Near and Dear to Me

Good morn'n fellow blog readers!  Today I want to talk about something near and dear to my  heart.  It's no secret that I'm very close to my family, that's one of our main reasons we moved back to Colorado from Montana...although we miss Montana.  Family is so important to have close and to keep close, especially this time of year.  The earliest memory that I can recall is our Christmas tradition of making my Grandma's Biscochitos, a traditional New Mexican Cookie, yummy!  The process is a long one, total of 3 hours and 122 cookies later, the result is heart warming and exhausting....to say the least!  This year, I was kind of dreading the process, but hunkered down into baking mode yesterday.....I'm sure happy I did!

Talking to my Grandma a few weeks back, we chatted about how she received the recipe for Biscochitos.  Come to find out it was her Grandmother's recipe (my great-great grandmother-who I'm named after Julia Nieve Pacheco) I only assume that Julia received the recipe from her mother, so this recipe has been passed down from generation to generation. My grandma explained how growing up they didn't use cookie cutters, but would instead, cut shapes with a knife or use a jar to make circles.  These day's we use the trusty-ol'-cookie-cutter!  I hope that if you decide to use this recipe you remember the family tradition it exemplifies!  Enjoy, they are soooo good in the morning with coffee!

Biscochitos

~2 cups lard, shortening (crisco) or margarine

~11/2 cups of sugar

~2 eggs

~2 tsp anise seed

~6 cups flour

~3 tsp baking powder

~1 tsp salt

~about 1/2 sweet white wine or water

Topping

~1 tsp cinnamon 

~1/2 cup sugar

Mix together and put aside

Cream shorting (lard or margarine) and the sugar together, until quiet smooth.  Add eggs and anise seed and mix well. 

Sift flour, baking powder, salt together. 

Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture (shortening, sugar and eggs). Mix together, until all incorporated.  Add sweet wine or water to mixture, enough to hold together.  This texture will be much like a biscuit.

Roll the dough out on a floured table in to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into shapes w/knife or cookie cutters.  Dip or sprinkle unbaked cookies into cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheet, un-greased.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes (longer for a crispier cookies).

After spending 3 hours making cookies, Hazel and I were in much need of a little "Love Actually"...such a great holiday movie (here's my shout out to Kat in Germany!!!).  We curled up on the couch, ate a few cookies and watch Hugh Grant dance around!  

Gotta love the holiday!  XO

~Maggie