12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Holly Berry Cookies

A family tradition.

Every Christmas, I'd wait for my Aunt Kathy to bring the Holly Berry cookies.

The entire family would be there: grandparents, their six kids & spouses, & the 19 grandchildren. It got loud & too hot, but we had fun. Lots of laughter before, during & after the seemingly-endless 'youngest-to-oldest' or vice versa gift giving.

And there was food. Christmas eve was about pick-up-able foods. Grammy might have ham cooked & sliced, ready for sandwiches. Cheese, crackers (always Ritz & Wheat Thins), & of course summer sausage from Am. Grammy's fudge & penuche. But few cookies.

Grammy didn't really bake. It's not that she couldn't, but I think being the oldest girl of ten kids herself & mother to six, the years of putting three meals a day on the table left her with little desire for baking. (I pretend the zucchini bread didn't happen.)

She might make her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My own mother, at least in the later years, would bring sugar & other types.

In my late teens/early twenties, I started making cookies for the family get-together.

But it was Kathy's Holly Berry cookies that I always craved.

Crunchy, sweet but not too sweet, with that jolt of spice from the 'berries'.

I got the recipe from my Aunt some years ago, even though, as a vegetarian, I could no longer eat them myself. I continued making them for the family, & for my new family. (My brother-in-law is a huge fan.)

A couple of years ago, I discovered Sweet & Sara Vegan Marshmallows.

Absolutely perfect, with a fantastic taste. And they work like their gelatin-based counterparts.

Guess what I did that year?

That's right. Made Holly Berry Cookies with vegan marshmallows. And ate quite a few myself.

...any bets on how long these last?

There are even more amazing cookies to crave at Abby Sweets!

Righting a Wrong

Not too long ago, Hostess unveiled Green Lantern Glo Balls...a clear tie-in with the upcoming Green Lantern movie.

Ok; fine. Hal Jordan on the package makes sense in that context.



But when the images of Batman & Superman appeared on boxes of the cupcakes & spongecakes...there was a bit of an uproar.




Once again, the comic book industry ignored their female fans. From a marketing standpoint alone, it's unwise to assume the people buying your products are only a certain gender.



Granted, it'd be a cold day in Hell when I'd buy mass-produced snack cakes, but that's hardly the point. I'm picky about my food in a 'is it good for me? is it made with the best ingredients? is it fresh?' kind of way. But I was a teenager ...well, longer ago than I care to admit.
And I loved these sorts of things. Especially when the cafeteria offerings were less-than appealing.

To remind DC Comics (& comics companies everywhere) that girls & women like heroes too, I made my own 'Glo Balls', along with cream-filled chocolate cupcakes & yellow, canoe-shaped spongecakes.

And I photographed them with the female counterparts of the current advertising campaign.

Supergirl, Green Lantern Katma Tui & Batgirl.

Take note, marketing & sales!

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Pistachio Fingers

Another holiday cookie staple. (And another I'm going to have to copy soon: I've been making these for so many years, the recipes are becoming illegible!)

Buttery base, flavored with almond paste.

Dipped in melted chocolate & rolled in finely chopped pistachios.

See what everyone else made over at Abby Sweets.

Tomato Bisque

A most amazing soup, & a nice way to welcome the cooler (or so I've been told) weather.

To save myself a step & also keep from making two batches, one vegetarian & one omnivore, I skipped the 'cooking bacon' stage.

Instead, I added olive oil for extra fat & sprinkled in a bit of smoked salt. I also added a bit more at the end.

In addition, a generous handful of grated cheese (combination Parmesan & smoked Gouda) was stirred in before serving.

The result was a rich, smoky & wonderful soup.

Requested by the second grader for his school lunch. Twice.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Lemon Wafers

Every year, as I plan my holiday cookies, I consider dropping this one.

It seems so boring. So plain.

But it's also a break from all the chocolate & heaviness.

A fairly standard butter cookie, with a mild lemon taste from both juice & zest.

And Matt says they're great with tea!

Be sure to check in with April & see all the other cookies.

Cambodian Chicken & Rice Soup

Southeast Asian flavors are much-loved in our house. This soup seemed like a good fit.

Incredibly simple, especially with the shortcut of rotisserie chicken & already-cooked rice.

(we omitted the cilantro, being in the 'it tastes like dish soap' camp)

A good, deep chicken flavor with a very faint sweetness & warmth, with a strong basil note.

In my Heart: Livestrong with a Taste of Yellow 2010

I could write something poetic here. That's never been my style.

So I'll stick to the facts.

Cancer stalks the women in my family. On both sides. My Grammy is one of five girls; all five battled at least one form of cancer. More than one found themselves diagnosed with two or more.
Three of my great-aunts died from the disease.
One survived after multiple bouts & countless rounds of treatment.

My Grammy has seen her cancer return again. This time, her heart is too weak for further chemo.

The current plan is to make her as comfortable, & keep her as healthy, as possible.

Now I wait for the telephone call telling me the most important woman in my life, the one who helped raise me & made me the person I am today, has finally succumbed.

She's an amazing woman, my Grammy. And I hope the ol' luck of the Irish that runs through her veins helps her beat the odds. That the love her family has for her gives her the strength to stay with us a bit longer.

There isn't much else I can do.

Except this: White Lemon & Milk Hazelnut Chocolate Lollipops for the lovely Barbara's Livestrong with a Taste of Yellow.

12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate-Almond Biscotti

When I saw April announce the return of this event, I decided this was the perfect way for me to avoid a week of marathon baking, stress & sleepless nights.

Because every year, I plan to start baking my cookies a couple of weeks early. Then, one of us gets sick or we're all worn out from the Two Days After Thanksgiving Dinner...& so it goes. Five days before Christmas, I'm up to my collarbone in flour, chopped walnuts & chocolate.

But if I've committed myself to something like this, well, those cookies might actually get made in advance.



Week 1: Chocolate Almond Biscotti. A recipe I found in college, on the pages of a 1967 Ladies Home Journal magazine. (no, I'm not that old; I'd been thrift store shopping!)