
Tracey Seaman
Contributor
Tracey Seaman is a cookbook author, recipe writer, and food stylist with over thirty years of experience working for national magazines, websites, and small businesses. Her food styling credits include editorial print, product packaging, how-to videos, and a major motion picture. She has appeared on national TV, in satellite media tours, and at prominent food festivals. In her past life, she wrote a restaurant review column for a local paper, in addition to judging cooking contests, competing on barbecue teams, and baking wedding cakes.
Scottish Sharp-Cheddar Shortbread
•Look for a sharp, white Cheddar that is on the dry side, such as English Wensleydale Farmhouse Truckle or Extra Old Black Diamond Cheddar.
•It's important not to whip air into the dough — simply mix until blended.
•It's important not to whip air into the dough — simply mix until blended.
Norwegian Flatbreads
Lefse
Enjoyed year-round, these soft flatbreads are especially common during holidays. For many Norwegians, and members of Norwegian communities such as those in the Midwestern United States, making lefse symbolizes the start of the Christmas season. They can be either sweet or savory: On the Christmas Eve buffet, they often accompany lutefisk (preserved cod) and pork ribs, but as a snack, they're popular rolled up, spread with butter, and sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar.
Lefse are traditionally made using special grooved rolling pins; large, superheated griddles; and long wooden spatulas. However, we found that a regular rolling pin, a 10-inch cast iron skillet, a pastry bench scraper, and a thin metal spatula worked just fine. Cooking the potatoes thoroughly and using a ricer or food mill will ensure that there will be no lumps in the potato dough.
Italian Almond Cookies
Amaretti
According to legend, in the early 1700s, a Milanese bishop made a surprise visit to the town of Saronno in Lombardy. A young couple paid tribute to the bishop by welcoming him with their unique homemade cookies, made from crushed apricot kernels and almonds, egg whites, and sugar. The bishop so loved the cookies that he blessed the couple, and the recipe became a local favorite.
Today, bakeries throughout the region, and in Italian communities around the world, carry amaretti di Saronno, but it's worth the (small) effort to make them yourself. The recipe is simple, and fresh from the oven, they have a crisp-yet-tender texture that's beyond compare.
Chilean Christmas Bread
Pan de Pascua
This rich, slightly sweet yeast bread is ubiquitous in Chile during the Christmas season. Accompanied by cola de mono, an eggnoglike, spiced coffee drink spiked with aguardiente liqueur, it's the classic holiday snack. Similar to German stollen and Italian panettone, the recipe probably traveled to Chile with German immigrants in the early 1900s.
This recipe can be baked in a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides or, for a taller, narrower loaf like the one shown above, an 8-inch diameter clay flowerpot. It can be made a day ahead and rewarmed in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Leftovers make excellent French toast.
Easy-Does-It Granola
Unlike many store-bought granolas, this luxurious blend of oats, green pumpkin seeds, and exotic dried fruit is preservative-free and not overly sweet. Sprinkle it on yogurt, pancakes, or waffles—or simply enjoy eating it out of hand.
Tipsy Turtle Bark
Who can resist rich chocolate with roasted pecans and butter-rum caramel? Melting the chocolate in stages insures that it will set. If you wish, the alcohol can be omitted.
Apricot Pear Cordials
Look for 1-quart cordial bottles, carafes, or mason jars with necks wide enough for adding the fruit (and removing it, if desired, after the liqueur has matured). You may need slightly more or less fruit, vodka, and rock candy, depending on the size of the containers.
Southwest Pita Crisps
These crunchy chips are great with chili, soup, dip, or by themselves.
Vanilla Hot Chocolate Mix
Nothing beats great hot chocolate. Use the best chocolate you can get your hands on. We love Valrhona, but Lindt and Ghirardelli are also excellent choices. If giving as a gift, transfer the mix to crocks, jars, canisters, or cellophane bags, decorate with ribbons, and attach gift tags with the serving directions.
Chocolate Snowflakes
These crisp cookies get their delicate appearance from confectioners' sugar dusted over a lacy doily. For an intense chocolate flavor, use a dark, Dutch-process cocoa, such as Droste or Valrhona.
Sugar-Cookie Snowmen
The perfect amounts of butter and sugar make these adorable cookies completely addictive. For the best flavor, use high-quality pure vanilla extract.
Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread
With its cloak of pure chocolate, this buttery cookie is sublime. For the best flavor, use a high-quality pure vanilla extract and the best chocolate you can find — preferably Valrhona. Melting the chocolate in two stages helps keep it at an even temperature — insuring that it will set evenly.
Cream Cheese Hanukkah Stars
The recipe for these tender, rich cookies came from a cook who worked for my great-grandmother. They were always a family favorite. Decorate them with sanding sugar or nonpareils.