The "Oh Shit!" Chef

I hit my festive stride early this holiday season.

Hannukah came just behind Thanksgiving this year; I think that's what got my brain thinking cookies and pie.

Whatever my excuse, I found myself on the second Sunday of November itching to bake EVERYTHING. I had a list of 6 cookies to make, and an all powerful will!

I'd like to say I planned out everything by timing and type of cookie, but that would be a lie. I started with the cookie that was newest and sounded yummiest.

My friend had posted this recipe for Cranberry Orange cookies (Which ended up being mixed citrus, because I didn't have enough orange zest), which turned out AMAZING! I also tackled snickerdoodles (Which turned out much drier than I had hoped), and I tried to make my hubby some molasses crinkles... Which ended up basically being ginger snaps, because I made them too small.

BUT, the big project of the day was: Peppernuts.

Peppernuts are an old family tradition. They are a molasses cookie that we inherited from our Dutch ancestors, that contain rich spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and black pepper (Yes, that same stuff you sprinkle on your eggs).

[Tangent for family history! Great-Great-(I forget exactly how Great)-Grandma Reggier had absolutely beautiful handwriting, but we couldn't read the "Star Anise" in the ingredients list. So for several generations, we all puzzled over the Mystery Ingredient! (she may have also written it in dutch, adding to the mystery...)

As such, I have never tasted the recipe with the star anise, and have been too scared to try it... The recipe makes a hude batch of cookies, and it would be heartbreaking to make them all just to realize I hate star anise... Tangent back to baking!]

Peppernuts are delicious amazingness; they are bite sized nuggests great with tea or coffee... and they are a lot of work to make. The family recipe calls for anywhere between 10-14 cups of flour (Depending on your elevation and the phase of the moon, and pure luck of your liquid to dry ratio), and you end up with a giant bowl of dough that you have to roll out into snakes like playdough, and chop into bite sized pieces, Over and over and over...

Growing up there were four of us kids, and my mom had us set up in an assembly line of roller/choppers, cookie sheet movers, and cookie storage technicians. You remember those big popcorn tins the boy scouts sell? We would fill up at least one of those, and usually a couple smaller ones, by the time we were finished. And finishing the peppernuts was an all day affair. There were years when it took us from 11 in the morning until 11 o'clock at night.

So, in my typical slapdash fashion, I decided to tackle this all by myself! While making other cookies...

Luckily for me, my bonus-daughter was over for the weekend, and she likes to bake. We managed to get through all the other cookies. My mom came over to help too, and we got solidly through half of the peppernuts before it was time to pause and make dinner.

The last of the peppernut dough went into a gallon ziploc bag and into the fridge, the finished cookies were tested, approved, and stored, and I called the day an exhausting but solid success.

Cue me, 2 months later, trying to shove groceries into my fridge and seeing those damn cookies blocking my shelf; still waiting, still perfectly mixed, still right where I left them. Just waiting.

Awww nuts...