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 baking cookies the day after Thanksgiving. They filled the freezer with shoe boxes of cookies lined with wax paper for protection... frozen cookies are pretty delicious!

Snowball Cookies

Snowball Cookies, a delicious, melt in your mouth, nut cookie to bake and enjoy.


Mexican wedding cookies are a classic nut-based shortbread, prized for the tender texture and rich butter flavor. Finely chopped or ground, toasted pecans give these cookies their characteristic crumb, while a generous coating of powdered sugar adds sweetness without masking the nutty depth.


This cookie appears in many culinary traditions, each with its own name and subtle variations. In the United States and Mexico they’re commonly called Mexican wedding cookies; in Spain and much of Latin America, polvorones; in Austria, Vanillekipferl; ; and in parts of Eastern Europe, snowball cookies or tea cakes. Despite regional differences, the core technique remains the same: a delicate butter dough enriched with nuts and finished simply, letting texture and balance take center stage.




Snowball Cookies

Prep Time: 20 min

Cooking Time: 30 min

How to Prepare Snowball Cookies

Yield: 30 cookies (depends on the size)

Ingredients                                          

1 Cup               Butter, lightly salted; room temperature   

1/2 Cup           Powdered Sugar

pinch              Kosher Salt

2 tsp                Vanilla Extract

1 3/4 Cups      AP Flour, sifted

1 Cup               Toasted Pecans, chopped

Step 1  Making the dough

Place the sugar and butter into the mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, paddle at low speed and cream to a light, fluffy texture. (about 3 minutes)  You will periodically turn off the machine and wipe the paddle, sides and bottom for a smooth consistency.

note-if the butter is too cold, grate or microwave for a few seconds to soften.


Add the salt and vanilla; mix for 2 minutes to incorporate.



Add the sifted flour to the creamed sugar and butter and blend at low speed to create a soft cookie dough-be careful not to overwork. (about 2 minutes at low speed). Scrape several times during this process with the mixer turned off.

Add the pecans and gently fold to incorporate. Place into the refrigerate to cool for 20 minutes.



Step 2  Portioning

Place the bowl of dough onto the counter and carefully spoon/scoop small balls of the dough onto a sheet pan, lined with parchment.

I use a teaspoon as the scoop size but slightly larger works well also- personal preference.








Step 3 Baking

Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 8--10 minutes, when cookies begin to brown on the bottom, take them out to cool.


As soon as the cookies are warm to the touch, place onto a sheet pan with powdered sugar sprinkled on the bottom-sprinkle additional powdered sugar on top.

Enjoy.

Beyond Sweet Basil: An Herb with History, Health, and Global Range

By Tom Griffiths • April 23, 2026
Beyond Sweet Basil: An Herb with History, Health, and Global Range 

Dessert; Italian Wheat Pie

By Tom Griffiths • April 11, 2026
Our Easter and Christmas meals were feasts... my mother's family all met at Aunt Flora's home in Jersey City to enjoy and celebrate the holidays. Dinner began with platters of fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, olives, Italian bread, then a pasta course (manicotti or lasagna for the religious holidays), a roast or sausages with plenty of vegetables and traditional Italian desserts with dark coffee.We ate Italian Easter Wheat Pie one day each year—and it was never store-bought. My Aunts brought Easter cookies and baked goods-the wheat pie was my favorite. I loved the slight 'bite' of the wheat and flavors of cinnamon, vanilla and citrus. My father sometimes let me have a sip of his espresso with the dessert. I'm not sure if my mother used lard for the pie crust-she was a fan of butter and Crisco but the crust was always flaky.

Roast Leg of Lamb

By Tom Griffiths • April 8, 2026
There are certain dishes that stay with you—not just for their flavor, but for what they represent. For me, roasting a leg of lamb over Pommes boulangère is one of those meals. I don't recall having lamb at any occasions growing up so this was a dish that I proudly introduced to our family. As a young cook, it was something I could prepare with limited experience, and it provided deeply satisfying results. The lamb roasts in the oven over a bed of potatoes, onions, and garlic, allowing its natural juices and fat to baste the vegetables below. It's actually a simple preparation but becomes a complete, delicious meal—the potatoes absorbing flavor and becoming just as important as the roast itself. These days I'm developing delicious recipes using spice blends such as Ras el hanout, Baharat, Za'atar, Togarashi and even Harissa. I also love roasting leg of lamb outdoors on a grill or rotisserie. I like the subtle smokiness from applewood or dried herbs when I'm roasting lamb outdoors.

