A little cultural treat

Hi CJ,

Not much - - -

Really, we like to get out the Christmas stuff and decorate the place. My Patti wears purple and red - I put on whatever fall colors are available.

She's the chef, but I like to help out - and I make some ok things when the kitchen is free. We usually have a rumtopf, but this year not. Getting together with friends is good. That's normally what we do - all the kids are out of the house and all eleven g-kids aren't close enough to visit - so we are subscribed to Netflix and also have copies of Bad Santa and Badder Santa to watch....... (grin)

Another quickie add-on=
Yes, I prefer a good red for my gluehwein. The copied recipe gave a choice - I suppose that's good.

It's Letterman time.............................later.

Red wine, check. I'm going to try some Gluehwein one of these evenings. It does seem like a lot of sugar -- not in a wine glass, right?

CJ -- You said: I think 2/3 of Americans have somewhere down the line German blood

It's true... I've been more interested in my Scottish ancestry since I share it with Mr.P, but I have a Springer & a Frey 3-gens. back; German & G. Swiss.

Beth -- I'm going to see about dowsing a Stollen with alcohol. That sounds good for Christmas morning. Because I'm late, I think I'll add the spirits more often.

CalamityJane- what a story. Knecht Ruprecht never came to my house- just Nikolaus. But I was told that my brother ( 15 older) met him in Kindergarden. He was of course not a "good" boy and so he was Ruprecht would put him into his sack and carry him away. My brother was thrilled and hopped into the sack. Now there was a problem- for Ruprecht aka the kindergardener's husband.
So many recipes for Stollen- I guess every family has its own. Mine dates back to 1865, handwritten by my great -grandmother. Luckily my grandmother wrote it down again, changing the messurement of the red glass and blue glass to real gramms or kilogramms. The glasses were lost during the war.
Now I bake a variety of different cookies- part from my home, part from my husband's home, part of Italy, where we spent many years with our friends- devoted cooks.

eBeth, do you have the carved oak board for Spekulatius? Mine stayed in Germany- and now it is tricky to get the right pattern and the right thickness.
12/8 is a holiday here- my second baking day.

What about some real American Christmas cookies- kind of having the goodies of the world for Christmas?

Hi, Pifka.

Real American Christmas cookies, Ul? We're a mix of many different strains, so lots of ethnic cookies have made it into our cookie lexicon, whether or not there is a drop of ancestry in the cook -- Italian biscotti, Scottish shortbread, plus the Scandinavian and German cookies that have been mentioned.

Here are a few cookies that seem to me to be solidly entrenched in the American Christmas celebrations. Christmas Balls, also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes, or Swedish Snow Balls or Russian Tea Cakes. What could be more American than that? They're small balls of salted butter/flour/powdered sugar/walnuts ground & chopped finely, baked, then rolled & stored in powdered sugar.

We've got Toll House Cookies -- sugar cookies made with brown sugar & baked with chocolate chips in many variations.

Gingerbread Figures -- I made Gingerbread Dogs, but there are Gingerbread men, women, houses & lots of other designs.

Sugar cookies... I don't know where they may have originated, but these are standard for making stained glass window cookies, thumbprints, & rolled figures -- often frosted & decorated.

There are many "bar" cookies -- easier to make -- so those are very American. Our family has a favorite called Toffee Bars, made with a brown sugar cookie base that is baked, then covered with chips of sweet chocolate which melt over the top & become an icing... covered with walnut or pecan pieces.

Chocolate Fudge, Stuffed Figs and Dates and Peanut Brittle are also often seen at American Christmas parties and almost everyone offers rolled ribbon candies -- decorative but does anybody actually eat them? I don't think so.

This is reminding me of a really fun get-together I had at my house several years ago.

I had friends over for an international Christmas baking day. We each made enough to share at the end of the day. We had butter tarts, stollen, Jamaican black cake, a bunch of different sugar cookies and refrigerator cookies. It was a lot of fun - and exhausting. There are photos of all of us sleeping at various times in the afternoon.

danon,
that's sounds like a nice christmas for the Mrs. and you.

Piffka, I usually cook the Gluehwein without sugar and
add it later individually to taste. I for one, don't like
the sweet taste of it. I use a good Pinot Noir as red wine
and the taste of the spices is enough for me.

Ul, are you in Austria? I saw some pictures of the
Christkindl Markt in Vienna with a tree full of hearts. Just
beautiful. My favorite city is Salzburg though.

As for the Spekulatius: I usually buy them in the store,
there I know they've turned out good and tasty, with my
baking it's hit and miss

Piffka, of course the US has many different roots, but it could have been that different cultures coming together created something new.

Thanks for your ideas- Glass window cockies look interesting. I found a recipe and I will try them instead of last years American Ginger bars.

CalamityJane,
yes, I live in Vienna. The Heart Tree is back again.LOL. I like the Christkindl Market in front of Schönbrunn or the smaller ones in the suburbs better than the central one.
http://www.weihnachtsmarkt.co.at/engl/programm.html

For Glühwein here people sweeten the hot wine individually, too. For children there is Kid's Punch- spiced fruit juice.

ul,
Oh, what a great link you have given us. I've been only to the Weihnachtsmarkt at the Rathaus and never to the Schonbrunn. It looks wonderful and I miss the fun to be had there.

Our dear friends live a short walk from the Schonbrunn at Grimmgasse and Sechshauser Strasse. Our other dear friends live in the new addition at Inzersdorf.

Try this site for recipes=
http://www.recipeland.com/recipes/christmas/

I think Piffka is right - almost all American food has it's origins in other countries. There may be a few things strictly American - Oreo cookies????? or, Twinkies????? or, Peanut Butter Bars?????

