M
AKING AND HIDING
Christmas cookies is a holiday tradition in the Iaciofano house. What follows is a catalog and story of the Christmas cookies of 2014! For more stories and recipes, check the blog at johnandelana.com
R
USSIAN TEA CAKES
Although picking a favorite cookie is something akin to choosing a favorite child, these just might be it. These buttery nuggets are solid and satisfying. They have a slightly nutty crunch from crushed pecans and are dusted lightly in powdered sugar, so the evidence of having stolen a few for a late day snack is always evident.
P
IZZELLE
are traditional Italian cookies. I personally modified the recipe of ours to include rainbow sprinkles - the little ball-shaped kind. Rolling the dough in these multicolored gems before putting them in the iron makes the colors spread, much like a tie-dyed t-shirt. Watch and believe!
T
HIS ISN’T YOUR regular gingerbread cookie... or house. This is me, taking out my personal pizza agenda on a cookie. Those circles? They’re margherita pizza pies. Or they will be. And that “house” is a pizza oven. Merry Christmas to you, too.
V
IOLÁ! A gingerbread wood-fired oven.
Dear Santa, please bring me one just like it, that’s regulation size and built of materials appropriate for toasting pizzas upward of 900°F. They’re waaaaay better than cookies, and I promise the reindeer will love them.
T
REE TRIMMING
in Iaciofano Land is a bit different. Among other ornaments, we have something called, “The Turkey Buzzard� (our angel on the top of the tree), Shuttlecraft and Enterprise spaceships, and my numerous triathlon medals, as pictured here.