Even without the advantage of the Internet or the Food channel, Mum found recipes everywhere—through family and friends; cookbooks; flour or sugar sacks; labels on the packaging of nuts, bakers chocolate, etc.; print newspapers and magazines. For as long as I can remember, Mum had subscriptions to one magazine or another. I would wait for McCalls magazine with as much anticipation as Mum did. Mum poured over the entire magazine while I waited impatiently for her to extract all the cooking, needlework, household, and life wisdom for that particular issue and then hand it off to me. I would then cut out Betsy McCall, a beautiful one-dimensional paper doll, complete with her new monthly wardrobe. I can still remember being so excited that I wiggled and sang and talked to myself while carefully guiding the scissors so I wouldn’t accidentally cut off one of the precious tabs that kept Betsy’s clothing attached to her body. I’m pretty sure that was where my love of “women’s” magazines began.
Whatever sources she used, shortly after the Thanksgiving dust settled, Mum began drafting the list of cookies she would make that year. Once the list was made, she’d gather in the supplies. I have to admit that I really didn’t pay much attention to what was bought but only that the flour and sugar came in huge sacks. I remember discussions about the twenty-five pounds of flour (venticinque). Important discussions that involved numbers or money or our transgressions were always conducted in Italian, which was Greek to me. Buying extra food was not taken lightly in our household, especially on the heels of a food-centric holiday such as Thanksgiving. And some of the ingredients could be expensive as well as exotic…like dates…to me something very exotic but oh so delicious.
While these date cookies are a little labor-intensive, they are well worth the effort:
Date Cream Cheese Roll-Ups
1 cup butter
1/2 pound cream cheese (8 ounces)
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pitted dates
Cream butter and cream cheese together. Blend in flour and salt. Chill for several hours until firm enough to roll. Roll into 1/8-inch thickness on a board sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. Cut in 1 x 3-inch strips. Put a date in each strip and roll up. Put seam-side-down on cookie sheet. Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. Makes 8 dozen
As a sheltered kid growing up in the fifties and early sixties, nothing could be more exotic than alcohol as an ingredient in a cookie. During cookie-baking season, I can remember the very distinctive bottle of Sicilian Gold being lifted from a nondescript brown paper bag as the choirs sang—“Gloriaaaaaaaaaaa….” (not to be confused with the a very popular Van Morrison hit of the sixties: G-L-O-R-I-A or perhaps, maybe) The Wine Wreath cookies are delicious! I loved the kick from the heat of the cinnamon candies used for decoration. Mum included a note on this recipe that it was Rhonda’s favorite, but I’m afraid I’d have to arm-wrestle Rhonda for any last one of these on the tray. I think I could take her!
Wine Wreaths
Cream until light:
1 cup oleo (butter is better)
2/3 cup sugar
Add and beat well:
2 egg yolks
Sift and add:
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
Alternating with:
1/4 cup Sicilian Gold (or Galiano) [maybe a heaping fourth cup]
Force through star-shaped pastry tube to form into small rings; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of a sugar/cinnamon mixture or brush with egg white after baking then sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Decorate with red cinnamon candies like a wreath. Bake in 375 degree oven for 6 to 10 minutes on ungreased sheets.
If you bake only the cookies from yesterday’s and today’s blog, you would have an impressive and pretty plate of cookies to share with anyone stopping by for some Christmas cheer. Linda
I remember those date cookies! I loved them, too. Yes, Mum had a plethora of ways to find recipes. I do remember the McCall’s magazine, Linda. I liked Betsy McCall, too. We had a shoe box to keep all the cut-outs in. That was a fun time. Mum got most of her ingredients at the Kroger store in Kittanning. She did make the best cookies. It will always be a fond memory. Keep them coming! kathy
Great stuff, Joanne. I am really enjoying reading these. Christmas cookie time really was a special time of year around our house what with all the fuss of making them and deciding where to store so many cookies. Mum always knew which cookies were our favorites and her cookie and cake cookbook was marked up with her notes to that effect. Despite all the chaos of making so many cookies, she was able to keep everything organized and running smoothly — at least in my memory.