Cookies Recipes

Years ago I traveled to Santa Fe and Alburque with my son Ciro. We enjoyed fantastic Southwest cuisine at plenty of local shops and cafes. One of the highlights was purchasing fresh pine nuts in the shell-it was a little challenging to get the nuts out of the shells but the flavor was fantastic.

Butter, spices, and traditional family recipes bring us together in the simplest—and most meaningful—ways. Christmas cookies are more than nostalgic treats; they’re a celebration of childhood memories, and maybe cookies help to make us all a little more patient, thoughtful & friendly each holiday season. I remember driving with my father to the city each Christmas to pick up Aunt Flora. She would send us out with decorative plates of homemade, Italian Christmas cookies to deliver to the local relatives. It was always snowing-we would spend a few minutes visiting each family, have a few cookies and a glass of sweet wine or coffee. My mother and aunts began bakin cookies the day after Thanksgiving. They filled the freezer with shoeboxes of cookies lined with wax paper for protection... frozen cookies are pretty delicious!

Biscotti translates to 'twice baked' and apparently was a popular snack for Roman soldiers since the biscotti lasted for days without getting stale. I read Christopher Columbus had biscotti stored away on his voyage to America... In Tuscany, biscotti and vin santo is considered by many to be a perfect pairing. I enjoyed this combination at a cafe in Florence years ago... I love dipping crunchy biscotti into a cup of strong black coffee. 

Burnt Ends... my absolute favorite biscotti memory is crunching on hard, biscotti ends, perfect for dipping into black coffee. There was a fantastic biscotti bakery in upstate NY. The wonderful owners prepared a variety of biscotti, shipping to all parts of the country... and I loved the ends! My children worked there a few days weekly so it was always fun to pick them up at the end of the shift & pick up some biscotti.

Struffoli are fried dough covered in sweet, luscious honey. We always had a large crock of struffoli stored in a cool, dark (probably a closet) spot & I hope, covered with plastic or something. (I'm not too sure about that though). My mother would spoon struffoli onto a plate when company came, top with colorful sprinkles for decoration & serve with tea. My mother always had a LOT of visitors, they played yatze or scrabble or just chatted.

I remember my mother would begin to bake Christmas cookies the day after Thanksgiving. She would fill shoeboxes with tissue paper, then fill the shoeboxes with her assortment of Italian cookies (to fiercely compete with her sisters!). I loved to sneak frozen butterhorns for a snack and she always made plenty!