That’s what I did all week last week, bake lots and lots of cookies. We’re giving them away to family and friends, so I had to make plenty.
O helped me out when he was home, chopping chocolate, crushing nuts and chopping figs. He’s such a trooper. Of course, he got to eat all the cookies that turned out a little less than perfect. He didn’t mind though.
Every year back in the states, I would make Italian cookies – cantucci, sesame seed cookies, ricotta cookies, pizzelles, and frosted fig cookies. But this year, since I’m here, I’m surrounded by Italian cookies, so instead I made some good old American cookies – chocolate chips, peanut butter cookies (with my precious Skippy peanut butter that my parents brought me), snow-drop sandies, gingerbread (with molasses brought from home), chocolate drops, and my one Italian cookie – frosted fig cookies.
Besides, most everyone here has never had these cookies, so much better than giving the yearly panettone which probably gets passed about from house to house much like the proverbial fruitcake in the US. Either that or you get so much panettone that you end up throwing it out. So far the cookies have met with great success. (In fact, I was worried there wouldn’t be any left to make the packages).
Here they are
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Don’t throw away that yummy panettone! Even when it’s months old, it’s great made into French toast, or simply flipped in a pan with a bit of butter – warming it up brings out the flavor marvellously!
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Your cookies look delightful! So many different kinds, too. I can imagine how much time it takes. I love spending an evening by a warm oven making pretty things to give away… too bad I don’t have an oven in my little flat right now.
Well, though I must admit that I like Deirdré’s panettone-french-toast idea, too!
Happy Holidays! Hopefully, you’ll have a festive white Christmas
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Your cookies look lovely! I have a plan to make with my kids since I found christmas cutouts in the Ipercoop….it’s amazing how the simplest things can get you so excited sometimes, I was like a child in the supermarket.
Our snow (and we had a lot of it!) is all but gone now so I think no white christmas for us…hopefully things
are better near you.
P.S. I have found Skippy here as well, my husband is a big PB&J guy and must have ‘the real thing’ but never molasses, alas.
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Yumm! They look so wonderful! I wish I had a friend like you. I made some American version of Pizzelles yesterday. You know, the round ones that you make with the pizzelle maker. My honey does have the iron from his parents, but I have not used it yet. Do you have a good recipe for the pizzelles?
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I’m *nearly* done with my cookies as well. The only remotely Italian ones are the ricotta cookies but although we call them Italian I’ve never seen them here, so I figured they’d probably still be considered American.
And that was the point
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Deirdre, Thanks for the idea about the panettone. I just can only eat so much of it and then I don’t want anymore. Plus it’s very fattening. But, I’ll have to try some of your ideas.
Farfallina, it’s just not Christmas for me if I don’t bake cookies. I didn’t make any last year because we went away and I missed doing it. And Happy Holidays to you too!
Nadia, I know what you mean about the simplest things being exciting. I saw some cookie cutters last year but didn’t buy them because they cost a fortune. Mom was nice enough to send me some this year. I’ve never seen molasses here and when I try to explain it to people they don’t understand what I’m talking about. So, I brought some back with me last time I went back to the states.
Lori, I do have a pretty good recipe for pizzelles. I don’t make them anymore because O’s mom has the old kind of iron that you hold over the stove and her pizzelles are better than mine, hand’s down. If you’d like my recipe write me at my hotmail address at marybary29.
Sognatrice, I’ve never seen the ricotta ones here either, but they sure are yummy, aren’t they? You’ve got it right though, the point is to make American cookies. I found that everyone loves to try new things and these are cookies they’ve never had.
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I’m looking for an almond paste cookie that comes from the Abruzzo region. They have a meringue type topping. ANyone have a recipe?
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We did the same thing over here in Sicily! I invited my nieces over to help me bake for the holidays. My husband and I then hosted an “open house” where friends could come and go, and when they left, they took home a nice cake box filled with their favorite sweats!! It was great to see their eyes light up with so many new and different (American) desserts…
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Sorry Theresa, I’m not familiar with an almond paste cookie. I’ll have to see what I can dig up.
Jilli, it was a lot of fun explaining what all the different cookies were. The gingerbread was the one that they found the most intriguing since the flavor is so different from a lot of the cookies here. Thank goodness I brought molasses with me.
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