I have a correction to make. I didn’t bake 400 cookies last year, I made 858. Seriously. This year is probably something like 1,200. It’s the only time of year I have to buy new flour and sugar, that stuff usually sits in my cupboard forever. I think I went through 2 or 3 pounds of sugar and about 4 of flour. Seriously this whole month is like an episode of Iron Chef. I usually make a ton of shortbreads, butter cookies and biscotti. I get bored so I wanted to try some new things and found new recipes for pumpkin fudge, persimmon cookies and mincemeat shortbread bars. I hate mincemeat but my Dad loves it so I thought I would take a stab at it this year. Mincemeat is nearly impossible to find in Chicago. I know as a kid my mom would buy it in cans. I grew up in Northwest Indiana. I went everywhere, butcher shops, gourmet food stores and even Whole Foods didn’t carry it. You know where I found it—Jewel. I now crown Jewel as the mecca for baking products. I went to the one on Southport. The Jewel near six corners is probably even better. It’s huge like a suburban grocery store. You can easily glide your big ass cart through with room on both sides as you wave nicely to the polish ladies who are probably getting ingredients together to make kolacis or something amazing. They had a little stand with fruit cake ingredients and there was the ole mincemeat. I found it condensed in a little box not unlike something an astronaut would eat.While I’m baking up a storm I like to keep the TV baking as well. I caught a few episodes of the Travel Channel’s Man V. Food. At first I was horrified by the concept of this show. I don’t think we need to encourage super-sizing and obesity. But hey it’s just a show and the host, Adam Richman, is very charming. I now have a new crush. Actually I think I might be living vicariously through him. As a person with food allergies and digestion problems I can’t imagine sitting down and eating a pizza the size of a sewer cover. In a way “eeew” but then again what fun. I wish Adam nothing but the gastric best. May he have the intestinal fortitude to see his mission through.
I finally found a coffee alternative that isn’t horrible. It’s called Dandy Blend, it’s made from the three roasted herb roots: dandelion, chicory and sugar beet- and two roasted grains – barley and rye. It claims to be gluten free and so far I haven’t had any issues. I make it really strong with some unsweetened almond milk. It has a nice earthy but not too earthy taste. I find myself actually craving it, which is really something to say because usually Starbuck’s has me on my knees for all their wonderful yuletide beverages.
Even though the news is bad lately I have to say I find this time of year to be really magical. A few of my favorite wintery things: a bouquet of winterberries, the creativity that is expressed in every snowflake, Ella Fitzgerald’s Swinging Christmas, the scent of pine trees, pink x-mas trees, Hugh Grant’s dance scene in Love Actually, a Frangelico on ice at the Green Mill or better yet anywhere that has a fireplace and how my apartment smells after baking all of those cookies. Speaking of magic I happened to catch the Snow Queen at Victory Gardens Theatre. I was really struck by the beautiful poster which reminds me a bit of Japanese anamae but the show is nothing about that. I highly recommend seeing it, the songs really stick with you and the imagery is so enchanting. I thought I might be bored as if it were more of a kids thing but it’s not, it’s really all ages. It’s a great lesson about pure love and innocence and basically how being too “cool” can really lead to an unhappy life. Imagine puppetry combined with storytelling and music from cool Old Town Folk musicians. I look forward to seeing it again next year.
