St. Nicholas' Day Spritz

Day 55: The Midwinter/Christmas holiday season has officially kicked off with the baking of spritz for St.. Nicholas' Day. I make 3-5 different shapes, and although I put Sprinx on top of most of them, if I have candied cherries or fruitcake fruit, the "wreath" gets that in the center. We have a list of dangerous words here: spritz, Sprinx and "sprinkles," i.e., the Fancy Feast "gourmet" kibble Merry regards as a treat. I have to be extra careful when muttering to myself so that he doesn't misunderstand what's about to happen. In any event, the cookies will be decorated either tonight or tomorrow (probably tomorrow, because 3 PM kinda sneaked up on me today). Happy St. Nicholas' Day!

Christmas Cookies

Day 56: Given that I was otherwise engaged the last two days, I did not start my Christmas baking on St. Nicholas Day as I normally do. However, at the crack of dawn this morning (slightly before, if the truth be told), I had spritz in the oven. Cookie Monster that I am, these will now become my default lunch until they're gone, perhaps alternating with Russian tea cakes ("pecan sandies"). The holidays are not complete without both sweet dainties, and if nutrition suffers a bit in favour of indulgence...well, it hasn't killed me yet.

Last year, I invested in a new trigger-style cookie press (Oxo) and I couldn't be happier with it. There is much less waste than there was with my old Super Shooter, and the cookies are much more uniform. Just to show that old dogs can learn new tricks, I took to heart a hint from the Oxo recipe booklet and now chill my cookie sheets beforehand. I was surprised to see how much more readily the dough adheres to the metal. The new press makes it so easy that it's a wonder I've managed to refrain from making spritz more often!