[Magdalen] Christmas Baking.

[Jay Weigel]

My mom  used to make empanadas when we had leftover ham. She modified the
recipe with tuna for Fridays when we kids had Catholic friends over.

As for Christmas stuff, Mom's sugar cookies, a wartime recipe that used
minimal sugar because of rationing, were legendary. My daughter has the
recipe and still makes them. One of my grandmothers used to send us date
balls and also what she called "rummies", rum balls that were so strong you
could smell them through the packaging, which was the Hills Brothers coffee
cans sealed with tape. My mother used to joke that they would get the
mailman drunk. My other grandmother made hand-dipped chocolates when I was
very young, but she wasn't able to do that as I got older because she
declined very quickly after the summer she broke her hip.

On Mon, Dec 9, 2019 at 11:41 AM cantor03--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

>
>
> My partner did some empanadas last night, and I must confess they were
> very tasty.  I evenhad one for breakfast this morning. The half moon shape
> of these reminds me of the Christmasbaking in the Upper Midwest USA.  This
> because my mother made a Christmas cookie filledwith dates and folded over
> for baking, and look much the same as an empanada.of Caribbean
> origin.
>
> All the women and a few men do a lot of Christmas cookies and other
> baking.  I can't rememberall the names for my mother's cookie production,
> but it was  a real part of the Christmas experienceto see all this baking
> going on.
>
> In addition to the half moon date cookies, mother did various sugar
> cookies, the sandbakkalsin the shape of a sunburst with that characteristic
> cardamom flavor and aroma, and my favorite,the Krumkake, the delicately
> thin rolled treat, plus several other date cookies.  Also her
> specialKransekage that towered a couple of feet and was always bedecked
> with dozens of smallNorwegian flags.  There was also Julekage, a sort of
> hearty break studded inside and outwith citron, candied cherries, and other
> candied fruit.  Other European cultures had thissame sort of bread,  I know
> the Germans did.
>
> The good ladies of my home town all used to make rosette cookies, but
> everyone eventuallyrealized that Mrs. Chris Thompsen's rosettes were
> superior, and so they all just bought themfrom her.  I notice, reading the
> home town obituaries, she just died at 104.''My mother made rommegrot
> (Norwegian Cream Pudding) at Christmastime, but I located afarm lady in Eau
> Claire who made this treat well, and she hand delivered it to the clinic
> whereI worked.  The employees, heavily of Norwegian ancestry always got a
> charge out of thisfarm woman marching into the clinic, holding aloft her
> rommegrot as though she were transportingthe English Royal Crown.
>
> I wish I could have a sampling of my mother's cookies!
>
>
> David Strang.
>