On this same night, November 30th, one year ago in cookie season, I allowed as how I was being a wimp – knocking off early. But it looks as if I made three kinds of cookies that night (or at least glazed a kind, and mixed a dough, and baked one kind) – and tonight I am contemplating being done by 9:30, AND only one kind, the biberli. But I guess it’s OK – last year I justified quitting early because I made a mistake mixing a dough, and thought I should quit before I did anything stupid. This year I did a lot of other extraneous to cookies, but necessary stuff – like cleaning the cat litter, and packing up and freezing the turkey broth from the Thanksgiving turkey, and painting the Simnel cake with glaze and booze and wrapping it up to age for a few weeks. And washing a small load of laundry with dish towels and hot pads and my pastry rolling cloths. I haven’t even put the tin foil up to cover the window in the vestibule to make it dark and cold in there for cookie storage.
I guess it’s OK. Or else my standards have just gone to hell – a few of the biberli have that flat look that they did a few years ago when I took the rejects to work, and made them over. But this year I feel no compulsion for the do-over. The jam cookies are done and there’s close to 20 dozen. The fruitcake gems are tiny and cute again – tho UN-photographed as yet. The fruit balls are made and glazed. The first new recipe I tried – Christmas Chocolate Bars from Joy – almonds, dried cherries, yellow raisons, and chopped chocolate in a bar cookie with beat up eggs and no shortening – went in the trash. Awful, spongey – I thought it might come out like an Italian nougat cookie, but no. It’s OK – there’ll be time – it’s a two weekend cookie season this year – I’ll just sit here and write and post pictures and listen to one if the cats snoring. And then I’ll go pack up the biberli, and maybe I can go find that Boardwalk Empire episode I fell asleep to on Sunday on demand, or on HBOGo.
