A nut crescent recipe that has been a family favorite during the Yuletide for more than a century took first place in the Food Guide`s 1990 Holiday Cookie Contest.
Grand prize winner Mila Tomisek, of Chicago, first began baking these small, buttery, crescent-shaped cookies with her grandmother during World War I; today, at 82, she still bakes them for her children and grandchildren. (See the article on page 4 for the full story behind Tomisek`s nut crescents.)
Second place went to Nancy Rullo, of Bloomingdale, for her recipe for Mom`s sugar cookies in the shape of Santa Claus faces, iced with a cream cheese frosting and decorated in traditional holiday colors. The recipe, Rullo wrote, was one that her mother had found in her mother`s first cookbook. As children, Rullo and her brother would help cut out the Santa Claus shapes and watch them bake.
”But even after frosting and decorating the cookies, we weren`t allowed to devour them,” Rullo wrote in the letter accompanying her recipe.
”Mother always insisted that the cookies were softer and more mouth-watering after sitting for two days. Those two days seemed an eternity, but the reward was well worth it. Mother was right.”
Shortbread sheep wins 3rd
Third prize went to Betty J. Koenig, of Hammond, Ind., for her recipe for shortbread cookies in the shape of sheep.
”For Christmas, one can almost envision shepherds keeping watch over these buttery-crisp images.”
Koenig, a preschool teacher, noted that these cookies are great to make with small children:
”The round-tipped fingers of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds can make dimples in the dough after patting and slapping it into shape and cutting it out with a large sheep cookie cutter.”
Tomisek`s prize is a $75 gift certificate for cookware from Williams-Sonoma stores and a copy of ”The Chicago Tribune Cookbook”; runners-up Rullo and Koenig each will receive a copy of the cookbook.
The contest, in which readers were asked to submit their favorite Yuletide cookie recipe along with a letter telling the story or special memory behind the recipe, drew 218 entries.
Contest judging
Other finalists, selected by the Food Guide staff, were Cynthia Jania, of Batavia; Susan B. Roberts, Chicago; Jill Feldman, Chicago; Jim Hoshaw, Des Plaines; Jill Pfitzer Jepsen, Mundelein; Louise Cernekee, Yorkville; Beth Schreiber-Murray, Chicago; Merri Christine Perno-Merrill, Elk Grove Village;
Kathi Frelk, of Kildeer; Vicki Hult, Chicago, Patricia J. Steiner, Westmont, and Mrs. William F. Fox, Aurora.
The 15 finalists were asked to bring two dozen cookies to the Tribune for judging by Tribune staffers and two pastry professionals: Norm Dinkel, owner of Dinkel`s Bakery, a family-run bakery established in 1922, and Judy Contino, formerly pastry chef at Ambria and now a corporate pastry chef for Lettuce Entertain You.
Nary a cookie went to waste; after the judging, extra cookies were shipped off to U.S. troops in the Middle East.
Clearly, holiday cookies are a rich source of memories for many cooks, as shown by a glance at just a few of the nostalgia-filled letters.
”Baking Christmas Wreaths was a traditional part of the holiday season at the Hult family house,” wrote finalist Vicki Hult, who submitted a recipe for wreath-shaped cookies filled with raspberry jam.
”My mom would form the balls of dough; I would coat them with egg white and roll them in ground nuts; and my sister would put them on the cookie sheets with the required thumbprints. . . . Both my sister and I are getting married next year, and this may be the last Christmas the three Hult ladies will join forces to do the holiday baking.
”The good times that I remember while making these Christmas Wreaths with my mom and sister symbolize the best that family traditions have to offer. I hope one day to share similar experiences with my own daughter.”
Cynthia Jania recalled watching her dad bake walnut strudel cookies at Christmas, using the recipe she follows today:
”As clearly as if it happened yesterday, I can see him standing at the kitchen counter, his rough and callused hands covered with flour, his gold wedding band shining through the white powder. . . . My father the mechanic. It was not a day for safety goggles, wrenches and oil pans, but for aprons, rolling pins and cookie sheets.”
Memories of Copenhagen
For Jill Pfitzer Jepsen, baking spicy Danish pebernodder (pepper nuts) at Christmas brings back memories of a holiday spent in Copenhagen 14 years ago. ”Red-and-white paper flags encircling the Christmas tree, straw goats and tiny wooden elves peeking from the bookshelf and an Advent wreath adorned with apples let guests know we celebrate a Danish Christmas at the Jepsen household,” she wrote. ”However, it is the bowl of small, spicy pebernodder cookies that really drives home the point. To me, pebernodder are the essence of a Danish Christmas.”
