What a sober person does during Christmas season
I made over 300 cookies for my friends.
Last week, I spent three days straight in my kitchen making six different kinds of cookies and candies that would ultimately make 14 gift boxes to give for the holidays. I am always inspired by Katie, so I used her guide from last year as a jumping off point.
I’ve been making cookies at Christmas for about 15 years now, but never this many and never in this short time period. I was worried about them going stale and wanted to make everything quickly to ensure the most pleasant experience for my nearest and dearest.
First, I wrote an extensive list of cookies I had seen online that I thought could pair well. I narrowed it down to 6, maybe 7, maybe 8…? I thought 6 seemed like too small a number for something so extravagant like a cookie box, but I’m only just one girl that has a small kitchen in Hollywood, one singular standard Kitchen Aid mixer, and one oven.
I knew I wanted to make the classics, (sugar, gingerbread, etc.) but also wanted to challenge myself and make things like nougat and panforte. I wrote the final list of contenders and consulted my boyfriend to make the final decision between some things I couldn’t decide on. I opted out of making buckeyes, but plan on making them for my family’s Christmas next week. Below is the final list of cookies and candies—
My master list: candied citron (for the panforte), Panforte, Fluffy Vanilla Nougat, Ricciarelli (Chewy Italian Almond cookies), Triple Ginger, Martha’s Candy Canes, and Sugar Cookies (this is the best recipe I’ve found since making cut outs at Christmas for over 15 years).
Then I decided the order in which I’d bake them to ensure peak freshness. First, the candying of the citron, then nougats, then panforte (it was a candying day!), then triple ginger, chewy almond cookies, candy canes from Martha Stewart’s Christmas Book (this book is a perfect gift. I found it at Rebecca Ressler’s new Hollywood Books a few days before for half the price), followed by classic cut-out sugar cookies to be frosted and decorated, then swiss meringues (which ultimately failed the morning of deliveries).
The day of candying was the most stressful, but most rewarding. I had forgotten that above my kitchen windows, there’s a wasp nest. It should be dormant as it is December, but this is California, so as I was simmering honey and sugar on my stove, 2 wasps flew in my window just as I needed to take the pot off the stove and quickly pour it into the cocoa powder concoction. All the while I had made the silly decision to candy the honey in a smaller pot than I should have and placed the candy thermometer in a compromising position, catching it on fire briefly while I tried to zap the wasps dead.
The candied citron turned out just as planned. I let it sit overnight to dry out. The artist Skye Chamberlain, owner of Frolich House, messaged me that he thought it looked like frankincense, which if you weren’t raised Catholic like me, you wouldn’t know that The Three Kings bring Mary and Joseph gold, frankincense, and myrrh when Jesus is born. Famously, Christmas Day.
The panforte turned out stunning in the end and the taste was perfect. I will say it was the most controversial of the bunch, some people hated it (it includes contrasting flavors— there is black pepper and chili powder in the recipe).
Later in the evening, I made the triple ginger cookies and Ricciarelli while Christmas scenes from The Godfather played in the background. To me, The Godfather is the perfect Christmas movie (I prefer Part I to Part II).
By this time I needed some respite from baking for hours on end. I had been essentially walking around my house with confectioners sugar crusted to the bottoms of my feet. I needed more eggs and butter. I crawled to my station wagon and down Franklin Avenue to Gelson’s. When I got home I took Chinese Herbs while rolling out the sugar cookie dough. I don’t work out (had an eating disorder once, I hate running, am lazy, etc.), which proved to be a problem here since I was standing for 12 hours straight on tile floor.
The next day, I woke early to wrap the nougats in wax paper and twisted the ends to look like a nice candy treat. I finished the Godfather while creaming butter and sugar together, and frosting about 4 dozen sugar snowflakes. Here’s James Caan with a plate of cookies—
Last steps were to box the cookies and tie up with strings.
The box trimmings are just as important to me as what’s inside so for the month of December, I’ve been collecting ribbons throughout the month and travelled far and wide (went downtown to the fabric district) to find deadstock Victorian lace to tie some of the boxes up with. I wrote personalized tags for each person and spent Friday morning boxing and writing love notes.
I ventured out on my route around Los Angeles to drop all of the boxes off to my loved ones. Here are some scenes from my journey as Mrs. Claus.
On my way home I noticed La Brea lined with tinsel, the twinkling headlights of cars in traffic all the way up to Hollywood Boulevard. Los Angeles at Christmastime may not be what I’m used to, but I’m making it so by forcing Christmas cheer on my loved ones. The hit of the box seemed to be the Ricciarelli (I got 6 text messages raving about them), which I’ll be making more of tonight to last the week. They are great with morning coffee. It was such a special treat to make people’s day and I will most definitely make this a tradition of mine for years to come. Please comment and let me know if you end up making any of the recipes this holiday season!
Dreamy. I'm making panforte this weekend
This is so lovely! Copying next year. Also, the Franklin on Gelson's is superior. Run like the marines. Appearance of a pristine museum. Lines? Where! Cashier waits for you.