Koekje

The weather has gotten very cold here (high of 29 today) so my thoughts are turning to Christmas baking. I just finished reading the history of the Dutch in New York betweek 1609 and 1664, and solved the mystery of why we Americans say cookie, while our British cousins say biscuit. Apparently cookie is derived from the 17th century Dutch koekje, which was a small cake. This became common use in the American colonies.In any case, ABJ has requested that we also make a gingerbread house (or red barn) so that is on the agenda. I have solved the mystery of why the one we made 4 years ago didn't turn a nice rich purple - they no longer make light molasses (which the recipe calls for) so we used dark - we will just substitute Karo Syrup and the color should be fine.

We should also make Snowballs because they melt in your mouth and are really easy to make. I have already stocked up on about 8 lbs of butter for the cookie fest.

Also under consideration are:

- Cream Cheese foldovers - I already got the cream cheese on sale

- Rosettes - lovely delicate fried cookies that Nana used to make - ABJ and I always end up arguing about getting the frying just right, but maybe SJ's presence will encourage us to tone down the intensity of our discussion this year. A favorite of APJ.

- Spritz Cookies

- Orange Pistachio Cranberry refrigerator cookies that we made in 2007 and were a huge hit.

- Pizelles? ABJ and I made these when she was about 8 and found it requires teamwork and lightening coordination to get these out of the griddle in time. They are a project in themselves.

- Swedish snowflakes - Another huge project - lots and lots of delicate cardomom scented cookies that require individual painting in blue and white with glitter snow and silver dragees. They look awesome and professional.

When Uncle Paul was here for pea soup and biscuits yesterday, he wistfully said that he isn't very good at cookie making, even with the recipes I gave him, so I told him we would include him in the project. Could get a bit crowded.