Ahem.
Okay, so, Christmas cookies. This is usually Kate's department, but since she's in grad school right now, she's a lot busy. So I took over cookie duty this year, and in true Bayani fashion, went completely overboard. Let's survey the damage....
Snickerdoodles: Classic. I love the little crunch that the caramelized cinnamon sugar brings to these cookies.
Dipping sticks: This idea came about after watching St. Alton make zabaglione. Well, it's an Italian custard, so I figured sorry Alton, but we're going with Mighty Mario this time. These are shortbread and gingerbread cookies cut into sticks suitable for dipping into marsala wine and custard. Pretty slick.
Toll house: This is pretty standard stuff too. Take the recipe from the back of a bag of chocolate chips. Then replace the chocolate chips. In this case, with some chopped up cinnamon almonds left over from the last Reniassance Faire, or chopped up pistachios. Double extra boo-yah on each of them.
Tricky business: Meringues are always a bit of a stunt. I found that using a star shaped tip rather than the usual nozzle keeps them from looking like poo. These are cotton candy flavored, somewhat ironic given that meringues are mostly sugar to begin with. And whee, pinwheels. Take a half batch of sugar cookies, half a batch of gingerbread, and render them into sheets. Roll them together into a festive log, and then slice and bake. It's pretty good for presentation, plus, if you're not completely keen on gingerbread, the sugar cookie blunts the taste a little.
Spritz: Kate got me the Cookie Gun a few years ago. It's a joy to play with. I pulled it out a couple of years ago at Tita's, and I was like, "Raoul, you wanna try?" And he was like, "Nah, I'm okay." And then I shot a batch. Then he was like, "Um, can I try?" They don't make this particular model any more, but if you can get your hands on one, it is a lot of fun.
I swiped the tin from the cookies the cleaning company left for my company in the office. It's about 16" across and 8" high. And now it's full of cookie love.
Happy holidays guys. Keep on reading, keep on eating.
