One is Silver and the Other is Gold

Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other is gold.

There are two philosophies are regards recipes, especially Christmas cookie recipes. They go something like this: Recipes are to share, part of the common, collective wisdom of the ages, and, conversely, recipes are to keep secret as treasures to pass down only within the family. I can see the merit and rationale of both of these viewpoints. I have embraced parts of both philosophies in the past.

In fact, I have a couple of recipes I won’t share–at least not yet. But if you think about, what good is that, unless you are starting some kind of culinary conglomerate. So, I have moderated my position in the past few years and am now ready to share some of my favorite recipes for you and posterity.

Some of my recipes come from my mother and grandmother transposed from old recipe cards handwritten by my mom–these are my “gold” recipes from old. They are time-tested treasures.

My “silver” recipes have been collected from friends, acquaintances and by serendipity like the one I collected from a Christmas festival at the Audubon Society I attended years ago. I liked one of the cookies so much, I tracked down the caterer who gave me a bulk recipe which I had to downsize for normal consumption.

One word about white flour and sugar. Those who know my writings, know I don’t often recommend using refined ingredients, but I think it’s okay for the holidays. But you can always substitute refined ingredients for whole–which I do oftentimes.

Please bear with me as I build this list of cookies–hopefully before the end of the Christmas cookie season 2006. I will also be adding some pictures–especially one of how I gift wrap them.

Golden Family Recipes
Donna Mae’s Bon-Bons
Ginger Cookies

Silver Friendship Recipes
Astrid’s Norwegian Pepperkaker
Bulgarian Maslenki
Chinese Almond Cookies