In another life, one day a week was set aside as ‘baking day.’ My father talked about helping his grandmother make bread in giant kettles and the home filled with the wonderful smell of bread in all it’s many stages. Maybe, with the economy such as it is, we’ll all get back to baking and doing some of the things many let others do today.
One of our family traditions is making ‘Mushroom Cookies’ for Christmas. These cardamom enriched morsels are common throughout Scandinavia! Obviously we put out own twist on them! As a child I would always enjoy making desserts and cookies were one of the things I enjoyed making most. However, as our children grew, it became something that they would do and I would step back.
So, today, I set out to make some cookies with my own variations. First here is the basic recipe we use!
Mushroom cookies are wonderful in that they have an unbelievably long shelf life. we gave some cookies to my mother and she found one left in a tin a year later and said it was the best she’d had! Part of the reason is that the many flavors do come out after the cookies sit around a while, so as tempting as it might be, let them sit around a while!
Speaking of fun things to make. Have you ever made your own potato chips? Karla loves them. I leave the peel on and use an automatic slicer to get them thin and before I fry them I soak them in water for a day or overnight in the refrigerator.
So, cooking is fun…
Roger Freberg
I am very proud of my little band of chefs! Laura, Kristin and Karen all enjoy experimenting with new recipes, developing on old proven winners and when all else fails… they act like the pirates they are… and they “steal” one!