After you mentioned the oak boards - I remembered that we had collected some 'springerle's and spekulatius molds' over the years and they are all up in the attic space. I must go get them.

Here's an American Cookie
Danon - Ewwww.... Twinkies or Oreos? I've found a distinctively American cookie and quoted it below. Not too traditional, but it ought to be. These are yummy.

Ul -- American Ginger bars? I've never heard of them, but see, they are bar cookies -- probably ginger snaps in bar form. Depending on how you make your stained glass cookies, you might be able to make the cookie portion with sourdough. That would make them more truly American in flavor. I wonder if a sourdough starter is available in Vienna? I've found some links online where you could acquire it. It is possible to make your own sourdough, but the tangy "wild" taste takes a while to mature. Sourdough people pride themselves on the age of their starter.

San Francisco Sourdough Starter

Alaskan Sourdough Starter or if that doesn't work... try Another link to the Crondahls

They say sourdough traces itself back to the Egyptians, but it has a very strong history in the Western United States and is widely credited with saving the lives of many "49ers" and other settlers. If you can find some sourdough grains and get a small pot of sourdough started, here's a recipe I've used before. It's from Rita Davenport's Sourdough Cookery and is called:



Let's face it, sugar cookies are not too exciting which is why we're always frosting them. This recipe takes a rather drab cookie to a whole new level. I see "Rita" has another recipe for sourdough stained glass cookies. I haven't tried it, but I'll post it if you're interested. It has no shortening, more eggs and looks difficult.

Piffka,
Be gentle girl - - - that's all I could think of at a moments notice that sounded "All American". <big grin>



<<The new avatar is my gg-grandparents that I told you all about earlier.>>

Piffka,
sour dough for Christmas, well, that sounds interesting. Our normal bread is always dark sour dough( rye) bread. Wheat sourdough is already a special bread ( baguette) and wheat and yeast is for Sundays.
It is easy to get sour dough here, either you buy a package at a drugstore or you baker will sell a portion. So it will try your recipe.
As dark bread is the normal everyday bread ,for special holidays you would use white flour, sugar and spices. Just to have something special, to mark a special day. Christmas cookies are baked only at Christmas- not during the rest of the year.

Historically you would bake specially formed white breads for certain special holidays ( Christmas, § Kings, Easter, All Soul Day) and hand these out to poor people. Still a costum in alpin regions.

Danon,
I thought of creating new recipes, traditions out of the different cultural heritage. It happened in Europe- Italian, Bohemian, Polish are the roots of the Viennese Kitchen.
Halloween seems to have combined different cultures, or Santa Claus.

Never tried Orioles or Peanut butter- shame on me. What I buy in the States are Pepperridge Farm Pecan Chocolate Chip cookies. One is like a lunch.

Danon -- I wish I could see that photograph in bigger format. I remember your telling us about your pioneering grandparents but I don't remember the details. She was a strong woman, as I recall.

Ul -- See! Nothing is new on this continent, we're all rehashed.

Biscotti a family baking tradition <vanilla and chocolate> and the traditional sugar and spice cookies. Thanks for all the great family Christmas cooking stories, you guys! The Holidays are really something quite special.
Adding my families bit of tradition, a recipe found on the net, a variation for Italian Christmas Cookies.



ITALIAN CHOCOLATE SPICE COOKIES!
NOTE: This is a very large recipe;
You might want to halve it - unless you're having LOTS of company!!

3 1/2 pounds of flour (10-12 cups)
l pound Crisco or other shortening (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 small yeast cakes or 1 large yeast cake (or 2 packets/powdered yeast)
--------(dissolve in 1/2 cup very warm water)
12 tsp. baking powder
1 regular-size box raisins
1 package (regular size) chocolate chips
4 tablespoons Hershey cocoa
1 can Hershey syrup (regular-size)
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. nutmeg
3 tsp clove
3 tsp ginger
Buttermilk - about 2/3 pint - as needed
Nuts - as many as you'd like!



Mix everything together. Take dough by teaspoon and place on cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Bake at 400 about 10 minutes. Watch carefully. Add thin white glaze when cool.

NOTE: Makes 12 to 14 dozen cookies. I usually halve the recipe to make 7-8 dozen cookies.
No way or words to describe the taste--honest!!

Stradee - I love those little snug homes in your post! Oh, and the cookies sound yummy too....

littlk, arn't those adorable! And for each lilttle house, a decorated ~

Chocolate spice.

mmmmmmm

That looks eminently tryable. Would they be ok without glaze? I'm not a big glaze fan.

ehbeth, the recipe spices so well mixed, glazing isn't necessary.

Adding the topping and decorating with bright colored sparkles give more of a festive Christmas appearance, and if by chance munchkins running about the house, nothing will keep them more occupied than creating artwork for each glazed cookie.

Plus, glazing looks nice if you plan putting together a tray of baked goods for neighbors and friends.

Photo of Taos Pueblo on Christmas Eve





This is my kind of recipe: easy and beautiful.

Coconut Angels
1/2 c butter
2 c Confectioners' sugar
3 c Flaked coconut
1 tb Milk
2 oz Semi-sweet chocolate, melted



1. Melt butter in saucepan. Remove from heat. Add sugar, coconut and
milk. Mix well. Shape rounded teaspoon of mixture into balls. Make a
dent in the center. Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

2. Fill center with melted chocolate. Chill until firm. Store in
refrigerator. These freeze wonderfully and look beautiful on a tray.

It looks absolutely gorgeous on a plate, tastes wonderful and is absolutely
the easiest thing to make. There is no baking time involved, and you
can sit down on the job and enjoy doing them."

oooh, easy like a rumball. Rumballs are tedious, but quick and easy - is it possible to be allthose things at once? I got turned on to making these after Quinn gave me some for xmas.

sounds like these little devils