The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
You can never have too many cookies at Christmas
The holiday table is a special one. It’s a time when everyone’s favourite makes an appearance and, if we are lucky, we get to enjoy a truly festive dessert.
My mom always loved making everyone feel special, and when it came to making holiday sweets, she was a master. In Hungarian culture, the cookies are just as important as the main dessert. We have a treasured Hungarian porcelain three-tiered cookie tower. When we were little, her Christmas sweets were comprised of her Hungarian cookies and Lebanese-armenian sweets from Dad’s side of the family.
As we grew up, Mom began bringing in cookies from her friends. Some of the favourites were Italian lemon cookies, Dutch almond cake, and Jewish rugelach. This collection of confections became an edible cultural patchwork quilt of the community I lived in.
Since my mom passed four years ago, I reflect a lot on the special things she would do for us, and I think her cookie tower taught me more than my love for fancies, but about how much she grew as a person and her immense capacity for love and inclusion.
Mom came to Canada as a little girl. She learned a new language and a new lifestyle, which was quite different from the little Hungarian village she grew up in.
I think she shared her new connections with her Canadian life through many of the dishes she made. I remember the first time we ever ate fresh basil in our house. I was a child and it was a family gathering for Thanksgiving, I think. She made a warm potato Caesar salad to go with the turkey. As everyone took their first bites of the salad, I remember our eyes widening with wonder. It was amazing. It became a family gathering staple for the next few years.
Cookies and sweets are a postcard from our hearts, and I hope you enjoy these with those close to yours.
HOLIDAY MUST-HAVE
Heath Macdonald, who resides in Cornwall, P.E.I., says pineapple squares are his holiday must-have dessert. “My mom made the first pineapple square I ever had. She usually made it during the holiday season and I always look forward to it. It is a desert that can have additional toppings added,” he says, adding he’s used chocolate and strawberry sauce, sprinkles of coconut and crushed candy canes to make the treat even more festive.
PINEAPPLE SQUARES
Preheat oven to 350
Mix together 2 cups graham wafer crumbs and 1/2 cup melted butter and spread in 8x8-inch pan, reserving a couple of tablespoons to spread on top. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup butter, 2 eggs (well beaten), and 2 cups icing sugar. Spread over cooled graham wafer mixture.
Whip 1/2 pint whipping cream and mix in one cup well drained crushed pineapple (pat dry). Spread on top of mixture and sprinkle with reserved graham crumbs. Chill for 5-6 hours. Add any additional desired toppings.
FAMILY TRADITION
Growing up in Charlottetown, one of Dianne Bishop’s favourite treats was her great-aunt Stella’s homemade gingersnaps. The first time she sampled the finished product fresh from the oven, she cried happy tears and toasted auntie Stella.
KATHLEEN’S ICEBOX GINGERSNAPS by Dianne Bishop
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 1 tsp. ginger
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. salt
Blend shortening, brown sugar, and molasses until smooth and creamy. Sift together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt and add slowly to shortening, sugar, and molasses.
Roll into a log (for round cookies) or press into a loaf pan (for rectangular cookies), cover in plastic wrap, and chill overnight or freeze.
With a very sharp knife, slice dough thinly for a crisp cookie, slightly thicker for a softer version. Bake in 375°F oven for 8-10 minutes or until done. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.
MOM’S BEST
Mike Eyolfson currently lives in Charlottetown. When he was growing up in Manitoba, his family had butter twice a year, at Christmas and Easter.
“At Christmas, my mom would make shortbread with some of the butter ... It was the best! Now, when I make this recipe, I think of my mother and all the work she did to make Christmas a special time for our family.”
Here is the simple recipe used by his mother, taken from
CHRISTMAS SHORTBREAD
• 3/4 cup butter (I like to use Dairy Isle)
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup flour
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and gradually add sifted icing sugar. Sift flour and cornstarch together, then add gradually to butter mixture forming dough.
Tip: Be careful not to work the dough too much.
On a floured surface, roll out dough and cut out shapes with cookie cutter or roll dough into one-inch balls. Place cut out shapes or dough balls on a cookie sheet, slightly flatten the balls with a fork and bake cookies for 20 minutes at 300 degrees, being careful not to brown them.
Cool on rack.
For an even better treat, try dipping the shortbread in melted chocolate, just enough to cover about half the cookie.
TRADITIONAL TREAT
Kinley Dowling is a singer-songwriter from Charlottetown.
“My favourite holiday recipe is Seven-layer Squares,” she says. “I love them so much. I remember eating them as a child going to visit my grandmother in Cape Breton. She used to make them, and my mom makes them every Christmas.”
SEVEN-LAYER SQUARES
Grease and lightly flour a 9x13-inch pan.
Base:
• 2 cups flour
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup butter
Combine the ingredients together to make a short crust
and press into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Next, layer the following:
• Light layer of coconut
• 1 bag butterscotch chips
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 cup nuts, chopped
• 1 cup glace cherries, chopped
• Light layer of coconut
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
TREATS FOR FRIENDS
When Natalie Jameson was growing up in Charlottetown, her parents always had an open-door policy. “When friends would arrive, I remember them rushing downstairs to discover what treats they could delight in during their visit. Our house was always known to be stocked with delicious homemade sweets that my mom and I would bake, especially during the Christmas season,” she says. “She spent countless hours at the kitchen counter with me by her side, just as my boys do with me now.”
HELLO DOLLIE SQUARES
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar. Press into the bottom of a 9x9-inch baking pan.
Combine chocolate chips, coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Spread over the graham cracker crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Let cool and cut into squares.