”Forty-six years ago, when our oldest son was born, our doctor said that I couldn`t leave the hospital until I could walk up and down the hall,” wrote Mrs. William F. Fox in the letter that accompanied her recipe for molasses cookies.
”My older sister came to visit me and brought me some of her homemade molasses cookies and said perhaps the iron in the molasses would give me strength. I did get to go home in a few days. . . . In later years, after four more children, when I was feeling quite done in, we used to joke and say I needed some more of Margaret`s molasses cookies.
”At first I baked these cookies just at Christmas, in the shape of gingerbread men, but our children and later our grandchildren became so fond of them that I now bake them frequently. For the last two months I have been sending a box each week to our oldest grandson in Saudi Arabia. He says they arrive fresh and in perfect condition.”
Snowy Midwest holiday
And for a former Florida resident, Susan B. Roberts, an iced shortbread Christmas cookie called Melting Moments always will bring back memories of the first Christmas she and her husband spent in the snowy Midwest.
”For our first white Christmas together, we decided to go cross-country skiing and discovered a cozy motel resort called the Pine Aire Resort in Watersmeet, Mich.,” Roberts wrote.
”Every morning, the owner and his wife would fix us the most glorious hot breakfasts in the dining room of the main house. There was a Christmas tree and a roaring fire, but the best part of the room was a long table against one wall completely covered with the largest assortment of homemade Christmas cookies and candy I had ever seen.
”They were all delicious and beautiful, but my favorite was a fat shortbread cookie topped with green or red icing. The owners were glad to give me the recipe, and whenever I make the cookies, they bring back such wonderful memories of our trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I just know Santa would love these cookies.”
Here are the three winning recipes:
NUT CRESCENTS
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes
Yield: 5 to 6 dozen
This winning recipe is from Mila Tomisek of Chicago. She prefers to use unsalted butter, but says margarine can be substituted. The cookies are very fragile.
2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
6 tablespoons confectioners` sugar
2 large egg yolks
4 cups flour, sifted before measuring
1 cup ground or finely crushed almonds, pecans or walnuts
Topping:
2 large egg whites
1 cup ground or finely crushed almonds, pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Confectioners` sugar for sprinkling
1. Cream butter and confectioners` sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Beat in flour and 1 cup ground nuts until mixed. (Dough can be refrigerated up to several days; soften slightly before shaping cookies.)
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
3. For topping, beat egg whites lightly with fork in shallow dish until frothy. Mix 1 cup nuts and granulated sugar in separate shallow dish.
4. Roll a generous teaspoon of the dough in the palm of your hands into a crescent shape. Dip top of crescent in egg white and then into nut-sugar mixture. Place crescents on baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake until bottoms are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on pan a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle lightly with confectioners` sugar before serving.
MOM`S SUGAR COOKIES
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Chilling time: 2 to 3 hours
Cooking time: 7 to 8 minutes
Yield: About 4 dozen
Nancy Rullo of Bloomingdale creates beautiful Santa cutout cookies with this basic dough and a cream-cheese frosting.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners` sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon each: baking soda, cream of tartar
Frosting:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners` sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Milk
Food coloring as desired
1. Cream butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extract in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar until mixed. Divide dough in half. Cover and refrigerate dough 2 to 3 hours.
(Dough can be refrigerated up to several days; soften slightly before rolling out.)
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have lightly greased baking sheets ready.
3. Roll out half of dough on lightly floured surface to almost 1/4-inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until light brown on edges, 7 to 8 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
4. For frosting, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in small bowl until smooth. Beat in milk until spreading consistency. Add food coloring as desired.
5. Use frosting to decorate cookies. Let stand until frosting sets.
SHORTBREAD SHEEP
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 to 25 minutes
Yield: 16 large cookies
Betty J. Koenig of Hammond, Ind., uses a sheep cookie cutter to make these cookies. She suggests using your fingertips to dimple the dough to resemble their wooly coats. If desired, a small piece of chocolate can be used for eyes after baking.
2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in flour and salt. Knead the dough briefly until smooth. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. (Dough can be refrigerated up to several days;
soften slightly before shaping cookies.)
2. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.
3. Pat half of the dough out on lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until light brown on edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Note: The sheep cookie cutter used by Koenig is a Hallmark cutter that is no longer available. A sheep pattern can be made out of cardboard and placed over dough; cut out the shape with a small knife.
