world like then? JFK was just elected president, a loaf of bread was $.20, Chubby Checker introduced “The Twist”, and The Flinstones first aired on television.

A little math on my end reveals that my grandmother–a 4’10” beauty full of sass and crass–was 45 that year. Though that’s still 10 years older than I am right now, I decided I’d try and channel Grandma to make this recipe.

The first three ingredients show just how far removed we are from the olden days. I beg you to find me a recipe still in circulation that calls for this:

Nothing says love like butter and cream.

Nothing says love like butter and cream.

(We’re in black and white now because it’s 1960. Duh.)

I even sifted the flour, as written. I normally don’t do that unless I’m combining it with something else. I don’t know what difference it makes in 2014, but I did it anyway.

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I mixed it all up (in my crazy mixer from the future), and let it chill in my brand new sea-green refrigerator/freezer.

When I was ready to start, I put my apron on, poured a tumbler of scotch and lit a cigarette. (Just like Grandma surely did.)

*scotch and cigarette may have been written about in hyperbole.

*scotch and cigarette may have been written about in hyperbole.

Rolled out the dough and cut it with a round biscuit cutter. Poked them a few times with the tines of my best silver. And then lit another cigarette and yelled at my kids to get off the green feather couch.

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One thing I forgot to do was cover both sides in sugar, which may explain why these turned out more like biscuits. I blame the scotch.

Threw them in my oven and reapplied my lipstick.

I don’t know why they came out oval when they went in as circles. If you know, please tell me.

They look circular here, but I'm telling you, there were ovals everywhere.

They look circular here, but I’m telling you, there were ovals everywhere.

To make the filling, I found Marty McFly and he brought me back this crazy contraption. I hear it’s to grind coffee beans, but I used it to grind almonds for cookies.

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I threw all of the filling ingredients together. And in the interest of not having an entirely beige cookie, I added some of 1960s best bright toxic food coloring. (Or 2014’s non-toxic, yet equally bright equivalent.)

The filling before Red Dye #2 was added.

The filling before Red Dye #2 was added.

Somewhere around then, I poured myself another scotch and fed my poodle. I also read the minutes of the last Glenview Botanical Society meeting.

I piped some filling on a cookie/biscuit and topped it with another cookie/biscuit.

Perfect for my next Junior League meeting!

Perfect for my next Junior League meeting!

Oh here, see it in color.

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Even though I forgot to dip the cookies in sugar, I thought the sweetness of the almond filling made up for it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a luncheon to get to.

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I like the reminder about flameless electric cooking.

Cookies today: 16 (but remember, they are sandwich cookies)

Cookies this year: 246

(**Dedicated to my late grandmother, Eleanor Frank, who would be both appalled and amused by my imitation of her.)