Potatoes Boulangère

By Tom Griffiths • April 8, 2026
There are certain dishes that stay with you—not just for their flavor, but for what they represent. For me, Pommes boulangère is one of those dishes. As a young cook, it was a delicious meal I could prepare for my family with my limited culinary experience. I often return to this preparation when roasting whole chicken, pork, or lamb—letting the potatoes, onions, and garlic absorb the natural juices from the protein as it cooks. The potatoes becomes more than a side dish; it’s the foundation of the meal.

Holiday Au Graten Potatoes

By Tom Griffiths • April 7, 2026
There are countless versions of Potatoes au gratin , many of them heavy with cheese. I prefer a more restrained approach—using little or no cheese—so the flavor of the potatoes remains the focus rather than being masked. Milk produces a lighter, more delicate gratin, while light or heavy cream creates a richer, more structured dish. Both are valid—it simply depends on the desired outcome. One constant, however, is nutmeg. Used sparingly, it acts as a quiet “secret weapon,” adding depth without calling attention to itself. This recipe is inspired by Xavier LeRoux, one of the finest chefs I’ve had the privilege to work with. His method includes an extra step—gently simmering the potatoes in cream before baking—which yields a noticeably superior result. The potatoes begin to release their starch into the cream early, ensuring a more uniform texture and a fully integrated dish from the first bite to the last.

My favorite Brownies

By Tom Griffiths • March 19, 2026
There are plenty of brownie recipes—and then there is the one that lives in memory. This is the only brownie recipe I bake, from Julia Child, whose influence reached far beyond French cuisine and into the home kitchens of passionate bakers like my mother. A devoted admirer, she baked these brownies often—usually for the dessert trolley at my restaurant. We featured a brownie freeze... brownie cubes with homemade vanilla ice cream, warm melted chocolate and freshly whipped cream-amazing! For me, this recipe is more than a classic—it’s a reflection of how great cooking is passed down: through admiration, repetition, and a deep love of craft.

Curing Salmon fillet

By Tom Griffiths • March 19, 2026
I taught garde manager for many years at the CIA and this is one of my favorite recipes from class. I actually developed this recipe with one of my students, inspired by a recipe he had learned on his externship.

Dessert; Irish Soda Breadd

By Tom Griffiths • March 17, 2026
We ate Irish soda bread one day each year—and it was never store-bought. Soda bread wasn’t part of our cultural lineage, but it earned its place through something more universal: respect for tradition. My mother was not an occasional baker— growing up, her baking centered on Italian traditions: special Christmas cookies, the Vigna family birthday cake, and beautifully braided Easter breads that reflected heritage. Later, like many serious home bakers of her generation, she was influenced by Julia Child . That influence expanded her repertoire into classic European pastry—Paris-Brest, pound cakes, even German chocolate cake. The iconic cross cut into the top of the loaf is often said to “let the fairies out,” though in professional kitchens we recognize its functional role: allowing heat to penetrate and the loaf to expand evenly during baking.

Authentic Guacamole, Hospitality, and the Responsibility of Feeding People

By Tom Griffiths • February 26, 2026
Authentic Guacamole, Hospitality, and the Responsibility of Feeding People

Beginners recipe: Vegetable Stock

By Tom Griffiths • January 16, 2026
I recently volunteered to prepare vegetable paella for a church Bible group potluck. I was very excited to develop a delicious, new paella recipe and spent time preparing fresh vegetable stock with flavors of the Mediterranean. I always prepare vegetable and fish stocks fresh, as I intend to use them. I’m not a fan of bases or frozen stocks but I sometimes add a small amount of quality base to my stocks.  A vegetable stock with mirepoix, cabbage, mushrooms makes sense in certain applications, for certain recipes—but why would we use a mushroom or cabbage-forward stock in a paella? It doesn’t make culinary sense. Paella is a Mediterranean dish originating in the Valencia region of Spain as a humble meal cooked on an open fire. I’ve enjoyed wonderful paella meals in Valencia prepared with water-not stock, prepared with rabbit, snails and local beans. While traveling through Spain this spring I researched and sampled many styles of paella… no mushrooms, no carrots, no celery and no cabbage.