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Holiday cookies and wishes from the campaign trail

Contributed by: Eva Kosinski on 12/27/2007

...from an unexpected source...more on that later.

Here are some old family recipes that you might find useful (don't count on them being diet-friendly -- these are the real deal, from the days when celebrating the holidays meant enjoying some really high quality goodies).

Honey Cakes

1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice (roughly the juice of three oranges)
1 pound unsalted butter
1 cup olive oil
grated rinds from (the same) three oranges
1 tsp EACH of
ground cloves
cinnamon
nutmeg
2 Tbsp baking powder
2 1/2 or so pounds cake flour
2-4 pounds honey
Finely grated walnuts or hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Dissolve the sugar in the orange juice.

Cream the butter in a LARGE blender bowl, until very fluffy (about 20minutes). Slowly trickle in the olive oil while continuing to beat.

Then slowly add the orange juice sugar mixture.

Fold in the grated rinds and add the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder.

Fold in just enough of the cake flour that the dough barely stops sticking to your fingers.

Roll in 3/4 inch balls. Bake 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. The cakesneed to come out fairly hard, because the next step is:

Heat the honey, about a pound at a time, gently, to bring it to a slow boil. How much honey is needed depends on the consistency of the cakes, but 2-4 pounds in total is typically about right. Heat the honey until
occasional trails of bubbles rise from the bottom of the pan. Caution: even slow-boiling honey is quite hot.

The boiling honey is a bit rough on the cakes, so the cakes need to be baked fairly hard or they crumble.

Drop the cookies into the boiling honey, bottom side up. Using two forks, flip after about 10-20 seconds, and after a similar time remove from the honey.

Drop the cakes into fine-grated walnuts or hazelnuts. Use a different pair of forks to toss the cookies. (Alternative: put the cakes on a plate, shoulder to shoulder, and sprinkle heavily with the grated nuts.)

They're called cookies, but most likely you will want to serve them on plates with forks.

******

Kaurabides

1 lb unsalted butter
1/2 cup XXX sugar
2 egg yolks lightly beaten
2 jiggers (about 3 oz total) brandy, ouzo, or hazelnut Kahlua (George
says:"My mother used brandy. I used Hazelnut Kahlua. You are baking
these: The alcohol will all be gone before eating.")
1 cup fine chopped nuts. ("My mother used chopped walnuts or blanched
almonds. I used finely chopped hazelnuts.")
1 tsp baking powder
4.5 - 5 cups sifted floor.
Whole cloves

Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheet.

Beat the butter until fluffy--about 15 minutes.

Add sugar slowly to beaten butter.

Add lightly beaten egg yolks, brandy ouzo or kahlua, nuts, baking powder and flour.

Beat until homogeneous.

Drop with a spoon onto greased cookie sheet. The individual cookies should be about the size of a thumb. The traditional shape is a crescent. My mother preferred a diamond. Stud each cookie with a clove.

My mother proposed 15-20 minutes giving a deeply browned cookie. I stop at around 12, giving a pale cookie.

Remove from oven. Let cool.

Makes about 7 dozen cookies.

-----------------

Where did these recipes come from? A family kitchen. To be precise, the family kitchen of George Phillies, a Libertarian Candidate for President. George sent these recipes out with his last press release of 2007. From the Press Release:

"Whether we say Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or simply happy holidays, the sentiment and the smile that accompanies it are the same. One wonderful thing about the holiday season is that it reminds all Americans, no matter our faith or our party, that someday we will reach that brighter future."

Rather than giving campaign promises and political rhetoric, Dr. Phillies offered a more personal gift: Cherished family recipes for the holidays. "From my family to yours, America. I wish you the happiest of holidays and best hopes for peace, liberty and prosperity in the new year."

-----------------

Find out more about George Phillies at www.phillies2008.org. The Libertarian Convention will decide at the end of May (in Denver at the Adam's Mark Hotel) which of the twelve Libertarian candidates will get the nod for President. The other 11 can be seen at www.lp.org. The Convention is unique in that many events (like speakers and breakout sessions) are accessible to to the public regardless of political affiliation. To find out more, including registration costs and packages, go to www.denverlpcon.com.

Regardless of how the Convention goes, there is one thing very different about this election; when the dust settles, we'll all have something concrete to show for knowing about a Presidential Candidate - recipes we can use year after year. Hopefully, when we pull these recipes out next holiday season, we won't be thinking "gee, I voted for the lesser of two evils again, and STILL they aren't listening to the people or supporting the Constitution."

And just an added thought I found while tooling around on the net:

"People can't concentrate properly on blowing other people to pieces properly if their minds are poisoned by thoughts suitable to the twenty-fifth of December."
Ogden Nash, 'Merry Christmas, Nearly Everybody!', I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1938

Happy Holidays!


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Eva Kosinski

Louisville , CO

Eva Kosinski has posted 129 stories and 16 comments since joining on 12/18/2005. Eva Kosinski 's average story rating is 4.82.
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